(DENVER) — One man was killed and a male suspect is in custody following a shooting at a protest in Denver Saturday, authorities said.
The shooting occurred in the courtyard near the Denver Art Museum, officials said. Police initially said one victim was transported to the hospital and their condition was unknown. Denver police later said they were investigating the incident as a homicide.
The shooting occurred at 3:37 p.m. local time, police said. The shooting followed a “verbal altercation,” Division Chief Joe Montoya said at a press briefing Saturday evening. Two guns and a can of mace were recovered at the scene, he said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
Two competing protests were scheduled Saturday afternoon at Denver’s Civic Center Park, where the museum is located. One event, called “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive,” was hosted by the Denver Communists and other groups, according to a Facebook event page. The other, dubbed a “Patriot Muster” rally, called on patriots to “stand up” and “show up” in promotional materials.
It is currently unclear if the victim and suspect were affiliated with either protest, Montoya said.
The protests drew a large police presence to the area Saturday.
“There was a large presence because we had two groups with opposing views, and we know that can always get very tense, and there’s always potential for violence,” Montoya said.
ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.
ABC NewsBY: REED MCDONOUGH AND EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC NEWS
(NEW ORLEANS) — Over half a million customers woke up without power in Louisiana after Hurricane Delta blew through Friday night.
“Delta has left hazards like flooded roads, downed power lines and displaced wildlife in our communities that no one should take lightly,” Gov. John Bel Edwards tweeted Saturday. “Everyone needs to remain vigilant, continue to listen to local officials and be safe.”
Crews are still conducting search and rescue efforts, Edwards told reporters Saturday. No fatalities have been reported, he added.
Delta made landfall Friday evening in Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, hitting land just 12 miles from where Hurricane Laura slammed into the state in August. Louisiana has attributed 30 deaths to Laura, according to the governor.
Wind gusts climbed to 97 mph in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and 89 mph in Cameron, Louisiana.
In Lake Charles, more than 15 inches of rain was recorded. The highest storm surge recorded was just over 9 feet along parts of the south-central Louisiana coast.
In hard-hit Lake Charles, where there are still blue tarps on house roofs from Laura, mayor Nic Hunter said some houses did get flooding from Delta.
Electricity is out across the city and Hunter is urging residents to not come back to their homes if possible on Saturday.
Delta has since weakened to a tropical storm, but the threat is not over.
Areas of heavy rain and gusty winds will continue from the lower Mississippi Valley up across much of Tennessee through Saturday afternoon. Rain and thunderstorms will extend down across Alabama.
A few brief spin-up tornadoes are possible on the eastern side of Delta’s center through Saturday, which means there is a slight risk of severe weather for parts of Alabama and Georgia.
Delta will then move up to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Monday morning.
Delta broke a record when it became the first time a 10th-named storm made landfall in the continental U.S. within one Atlantic hurricane season.
The other nine named storms that made landfall this season were: Tropical Storm Bertha (South Carolina); Tropical Storm Cristobal (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Fay (New Jersey); Hurricane Hanna (Texas); Hurricane Isaias (North Carolina); Hurricane Laura (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Marco (Louisiana), Hurricane Sally (Alabama); and Tropical Storm Beta (Texas).
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 36.6 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 7.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 213,131 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 846,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 807,000 cases and over 728,000 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 Friday. All times Eastern: Oct 09, 1:08 pm Two more members of White House residence staff tested positive few weeks ago
Two more members of the White House residence staff tested positive for COVID-19 nearly three weeks ago, according to Melania Trump’s office and two other sources.
With these two additional staffers, the total number of residential staff who tested positive at that time is at least four. One is an assistant to White House chief usher Timothy Harleth, while the three others are members of the housekeeping staff and work on the residence’s third floor, according to the first lady’s office and sources.
The first lady’s office didn’t reply to a question about whether these two new people have had contact with the president or first lady. On Sunday, sources told ABC News the other two had not come into direct contact with the president or first lady. ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and John Santucci contributed to this report.
Oct 09, 11:18 am Spain declares state of emergency in Madrid over outbreak
Spain’s national government on Friday declared a state of emergency in the capital so that it can resume partial restrictions on movement there, which had been rejected by a local court.
Madrid’s regional government opposes the new restrictions, introduced last week, which ban 4.8 million residents from leaving the capital and nine suburbs.
A Madrid court on Thursday sided with the regional government president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, who had challenged the measures, saying they are draconian and would ravage the economy.
The move comes as the Madrid region battles one of Europe’s worst clusters of COVID-19 cases. The region’s 14-day infection rate of 563 cases per 100,000 population is more than twice Spain’s national average of 256, and five times Europe’s average rate of 113 for the week ending Sept. 27.
Oct 09, 10:44 am CDC has just 2 staffers conducting contact tracing at White House
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it’s not planning to deploy a large team of staff members to the White House to conduct contact tracing.
CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes confirmed to ABC News that there are now two contact tracers assigned to the White House. The first CDC staff member assigned to the operation has been at the White House since March, while the second person joined the effort recently.
“There are no plans to send anyone else at this point,” Haynes told ABC News on Friday.
ABC News reported on Tuesday that the agency had assembled a large team of experts to trace the explosion of COVID-19 cases at the White House but the unit has largely been put on standby as President Donald Trump opted to run his own operation through the White House medical unit.
COVID-19 cases among White House staff and their close contacts continue to climb after Trump revealed last week that he and his wife tested positive for the disease.
CDC guidelines recommend tracing cases as soon as possible because a single infected person can begin to spread COVID-19 two days before the individual has any symptoms or tests positive. ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Oct 09, 9:54 am Slovakia sees record rise in cases for third straight day
Slovakia confirmed 1,184 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, hitting a record high for the third straight day.
The latest daily tally was up from the country’s previous record of 1,037 set a day earlier. The cumulative total now stands at 16,910 confirmed cases with 57 deaths, according to data from Slovakia’s Ministry of Health.
Slovakia is among a number of European countries grappling with an uptick in COVID-19 cases, as a second wave of infections hits the region.
The Slovak government announced Friday that it will deploy hundreds of service members to help health workers with contact tracing, to conduct tests and distribute personal protective equipment. The prime minister warned that tighter restrictions will be imposed next week if the infection rate doesn’t slow down over the weekend.
Oct 09, 9:33 am Broadway to remain closed through May 30, 2021
Broadway will stay dark through May 30, 2021, according to the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry in New York City.
Broadway shows shut down in March when New York City emerged as the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
“With nearly 97,000 workers who rely on Broadway for their livelihood and an annual economic impact of $14.8 billion to the city, our membership is committed to re-opening as soon as conditions permit us to do so,” Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin said in a statement Friday. “We are working tirelessly with multiple partners on sustaining the industry once we raise our curtains.”
Dates for returning and new shows will be announced by the individual productions.
Oct 09, 9:13 am 80% of ICU beds are full at 25% of US hospitals, HHS memo says
According to an internal memo from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that was obtained by ABC News, 25% of the nation’s hospitals are reporting that beds in intensive care units are more than 80% full.
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 29 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of infections, while 10 jurisdictions are at a plateau and 17 others are in a downward trend.
There were 314,894 new cases confirmed during the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 7, a 6% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,730 coronavirus-related fatalities recorded during the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 7, a 5.2% decrease compared with the week prior, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, the national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests increased from 4.5% to 5.7% in week-to-week comparisons, the memo said.
In Arkansas, the seven-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests jumped from 7.1% to 22.8% — a 300% increase — between the weeks ending Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, according to the memo.
Delaware’s seven-day COVID-19 case rate rose 41.6% to 1,009.5 cases per 1 million population on Oct. 4 from the previous week — much higher than the regional rate of 633.5 cases per 1 million. The state’s number of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations are all trending upward, the memo said.
In Hawaii, pet shelters are at capacity due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. On Oct. 30, the state will initiate the largest pet airlift across the Pacific Ocean in history, transporting hundreds of animals to Seattle from Kauai, Honolulu, Maui and Hawaii Island, according to the memo.
Idaho’s daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations increased from 7.3 to 8.7 per 100,000 population during the week ending Oct. 4, the memo said.
Indiana has also seen an upward trend in its seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate. Meanwhile, the state’s number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise, with the average of new daily cases rising 50% over the peak in April and May, according to the memo.
Multiple counties in Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Cambria, Bradford and Columbia — reported their number of new COVID-19 cases doubling in the week ending Oct. 4.
Oct 09, 6:52 am Russia sees record number of new cases
Russia confirmed 12,126 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the country’s highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.
The previous record was 11,656 new cases set on May 11.
An additional 201 coronavirus-related fatalities were also registered in the last day. The country’s cumulative totals now stand at 1,272,238 confirmed cases and 22,257 deaths, according to Russia’s coronavirus response headquarters.
More than 30% of the newly confirmed cases — 3,701 — were registered in Moscow, the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak.
Russian authorities have said there’s no immediate plan to impose a second nationwide lockdown, even as the country’s outbreak grows after most coronavirus-related restrictions were lifted over the summer. The country has seen its daily caseload double over the past month, while its capital has had a 53% rise in new infections in the last week, according to a report by The Moscow Times, the only independent English-language news outlet reporting within Russia.
Officials in Moscow, however, have recommended that the elderly self-isolate at home and also encouraged businesses to have at least one-third of their employees work from home. School holidays in the capital this month were extended from one to two weeks.
Oct 09, 6:13 am US reports more than 56,000 new cases
There were 56,191 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Thursday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is up by nearly 6,000 from the previous day but is still under the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 961 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Thursday, down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 7,607,250 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 212,784 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.
Oct 09, 5:10 am Analysis shows cases rising in 28 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 newly confirmed cases over the past two weeks in 28 states.
The analysis also found increases in the daily positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in 25 states, increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations in 35 states and increases in daily COVID-19 death tolls in 18 states plus Puerto Rico.
The seven-day average of new cases in the United States has now surpassed 44,000, the highest it has been since Aug. 21.
Two states — Montana and South Dakota — reported their highest single-day increases in the number of new COVID-19 cases. Seven states — Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming — hit a record number of current COVID-19 hospitalizations in a day.
Although figures in the Northeast still remain relatively low, the number of new cases continues to slowly increase, relative to the figures that were seen during the spring. The region’s seven-day average of new cases is now the highest it has been since June 2. In the last month alone, that average has increased by more than 69%.
In the Midwest, the number of new cases continues to hit record levels, averaging 13,200 cases per day, largely driven by consistently high caseloads in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The number of current COVID-19 hospitalizations in many midwestern states also continues to climb. Since Sunday, current hospitalizations in Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin have all hit record highs.
The number of new cases in the South remain significantly lower than they were throughout the summer. However, the South still contributes to more than 45% of the country’s daily regional caseload, with an average of over 18,000 new cases per day.
Over the past three weeks, the number of new cases in the West has increased by 26%. Idaho and Utah still continue to produce high daily case totals. Although the figures in California are on a downward trend, the state continues to report a high number of new cases every day.
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.
Oct 09, 4:41 am Birx warns of ‘troubling signs’ in Northeast amid ‘very different’ spread of COVID-19
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said states in the Northeast are showing “troubling signs” that they could reemerge as COVID-19 hotspots.
“It’s early here,” Birx said at a press conference Thursday, after participating in a roundtable discussion at the University of Connecticut’s campus in Hartford. “We can continue in the Northeast to contain the virus.”
As the weather turns colder, Birx said the novel coronavirus is transmitting more rapidly within families and social groups than in schools or workplaces where people are taking precautions. She said it’s a lesson that was learned in the South during the summer when people went indoors for air-conditioning to escape the heat and humidity.
“What we’re seeing in the community is much more spread occurring in households and in social occasions, small gatherings where people have come inside, taken off their mask to eat or drink or socialize with one another,” she said.
Northeastern states, once a hotbed for the virus, are beginning to see upticks in COVID-19, case numbers, positivity rates and hospitalizations.
“This is really a message to everyone in Connecticut: the kind of spread that we’re seeing now is very different from the spread we experienced in March and April,” Birx warned. “What we did in the spring is not going to work in the fall.”
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 1 million people worldwide.
Over 36.1 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 7.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 211,834 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 841,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 803,000 cases and over 722,000 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 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 08, 7:27 pm Doctor says Trump can return to public engagements on Saturday
President Donald Trump’s doctors said he has “responded extremely well to treatment” for COVID-19 and should be able to return to public engagements on Saturday, according to a memo released Thursday evening.
“Since returning home, his physical exam has remained stable and devoid of any indications of illness,” Dr. Sean Conley wrote. “Overall he’s responded extremely well to treatment, without evidence on examination of adverse therapeutic effects.”
The doctor also said Trump should be able to return to the campaign trail on Saturday. Trump had fought for an in-person debate with former Vice President Donald Trump this week, but the Commission on Presidential Debates decided to make the event virtual and Trump said he would not participate.
“Saturday will be day 10 since Thursday’s diagnosis, and based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics the team has been conducting, I fully anticipate the President’s safe return to public engagements at that time,” Conley wrote.
The Trump campaign had canceled all of Trump’s events when he was diagnosed with COVID-19. It has not yet announced when he will return to the campaign trail
Oct 08, 2:52 pm Ohio cases on ‘concerning upward trend’
Ohio reported 1,539 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, in what the governor called the continuation of a “concerning upward trend.”
“Ohio’s positivity rate has jumped to 3.9% and the 7-day rolling average is 3.3%,” Gov. Mike DeWine tweeted. “This reflects the ongoing increasing trend of virus spread that we are seeing throughout the state. These numbers are not good.”
Right now Ohio’s positivity rate has jumped to 3.9% and the 7-day rolling average is 3.3%. This reflects the ongoing increasing trend of virus spread that we are seeing throughout the state. These numbers are not good.
Thirteen more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the state’s fatality total to 4,983, according to numbers released by the governor. Over 164,000 people in Ohio have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Oct 08, 11:52 am 150 million people set to fall into ‘extreme poverty’ due to pandemic, World Bank warns
The World Bank has warned that 150 million people could fall into “extreme poverty” by the end of 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying worldwide recession with the levels of poverty set to rise for the first time in 20 years.
In its biennial report on poverty and shared prosperity, the World Bank estimates between 9.1% and 9.4% of the global population would be affected by extreme poverty, which the multilateral development lender defines as living on under $1.90 a day. Had the pandemic not hit, the rate was forecast to fall to 7.9% this year.
“In order to reverse this serious setback to development progress and poverty reduction, countries will need to prepare for a different economy post-COVID, by allowing capital, labor, skills and innovation to move into new businesses and sectors,” World Bank president David Malpass said in a statement Wednesday.
While extreme poverty rates are on the rise, around a quarter of the world’s population live on less than $3.20 per day and more than 40% live on $5.50.
Overall, levels of extreme poverty have been steadily declining over the past quarter of a decade. Some 1.9 billion people lived in extreme poverty in 1990, compared to 689 million in 2017, according to the World Bank. In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, the report cites military conflict and climate change as two significant factors behind the recent reversal.
Extreme poverty is usually most keenly felt in rural areas, but that is now spreading to urban hubs. Around 82% of the number of people forecast to slide into extreme poverty will be living in middle-income countries, according to the report.
ABC News’ Guy Davies contributed to this report.
Oct 08, 11:23 am 840,000 more Americans file for unemployment insurance
Another 840,000 Americans sought unemployment insurance last week, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Labor released Thursday.
This week’s claims do not include the most up-to-date data from California, which has temporarily stopped accepting new jobless claims in order to work through a backlog and implement fraud prevention technology, the department said. Instead, the figure from California will reflect the level reported during the week prior to the pause in new applications.
Still, the initial claims data reflect a labor market still suffering some six months into the coronavirus pandemic. This is the 29th straight week of weekly unemployment claims coming in above the pre-pandemic record set in 1982.
While the number of new claims has dropped slightly since peaking in late March, they have stagnated at unprecedented levels not seen prior to the COVID-19 crisis. The average for the past four weeks was 857,000 new claims per week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. ABC News’ Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.
Oct 08, 11:08 am COVID-19 killed more people in England and Wales this year than flu and pneumonia, data shows
The disease caused by the novel coronavirus killed three times more people in England and Wales during the first eight months of this year than influenza and pneumonia combined, according to new data released Thursday by the U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS).
“More than three times as many deaths were recorded between January and August this year where COVID-19 was the underlying cause compared to influenza and pneumonia,” Sarah Caul, head of mortality analysis at the ONS, said in a statement. “The mortality rate for COVID-19 is also significantly higher than influenza and pneumonia rates for both 2020 and the five-year average.”
The highest number of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia occurred in January; however, deaths from influenza and pneumonia were below the five-year average — 2015 to 2019 — in every month of 2020, according to the ONS.
“Since 1959, which is when ONS monthly death records began, the number of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia in the first eight months of every year have been lower than the number of COVID-19 deaths seen, so far, in 2020,” Caul said.
Meanwhile, the proportion of deaths occurring in care homes due to COVID-19 — 30% — was almost double the proportion of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia — 15.2%, according to the ONS.
The U.K. agency noted that its analysis of COVID-19, influenza and pneumonia deaths focused on fatalities where people died due to those conditions, rather than deaths where the conditions were either the underlying cause or mentioned as a contributing factor.
Oct 08, 10:09 am COVID-19 hospitalizations reach record high in Oklahoma
The number of current hospitalizations in Oklahoma due to COVID-19 has soared to a new record one-day high.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health on Wednesday reported 738 people hospitalized with either confirmed or possible cases of the disease.
Since the start of the pandemic, at least 94,352 people in Oklahoma have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 1,075 of them have died, according to the state health department data.
Oct 08, 8:58 am University of New Haven quarantines hundreds of students amid outbreak
Hundreds of students at the University of New Haven have been ordered to quarantine amid a COVID-19 outbreak on campus.
Since the start of the month, the private university in Connecticut has identified 24 positive cases of COVID-19, at least 19 of which were confirmed this week. In a letter to students Wednesday, university officials explained that a “critical mass” of those cases are clustered in the school’s Winchester Hall dormitory, prompting them to impose a “full-building quarantine” until Oct. 20.
Currently, 280 students are being quarantined on campus and nearly 70 are quarantining off campus, according to the letter.
“We must reverse this trend immediately,” the letter said. “Candidly, much of this could have been avoided if everyone had followed the regulations in place.”
Since the beginning of the fall semester, the university has investigated almost 300 reports of alleged COVID-19 policy violations and has handed down more than 150 disciplinary sanctions, ranging from warnings to housing suspensions.
“Any significant increase in cases could threaten our ability to continue on-campus operations or force us to, as other schools in Connecticut and across to country have had to do — transition to completely online learning,” the letter warned. “That is an outcome none of us want to see.”
Oct 08, 7:43 am Germany sees highest daily increase in cases since April
Germany confirmed 4,058 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, an increase of 1,230 from the previous day, marking the country’s highest daily caseload since April.
An additional 16 coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded Wednesday. The cumulative total now stands at 310,144 cases with 9,578 deaths, according to the latest data from the country’s public health institute.
The number of daily cases recorded in Germany reached almost 7,000 during the height of the pandemic at the end of March and in early April. Although the figures have fallen significantly since then, Germany’s infections have been on the rise in recent months amid a second wave across Europe.
Earlier this week, the German government announced new curfews for bars, cafes, pubs and restaurants in the capital Berlin and financial hub Frankfurt, along with stricter rules on social gatherings.
Oct 08, 6:47 am Analysis shows cases increasing in 32 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 newly confirmed cases over the past two weeks in 32 states.
The analysis also found increases in the daily positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in 25 states, increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations in 35 states and increases in daily COVID-19 death tolls in 19 states.
The seven-day average of new cases in the United States has now surpassed 43,000, the highest it has been since Aug. 22. Regionally, new cases are on the rise across the Northeast, the Midwest, the South and the West.
One state — Montana — reported its highest single-day rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases. Seven states — Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming — hit a record number of current COVID-19 hospitalizations in a day.
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.
Oct 08, 6:26 am New cases and ICU usage on the rise in US, FEMA memo says
An internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News on Wednesday night shows that the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the United States and the nationwide usage of intensive care units are both on the rise in week-over-week comparisons.
There were 306,965 new cases confirmed during the period of Sept. 30-Oct. 6, a 4.8% increase from the previous week. There were also 4,860 coronavirus-related fatalities recorded during the period of Sept. 30-Oct. 6, a 4.6% decrease compared with the week prior, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, the national positivity rate for COVID-19 tests increased from 4.5% to 5.4% in week-to-week comparisons. Currently, 23% of hospitals across the country have more than 80% of beds full in their intensive care units. That figure was 17-18% during the summertime peak, the memo said.
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, shows that 32 U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of infections, while eight jurisdictions are at a plateau and 16 others are in a downward trend.
In Florida, 75% of ICU beds statewide are occupied. The number of new COVID-19 deaths doubled in Duval County in week-to-week comparisons, while Sumter County recently reported a single-day positivity rate for COVID-19 tests of over 20%, according to the memo.
Kentucky reported its highest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases on Oct. 3. Nearly half of current cases in northern Kentucky are patients younger than 40, and approximately 40% of them are under 30. The total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has been increasing statewide since the end of September, the memo said.
The seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate continues to rise in Minnesota, reaching its highest since June 1 at 9.8 per 100,000 population, according to the memo.
In Ohio, the number of new COVID-19 cases has more than doubled in Muskingum County between the weeks ending Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. Outbreaks have been discovered at four social clubs there, according to the memo.
Wisconsin’s seven-day COVID-19 death rate has increased 139% from Sept. 27 to Oct. 4. The seven-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate also continues to climb, with Wisconsin reporting a peak of 16.4 per 100,000 population on Oct. 4. The state saw a record high of 782 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Oct. 5, more than double the amount a month earlier. As of Oct. 4, 84% of ICU beds statewide were in use. Local health departments in the counties of Fox Valley, Door and Manitowoc report seeing so many new cases that they are unable to conduct tests or contact tracing in a timely manner, the memo said.
Oct 08, 5:17 am US reports over 50,000 new cases
There were 50,341 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Wednesday, driving the country’s cumulative total past 7.5 million, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest daily tally is up by nearly 10,000 from the previous day but is still under the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour reporting period.
An additional 915 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Wednesday, down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 7,550,731 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 211,834 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 hovered around 40,000 in recent weeks.
Oct 08, 4:38 am Czech Republic sees record rise in cases for second straight day
The Czech Republic identified 5,335 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, its highest single-day rise yet.
It’s the first time the central European nation has registered more than 5,000 new cases in one day. The previous record of 4,457 new cases in a 24-hour reporting period was just set the day before.
The cumulative total now stands at 95,360 confirmed cases with 829 deaths, according to the latest data from the Czech health ministry.
More than 43,000 cases were active Wednesday, including 1,563 patients who remained hospitalized for COVID-19, while over 50,000 have recovered from the disease, according to the health ministry data.
The Czech Republic has the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in Europe. Over the past two weeks, the country of 10.7 million people has reported 346.1 cases per 100,000, surpassing Spain for the first time, which has seen 305 cases per 100,000, according to data published Tuesday by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Earlier this week, the Czech government declared another state of emergency due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 infections, after having relaxed almost all restrictions over the summer. The government is expected on Friday to announce new measures to contain the outbreak.
The Czech Republic is among a handful of European countries, including France, Spain and the United Kingdom, that are grappling with an uptick in COVID-19 cases as a second wave of infections hits the region.
Handout/DNCC via Getty ImagesBy ALEXANDER MALLIN and LUKE BARR, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against six individuals in Michigan allegedly involved in months-long plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer before the November election and violently overthrow the state’s government.
The FBI said it first learned of the group’s plot in early 2020 and began embedding confidential sources and undercover agents to monitor the individuals’ activities.
Authorities were to expected to hold a news conference later in the day to reveal more details.
According to the criminal complaint, Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta started planning to take Whitmer and others hostage at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan.
They were arrested Tuesday by law enforcement.
Federal prosecutors said the militia group was already on the FBI’s radar because in March 2020 they were “attempting to obtain the addresses of local law enforcement officers.”
“At the time, the FBI interviewed a member of the militia group who was concerned about the group’s plans to target and kill police officers, and that person agreed to become a [confidential source],” according to the complaint.
In one phone call, the complaint said, Fox said he wanted “200 men” to storm the Capitol building in Lansing to take hostages including Whitmer, and they would go on to try Whitmer for “treason.”
Members of the group met, discussed and trained in their tactics regarding how they’d attack the Capitol building, including using Molotov cocktails to destroy police vehicles, prosecutors said. They also tried constructing IEDs they could use in their attack, they said.
“Fox referred to Governor Whitmer as “this tyrant [expletive],” and stated, “I don’t know, boys, we gotta do something,” according to a live-streamed video preserved by the FBI. You guys link with me on our other location system, give me some ideas of what we can do.”
Their plans continuously evolved over the next several weeks, according to court documents. They men suggested it might be a better plan of action to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home or shoot it up and kill her, authorities said.
They also discussed destroying her boat, court documents also say.
The FBI says it first learned of the group’s plot in early 2020 and began embedding confidential sources and undercover agents to monitor their activities.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Michigan State Capitol has been the scene of numerous protests by right wing activists – some armed and calling for Whitmer’s resignation due to the lockdown order she put in place.
During a meeting in June, the FBI says Croft and Fox and 13 others from different states gathered in Ohio to discuss violent overthrow of state governments they believed were violating the U.S. Constitution, including Michigan.
“Several members talked about murdering “tyrants” or “taking” a sitting governor,” the criminal complaint filed Thursday says. “The group decided they needed to increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and spread their message. As part of that recruitment effort, Fox reached out to a Michigan based militia group.”
On July 28, the complaint said, Fox posted to a private Facebook page, “We about to be busy ladies and gentlemen . . . This is where the Patriot shows up. Sacrifices his time, money, blood sweat and tears . . . it starts now so get [expletive] prepared!!”
In late August, Fox and a confidential source for the FBI allegedly conducted surveillance on Whitmer’s vacation home, taking photographs and slow-motion video from their vehicle as they drove by the residence, authorities said.
“During the surveillance operation, Fox said, “We ain’t gonna let ‘em burn our [expletive] state down. I don’t give a [expletive] if there’s only 20 or 30 of us, dude, we’ll go out there and use deadly force,” the complaint said.
Later on the weekend of Sep. 12-13, the group met for a training exercise at one of their properties and constructed an IED, then all drove to the vicinity of the vacation home and Croft at one point suggested moving forward with their operation that night, court documents said.
After that weekend, the FBI says the group began to finalize their plans to kidnap Whitmer and that they all set up a meeting yesterday to “make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear,” with the hopes of carrying out their attack before Election Day.
kali9/iStockBy ABC News
