The latest on the coronavirus pandemic from around the U.S. and the world.
The restart of colleges in Vermont is going well, with only 33 positive results turning up out of more than 27,000 students tested for the coronavirus, state officials said Friday.
“We’ve had a small number of cases, but they’ve been detected early, and the colleges are doing a great job of identifying those cases, getting them isolated and ensuring that their close contacts have quarantine housing available,” said state Epidemiologist Patsy Kelso during the governor’s regular virus briefing.
Only a few hundred out-of-state students are back in Vermont, and nearly all have been tested or are getting tested, said Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, who is managing the state’s COVID-19 data.
“Now it’s just a matter of making sure they follow through on the public health guidance throughout the semester but so far so good on the higher ed restart, certainly,” he said.
Will long Labor Day weekend mean another coronavirus spike?
HARTFORD, Conn. — Stir-crazy in some cases after the dreary Summer of COVID-19, Americans headed into the Labor Day weekend amid warnings from public health officials not to make the same mistakes they did over Memorial Day and July Fourth.
A waiter brings food to a table inside a diner on Friday in Hoboken, N.J. New Jersey restaurants prepared for the limited resumption Friday of indoor dining. Gov. Phil Murphy gave the go-ahead for indoor dining not to exceed 25 percent of capacity. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Associated Press
The fear is that backyard parties, crowded bars and other gatherings will cause the coronavirus to come surging back
“I look upon the Labor Day weekend really as a critical point,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert. “Are we going to go in the right direction and continue the momentum downward, or are we going to have to step back a bit as we start another surge?”
The warnings came as a widely cited model by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington projected a worsening outbreak in the U.S. that will peak in early December at about 2,900 deaths per day, up from about 860 a day now, unless government officials take action.
Over the summer, the U.S. saw a rise in infections, deaths and hospitalizations, primarily in the South and West, that was blamed in part on Americans behaving heedlessly over Memorial Day and July Fourth.
The landscape has improved in recent weeks, with the numbers headed in the right direction in hard-hit states like Florida, Arizona and Texas, but there are certain risk factors that could combine with Labor Day: Children are going back to school, university campuses are seeing soaring case counts, college football is starting, more businesses are open, and flu season is around the corner.
And a few states are heading into the holiday with less room in hospitals than they had over Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Alabama, for example, had about 800 people hospitalized with the virus on July 1. This week, it has just under 1,000.
More beaches will be open on Labor Day than on Memorial Day, but Fauci said that is not cause in itself for concern, as long as people keep their distance.
“I would rather see someone on a beach, being physically separated enough, than someone crowded in an indoor bar,” he said.
Americans, cooped up for months, appeared more than ready to venture out and socialize — though with some precautions.
Experts warn U.S. death toll could hit 410,000 by year’s end
The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could triple by year’s end, with an additional 1.9 million deaths, while a fall wave of infections could drive fatalities in the United States to 410,000, according to a new forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
This new estimate reinforces warnings by many experts that cooler, less humid weather and increased time spent indoors, could lead to a surge in viral transmission this fall and winter — something typically seen with other respiratory viruses.
The institute’s forecasts were influential earlier in the pandemic in guiding policies developed by the White House coronavirus task force, but they have been criticized by some experts for making projections further into the future than can be done reliably.
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, now stands at 183,000, according to health data analyzed by The Washington Post. The IHME model projects that under the most likely scenario, 410,451 people in the U.S. will have died by Jan. 1. The best case scenario is 288,381 deaths, and worst-case is 620,029.
Russia publishes virus vaccine results, weeks after approval
MOSCOW — Russian scientists have belatedly published first results from early trials into the experimental Sputnik V vaccine, which received government approval last month but drew considerable criticism from experts, as the shots had only been tested on several dozen people before being more widely administered.
In a report published in the journal Lancet on Friday, developers of the vaccine said it appeared to be safe and to prompt an antibody response in all 40 people tested in the second phase of the study within three weeks. However, the authors noted that participants were only followed for 42 days, the study sample was small and there was no placebo or control vaccine used.
In this handout photo taken on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, and provided by Russian Direct Investment Fund, an employee shows a new vaccine at the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia. Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/ Russian Direct Investment Fund via AP
One part of the safety trial included only men and the study mostly involved people in their 20s and 30s, so it is unclear how the vaccine might work in older populations most at risk of the more severe complications of COVID-19.
International experts remained cautious over the vaccine’s effectiveness and safety. Nevertheless, its Russian developers made some bold claims Friday after presenting the findings to reporters.
Professor Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute that developed the vaccine with assistance from Russia’s Defense Ministry, told reporters that the vaccine triggers “sufficient” immune response “to counteract any imaginable dose infecting (a person) with COVID-19.”
“We are ready to assert that the protective effect of this vaccine will be detectable and remain at a proper level for 2 years, or maybe even more,” Gintsburg said, without providing any evidence to back up the claim.
According to the Lancet report, the trials took place in two Russian hospitals involving healthy adults aged 18 to 60, who were required to self-isolate once they registered for the trial. They remained in the hospital for the first 28 days of the study after being vaccinated.
One part of the study involved a frozen formulation of the vaccine while another studied a freeze-dried variation. Scientists said the frozen vaccine would be suitable for current global vaccine supply chains while the freeze-dried version could be used in hard-to-reach areas.
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Fauci warns of a new ‘pandemic era’
The novel coronavirus is the latest sign that the world has “entered a pandemic era,” Anthony S. Fauci and epidemiologist David Morens, both of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warn in a report in the scientific journal Cell.
The scientists write that human activity appears to be a major contributing factor in the emergence of diseases, which “should force us to begin to think in earnest and collectively about living in more thoughtful and creative harmony with nature.”
In-flight meals at home? With borders closed, airlines get inventive
When it comes to raising money, nothing is off limits for airlines mired in their worst-ever crisis. From fresh vegetables to peanuts and pajamas, they’re selling almost anything to make it through the pandemic.
Even airlines that received government bailouts and slashed costs are looking for new revenue streams as they burn through cash while fleets are largely grounded and people stay at home. A recovery is expected to take years and cost carriers billions of dollars more.
Here’s a look at what airlines are peddling as they try to make up for the hit from COVID-19:
Fly Over Antarctica:
With its international fleet grounded until at least mid-2021, Australia’s Qantas Airways is renting out one of its Boeing Dreamliners for sightseeing trips over the southern ice cap.
Antarctica Flights is chartering the plane and crew from Qantas for seven trips between November and February. The flights last between 12 and 14 hours, and a business-class seat with full in-flight service costs US $5,850.
In-Flight Meals, at Home:
Air North, the 43-year-old airline that connects Canada’s remote Yukon with hubs such as Vancouver, branched into home-delivered airline meals. Menu offerings include beef pot pie for CA$9.00 ($6.88) and a selection of cheesecakes for CA$13.99.
Customers can order as many as 20 of the pre-cooked, frozen meals at a time, to be dropped off by a driver the next business day. The meals are only available in neighborhoods in the northwestern city of Whitehorse and the delivery charge is CA$10.
Thai Airways, meanwhile, has opened a restaurant fitted out with airplane seats and paraphernalia at its headquarters in Bangkok.
Flights to Nowhere:
Japan’s ANA sold tickets for a charter flight to nowhere. About 300 passengers paid for a so-called Hawaiian resort experience on an Airbus A380 that typically flies the Tokyo-Honolulu route. The passengers were picked through a lottery.
Crew wore masks and Hawaiian shirts and served cocktails during the 90-minute trip.
Starlux Airlines introduced a “pretending to go abroad” flight piloted by its chairman on Aug. 7, and 188 tickets for the trip along Taiwan’s east coast were snapped up in 30 seconds, according to Focus Taiwan. Starlux did another flight for employees and paying customers on Aug. 16, also flown by its chairman. Tickets cost NT$4,221 ($144) each.
Madrid struggles with Europe’s acutest 2nd wave of pandemic
MADRID — The Madrid regional government is further restricting family reunions and social gatherings to curb a sharp spike in coronavirus cases just as schools are set to reopen.
An existing ban on outdoor meetings of more than 10 people is now being extended indoors, after most new recent infections have been tied to gatherings at homes. Funerals, burials, weddings and religious celebrations, as well as group visits to museums or guided tourism will also be restricted starting Monday.
Students wearing face masks wait outside their school in Pamplona, Spain on Friday. Associated Press/Alvaro Barrientos
Nearly one third of the country’s new infections are in and around the Spanish capital, a region of 6.6 million. At least 16% of beds in Madrid’s hospitals are occupied by COVID-19 patients, the highest rate of all Spanish regions.
Announcing the new restrictions Friday, the regional health chief said that recent data show the rate of new daily increases is slowing down.
“The pandemic in the Madrid community is stable and is controlled,” said Enrique Ruíz Escudero. “We are not alarmed.”
Madrid is also expanding the number of contact tracers, which has been one of the weakest links in dealing with the the outbreaks. It’s also purchasing 2 million kits for rapid coronavirus tests.
Spain, now edging to half a million confirmed coronavirus cases since February, is leading Europe’s second wave of the pandemic, with a rate of virus prevalence above 212 per 100,000 residents for the past two weeks. Authorities say at least 29,234 people have died with the virus.
Gettysburg College locks down all students in their dorm rooms
Gettysburg College has placed all students on lockdown, only allowing them to leave their dorm rooms for basic needs like picking up food or using the bathroom, the school announced this week.
The small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania appears to be the first campus to take such drastic measures in the face of an emerging coronavirus outbreak. Gettysburg typically enrolls about 2,600 students a year, and as of Tuesday, two dozen had tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past two days, bringing the positivity rate to approximately seven percent. Those numbers are significantly smaller than those found at the flagship campuses of large state universities, such as the University of South Carolina and University of Alabama, which have each tallied more than 1,000 cases since classes resumed.
In a letter Tuesday to the campus community, Dean of Students Julie Ramsey said that the college was at an “inflection point” and the uptick in cases had been linked to “certain affinity groups or social gatherings.” The all-student quarantine, which is in effect for the rest of the week, “allows us to better understand the path of the virus on campus” while additional testing is conducted, she wrote. After the week is up, Gettysburg “will assess how we should best proceed as a community” for the rest of the semester.
During the lockdown, students can leave their rooms to get tested for the coronavirus, use the restroom, meet with a counselor or pick up prepared meals from a dining hall that they must then immediately bring back to their dorm. Anyone found leaving their dorm room for unsanctioned reasons will be kicked off campus, administrators said. Otherwise, students are not supposed to leave campus and return home without explicit permission.
“We understand that a residential restriction will not be easy and that the current situation on campus is not what any of us had in mind when we decided to return residentially,” Ramsey wrote.
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary has registered 459 new cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio that his government has three main objectives regarding the second wave of the pandemic: Protect those the most at-risk, like the elderly; create conditions needed for schools to function; and rev up the economy.
Orban said Friday that “if the economy has to stop again, we’re all going to be in a very difficult situation.”
Hungary’s decision to close its borders to most foreigners from Sept. 1 has drawn criticism from the European Union, but Orban said that despite the objections from Brussels, “in a few days they will be doing what we are,” because without new border rules they won’t be able to stem the spread of the virus.
Hungary has registered 7,382 confirmed cases and 621 deaths.
Berlucsoni hospitalized as a precaution
ROME — A senator who is a top aide to Silvio Berlusconi said the former premier was admitted to a Milan hospital early Friday as a precaution to monitor his coronavirus infection.
Sen. Lucia Ronzulli told RAI state TV Friday morning that the media mogul, 83, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week, was doing “well. He spent the night well” in hospital.
She said he was undergoing “precautionary monitoring” of his infection.
State radio later said he was admitted to San Raffaele hospital, where his private doctor is based, shortly after midnight, after having COVID-19 “symptoms” and would have tests but didn’t give details.
On Thursday, Berlusconi, in a strong but somewhat nasal voice, told his supporters he no longer had fever or pain. Italian media have said two of his adult children also were recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and are self-isolating.
The media mogul spent some of his summer vacation at his seaside villa on Sardinia’s Emerald Coast. Many of Italy’s recent cases of COVID-19 have been linked to clusters in people who vacationed on Sardinia.
Record levels of virus in Czech Republic
PRAGUE — The number of people infected with COVID-19 has continued to surge to record levels in the Czech Republic, surpassing 600 for the second straight day.
The Health Ministry says the day-to-day increase reached 680 new confirmed cases on Thursday, a new record.
Health authorities are expected to discuss a response to the spike later on Friday.
The Czech Republic has had a total of 26,452 infected with COVID-19, 426 have died. Currently, 177 people were hospitalized while 40 needed intensive care.
New Zealand reports first death from coronavirus in 3 months
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand reported its first death from the coronavirus in more than three months on Friday.
Health authorities said a man in his 50s died at an Auckland hospital where he was being treated for the virus following a small outbreak in the city that began last month. New Zealand has reported more than 1,700 cases and 23 deaths.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand would keep its current coronavirus restrictions until at least mid-September.
A lockdown in Auckland has been eased, but crowd sizes are limited across the country and masks mandated on public transport.
“As with last time, a cautious approach is the best long-term strategy to get our economy open and freedoms back faster in the long term,” Ardern said.
WHO expects no ‘widespread vaccination’ until mid-2021
Despite U.S. efforts to prepare the possible distribution of a coronavirus vaccine as early as November, the World Health Organization said Friday that there likely will not be “widespread vaccination” until mid-2021, according to Reuters.
Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the agency, said safety and effectiveness tests must be completed first. She added that it was still unclear if any of the potential vaccines currently in late-stage clinical trials would meet the requirements expected by the WHO.
“This phase 3 must take longer because we need to see how truly protective the vaccine is and we also need to see how safe it is,” Reuters quoted her as saying.
Candidate vaccines in Phase 3 are usually tested in thousands of people, following smaller trials.
The White House this week rejected concerns that U.S. authorities may rush to approve a vaccine ahead of the November presidential election before it is fully deemed safe and effective.
The Financial Times reported last week that the Trump administration has been considering fast-tracking regulatory steps. More concerns were raised after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told public health officials across the nation to prepare for the potential distribution a coronavirus vaccine by early November.
But White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said this week that President Trump “will not in any way sacrifice safety.”
Russia became the first nation last month to claim that it has approved a coronavirus vaccine, vowing to distribute it widely this fall. Global health experts raised alarm over the claim, saying its approval came before critical trials have been fully concluded.
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