(DENVER) — A private security guard who claimed self-defense in a fatal shooting following protests in Denver over the weekend will face second-degree murder charges, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Matthew Dolloff, 30, will be charged on Monday for the shooting death of Lee Keltner, said Denver District Attorney Beth McCann. Upon conviction, the felony charge carries a mandatory prison sentence of 16 to 28 years.
Dolloff was hired to protect a KUSA-TV news crew covering dueling protests in Denver’s Civic Center Park on Saturday. One, organized by a local right-wing group, was called a “Patriot Muster,” while a counterprotest by left-wing organizers was billed as a “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive.”
The shooting occurred in a courtyard near the Denver Art Museum following the demonstrations, authorities said. According to a police affidavit, Keltner, 49, a Navy veteran, was leaving the rally organized by the right-wing group Saturday afternoon when he ran into Dolloff. The shooting occurred after a “verbal altercation,” police said Saturday.
Photos of the incident taken by a photographer for the Denver Post showed Keltner initially appear to slap Dolloff in the face. Other photos taken by the Post photographer showed Dolloff drawing a semiautomatic handgun and aiming it at Keltner, who appeared to be spraying a can of pepper spray.
In another photo, Keltner is seen splayed on the ground, a can of pepper spray next to his body, as Dolloff continued to point his gun at him.
Police raced to the scene of the shooting and immediately took Dolloff into custody at gunpoint.
Police said two guns and a can of Mace were recovered at the scene. Officials declined to say earlier this week to whom the guns belonged.
Keltner’s death was ruled a homicide by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.
The Denver Police Department initially announced that the fatal shooting was being investigated as first-degree murder.
KUSA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Denver, released a statement confirming Dolloff was hired through a private security company to protect its news crew covering the two demonstrations.
“It has been the practice of 9NEWS for a number of months to hire private security to accompany staff at protests,” KUSA said in the statement.
Denver investigators refuted rumors that Dolloff was a member of Antifa, a militant left-wing political movement.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson and Clayton Sandell contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 38.5 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 7.9 million diagnosed cases and at least 216,903 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 865,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 832,000 cases and over 741,000 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 Thursday. All times Eastern:
By MORGAN WINSOR, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 38.5 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 7.9 million diagnosed cases and at least 216,903 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 865,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 832,000 cases and over 741,000 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 Thursday. All times Eastern: Oct 15, 1:09 pm North Carolina reports highest single-day case increase
North Carolina reported 2,532 new cases on Thursday, representing the state’s highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. Health officials reported 1,926 new cases the previous day.
“Today, NC reported 2,532 new cases of #COVID19, our highest day of cases. Our trends are headed in the wrong direction, but we can turn this around, just as we have throughout the pandemic,” the state’s health department tweeted Thursday.
The jump in new cases was accompanied by an increase in completed tests. The percentage of positive tests dropped slightly to 6.5%, but was still well above the September average of about 5%.
At least 311 patients had been admitted to local hospitals with symptoms of COVID-19 over the last day.
Oct 15, 12:03 pm El Paso announces restrictions as area cases rise
Officials in El Paso, Texas, announced new activity restrictions to slow the spread of the virus as new cases and hospitalizations rose to an all-time high.
The city reported 717 new cases and 20 delayed testing results on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases to 6,887. Health officials also announced an additional death, bringing the total number of fatalities to 554. The patient was described as a male in his 80s with health conditions.
“Today’s spike is part of an overall increase in cases seen over the last week due to community spread believed to be caused by COVID-19 fatigue resulting in residents letting their guard down,” city officials tweeted Thursday. “For this reason, the Mayor and City Attorney’s Office are working with the Department of Public Health (DPH) and Office of Emergency Management to further restrict activities in our community to slow the spread. These strong restrictions are necessary and must be enacted.”
An all-time high of 717 new COVID-19 cases and 20 delayed testing results are being reported today for a total of 6,887 active cases and 30,624 cumulative cases.
1 death is also being reported today for a total of 554. The patient was a male in his 80s with health conditions. pic.twitter.com/qAGrIksoMn
Oct 15, 10:54 am Hong Kong, Singapore announce forthcoming ‘travel bubble’
Officials in Hong Kong and Singapore announced an agreement to establish a bilateral Air Travel Bubble in an effort to revive cross-border air travel between the two aviation hubs.
Citing low incidents of COVID-19 infections and ‘robust’ anti-transmission mechanisms, Singapore’s Transport Minister Ong Ye said it is a “safe, careful but significant step forward to revive air travel, and provide a model for future collaboration with other parts of the world.”
Hong Kong and Singapore are both major financial hubs, and the international air route between the two cities was among the busiest in the Asia-Pacific region before the pandemic took shape, officials said in a statement.
They did not offer details about a potential launch date. -ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report. Oct 15, 10:05 am Harris shuts down travel after 2 test positive
The Biden campaign has announced that two people traveling with Sen. Harris in Arizona, Communications Director Liz Allen, and a non-staff flight crew member, have tested positive for COVID-19
“Senator Harris was not in close contact, as defined by the CDC, with either of these individuals during the two days prior to their positive tests; as such, there is no requirement for quarantine,” Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
“Neither of these people have had contact with Vice President Biden, Senator Harris or any other staffers since testing positive or in the 48 hours prior to their positive test results,” she added.
The campaign is canceling Harris’ travel through Sunday “out of an abundance of caution and in line with our campaign’s commitment to the highest levels of precaution.”
Harris will return to in-person campaigning on Monday. -ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
Oct 15, 9:41 am 898,000 more Americans file for unemployment benefits
The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that another 898,000 people filed first-time jobless claims last week, highlighting how new layoffs are persisting at historical highs more than six months since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Last week’s initial unemployment claims tally also shows a concerning spike of more than 53,000 compared to the previous week’s revised figure.
The total number of people in the United States claiming state and federal unemployment benefits topped 25.2 million for the week ending Sept. 26. In comparison, 1.4 million people claimed benefits for the same week last year, according to the Labor Department.
The U.S. states that saw the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 3 were Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts. New Jersey, Kansas and Pennsylvania saw the largest decreases during that same time, the Labor Department said.
The level of new weekly unemployment claims has stagnated near the 850,000 mark for the past few weeks, a significant drop from when they peaked at 6.9 million in the last week of March. For context, the previous record for weekly unemployment claims was 695,000 in 1982 — a record that has been shattered for 30 straight weeks in 2020.
Oct 15, 8:32 am Fauci sounds alarm over rising infections as winter nears
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top expert on the coronavirus pandemic, said the recent rise in COVID-19 infections across the United States is “concerning” as winter nears.
“We have a baseline of daily infections that are approximately 45-50,000 per day,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Thursday on Good Morning America.
“The issue is as we enter — as we are now — into the cooler season of the fall and ultimately the colder season of the winter,” he added, “you don’t want to be in that compromised position where your baseline daily infection is high and you are increasing as opposed to going in the other direction.”
Dozens of U.S. states are reporting upticks in COVID-19 test positivity rates, which Fauci said “has proven in the past to be a very good prediction of a surge in cases, which ultimately leads to a surge in hospitalizations.”
“Then ultimately in some individuals, that obviously will be an increase in deaths,” he added. “So we really got to double down on the fundamental public health measures that we talk about every single day, because they can make a difference.”
Fauci, who said that his adult daughters won’t be spending Thanksgiving with him and his wife this year due to concerns about spreading the virus, urged families to be careful during the upcoming holidays and evaluate both the risks and benefits of gathering indoors.
“It’s up to the individuals and the choices they make,” he said.
Oct 15, 7:58 am Fauci calls ‘herd immunity’ declaration embraced by White House ‘ridiculous’
A declaration by a group of scientists calling for an approach that relies on “herd immunity” to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, which has been embraced by the White House, is “ridiculous” and “total nonsense,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases.
“That declaration has a couple things in it that I think are fooling people, because it says things that are like apple pie and motherhood,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Thursday on Good Morning America.
The so-called Great Barrington Declaration, which claims on its website to have been signed by more than 9,000 medical and public health scientists around the globe, opposes lockdowns and argues that authorities should allow the novel coronavirus to spread among young, healthy individuals while protecting the elderly and the vulnerable.
“If you just let things rip and let the infection go — no masks, crowd, it doesn’t make any difference — that quite frankly, George, is ridiculous because what that will do is that there will be so many people in the community that you can’t shelter, that you can’t protect, who are going to get sick and get serious consequences,” Fauci said. “So this idea that we have the power to protect the vulnerable is total nonsense, because history has shown that that’s not the case. And if you talk to anybody who has any experience in epidemiology and infectious diseases, they will tell you that that is risky and you’ll wind up with many more infections of vulnerable people, which will lead to hospitalizations and deaths. So I think that we just got to look that square in the eye and say it’s nonsense.”
Oct 15, 7:16 am London expected to move to higher COVID-19 alert level
The U.K. government is expected to impose new restrictions in London as part of efforts to stop the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus.
Under England’s new three-tier system of local COVID-19 alert levels, the British capital is expected to move up a level from “medium” — the first tier — to “high” — the second tier — at midnight on Friday. That means people from different households will no longer be allowed to meet indoors, including in homes, pubs and restaurants. Groups of no more than six people from different households can still meet outdoors.
Pubs and restaurants across London will continue to be allowed to stay open until 10 p.m.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the new measures are “deemed to be necessary in order to protect Londoners” but that he believes action is also needed “on a national scale,” such as implementing a two-week lockdown. He said the city will soon reach an average of 100 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, a level some parts of England have already surpassed.
“I must warn Londoners that we’ve got a difficult winter ahead,” Khan said in a televised statement Thursday. “But just as we’ve always done through our city’s great history, I know that we’ll get through this dark time by pulling together.”
The move comes as England saw its number of infections quadruple in the last three weeks. There are now more patients hospitalized with COVID-19 than when the country went into lockdown in late March, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Oct 15, 6:18 am Russia reports record daily death toll from COVID-19
Russia registered another 286 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, setting a new record for its daily death tolls from the disease.
The country’s previous record of 244 fatalities was set earlier this week.
An additional 13,754 new cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed in the past day, down from a peak of 14,231 registered the previous day. It’s the first time in seven days that Russia didn’t break its own record for single-day case counts.
The cumulative totals now stand at 1,354,163 confirmed cases and 23,491 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
Russia, a 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.
Oct 15, 5:40 am US national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests jumps to 6%
The national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests across the United States has jumped from 4.7% to 6% in week-to-week comparisons, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Wednesday night.
The memo, which is circulated to the highest levels of the federal government and is used to determine daily priorities for the agencies working on COVID-19 response, said 38 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new infections, while four jurisdictions are at a plateau and 14 others are in a downward trend.
There were 359,745 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 7-Oct. 13, a 17.1% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,962 fatalities from COVID-19 recorded during the same period, a 2.1% decrease compared with the week prior, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, 24% of hospitals nationwide have more than 80% of beds full in their intensive care units. That figure was 17-18% during the summertime peak, the memo said.
In Arizona, 6.71% of the state’s prison population — 2,599 inmates — has tested positive for COVID-19, along with 712 prison staff. At least 17 inmates have died from the disease, according to the memo.
The number of new cases recorded in Washington, D.C., increased by 84% over the past week, after dropping to its lowest levels since July. The nation’s capital reported an average of 81% of its inpatient beds occupied and 74.2% of intensive care unit beds occupied, the memo said.
Idaho’s positivity rate for COVID-19 tests surged to 14.7% for the week ending Oct. 8, twice the national rate during the same period, according to the memo.
Indiana saw a 27.5% week-to-week rise in cases and a 23.4% week-to-week increase in deaths from COVID-19, as of Oct. 11. The state reported three consecutive days of record-high daily case counts from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10. The state’s seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate reached a five-month peak at 17.3 per 100,000 population on Oct. 11, the memo said.
Minnesota’s seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate also hit a five-month peak at 11.3 per 100,000 population on Oct.11. Minnesota reported a 19% increase in cases between the weeks ending Oct. 4 and Oct. 11, which state health officials said is linked to widespread transmission rather than clustered outbreaks, according to the memo.
Mississippi saw a 22.4% increase in COVID-19 cases in the week ending Oct. 11, compared to the previous week. The seven-day and 14-day averages for new cases continued to rise statewide, reaching levels not seen since early September. State officials are concerned that Mississippi is at the start of a second surge and have estimated that the cause of the increasing spread is sustained community transmission. Six major hospitals in the state were reported to have no more ICU surge capacity, the memo said.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 has devastated the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, with the disease infecting more than 10% of the tribe and killing at least 81 of them, according to the memo.
North Carolina and Tennessee are two of five U.S. states that reported a greater than 50% increase in COVID-19 cases over the past week, the memo said.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise across Ohio, with the state’s seven-day rate at 11.9 per 100,000 population on Oct. 11, according to the memo.
Pennsylvania recorded its highest daily case count in six months on Oct. 10 with 1,742 new cases. Multiple counties across the state reported a doubling of new cases during the period of Oct. 5-11, the memo said.
Oct 15, 4:45 am US reports nearly 60,000 new cases in highest daily count since August
There were 59,494 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Wednesday, the country’s highest daily tally since Aug. 14, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is up by more than 7,000 from the previous day but still 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 985 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Wednesday, up by nearly 200 from the previous day but down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 7,916,532 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 216,903 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 increased by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of new deaths from the disease continued to tick downward slightly, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Wednesday night.
(PORTLAND) — The fugitive who allegedly gunned down a pro-Trump protester in Portland, Oregon, over the summer had his gun in his pocket when he was killed in a hail of more than 30 bullets by members of a federal task force, authorities said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Investigators found a loaded .380-caliber handgun in Michael Reinoehl’s right front pants pocket and claimed the 48-year-old’s hand was on or near the weapon when he was killed, according to Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Brady.
The new information follows initial reports from investigators who said members of the federal fugitive task force involved in shooting Reinoehl gave conflicting statements. One said he opened fire when Reinoehl pointed a gun at task force members, while another alleged Reinoehl appeared to be reaching for a gun when he was shot, officials said.
In a statement released shortly after Reinoehl was shot, the U.S. Marshals service said task force members opened fire on the fugitive who “produced a firearm, threatening the lives of law enforcement officers.”
Reinoehl was killed in Lacey, Washington, on Sept. 3, just hours after an arrest warrant was issued for him on a second-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Aaron “Jay” Danielson on Aug. 29 in Portland. Authorities alleged that Danielson was shot to death during a street confrontation with Reinoehl, who told Vice News he was there providing security for Black Lives Matter protesters.
Danielson was part of a group of self-described Trump supporters who came to Portland en masse and clashed with protesters demonstrating against police brutality. Friends said Danielson was also a supporter of the right-wing group “Patriot Prayer.”
Brady said investigators are still waiting for lab results to determine whether the gun found on Reinoehl is the same one used to shoot Danielson.
The latest details regarding Reinoehl’s death come after several witnesses claimed they did not hear task force members yell out any warnings to Reinoehl before they opened fire on him.
”Officers shot multiple rapid-fire rounds at Reinoehl before issuing a brief ‘stop’ command, quickly followed by more rapid-fire shooting by additional officers,” witness Nathaniel Dingess, who lives near the apartment complex where Reinoehl was shot, said in a statement to The Oregonian newspaper.
The New York Times reported in October that in interviews the newspaper conducted with 22 people near the scene of Reinoehl’s death, all but one claimed the task force members failed to identify themselves or give Reinoehl commands before they unleashed a barrage of gunfire.
On Tuesday, Brady had disputed the statements from witnesses, saying four members of the federal task force gave Reinoehl “commands to stop and show his hands” prior to shooting him.
Brady said Tuesday that Reinoehl was shot and wounded while he was still inside his car. He said Reinoehl got out of the vehicle and attempted to run but collapsed in the street. Reinoehl was pronounced dead at the scene.
Brady said there is no evidence that Reinoehl fired his .380-caliber weapon at the task force members. He said one .380-caliber shell casing was discovered in the back seat of Reinoehl’s car, but that it was unclear how long the casing had been there or when it had been fired.
President Donald Trump praised the task force for killing Reinoehl.
“This guy was a violent criminal. And the U.S. Marshals killed him,” Trump said in a Sept. 13 interview with Fox News. “I will tell you something, that’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution when you have crime like this.”
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 38.3 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 7.8 million diagnosed cases and at least 216,278 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 862,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 826,000 cases and over 741,000 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 Wednesday. All times Eastern: Oct 14, 1:50 pm Russia prepares to test 2nd COVID-19 vaccine on 40,000 volunteers
Russia has registered a second COVID-19 vaccine and is preparing to test it on 40,000 volunteers, according to Russian officials.
The vaccine, called “EpiVakKorona,” was produced by the ‘Vector’ State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk, a top state lab that since Soviet times has also been a key biological warfare center.
Unlike the first vaccine, Sputnik V, the new vaccine is not based on a modified adenovirus but instead is a “peptide” type vaccine that uses artificially synthesized fragments of the coronavirus itself to produce an immune response. It is administered in two doses, 21 days apart, according to Russian news agency TASS.
Caution must be used when giving it to patients suffering from chronic kidney and liver illnesses, as well as epilepsy and heart illnesses, TASS reported.
So far the vaccine has been tested on about 100 people, but it has not yet passed key clinical trials. The vaccine will now undergo, in effect, a phase 3 trial.
Sputnik V could be widely distributed in Russia by late October or early November, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev announced on Monday, according to TASS.
A third Russian vaccine is also on the way — produced by the M.P. Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immuno-biological Drugs, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday. A phase 3 trial for that vaccine will begin Monday. ABC News’ Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
Oct 14, 1:11 pm Funding to be withheld for New York schools in ‘red zones’
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will withhold funding from schools in “red zones” that remain open –- both public and private –- until matters are resolve to the states liking, Cuomo announced during a conference call Wednesday.
Just over 1,200 people tested positive and seven people died in the state on Tuesday, Cuomo said. The test positivity rate in the “red zone” areas is 6.2%, while the statewide positivity rate excluding Red Zones is .95%. ABC News’ J. Gabriel Ware contributed to this report.
Oct 14, 12:58 pm Trump seeking emergency approval for Regeneron
President Donald Trump is working to get emergency approval for Regeneron, the antibody treatment that he himself received after contracting COVID-19.
The treatment made him “feel very good very fast,” he told reporters from the Rose Garden of the White House on Wednesday morning.
“They call it a therapeutic, but I don’t think it was therapeutic,” Trump said. “I think it was a cure. For me, it was something that was very good. Who knows, maybe it would have happened anyway, maybe I would have recovered beautifully anyway. All I know is once I had Regeneron it worked out very well.” Oct 14, 12:58 pm Italy records record one-day rise in cases
Italian health authorities reported 7,332 newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, topping the March 21 record when there were 6,557 new cases reported.
It should be noted that on March 21, there were only 26,336 tests done — in the last 24 hours there were 152,196 tests.
There were an additional 43 deaths reported on Wednesday, bringing the nationwide total to 36,289. Some 539 patients are in intensive care, 25 more than Tuesday. ABC News’ Christine Theodorou and Phoebe Natanson. Oct 14, 12:39 pm Trump not spreading infectious virus, Fauci, NIH says
Tests show that President Donald Trump is not “shedding” COVID-19 after he contracted it weeks ago, medical experts say.
Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Clifford Lane, medical director of the National Institute of Health, made the conclusion after reviewing the president’s recent medical data, including a PCR test, the NIH confirmed to ABC News.
The officials believe “with a high degree of confidence” that the president is “not shedding the infectious virus.”
NBC, which is holding a town hall with Trump on Thursday, first reported this information in a company press release. ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Eric Strauss contributed to this report. Oct 14, 12:39 pm UK reports nearly 20,000 new cases as new restrictions take force
The United Kingdom registered another 19,724 positive cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a rise of 2,490 from the day before.
There were also 137 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, down slightly from the previous day’s tally of 143.
The cumulative totals now stand at 654,644 positive cases and 57,690 fatalities with COVID-19 on the death certificate, according to the latest data from the U.K. government.
Fresh local restrictions were due to be implemented across swathes of England on Wednesday under a new three-tier system of COVID-19 alert levels, which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday.
The new measures come as England saw its number of infections quadruple in the last three weeks. There are now more patients hospitalized with COVID-19 than when the country went into lockdown in late March, according to Johnson.
Oct 14, 11:04 am Man suffers sudden hearing loss due to COVID-19 in 1st such case in UK
A 45-year-old British man has suffered sudden complete hearing loss while being treated for COVID-19, which doctors say is the first such case in the United Kingdom.
A case study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal’s BMJ Case Reports said the man, who has asthma but is otherwise “fit and well,” was hospitalized several days after developing COVID-19 symptoms. He was subsequently placed on a ventilator and transferred to the intensive care unit, where he remained intubated for 30 days.
The patient received remdesivir, intravenous steroids and plasma exchange to treat his COVID-19 infection, which clinically improved. A week after being taken off the ventilator and transferring out of the ICU, the man noticed ringing in his left ear followed by sudden onset hearing loss. He had no previous history of hearing loss or ear pathology, according to the case study.
Following a week of hearing loss, the patient saw an otolaryngology specialist and was treated with steroids. His hearing partially recovered after completing a seven-day course, according to the case study.
The researchers — from the University College London and Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital — noted that there are only a few other reported cases of hearing loss following COVID-19 infection.
“This is the first reported case of sensorineural hearing loss following COVID-19 infection in the U.K.,” the researchers wrote. “Given the widespread presence of the virus in the population and the significant morbidity of hearing loss, it is important to investigate this further.” Oct 14, 10:28 am ICU admissions jump by 13.7% in Italy
The number of patients admitted to intensive care units in Italy has jumped by 13.7% within the past 24 hours, as COVID-19 infections surge again in the country where the pandemic first took hold in Europe.
Italy’s civil protection agency confirmed 5,901 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, an increase of 1,282 from the previous day. An additional 41 deaths from COVID-19 were also registered, the country’s worst single-day death toll from the disease since June 17.
The cumulative totals now stand at 365,467 cases and 36,246 deaths.
Italy, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, introduced strict new nationwide measures on Tuesday after seeing a sharp uptick in cases in recent weeks.
The European country had gradually loosened restrictions during the spring and summer, following a nearly three-month lockdown that helped get its COVID-19 outbreak under control. ABC News’ Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.
Oct 14, 7:59 am Chinese city tests more than eight million residents amid outbreak
The eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao has tested almost all of its nine million residents for COVID-19 since launching a citywide testing campaign this week, amid the country’s first reported domestic outbreak in months.
The Qingdao Municipal Health Commission said in a statement Wednesday that it had collected over 8.2 million samples for COVID-19 tests and that no new cases have been found among the results returned thus far. The entire city will be tested this week, the commission said.
A total of 12 cases of COVID-19 — six with symptoms and six without — have been recorded in Qingdao, since an outbreak linked to the city’s Municipal Chest Hospital was discovered over the weekend. As of Wednesday, 532 close contacts have been investigated in the city, all of whom have been quarantined and observed and completed two rounds of testing, according to the Qingdao Municipal Health Commission.
The Chinese mainland, where the coronavirus pandemic began last December, has so far reported 85,611 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 4,634 deaths, including 13 new cases of local transmission and 14 cases brought from outside the country, according data released Wednesday by China’s National Health Commission. The country does not count asymptomatic infections as confirmed cases.
Oct 14, 6:55 am Brigham Young University-Idaho checking reports of students intentionally contracting COVID-19 to sell plasma
Brigham Young University-Idaho said it is investigating reports of students who have intentionally exposed themselves or others to COVID-19 with the hope of getting the disease and being paid for plasma that contains antibodies.
The private university in Rexburg, Idaho, shared the development in a statement posted on its website Monday, saying it was “deeply troubled” by the accounts.
“The university condemns this behavior and is actively seeking evidence of any such conduct among our student body,” the school said. “Students who are determined to have intentionally exposed themselves or others to the virus will be immediately suspended from the university and may be permanently dismissed.”
The university warned that it may be forced to transition to a fully-remote instruction model if recent COVID-19 trends in surrounding Madison County and across Idaho continue.
“The contraction and spread of COVID-19 is not a light matter. Reckless disregard for health and safety will inevitably lead to additional illness and loss of life in our community,” the school said. “We urge all members of the campus community to act respectfully and responsibly by observing all public health and university protocols and placing the well-being of others above personal benefit or convenience.”
The university added that it “stands ready to help” students who are struggling with the physical, emotional and financial strain of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is never a need to resort to behavior that endangers health or safety in order to make ends meet,” the school said.
At least 109 students and 22 employees at Brigham Young University-Idaho have contracted COVID-19, according to the latest data provided by the school.
Oct 14, 6:08 am Russia registers another 14,231 cases in new daily record
Russia confirmed 14,231 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, setting a new record for its daily tally of infections.
It’s the first time that Russia has registered over 14,000 new cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and the sixth straight day that the country has broken its record for newly confirmed cases. Russia’s previous record of 13,868 new cases was set a day earlier.
An additional 239 deaths from COVID-19 were also recorded in the past day, just under the country’s record of 244 fatalities set the previous day.
The cumulative totals now stand at 1,340,409 confirmed cases and 23,205 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
Russia’s capital, Moscow, continues to be the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced Wednesday that first to fifth-grade students will return to classrooms next week, following a two-week school break aimed at slowing the spread of the virus in the city. All other students will continue their studies remotely until the end of the month.
“The measure has proven to be effective. The portion of children among the infected has decreased from 19 to 11% in recent days,” Sobyanin said in a statement posted on his official website.
Oct 14, 5:27 am New cases in US rise by double digits in week-over-week comparisons
The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the United States increased by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of new deaths from the disease continued to tick downward slightly, according to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News on Tuesday night.
The memo, which is circulated to the highest levels of the federal government and is used to determine daily priorities for the agencies working on COVID-19 response, said 34 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new infections, while 10 jurisdictions are at a plateau and 12 others are in a downward trend.
There were 351,270 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 6-Oct. 12, a 14.4% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,886 fatalities from COVID-19 recorded during the same period, a 1.5% decrease compared with the week prior. The national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests increased from 4.7% to 6.1% in week-to-week comparisons, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, 22% of hospitals nationwide have more than 80% of beds full in their intensive care units. That figure was 17-18% during the summertime peak, the memo said.
California’s Sonoma County saw a 129.7% relative increase in new cases of COVID-19 between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. The county confirmed 62 cases on Oct. 7 linked to outbreaks at schools and childcare facilities, according to the memo.
Kentucky reported on Oct. 7 its highest number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs since May. As of Oct. 6, the state’s seven-day average for ICU bed occupancy was 80.6%, with 43.7% of adult ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, the memo said.
Montana hit a peak of 504 new COVID-19 cases confirmed on Oct. 6. Daily hospital admissions in the state have increased from 40 in mid-September to more than 60 per day, with greater than 80 on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6. Montana’s seven-day hospitalization rate continues to rise from 15.7 per 100,000 population on Sept. 29 to a four-month high of 20 per 100,000 population on Oct. 6. Local officials report that hospitals are closed to or at capacity and have started redirecting patients, according to the memo.
New Jersey’s seven-day COVID-19 case rate increased 20.6% to 539.5 cases per 1 million population between Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. The state has 71.7% of inpatient hospital beds occupied, with 56.4% of ICU beds full. At least 100 schools in New Jersey have teachers or students who have tested positive for COVID-19, the memo said.
New York recorded on Oct. 6 its highest number of total hospitalizations since July 22. The state has 79.5% of inpatient hospital beds occupied, with 62.4% of ICU beds full.
Utah reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases per day for six of the seven days last week. At the same time, week-to-week testing in the state has decreased slightly by 1.2%. Utah’s positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, however, has remained stable at 14%.
Oct 14, 4:26 am US reports more than 52,000 new cases
There were 52,406 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Tuesday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is up by nearly 11,000 from the previous day but still 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 802 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Tuesday, up by more than 400 from the previous day but down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 7,858,344 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 215,910 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.
(SANTA FE, N.M.) — Santa Fe’s leaders are calling for calm after a group of protesters toppled a controversial monument in the city’s plaza Monday during an Indigenous Peoples’ Day protest.
The protesters used chains and ropes to bring down the obelisk, which activists contend celebrates the killings of Native Americans. The defacing came at the end of a weekend-long protest by indigenous groups and other individuals who took over the plaza.
At one point during the demonstrations, two protesters chained themselves to the base of the monument, according to police.
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber and Police Chief Andrew Padilla told reporters during a news conference Tuesday that a small group of protesters plotted the destruction.
“Not every protester had this in their mind,” Padilla said.
The monument was erected in 1868, 43 years before New Mexico became a state, to honor Civil War Union soldiers. It has become a target of protesters for a plaque at its base that says the obelisk is dedicated to “the heroes” who fought “savage Indians.”
Mayor Webber has supported removing the obelisk, and a state-contracted crew attempted to do so over the summer, but it was too heavy for the crews, according to officials.
The mayor nevertheless condemned Monday’s vandalism.
“The violence and damage to a historical monument in the middle of our plaza will not help our community come together when we most need to do so,” he said in a video message Monday.
Padilla said officers arrested two of the protesters and were looking for more individuals who were involved in the monument’s removal. He said the protest broke up about 20 minutes after the monument came down, and ended peacefully without the officers using tear gas or excessive force.
“It was preservation of life over property. I stand by that decision,” Padilla said.
Webber said the City Council will be holding meetings this week to address the concerns of the protesters and move forward with the situation.
“It’s clear Santa Fe and New Mexico have more than hundreds of years of pain and suffering on many sides,” he said during the news conference. “The events of yesterday give us the opportunity to come together and stand up.”
kuzma/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News
