COVID-19 Pandemic Update: Wave-2 – France Daily COVID-19 Cases Rise To Record 20,000

Summary:

• The world reported 360,685 new cases, missing the record tally from Sept. 24 by 1,000 cases
• Despite the surge in infection, deaths have remained relatively steady since May
• Twindemic” as the coronavirus mixes with the common cold and the seasonal flu
• For the past four months, a legion of scientists in the United States and Europe have warned about an impending surge in deaths as the Northern Hemisphere enters the winter months, even as all available evidence seems to suggest that improving treatment strategies have helped to permanently reduce the virus’s mortality rate
• Dr. Deborah Birx said the uptick in coronavirus cases in the northeast indicates a ‘very different’ style of coronavirus infection patterns
• She said the virus is now spreading faster within smaller gatherings of families and social groups
• Now that its cooler in the northeast, people are heading indoors to socialize and are removing face masks while eating and drinking with each other
• The virus is not spreading as quickly where precautions are being kept, such as in schools and workplaces 
• Several northeastern states are experiencing rising new coronavirus infection rates leading to concerns about a second wave later this year
• Where falling temperatures are starting to send people indoors, many states are seeing the virus arrive in towns and small communities where it has been almost totally absent
• Nancy Pelosi has said that the US should not approve a Covid-19 vaccine based on data from British trials, amid fears that the Trump administration is planning to deploy an inoculation before the election
• France reports more than 20k new cases
• France expanded localized COVID-19 rollbacks to more cities after Marseille and Paris both saw their alert levels raised to the max as pubs and restaurants and other non-essential businesses were closed
• Illinois hospitalizations highest since June
• Poland sees record for 4th straight day
• Spain reports more than 5,000 cases
• HHS secures antibody treatments from Eli Lilly, Regeneron
• Europe tops 100,000 daily case tally for the first time
• The UK revives worker aid for hot spots
• Italy tops 5,000 new cases
• Spanish gov’t locks down Madrid
• Merkel says she will impose tougher measures if no improvement is seen in ten days
• London mayor says lockdown “inevitable”
• Netherland reports latest record jump
• Spain declares “public health emergency” in Madrid
• Russia reports a new record
• Takeda enrolls first patients for a new drug trial
• China joins WHO vaccine initiative
• Iran bars hospitals from taking non-urgent cases as COVID hammers country
• A partial shutdown implemented in Tehran a week ago was extended
• Poland joins the Czech Republic in imposing new COVID restrictions
• Portugal sees new cases top 1k/day
• Florida posts most new cases in a month
• NJ focuses on hotspots in Monmouth and Ocean Counties
• Texas passes California as the state with 2nd highest death toll
• De Blasio addresses chaotic protests in ultraorthodox neighborhoods, releases the latest NYC numbers
• The Czech Republic imposes new social distancing restrictions
• Denmark advises against travel to most of Sweden
• Russian health minister asks citizens to stay home
• Top EU regulator doesn’t expect vaccine approvals before New Year
• Another Titans player tests positive
• Northern England headed for more restrictions
• The CDC has finally added ‘overweight people’ to its list of risk factors for COVID-19, saying that even those who are even a little overweight might be at risk of serious or life-threatening symptoms
• German economy minister says no second round of lockdowns
• The UK weighs a 3-tiered lockdown system
• Ireland mulls raising alert level to a maximum of “3” as cases climb
• France assigns Paris highest alert level
• Italian PM warned people may need to “give up more freedoms”
• European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen quarantines after potential COVID exposure
• Bloomberg published a story entitled “Covid’s Comeback Is Bigger But Less Deadly, at Least for Now”