Coronavirus USA: summary 2/3 September

Virgin Atlantic Airways planning more job cuts

Virgin Atlantic Airways is preparing to cut more than 1000 jobs within hours of seeing a £1.2bn rescue deal approved, as it contends with a slower-than-expected recovery in international demand for air travel

Mexico to participate in stage 3 trials of the Russian vaccine

Mexico said it plans to take part in stage 3 trials of the Russian coronavirus vaccine in October, part of the nation’s efforts to secure supplies of possible future Covid-19 vaccines.

Foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said that if the Mexican regulator permits it, the Russian vaccine can be brought to Mexico and several thousand volunteers will “test that vaccine in our country as close as next month”.

Robert Pattinson tests positive for Covid-19, pausing production of 'The Batman'

British actor Robert Pattinson has tested positive for Covid-19, causing production on the set of his film "The Batman" to pause, Vanity Fair and the Hollywood Reporter reported on Thursday. Warner Bros., the Hollywood studio behind the movie, said in a statement that "a member of 'The Batman' production" had tested positive for the coronavirus, but did not give a name. "Filming is temporarily paused," the Warner Bros. statement added.

J&J's vaccine candidate prevents severe disease in hamsters

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday its experimental coronavirus vaccine prevented hamsters from getting severely ill, as the drugmaker seeks to begin large, late-stage studies in humans later this month.

In the pre-clinical study, vaccinated animals lost less weight and had less virus in their lungs and other organs than unvaccinated animals. The company began early-stage human trials in the United States and Belgium in July, after details of a study in monkeys showed its best-performing vaccine candidate offered strong protection in a single dose.

Depending on data from the early-stage trial, J&J plans to begin phase 3 testing in the second half of September. In the pre-clinical study reported on Thursday, Syrian golden hamsters, which are more susceptible to diseases than monkeys, were first vaccinated and then exposed to the novel coronavirus after four weeks. The researchers found low levels of antibodies that can neutralize the virus were tied to high levels of weight loss and viral replication in the lungs.

New York pushes ahead with more reopenings

Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced more reopenings in New York state as new coronavirus infections remained low in what was once the US hot spot of the pandemic.

Next Wednesday, New York City malls will be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity and casinos statewide can reopen at 25% capacity, Cuomo said. 'Thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers, we are at a point in our fight against this virus where we can safely reopen malls in New York City as long as they adhere to strict health and safety protocols,' Cuomo said. 'Masks, enhanced air ventilation systems, and social distancing will be mandatory.'

The governor also waded into the hotly debated issue of indoor dining in New York City, saying during a conference call with reporters that the final decision rested with the state. New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson came out on Wednesday in favor of allowing indoor dining in the city, which is home to a thriving restaurant industry that was battered by the pandemic.

“It’s time to allow indoor dining in New York City with reduced capacity and clear guidance to ensure social distancing and safety,' Johnson said in a statement. Cuomo said he would like to see restaurants reopen for indoor dining in the city but that compliance and enforcement remained a major hurdle in doing so.

'We open restaurants, that's going to complicate by the hundreds if not thousands the number of establishments that need to be monitored,' he said.

Parents furious after Texas high school science quiz says coronavirus is a ‘scam’

A Texas school is at the center of controversy after a science quiz handed out to junior high school students posed a “true or false” question over whether coronavirus is a “scam.” Making matters worse, entering “false” was marked as an incorrect answer, KMOX reports.

A parent at the Pearland school posted an image of the quiz online.

Fort Myers roofer arrested for using company’s PPP relief funds to buy 40-foot boat

A Fort Myers man is facing 30 years in federal prison for using Payroll Protection Program funds to buy a 40-foot catamaran boat worth almost $700,000.

According to the Department of Justice, 35-year-old Casey David Crowther applied for $2 million in a PPP loan on behalf of his company Target Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc. 

His application included “false and misleading statements concerning what the PPP funds would be used for,” the DOJ said. 

The complaint alleged that “within days” Crowther used a portion of the money to buy the boat, worth about $689,417. It was registered in his name.

'CDC not under political pressure'

White House Spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday there is no political pressure on the US drugs regulator to quickly approve a vaccine for the deadly coronavirus disease, after drugmakers and the Centers for Disease Control suggested one could be ready just ahead of the November presidential election.

'No one is pressuring the FDA to do anything,' McEnany said, referring to the Food and Drug Administration.

October vaccine prep says CDC

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked state public health officials to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine to high-risk groups as soon as late October, according to documents published by the agency.

The timing has taken on political importance as President Donald Trump seeks re-election on 3 November, after committing billions of federal dollars to develop vaccines against Covid-19, which has killed more than 185,000 people in the United States.

Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it should know by the end of October whether a Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with German partner BioNTech SE is safe and effective. The US drugmaker said it will seek approval immediately if trial results are positive. It has already manufactured hundreds of thousands of doses.

Top US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said on Thursday having a vaccine ready by the end of October is possible, but he was not counting on it. 'These are all guesstimates,' Fauci told CNN, when asked about Pfizer's comments, adding that most experts project a vaccine will be ready by November or December. 'It is conceivable that you can have it by October, though I don't think that that's likely.'

Pandemic review panel named

Members of an independent panel which will examine how the World Health Organization and countries handled the Covid-19 pandemic were named on Thursday, including former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and Britain's former foreign secretary David Miliband.

Co-chairs of the panel, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, issued the list of the other 11 members. "We intend to learn all that we can about (the pandemic's) early emergence, global spread, health, economic and social impacts, and how it has been controlled and mitigated," Clark said in a statement.

CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus USA: how many vaccines could fail according to federal advisers?

How many vaccines could fail according to federal advisers?

The U.S. are supporting 8 candidate vaccines and aims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for Covid-19 by January 2021. But health officials don't expect all of the candidate vaccines to pass through Phase III clinical trials and be approved and licensed.

Read more

NYC ramp up hyper-local testing program

New York City is bringing its hyper-local test-and-trace response to another neighborhood in the Bronx. Soundview now has a rapid coronavirus testing center with 15-minute results at Clason’s Point Library on Morrison Avenue, CBS reports.

“The neighborhood has had a lower testing level than we want to see, and so we’re sending in a lot of testing right now in Soundview in the Bronx,” Mayor Bill de Blasio explained. “This is to make sure we stay ahead of the situation. If we are testing people, we know what’s going on and we can address it.”

Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 will be supplied medical care and other resources. They will also be asked to provide information about their recent contacts.

“We have a group of tracers in person there that speak seven languages, that will talk to you in your language, help you figure out what you need to get through this, and also in that same moment ask you about contacts – or people you may have exposed to the coronavirus when you were positive,” Dr. Ted Long, who heads the program, said.

Officials said the hyper-local strategy has proven successful in other neighborhoods – particularly in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where the rate of infection went from 4.2% to 1.3% in the past few weeks. A similar approach is underway in Borough Park, as well. "In Sunset Park we've been able to drive down that rate of positive tests from 4.2 per cent to 1.3 per cent, which is a substantial accomplishment," Dr. Long added.

Actor Dwayne Johnson tests positive for coronavirus

Dwayne Johnson said he's won a battle with Covid-19 but is warning others that the virus was a formidable foe even for him. The actor explained in an Instagram video that he and his family have now recovered from their illness after they all tested positive about three weeks ago.

"I can tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we have ever had to endure as a family," he said. "And for me personally, too, as well, and I've gone through some doozies in the past."

Johnson said his two young daughters, who are ages 4 and 2, showed mild symptoms, but he and his wife, Lauren Hashian, struggled to overcome the virus.

"But I am happy to tell you guys that we as a family are good. We are on the other end of it. We are on the other side. We are no longer contagious. And we are -- thank god -- we are healthy," he said.

Johnson said he believes they contracted it from close family friends.

U.S. says it will not pay what it owes WHO this year

(Reuters) The United States will not pay some $80 million it owes the World Health Organization (WHO) and will instead redirect the money to help pay its United Nations bill in New York, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The United States plans to leave the Geneva-based WHO on 6 July 2021, after President Donald Trump accused it of becoming a puppet for China during the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO has rejected Trump's assertion.

A WHO spokeswoman said on Thursday in an email response to a request for comment: "We refer you to our previous statements of regret regarding the U.S. decision to withdraw. We await further details, which we will consider carefully."

Under a 1948 joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, Trump had to give one-year notice of the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO and is required to pay what Washington's owes for the organization's current fiscal year. Nerissa Cook, State Department Bureau of International Organization Affairs deputy assistant secretary of state, said the United States currently owes the WHO some $18 million for financial year 2019 and $62 million for financial year 2020. 

Pelosi's set-up claims are not true

Erica Kious, the owner of the San Francisco salon visited by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was "absolutely false" for her to claim she had been "set up" by the business after footage of her failing to wear a face mask was leaked to the press.

Kious told Fox News there was "no way" she could have set up Pelosi because it was the speaker's office who had made the Monday appointment with the salon, despite San Francisco coronavirus rules barring indoor hair treatments. The eSalon owner also said that she found Pelosi's remarks "hurtful" as she had been visiting eSalon for "quite a while," and later added that the sight of the speaker not wearing a mask had particularly annoyed her.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson positive for coronavirus

Pro-wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has confirmed that he, his wife and two children have tested positive for Covid-19.

He explained why it has been “one of the most challenging and difficult things” they’ve gone through as a family...

White house announces major eviction moratorium

The Trump administration and the CDC has announced a major eviction moratorium that will halt evictions through the end of the year in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

To qualify, tenants must earn less than $99,000/year, or up to $198,000 for couples. This CNBC report has more...

In pictures: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a news conference after a tour of P.S. 59 following the coronavirus outbreak in Brooklyn, New York City, (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Pool)

US CDC tells states to prep for COVID-19 vaccine distribution by Nov

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked state public health officials to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine to high-risk groups as soon as late October or early November, documents published by the agency showed on Wednesday. The timing of release of any vaccine has taken on political importance as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks re-election in November, after putting substantial federal resources into vaccine development. 

“For the purpose of initial planning, CDC provided states with certain planning assumptions as they work on state specific plans for vaccine distribution, including possibly having limited quantities of vaccines in October and November,” a CDC spokeswoman told Reuters. 

The New York Times had earlier reported that the CDC had contacted officials in all 50 states and five large cities with the documents. The country's top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci earlier on Wednesday said on MSNBC that based on the patient enrollment rate in Covid-19 vaccine trials underway, there could be enough clinical data to know by November or December that one of the vaccines is safe and effective. 

The documents put online by the New York Times showed that the CDC is preparing for one or two vaccines for Covid-19 to be available in limited doses as soon as late October. The vaccines may be available free of cost first to high-risk groups including health care works, national security personnel, residents and staff at COVID-19 long-term care facilities, the agency said in the documents. 

Drug developers including Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc are leading the race to develop a safe and effective vaccine for the respiratory illness. The documents describe two vaccine candidates that must be stored at temperatures of -70 and -20 degrees centigrade. Those storage requirements match profiles of candidates from Pfizer and Moderna. (Reuters)
 

Former Italiam PM Silvio Berlusconi positive for coronavirus

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has tested positive for Covid-19, according to a spokeswoman.

The 83-year-old billionaire will continue working in isolation at his home in Arcore, near Milan, his staff said in a statement, according to Reuters.

CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus USA: how many vaccines could fail according to federal advisers?

Our report

There are currently 33 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation and six being supported by the OWS in Phase III trials. Not all of them will be licensed. Read more below...

US attorney general says mail-in voting is 'playing with fire'

US Attorney General William Barr said on Wednesday that mail-in ballots for the 3 November election could be vulnerable to fraud, echoing an argument President Donald Trump has made to denounce the use of voting by mail.

"People trying to change the rules to this methodology, which, as a matter of logic, is very open to fraud and coercion. It's reckless and dangerous, and people are playing with fire," Barr said in an interview with CNN.

Experts say voter fraud of any kind is exceedingly rare in the United States. Barr cited a 2005 report by the Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker, which concluded that absentee ballots are the largest source of potential voter fraud. (Reuters)

Biden slams White House coronavirus response as "woefully inadequate"

Joe Biden has once again slammed the Trump adminstration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 185,000 people in the United States.

Biden also criticized the President for "his lack of leadership and "inability to make a deal". Watch the video below (via Politico)...

In Pictures: Gyms allowed to reopen In New York City

Stacy Rollins uses an elliptical machine at Slope Fitness on September 02, 2020 in New York City. Indoor gyms in New York City reopened today after being closed for five months due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Slope Fitness had been closed since March 16. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

 

STIMULUS CHECKS

Stimulus Checks: what has been agreed and what remains to be resolved for a second payment?

Our explainer: Where do things stand with stimulus checks and the coronavirus relief package?

US Republicans criticize Pelosi over hair appointment

U.S. Republicans criticized House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday for going to a hair salon in San Francisco in an apparent violation of the city's coronavirus pandemic regulations, but the Democratic leader said she had been told by the salon the appointment was allowed.

Pelosi briefly addressed the issue to reporters in San Francisco, saying, "I take responsibility for falling for a set-up." 

Under strict rules to combat the coronavirus pandemic, hair salons in San Francisco were still prohibited from admitting customers on Monday, when Pelosi had her appointment, although salons elsewhere in the state and across much of the country were already open.

President Donald Trump and other Republicans seized on a brief video of Pelosi's appointment, which first aired on the Fox News channel, to accuse Pelosi, the most senior elected Democrat in Washington, of hypocrisy.

Trump - who took months to embrace mask-wearing as a way to slow the spread of Covid-19 - used the incident to attack Pelosi, saying on Twitter that she is "constantly lecturing" others.

"The Beauty Parlor owner must really dislike Crazy Nancy Pelosi. Turning her in, on tape, is a really big deal," the president wrote. 

Debunking the "conspiracy theory" about the 6% coronavirus death toll 

The coronavirus death toll in the US officially stands at close to 185,000. However, there has been a theory circulating online, and supported by Donald Trump, that only 6% of those deaths were attributed to the virus, while the other 94% were caused by other serious illnesses. (Trump's tweet on the theory was removed by Twitter).

But CNN reporter and self-proclaimed Trump fact-checker, Daniel Dale has followed Dr. Anthony Fauci by futher refuting the so-called conspiracy theory.

"A key thing about the 94% of Covid-19 victims who also have something else listed on the death certificate: that 94% not only includes long-term conditions like obesity, with which they lived before getting Covid and dying, but *things caused by Covid,* like respiratory failure," he tweeted.

"In other words, this conspiracy theory would have you believe that people whose death certificate lists both Covid-19 and respiratory failure did not actually die of Covid-19, since LOOK! SEE! RESPIRATORY FAILURE, even if the respiratory failure was directly caused by Covid-19."

US death tolls surpasses 185,000

The coronavirus death toll in the United States has surpassed 185,000, according to the latest figures from John Hopkins University.

The US has been the world's worst affected country, with 6,107,350 confirmed cases, and 185,594 deaths.