The rise in coronavirus cases has prompted state governments on the East Coast to put restrictions in place to avoid getting overwhelmed by illness.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed an executive order Thursday mandating masks in all public places regardless of physical distancing, the Press Herald reported. Mills’s order builds on the original order, which mandated masks only when physical distancing was impossible to maintain. Maine reported 183 new cases Thursday, a record-high number of daily cases for the third day in a row. There were 151 new cases Wednesday and 127 new cases Tuesday.
In Rhode Island, people have been advised to stay at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weeknights and from 10:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. on weekends, the Boston Globe reported. The stay-at-home advisory, which takes effect Sunday, is a response to the record number of daily cases state health officials have reported this week.
The state reported 566 new coronavirus infections Thursday, marking the third time in a week that more than 500 cases have been reported in one day. Rhode Island never reached 500 cases a day during the first wave of the pandemic in April and May.
“The fact of the matter is we’re not alone,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said. “Cases are spiking actually all over the world, certainly all over the region and all over the country.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday that he is considering instituting more coronavirus restrictions but did not give details on whether that would include a new round of business restrictions or closures.
“We will clearly be taking action,” Murphy said. “I hope it will be action that balances all the various challenges and interests.”
Denver, meanwhile, is considering a stay-at-home order as coronavirus cases surge in the city.
“All options are on the table given the numbers, trends, and hospitalizations,” Theresa Marchetta, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Hancock, told the local NBC affiliate.
Last week, the state government of Colorado ordered Denver to move to the more restrictive Safer at Home Level Orange. Under this level, personal gatherings are limited to 10 people, and churches, restaurants, shops, and personal services are capped at 25%.
A full stay-at-home order would mean moving to Level Red. That would mean restaurants would be limited to takeout or delivery only, and barbers, hair salons, and massage parlors would be closed.
To date, nearly 9.6 million infections and more than 234,000 deaths due to COVID-19 have been confirmed in the United States.
AstraZeneca announced that coronavirus vaccine trials are expected to yield results “later this year,” with a potential rollout soon after provided the Food and Drug Administration grants approval, the Wall Street Journal reported. AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford have enrolled around 23,000 volunteers to test the vaccine in sites in the U.S., United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa.
A surge in new COVID-19 cases across the U.S. has prompted people to stockpile N95 masks, putting a strain on the supply of protective equipment for healthcare workers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The national supply of PPE has improved since the early days of the pandemic, when hospital workers had to reuse masks or make their own equipment out of household items, but levels at some healthcare facilities remain well below what regulators recommend. Many healthcare facilities still have to ration and reuse face masks even though manufacturers have increased production.
“We expect the need to increase and supplies to tighten again,” said Jon Ebelt, spokesman for Montana’s public health department.
The U.K. will extend the furlough scheme, which subsidizes the wages of people who cannot work due to the coronavirus, to March 2021. The Jobs Retention Scheme will pay up to 80% of a person’s wages, up to 2,500 pounds, for hours not worked. Employers have to pay for their employees’ pension contributions and National Insurance, which pays for components of the U.K.’s welfare state, such as the National Health Service.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons Thursday that the government will review the policy in January to see if the economy has improved enough that employers can make more contributions themselves.
French health minister Olivier Veran warned Thursday that intensive care units could be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks, the New York Times reported. Veran urged the public to cooperate with lockdown measures, otherwise “we will see, as early as mid-November, a high risk of saturation” of hospitals.
“The second wave is already upon us, and it is brutal,” Veran said.
Denmark is taking drastic actions to prevent the spread of a mutant form of the coronavirus found in minks, one that may be resistant to vaccines.
Danes will face severe restrictions on movement across county lines in seven regions in the north, where the mink farms are located. Bars and restaurants will be closed, and schools and public transportation will be shut down until Dec. 3.
Thus far, the Danish authorities have identified 12 people as having been infected with the new strain.
The new strain of the coronavirus has mutations on its spike protein, the part of the virus that attaches to healthy cells. Vaccines that are expected to be available in the next few months target the spike protein. A report from the State Serum Institute, which is charged with controlling infectious diseases in Denmark, said, “There is a risk that vaccines targeting the spike protein will not provide optimal protection against the new viruses occurring in mink.”
Chinese authorities have barred non-Chinese travelers from France, the U.K., Belgium, the Philippines, and India in an effort to avoid spikes in new coronavirus cases reported globally, Reuters reported. Chinese embassies in the countries included in the ban wrote that the suspension of travel is “a temporary response necessitated by the current situation of Covid-19.”
“We are concerned by the abruptness of the announcement and the blanket ban on entry, and await further clarification on when it will be lifted,” said the British Chamber of Commerce in China.
