Month: November 2020

Ohio posted a record 156 daily deaths and 10,835 new coronavirus cases – the second-highest of the pandemic – on Wednesday as its November blitz of infections continued without pause. The new daily record deaths added to November’s COVID-19 toll as the pandemic’s deadliest month since the record month of May. Added to the 98 deaths on Tuesday — the second-highest daily total — Wednesday’s 156 deaths brought this month’s total to 973, an increase of 476 nearly double the 497 virus fatalities reported during October. Health officials also reported 417 new hospitalizations -- another daily record -- as medical centers continue to fill with patients numbering 4,541 on Wednesday, with nearly a fourth in intensive-care units. Hospitalizations have more than doubled in the past three weeks. "The...

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 324,779 as of Wednesday, including 8,761 deaths, state officials report. Wednesday’s update represents 4,273 new cases and 73 additional deaths. On Tuesday, the state reported 320,506 total cases and 8,688 deaths. READ: 97 takeaways from epidemiologist’s deep-dive into Michigan COVID-19 spread, deaths, future outlook New COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise in Michigan. Testing has increased in recent weeks, with more than 45,000 diagnostic tests reported per day, but the positive rate has increased to near 13% over the last week. Hospitalizations have increased steadily for the last five weeks, including upticks in critical care and ventilator use. Michigan’s 7-day moving average for daily cases w...

Any incremental improvements in the Midwest have been more than offset by growing outbreaks elsewhere in the country. In Los Angeles County, Calif., where cases have soared past the levels seen this summer, to an average of more than 4,000 a day, restaurants can no longer offer indoor or outdoor dining starting Wednesday evening. Around Miami, reports of new cases have more than quadrupled since the start of October, though they remain below the peak levels seen in July. “We fully anticipate it’s going to increase, but we just want to do whatever we can to not get into the same position we were over the summer,” said Dr. Peter Paige, who was recently appointed the chief medical officer of Miami-Dade County. “It’s a real threat.” Epidemiologists and public health officials around the count...

Dr. Marshall Fleurant, an internal medicine physician at Emory University, has the sense that his young children, 3 and 4 years old, have grown oddly accustomed to the ritual of his disrobing out of work clothes, from his scrubs to his sneakers, before entering his home. “I do not touch or speak to my children before I have taken a shower,” Dr. Fleurant said. “This is just how it is. You do not touch Daddy when he walks in the door.” A week of vacation with his family startled him, when he could scoop the little ones up in his arms without fear. “I think they must have thought that was weird,” he said. Bracing for the next wave Trapped in a holding pattern as the coronavirus continues to burn across the nation, doctors and nurses have been taking stock of the damage done so far, and tryin...

Federal government officials said the first 6.4 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed to U.S. communities as early as December within 24 hours of approval from the Food and Drug Administration. But the U.S. recorded its highest daily death toll since May on Tuesday, and experts warned that good vaccine news doesn't mean Americans should let down their guard down over the holidays. Several state restrictions go into effect Wednesday just hours before the Thanksgiving holiday, including a ban on alcohol sales at restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania. State health officials ordered restaurants and bars to not sell alcohol starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday until 8 a.m. Thursday in an effort to prevent social gatherings. “It turns out the biggest day for drinking is the day...