Coronavirus: Texas shatters daily record with nearly 14,000 new cases — as it happened
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford university and AstraZeneca has delivered a better than expected result in late-stage trials, boosting hopes that the pandemic can be defeated.
Nearly 1.05m travellers passed through US airport checkpoints on Sunday, the most since mid-March, as people travelled ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday despite a warning from the top US health body. UK prime minister Boris Johnson has announced that England will enter into a strict three-tier system from December 2. Under the new restrictions, gyms, hairdressers and the wider leisure sector will be allowed to reopen within all tiers, alongside gyms and non-essential shops.
Qantas plans to insist that passengers on international flights have been vaccinated against Covid-19 before boarding its planes, once any vaccination has been launched. The biggest US technology groups, including Apple and Alphabet, hold 27 per cent of a total record cash pile among non-financial companies as the coronavirus pandemic has prompted businesses to hoard their money.
The ailing UK sports industry was given a boost on Monday after the British government announced that fans would be allowed to make a limited return to stadiums at big sporting events in England after the end of national lockdown restrictions next month. Ohio reported nearly 12,000 new coronavirus cases on Monday, its biggest one-day jump of the pandemic. Washington DC and Pennsylvania on Monday joined a growing list of US jurisdictions tightening coronavirus restrictions ahead of this week’s Thanksgiving public holiday. Many Iranians have defied the lockdown which started on Saturday in order to make ends meet, casting doubts on the effectiveness of the initiative in bringing down the number of Covid-19 deaths.
Conmoción mundial: murió Diego Armando Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona murió este miércoles tras sufrir un paro cardiorrespiratorio en el barrio San Andrés, en el partido bonaerense de Tigre, donde se había instalado días atrás luego de la operación en la cabeza a la que fue sometido por un hematoma subdural. El 30 de octubre había cumplido 60 años.
Maradona se descompensó a las 10 de la mañana y falleció a las 12, luego de que los médicos que lo asistieron intentaran reanimarlo sin éxito. El campeón mundial en México 1986 había sido operado de un coágulo en la cabeza a principios de noviembre.
En los últimos días, su familia y entorno habían notado a Maradona “muy ansioso y nervioso”, por lo que se había reflotado la idea de trasladarlo a Cuba para su rehabilitación, donde ya había pasado unos años luchando contra su adicción a la cocaína.
Fuentes judiciales confirmaron a este diario que a partir de las 18 comenzará la autopsia para determinar con precisión qué fue lo que pasó con el “Diez”. Será en el Hospital de San Fernando.
Al mismo tiempo, desde Presidencia de la Nación indicaron que Alberto Fernández decidió decretar tres días de duelo nacional a partir de este mismo miércoles.
Maradona se descompensó a las 10 de la mañana y falleció a las 12, luego de que los médicos que lo asistieron intentaran reanimarlo sin éxito. El campeón mundial en México 1986 había sido operado de un coágulo en la cabeza a principios de noviembre.
En los últimos días, su familia y entorno habían notado a Maradona “muy ansioso y nervioso”, por lo que se había reflotado la idea de trasladarlo a Cuba para su rehabilitación, donde ya había pasado unos años luchando contra su adicción a la cocaína.
Fuentes judiciales confirmaron a este diario que a partir de las 18 comenzará la autopsia para determinar con precisión qué fue lo que pasó con el “Diez”. Será en el Hospital de San Fernando.
Al mismo tiempo, desde Presidencia de la Nación indicaron que Alberto Fernández decidió decretar tres días de duelo nacional a partir de este mismo miércoles.
La Casa Rosada será el escenario del velatorio y donde se podrá dar el último adiós a Maradona. Si bien restan confirmar precisiones, sería a partir del jueves por la mañana y se espera que asistan más de un millón de personas.
La ceremonia será en una capilla ardiente montada en el mismo lugar donde hace diez años velaron a Néstor Kirchner. La entrada para despedir al Diez será por de Balcarce 50.
Mientras tanto, miles de hinchas se congregaban este miércoles en la zona de La Boca, el Obelisco, la cancha de Argentinos Juniors, en La Paternal, y en los alrededores del barrio privado San Andrés de Tigre, donde murió Maradona, para despedir al Diez.
La cita del “pueblo maradoniano” para dar el último adiós al mejor jugador del mundo estaba prevista para las 18 en el Obelisco y se difundió a través de las redes sociales.
En la cancha de Boca Juniors, apenas se conoció la noticia de la muerte de Maradona, los hinchas armaron un santuario con flores y velas en la puerta del estadio. Varios simpatizantes de Argentinos Juniors se acercaron al estadio Diego Maradona para dejar flores en su memoria.
En Villa Fiorito, lugar donde creció el Diez, se juntaron muchos vecinos espontáneamente para compartir sus vivencias y cantar por Diego. Mientras que en Rosario, los hinchas de Newell’s se acercaron al Estadio Marcelo Bielsa con flores, carteles y mensajes en homenaje a Diego como: “Gracias Diego”; “Gracias D10S”; “Simplemente gracias Diego”.
En tanto en La Plata, los hinchas de Gimnasia se autoconvocaron en el Bosque platense y también lo transformaron en un santuario con fotos, banderas y velas para inmortalizar la figura del Diez.
President-elect Joe Biden delivers Thanksgiving-eve address seeking US unity
In a time of plague and raw division, President-elect Joe Biden appealed for unity Wednesday in a Thanksgiving-eve address to the nation asking Americans to “steel our spines” for a fight against the coronavirus that he predicted would continue for months.
But even as he implored Americans to join in healing and common purpose, President Donald Trump asserted that the election should be overturned, a futile call but one that stokes the divisions Biden is trying to overcome.
With COVID-19 cases surging nationwide, Biden called on Americans to take precautions to try to stem the tide of the virus, by wearing masks and practicing social distancing. He said that he himself was taking precautions around Thanksgiving and eschewing his traditional large family gathering, instead spending the holiday with just his wife, daughter and son in law.
“This is the moment when we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to this fight,” Biden said in remarks in Wilmington on Wednesday. “We’re all in this together.”
But Trump stoked the embers of his flailing effort to upend the election results as his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and other members of his legal team met Pennsylvania Republican state senators in Gettysburg. There, they again aired grievances about the election and repeated allegations of Democratic malfeasance that have already disintegrated under examination by courts.
COVID-19 hospitalizations could prompt new restrictions if trend continues, North Texas officials say
COVID-19 patients now make up more than 15% of hospital capacity in the North Texas trauma region — a statistic that could trigger business closures and capacity reductions, according to officials in Tarrant and Dallas counties.
The number was around 15.21% of capacity as of Tuesday morning.
If the number of COVID-19 patients continues to stay at or above 15% of total capacity for at least seven days in a row, bars will be closed and other businesses, including restaurants, will be reduced to 50% capacity under state guidelines.
The chief medical officer at Parkland Health and Hospital System said the hospital has been above the 15% threshold for weeks.
“It’s just taken the 19 counties a while to catch up, I think. In fact, well over 20 percent of our volume is COVID and rising daily so it doesn’t surprise me,” said Dr. Joseph Chang.
There are about 150 patients who either have COVID-19 or are recovering from the disease at Parkland. The peak for the hospital was almost 190 patients with the novel coronavirus during the summer, he said.
A UNT Health Science Center report predicts hospitals in Dallas or Tarrant counties could reach capacity in the next 30 days if COVID-related admissions don’t change.
Health officials are urging people to remain vigilant about following guidelines, including wearing masks, staying physically distant from others outside the household and regularly washing their hands.
“Not only is it disheartening to see folks come in, get sick and sometimes not go back out; what is more disheartening is when we see our community treating this like it’s not a big deal,” Chang said.
Tarrant County health officials reported there are currently 804 people hospitalized because of COVID-19. This is the first time there have been more than 800 people in Tarrant County hospitals with COVID-19.
“We can’t afford more outbreaks,” said Vinny Taneja, the Tarrant County public health director.
He said he worries there could be a spike in cases after Thanksgiving. Hospitalized coronavirus patients in the county make up 16.78% of hospital capacity, he said.
Dallas County health officials reported there are currently 758 hospitalizations in the county. This is the highest it has been since mid-July.
Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly said anything above 10% should be considered a “warning flag.”
Tarrant County commissioners and Judge Glen Whitley extended the local disaster declaration through Feb. 28, 2021, citing that the county and its residents continue to be negatively impacted by COVID-19.
More than 130 Texas counties are currently at COVID-19 risk ‘tipping point,’ data shows
COVID-19 cases continue to surge throughout Texas as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. New data shows that for many Texas counties, the number of cases may be reaching a tipping point.
According to a website created by the Brown University School of Public Health, in July, researchers and public health experts created a color-coded COVID-19 risk level map based on the number of new daily cases.
The levels are green (less than one case per 100,000 people), yellow (1-9 cases per 100,000 people), orange (10-24 cases per 100,000 people) and red (25 or more cases per 100,000 people). According to the map, once a community reaches the red risk level, stay-at-home orders become necessary again.
New data published on the same Brown website shows that as of Nov. 19, at least 135 Texas counties are at that red risk level based on the seven-day moving average of the number of new daily cases per 100,000 people. Only four Texas counties – Cherokee, Kenedy, King and Motley – are currently at the green risk level, according to the data.
Because the data is calculated by the number of cases per population size, in the KVUE viewing area, only Mason and Burnet counties are currently at the red risk level, according to the data. Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Llano, Lee and Gillespie counties are at the orange level, where, according to the framework, “stay-at-home orders and/or rigorous test and trace programs [are] advised.” Blanco, Caldwell, Fayette and Milam counties are at the yellow level.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard, Harris County leads the state in the total number of COVID-19 cases, with 178,811 as of Nov. 20.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan for the state for a vaccine he said could be available as soon as December.
Under the plan, health care workers are slated to get the vaccine first, including staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities, as well as people who work in emergency medical services and as home health care workers. Next in line are the second tier of health care workers that include staff in outpatient care offices, free-standing emergency rooms, urgent care centers, and community care pharmacies as well as public health workers who conduct COVID-19 tests, embalmers, medical examiners, and school nurses.
Other groups that will be prioritized include frontline workers and people who are at a greater risk of complications or death if they contract the virus, according to a press release. The panel is continuing to work on a plan for longer-term distribution, but the release laid out several factors that will be taken into account, including how to make sure those living in poverty, rural populations, and those without insurance are not overlooked.
Officials with the Texas Hospital Association, which represents 500 hospitals in the state, endorsed the plan and the prioritization of health care workers.
“Protecting health care workers is an important step to ensuring a healthy workforce able to treat those who become acutely ill,” the THA wrote in the statement. “With a solid plan, an imminent vaccine and better treatment protocols, we can start to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The guiding principles behind the distribution plan were developed by the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel, a panel formed as a part of the Department of State Health Services and includes infectious disease experts, state lawmakers, and public health officials. Panel members include Stephen Williams, the director of the Houston Health Department; David Lakey, chief medical officer at The University of Texas; and Gerald Parker, associate dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M.
Vaccines will be given out on a voluntary basis, Abbott said.
“These guiding principles established by the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel will ensure that the State of Texas swiftly distributes the COVID-19 vaccine to Texans who voluntarily choose to be immunized,” Abbott said in the statement. “This foundation for the allocation process will help us mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, protect the most vulnerable Texans, and safeguard crucial state resources.”
A COVID-19 vaccine has yet to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though several pharmaceutical companies are working through clinical trials with plans to seek approval. Once a vaccine is approved, Texas would receive regular allotments from the federal government.
COVID-19 vaccines will be ready for delivery 24 hours after FDA authorization
Gen. Gustave Perna, who is leading Operation Warp Speed’s effort to distribute coronavirus vaccines nationwide, told he is confident that vaccines will be “on the street” and headed to communities just 24 hours after being authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
While the first two vaccines to be distributed will likely be from Pfizer and Moderna, Alex Azar, the U.S. secretary of health and human affairs, described the news from Astra Zeneca’s clinical trials as “very promising” and noted that the company’s vaccine is already being produced in the country so it too can be ready for distribution once authorized by the FDA.
Perna and Azar made their comments during a visit to Operation Warp Speed’s offices at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“The news from Astra Zeneca and Oxford, is very important, and of course, very promising,” Azar told.
According to Azar, the drugmaker is already producing mass quantities of the vaccine in the U.S. as part of a $1.2 billion support plan announced by HHS. Under the deal, Astra Zeneca will have to provide 300 million doses of its vaccine in the U.S. once the vaccine is authorized by the FDA.
The parallel manufacturing of the vaccines — while clinical trials are underway to measure their effectiveness — is a hallmark of Operation Warp Speed’s plan to make large quantities of a coronavirus vaccine quickly available in the country.
“We’re going to be ready to distribute vaccines within 24 hours” after they receive emergency use authorization from the FDA, Perna told.
Last week, Pfizer applied for authorization from the FDA and a hearing date was set for Dec. 10 to discuss the vaccine’s possible authorization.
Perna believes the FDA’s authorization, which he calls “D-Day,” could occur between Dec. 10 and Dec. 14. Once it’s authorized, he said, “24 hours later, vaccines are on the street.”
At that point, the 6 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine will begin being distributed to 64 jurisdictions, the 50 states, eight territories and six metropolitan cities.
Perna said, “3 million we’ll send out, the other 3 million we’ll send out 21 days later because we want to make sure the second dose is available for everybody.”
An additional 400,000 doses will be kept in reserves for any unforeseen circumstances.
“Pfizer’s going to distribute it directly down to our administration sites,” Perna said. “They’re going to use FedEx and UPS to get it there. They know how to do this. They do it all the time.”
Separately, Operation Warp Speed will send large vaccine kits, for up to 975 doses, containing needles, syringes, alcohol swabs, face masks and face shields needed to administer the vaccine. Most importantly, the kits will include cards for those receiving the vaccine, reminding them to get a second dose of the vaccine in three weeks.
When authorized by the FDA, the vaccine made by Moderna will be included within smaller kits, with similar materials, for up to 100 doses that will be transported by the McKesson Corporation to administration sites.
Azar expressed confidence that there will be no changes to Operation Warp Speed under Joe Biden’s administration.
“It won’t change anything about the process because we will ensure a professional cooperative effective transition,” Azar said. He noted that the personnel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, FDA, U.S. Department of Defense and HHS involved in Operation Warp Speed are all career people. “They don’t change, they’re the same people on Jan. 19, as they are on Jan. 21.”
“We will ensure continuity, and by then — by the time of any transition — we believe many tens of millions of Americans will already have been vaccinated, and the mission of the next administration will be to simply not mess up what we’ve got going,” Azar said.
As to whether Biden has information about the vaccines right now, Azar said “he and all Americans have it already, we have been completely transparent” about all of their plans.
Azar said he will take any of the vaccines as soon as he is allowed to do so, to show “the American people, the unvarnished confidence in the integrity and independence of the process.”
GM to recall 7M vehicles globally to replace Takata air bags
General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators
General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata airbag inflators.
The announcement came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall 6 million of the vehicles in the U.S.
GM says it will not fight the decision, even though it believes the vehicles are safe. It will cost the company an estimated $1.2 billion, about one-third of its net income so far this year.
The automaker had petitioned the agency four times since 2016 to avoid recalls, contending the airbag inflator canisters have been safe on the road and in testing. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday denied the petitions, saying the inflators still run the risk of exploding.
Owners complained to the NHTSA that the company was placing profits over safety.
Exploding Takata inflators caused the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 63 million inflators recalled. The U.S. government says that as of September, more than 11.1 million had not been fixed. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide.
Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill airbags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed to heat and humidity, and they can explode with too much pressure, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel.
Twenty-seven people have been killed worldwide by the exploding inflators, including 18 in the U.S.
Monday’s decision by NHTSA is a major step in drawing the Takata saga to a close. It means that all Takata ammonium nitrate inflators in the U.S. will be recalled, NHTSA said. Earlier this year the agency decided against a recall of inflators with a moisture-absorbing chemical called a desiccant. NHTSA said it would monitor those inflators and take action if problems arise.
GM will recall full-size pickup trucks and SUVs from the 2007 through 2014 model years, including the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickups. The Silverado is GM’s top-selling vehicle and the second-best-selling vehicle in the U.S. Also covered are the Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe and Avalanche, the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, and the GMC Yukon.
It took the agency more than four years to arrive at its decision, which comes toward the end of President Donald Trump‘s four-year term.
NHTSA said in a prepared statement that it analyzed all available data on the airbags, including engineering and statistical analyses, aging tests and field data.
“Based on this information and information provided to the petition’s public docket, NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as other recalled Takata inflators,” the agency said.
The company has 30 days to give NHTSA a proposed schedule for notifying vehicle owners and starting the recall, the statement said.
GM said that although it believes a recall isn’t warranted based on the factual and scientific records, it will abide by NHTSA’s decision.
Spokesman Dan Flores said Monday that none of the inflators have blown apart in the field or in laboratory testing. But he said GM wants to avoid a drawn-out fight with the government.
“Although we are confident that the inflators in the GMT900 vehicles do not pose an unreasonable risk to safety, continue to perform as designed in the field and will continue to perform as designed in line with the results of our accelerated aging studies, we will abide by NHTSA’s decision to maintain the trust and confidence of customers and regulators,” he said in an email.
In a 2019 petition to NHTSA, GM said the inflators were designed to their specifications and are safe, with no explosions even though nearly 67,000 airbags have deployed in the field. The inflators, it said, have larger vents and steel end caps to make them stronger.
But Takata declared the GM front passenger inflators defective under a 2015 agreement with the government.
In its petition, GM said that Northrop Grumman tested 4,270 inflators by artificially exposing them to added humidity and temperature cycling, and there were no explosions or abnormal deployments.
However, NHTSA hired airbag chemical expert Harold Blomquist, who holds 25 airbag patents, to review the data, and he concluded that the GM airbags were similar to other Takata inflators that had exploded.
Test results for the GM inflators included abnormally high-pressure events “indicative of potential future rupture risk,” NHTSA said in documents. “These findings illustrate that GM’s inflators have a similar, if not identical, degradation continuum” to other Takata inflators that have exploded, the agency wrote.
Flores said GM already has purchased 1.6 million replacement inflators made by ZF-TRW that do not use ammonium nitrate.
Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, which opposed GM’s petitions to avoid recalls, said it’s a good day for millions of GM owners who had to wait four years for a decision on “whether they are driving with an unexploded hand grenade in their steering wheel.”
Shares of GM rose 4.5% in Monday afternoon trading to $44.96, its highest point in over a year.
The company said the recalls will be phased in based on replacement inflator availability and will cost $400 million this year.
Drivers can check to see if their vehicles have been recalled by going to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and keying in their 17-digit vehicle identification number.
The previous Takata recalls drove the Japanese company into bankruptcy and brought criminal charges against the company. Eventually, it was purchased by a Chinese-owned auto parts supplier.
Winners and losers from Patriots’ devastating loss to Texans in Week 11
The New England Patriots seemed to be past the mental blockage that had plagued their season. Prior to Week 9, the Patriots couldn’t win close games. Then in Weeks 9 and 10, New England briefly established its offensive identity while improving the defense just enough to win games.
And then in Week 11, it all came undone. The lowly Houston Texans beat the Patriots, 27-20, at NRG Stadium on Sunday. Cam Newton and the Patriots couldn’t execute a game-winning drive in the final moments. Though the Patriots’ briefly flirted with fighting for playoff contention, they are essentially out of the mix in the AFC.
New England had a shot to tie the game, with Newton leading a drive into the Texans’ half of the field with a minute left to play. But he faced pressure on a fourth down and couldn’t get a throw off. The turnover on downs essentially ended the game. Here are the winners and losers from the matchup.
He couldn’t have played this deep ball (in the video below) from Newton much better. Byrd was streaking downfield and shielded the defensive back from making a play. For the first time all season, Byrd played the field-stretching role that New England seemingly signed him to play.
It was his first touchdown of the season — and Newton’s first touchdown to a Patriots receiver. Byrd finished with six catches for 132 yards and the touchdown. He added 11 yards on one carry.
It probably helped Byrd that Jakobi Meyers had a few good games, which meant that Byrd didn’t get quite so much defensive attention. But this was also simply a matter of Byrd doing a good job getting open and making really good contested catches. This was the best football he’s played in 2020 — and maybe in his entire career.