USA coronavirus: news summary for 31 October

A sign telling people they are not distributing candies on Halloween is pictured outside a restaurant in Brooklyn, as the coronavirus disease outbreak continues, in New York, October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

US Election 2020

What's Donald Trump's plan for Medicare?

What's Donald Trump's plan for Medicare?

With covid-19 cases on the rise healthcare provision is a major issue in the presidential election and Trump has big plans for the vaccine and drug prices.

Melania Trump campaigning in Wisconsin

First lady Melania Trump on Saturday went on the attack against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, while defending her husband's response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

Trump in Pennsylvania 

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The UK goes back into lockdown as covid-19 cases rise

The UK goes back into lockdown as covid-19 cases rise

Bars and restaurants in England will close for four weeks with Wales and Scotland having already imposed their own rules, although schools remain open.

Travelers to New York must quarantine for three days, then get coronavirus test

Most people arriving in New York state must quarantine for at least three days before taking a coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday as he overhauled one of the strictest quarantine regimes for travelers in the United States. If that test comes back negative, the traveler can leave quarantine.

People will also be required to take a test that comes back negative within the three days prior to heading to New York, the governor said.

If the second test taken at least four days after arrival is also negative, "you can go about your business," Cuomo said in a telephone conference with reporters. If it is positive, the person must remain in isolation, he said.

Springsteen voices over Joe Biden promo video

"Scranton, Pennsylvania. Here, success isn't handed down," Springsteen says in the ad hoping to appeal to working class voters. "It's forged with sweat, grit, and determination. This is his hometown."

The Boss adds his support to the Joe Biden campaign

Democratic presidential nominee Biden tested negative for covid-19

​​​​​​Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, his campaign said in a statement.

Johnson points to vaccine as reason for optimism

As part of Saturday's news conference where UK PM Boris Johnson announced new lockdown measures, he did state that the prospect of a vaccine early next year delivered grounds for optimism.

“I am optimistic that this will feel very different and better by the spring. It’s not just that we have ever better medicines and therapies, and the realistic hope of a vaccine in the first quarter of next year,” Johnson stated as part of the news conference.

Covid tests should play bigger role in international travel -WHO expert

Covid tests should be more widely used in international travel than quarantines, the chair of the World Health Organization's Emergency Committee claimed.

Didier Houssin, chair of the independent panel of experts advising WHO on the covid-19 pandemic, said it was important for the U.N. agency to provide fresh guidance on safe international air travel.

"And clearly the use of the tests is certainly now supposed to have a much larger place compared to quarantine, for example, which would certainly facilitate things considering all the efforts which have been made by airlines and by airports," Houssin told a news conference. 

WHO's top emergency expert Mike Ryan said that travelling was now "relatively safe" and posed a "relatively low" health risk, but that "there is no zero risk". 

UK PM Johnson to impose England national lockdown until 2 December

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will impose a new month-long national lockdown in England until Dec. 2, ITV's political editor said on Saturday.

In a delayed press conference Johnson announced restrictions will be similar to those introduced at the start of the pandemic in March, however this time courts, schools, and universities will remain open.

All pubs and restaurants have to close, though takeaways and deliveries will be permitted.

All non-essential retail is to close, and the mixing of people inside homes will be forbidden, except for childcare reasons and other forms of vital support.

Manufacturing and construction will be encouraged to keep going.

Outbound international travel as well as overnight stays away from home will be banned, except for work.

Brazilian health minister in hospital

Eduardo Pazuello is in stable condition in a hospital after being diagnosed with covid-19.

Pazuello checked into a hospital in Brasilia on Friday for dehydration, having tested positive for the coronavirus on 21 October.

J&J plans to test its covid-19 vaccine in ages 12-18 soon

Johnson & Johnson plans to start testing its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in youths aged 12 to 18 as soon as possible, and the company's previous experience with the same technology in a vaccine successfully used in children could give it a leg up with regulators.

"We plan to go into children as soon as we possibly can, but very carefully in terms of safety," J&J's Dr. Jerry Sadoff told a virtual meeting of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Friday.

US signs up pharmacy chains as covid-19 vaccination centres

Several US retail pharmacy chains have agreed to serve as covid-19 vaccination sites under a federal government plan, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A plan by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed companies who have agreed to participate include Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, CVS Health Corp , Walmart Inc, Kroger Co and Costco Wholesale Corp, the report said.

The government would provide the vaccines to the pharmacies free of charge, the Wall Street Journal report said, to help expand and accelerate the public's access to vaccines as supplies increase.

The pharmacies would be involved in the second phase of the planned vaccine rollout in the United States, the report said, with the first phase targeted at healthcare workers and others at high risk of infection.

Supporters of President Donald Trump arrive to a rally on October 31, 2020 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump is crossing the crucial state of Pennsylvania in the last few days of campaigning before Americans goes to the polls on November 3rd to vote. Trump is currently trailing his opponent Joe Biden in most national polls. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

Trump ramps up Biden attacks in final stretch

The president has been using his favoured platform to accuse the Democratic candidate of "selling out to lobbyists, China, big pharma & foreign countries." Trump has been attacking Biden relentlessly in the final stages of the campaign with the challenger leading the incumbent in polls ahead of the November 3 elections. 

Trump criticizes those fighting coronavirus

(Reuters) President Donald Trump is spending the closing days of his re-election campaign criticizing public officials and medical professionals who are trying to combat the coronavirus pandemic even as it surges back across the United States. Campaigning in the Midwest on Friday, Trump delivered a closing message that promised an economic revival and a vaccine to combat Covid-19, which is pushing hospitals to capacity and killing up to 1,000 people in the United States each day. But he also directed attacks beyond just his rival in Tuesday's election, Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump falsely said doctors earn more money when their patients die of the disease, building on his past criticism of medical experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious diseases expert. The president criticized Democratic officials in Minnesota for enforcing social-distancing rules that limited his rally to 250 people. "It's a small thing, but a horrible thing," he said.

UK confirmed covid-19 cases surge past one million mark

The United Kingdom on Saturday passed one million confirmed covid-19 cases, a new milestone as the government considers a new national lockdown in England.

"Between 31 January and 31 October 2020, there have been 1,011,660 people who have had a confirmed positive test result," the government said.

Cases rose by 21,915 from the previous day. The death toll increased by 326.

Slovakia mobilises as bid to covid-test most of country in two days begins

Reuters - Long queues formed outside coronavirus testing centres in Slovakia on Saturday morning, as the country embarked on a bid to test most of the country’s 5.5 million inhabitants over a single weekend.

Up to 20,000 medics plus support teams including soldiers staffed around 5,000 sites to administer the antigen swab tests.

“We didn’t think twice, we were clear since the beginning we would go even if we didn’t have to,” said Katarina Hegerova, 73, after lining up with her husband in the rain for over an hour at a site outside Trencin, a city north of the capital Bratislava.

Household spread of covid-19 is common and quick, new CDC study finds

CNN - The spread of covid-19 among members in a household after one person is infected is "common" and occurs quickly after illness onset, according to a new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The person exposed or suspected of having covid-19 should be isolated before getting tested and before test results come back to protect others in the home, said the study, published Friday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Because prompt isolation of persons with covid-19 can reduce household transmission, persons who suspect that they might have covid-19 should isolate, stay at home, and use a separate bedroom and bathroom if feasible," wrote a CDC-led team of researchers. In addition, all members of the household should wear masks at all times in common spaces, the team said.

Working from home driving many Americans to relocate

Around 14-23 million American workers hope to relocate to a different city or part of the country as  they are now able to work from home rather than the office, a new study released by Upwork showed. "As our survey shows, many people see remote work as an opportunity to relocate to where they want and where they can afford to live," Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Upwork explained. Facebook recently announced plans for half of its employees to work from home permanently.  

US Election 2020

What's Biden's plan for Medicare?

What is Joe Biden's plan for Medicare?

What are the details of Democratic challenger for the presidency Joe Biden's ambitious plan to expand Medicare and reduce costs to patients?

Read more:

U.S. Covid-19 cases are "extremely high and unacceptable" - Fauci

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci says that levels of coronavirus infection in the U.S. are extremely high and dangerous going into the winter months when the pandemic could get even worse. “We never got out of the real wave. We kind of went up and down within a wave,” he explained. “When I hear people talk about second and third waves, it really is the original wave that just resurges up, comes down a little, and resurges up again.”

Covid-19 immunity is wearing off - report

Immunity to Covid-19 gradually wears off as antibody levels decrease, a new study by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI has found. At the beginning of the study, in June, 6% of those who took the tests had IgG antibody responses to the coronavirus, they reported. By September, just 4.4% of them did. For health care workers, the rates stayed about the same.

U.S. is only at ‘the beginning’ of steep coronavirus curve, says doctor

Dr. Scott Gottlieb expects new Covid-19 cases to start rising exponentially in the coming weeks and warned that the U.S. is only at the beginning of the steep part of the curve. Dr. Gottlieb told CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith programme, "You’ll see cases start to accelerate into the coming weeks, I think the inflection point really is going to be Thanksgiving. The reason why it doesn’t feel very bad in most parts of the country right now is because it’s moderately bad everywhere".

U.S. registers 100,000 Covid-19 cases in one day, a new world record

The United States set a new all-time high for coronavirus cases confirmed in a single 24-hour period on Friday, reporting just over 100,000 new infections to surpass the record total of 91,000 posted a day earlier, according to a Reuters tally. The daily caseload of 100,233 is also a world record for the global pandemic, surpassing the 97,894 cases reported by India on a single day in September.

Five times over past ten days, the United States has exceeded its previous single-day record of 77,299 cases registered in July. The number of daily infections reported during past two days indicates that the nation is now reporting more than one new case every second. The spike comes just four days ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.

The United States crossed 9 million cumulative cases on Friday, representing nearly 3% of the population, according to a Reuters tally of publicly reported data. On Friday, 16 U.S. states reported their highest one-day coronavirus infections while thirteen states were at record levels of hospitalized Covid-19 patients. So far in October, 31 states have set records for increases in new cases, including five considered key in the 3 November presidential election: Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen more than 50% in October to 46,000, the highest figure since mid-August.

Coronavirus live US updates: welcome

Hello and welcome to our live, US-focused coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, As we begin our coverage at 04:00 ET on Saturday 31 October, more than 45 million cases and almost 1.19 million deaths have been registered worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In the United States, the world's worst-affected country, positive Covid-19 cases reached the 9 million mark on Friday, while more than 229,700 people have died of the virus.