The Latest: Dr. Fauci recommends 'uniform wearing of masks'Dr. Anthony Fauci is recommending “uniform wearing of masks” to help curb the surge of coronavirus cases
WASHINGTON -- Dr. Anthony Fauci is recommending “uniform wearing of masks” to help curb the surge of coronavirus cases in the United States.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert told CNN on Tuesday that “we need to intensify public health strategies,” which include wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding places where people gather.
The U.S hit a record daily high of more than 184,000 coronavirus cases on Friday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
On Monday, Moderna announced early data suggests its vaccine candidate provides strong protection against the coronavirus. That news comes a week after Pfizer revealed its vaccine was similarly effective.
Vaccines candidates must go through independent data and safety monitoring before approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Fauci says in the meantime, it’s important for people “to be motivated to hang in there a bit longer and double down on the public health measures. I just can’t understand why there’s pushback against that. They’re not that difficult to do. And they save lives.”
The U.S. leads the world with 11.2 million coronavirus cases and more than 247,000 deaths.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Dr. Fauci recommends ‘uniform wearing of masks’ to help curb US outbreak
— British PM Johnson tests negative for virus; still in self-isolation
— California businesses hit with new virus restrictions
— ‘More people may die’: Biden urges Trump to aid transition
— Hungary’s doctors warn of soaring coronavirus deaths ahead
— Governors ratchet up restrictions ahead of Thanksgiving
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Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa surpassed 2,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus Tuesday.
Iowa marked 1,000 deaths from the virus on Aug. 19, five months into the pandemic. But it took less than three months for the state to reach 2,000 deaths, and the 3,000-mark will be reached much quicker under current trends.
Data from Johns Hopkins University shows the state has been averaging more than 20 deaths per day in the last week. That’s triple the rate from just two months ago.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds had avoided a mask mandate. But on Monday, she enacted a partial statewide mask mandate, limited gatherings to 15 people indoors, 30 outdoors and ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m.
Reynolds says the health care system has been “pushed to the brink.”
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OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska topped 100,000 coronavirus cases as the state reported a record 3,440 cases on Monday.
The number of people hospitalized in the state with the coronavirus reached a high of 938. Hospitalizations have more than quadrupled since early October when 227 people were treated for coronavirus.
Gov. Pete Ricketts has said if the number approaches 1,200 -- when 25% of hospitalized patients have coronavirus – he’ll impose additional restrictions to limit the spread of the virus.
Nebraska has the sixth-highest rate of new cases in the nation. In the past week, one out of every 120 people was diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has nearly doubled over the past two weeks from 1,124 cases on Nov. 2 to 2,027 cases on Monday.
Nebraska has a total of 101,601 cases and 797 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s acting president says she has the coronavirus following contacts with some of her relatives.
President Vjosa Osmani wrote in her Facebook page she was self-quarantining at home for two weeks at home and will keep working.
Osmani has been elected as Parliament speaker but earlier this month she also took the post of the president after her predecessor resigned to face a war crimes court.
Kosovo reported 690 new confirmed cases and 16 deaths on Tuesday. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reports 508 cases per 100,000 residents in the last two weeks.
The country is in a partial lockdown with an overnight curfew, mandatory use of masks and limited number of employees working daily in the office.
Health authorities in the country of 1.8 million report a total of 30,495 confirmed cases and 849 deaths.
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BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia has reported record numbers of daily infections and deaths from the coronavirus.
Authorities says 4,994 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours and 24 people died -- both daily highs since the start of the outbreak.
The government has shortened working hours of all shops, bars and restaurants and introduced fines for violations of restrictive rules in order to curb the spread. Starting Tuesday only gas stations, pharmacies and food delivery will be allowed to work beyond 9 p.m.
The nation of 7 million has reported more than 92,000 confirmed coronavirus and 1,054 deaths.
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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested negative for the coronavirus, but will complete 14 days of self-isolation because of contact with an infected person.
Johnson’s office says the prime minister was tested using a lateral flow test — a quick test that doesn’t need to be processed in a lab. The tests are not widely available in the U.K., but the government says staff in the prime minister’s office could get them as part of a pilot project.
Johnson was told to self-isolate on Sunday after a lawmaker with whom he had met three days earlier tested positive for the coronavirus. The prime minister says he has no symptoms and will continue to lead the government, holding meetings using videoconferencing.
Government rules say people in close contact with an infected person must quarantine for two weeks.
Johnson was seriously ill with the coronavirus in April, spending three nights in intensive care. People who recover from the virus are thought to have some immunity, but it’s unclear how long it lasts. There have been a small number of confirmed cases worldwide of people becoming re-infected with the virus.
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MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin prisons have experienced the highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
The state Department of Corrections reported 808 new cases among inmates Monday, bringing the number of active cases to 2,063.
Six prisons have outbreaks of more than 100 active coronavirus cases among prisoners. They include New Lisbon Correctional Institution with 362 cases, Fox Lake Correctional Institution with 360, Oshkosh Correctional Institution with 258, Racine Correctional Institution/Sturtevant Transitional Facility with 250, Taycheedah Correctional Institution with 140 and Dodge Correctional Institution with 135.
Among staff, a total of 1,470 corrections employees have self-reported testing positive for the virus, with 338 of those active Monday, the State Journal reported.
Despite cases continuing to rise, the department says the death count at 10 hasn’t changed since Nov. 3.
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RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Rapid City area school district is closing all schools and moving to remote instruction because of the surge in coronavirus cases in South Dakota.
The school district sent an email to families Monday night saying distance learning for its 25 schools will begin Wednesday. Superintendent Lori Simon urged students to wear masks in public, avoid crowds and stay 6 feet apart.
The school district will provide take-home meals, the Rapid City Journal reported.
The district says 94 students and 47 staff have an active case of coronavirus, while 105 staff and 676 students are in quarantine following exposure.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, has not ordered a state-wide mask mandate despite having one of the highest death rates in the nation.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has reported 33 more deaths and 2,050 new cases of coronavirus during the last 24 hours.
There are 1,447 patients in critical condition across the country, according to the National Command and Operation Center, an army-backed body assigned to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Federal authorities are considering closing schools and putting restrictions on indoor family functions.
Pakistan has a total of 36,1082 cases and 7,193 deaths from the coronavirus.
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VIENNA — Austria has started a new tough lockdown meant to slow the surging spread of the coronavirus in the Alpine nation.
As of Tuesday, people are only allowed to leave their homes to purchase groceries, to go to jobs deemed essential, to exercise or to help people who need assistance.
All restaurants, shops, hair salons and other services have been ordered closed, and the nation’s schools have been moved to remote learning programs.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Monday ahead of the lockdown, which is to run through Dec. 6, that “all of social and public life will be brought down to a minimum.”
Austria currently is registering more than 527 new cases per 100,000 residents over seven days — more than 10 times the rate that authorities say is sustainable. Over the last seven days, it has reported 46,946 new coronavirus infections.
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ROME — Italian authorities have inspected more than 230 nursing homes as part of the health ministry’s anti-coronavirus controls, identifying 37 with violations and flagging 11 people to law enforcement for possible prosecution.
The violations included lack of protective equipment and training for health care workers, insufficient hygiene and missing anti-COVID protocols. In addition, inspectors found other underlying violations of health norms, including overcrowding, abusive treatment of the elderly, expired medicine, poor food safety and unqualified staff.
The violations reported Tuesday by the carabinieri’s health care inspectors were so grave in four cases that the homes were closed outright and the guests transferred back to their families or other structures.
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the lack of adequate oversight in some of Italy’s eldercare homes, particularly smaller, private ones. As in other countries, thousands of elderly died in Italy’s nursing homes during the first wave of the outbreak, many without having ever been tested for the virus.
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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says it will tighten social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area and some parts of eastern Gangwon province to try to suppress a coronavirus resurgence.
Tuesday’s announcement came as South Korea’s daily virus tally stayed above 200 for a fourth straight day. The country has been experiencing a steady increase in virus infections since it relaxed its social distancing guidelines last month.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said it was necessary to adjust the distancing rules for two weeks.
Under the new rules starting Thursday in those areas, authorities are banning gatherings of more than 100 people during rallies, festivals, concerts and academic events. Customers at theaters, concerts and libraries are required to sit at least one seat apart from each other, while audiences at sporting events will be limited to 30% of the stadium’s capacity.
The new rules also ban dancing and moving to others’ seats at nightclubs and other high-risk entertainment facilities, and drinking and eating at karaoke rooms and concert halls.
South Korea added 230 more virus cases on Tuesday, raising the country’s total to 28,998, including 494 deaths.
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NEW DELHI — India’s coronavirus caseload has dropped to 29,164 new infections in the last 24 hours, continuing a downturn.
The Health Ministry on Tuesday also reported 449 new deaths, raising the overall death toll to 130,519.
With nearly 8.9 million cases in all, India is the second worst-hit country behind the U.S., but it has been witnessing a steady fall in daily cases despite no substantial drop in overall testing numbers. In the last 10 days, there have been fewer than 50,000 new cases every day.
In the capital, New Delhi, the latest surge in new infections continues. The city reported 3,797 new coronavirus cases and 99 fatalities in the past 24 hours, fewer than last week’s daily average of nearly 7,000 cases. But health experts say the numbers in the capital have come down because fewer tests were conducted over the weekend.
More than 600 people have died in the capital due to the coronavirus in the past week.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — With Iowa hospitals filling up, Gov. Kim Reynolds has dropped her opposition to a statewide mandate for mask use to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Reynolds signed a proclamation Monday requiring that everyone over 2 years old wear masks when in indoor public spaces. The mandate applies only when people are within 6 feet of others for 15 minutes and they aren’t members of their households.
Reynolds also is limiting gatherings for social, community, business and leisure purposes to no more than 15 people indoors and 30 outdoors, including family events. Routine office and factory work and spiritual gatherings are exempted.
The governor rejected calls to close bars and restaurants for in-person service but is ordering that they close by 10 p.m. She also has suspended sports and recreational activities, except for high school, college and professional sports.
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MONROE, La. — Louisiana landlords have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn a moratorium on evictions ordered by the CDC to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus.
The suit says that “the CDC’s eviction moratorium represents a sweeping assumption of power by an administrative agency that it simply does not possess.”
Figures provided by the Seattle-based Housing Justice Project says landlords in Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee have filed similar lawsuits against the CDC moratorium. Those in 13 other states and the District of Columbia are trying to overturn state or city eviction moratoriums.
The CDC’s Sept. 1 order came about three weeks after President Donald Trump issued an executive order telling federal health officials to consider measures to temporarily halt evictions.
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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson has begun a new late-stage trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, this time on a two-dose regimen.
J&J plans to give up to 30,000 people two doses of the vaccine. It’s been testing a one-dose regimen in a 60,000-person trial that began in late September and has enrolled nearly 10,000 volunteers so far.
In the new trial, volunteers will get either the vaccine or a dummy shot, then a second dose 57 days later, a company spokesman said Monday. That study is being conducted in the U.S., plus Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain and the UK — locations chosen because they have a high incidence of COVID-19 and can start testing quickly.
The company said it’s being “extremely thorough”’ by testing multiple doses and dosing regimens to evaluate long-term effectiveness.
A small, early-stage study of the vaccine found it triggered a strong immune response and was well tolerated.
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HARTFORD, Conn. — The Yale professor who co-chairs President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus advisory board said her group has not been able to speak with President Trump’s coronavirus advisors, but is optimistic the two groups will work together during the transition.
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith said there is a long “wish list” of information that the incoming administration would like to know about the Trump administration’s COVID-19 strategy, with plans for the storage and distribution of a vaccine at or near the top.
She said it was in everyone’s best interest for the two teams to sync during the transition.
Nunez-Smith also reiterated that Biden plans to work with governors, mayors and other elected leaders to reach “national agreement and unification” on mask-wearing standards.
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is showing no sign of budging from her hands-off approach to the pandemic, despite her state having the nation’s highest death rate this month.
South Dakota has reported 219 deaths in November — about a third of all its deaths over the course of the pandemic. The COVID-19 deaths have sent the state to the top of the nation in deaths per capita this month, with nearly 25 deaths per 100,000 people.
Still, Noem, a Republican, has no plans to issue mask requirements. The governor’s spokeswoman Maggie Seidel pushed back against arguments by public health experts, pointing to states like Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin that have also experienced significant virus waves in spite of having mask rules.
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