Multiple aides to Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for the coronavirus as the daily total of U.S. cases surpassed 83,000 for the second day in a row, the two biggest one-day totals on record.
Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, tested positive for COVID-19 Saturday, Pence’s spokesman said in a statement. CNN reported that at least two other staffers have tested positive in recent days while The New York Times reported that at least three others have tested positive.
Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, tested negative Saturday, and Pence will maintain his schedule without restrictions, his office said.
The rise in new cases continues unabated, and Hopkins reported more than 900 additional deaths Saturday. Almost 42,000 people new hospitalizations were reported Saturday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. That is the most in a day in more than two months.
Here’s what to know today:
- On Friday, the U.S. broke its record for daily infections when more than 83,700 new COVID-19 cases were recorded. Saturday’s total was also over 83,700. The previous high was set in July when the U.S. saw more than 77,300 new cases.
- President Donald Trump’s outdoor campaign rally in Pensacola, Florida, on Saturday night drew a crowd of thousands – many without masks.
- The Navajo Nation has a higher per capita COVID-19 death rate than any U.S. state, with 11,101 infections and 574 confirmed deaths as of Thursday.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has reported over 8.5 million cases and almost 225,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 42.7 million cases and 1.15 million deaths.
🗺️ Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak in your state.
When will there be a COVID-19 vaccine? Our panel of experts expects at least one COVID-19 vaccine will be approved in the coming months. Then things could really get complicated.
Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff tests positive
Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, tested positive for COVID-19 Saturday, Pence’s spokesman said in a statement after reports that another senior adviser had also tested positive. Short began isolating Saturday and assisting in the contact tracing process, according to Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley. Both Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, tested negative Saturday and Pence is not curtailing his movements despite having been in close contact with Short.
“While Vice President Pence is considered a close contact with Mr. Short, in consultation with the White House Medical Unit, the Vice President will maintain his schedule in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel,” O’Malley said in the statement.
— Maureen Groppe
On the Navajo Nation, COVID-19 death rate is higher than any US state
Stretching 27,000 square miles across the Southwest, the Navajo Nation unfolds into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Geographically, it’s the largest reservation in the United States — and for over 156,000 Diné (as the Navajo people call themselves), it’s home.
It’s also a region that’s been among the most devastated by COVID-19. With 11,101 infections and 574 confirmed deaths as of Thursday, the Navajo Nation has a higher per capita COVID-19 death rate than any U.S. state. Over the summer, COVID-19 cases declined — amid strict public health orders and grassroots community relief efforts. But, in recent weeks, the reservation and surrounding areas have reported an uptick in new numbers. Here’s how you can support community relief.
– Wyatte Grantham-Philips
Poland’s president tests positive, Wales starts 17-day lockdown
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge worldwide, more elected officials are testing positive for the coronavirus, and some nations are implementing new restrictions. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Anze Logar, and the mayor of Istanbul have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to their spokespeople. And Algeria President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is in self-isolation for five days as a precautionary measure.
Police in England say they will try to stop people from leaving Wales, which has started a 17-day lockdown to slow a surging rate of infections. Slovakia is adopting strict limits on movement, Greece officials introduced mandatory wearing of masks everywhere Saturday, and Slovenia shut down non-essential shops, kindergartens and hotels.
In Mexico, the northern border state of Chihuahua has returned to the highest level of alert and lockdown.
– The Associated Press
Nobel-Prize winning technology delivers 5-minute COVID-19 test
Researchers say a test developed by a Nobel Prize winner using cutting-edge CRISPR technology has the potential to be rapid, accurate and inexpensive. CRISPR, or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, is a gene-editing technology studied for a wide range of uses from cancer and sickle cell disease treatments to improved food production. The test recognizes a sequence of RNA in SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Although these gene-editing technology tests are still being developed and won’t be ready in the United States this year as the weather cools and demand surges, research groups recently published scientific papers describing them as an appealing alternative as testing shortages persist in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a ways to go before CRISPR-based diagnostics reach widespread use, but I believe we’ll see an impact during the current pandemic,” said Dr. Jennifer Doudna, a University of California, Berkeley researcher whose pioneering work in CRISPR earned a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. The test can be done quickly and doesn’t require a lab, she said. Read more here.
– Ken Alltucker
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Contributing: The Associated Press
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/10/25/covid-news-new-infections-set-records-pence-staffers-test-positive/6024507002/
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