Coronavirus updates: US hits highest daily death toll since May; Denver Mayor Michael Hancock ignores own advice; Los Angeles dining ban

Ryan W. Miller, Jorge L. Ortiz and Jessica Flores, USA TODAY
·14 min read

Federal government officials said the first 6.4 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed to U.S. communities as early as December within 24 hours of approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

But the U.S. recorded its highest daily death toll since May on Tuesday, and experts warned that good vaccine news doesn't mean Americans should let down their guard down over the holidays.

Several state restrictions go into effect Wednesday just hours before the Thanksgiving holiday, including a ban on alcohol sales at restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania. State health officials ordered restaurants and bars to not sell alcohol starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday until 8 a.m. Thursday in an effort to prevent social gatherings.

“It turns out the biggest day for drinking is the day before Thanksgiving," Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference this week. "When people get together in that situation, it leads to the exchange of fluids that leads to the increase in infection."

Overseas, British authorities relaxed restrictions on social gatherings to allow people to celebrate the Christmas holiday with friends and family. Officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland came up with a holiday plan to allow up to three households to create a "Christmas bubble" Dec. 23-27.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 12.7 million cases and over 260,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 60 million cases and 1.4 million deaths.

🗺️ Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak in your state.

📚What we're reading: Here's why this Harvard doctor is optimistic about US overcoming COVID-19 despite "epidemic of mistrust."

This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo: States need funding to distribute vaccine

The encouraging recent news about coronavirus vaccines, with three companies reporting high effectiveness in their candidates, has obscured one large obstacle that lies ahead in getting people inoculated: garnering the required resources.

“The states are broke,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Wednesday. “Washington never approved the state and local funding. They estimate that the cost to the states to distribute a vaccine ... $8 billion. So far, the government provided $200 million.”

States are facing budgetary pressures created by the unexpected need to allocate money to combat the coronavirus pandemic combined with diminished revenue from the closure of businesses aimed at curbing spread of the virus.

A federal stimulus package that might help shore up state and local budgets has stalled in Congress, although the Department of Health and Human Services told CNBC that the agency is trying to secure funds to help cover the cost of vaccination programs.

President-elect Joe Biden has a plan that calls for $25 billion for that purpose, but he might take office in January with a divided Congress.

Cuomo, who earlier this week said he intended to spend Thanksgiving with his mother and two adult daughters, later backtracked upon receving criticism that pointed out none of the women are regular members of his household. The CDC has advised against separate households mingling because of the pandemic.

Ravens-Steelers shifted from Thanksgiving to Sunday

The NFL has moved Thursday's featured game between the Baltimore Ravens and the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers to Sunday because of a coronavirus outbreak among the Ravens. The night matchup in Pittsburgh was one of three NFL games on Thanksgiving, but the only one pitting teams with winning records.

The Ravens canceled Tuesday's practice after learning in the morning that additional players had tested positive for COVID-19, according to multiple reports. On Monday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh confirmed that running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins had tested positive for COVID-19. Defensive tackle Brandon Williams was also listed as a close contact and placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that five Ravens players and four staff members had tested positive this week.

This is the first time since Week 5 that the league has postponed a game because of COVID-19 concerns.

– Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock faces backlash for traveling

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock reminded the city's residents Wednesday to avoid traveling this week to reduce the chances they spread or contract the coronavirus.

Some 30 minutes after tweeting out the advice, Hancock ignored it, boarding a plane bound for Houston to meet his wife and daughter for a Thanksgiving gathering.

The contradiction between Hancock's recommendation and his actions was reminiscent of another elected leader, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had to apologize after reports surfaced of his attendance at a friend's birthday party in a restaurant, violating the public health guidelines he has been constantly promoting.

No word yet on whether Hancock will apologize, but his spokesperson released a statement that attempted to lessen some of the criticism the mayor will inevitably draw.

“As he has shared, the Mayor is not hosting his traditional large family dinner this year, but instead traveling alone to join his wife and daughter where the three of them will celebrate Thanksgiving at her residence instead of having them travel back to Denver,'' the statement said. "Upon return, he will follow all necessary health and safety guidance and quarantine.”

School closings may lead to shorter life spans, study says

The March closure of schools prompted by the pandemic is likely to cost some of today's students future years of their lives, according to a study conducted by researchers from UCLA and the University of Washington.

The researchers said more than 24 million students ages 5-11 in public elementary schools missed approximately 54 days of instruction in the spring, resulting in an average loss of educational attainment of four months for boys and nearly three months for girls.

The study, published in the November edition of JAMA Network Open, estimates the potential years of life lost for all those students at 5.53 million. That's based on previous analysis of the relationship between educational attainment and life expectancy and the impact of the coronavirus' spread.

“If the choice is just between keeping schools open or closing them in the face of this unprecedented upsurge in COVID-19 cases, I would favor closing them. But that isn't the only choice,” said study co-author Frederick Zimmerman, a UCLA health policy professor who mentioned increased spending in protective equipment at schools as an option.

Grieving COVID loss, families prepare for Thanksgiving without loved ones

Katie Stoddard remembers getting a call in late March from her mother, who mentioned her father had a sore throat and mild fever. A few days later, both her parents couldn’t taste or smell. They went to see a doctor, but the prescription drugs didn’t seem to help. Two days later, her dad entered the intensive care unit. Six days later, he was dead.

“It was just so fast, and unexpected,” Stoddard said. “It was when we didn’t really realize how serious this thing was.”

As the virus surges and public health and government officials call on Americans to resist gathering for Thanksgiving, the nation marks another milestone in the fight against the coronavirus: more than 260,000 lives have been taken. Their families, who may not have even been able to gather to mourn their loved one, will be left to mark the holiday without them.

Stoddard will forego a typical Thanksgiving gathering with family and spend the day with her boyfriend at home. Her parents often hosted Thanksgiving, as her father loved to cook. The holidays will be difficult without him, especially for her mother.

“It still doesn’t seem real,” she said. Read more here.

– Matthew Glowicki, Louisville Courier Journal

Los Angeles outdoor dining ban to go into effect

A reinstated ban on outdoor dining in Los Angeles County can go into effect Wednesday night, a judge ruled, after a restaurant industry group had tried to block the restriction.

The California Restaurant Association challenged the order issued Sunday that prohibited outdoor dining at restaurants, breweries, wineries and bars, and asked county health officials to provide medical or scientific evidence that it poses an unreasonable risk to public health. The ban is supposed to last at least three weeks.

The county's Board of Supervisors also considered blocking the ban but failed to garner enough support. The Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of a resolution to urge county officials to rescind the ban but that vote was nonbinding.

The rule is now set to go into effect Wednesday at 10 p.m. and will limit restaurants in the nation’s most populous county to takeout and delivery. The county averaged more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases over a five-day period, triggering the restriction.

US records highest daily death toll since May with more than 2,000

More than 2,100 people died in the U.S. because of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest daily death toll since May.

Deaths have been steadily rising since October but hadn't surpassed 2,000 in a day since May 6, when more than 2,300 people died, according to Johns Hopkins data.

The at least 2,146 people who died Tuesday translates to roughly one death every 40 seconds in the United States. More than 172,000 new cases were added Tuesday, too, according to Hopkins data.

Fauci has a final Thanksgiving message for Americans

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, issued his final Thanksgiving message for Americans as COVID-19 cases surge and dinner tables are still expected to fill up.

"The final message is to do what really we’ve been saying now for some time, is to the extent possible, keep the gatherings, the indoor gatherings, as small as you possibly can," Fauci said Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

"By making that sacrifice, you're going to prevent people from getting infected," he added. "A sacrifice now could save lives and illness and make the future much brighter as we get through this."

27 virus deaths at Illinois veterans nursing home

Illinois officials will investigate a COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veterans nursing home after 27 veterans died and nearly 200 residents and staff members tested positive.

Illinois' Department of Veterans' Affairs requested an independent probe into the facility after the outbreak was first spotted in late October.

“The tragedy of what has unfolded at the veterans’ home cannot be understated,” said State Senator Sue Rezin, who represents the district where the home is located.

Europe's virus cases are slowing

The World Health Organization said COVID-19 cases in Europe are slowing down despite it still being the region with the biggest proportion of new cases and deaths around the world.

New cases dropped by 6% in Europe over the last week, the WHO said. And that's after a 10% decline the previous week. However, the virus death rate continues to rise, and more than 67,000 new deaths were reported.

  • France: President Emmanuel Macron laid out new rules Tuesday to ease France's partial shutdown. They include allowing the reopening of some shops and houses of worship next week while indoor dining and gyms remain shuttered.

  • Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to extend Germany's partial shutdown into December. The restrictions have slowed a virus spike, but cases remain at high levels rather than sinking lower.

Singapore nearly virus free

Once a hot spot of cases in southeast Asia, Singapore is virtually virus free after Tuesday marked 14 days without a new local case, Reuters reported.

A few infections from abroad have been recorded, but people in those cases have been immediately isolated. Many cases in Singapore have been tied to infections at dormitories for foreign workers, the news agency reported.

Tuesday also marked the first time there were no live infection clusters across Singapore, Reuters reported.

The country was one of the first outside of China to report a COVID-19 infection, but it has staved off the worst of the virus and has the lowest case fatality rate in the world, according to Johns Hopkins data.

CDC pondering quarantine reduction to 7-10 days, report says

In an effort to encourage compliance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may reduce the recommended quarantine period for those exposed to the coronavirus from 14 days to seven to 10, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said agency officials are putting the final touches on the recommendation, which would require a negative COVID test for the exposed person to exit quarantine.

Henry Walke, the CDC's incident manager for COVID-19 response, told the Journal that studies have shown effective quarantines can be done in less time than the currently recommended two weeks. Although there's a chance some infections could be missed, he said there's a valuable tradeoff to be gained.

"Hopefully people would be better able to adhere to quarantine if it was, for example, seven to 10 days,'' he said.

A sign at the entrance to a park on Tuesday warns pedestrians about increased risk for the coronavirus in the Ironbound section of Newark, N.J.
A sign at the entrance to a park on Tuesday warns pedestrians about increased risk for the coronavirus in the Ironbound section of Newark, N.J.

New Mexico approves $330M relief bill, including stimulus checks

New Mexico lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill that will deliver a one-time $1,200 check to all types of unemployed workers and up to $50,000 for certain businesses.

The bill also provides smaller stimulus checks to immigrants without legal status in the country and dependents, as well as additional funds for food banks, virus testing and contact tracing efforts.

Most of the proposed spending will be made possible by federal relief funding previously assigned to New Mexico, including around $319 million in unspent funds that were expected to expire soon. An additional $10 million in state general funds were allocated for testing and tracing efforts.

The bill allocates $100 million to support businesses with 100 or fewer employees. The New Mexico Finance Authority is tasked with distributing the grants, which can be up to $50,000, and has wide discretion about whom to choose. It’s instructed to focus on the service industry.

Texas judge implements new shelter-at-home curfew in El Paso

Judge Ricardo Samaniego implemented a new curfew to combat the surge of COVID-19 cases in El Paso, Texas. The 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew goes into effect Wednesday and will last until Monday.

However, unlike his previous curfew, people would not be barred from going to businesses outside those hours, Samaniego told the El Paso Times on Monday.

The curfew sends a message that "we are serious about this and have to do something" to curb the rise in cases, he said. Even if the COVID-19 numbers go down, it's still a serious problem in El Paso County based on existing cases, he said.

"It is a shelter-at-home order. Residents are encouraged to stay at home," Samaniego said. "We want no more than 10 people to gather together in public or at home."

– Aaron A. Bedoya, El Paso Times

Tennessee won't mandate COVID vaccine in K-12 schools

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines will be optional in the state's K-12 public schools once they become available.

The Republican governor said vaccines will be very important for Tennessee to "ultimately really be able to handle" the spread of the virus. However, it is a choice he believes people should make on their own.

"Vaccines are a choice and people have the choice and will have the choice in this state as to whether or not they should take that vaccine," he said.

Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines could be available to residents as soon as Dec. 15. Front-line health care workers and first responders will receive the first wave of vaccines.

COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID news: CDC quarantine time; Pfizer; US deaths; Steelers; Ravens

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