NEW YORK — The U.S. has surpassed 1 million new confirmed coronavirus cases in just the first 10 days of November, with more than 100,000 infections each day becoming the norm in a surge that shows no signs of slowing.

The 1 million milestone came as governors across the nation are making increasingly desperate pleas with the public to take the fight against the virus more seriously. The Wisconsin governor planned to take the unusual step of delivering a live address to the state Tuesday, urging unity and cooperation to fight COVID-19.

Minnesota’s governor ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m., and Iowa’s governor said she will require masks at indoor gatherings of 25 or more people, inching toward more stringent measures after months of holding out.

The alarming wave of cases across the U.S. looks bigger and is more widespread than the surges that happened in the spring, mainly in the Northeast, and then in the summer, primarily in the Sun Belt. But experts say there are also reasons to think the nation is better able to deal with the virus this time around.

“We’re definitely in a better place” when it comes to improved medical tools and knowledge, said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious-disease researcher.

Newly confirmed infections in the U.S. are running at all-time highs of well over 100,000 per day, pushing the running total to more than 10 million and eclipsing 1 million since Halloween.

Several states posted records Tuesday, including more than 12,000 new cases in Illinois, 7,000 in Wisconsin and 6,500 in Ohio.

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Vermont suspends safe travel program for Northeast visitors

The state of Vermont on Tuesday suspended a program that allowed people from across the Northeast to visit the state without quarantining if they come from a county with a low rate of coronavirus infection.

Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday that the number of counties eligible, listed on a map that uses red, orange and green to indicate eligibility, has continued to shrink.

As of Tuesday only two counties between Maine and Ohio were listed as green, from where travel to Vermont without quarantining would be permitted.

“The fact is, along with social gatherings, travel to, and from, other states without the proper quarantine continues to be one of the common denominators in our rising case counts,” Scott said at his regular Tuesday virus briefing.

Essential travel, such as work, school, medical care, personal safety, shared child custody, or buying groceries is not affected, but people should only do what they need to do and then return home.

“When you consider the amount of red in the Northeast and it’s no likely to improve for a few weeks, it only made sense to simplify the policy in order to ensure better compliance,” Scott said.

Vermont determined eligible counties as those with virus rates of less than 400 cases per million residents. While travel within the state is not restricted, as of Tuesday, only two Vermont counties — Rutland and Franklin — fell under the threshold.

Scott also urged Vermonters to follow the guidance designed to reduce the spread of the virus: Wear masks in public, limit private gatherings to 10 people or less and avoid unneeded travel.

He’s hopeful the voluntary restrictions can help stem the spread of the virus.

“It’s an ongoing effort, nothing is off the table, but certainly we want to live within the restrictions we have in place right now,” he said.

Doctors may be better equipped to handle latest virus surge

NEW YORK — The latest surge in U.S. coronavirus cases appears to be much larger than the two previous ones, and it is all but certain to get worse — a lot worse. But experts say there are also reasons to think the nation is better able to deal with the virus this time.

“We’re definitely in a better place” when it comes to improved medical tools and knowledge, said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious-disease researcher.

To be sure, the alarming wave of cases across the U.S. looks bigger and is more widespread than the surges that happened in the spring, mainly in the Northeast, and then in the summer, primarily in the Sun Belt.

Newly confirmed infections in the U.S. are running at all-time highs of well over 100,000 per day, pushing the running total to more than 10 million. Deaths — a lagging indicator, since it takes time for people to get sick and die — are climbing again, reaching an average of more than 930 a day.

Hospitals are getting slammed. And unlike the earlier outbreaks, this one is not confined to a region or two. Cases are on the rise in 49 states.

“The virus is spreading in a largely uncontrolled fashion across the vast majority of the country,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt University.

While deaths are still well below the U.S. peak of about 2,200 per day back in April, some researchers estimate the nation’s overall toll will hit about 400,000 by Feb. 1, up from about 240,000 now.

But there is also some good news.

Doctors now better know how to treat severe cases, meaning higher percentages of the COVID-19 patients who go into intensive care units are coming out alive. Patients have the benefit of new treatments, namely remdesivir, the steroid dexamethasone and an antibody drug that won emergency-use approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. Also, testing is more widely available.

In addition, a vaccine appears to be on the horizon, perhaps around the end of the year, with Pfizer this week reporting early results showing that its experimental shots are a surprising 90% effective at preventing the disease.

And there’s a change pending in the White House, with President-elect Joe Biden vowing to rely on a highly respected set of medical advisers and carry out a detailed coronavirus plan that experts say includes the kind of measures that will be necessary to bring the surge under control.

Biden pledged during the campaign to be guided by science, make testing free and widely available, hire thousands of health workers to undertake contact-tracing, and instruct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide clear, expert advice.

“We are already seeing encouraging signs from President-elect Biden with regard to his handling of COVID-19,” said Dr. Kelly Henning, a veteran epidemiologist who heads the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ public health programs.

“I am relieved to see he’s already put some of the smartest scientific minds on his new coronavirus task force and that they are acting urgently to try and get the pandemic under control as quickly as possible.”

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EU plans to buy up to 300 million doses of Pfizer vaccine

BRUSSELS — The European Commission will sign a deal to secure up to 300 million doses of the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive arm, said the commission will authorize the deal on Wednesday after “working tirelessly to secure doses of potential vaccines” in recent months.

“This is the most promising vaccine so far,” von der Leyen said. “Once this vaccine becomes available, our plan is to deploy it quickly, everywhere in Europe.”

Pfizer said Monday that early results from the vaccine suggests the shots may be a surprisingly robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19.

The European Commission had already secured three other deals with pharmaceutical companies allowing its 27 member states to buy nearly one billion doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine.

“And more will come. Because we need to have a broad portfolio of vaccines based on different technologies,” von der Leyen said. “We have already started working with member states to prepare national vaccination campaigns. We are almost there. In the meantime, let us be prudent, and stay safe.”

The commission said once a vaccine is ready, member states should have access to it at the same time, and give priority to groups including healthcare workers and people over 60 years, as well as people with health conditions making them more vulnerable.

Experts say Thanksgiving is still possible – with precautions

A safe Thanksgiving during a pandemic is possible, but health experts know their advice is as tough to swallow as dry turkey: Stay home. Don’t travel. If you must gather, do it outdoors.

With a fall surge of coronavirus infections gripping the U.S., many Americans are forgoing tradition and getting creative with celebrations.

For the first time in five years, Atlanta nutrition consultant Marisa Moore won’t travel to South Carolina to see her large extended family. Instead, she plans to video chat with them as she attempts her first home-baked apple pie. When it’s time to eat, they’ll compare plates.

“We’ll talk all day,” Moore said.

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its holiday guidance, noting the virus crisis is worsening and that small household gatherings are “an important contributor.” The CDC said older adults and others at heightened risk of severe illness should avoid gathering with people outside their households.

Experts point to Canada, where Thanksgiving was celebrated Oct. 12. Clusters of cases tied to family gatherings followed. “This sucks. It really, really does,” Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said two weeks later.

There’s no need to cancel the holiday. Spending time with loved ones is important for health too, said Lacy Fehrenbach, Washington state deputy secretary of health.

The coronavirus spreads more easily when people are crowded together inside, so Fehrenbach encourages new outdoor traditions such as hiking as a family. Guest lists for indoor feasts should be small enough so people can sit six feet apart while unmasked and eating, she said. Open the windows to keep air circulating.

The more people who attend a gathering, the greater the chances that someone in the party will be carrying the virus, Fehrenbach said, “even someone that you know and love.”

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Spain hopes to vaccinate at least 10 million

MADRID — Spain’s top health official says the government wants to inoculate against COVID-19 at least 10 million of the country’s 47 million using a new vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech.

Pfizer Inc. said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine may be a remarkable 90% effective, based on early and incomplete test results that nevertheless brought widespread optimism.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said Tuesday that the vaccination would be free. He expects that enough people in Spain will be inoculated, together with purchases of other vaccines, by May 2021.

The country expects to receive the first doses from Pfizer in early 2021, the minister told public broadcaster TVE.

He also vowed to counter with scientific arguments people who are against vaccinating. The country’s polling institute, CIS, says 43% of Spaniards are wary of receiving the vaccine.

“We are going to be very clear and convincing against people who tell lies and who play with anti-science,” Illa said.

Spain has recorded more than 39,000 virus-related deaths and more than 1.38 million cases

Brazil stops clinical trials of vaccine because of ‘serious event’

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s health regulator has halted clinical trials of the potential coronavirus vaccine CoronaVac, citing an “adverse, serious event.”

The decision posted on Anvisa’s website Monday night elicited immediate surprise from parties involved in producing the vaccine.

The potential vaccine is being developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac and in Brazil would be mostly produced by Sao Paulo’s state-run Butantan Institute. Sao Paulo state’s government said in a statement it “regrets being informed by the press and not directly by Anvisa, as normally occurs in clinical trials of this nature.”

Butantan said it was surprised by Anvisa’s decision and it would hold a news conference Tuesday.

Sinovac issued a short statement in China on Tuesday saying it was in touch with Brazilian authorities. “The clinical study in Brazil is strictly carried out in accordance with GCP requirements and we are confident in the safety of the vaccine,” it said, referring to Good Clinical Practice standards.

ND governor says asymptomatic health care workers who test positive should keep working

FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota’s governor says health care workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus but have no symptoms should be allowed to stay on the job as part of an effort to ease the stress on hospitals and medical personnel dealing with the pandemic.

Gov. Doug Burgum said Monday the CDC allows such personnel to keep working as long as they take precautions.

Burgum says leaders from the six major hospitals in the state will meet daily to discuss hospital space and staffing, with the likelihood of shifting personnel among them. Some hospitals are suspending some elective surgeries.

The governor also announced that every county in the state has been declared at high risk, so businesses will be limited to 25% capacity. He says masks “should be required.”

Pfizer official says timing of vaccine announcement wasn’t political

HARTFORD, Conn. — Pfizer’s senior vice president of drug safety says the timing of the company’s announcement was of progress in its coronavirus vaccine was not related in any way to the presidential election and was made as soon as the efficacy data was ready.

John Burkhardt told reporters Monday that no corners were cut, but the company broke with standard practice and has been manufacturing the vaccine even as the vaccine goes through the approval process.

He says that ”normally, you wouldn’t spend $1 billion to manufacture a product that may not work. You wait and see whether it works and whether it’s safe and then you do the manufacturing. So we did that at risk. That was a decision that was made very early in the process.”

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