(YORBA LINDA, Calif.) — A California woman has been charged with attempted murder after driving through a group of dueling protesters during a “Caravan for Justice” event Saturday afternoon.
The dueling protests held in Yorba Linda, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, quickly boiled over into animosity as Black Lives Matter demonstrators clashed with Donald Trump supporters.
“Approximately 30 minutes after the protests began, we began to receive reports of physical altercations occurring between the two protest groups, including at least one individual who was pepper-sprayed by another protestor,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
The crowd grew to about 250 people and due to the violence and “reports of individuals within the crowd having weapons” the sheriff’s department declared an unlawful assembly.
It was after a dispersal order was given that a woman, identified as Tatiana Turner, drove through a group of protesters, many waving Trump flags, outside the Yorba Linda Public Library at about 3 p.m. local time. Two people, a man and a woman, were hit by the car, with both suffering “major injuries.” Both are expected to survive, officials said.
Orange County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Dennis Breckner told Los Angeles ABC station KABC the woman struck by the vehicle broke both her legs.
The white sedan was pursued by dozens of protesters who smashed several of the car’s windows before she was detained by law enforcement. Dozens of deputies were on hand for the two protests, which had been scheduled for weeks.
Turner, 40, of Long Beach, was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon and was booked into Orange County Jail.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department identified Turner as a member of the “Caravan for Justice” event.
Another person at the event, Jason Mancuso, 46, was arrested on charges of failure to obey the dispersal order, the sheriff’s office said.
The incident Saturday came two days after a person was hit by a pickup truck at a protest in Hollywood. Protesters surrounded the truck Thursday night after which it tried to get away from the situation and hit a person in the street, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
In another accident at the same event, two vehicles crashed into one another when a truck involved in the protests tried to block in a white Toyota Prius. The Prius backed into a Mustang as it tried to escape the situation, police said.
No one has been arrested in either incident Thursday and the investigation was ongoing.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Police arrested a 25-year-old woman in a hit-and-run incident during demonstrations in Buffalo earlier this week over a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge three police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor.
The Buffalo Police Department said it charged Joanna Gollnau, 25, of Buffalo, on Friday with felony reckless endangerment in the first degree and reckless driving for allegedly striking a bicyclist with her pickup truck during a protest in Niagara Square on Wednesday night.
The incident in Buffalo unfolded as protesters marched in the street near Niagara Square in the downtown area in the hours following the announcement of the grand jury’s decision in the fatal Louisville police shooting of Taylor.
Graphic video taken by ABC affiliate station WKBW-TV in Buffalo showed a maroon and white king-cab pickup truck drive directly into a group of demonstrators who pounded on the side of the truck and yelled for the driver to stop just before a protester on a bicycle was hit. The footage shows the truck speeding away as protesters on foot gave chase.
Buffalo police officials said the driver was eventually stopped by officers and detained for questioning.
A spokesperson for Slow Roll Buffalo, a nonprofit community group of bicycle enthusiasts, said that the woman who was hit by the truck is a member of its board of directors. She is now home and feeling fine, the organization said on Friday.
Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo told WKBW that the department used video footage, including social media posts and city surveillance cameras, in its investigation. He told the station he was unsure of a motive, and that Gollnau has been cooperating with police. She is set to be arraigned on Nov. 3, according to WKBW.
A similar incident unfolded in Denver Wednesday night. Video taken by ABC affiliate station KMGH-TV in Denver showed a silver Volvo station wagon approach demonstrators marching in the street outside the state Capitol Building and then stopped. Several protesters were standing in front of the vehicle and banging on its hood as the car moved forward and accelerated, knocking one female protester to the ground, the footage showed. The driver sped away but was stopped by police and detained, police said on Twitter.
The two incidents came just hours after a Kentucky grand jury indicted former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree in the shooting that killed Taylor, but neither he nor the other two officers involved in the fatal encounter were charged in her death.
The two hit-and-runs on Wednesday marked the latest in a series of incidents in recent months in which protesters have been struck while marching in demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice. On July 4, a protester was killed and another was injured when a car barreled into a Black Lives Matter protest on a closed freeway in Seattle.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
(LAKE JACKSON, Texas) — After Texas authorities sent an urgent message about brain-eating amoeba found in a southeast county water’s supply, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lifted a “Do Not Use” water advisory for all areas except one, Lake Jackson.
On Friday, TCEQ posted on social media that it was informed of the potential of Naegleria fowleri in the Brazosport Water Authority’s water supply.
A “Do Not Use” water advisory was issued for Lake Jackson, Freeport, Angleton, Brazoria, Richwood, Oyster Creek, Clute, Rosenberg, Dow Chemical, TDCJ Clemens & TDCJ Wayne Scott, according to the commission’s social media post.
“After extensive conversations with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as well as ensuring that Brazosport Water Authority has an adequate disinfectant residual, a determination has been made that there is no safety issue for BWA’s distribution system,” according to a statement from TCEQ on Saturday.
“Lake Jackson residents are still urged to follow the Do not Use Water Advisory until the water system has been adequately flushed and samples indicate that the water is safe to use. It is not known at this time how long this make take,” the statement continued.
TCEQ advised residents who remain under the advisory not to drink or bathe in tap water, although flushing toilets is OK.
Naegleria folweri is a parasite that typically infects people swimming in lakes and rivers, travelling through the nose and into the brain, according to ABC News medical contributor, Dr. Laith Alexander.
“Naegleria likes fresh water — lakes and ponds. Infection is even rarer than Vibrio, but the stakes are even higher,” Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious disease at South Shore Health in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, told ABC News, told ABC News.
“It travels up the nose and through the cribriform plate – a little sieve separating the nasal cavity and the brain,” Dr. Ellerin said. “When it reaches the brain, it causes Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis, or PAM for short, with seizures, headaches, personality changes and confusion. Most people with PAM have died – and unfortunately two-thirds of the cases are in otherwise healthy children.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “In very rare instances, Naegleria infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources (such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated and contaminated tap water) enters the nose. You cannot get infected from swallowing water contaminated with Naegleria.”
The Brazosport water system had seven violations from TCEQ in 2014 and 2015 related to monitoring, one violation in 2003 for a concentration of disinfectant, according to ABC News Houston affiliate KTRK. All violations were resolved and the water system has received several awards since from TCEQ for innovation, operations, compliance and more.
ABC News’ medical contributor Dr. Laith Alexander and Lauren M. Botchan contributed to this report.
ABC NewsBy TENZIN SHAKYA and ANTHONY RIVAS, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — This report is part of “Turning Point,” a groundbreaking month-long series by ABC News examining the racial reckoning sweeping the United States and exploring whether it can lead to lasting reconciliation.
In Oklahoma, the people of the Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation have just won their long-standing fight for sovereignty. In San Francisco, the Ohlone are fighting for a land to call their own. And in upstate New York, the Iroquois people are demanding that the true history of the United States is told and that the treaties they signed hundreds of years ago are recognized.
Native Americans across what is now the United States have been fighting for their land and culture ever since Juan Ponce de León became the first European to invade the country in Florida in 1513. For those living today, reparations come in many forms, as that which was taken away from them over the years varies as well.
“I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all policy of reparations for Indian tribes in the U.S.,” Matthew Fletcher, a foundation professor of law at Michigan State University, told “Nightline.” “There are 574 federally recognized tributes. They are all unique and individual.” New York Natives ask for their stories to be told
New York City is one of the most populated urban areas for Native Americans with 110,000 living throughout its five boroughs. Interdisciplinary artist Ty Defoe, who lives in Brooklyn, is hoping his art and performances will give a voice to Native Americans and their history.
“We learn it through a specific lens, and that lens is a white, Westernized, [Euro-centralized] lens perpetuating myths of colonizers as heroes and Native people as evil villains and devil worshippers,” he told “Nightline.” “So I think what’s really important to underscore is, how are we learning this information.”
He said New York City is full of images that portray Native Americans and settlers together, such as the one seen on the city’s seal. But when looking at them, he says “there’s a lack of information” regarding the Native American narrative, whereas a person seeing it will most likely know the story of the settlers.
Similarly, he says the statue of Christopher Columbus standing atop the pillar at the center of the city’s Columbus Circle represents “rape” and “murder,” and that it “needs to come down.” The city currently has no plan to remove the statue.
“A symbol like that is saying that we don’t believe you,” Defoe said, referring to those who support keeping the statue. “[Native Americans] believe that this person discovered something that was already inhabited by people with large cultural systems, values and missions. That is like Big Brother taking a hand and saying, ‘You do not exist.’”
“I think that with land being stolen, language being wiped away, there was a silencing that was occurring,” he added. “And it almost is strategic genocide when you sort of think about history and what has happened. But what I think is important is that our voices are heard.”
For urban Natives like Defoe, the American Indian Community House (AICH) has become a sanctuary.
AICH’s executive director Melissa Lakowi:he’ne’ Oakes said her organization represents up to 72 different tribal nations across New York City. Oakes said the lack of space has been one of the biggest obstacles for her organization.
“Fifty-one years since we’ve been established, and we’re having a hard time maintaining space. … We’re basically couch surfing with another organization in Chinatown because we can’t afford real estate,” Oakes, a member of the Mohawk Nation, told “Nightline.”
To address their lack of funding, AICH has teamed up with settlers in creating the Manna-hatta Fund, a voluntary “land tax” provided by non-natives as a form of solidarity.
Oakes believes the lack of space has contributed to a lack of visibility for those she represents.
“Our culture is our strongest trait,” she added. “If you lack that as a Native and go out into these urban spaces … it’s almost unhealthy. We’re on Native land and we don’t see ourselves anywhere, and that becomes a constant reminder of genocide, just another constant reminder of [the] erasure of our people.”
Oakes asked that those who are concerned about the welfare of Natives in North America reach out to organizations like hers and engage in deeper conversations about allyship.
In upstate New York, on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, Iroquois elder Kanasaraken, whose English name is Loran Thompson, gathered with his longtime friends Ateronhiata:kon and Tekarontake.
Kanasaraken was part of the first American Indian, Native and Indigenous delegation to the United Nations that advocated for the passing of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in 1977. The declaration, adopted in 2007, provided a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and wellbeing of indigenous people around the world.
“Our people have fought for generations just to hang onto the land, just to hang onto our status as free and independent people, regardless of how small we are,” Kanasaraken told “Nightline.”
The Iroquois Confederacy, which straddles the border between upstate New York and Canada, comprises six tribal nations. The St. Regis Mohawk territory, of which Kanasaraken is a member, is one of the five original nations. The Confederacy is also one of the world’s oldest democracies.
Kanasaraken was once a Mohawk Nation chief and is currently the spokesperson for the Bear Clan of Akwesasne. He was also involved in several other land disputes with government agencies over the years, including the Oka Crisis of the 1990s, when protests erupted against companies attempting to build golf courses on an ancestral burial site on the Canadian side of the reservation. Ateronhiata:kon and Tekarontake participated in the protests as well.
Oakes, who remembers the crisis, said that she looks up to Kanasaraken’s generation because it has always been there “fending for our land and people.”
Oakes told “Nightline” she respects Kanasaraken for advocating for the freedom and recognition of Indigenous People and helping the younger generation.
“These kinds of things, the knowledge and the wisdom from the generation before us … this is who we are,” she said. “All these teachings from our elders … they are irreplaceable.”
Kanasaraken said the United States owes it to its people to tell its full history, honestly.
“Somewhere in this world, there’s going to be people that are gonna open their eyes and ears and put pressure on the oppressors of North America, and make them respect the original peoples of this land,” he said. “America owes its people, more so than me, it owes its people the truth as it actually is. Right from the first day [that] we met on the shores of the ocean all the way through to correct history, because all of the history that you’re being told in the public schools, it’s all lopsided.” Reclaiming land lost long ago in California
Most tribes from outside of the original 13 colonies have some form of a treaty recognized by the United States, which gives them peace, land jurisdiction, natural resource rights and protection by the United States. The United States signed nearly 400 treaties with Native tribes before the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871, which made all Native tribes that had signed treaties beforehand “wards of the state.” Those that have come forward afterward have had to qualify through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Interior — a long and arduous process.
Fletcher says that there were over 100 tribes, mostly in California, that had drafted treaties with the federal government but were never ratified — a “historical accident,” he said. Many of these tribes are still not federally recognized and have not been granted their land back or federal funding.
The Ohlone People, who once populated much of the Northern California coast, are one of these unrecognized tribes.
“Folks like us, the Lisjan, we don’t have a land base,” said Corrina Gould, a member of the Lisjan Ohlone. “So we’re homeless in our own lands, on our own territories.”
Gould and others in her tribe have been working to reclaim a piece of land in Berkeley, California, that was once a burial and ceremonial site for her ancestors — called a shell mound. It’s one of many that existed in the Bay Area of San Francisco.
Although it’s now being used as a parking lot, the site was designated a Berkeley City landmark in 2002. On Thursday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that it had placed the shell mound site on its 2020 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
“We actually started fighting for this site over 20 years ago,” Gould, co-founder of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and Indian People Organizing for Change, told “Nightline.” “We’re fighting for this little postage stamp in the Bay Area.”
Like Oakes’ AICH, part of the funding for the land trust comes from a voluntary gift from local non-native residents, which the Ohlone call Shuumi.
She said her people’s “dream” would be to preserve the space and to use it to keep their traditions alive.
“We’re at this point right now where people are in the streets asking for the truth of history to be told,” she said. “No matter where you are in the United States, you’re on stolen indigenous land. And it’s important to find out what your history is and what’s your connection; who are those first people on whose land you’re settled on? What was their language? What is their language? What is the name of them? And how then is it your responsibility to work and engage with those people?” she told Nightline.
Until now, the Ohlone People have relied on donated sites like the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, a Native women-led organization, to hold community events and ceremonies. “The trust gives us a way to take care of land and to re-engage it in a sovereign kind of way,” said Gould.
Part of their journey includes reviving their Native language. Gould said her great grandfather was the last Chochenyo language speaker. Others in her family and community lost the language over the course of decades as a result of assimilation policies that began in the late 19th century, when Natives were forced to attend government- and church-operated boarding schools. These policies were implemented as part of the Natives’ treaty obligations.
Gould’s daughter, who has been able to learn Chochenyo, is now the language holder of the tribe and has been teaching her family and tribal members at the land trust.
Gould says there will be justice for her people when her descendants don’t have to tell stories of their history being erased. As part of their land battle, she emphasized that the Native connection to the land is one that’s familial. Most Native people consider land to be part of their family, which is why they often call it “mother earth.”
“We need to bring balance back to the earth so that when we leave this place, the next seven generations have clean air and clean water and good soil to grow food,” she said.
Still, even indigenous nations that have signed treaties have had trouble remaining sovereign. The Supreme Court affirms indigenous sovereignty in Oklahoma
Just this summer, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma should have jurisdiction over all native people within its borders — the state had previously been prosecuting natives for crimes committed on the reservation.
“Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law,” Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. “Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.”
“I still get goosebumps thinking about that day, because it was a day we got to celebrate,” JoEtta Toppah, assistant attorney general of the Muscogee Creek Nation, told “Nightline.”
She says that since the Supreme Court’s ruling on McGirt v. Oklahoma, her caseload has tripled, causing her to seek additional staff to manage it and lobbying for additional funding from the federal government. She’s appreciative of the additional work, though, as it acknowledges the independence of her people.
“It gives us our right to the land,” she said. “Some of the biggest factors for a tribe are its people, its language, the culture and the land. So the land is a huge piece. And so, these cases are in essence giving the tribes a part of what makes their political government, their sovereign government, exist.”
The U.S. holds approximately 56 million acres of land in trust for various Native American tribes and individuals, according to the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.
Melody McCoy, a member of the Cherokee Nation and attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, said the way in which their land has been taken away over the years is like a folding napkin.
“The napkin gets folded and the U.S. comes to the tribes and says, ‘You know what, you don’t really need all that land. … and it goes on and on until there is such little left.” But what happened with the Supreme Court in the McGirt case is that the original napkin that was promised to the tribe is now guaranteed again.
McCoy says the case also “sets a precedent for all tribes that have treaties or acts of Congress that have promised them homelands.”
“Those homelands are extremely important,” she said. “Second, probably, only to the sovereignty itself of tribes.”
McCoy represented 13 of the 17 tribes that, in 2016, settled with former President Barack Obama’s administration for $492 million for the mismanagement of natural resources and tribal assets.
Much of the land in Oklahoma became occupied by Native Americans after President Andrew Jackson authorized U.S. troops to evict tens of thousands of Native Americans from their homelands in the southeast U.S. and escort them west of the Mississippi River.
The Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, Seminole and Choctaw were among many other tribes that were forced to walk west on a path they called the “Trail of Tears.” However, even after their relocation, their land continued to be taken.
Today, while many people might say that “half of Oklahoma is Indian country,” Toppah says that’s incorrect — at least not yet. “It will be,” she said, “and we all believe that. But for today, from the Supreme Court ruling, it’s the Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation.”
But even if the other tribal nations of Oklahoma have their treaties affirmed, they would not have jurisdiction over everyone — just natives.
“On the civil side for the homes and landowners, you own your home still,” Toppah said. It’s just like when you pay taxes to the county or the tax assessor. They don’t own your home, you own it. You’re just paying the taxes to them… It’s the same case here.”
Still, the jurisdiction could apply to local taxes, which would help provide additional funding to the reservation. Toppah noted that the reservation employs and houses non-Natives in its casinos and hospitals.
Fletcher says the McGirt case “shows how the Supreme Court should behave, which [is] as lawyers [and] as judges, not as policymakers.”
Principal Chief of the Muscogee Nation David Hill is still processing the impact of the Supreme Court ruling. The leader of the fourth largest tribe in the U.S., who was sworn in just this year, said he hopes the Supreme Court made its decision based on the constitution deeming all treaties made by the federal government as the “supreme law of the land.”
“There are some people that still don’t realize that we are here,” he said. “We are a nation. We still have a government.”
Hill grew up not seeing any difference between his Muscogee Creek heritage and being an Oklahoman, he said. He’s proud to be both, he said, and his family history is rich, with relatives that served in different branches of the military over the years and a great-great-grandmother who walked on the Trail of Tears, named Hotoje Avanaki.
Hill’s great grandfather, Charley Coker, was also part of the group that went to the U.S. Capitol in 1906 as Congress debated Oklahoma’s statehood. Coker, along with Chitti Harjo, a Muscogee Creek leader known for his anti-allotment views testified in front of a Select Committee of the Senate against individual land allotment policies.
By the time his tenure as principal chief is over, Hill said he hopes the economic development among his citizens will have improved and that the Muscogee Creek Nation has a better working relationship with the state of Oklahoma and America overall. He said that he hopes his future grandkids don’t have to struggle with the same issues he’s dealing with now. “Everything would be set in stone,” he said. “That’s my goal.”
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 984,000 people worldwide.
Over 32.2 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 6.9 million diagnosed cases and at least 203,015 deaths.
California has the most cases of any U.S. state, with more than 799,000 people diagnosed, according to Johns Hopkins data. California is followed by Texas and Florida, with over 747,000 cases and over 693,000 cases, respectively.
Nearly 190 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are being tracked by the World Health Organization, at least nine of which are in crucial phase three trials.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Sep 25, 11:50 am 2 charged for handling of deadly COVID-19 outbreak at Massachusetts veterans’ home
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Friday that criminal neglect charges have been filed against both the former superintendent of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke as well as its former medical director for their alleged roles in a COVID-19 outbreak that led to the deaths of at least 76 residents at the state-run facility, which provides long-term care and other services to ageing veterans.
“We began this investigation on behalf of the families who lost loved ones under tragic circumstances and to honor these men who bravely served our country,” Healey said in a statement. “We allege that the actions of these defendants during the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility put veterans at higher risk of infection and death and warrant criminal charges.”
Bennett Walsh, 50, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Dr. David Clinton, 71, of South Hadley, Massachusetts, were indicted Thursday by a statewide grand jury on five counts each for the charge of caretaker who wantonly or recklessly commits or permits bodily injury to an elder or disabled person and another five counts each for the charge of caretaker who wantonly or recklessly commits or permits abuse, neglect, or mistreatment to an elder or disabled person. Walsh and Clinton will be arraigned in Hampden County Superior Court at a later date, according to the attorney general’s office.
Prosecutors allege that the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, faced with staffing shortages, decided on March 27 to consolidate two dementia units into one, resulting in the placement of symptomatic — including those who had confirmed cases of COVID-19 — and asymptomatic residents within feet of each other. Prosecutors allege that those decisions, which they say were ultimately the responsibility of Walsh and Clinton, were reckless and increased the likelihood that asymptomatic veterans would contract COVID-19 and put them at higher risk of death and harm. ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
Sep 25, 11:18 am Analysis shows cases rising in at least 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 nation’s capital and the U.S. island territory in the Caribbean.
The analysis also found increases in the daily positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in 21 states, increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations in 17 states and increases in daily COVID-19 death tolls in 9 states.
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.
Three states — Montana, South Dakota and Utah — saw a record rise in daily number of new cases, while one state — North Dakota — hit a record number of new deaths in a single day. Two states — South Dakota and Wisconsin — reported a record number of current COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Over the past week, the seven-day average of new cases has continued to hover around 40,000 in the United States. Since Sept. 12, that average has increased by 16.3%.
ABC News’ Benjamin Bell, Brian Hartman, Soorin Kim and Arielle Mitropolous contributed to this report.
Sep 25, 10:20 am Virginia governor and wife test positive for COVID-19
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife, Pamela, have both tested positive for COVID-19, according to a press release from his office.
The couple was notified Wednesday evening that a member of the governor’s official residence staff, who works closely within their living quarters, had developed COVID-19 symptoms and subsequently tested positive for the disease. Both the governor and the first lady received nasal swab tests Thursday afternoon, and the results came back positive.
Northam has no symptoms while his wife is currently experiencing mild symptoms. They are both “in good spirits,” according to the press release.
“As I’ve been reminding Virginians throughout this crisis, COVID-19 is very real and very contagious,” the governor said in a statement Friday. “The safety and health of our staff and close contacts is of utmost importance to Pam and me, and we are working closely with the Department of Health to ensure that everyone is well taken care of. We are grateful for your thoughts and support, but the best thing you can do for us — and most importantly, for your fellow Virginians — is to take this seriously.”
The couple will isolate for the next 10 days and evaluate their symptoms. Northam will continue fulfilling his duties as Virginia’s governor from their official residence in Richmond, according to the press release.
Sep 25, 9:32 am Renowned Indian singer dies after being on life support for ‘severe COVID-19 pneumonia’
Renowned Indian singer SP Balasubrahmanyam died Friday, weeks after he had been hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms. He was 74.
Balasubrahmanyam, an iconic playback singer of Indian cinema who reportedly held a Guinness World Record for his more than 40,000 songs, was admitted at MGM Healthcare in Chennai, southeastern India, on Aug. 5. He was placed on life support nine days later for “severe COVID-19 pneumonia,” according to a statement from the hospital’s assistant director of medical services, Dr. Anuradha Baskaran.
“In a further setback this morning, despite maximal life support measures and the best efforts of the clinical team, his condition deteriorated further and he suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest,” Baskaran said. “We express our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, well-wishers and admirers at their loss during this time of anguish and sorrow.”
Sep 25, 7:30 am Poland reports another record daily rise in cases
Poland reported a record rise in COVID-19 cases for the second straight day on Friday.
The Polish Ministry of Health confirmed another 1,587 new cases of the disease in the past 24 hours, the country’s highest daily caseload since the start of the pandemic. An additional 23 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported in the past day.
A majority of the newly confirmed infections were in the central part of the country.
In total, Polish Ministry of Health has identified 84,396 confirmed cases with 2,392 deaths.
Sep 25, 6:44 am Wisconsin grapples with record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations
A total of 530 people remained hospitalized for COVID-19 in Wisconsin as of Thursday afternoon — the highest yet since pandemic began.
Among those patients, 371 were receiving mechanical ventilation and 141 were in intensive care units. Currently, 80% of all hospital beds statewide are full, according to the latest data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Wisconsin topped 500 for the first time Wednesday, according to a report by Madison ABC affiliate WKOW-TV.
“There is no doubt that we are in a significant near-crunch time in a number of regions in the state,” Dr. Mark Kaufman, chief medical officer of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, told WKOW.
The rising number of COVID-19 hospitalizations comes as hospitals are also gearing up for flu season.
“We really don’t know how people will react if they are co-infected with both COVID and influenza,” Kaufman said. “But it is not likely to be good.”
Sep 25, 5:43 am India reports under 90,000 new cases for fifth straight day
India confirmed another 86,052 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
An additional 1,141 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded. The country’s cumulative total now stands at 5,818,570 confirmed cases and 92,290 deaths, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The daily caseload in the vast county of 1.3 billion people has remained below the 90,000 mark for five consecutive days after hitting a peak of 97,894 on Sept. 16, the highest single-day rise in infections worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Based on the current rate of infection, India is expected within weeks to become the pandemic’s worst-hit nation, surpassing the United States, where more than 6.9 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Sep 25, 5:10 am UK sees highest single-day rise in cases amid second wave
The United Kingdom reported 6,634 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, its highest daily caseload since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Another 40 coronavirus related-fatalities within 28 days of a positive test result were also registered Thursday, according to data published on the U.K. government’s website. The latest daily death toll for COVID-19 is far below the country’s record set on April 8 when there were 1,073 new fatalities reported U.K.-wide.
The United Kingdom’s cumulative total now stands at 416,363 confirmed cases and 41,902 deaths. The number of new infections started to come down in mid-April after hitting a peak but has been on the rise again since July.
The surge has prompted the British government to tighten restrictions on daily life in an effort to curb the current rate of infection.
The United Kingdom is not the only country seeing a second wave of COVID-19. Other European nations including France and Spain are also grappling with growing outbreaks.
Sep 25, 4:25 am US caseload edges closer to seven million
There were 44,110 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Thursday, as the nation’s cumulative total edges closer to seven million, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Thursday’s tally is well below the country’s record set on July 16, when there were 77,255 new cases in a 24-hour-reporting period.
An additional 914 coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded Thursday, down from a peak of 2,666 new fatalities reported on April 17.
A total of 6,978,874 people in the United States have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 202,818 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.
An internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News on Wednesday night shows that the number of new cases recorded in the United States is increasing by double digits in week-over-week comparisons, while the number of new deaths is down.
JasonDoiy/iStockBY: MARK OSBORNE, ABC NEWS
