(SKAGWAY, Ak.) — Hours before an ABC News story about the last COVID-free counties in America published last week, one on the list, Skagway, a 1,000-person community nestled in the Alaskan panhandle, was diagnosing its first coronavirus case. Over the next three days, five people would test positive for COVID-19 in what Mayor Andrew Cremata referred to as “a community spread-type event.”
“A lot of people are blaming the media, saying they jinxed us,” Cremata said.
While five cases might not sound concerning in contrast to the hundreds of thousands of infections that big cities like New York and Los Angeles have reported, Skagway’s five infections prompted swift action: Local officials initiated widespread testing and a shelter-in-place directive for all residents.
“You can market yourself as the community that’s COVID-free, but you also have to be realistic,” Cremata said. “I’d rather be the community that deftly handled the outbreak when it arose.”
Local officials, including the mayor, city manager, police and fire chiefs had an emergency plan in place for when the first case arrived, Cremata explained. The Skagway community also rose to the occasion, he added. One of the individuals who tested positive released their name publicly to speed up contact tracing. Clinic staff worked through the weekend to provide COVID testing and send the test kits on an airplane to Juneau to be analyzed. Residents lit candles in their windows for the health care workers helping around the clock to keep everyone safe.
That community effort was necessitated in part by Skagway’s remote location. The picturesque cruise ship destination, which was a major hub for tourists before the pandemic, isn’t easy to drive to and the border between nearby Canada is closed because of the pandemic. Without summer tourism, the economy is at a standstill and the population has shrunk to offseason levels.
Skagway is also considered a “medically underserved area” by the Department of Health and Human Services, meaning there are too few primary care doctors for the population. There’s no hospital. If someone has a serious medical emergency, like a heart attack, they’re airlifted out by helicopter for treatment.
Then there’s the reality of small-town living, where everyone interacts with everyone. “Even under normal circumstances, if somebody gets a cold in town it spreads like wildfire,” Cremata said. “With something as contagious as COVID, we had to have protocols that recognized our unique situation.”
“It’s a pandemic,” he added. “It’s going to seep into every nook and cranny.”
As of Tuesday, the three remaining locations on ABC News’ COVID-free counties list are Loving, Texas; Esmeralda County, Nevada; and Kalawao County, Hawaii.
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide.
Over 40.5 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis — through clinical means or a lab test — has varied from country to country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 8.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 220,417 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 880,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 857,000 cases and over 756,000 cases, respectively.
More than 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern: Oct 20, 1:39 pm Over 299,000 excess deaths in US this year, two-thirds attributed to COVID-19, says CDC
The official COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. “might underestimate the total impact of the pandemic on mortality,” according to a new report from the CDC.
“Overall, an estimated 299,028 excess deaths have occurred in the United States from late January through October 3, 2020, with two thirds of these attributed to COVID-19,” the CDC said.
The largest percentage increase in excess deaths was seen in two groups: Hispanic/Latinos and young adults (ages 25-44). ABC News’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
Oct 20, 11:53 am Greece reports record rise in cases
Greece is reporting 667 new COVID-19 cases — the nation’s highest one-day rise.
Greece’s daily increases may appear to be a fraction compared to its European Union neighbors, but the small Mediterranean nation was widely praised in the beginning of the outbreak for containing the spread through strict lockdowns.
Health Minister Vasilis Kikilias has acknowledged pressure is increasing, and according to local media, there’s a fear that a surge in hospitalizations will quickly overwhelm health services.
Greece now has a total of 25,802 COVID-19 cases and at least 520 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.
Oct 20, 11:18 am Heathrow Airport now offering rapid tests to some passengers
London’s Heathrow Airport announced Tuesday that it will now offer a rapid COVID-19 test service for passengers flying to Hong Kong, as a growing list of countries and territories around the world require travelers from the United Kingdom and other “high-risk” places to provide evidence of a negative test result prior to their departure.
The new pre-departure diagnostic tests, a U.K. first, cost 80 pounds (about $104) and aim to provide departing passengers at Heathrow with their results in around 60 minutes. These tests, which include LAMP and Antigen tests, can be processed quickly and without being sent to a laboratory, but aren’t as sensitive or reliable as RT-PCR tests.
“Ultimately, we need a common international standard for pre-departure testing, and we welcome the U.K. government’s recent announcement that it wants to take a global lead in establishing this,” Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said in a statement Tuesday.
Oct 20, 10:34 am India reports lowest daily case count in 3 months
India confirmed another 46,790 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, its lowest daily tally in three months.
An additional 587 deaths from the disease were also registered. The country’s cumulative totals now stand at 7,597,063 confirmed cases and 115,197 deaths, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India is only the second country in the world to surpass 7 million total cases, after the United States.
The vast country of nearly 1.4 billion people was on track to become the pandemic’s worst-hit nation within weeks and overtake the United States, where more than 8.2 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19. But since hitting a peak of 97,894 new cases registered in a single day in September, India’s average number of daily cases has steadily declined.
Oct 20, 10:05 am Pakistan sees 140% increase in COVID-19 deaths
The head of Pakistan’s COVID-19 response, Asad Umar, said Tuesday that the country has seen a 140% increase in deaths from the disease in recent weeks due to people “recklessly ignoring” the social distancing rules.
“If we do not change our current path we will lose both lives and livelihoods,” Umar, who also serves as Pakistan’s planning and development minister, warned in a post on his official Twitter account.
Umar’s warning comes after the National Command and Operations Center registered 618 new cases and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours, a significant jump from the previous day.
Pakistan’s cumulative total now stands at 324,077 cases with 6,673 deaths. Oct 20, 9:40 am Russia reports over 16,000 new cases for 1st time
Russia confirmed another 16,319 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day tally yet.
It’s the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic that Russia’s daily case count has exceeded 16,000.
More than 30% of the newly confirmed cases — 4,999 — were reported in the capital, Moscow, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
An additional 269 deaths from COVID-19 were also registered nationwide in the past 24 hours, just under last week’s peak of 286. The cumulative totals now stand at 1,431,635 cases and 24,635 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters, which noted that the current growth rate in infections is 1.2%.
Although Russia has been breaking its own records for daily case counts and deaths almost every day since Oct. 9, authorities there are resisting shutting down businesses again. Few measures have been imposed in Moscow, the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak and recent surge.
The Eastern European country of 145 million people has the fourth-highest tally of COVID-19 cases in the world, behind only the United States, India and Brazil, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University. ABC News’ Alina Lobzina contributed to this report.
Oct 20, 8:21 am UK to launch controversial vaccine trials where volunteers will be infected
In a bid to speed up the race to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, the U.K. government announced Tuesday morning that it will be launching some controversial vaccine studies known as challenge trials.
In a world first for COVID-19, young healthy volunteers will be vaccinated, then intentionally exposed to the potentially deadly virus in order to test vaccines in a controlled environment. Although some medical experts view them as ethically questionable, the benefit of challenge trials is that they can be completed in a much shorter timeframe than typical late-stage studies.
The experiment will take place in a quarantine ward of a hospital in north London. After inhaling a diluted dose of the virus, the trial participants will be closely monitored, thus enabling scientists and doctors to better understand the disease and how a vaccine can fight it.
“Human challenge studies can increase our understanding of COVID-19 in unique ways and accelerate development of the many potential new COVID-19 treatments and vaccines,” said Dr. Chris Chiu of Imperial College London’s Department of Infectious Disease, a lead researcher on the human challenge study.
Oct 20, 8:08 am Italy’s hard-hit Lombardy region to impose curfew
The Italian region that was once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic will soon impose a nightly curfew, following a sharp rise in infections.
A curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time is expected to begin in Italy’s northern Lombardy region on Thursday night and last until at least Nov. 13. All residents must stay home during this period, unless for reasons of health, work or necessity. Non-food shops and retail centers will also be shut on weekends.
Lombardy’s regional government received authorization on Monday from Italian Health Minister Robert Speranza to implement more restrictive measures.
The move comes after Italy reported 10,010 new cases of COVID-19 last Friday, the country’s highest daily tally since the start of its outbreak, shattering a previous record of 8,804 set last Thursday. Lombardy had the greatest number of cases of any other region that day, at 2,419.
Overall, Italy has confirmed at least 423,578 cases with 36,616 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data from the country’s civil protection agency.
Oct 20, 6:58 am Columbian cyclist Fernando Gaviria tests positive for second time this year
Colombian cyclist Fernando Gaviria has been withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia after testing positive for COVID-19, his team said in a statement Tuesday.
It’s the second time Gaviria has tested positive for the disease, after contracting it in March.
All other riders and staff members on Gaviria’s UAE Team Emirates had negative test results but will be tested again Tuesday.
“Gaviria was immediately isolated following the test result and is feeling well and is completely asymptomatic,” the team said in the statement.
Gaviria, who has won five stages at the Giro d’Italia during his career, is not the first to withdraw from the annual road cycling stage race due to COVID-19. Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk, Britain’s Simon Yates and Australia’s Michael Matthews were all forced to pull out last week after testing positive.
The Giro d’Italia, the second Grand Tour of 2020 after the Tour de France took pace between August and September, kicked off on Oct. 3 after initially being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The race concludes on Oct. 25.
Oct 20, 5:30 am Outbreak at Kansas nursing home kills 10 residents
A COVID-19 outbreak at a privately-owned nursing home in northwestern Kansas has killed at least 10 residents, officials said.
All 62 residents at the Andbe Home in Norton, a four-hour drive from Wichita, have tested positive for COVID-19. Ten have since died, one remains hospitalized and the other 51 are being cared for at the nursing home, according to a press release from the Norton County Health Department.
Some staff members have also tested positive for COVID-19 and the remaining staff are being tested. The Norton County Health Department said it has been working with the Andbe Home, Norton County Hospital and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment regarding the outbreak.
“Steps are being taken to prevent any further outbreak including quarantining residents in their room and not allowing outside visitors into the facility,” the agency said in Monday’s press release. “Family members of the residents have been notified.”
Northwestern Kansas has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks, and Norton County had the greatest number of new cases per 100,000 residents of any county in the United States for the two weeks ending Sunday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Cases in Norton County, which is home to some 5,400 residents, increased from 46 two weeks ago to 340 as of Monday, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Oct 20, 5:06 am Analysis shows rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations in 41 US states
An ABC News analysis of COVID-19 trends across all 50 U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico found there were increases in hospitalizations over the past two weeks in 41 states.
The analysis also found increases in newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 39 states, increases in the daily positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in 27 states and increases in daily COVID-19 death tolls in 13 states.
Over the last five weeks, cases have been steadily increasing across the nation. The United States is currently averaging over 55,000 new cases a day — the highest that average has been since Aug. 5. New cases have surged by over 61% since Sept. 12. Meanwhile, current COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to hover between 36,000 and 37,000.
In the past week alone, the country has recorded nearly 386,000 new cases, including two days where there were over 60,000 cases reported — the highest daily figures since late July.
Sixteen states reported record weekly increases in new cases. Fourteen states hit a record number of current COVID-19 hospitalizations last week, while two states saw a record number of current hospitalizations in a day. Two states reported their highest weekly death tolls from COVID-19.
This week, the United States is on track to top one million cases for the month of October, making it the fourth month on record to surpass the grim milestone.
The trends were all analyzed from data collected and published by the COVID Tracking Project over the past two weeks, using the linear regression trend line of the seven-day moving average to examine whether a state’s key indicators were increasing, decreasing or remained flat.
Oct 20, 4:36 am US reports more than 58,000 new cases as death toll tops 220,000
There were 58,387 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is up by more than 10,000 from the previous day but remains under the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 445 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Monday, up by 56 from the previous day’s death toll and down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 8,214,754 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 220,133 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
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 and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July. The daily tally of new cases has gradually come down since then but has started to climb again in recent weeks.
The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the United States continued to increase by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of new deaths from the disease also ticked upward, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Monday night.
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide.
Over 40 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis — through clinical means or a lab test — has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 8.1 million diagnosed cases and at least 219,674 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 875,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 854,000 cases and over 755,000 cases, respectively.
More than 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least 10 of which are in crucial phase three studies. Of those 10 potential vaccines in late-stage trials, there are currently five that will be available in the United States if approved.
Here’s how the news is developing Monday. All times Eastern:
Oct 19, 8:47 pm
Trump administration throws out ventilators sent from Russia
The Trump administration has thrown out 45 ventilators that Russia sent the U.S. last spring, the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed in a statement Monday.
The ventilators were delivered as part of a medical aid flight sent last spring by Russian President Vladimir Putin to President Donald Trump.
“He offered a lot of medical, high quality stuff that I accepted and that may save a lot of lives. I’ll take it every day,” Trump said at the time of the flight, dismissing questions about whether it was Russian propaganda.
ABC was first to report last spring that the U.S. was billed some $660K for the Russian aid supplies, which included thousands of pieces of equipment not typically used in hospitals, like chemical warfare-style gas masks and household cleaning gloves.
When asked whether the U.S. would get its money back, a FEMA spokeswoman suggested that money never changed hands because the supplies are now regarded as a “donation.”
“Therefore, no payment was required by the U.S. for the donated goods,” she said.
New York and New Jersey had received the ventilators but quickly returned them to the federal stockpile without ever having used them, following reports that five coronavirus patients in St. Petersburg were killed in fires linked to overloaded ventilators.
“The donated ventilators in question were disposed of following strict hazardous waste disposal regulatory guidelines,” the FEMA spokeswoman said.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Oct 19, 6:12 pm
Ireland issues strict new lockdown measures
In an effort to stem rising coronavirus cases, Ireland will enter a six-week national lockdown starting Wednesday, according to the Irish government.
Ireland’s lockdown, which mandates that nonessential employees work from home, residents stay within a 5-kilometer radius of their homes, and nonessential businesses close, is among the strictest in Europe.
Unlike Ireland’s strict lockdown in the spring, however, schools will remain open for now.
Oct 19, 5:19 pm
California board to independently review vaccine before distribution
California will only distribute COVID-19 vaccines after they’ve been independently approved by a state board, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a Monday news conference.
The board will be made up of 11 experts from California universities and is meant to dispel vaccine hesitancy following the intense politicization already surrounding the potential vaccine.
Newsom also urged patience. “Don’t expect that you’ll go down to a local pharmacy anytime in this calendar year and get a vaccination,” he said.
Instead, most Californians can expect to be vaccinated in 2021, according to the governor.
Oct 19, 4:04 pm
NYC schools test thousands of students and staff, find few infections
Despite opening in person for classes amid rising COVID-19 cases, few infections have been tied to New York City public schools, according to early data from the city’s department of education.
Of the 16,298 tests the department has received results for, only 28, or 0.17%, are positive. Of those infections, 20 are among staff members and eight among students, a department spokesperson told ABC News on Monday.
Oct 19, 2:05 pm
Independent watchdog to investigate political pressure on CDC, FDA
The Government Accountability Office, an independent arm of Congress, has agreed to investigate allegations that the Trump administration applied political pressure to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, undermining the agencies’ credibility and independence.
Senate Democrats first appealed to the watchdog agency in a letter on Oct. 8.
Oct 19, 12:16 pm India records lowest daily death toll in 3 months
India registered another 579 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, its lowest daily tally in three months.
An additional 55,722 cases were also confirmed. The country’s cumulative totals now stand at 7,550,273 confirmed cases and 114,610 deaths, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India is only the second country in the world to surpass 7 million total cases, after the United States. Since hitting a peak of 97,894 new cases registered in a single day in September, India’s average number of daily cases has steadily declined.
The vast country of nearly 1.4 billion people is still on track to become the pandemic’s worst-hit nation within weeks, overtaking the United States, where more than 8.1 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Oct 19, 11:56 am Belgium faces ‘tsunami’ of new cases, health minister warns
A midnight curfew went into effect across Belgium on Monday while bars and restaurants have been ordered to close except for providing takeaway service, as the European nation faces a “tsunami” of new COVID-19 infections.
“We are really very close to a tsunami,” Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told broadcaster RTL. “We no longer control what is happening.”
Belgium, which is home to the European Union’s headquarters, has the second-highest COVID-19 infection rate per capita in Europe, after the Czech Republic. Over the past two weeks, Belgium recorded 756.9 cases per 100,000 people, compared with Czech Republic’s 858.6 cases per 100,000, according to data released Monday by the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Belgium has confirmed 222,253 cases and at least 10,413 deaths. The 14-day incidence of COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants was up 221% on Sunday, according to data from the country’s public health agency.
Oct 19, 11:26 am South Africa’s health minister tests positive
South Africa’s health minister, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19.
“I wish to inform the public that this afternoon my wife, Dr May Mkhize and I have tested positive for COVID-19,” he said in a statement posted on his official Twitter account Sunday. “We decided to go test yesterday when I started showing mild symptoms. I was feeling abnormally exhausted and as the day progressed, I started losing appetite.”
“My wife had a cough, was dizzy and extremely exhausted,” he continued. “Given her symptoms, the doctors advised that she must be admitted for observation and rehydration.”
Mkhize said their close contacts over the past week, including some colleagues and family members, have been informed of their positive test results and were advised to immediately self-isolate and get tested.
“I am now in quarantine at home and both my wife and I remain optimistic that we will fully recover from this virus,” he said.
The health minister warned of a possible second wave of infections and urged his fellow South Africans to continue wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and washing hands.
“I wish to take this opportunity to urge all South Africans to continue adhering to health protocols,” he said. “As country, we’ve made significant strides in our fight against this pandemic. Let us not dare regress.”
South Africa accounts for nearly half of all confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent. As of Monday, South Africa has reported 703,793 confirmed cases with at least 18,471 deaths, according to data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oct 19, 11:08 am UNICEF stockpiling half a billion syringes this year ahead of vaccine
The United Nations Children’s Fund said it will stockpile 520 million syringes in its warehouses by the end of the year to begin preparations for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The effort is part of a larger plan of delivering over 1 billion syringes to support vaccination efforts, on top of 620 million syringes that the U.N. agency will purchase for other vaccination programs against other disease such as measles and typhoid.
“Vaccinating the world against COVID-19 will be one of the largest mass undertakings in human history, and we will need to move as quickly as the vaccines can be produced,” UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement Monday. “In order to move fast later, we must move fast now. By the end of the year, we will already have over half a billion syringes pre-positioned where they can be deployed quickly and cost effectively. That’s enough syringes to wrap around the world one and a half times.”
Oct 19, 9:55 am TSA screens over 1 million people for 1st time since March
More than 1 million people went through airport security checkpoints across the United States on Sunday for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1,031,505 individuals on Sunday, the most since mid-March. Although that figure is still some 60% lower than this time last year, it’s a significant jump from a low of 87,534 people screened on April 14. ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
Oct 19, 9:19 am Wales to enter two-week ‘firebreak’ lockdown from Friday
Wales will become the second nation in the United Kingdom to enter a lockdown to combat a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
The Welsh government announced on Monday its decision to impose a two-week “firebreak,” beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Everyone will be required to stay home and non-essential businesses, such as bars, gyms, restaurants and retail shops, must close until Nov. 9. There will be exceptions for critical workers and those who cannot do their jobs from home.
Libraries and places of worship will also be shut down across the country.
“This is the shortest we can make it, but that means it needs to be sharp and deep to have the impact against the virus we need it to have,” Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said Monday.
Northern Ireland started a “circuit breaker” lockdown last Friday, closing schools for two weeks while banning most social gatherings and shutting down many business for a month.
Oct 19, 8:28 am Top Palestinian official battling COVID-19 in ‘critical’ condition
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat was placed in a medically-induced coma and is listed in critical condition at an Israeli hospital, where he’s being treated for COVID-19 complications.
Erekat was transported by ambulance from his home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem on Sunday, more than a week after he had announced testing positive for COVID-19. The 65-year-old has a history of health problems and received a lung transplant in the United States in 2017.
“Mr. Erekat had a quiet night but this morning his condition deteriorated, which is now defined as critical, and due to respiratory distress, he was resuscitated and placed under general anesthesia,” Hadar Elboim, a spokesperson for Hadassah Medical Center, told ABC News in a statement Monday.
“Mr. Erekat poses a huge challenge to the treatment of corona as he is lung transplanted with suppression of the immune system, and with bacterial infection in addition to corona,” Elboim added. “Hadassah, with its most senior professional physicians, is in international medical contact regarding the policy of treating such a complex patient. Hadassah will continue to update his family as usual regarding his condition and will update the Palestinian Authority as he is a senior official there.”
Erekat, who serves as the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is one of the most senior advisors to the Palestinian president. He is a longtime proponent of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Oct 19, 8:02 am New York Gov. Cuomo ‘not that confident’ in FDA’s vaccine approval process
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’s not confident in the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for a COVID-19 vaccine, and that the American public shouldn’t be either.
“I’m not that confident, but my opinion doesn’t matter. I don’t believe the American people are that confident,” Cuomo told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on Good Morning America.
“I think it’s going to be a very skeptical American public about taking the vaccine, and they should be,” he added.
Cuomo said he plans to assemble a group of doctors and medical experts to review any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the FDA before affirming its efficacy and safety for New York state residents.
“But I believe all across the country you’re going to need someone other than this FDA and this CDC saying it’s safe,” he said, before adding that the two federal agencies don’t “have any credibility.”
The New York governor also expressed concern over comments Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes, in which he admitted that the White House has restricted “many, many, many” of his media appearances since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“You have Dr. Fauci now saying that they basically tried to muzzle him,” Cuomo said. “He has the highest credibility in the nation on this issue.”
Oct 19, 7:19 am Italy imposes tighter restrictions as cases surge
Further restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 came into effect in Italy on Monday, after a sharp rise in infections.
Under the new measures, all bars, pubs and restaurants across the European country must close from midnight until 5 a.m., while gambling venues must close at 9 p.m. Restaurants are allowed to serve no more than six people per table and only after 6 p.m.
Local festivals are now banned, and mayors can close streets and public squares after 9 p.m. to halt gatherings.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that gyms and swimming pools may also be shut down next week if they don’t follow the safety protocols.
“These measures are aimed to avoid another lockdown,” Conte said Sunday while announcing the new rules. “The country cannot face another lockdown that would compromise the economic fabric of the country.”
The move comes after Italy, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, confirmed 11,705 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, an all-time high.
Oct 19, 6:38 am Russia reports nearly 16,000 new cases in new record high
Russia confirmed another 15,982 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, its highest daily tally yet.
An additional 179 deaths from COVID-19 were also registered in the past 24 hours, down from last week’s peak of 286. The cumulative totals now stand at 1,369,313 cases and 23,723 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
The country of 145 million people has the fourth-highest tally of COVID-19 cases in the world, behind only the United States, India and Brazil.
More than 33% of the newly confirmed cases — 5,376 — and over 28% of the newly registered deaths — 51 — were reported in the capital, Moscow, according to country’s coronavirus response headquarters.
Although Russia has been breaking its own records for daily case counts and deaths almost every day since Oct. 9, authorities there are resisting shutting down businesses again. Few measures have been imposed in Moscow, the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak and recent surge.
Oct 19, 6:19 am Global case count tops 40 million
More than 40 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The global tally crossed the 40 million mark on Monday morning in yet another grim milestone of the pandemic.
The United States has the highest number of diagnosed cases of any country, with more than 8.1 million, but is closely followed by India, which has over 7.5 million. Brazil, Russia and Argentina are also in the top five, according to Johns Hopkins data.
Oct 19, 6:08 am Top Palestinian official taken to Israeli hospital for COVID-19
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, who is battling COVID-19, was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Israel on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Erekat, who lives in the town of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, disclosed earlier this month that he had contracted COVID-19. The 65-year-old has a history of health problems and received a lung transplant in the United States in 2017.
“Following his contraction of COVID-19, and due to the chronic health problems he faces in the respiratory system, Dr. Erekat’s condition now requires medical attention in a hospital,” the Palestinian Liberation Organization said in a statement Sunday.
Erekat’s brother told Agence France-Presse that “his situation is not good.”
Erekat, who serves as the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is one of the most senior advisors to the Palestinian president. He is a longtime proponent of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been more than 42,490 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with at least 381 deaths in the West Bank.
Oct 19, 5:16 am Nationwide mask mandate and other new restrictions take force in Switzerland
A nationwide mask-wearing mandate and other new restrictions took force in Switzerland on Monday, amid a growing number of COVID-19 infections.
People must now wear face masks in publicly accessible indoor spaces and at all public transport access points across the Central European country, including airports, bus and tram stops, railway stations, restaurants, shops and theaters. Masks have already been required on all public transport since July.
Moreover, spontaneous gatherings of more than 15 people in public areas are no longer permitted. Masks are now required for all private events with more than 15 people. People may only consume food and drink while sitting down, and the contact details of all those taking part must be recorded.
In addition, patrons in all restaurants and entertainment venues also may only consume food and drink while sitting.
The federal government is again recommending people to work from home, as it did in March.
The Swiss Federal Council announced the new measures on Sunday.
Switzerland has confirmed more than 74,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 1,823 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.
Oct 19, 4:22 am US reports more than 48,000 new cases
There were 48,210 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Sunday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is down by nearly 10,000 from the previous day and also falls under the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 389 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Sunday, almost half the previous day’s death toll and down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 8,154,935 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 217,700 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
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 and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July. The daily tally of new cases has gradually come down since then but has started to climb again in recent weeks.
The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the United States continued to increase by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of new deaths from the disease ticked upward slightly, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Friday night.
(STAMFORD, Conn.) — An attorney charged with murder conspiracy in the mysterious disappearance of Jennifer Faber Dulos, a Connecticut mother of five who vanished in 2019, was released from jail on Monday on $246,000 bond after a judge agreed to allow him to go visit his sick father.
Kent Mawhinney is the former civil attorney of Fotis Dulos, who died from an apparent suicide earlier this year after being charged with murder in his estranged wife’s disappearance. Mawhinney and Dulos’ former girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, were both subsequently arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and hindering prosecution in the sensational case.
Last week, a Superior Court judge in Stamford, Connecticut, granted a request from Mawhinney to reduce his bond from $2 million to $246,000 in cash and real estate and a conditional release from jail to travel to Florida to visit his sick father, according to ABC affiliate station WTNH-TV in New Haven.
Mawhinney’s 86-year-old father is battling lymphoma and prostate cancer that spread to his spine and ribs, according to a motion filed by Mawhinney’s lawyer. Manhinney’s mother and father helped secure their son’s bond by putting up a home they own in Manchester, Connecticut, as collateral, according to the motion obtained by the Stamford Advocate newspaper.
Mawhinney, whose law license was suspended after he was charged, has been held at the Cheshire Correctional Institution since his arrest in January.
He was taken to court on Monday and fitted with a GPS tracking device before being allowed out, according to the motion. Mawhinney is also required to surrender his passport and get permission to leave Connecticut. His trip to Florida to visit his ailing dad has been pre-approved by the court.
Mawhinney refused to answer questions from reporters when he walked out of the courthouse’s front door wearing a suit, tie and face mask. He was accompanied by his attorneys on Monday morning.
Mawhinney went from being Fotis Dulos’ civil attorney to his co-defendant in January when he and Troconis were allegedly implicated and charged in the suspected slaying of Jennifer Dulos. Mawhinney has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Jennifer Dulos, 50, who lived in New Canaan, was last seen on May 24, 2019, dropping off her children at school. Her Chevrolet Suburban was later found abandoned near Waveny Park in New Canaan.
Connecticut State Police investigators said they discovered blood and other evidence, leading them to suspect that Jennifer Dulos was killed in the garage of her own New Canaan home. State police alleged in court papers that Fotis Dulos, who was a real estate developer, was “lying in wait” for Jennifer Dulos at her home and a violent assault took place in the garage, where bloodstains were found.
Investigators said they obtained video of a person they believe to be Fotis Dulos riding a bicycle near Jennifer Dulos’ home around the time she disappeared.
Authorities allege Jennifer Dulos was killed at her home on May 24 between 8:05 a.m. and 10:25 a.m — after she returned from taking her children to school, according to an arrest warrant for Fotis Dulos. Police alleged Fotis Dulos bound his estranged wife with zip ties, put her inside her own car and cleaned the garage before disposing the body, according to an arrest warrant.
At the time of her disappearance, Jennifer Dulos was involved in a bitter child custody battle with her estranged husband, alleging in court papers that he had “physically threatened, stalked or assaulted” her.
“I am afraid of my Husband,” Jennifer Dulos alleged in court documents. “I know that filing for divorce, and filing this Motion will enrage him. I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way.”
In early January, Fotis Dulos was charged with capital murder, murder and kidnapping in his wife’s disappearance despite her body never being found. He was placed on house arrest after being released from jail on a $6 million bond.
Just weeks after he was charged, Fotis Dulos was found unresponsive at his Farmington, Connecticut, home after inhaling poisonous carbon monoxide. He died two days later at a hospital, allegedly leaving behind a suicide note proclaiming his innocence and that of everyone charged in connection with his estranged wife’s disappearance.
“I refuse to spend even an hour more in jail for something I had NOTHING to do with,” Flotis Dulos allegedly wrote in the suicide note obtained by ABC News. “I want it to be known that Michelle Troconis had nothing to do with Jennifer’s disappearance. And neither did Kent Mawhinney.”
(FORT COLLINS, Colorado) — Hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado continue to go up in flames as firefighters fight several wildfires throughout the state, including one that has been burning for over two months.
The Cameron Peak Fire, which began on Aug. 13, is the largest recorded wildfire in Colorado’s history, according to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center. The fire, located west of Fort Collins, burned 203,253 acres and was 62% contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to fire officials and the U.S. Forest Service.
About 1,542 firefighters were battling the blaze in different sections, the U.S. Forest Service said in a news release.
“In anticipation of the fire advancing, crews and heavy equipment built contingency lines and focused on structure protection,” the agency said in a statement.
Officials said improving weather conditions have helped firefighters — on Saturday evening, wind speeds were reduced and the humidity shifted to a safer level for the firefighters, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
“Fire managers will take advantage of this weather change to utilize aircraft and employ aggressive fire suppression actions,” the agency said in a statement.
A chance of snow Sunday night is expected to bring relief but higher wind gusts are also in the forecast, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
In the meantime, the state is dealing with other smaller fires that are burning in different areas.
The Calwood Fire, located just north of Boulder, erupted Saturday and has burned 8,788, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Firefighters have not contained any part of the blaze as of Sunday afternoon, the agency said.
The East Troublesome Fire, which is located just north of route 40, burned 11,562 acres and was 5% contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Colorado’s fires are part a surge in dangerous wildfires that have spread throughout the West Coast and Rocky Mountain region since the summer.
Scientists and meteorologists say climate change has been the leading factor behind the rise in fires, as rising temperatures, drier air and strong wind gusts have fueled and strengthened the fires.
Last week, there were at least four dozen large uncontained wildfires burning in western states, forcing evacuations in several towns in California and Colorado.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported that wildfires in California this year have burned through more than 4.1 million acres, damaged over 5,400 structures and killed eight people.
ABC News’ Matt Fuhrman and Daniel Peck contributed to this report.