Coronavirus USA: summary and news - 4th october

Trump does drive-by wave to gathered crowds

Assuming it's not a body-double, there's the president waving to all his supporters that were waiting outside the hospital.

What a lift that will give everyone concerned.

Trump did not disclose first positive test

Mr Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results.

Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second test he had taken that night.

Full story:

Wisconsin worries

Local politicians have asked for them to be cancelled, but it seems as though the Trump campaign are carrying on regardless.

Trump supporters keep following

Some fans of the president opted to skip masks because they were outdoors or are sceptics of the virus’ seriousness as Trump battles coronavirus at the hospital.

I wonder if they know that they don't get to share the same facilities if they catch the virus too...

Trump campaign resumes with Pence at the helm 

President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is deploying Vice President Mike Pence to Arizona next week to resume in-person campaign events even after Trump and several other top Republicans tested positive for Covid-19.

The trip will begin what the campaign is calling "Operation MAGA" – a return of in-person campaign events led by Pence and Trump family members, such as Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Lara Trump, while the president is treated for the virus.

"Vice President Mike Pence, the First Family, our coalitions, and our grassroots supporters will be out in full force to show the real enthusiasm behind the President’s re-election and to show we’re working as hard as he always does," Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who is also sidelined by the virus, said in a statement.

White House acknowledged Trump's condition had been worse than revealed

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed that President Donald Trump's condition on Friday was far worse than officials had made public, saying doctors recommended the president go to the hospital after seeing he had a fever and his blood oxygen level dropped rapidly.

Meadows made the comments in an interview with Fox News broadcast Saturday night that capped two days of conflicting and opaque assessments of the 74-year-old president's health. "I can tell you this the biggest thing we see is with no fever now, and with him doing really well with his oxygen saturation levels," Meadows told Fox host Jeanine Pirro.

“Yesterday morning we were really concerned by that. He had a fever, and his oxygen level had dropped rapidly. Yet in typical style, this president was up and walking around.'

White House officials including Meadows said on Friday that Trump was experiencing "mild symptoms" and continuing to work. He told Fox News however, that doctors from Walter Reed and Johns Hopkins recommended that Trump go to the hospital.

"He's made unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning when I know a number of us, the doctor and I, were very concerned," Meadows said.

Transcript of Trump doctor's update

White House physician Sean Conley said Sunday that his attempt to evade questions Saturday about the president's oxygen levels were not meant to hide information but that he was trying to project optimism.

'We review and debate every finding, compare it to existing science and literature, weighing the risks and benefits of every intervention, its timing, as well as any potential impacts a delay may have. 

Over the course of his illness, the president has experienced two episodes of transient drops in his oxygen saturation. We debated the reasons for this and whether we'd even intervene. Is was the determination of the team based predominantly on the timeline from the initial diagnosis that we initiate dexamethasone.'

Read the full transcript:

Trump's doctor admits conflicting messages on president's condition

Dr Sean Conley has admitted on Sunday morning that he and the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows gave conflicting messages on the president’s health. 

Conley had been upbeat about the president’s health, while White House chief of staff Meadows said there was a high-level of concern. Conley says Meadows’s remarks were “misconstrued” and the chief of staff was referring to Trump’s report before he was admitted to hospital.

Dr Conley: "It came off that we were trying to hide something"

"I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction and in doing so it came off that we were trying to hide something. The fact of the matter is is that he is doing really well."

Trump should be leading by example - Biden Camp

Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director for Joe Biden Kate Bedingfield dismissed claims that the presidential candidate has been seen in public wearing a mask more than usual since Donald Trump was hospitalised with Covid-19  merely as a prop.

"I think that tells you all you need to know about how the Trump Campaign has treated this from the outset," she told This Week. "Joe Biden believes that the words of a president matter, that the actions of a president matter and from the outset he has taken this seriously - he has encouraged to wear a mask, to protect each other, you heard him say that in the clip you played right before we started here. He believes strongly, that the role of the president is to lead and to lead by example and I think Americans are looking for that kind of reassurance. We are obviously in a chaotic, disruptive time in this country. Americans are looking for a leader, they are looking for someone who will stand up and say, 'Let's take care of each other'. There are simple, important steps we can take - like wearing a mask, like socially distancing. We can do that and move forward with our lives". 

Dr Sean Conley says Trump has "continued to improve"

Donald Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, says the president has “continued to improve” since the last medical update on Saturday.

Conley says on Friday morning, the president experienced a drop in oxygen levels and needed to be given supplemental oxygen at the White House for about an hour.

Sean Dooley, a pulmonologist, says the president “remains without fever since Friday morning” and is “not complaining of shortness of breath”. Dooley says Trump is “walking around” and his “cardiac, liver and pulmonary condition” is not a cause for concern. The president may be “discharged as early as tomorrow”.

Donald Trump could be released from hospital on Monday

Dr Brian Garabaldi, says the president may be released tomorrow.

“He has been up and around. Our plan today is to have him eat and drink, be up out of bed,” Garibaldi said. “If he continues to look and feel as well as he does today our hope is to plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the White House where he can continue his treatment course.”

Trump says approval for vaccines has been slowed down

The Guardian - On Thursday, President Trump held a roundtable of 19 top Republican donors at Bedminster, his 36-hole golf course in New Jersey. At the meeting, Trump expressed his frustrations about how his push for a vaccine against Covid-19 was being undermined by the deep state.

According to a description of the meeting recorded on video by one of the donors present, “the president said that the approval for vaccines has been slowed down for political reasons by people who wanted to hurt him”.

The president’s attack on scientists within his own administration seems to have impressed the donors around the table. But what they didn’t know at that time, because Trump did not reveal it, was that just a few hours earlier one of Trump’s closest aides, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for the virus.

Trump has taken Covid-19 pandemic seriously

Donald Trump’s campaign manager Jason Miller insists that the president has taken the Covid-19 pandemic seriously - despite results from a poll suggesting otherwise. 72% of Americans would disagree with that opinion according to a recent Monmouth University poll with 52% thinking the United States has handled the pandemic worse than other countries.

Speaking on ABC’s This Week programme, Miller said, “I think there’s a really important point here is President Trump had to take this head-on. He had to get out there as the leader not just of the country but of the free world and take this head on. We take it very seriously. That’s why we give everyone coming to rallies or to events – we give them masks. We check their temperature.”

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard ramp up Covid-19 testing

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in East Cambridge is at the forefront of the United States Covid-19 testing programme. So far, a total of nearly 3 million coronavirus tests have been conducted at the institute. It is currently running about 70,000 a day which is around 7% of the national total of about 1 million tests per day. It is handling the tests for Massachusetts nursing homes and hot spots, and over 100 colleges. The goal is to hit over 100,000 tests a day soon, said Stacey Gabriel, who oversees all the testing.

Trump feels very well but will remain hospitalized

President Donald Trump feels very well and wants to get back to work at the White House but will remain hospitalized, White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said on Sunday. "I spoke with the Chief of Staff (Mark Meadows) this morning and the good news is the president feels very well and he actually wants to get back home to the White House and get back to work, but I think he's going to stay at Walter Reed for at least another period of time," O'Brien said on CBS's Face the Nation programme.

Cold weather sees nine states reports increases in Covid-19 cases

Nine U.S. states have reported record increases in Covid-19 cases over the last seven days, mostly in the upper Midwest and West where chilly weather is forcing more activities indoors. On Saturday alone, four states - Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin - saw record increases in new cases and nationally nearly 49,000 new infections were reported, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis.

Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new records for cases last week. Daytime highs in many of these states are now in the 50s Fahrenheit (10 Celsius). Health experts have long warned that colder temperatures driving people inside could promote the spread of the virus.

Montana has reported record numbers of new cases for three out of the last four days and also has a record number of Covid-19 patients in its hospitals. Wisconsin has set records for new cases two out of the last three days and also reported record hospitalizations on Saturday. On average 22% of tests are coming back positive, one of the highest rates in the country. 

North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin have the highest new cases per capita in the country. Kentucky is the first Southern state to report a record increase in cases in several weeks. Over the last two weeks, Kentucky has reported nearly 11,000 new cases and has seen hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients rise by 20%.

White House acknowledges Trump's condition was worse than revealed

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed that President Donald Trump's condition on Friday was far worse than officials had made public, saying doctors recommended the president go to the hospital after seeing he had a fever and his blood oxygen level dropped rapidly.

Meadows made the comments in an interview with Fox News broadcast Saturday night that capped two days of conflicting and opaque assessments of the 74-year-old president's health. "I can tell you this the biggest thing we see is with no fever now, and with him doing really well with his oxygen saturation levels," Meadows told Jeanine Pirro. "Yesterday morning we were really concerned by that. He had a fever, and his oxygen level had dropped rapidly. Yet in typical style, this president was up and walking around."

Meadows told Fox News that doctors from Walter Reed and Johns Hopkinsrecommended that Trump be taken to hospital. "He's made unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning when I know a number of us, the doctor and I, were very concerned".

Biden leads by 10 points as majority of Americans say Trump could have avoided coronavirus

Democrat Joe Biden opened his widest lead in a month in the US presidential race after President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, and a majority of Americans think Trump could have avoided infection if he had taken the virus more seriously, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

The 2-3 October national opinion poll gave little indication of an outpouring of support for the president beyond Trump's core group of followers, some of whom have gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where the president has been hospitalized.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic as something that would disappear on its own, chiding Biden as recently as last week for wearing a protective mask, even as the coronavirus infected millions of people and forced businesses and schools to close.

Among those adults who are expected to cast ballots in the3 November election, the poll found that 51% were backing Biden, while 41% said they were voting for Trump. (Reuters)

Only three states reporting declines in new Covid-19 cases

Only three US states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week -- Texas, Missouri and South Carolina.

Twenty-one states reported a rise in cases and while the rest – a little more than half – have seen caseloads remain steady when compared to last week.

The 21 states reporting a rise in new cases are Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Some tips on making money for those out of work

With millions of Americans having lost their jobs in past few months, this CNBC reports has some tips on how to make money if you're looking for work during the coronavirus....

UK PM Johnson sees bumpy Covid winter, but radical changes by spring

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday he expected the next few months of the Covid-19 pandemic to be bumpy, but that things would look radically different in the spring.

"I've got to tell you, in all candour, it's going to continue to be bumpy through to Christmas, it may even be bumpy beyond," Johnson said during an interview on BBC television.

"If you talk to the scientists, they're all virtually unanimous that by the spring things will be radically different and we'll be in a different world, that is the normal cycle of a pandemic like this." (Reuters).

Cineworld to close all U.S., UK and Ireland sites this week

Cineworld, the world's second-biggest cinema operator, will close all its sites in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland this week because of the impact of the coronavirus crisis, a person familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

Cineworld could shut all of its 128 UK and Ireland cinemas

William Barr will not quarantine

Attorney General William Barr said that he will not be not self-isolating despite having been potentially exposed to coronavirus, The New York Times reports. Barr, who attended the White House reception for Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett last weekend, tested negative for the virus on Friday and Saturday.

However, a number of others who attended the event since tested positive - including the President Donald Trump, the First Lady Melania Trump, Senator Mike Lee, White House aide Hope Hicks and former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Trump says real test lies ahead after mixed messages from the White House

President Donald Trump told Americans from his hospital room that the next few days will be the 'real test' of his treatment for Covid-19, after a series of contradictory messages from the White House caused widespread confusion about his condition. In a four-minute video posted on Twitter on Saturday from his hospital suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a tired-looking Trump said he was feeling 'much better.'

"Over the next period of a few days, I guess that's the real test, so we'll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days," Trump said into the camera, seated in front of an American flag and wearing a jacket and open-necked shirt.

The remarks came hours after differing assessments of his health from administration officials left it unclear how ill the president had become since he tested positive for the new coronavirus on Thursday night, a matter of enormous public concern.

A White House team of doctors said on Saturday morning that Trump's condition was improving and that he was already talking about returning to the White House. One doctor said Trump told them, "I feel like I could walk out of here today."

Within minutes, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows gave reporters a less rosy assessment, telling them, "The president's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We're still not on a clear path to a full recovery." Meadows, whose initial comments were delivered on condition that he not be identified, altered his tone hours later, telling Reuters that Trump was doing "very well" and that "doctors are very pleased with his vital signs."

A Trump adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity said the president was not happy to learn of Meadows' initial remarks. 

Trump making progress but not out of danger, doctor says

U.S. President Donald Trump is free of fever and improving after being hospitalized with Covid-19 but is not yet out of danger, his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said late on Saturday. "He spent much of the afternoon conducting business, and has been up and moving about the medical suite without difficulty," Conley said in a statement.

Pompeo shortens upcoming Asia trip

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will depart for Japan on Sunday but will not go to Mongolia and South Korea as originally planned, the State Department said on Saturday, after President Donald Trump was hospitalized with coronavirus.

Initially, Pompeo planned to visit all three countries from 4 - 8 October. He is still set to leave for Tokyo on Sunday but will be returning to Washington on 6 October after consultations with his Japanese counterparts and attending a wider meeting with foreign ministers of India and Australia.

Pompeo said he was in good health but that he canceled his in-person appearance at the event 'out of an abundance of caution.' He said he still planned to go to Asia. "You should know that I’m feeling fine, I’m doing great. I’ve been tested twice in two days. I’m as healthy as I’ve been. And I intend still – I have a trip that I’m planning to take to Asia tomorrow".

 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 7,310,625 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 50,160 from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 816 to 208,118.

The New England Patriots game at the Kansas City Chiefs will not be played Sunday amid positive COVID-19 tests for both teams, the NFL said Saturday.

Britain reported 12,872 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, a record daily figure for the country, with the government blaming the jump on a reporting delay and saying the numbers in coming days would include additional cases.

Police serving a search warrant on Breonna Taylor’s home told investigators they banged on her door and announced themselves from 30 to 90 seconds before breaking in during a raid that ended with the officers fatally shooting her

Mexico’s confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 757,953 on Saturday, according to the health ministry, with a total reported death toll of 78,880.

Trump tweets 'I feel so much better now' 4' video

Speaking from his Maryland hospital, President Trump delivered a four minute video where he thanked the American people for their 'love' and stated that he intends to get back to work as soon as possible withy the election looming in less than a month.

CORONAVIRUS

Second stimulus check: US coronavirus relief-bill update

Second stimulus check: US coronavirus relief-bill update

House Democrats passed the HEROES Act 2.0 on Thursday, as talks over a bipartisan Covid-19 stimulus package continue.

Plenty of questions being asked about the veracity of Dr Conley's press conference

Covid-19 vaccine roll-out expected in less than 3 months in UK -The Times

​​​​​​A mass roll-out of a Covid-19 vaccine in Britain could be finished in as little as three months, the Times reported, citing government scientists.

Scientists working on the Oxford vaccine hope regulators approve it before the beginning of 2021, the newspaper said.

A full Covid-19 immunization programme, which would exclude children, could be quicker than experts predicted, the Times said, adding that health officials estimate that every adult could receive a dose of the vaccine within six months.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it has started reviewing data on AstraZeneca and Oxford University's potential Covid-19 vaccine, in real time, the first of such moves aimed at speeding up any approval process in the region for a vaccine.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie checks into hospital 

Christie reported of having a slight fever and aches but said he felt well enough to drive himself to the hospital.

Chiefs-Patriots NFL game postponed due to positive Covid-19

The reigning Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs' game on Sunday against the visiting New England Patriots will be rescheduled after positive COVID-19 tests impacting both teams, the NFL said on Saturday.

The game will be played on either Monday or Tuesday, the NFL said in a statement while adding that both clubs are working closely with the league to evaluate multiple close contacts and perform additional testing.

This marks the second game of the NFL's 2020 season, which is in its fourth week, impacted by COVID-19 as a match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and host Tennessee Titans originally set for Sunday was rescheduled for Oct. 25.

CORONAVIRUS

Donald Trump's most controversial coronavirus statements

Donald Trump's most controversial coronavirus statements

Donald Trump has made plenty of claims about the coronavirus this year. Here are some of the President's statements regarding the virus he tested positive for on Friday.

CORONAVIRUS

Trump condition 'very worrying' with 'next 48 hours critical', claims White House source

Trump condition 'very worrying' with 'next 48 hours critical', claims White House source

Despite Trump's claims that all is 'going well' with his contracting of Covid-19 contradicting with a White House source who claims that the president's condition is 'worrying'.

US coronavirus latest news 

Welcome to our daily-refreshed, US-focused coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Worldwide there have now been over 34.7 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with over one million deaths. 

In the US, there have been over 7.3 million cases and more than 209,500 deaths.