Samara Heisz/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 88 million people worldwide and killed over 1.9 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Jan 08, 9:24 am Hospitalizations on rise in London, mayor declares ‘major incident’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a “major incident” as the virus’ spread threatens to overwhelm the city’s hospitals.
One in 30 Londoners now has COVID-19, the mayor said.
The city has 7,034 people currently hospitalized — a 35% increase from the April peak.
The number of people in hospitals jumped by 27% from Dec. 30 to Jan. 6, Khan said.
The London Ambulance Service is now taking up to 8,000 calls per day, when an average day would bring 5,500 calls.
“The stark reality is that we will run out of beds for patients in the next couple of weeks unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically,” Khan said. “We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.”
(NEW YORK) — As rioters stormed Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., protesters in support of President Donald Trump — mostly unmasked — convened in cities across the U.S. California
Pro-Trump and anti-Trump protesters gathered at Los Angeles City Hall at about 1 p.m. PT., the Los Angeles Police Department said.
When some pro-Trump protesters attempted to “take” an intersection, they were met by anti-Trump protesters, resulting in a physical confrontation, police said.
“The LAPD’s Metropolitan Division was at the scene but did not engage in any crowd management or crowd control,” police said.
An unlawful assembly was declared and six people were arrested: three for carrying unpermitted items while attending a public demonstration, two for failing to disperse and one for resisting/obstructing an officer. Washington state
Shortly before 3 p.m. PT, protesters gained access to the grounds of the Washington state Governor’s Mansion in Olympia, Washington, Washington State Patrol spokesman Darren Wright said.
The state patrol responded to the first call of a breach and officers dispersed the crowd, Wright said.
“They did not make access to the entrance itself, just to the grounds,” Wright said, adding that the protest was peaceful.
No arrests were made, he said.
The state patrol is investigating how the breach occurred, he said.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a video message that he was safe. Oregon
Altercations erupted at the Oregon Capitol in Salem “despite repeated attempts to keep opposing groups from converging toward violence,” Salem police said.
The altercations “ended swiftly when officers arrived,” police said.
“No force was necessary to separate the two groups,” police added.
The Oregon State Police, who declared the event an unlawful assembly, said one person was arrested for harassment and disorderly conduct. Utah
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that one of its photographers was pepper-sprayed and verbally harassed while covering the protest.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox tweeted in response, “This is disgusting. We will work with Capitol security to ensure the perpetrator(s) are held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
While covering a largely peaceful gathering at the Utah Capitol, a @SLTrib photographer was pepper sprayed and verbally attacked. Executive editor @laurengustus condemns this unacceptable attack on local journalism. https://t.co/8VWZKEr3xG
About 700 to 800 people came to the lawn of Michigan’s Capitol in Lansing, some bringing rifles and “Stop the steal” signs, The Detroit Free Press reported.
One woman held a sign that said, “ELECTION #’S AS PHONY AS COVID #’S”.
No one tried to get inside the building, the Free Press said, and the state police called the crowd “cooperative.” Colorado
Hundreds of Trump supporters united outside Colorado’s Capitol in Denver for a peaceful rally, The Denver Post reported.
Some wore helmets, knee pads and gloves with hardened knuckles, while others held signs that said “Media is the virus,” the Post reported.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said he instructed city municipal buildings to close early “out of an abundance of caution.” Minnesota
About 500 Trump supporters, some clad in Colonial-era costumes, assembled at Minnesota’s Capitol in St. Paul, The Star Tribune reported.
Some protesters laughed when they learned about the mob sieging the U.S. Capitol in D.C., the newspaper said.
“We are going to fight, we are going to go down, there’s going to be casualties,” said local Republican Party leader Alley Waterbury, according to the Tribune. “I’ll be the first casualty, I do not care.”
“This is 1776 … the time for talk is over,” one man told the Tribune. “Be on the right side of history because we are about to make it.”
Minnesota state troopers guarded the Capitol entrances. A few protesters went from the Capitol to the governor’s home, which was guarded by state troopers, according to the newspaper. Arizona
About 1,000 Trump supporters converged at Arizona’s Capitol in Phoenix for a 10-hour-long protest, The Arizona Republic reported.
A few Trump supporters banged on state Capitol building’s doors, shouting “Freedom!” and yelling for the governor, the newspaper reported.
Some protesters brought a wooden guillotine with a Trump flag on it, the Republic reported.
Myriam Borzee/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 87.1 million people worldwide and killed over 1.8 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing Thursday. All times Eastern:
Jan 07, 9:13 am 1 in every 4 or 5 people testing positive in LA
Los Angeles County reported 258 new deaths and 11,841 new cases on Wednesday.
County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday, “Today, I am more troubled than ever before.”
During the summer, 1 in every 10 people tested were positive; now, 1 in every 4 or 5 people are testing positive, she said.
The rate of transmission this month is almost double that of December and Los Angeles County hospitals are admitting more patients than they can discharge, she said.
Some paramedics told ABC News they’ve seen as many as 22 ambulances stacked up in hospital parking lots this week. They said they felt helpless waiting.
“They signed up to take care of people, not wait with people in agony,” EMT Bill Weston told ABC News.
“This is by far the worst disaster I’ve ever been involved in,” he said.
Jan 07, 8:43 am 787,000 workers filed for unemployment insurance last week
About 787,000 workers lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
This is a decrease of 3,000 compared to last week’s figure — but the weekly tally still remains highly elevated by historical standards.
The DOL also said that more than 19 million people were still receiving some form of government unemployment benefits as of the week ending Dec. 19. For the comparable week in 2019, that figure was 1.8 million.
The latest data shows the ongoing pain to the labor market brought on by the pandemic-induced recession. It also comes some nine months since the virus arrived in the U.S., but as cases and hospitalizations continue to reach record highs across the country.
Thursday’s initial unemployment claims data also comes a day ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated job’s report from the DOL, which is set to provide more details on the economy and the road towards a recovery.
Jan 07, 5:58 am Japan declares state of emergency in greater Tokyo area
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures on Thursday, amid soaring COVID-19 infections and a growing death toll.
A state of emergency declaration gives the governors of those respective regions the authority to ask residents for cooperation in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. There are currently no legal ramifications for non-compliance.
“This global infection has surpassed our imagination and it has turned into a harsh struggle,” Suga said Thursday evening in televised remarks. “However, I believe that we can overcome the situation. In order to do so, once again, we ask people to have a limited lifestyle.”
Under the state of emergency, which takes immediate effect and will last for one month, Suga said governors will ask residents to refrain from dining out and to stay home after 8 p.m. unless for essential reasons. They will also ask companies to decrease the number of employees commuting to work by 70%.
Suga said bars and restaurants will be asked to stop serving alcohol by 7 p.m. and to close by 8 p.m. Governors may disclose the name of the businesses that don’t comply, while those that do will be given 1.8 million Japanese yen ($17,000) per month.
Spectator events will be limited to an audience of 5,000 people. Schools will not be asked to close, according to Suga.
“If we do that, I believe we can overcome the COVID crisis,” he said.
Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, declared a nationwide state of emergency relatively early in the pandemic in April, which lasted for a month. At that time, residents were asked to reduce person-to-person contact by 80% and to practice “jishuku,” or “self-restraint,” by staying at home and closing non-essential businesses.
The move comes after days of record-high numbers of newly confirmed COVID-19 infections. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare confirmed 5,946 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the country’s cumulative total to 257,196 confirmed cases with at least 3,790 deaths.
Jan 07, 4:39 am US sees record number of COVID-19 deaths for second straight day
There were a record 3,865 new deaths from COVID-19 registered in the United States on Wednesday, marking the deadliest day since the start of the pandemic, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the second straight day that the country has logged a record number of fatalities from the disease within a 24-hour reporting period. Wednesday’s count tops the previous day’s peak of 3,775 deaths, Johns Hopkins data shows.
Meanwhile, 253,145 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed nationwide on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive day that the country has reported more than 200,000 newly confirmed infections. Wednesday’s tally is less than the all-time high of 297,491 new cases, which the country logged the previous day, according to Johns Hopkins data.
COVID-19 data may be skewed due to possible lags in reporting over the holidays followed by a potentially very large backlog.
A total of 21,305,026 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 361,279 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins data. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
Much of the country was under lockdown by the end of March as the first wave of the pandemic hit. By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country’s cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up over the summer.
The numbers lingered around 40,000 to 50,000 from mid-August through early October before surging again to record levels, crossing 100,000 for the first time on Nov. 4 and reaching 200,000 for the first time on Nov. 27.
Jan 07, 12:46 am US could see 438,000 total deaths from COVID-19 by end of month, CDC says
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest ensemble forecast projects a total of up to 438,000 deaths from COVID-19 could be reported nationwide by Jan. 30.
At least 361,072 deaths from the disease have been reported since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The CDC predicts that 12,900 to 24,900 new deaths will likely be reported in the last week of the month.
Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesBy EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Two Louisville police officers have been fired from the department for their roles in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
The terminations of officer Myles Cosgrove and Det. Joshua Jaynes were made official on Tuesday in letters from interim Police Chief Yvette Gentry, who held closed-door hearings with the officers and their attorneys on Monday.
Cosgrove, who fired the shot that killed Taylor per a ballistics analysis, and Jaynes, who prepared the search warrant, received pre-termination letters last week.
Gentry said Cosgrove violated use of deadly force procedure when he fired 16 rounds into Taylor’s apartment. Two rounds hit Taylor, one of which was fatal.
In Gentry’s termination letter to Cosgrove, she said he “did not describe target/threat isolation or target/threat identification but instead you describe flashes that you did not properly evaluate as a threat.”
Gentry wrote that Standard Operating Procedure says the “person against whom the force is used must pose ‘an immediate threat of death or serious injury.'”
Cosgrove’s shots went in three different directions “indicating you did not verify a threat or have a target acquisition,” she wrote.
Gentry said Cosgrove also violated Standard Operating Procedure by failing to activate his camera in recording mode.
“Despite your years of service, I cannot justify your conduct nor in good conscience recommend anything less than termination,” she wrote.
Cosgrove’s attorney, Jarrod Beck, said Dec. 29, “I can confirm that Mr. Cosgrove has received a pre-termination notice. Otherwise, we have no comment.”
Jaynes wasn’t at the shooting but prepared the search warrant for Taylor’s apartment.
In Gentry’s termination letter to Jaynes, she said he violated the Standard Operating Procedure for truthfulness. She accused him of being untruthful in the search warrant affidavit when he said he verified through a U.S. postal inspector that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend had been receiving packages at Taylor’s address.
“You did not have contact with a US Postal Inspector. You did not ‘verify’ this statement you swore to in the affidavit,” Gentry wrote. “I acknowledge that you believe you prepared the search warrant in good faith. However, you failed to inform the judge that you had no contact with the US Postal Inspector. Your sworn information was not only inaccurate; it was not truthful.”
Jaynes’ lawyer, Thomas Clay, said via email on Dec. 29, “I fully expect Mr. Jaynes will be terminated after the ‘hearing’ no matter what the evidence is to the contrary. We will appeal any disciplinary action taken against Mr. Jaynes because I believe the evidence shows he did nothing wrong.”
The officers have the right to appeal, the Fraternal Order of Police said.
Cosgrove and Jaynes had been on administrative reassignment following the March 13 shooting that killed the 26-year-old emergency room technician.
Taylor was shot after officers arrived at her door in the middle of the night trying to execute a “no-knock” warrant as part of an investigation into a suspected drug operation allegedly linked to her ex-boyfriend.
Taylor’s boyfriend, who said he thought intruders were trying to break in, fired a shot. The officers returned fire, fatally shooting Taylor.
One officer, Brett Hankison, was fired and the others were placed on administrative duty. Initially no charges were brought against the officers, igniting protests across the country.
Kentucky State Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the officers were justified in their use of deadly force because Walker fired the first shot.
Months later, Cameron convened a grand jury that indicted Hankison on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for firing into the apartment directly behind Taylor’s, where three people were inside. Hankison pleaded not guilty.
Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who also fired into Taylor’s home, has not been dismissed by the department. Mattingly was shot in the leg during the raid.
None of the officers were charged in connection with Taylor’s death.
Ovidiu Dugulan/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR and ERIN SCHUMAKER, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 86.1 million people worldwide and killed over 1.8 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Jan 06, 8:33 am Surgeon general promises vaccine rollout is ‘ramping up’
In the wake of the slower-than-expected vaccine distribution, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told ABC News’ Good Morning America Wednesday, “we are quickly ramping up.”
Operation Warp Speed promised 20 million vaccines by the end of 2020. As of Tuesday morning, 4.8 million had been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We’re now approaching 500,000 vaccinations per day,” Adams said, highlighting the increase in priority groups and locations where the vaccine is offered.
“We’re going to make sure we’re putting vaccines and supplies where the demand actually is. And you’re going to continue to see these rates ramp up,” Adams said. “It is by no means as good as we would want it to be, but I want the American people to keep this in perspective: most difficult vaccine rollout in history. It’s ramping up and you’ll see things rapidly increase over the next couple of weeks.”
Jan 06, 7:44 am EU medical agency recommends emergency use authorization for Moderna vaccine
The European Medicines Agency has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorization for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for people who are at least 18 years old.
This is the second vaccine the EMA has recommended for authorization. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved by the EU in December.
The EMA cited a large clinical trial, involving around 30,000 people, that showed a 94.1% efficacy rate.
“This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,” said Emer Cooke, executive director of EMA. “It is a testament to the efforts and commitment of all involved that we have this second positive vaccine recommendation just short of a year since the pandemic was declared by WHO.”
The European Commission must give final approval of the conditional marketing authorization in order for the vaccine to be distributed, but that appears to be a formality.
Jan 06, 7:24 am US sees record death total Tuesday
The U.S. recorded it’s deadliest day since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
There were 3,775 deaths reported — the previous record was on Dec. 30 when 3,744 deaths were reported.
It should be noted that the holidays have impacted data being reported and are expected to continue to be skewed over the coming days.
The U.S. now has 375,385 deaths related to COVID-19.
Samara Heisz/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ERIN SCHUMAKER and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
