September 14 coronavirus news

Genetics company 23andMe says a new study strengthens the idea that blood type is associated with coronavirus risk, although it’s not clear by how much and whether there’s any way for doctors to act on it.

Scientists at 23andMe looked at the DNA of more than 1 million people who have taken its DNA test. They found more than 15,000 who said they had a positive coronavirus test and 1,131 who said they were hospitalized. 

The scientists said the data strengthens the evidence for a role for the ABO blood group system in Covid-19 host genetics.

“Our data supports a role in susceptibility to infection, suggesting that blood group O is protective in contrast to non-O blood groups,” the team wrote in a pre-print report on MedRxiv, which has not been reviewed by other experts. They did not say by how much, but other studies have found it is a very small factor.

Other factors: Far more important than blood type, however, are other factors, including obesity, which more than doubled the risk of hospitalization, the study found. Blacks and Latinos were also at higher risk than Whites – all findings that reflect what other studies have found.

Research limitations: There are many limitations to the research. 23andMe relies on people to report their own symptoms and test results. People who are most severely ill or who die would be unlikely to have their results recorded in the survey. Plus, the federal government says fewer than 10% of people who have been infected with coronavirus have been tested for it, so results are far from complete.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Georgia didn’t provide adequate medical care to detainees or take necessary precautions to avoid the spread of Covid-19, according to a whistleblower complaint filed to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general Monday.

The whistleblower is Dawn Wooten, a licensed practical nurse employed by the center who’s represented by the Government Accountability Project and Project South, a social justice organization. 

Wooten, who worked for the Irwin County Detention Center run by LaSalle Corrections until July, said the facility underreported Covid-19 cases, didn’t provide appropriate medical attention to detainees exhibiting symptoms, and refused to test immigrants for Covid-19 –all of which left the detainee population vulnerable to the virus. 

Immigrants detained at the center shared their concerns with Project South.

The interviews were conducted between June and September, said Priyanka Bhatt, staff attorney for Project South.

“It’s absolutely jarring to see the lack of Covid-19 protocol both for detained immigrants and for the employees,” Bhatt said. “It’s really frightening when employees don’t know who’s tested positive and likewise the detained immigrants don’t know either.”

A broader pattern: The allegations are similar to those surfacing around the country from immigrants held at ICE facilities, according to court documents, lawyers, and other whistleblowers. They include treating Covid-19 symptoms with over-the-counter cold medication, lack of social distancing, and transfers of detainees despite heightened risk of spreading the virus.

Wooten, according to the complaint, had “pleaded with ICDC Warden David Paulk in March when the facility had its first COVID-19 case to stop all transfers of individuals in and out the facility, but the Warden did not listen.”

According to ICE statistics, there have been 42 total confirmed Covid-19 cases at the Irwin County Detention Center. There have been more than 5,700 overall at ICE facilities nationwide.  

CNN reached out to ICE for comment on the allegations.

The people responsible for a weekly report released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been in “trench warfare” with Washington officials over the report’s scientific integrity, infectious disease specialist Dr. William Schaffner said Monday. 

Schaffner said he was “very disturbed” by the news that Trump-appointed officials at the Department of Health and Human Services pushed the CDC to change its weekly science reports so they would not undermine President Donald Trump’s political messages.

“I’ve since learned that the people who run that program, who put out that bulletin, have been in trench warfare with the folks in Washington,” Schaffner told CNN. “They have struggled and succeeded, I think, in maintaining the scientific integrity of those reports, but that struggle continues.”

Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who spent a brief time at CDC and who often works closely with the agency, added that it’s “totally inappropriate” for Washington to try to influence the report, but the American people can still trust the information they are getting from the CDC.

“We can trust what we’re getting. These are professional people,” said Schaffner. “They’re just working on behalf of the American people.”

A data vendor in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina sent thousands of texts and emails to people saying they were positive for Covid-19 – while they actually weren’t, according to a statement from Mecklenburg County manager Dena Diorio. 

Due to an error during “routine maintenance” last Friday, 6,727 text messages and 541 emails were sent to individuals who were in county vendor Health Space’s system. But according to Diorio, the Health Department never texts or emails positive or negative Covid results to those affected.  

The county worked with Health Space to contact everyone who received the incorrect information and to tell them to disregard the results, Diorio said.

In an email to the board of county commissioners Monday afternoon, the county manager said no personal information was compromised, and that it took Health Space less than an hour to correct the problem.

The United Arab Emirates has approved the “emergency use” of a coronavirus vaccine for frontline workers, according to the country’s health minister.

“Studies show that the vaccine is efficient and safe and showed a positive response in generating antibodies,” Abdul Rahman al-Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, said at a televised press briefing Monday. 
“The vaccine will be optional for frontline workers most exposed to the virus,” al-Owais said. 

The announcement of the emergency use vaccine came as the minister was discussing ongoing phase 3 trials in the UAE of a vaccine developed by China’s state-owned Sinopharm pharmaceutical company.  

China has been using an experimental vaccine developed by Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group Company (CNBG) on people who work in high-risk professions since July, including frontline medical professionals, a senior official from the national health commission revealed in August.

Nevada’s Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak skewered President Trump for hosting a large indoor campaign rally in his state with little social distancing, telling CNN’s Erin Burnett that the President acted selfishly. 

“He only cares about himself,” said Sisolak.

“He knew what the rules were. He chose to show callous disregard in a reckless, selfish irresponsible way. There’s no other way to put it,” the governor added.

In holding the rally, Trump was defying an executive order from Sisolak, who has banned gatherings of more than 50 people. On Sunday, Trump defended the Henderson event, telling the Las Vegas Journal-Review he did not believe he was subject to the rules, and added the he felt safe.

“I’m on a stage and it’s very far away,” Trump said. “And so I’m not at all concerned.”

Sisolak today blasted Trump’s defense of the event, calling his comments “a joke.”

“That’s just the ego and the arrogance,” said Sisolak. “That’s just a joke. We don’t make laws and say they apply to everybody except Donald J. Trump.”

The governor continued: “It’s absurd for him to think the rules didn’t apply to him… I think he just doesn’t much care.”

Sisolak also responded to new tapes obtained by CNN in which Trump told veteran journalist Bob Woodward “nothing more could have been done” to stop Covid-19’s spread in the US. Sisolak called those remarks “absolutely ridiculous.”

“So much more could have been done if there would had been an organized national response we would have saved thousands and thousands of lives but it wasn’t important to the President so he chose to just ignore it,” he said.

There are at least 6,550,629 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 194,441 people have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

So far on Monday, Johns Hopkins has reported 31,056 new cases and 340 deaths.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

The president of North Georgia Technical College, Dr. Mark Ivester, died Saturday after a month long battle with Covid-19, the college announced Sunday. 

According to his obituary, the 57-year-old passed away Sept. 12 at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Braselton.

“Once again, please continue to pray for Eleanor and his entire family. Thank you for all the love and support you have shown them and one another during this time. We are all devastated and will miss him terribly,” the college said in a statement.

Ivester served on the college’s executive team for more than 20 years before his appointment to president on August 2016, his obituary said.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp offered his condolences Sunday, saying his family was praying for Ivester’s loved ones, colleagues, and community: “We ask God to give them all comfort in this difficult time.” 

The state of Georgia on Monday reported 1,055 new cases of Covid-19 and 20 new fatalities. There have been a total of 295,337 Covid-19 cases and 6,353 Covid-19-related deaths in the state.

Remember: These numbers were released by the state’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said Monday that President Trump’s comments that “nothing more could have been done” to handle the coronavirus pandemic was “absurd.” 

“By mid-April here in the northeast in the New York-New Jersey area where I live, the densest part of the country, we knew how to flatten the curve,” Johnson said. “We knew how to slow the spread of the virus through aggressive physical distancing, through hygiene, wearing masks, but after April even though things slowed down here in the northeast, we had the spikes in the rest of the country simply because our national leadership, our President, allowed this to become a political issue.”

Context: Trump’s comments were from an Aug. 14 call he made to veteran journalist Bob Woodward. It was their 19th conversation, following 18 interviews that formed a key component of Woodward’s book “Rage.” Trump had privately told Woodward in February he knew critical details about how deadly the virus was, and in March admitted he was playing it down.

“This didn’t have to be this way,” Johnson said. “You have a nation on Earth with the mightiest public health care apparatus, that has had the most dismal public health care response and it didn’t have to be this way.”

At a packed, indoor “roundtable” that President himself said feels more like a rally, President Trump is the only person socially distanced from everyone else.

Very few people in attendance are wearing masks.

The President is appearing before the Latinos for Trump Coalition Roundtable in Phoenix at the Arizona Grand Resort and Spa.

Brazil’s health ministry has reported 381 new Covid-19 fatalities on Monday, raising the nationwide death toll to 132,006.

The ministry also reported 15,155 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the countrywide total to 4,345,610.

Some context: Brazil is second only to the United States in terms of the most people who have died from coronavirus globally. In terms of cases, it is ranked third, behind the US and India, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened mental health issues, especially for young people of color, a mental health expert said Monday.

Isha Weerasinghe, who leads mental health work for the Center for Law and Social Policy, said that poor support for mental health in many communities has been made worse during the pandemic. She cited a lack of connectedness due to isolation, economic hardships, increased stress due to police brutality and its impacts, and anti-Asian violence and bullying. 

“You pair that with increased anxiety and increased isolation, it’s no wonder that there have been increased mental health conditions, adverse mental health conditions, which includes self-harm and suicide ideation and attempts,” Weerasinghe said at an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention briefing.

She added that the lack of access to health care in many communities extends to a lack of mental health care.

“There have been, of course, through the pandemic relaxed regulations in terms of telehealth, but when we’re talking about people living in low income communities and households…they are privileges that only some of us are able to access,” Weerasinghe said. 

Many of these communities were burdened with higher levels of mental health issues before the pandemic began. 

She cited data from recent years showing disproportionately high rates of suicide, self-harm, anxiety and depression among young people of color, whose communities have now been hit harder by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve seen an egregious increase in suicide rates for Native young people, said Weerasinghe, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Fatal Injury and Violence data from 2016 to 2018. “We’ve seen an increase in suicide rates in Black and Hispanic young men, and we’ve seen an increase in rates of non-fatal self-harm for all young people, with an increase particularly among Black young people.”

The CDC recently released a report showing more people were thinking about suicide this June. 

Nearly 550,000 children in the US have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

The groups found that 72,993 new child cases were reported from Aug. 27 through Sept. 10. This is a 15% increase in child cases over two weeks, bringing the total to at least 549,432 cases, the groups said in their weekly report on pediatric coronavirus cases.

Cases listed by age are provided by health department websites of 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, but only a subset of states report hospitalizations and mortality by age. From the data available from 24 states and New York City, children made up 0.6% to 3.6% of total reported hospitalizations, and between 0.3% and 8.2% of all child Covid-19 cases ended up in the hospital. From the 42 states that track mortality by age, children were 0% to 0.3% of deaths, and 18 states that reported on deaths by age had no deaths among children.

The AAP would like even more detailed reporting from states.

“At this time, it appears that severe illness due to Covid-19 is rare among children,” the report said. “However, states should continue to provide detailed reports on Covid-19 cases, testing, hospitalizations, and mortality by age and race/ethnicity so that the effects of Covid-19 on children’s health can be documented and monitored.”

Children represent nearly 10% of all reported cases in the US, according to the report. The child cases are likely underreported because the tally relies on state data that is inconsistently collected.

The Ingham County Health Department is now requiring 30 addresses in East Lansing, Michigan to quarantine from today until Sept. 28, according to an announcement. Most of the addresses on the list are associated with Michigan State University fraternities and sororities, they said. 

According to the letter, Ingham County experienced a 52% increase in total case count since Aug. 24, with one third of Ingram County cases since the pandemic started being reported in the last three weeks. The majority of all new cases reported come from students at Michigan State University. 

“Through case investigation, the Ingham County Health Department (ICHD) has identified congregate housing in the city of East Lansing as a risk factor,” said Linda Vail, a health officer for the Ingham County Health Department. “The health department has identified several fraternity and sorority houses, and several large rental houses with known cases or exposure to COVID-19.”

Those who are quarantined are only allowed to leave their property for medical care and other necessities, and are expected to avoid interaction with their roommates as much as possible.

Violation of the order could result in a misdemeanor charge that could be punishable with up to six months imprisonment, a $200 fine, or both. 

CNN reported over the weekend that the county department was “strongly recommending” all local Michigan State University students “self-quarantine immediately to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.”

South Carolina Lt. Governor Pamela Evette announced via Twitter Monday, that she has tested positive for Covid-19.

The lieutenant governor said she started feeling ill on Thursday morning and immediately began to self-quarantine. According to her tweet, she got tested on Friday and received the positive result on Saturday. 

“I’m fortunate to have had only mild symptoms and I’m already feeling much better. David has taken GREAT care of me! As careful as I’ve been, this really does show how easily the virus is spread. Please continue to be diligent in keeping yourselves and your loved ones safe. If you’re showing any symptoms at all, the best thing to do is to get tested right away! There are testing sites readily available all across the state,” Evette tweeted. 

Turkey announced 63 new coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish health ministry. This marks the highest daily number of deaths since the beginning of May.

Turkey’s daily Covid-19 positive cases have been on the rise, with 1,716 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to nearly 293,000 since mid-March. 

At least 1,301 patients are in critical condition, the health ministry said. Turkey conducted 112,563 tests over the last 24 hours according to the ministry’s numbers.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted a warning that the rate of infections was not slowing down and urged people to take precautions. 

From today, the governor of Istanbul has banned celebrations, weddings and similar gatherings in boats across the city. Boat parties and celebrations have been popular in the Bosphorus strait recently. 

The governor’s office also reintroduced a ban on concerts, festivals and other events in outdoor spaces as part of measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 in Turkey’s biggest city with a population of 15.5 million people. 

Turkey had managed to bring the daily numbers of new deaths and confirmed cases down at the start of the summer.

The country eased restrictions such as temporary weekend lockdowns at the end of May and reopened businesses and travel routes in June. 

The number of new cases is on the rise with the capital city Ankara being the new epicenter, according to the health minister. 

The Smithsonian is expected to reopen four additional museums Friday since closing due to Covid-19.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery will open Friday as part of a phased reopening.

The museums will reopen with new health and safety measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic and have reduced days or hours of operation. Visitors will need to reserve free timed-entry passes to visit most locations, according to a press release from the Smithsonian.

The National Zoo in Washington and the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy location in Chantilly, Virginia, reopened previously in August. 

The University of Wisconsin La Crosse and Northern Illinois University are both switching from in-person learning to all remote classes for two weeks following increase in reported cases of Covid-19.

University of Wisconsin La Crosse is suspending instruction today and tomorrow, according to a release from the school, and will resume classes entirely remotely on Wednesday, with in person instruction tentatively scheduled to start again on Monday, Sept. 28. The school is also issuing a “shelter in place” for all residence halls — asking all students in residence halls to follow quarantine protocols until Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. local time. Following the recommendation of many health experts, the school is asking for students not to travel home during this period if possible. 

University of Wisconsin La Crosse has reported roughly 275 cases of Covid-19 in the last seven days, according to the coronavirus dashboard.

Northern Illinois University will begin delivering classes entirely online starting today for two weeks — until Friday, Sept. 25, with in-person instruction also planned to resume on Monday, Sept. 28 if conditions allow, the university said in a statement. More than 120 students at the school are currently positive for Covid-19, the university said. 

The school is also asking for all students living on campus and those who live in the county to limit their in person interactions to “essential” activities only- getting food, seeking medical care, or attending work if necessary.

As the Big Ten Conference reportedly mulls an earlier-than-anticipated return to playing football, the University of Iowa Athletics Department is reporting a 3.5% positivity rate for Covid-19 in its latest testing.

That’s down considerably from the overall positivity rate of 6.3% since testing of student-athletes, coaches and staff began on May 29. 

The University of Iowa Athletics Department announced Monday that 24 of 677 tests administered between Sept. 7 to Sept. 13 came back positive. Since May, the university has registered 221 positive tests of a total of 3,489 given. 

Big Ten Conference presidents and chancellors are expected to vote Monday on whether to reverse course and proceed with an abbreviated fall season, an official familiar with the discussions tells CNN.

After several NFL coaches were seen not following league protocols for face coverings during Sunday’s Week 1 games, the league’s executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent responded by sending a memo to clubs Monday morning cautioning coaching personnel to wear their masks at all times. 

CNN has obtained quotes within the memo from a league source in which Vincent warns teams to stay “vigilant and disciplined” while mitigating Covid-19 challenges and that failure to adhere to the protocols in place would lead to sanctions. 

Vincent wrote, “…we must remain vigilant and disciplined in following the processes and protocols put in place by not only the league, union and clubs, but also by state and local governments. 
 The NFL-NFLPA Game Day Protocol, which reflects the advice of infectious disease experts, club medical staffs and local and state governmental regulations requires all individuals with bench area access (including coaches and members of the club medical staff) to wear face coverings at all times. 
 Failure to adhere to this requirement will result in accountability measures being imposed against offending individuals and/or clubs.”

Vincent also complimented the efforts put forth in order for the league to kick off on time stating, “A tremendous first week nearly in the books as the NFL and its partners overcame considerable challenges to achieve what many thought was impossible—football in 2020. Congratulations to all who have worked so tirelessly since March to make this season possible.”

There have been at least 6,526,143 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 194,155 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

So far on Monday, Johns Hopkins has reported 6,570 new cases and 84 reported deaths.

WATCH:

New York has remained under a 1% Covid-19 infection rate for 38 days, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Here’s a look at today’s numbers for New York:

As college students begin their fall semester, all 50 states have now reported positive cases of Covid-19 at colleges and universities.

This represents more than 45,000 cases of Covid-19 among students and staff at colleges and universities across the country.

Remember: This tally represents cases that CNN has reported so far. There are likely many others that have not been reported.

Additionally, many schools update their data every few days, or even once a week in some cases, so there can be a lag in data. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio teased that Macy’s is putting together entertainment for Thanksgiving to replace the traditional live parade coverage in light of the pandemic.

This will not be a live parade, but the experience will be online, and on television, de Blasio said, not delving into details. 

He is reviewing the specifics with Macy’s later today.

De Blasio began by saying there are some things “we still can’t do” like have “large gatherings … parades … community events.” 

The Mayor noted he is looking forward to the parade’s hopeful return in 2021.

Coronavirus has claimed the life of a Palm Beach County Sheriff deputy, the agency announced on Twitter Saturday. 

“We are sad to announce the passing of D/S Angela Chavers” PBSO tweeted.

Chavers 44, died on Saturday as a result of battling Covid-19. Chavers began working for the sheriff’s office in 2002, according to CNN affiliate WPBF. She was assigned to the Inmate Management and Corrections Division. 

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city has also created a Covid-19 Response “Situation Room” specifically for the Department of Education (DOE).

“This situation room will provide rapid response, each and every test result where there is a need for action, it will go right to this central command HQ, quick decisions will be made, action will be taken,” he said. 

It will be comprised of DOE, Test & Trace and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene staff, and open six days a week.

It will also have a direct hotline for principals, and be responsible for daily public reporting.

It will be led by NYC Buildings Commissioner Melanie La Rocca, who called the task at hand “unprecedented,” adding that the process will be “very straight forward.”

In New York City, 55 school-based staff members have tested positive for Covid-19 as a result of priority testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

Almost 17,000 school-based staff have taken advantage of “priority testing,” the mayor said, returning a .32% positivity rate.

“That tells us a lot” he said notably that efforts to fight back the disease are “working,” and that school workers are being “diligent.”

He said 98% of the results came back within 48 hours. 

There are 22 priority testing sites available at Health and Hospital facilities for students and staff this week, which will turn results in a 24-48 hour period.

This is free for any student or DOE employee, de Blasio said.

Two Emory University doctors stressed the importance of getting a flu shot this year – to avoid what they call the “twindemic” of Covid-19 and influenza.

Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Health System, said now is not the time to lower our guard and become “complacent.”

“When Dr. Fauci said the other day, ‘We need to hunker down,’ I think what he was saying is: We need to really reinforce social distancing, masking, handwashing, and I would add to that, influenza vaccination,” del Rio said during a Monday webinar.

For the flu, “we have a vaccine. Use it,” he added.

Dr. Walter Orenstein, associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center, said the middle-of-the-road effectiveness of the flu vaccine should not deter people from getting it.

“For the 2019-20 season, the estimated effectiveness is 38% overall. While these estimates are not optimal for a vaccine want – we’d like a more effective vaccine – they are still a lot better than 0%, which is the effectiveness of no vaccination,” Orenstein said.

Orenstein said the flu is not “a trivial illness,” as some people tend to think.

And by getting the vaccine, you’re protecting others, del Rio added.

“The effectiveness of the vaccine decreases with age,” del Rio said. “So if I get myself and my kids immunized, I protect my parents – my elderly parents – better, because even though they may not be protected from the vaccine, the fact that the close network of individuals they have is protected, protects them.”

As athletes recover from Covid-19, taking images of their hearts to screen for inflammation may help doctors determine when it could be safe to return to competing in games, new research suggests.

The study – conducted by researchers at Ohio State University – found in cardiac magnetic resonance images, or MRIs, that among 26 of the university’s competitive athletes who were recovering from Covid-19, four showed signs of inflammation of the heart muscle, called myocarditis.

“Our objective was to investigate the use of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in competitive athletes recovered from COVID-19 to detect myocardial inflammation that would identify high-risk athletes for return to competitive play,” the researchers wrote in their study, published in the journal JAMA Cardiology on Friday.

More on this: The researchers performed cardiac magnetic resonance imaging on 26 competitive athletes referred to the university’s sports medicine clinic after testing for Covid-19 between June and August. The athletes were involved in football, soccer, lacrosse, basketball and track – and only 12 athletes reported having symptoms, which were mild, while others did not show any symptoms.

The cardiac imaging was performed after each athlete quarantined for at least 11 days. No athletes had illness severe enough to require hospitalization, according to the study, and none received antiviral therapies specific for Covid-19.

The imaging showed that four athletes, or 15%, had findings consistent with myocarditis and eight additional athletes, or 30.8%, had signs of prior myocardial injury.

The study had some limitations, including that more research is needed to determine whether similar findings would emerge among a larger group of college athletes from various universities.

It’s Monday morning in the US, and the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the country and the rest of the world.

The World Health Organization received reports of 307,930 new Covid-19 cases worldwide in the past 24 hours — the highest single-day increase in global infections since the pandemic began. The previous daily high was set on September 6, when 306,857 cases were reported.

If you’re just reading in now, here’s what else you need to know to start the day:

Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been released from hospital in Milan where he was receiving treatment for coronavirus-related pneumonia, his press office told CNN Monday.

The 83-year-old media magnate, who first became the country’s leader in 1994, was admitted to the San Raffaele hospital on September 3 and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.

Upon his release from hospital Berlusconi told journalists the experience was “the most dangerous test of my life.”

Italy recorded six further coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry, taking its total death toll to 35,610.

The number of patients in intensive care has been steadily increasing, reaching 187 on Sunday. 

However, some Italian schools reopened Monday. Students and teachers have been given masks and hand sanitizer, but some schools have not received the new single person-desks which are supposed to help with social distancing.

Italy has a high percentage of teachers over the age of 50, a group at greater risk from coronavirus.

Secondary lockdowns are coming into force and restrictions being renewed, as countries struggle to get a handle on new waves of coronavirus cases while attempting to keep their economies afloat.

In a sign that the worst is far from over, the World Health Organization reported the highest single-day increase in global infections since the pandemic began on Sunday.

Israel will bring back a nationwide lockdown — one of the first countries to do so — reimposing many of the same severe restrictions seen earlier this year, as an outbreak widens there. The government, wary of mass gatherings ahead of the high holidays, said the measures will come into force on Friday, the start of the Jewish new year.

Meanwhile, in Britain, a government adviser has warned that failure to contain a surge of cases could put the country “right back in hard lockdown in short order.” In an attempt to contain the virus’ spread, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reduced the number of people allowed to meet from 30 to six, starting Monday.

As Europe sees a spike in cases, WHO’s director for the continent told Agence France-Presse that the crisis was only going to get tougher, and to expect more deaths in October and November. “It’s a moment where countries don’t want to hear this bad news, and I understand,” Hans Kluge said, adding that we all have to “learn how to live with this pandemic.”

A version of this story appeared in the September 14 edition of CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction newsletter. Sign up here to receive the need-to-know headlines every weekday.

Read the full story here or sign up to the newsletter here.

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz said his country is experiencing a second wave of the pandemic. ”We are at the beginning of the second wave. We are facing difficult months in the autumn and winter,” tweeted Kurz on Sunday. “The number of infections is increasing from day to day.”

Kurz asked Austrian citizens to continue to adhere to all coronavirus measures and reduce social contacts.

The number of new infections in Austria has risen in recent days and the situation is “particularly dramatic” in the capital, Vienna, which recorded more than half of all new infections in the country, Kurz told national Austrian news agency APA on Sunday.

“Whereas two weeks ago the number of infections per day was around 350, yesterday it was already over 850,” Kurz said, adding that the mark of 1,000 new cases per day would soon be reached.

Austria is tightening its coronavirus rules from Monday in response to the growing numbers.

Face masks must be worn in all public indoor areas and events without assigned and marked seats with more than 50 guests in closed rooms are not allowed. Additionally, eating and drinking in restaurants is only allowed when sitting down. 

On Saturday, Austria registered 869 new infections in 24 hours, the highest increase since the end of March, according to health authorities. 

So far 33,463 people have been infected with the coronavirus in Austria, and 757 have died, said the health ministry.

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) released its annual report Monday, noting that Covid-19 revealed the world’s “collective failure” to prepare and calling for a renewed commitment to collaboration and the World Health Organization (WHO).

GPMB is an independent body, convened by the WHO and the World Bank, to ensure preparedness for global health crises.

In its 2019 report, the board noted that “a rapidly spreading pandemic due to a lethal respiratory pathogen” was a real threat, and that the world was not prepared, financially or structurally. 

Among the lessons learned from Covid-19, the board notes that a pandemic can wreak havoc on social and economic systems, in addition to health.

Political leadership matters, the report says, especially when leaders realize that they do not need to choose between protecting people or the economy.

The board says it’s worth investing in pandemic preparedness, noting: “It would take 500 years to spend as much on investing in preparedness as the world is losing due to COVID-19.” 

The board calls for immediate action moving forward, including responsible leadership and ensuring fair access to vaccines.

“Each country should get an initial allocation of vaccine sufficient to cover at least 2% of its population, to cover frontline healthcare workers,” the report says.

The board also calls on ordinary citizens to step up, by holding their governments accountable and taking health precautions to protect one another.

The report notes that women in particular are bearing the brunt of the pandemic, while remaining inadequately involved in preparedness and response.

Texas has now recorded 14,405 coronavirus deaths, the third-most of any US state behind New Jersey and New York, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

New York, with 33,023 deaths, and New Jersey, with 16,031 deaths, hold the two top spots for deaths across the US. California is now in fourth place, reporting 14,386 total deaths, per JHU data.

Texas has a total of 681,885 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began – the second highest of any state behind California.

The US has recorded 6,520,606 coronavirus cases, according to JHU, with 194,084 deaths.

There are mixed developments across Europe as the continent continues to grapple with the pandemic. Here is your latest roundup:

France

Daily coronavirus infections dipped slightly in France on Sunday, a day after the country recorded more than 10,000 new cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Health authorities say Sunday’s total number of new cases was 7,183, down from Saturday’s record-breaking number of 10,561.

Italy

The Italian Health Ministry says six people have died of the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of pandemic deaths to 35,610.

Some Italian schools reopened Monday. Students and teachers have been given masks and hand sanitizer, but some schools have not received the new single person-desks which are supposed to help with social distancing. Italy has a high percentage of teachers over the age of 50, a group at greater risk from coronavirus.

The number of patients in intensive care in Italy has been steadily increasing, reaching 187 on Sunday.  

Germany

Case numbers continue to rise in Germany, albeit more slowly than in some other European countries.

The number of total cases in the country increased by 927 to 260,335, said the Robert-Koch Institute, the national agency for disease control and prevention, on Monday. So far 9,350 people have died of the virus, with one additional death since Sunday.

Meanwhile authorities say a 26-year-old US citizen has caused a coronavirus spike in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The unnamed woman had recently returned from a holiday abroad, according to Stephan Scharf, press officer of the District Administrator’s Office in the southern German town.

Scharf told CNN he did not know which country she had returned from, but it had not been from the US. The woman developed Covid-19 symptoms, took a coronavirus test and was told to stay at home to wait for the results, said Scharf, but this did not stop her from going out and socializing.

She has since received a positive test result and is in quarantine, said Scharf.

UK

Britain’s health care system is experiencing “significant demand” for coronavirus testing from people who do not have symptoms, its health department said Monday, amid reports that its testing program has a backlog of 185,000 test swabs.

“[National Health Service] Test and Trace is working and our capacity is the highest it has ever been but we are seeing a significant demand for tests including from people who do not have symptoms and are not otherwise eligible,” a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson told CNN.

The UK recorded 3,330 new coronavirus cases on Sunday morning. Five more people have died, bringing the total official death toll to 41,628.

England is preparing for new restrictions to come into effect Monday after a recent rise in the infection rate. As of Monday, only six people can gather in England at any time. 

Switzerland

Switzerland has added some regions in neighboring countries to its quarantine list, according to its Department of Health.

Several French regions will be added to the list, including Provence-Alpes Cote d’Azur and Ile de France, which contains Paris. The Austrian capital of Vienna is also now on the quarantine list, as well as the whole of Spain.

Some countries were removed from the list, including Ecuador, the Faroe Islands, Guatemala and South Africa.

Switzerland reported 475 new cases on Sunday, taking the total to 47,179. A total 1,747 people have died, with a further four on Sunday, according to the Department of Health.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic set a new daily record for coronavirus infections, with 1,541 new cases recorded Saturday, according to its health ministry. The spike in cases coincides with increased testing, with an average of 15,000 people being tested every day. On Friday alone, 18,200 people took a test.

A total of 453 people have so far died of coronavirus in the Czech Republic, and there have been 35,401 total infections.

Sweden

Sweden has lifted its travel warning for non-essential travel to the UK. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the decision was taken because of the UK’s “reduced Covid-19 risk,” and will take immediate effect.

Keir Starmer, leader of the UK’s opposition Labour party, has gone into self-isolation while a member of his household awaits Covid-19 test results after developing symptoms. 

“This morning Keir Starmer was advised to self-isolate after a member of his household showed possible symptoms of the coronavirus,” said a spokesperson for Starmer.

“The member of his household has now had a test. In line with NHS [National Health Service] guidelines, Keir will self-isolate while awaiting the results of the test and further advice from medical professionals.”

The UK recorded 3,330 new coronavirus cases on Sunday morning. Five more people have died, bringing the total official death toll from Covid-19 to 41,628.

England is preparing for new restrictions to come into effect Monday after a recent rise in the infection rate. As of Monday, only six people can gather in England at any time.

The Indian government is considering an “emergency authorization” of Covid-19 vaccines, the country’s health minister, Harsh Vardhan, said Sunday.

Vardhan said that while Phase 3 trials are usually six to nine months long, an emergency authorization could cut that time period.

“Any emergency authorization is always done by adopting re-enforced safeguards so that people need not worry about safety,” he said.

At present, the Covid-19 vaccines that are at the most advanced stage in clinical trials in India include Covaxin, which is being developed domestically, and vaccines that the Serum Institute of India is collaborating on with Astra Zeneca, Oxford University and Codagenix USA.

Vardhan said the results of these vaccine trials will be available by the first quarter of 2021, and there will be efforts to ensure that the vaccines can be manufactured in parallel “so that we don’t lose precious time (in) providing vaccines to the population.”

Senior citizens and those working in high-risk professions, such as healthcare workers, will be given priority in getting the vaccination, the minister said.

“No corners will be cut in the clinical trials, and vaccines will be made available only when the government can ensure its safety and efficacy,” Vardhan added.

India reported 92,071 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total to more than 4.8 million. There were also another 1,136 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 79,722.

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump tops the list of things Germans fear the most, according to a survey published by the country’s largest insurance group last week. 

The annual poll into the fears of people living in Germany shows that 53% of respondents are concerned by the consequences of ”a more dangerous world due to the politics of Trump,” putting the US president at the top of their list of worries.

This is the second time since 2018 that Trump tops the survey, which is carried out by insurance group R+V.

“This year, the fear of a serious illness is surprisingly small, although it is dominated by corona,” said Brigitte Roemstedt, head of R+V’s information center, in a company statement.

The poll found that 32% of Germans worry about catching a serious illness – compared to 35% in 2019 – before the coronavirus outbreak began to spread.

Roemstedt added ”only about one in three respondents is afraid that they themselves or people around them could become infected with coronavirus.”

The survey also showed that 42% of Germans believe that globalization could cause more pandemics, and 51% said they are concerned about the economic fallout of the coronavirus.

The annual R+V survey has been conducted since 1992. Researchers ask people about their greatest personal, political, economic and environmental fears. 

For this year’s study 2,400 people participated in June and July 2020, according to R+V.

Britain’s health care system is experiencing “significant demand” for coronavirus testing from people who do not have symptoms, its health department said Monday, amid reports that its testing program has a backlog of 185,000 test swabs.

“[National Health Service] Test and Trace is working and our capacity is the highest it has ever been but we are seeing a significant demand for tests including from people who do not have symptoms and are not otherwise eligible,” a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson told CNN.

According to the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper, leaked DHSC documents indicate the government’s testing program has been so overwhelmed that swabs have been sent to labs in Germany and Italy to help keep up with demand, as British labs have seen “chaos” in their supply chains.

The DHSC spokesperson did not confirm or deny the specific details in the Sunday Times’ report.

“Our laboratories are processing more than a million tests a week and we recently announced new facilities and technology to process results even faster,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“New booking slots and home testing kits are made available daily for those who need them and we are targeting testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, and prioritising at-risk groups,” they added.

German authorities say a 26-year-old US citizen has caused a spike in coronavirus infections in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The unnamed woman had recently returned from a holiday abroad, according to Stephan Scharf, press officer of the District Administrator’s Office in the southern German town.

Scharf told CNN he did not know which country she had returned from, but it had not been from the US.

The woman developed Covid-19 symptoms, took a coronavirus test and was told to stay at home to wait for the results, said Scharf, but this did not stop her from going out and socializing.

She has since received a positive test result and is in quarantine, said Scharf.

“We don’t know how many people the assumed spreader infected, although we know she was out being infectious,” Scharf said.

On Friday there were 33 new cases in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

“We did not have so many even during the height of Corona,” Scharf said. “This kind of behavior of course is everything but commendable.”

Garmisch-Partenkirchen recorded a seven-day incidence rate of 55 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the latest figures.

German authorities have agreed to reimpose measures in areas where the incidence rate rises above 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

As a result new regulations came into effect in Garmisch-Partenkirchen over the weekend, meaning local pubs and bars have to close at 10 p.m. local time.

Only five people can be at a table indoors, and 10 people outdoors – half of what it was allowed before. The number of attendees allowed for parties have also been slashed from 200 to 100, Scharf said.

The woman works at the Edelweiss Lodge, a US Armed Forces Recreation Center Resort operated by the US Army, and Scharf told CNN 24 staff members had tested positive for coronavirus.

The US Army Europe Public Affairs Department said in a statement Sunday that the resort would be closed for two weeks starting from Monday.

“As a precaution, additional staff members who had prolonged, direct contact with the positive staff members have also been quarantined. The facility is working with U.S. Army medical professionals and local medical officials to assess the situation and conduct contact tracing,” the statement said.

France’s daily count of coronavirus infections dipped slightly on Sunday, a day after the country recorded more than 10,000 new cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

There were 7,183 new cases on Sunday, according to health authorities, down from Saturday’s record-breaking number of 10,561.

However a nationwide lockdown is not in the French government’s “mindset” despite the “clear deterioration” of the coronavirus situation, said Prime Minister Jean Castex in a televised address on Friday.

Castex said he is “particularly worried” to see “a substantial increase in hospitalizations for the first time in a number of weeks.”

The Prime Minister said a national lockdown should be avoided and gave power to local authorities to impose restrictions instead of the central government.

“Measures should not be decided from Paris,” said Castex, explaining that the virus is spreading unevenly.

Marseille, Bordeaux, and Guadeloupe are particularly badly affected, he added. Local authorities have until Monday to present measures to the Prime Minister.

Castex also announced changes to the French government’s testing and isolation strategy.

In face of the “significant waiting times” the priority will be to test people showing symptoms, those who were in close contact with coronavirus patients, and healthcare personnel, Castex said.

“France has become the third European country in terms of testing,” he added, with around a million tests per week.

Castex also announced the mandatory isolation period for people with Covid-19 will be reduced from 14 to 7 days, a “period where there is a real risk of contagion,” he said.

“Tomorrow depends on you, tomorrow depends on us,” said Castex.

In the US, the term “rage mom” has been used to describe fed-up mothers who are demanding change after months of juggling their roles as teachers, employees, caregivers, and parents with limited support during the pandemic.

And while it’s not a movement, the sentiment is also felt in the United Kingdom, one of the countries worst hit by coronavirus.

British “rage mums” say they, like their sisters across the Atlantic, are mobilizing to hold their government to account and make their voices heard.

Watch:

Not everyone in China will need to get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the country’s top medical official, as Beijing looks to prioritize frontline workers and high-risk populations in a move that underscores rising confidence among policy-makers of their ability to contain the virus.

“Since the first wave of Covid-19 appeared in Wuhan, China has already survived the impact of Covid-19 several times,” Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a vaccine summit in the city of Shenzhen on Saturday, according to state-run news agency China News Service.

The question of vaccinating the public was one of balancing “risks and benefits,” he added, pointing to factors like cost and potential side effects. There isn’t currently a need for mass vaccination at this stage – though that could change if another serious outbreak takes place, Gao said.

The policy marks China apart from many Western governments, most notably Australia, that have outlined plans to introduce mass public vaccination drives.

Outbreak under control: China’s reported virus numbers have stayed low since the spring. There have been a few flare-ups – clusters in the northeastern Jilin province in May, an outbreak in Beijing in June, and another in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi in July – but these were met with immediate lockdown measures and mass testing, and the outbreaks were contained within a few weeks.

Gao cited these brief outbreaks as evidence of China’s effective containment measures. “The facts have proven that we have several magic weapons to respond to the epidemic,” he said, according to China News Service.

Any potential vaccine would instead be prioritized for those on the front lines, he added: medical workers, Chinese nationals working overseas in virus hostpots, and people working in dense, high-risk environments like restaurants, schools or cleaning services.

Read the full story:

Chinese President Xi Jinping learns about the progress on a candidate coronavirus vaccine during his visit to the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing on March 2, 2020.

Related article China says no need to vaccinate entire population against Covid-19 at this stage, only frontline workers

The United States reported 34,450 new Covid-19 infections and 378 virus-related deaths on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

At least 6,520,235 cases, including 194,081 fatalities, have now been recorded in the US.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

CNN is tracking US cases here:

Cathay Pacific Group, the owner of Hong Kong’s flagship airline, says it’s losing hundreds of millions of dollars a month as the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel global demand for travel.

The company said Monday that its two main carriers – Cathay Pacific and regional sister airline Cathay Dragon – only carried about 36,000 passengers altogether last month, plunging 98.8% compared to the same time a year ago.

While the company has continuously taken steps to cut costs, it is still “burning cash” at a rate of 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($194 million) to 2 billion Hong Kong dollars ($258 million) per month, according to chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam.

“We are weathering the storm for now, but the fact remains that we simply will not survive unless we adapt our airlines for the new travel market,” he said in a statement.
“A restructuring will therefore be inevitable to protect the company, the Hong Kong aviation hub, and the livelihoods of as many people as possible.”

Cathay was bailed out by Hong Kong’s government in June. That helped give the company “time and a platform from which to transform our business and continue to operate in the short term,” said Lam. “However, it is an investment that we need to repay.”

The company expects a long road back to recovery. Lam noted that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently pushed back its global forecast for an industry rebound “by a year to 2024, demonstrating just how slow a return to pre-pandemic levels will be.”

France’s daily coronavirus infections dipped slightly on Sunday, a day after the country recorded more than 10,000 new cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Health authorities said Sunday’s total number of new Covid-19 cases was 7,183, down from Saturday’s high of 10,561.

No lockdown: A nationwide lockdown is not in the French government’s “mindset” despite the “clear deterioration” of the coronavirus situation in the country, Prime Minister Jean Castex said during a televised address on Friday.

The Prime Minister said a national lockdown should be avoided and gave power to local authorities to impose restrictions, instead of the central government. 

US President Donald Trump offered a glaring new example of his refusal to put medical science before politics with a large indoor rally Sunday night that made a mockery of social distancing, while the pandemic he mismanaged has now claimed more than 194,000 American lives.

The event in Nevada – his second rally in the state in as many days – did not only risk the health of those present, thousands of whom were packed together inside a manufacturing facility in defiance of the state’s ban on local gatherings of 50 people or more. It also has the potential to turn into a super spreader event that could seed Covid-19 outbreaks in the wider community.

Trump hadn’t held an indoor rally in nearly three months, since his last one, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after which the city saw a surge in cases and multiple campaign staffers along with Secret Service agents tested positive for the virus.

The jarring scenes of the indoor event clashed with footage from the first weekend of NFL games that went ahead in cavernous empty stadiums, reflecting how almost alone the President, who might be expected to set an example, is responsible for the most dangerous breaches of his own government’s coronavirus recommendations.

Rare precautions: CNN’s Brian Stelter reported that major television networks, including CNN, decided not to send their crews and correspondents into the rally for their own safety. It’s not unusual for media companies to take steps to shield their employees in war zones abroad, but such precautions are exceedingly rare on home soil.

Read the full analysis:

Supporters cheer as US President Donald Trump arrives for an indoor campaign rally at Xtreme Manufacturing in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 13, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Related article Analysis: Trump ignores science at dangerous indoor rally

Japan recorded 441 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing its total caseload to 76,369, the Japanese Health Ministry announced Monday.

The country also reported three new deaths on Sunday, with its total death toll now at 1,455.

In the capital Tokyo, the total number of infections has surpassed 23,000, with 146 new cases confirmed Sunday, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.

Easing restrictions: Japan has been grappling with a second wave of infections since July, with more than 1,000 cases recorded daily during its peak in August. But the daily infections have been decreasing in recent weeks, and authorities are planning to ease restrictions.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike plans to end the 10 p.m. closure request on Tuesday for bars and restaurants that serve alcohol in central Tokyo.

The Japanese government has decided to ease the attendance restrictions for events including professional sports games. From September 19, the current restriction limiting the number of attendees in stadiums and large-scale facilities to 5,000 will be scrapped.

South Korea is planning to stockpile 4 million sets of additional personal protective equipment by December to prepare for a large scale spread of the coronavirus, according to its Ministry of Health.

The government also plans to secure additional ECMO machines – a specialized heart-lung bypass machine used when the lungs cannot function themselves – and ventilators, Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said in a briefing Monday.

New cases: South Korea recorded 109 Covid-19 infections on Sunday, of which 98 were locally transmitted. Some 81 of the local cases were found in the Seoul metropolitan area, according to data from the ministry. Five new deaths were also reported on Sunday.

The country’s total caseload stands at 22,285, including 363 deaths.

The race for a coronavirus vaccine shows no signs of slowing as more companies move their vaccine candidates through clinical trials, growing closer to determining which will be considered safe and effective. 

One such candidate is in development by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which announced along with its German partner BioNTech on Saturday they proposed expanding Phase 3 clinical trials to include 44,000 participants and more diverse patient populations, including people as young as 16. 

That’s up from the initial plan of 30,000 participants, a benchmark they plan to meet next week, according to a news release. 

Diversity matters: The proposal, which would need approval by the Food and Drug Administration, would allow the companies to collect more data on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine candidate while diversifying the pool of participants.

“I think we should strive to have as more diverse population as possible,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CBS on “Face the Nation” Sunday, stressing the importance of having a diverse group of volunteers given the heightened impact Covid-19 has had on communities of color.
“But right now we are not bad. Actually, we have a population that globally only 60% are Caucasians, 40%, approximately, minorities,” he said.

Read the full story:

Related article Pfizer proposes expanding Covid-19 vaccine trial to include more diversity as race for a vaccine continues

New Zealand will extend its current coronavirus restrictions for another week as the country reported one new case on Monday.

“Cabinet has decided on a short extension to the current restrictions of alert level 2.5 for Auckland and level 2 for the rest of the country,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a news briefing.
“For Auckland, cabinet will review the current level 2.5 settings at our meeting on Monday the 21st of September with a view to increase gathering limits for Auckland if we are in a similar position for containing the cluster,” she said.

If that change was agreed, the new measures would come into effect on September 23, according to Ardern.

“As we know more cases will emerge from this cluster’s tail, these cases can still continue to pose risks,” she warned.

Under the extended restrictions in Auckland, social gatherings are limited to 10 people while businesses can open as long as they follow social distancing guidelines. 

Ardern said the cabinet had agreed “in principle” that the rest of New Zealand outside of Auckland will move to level 1 restrictions at 11:59 p.m. on September 21, as long as cases continue to “track as they are and maintaining the containment we have seen.”

She also praised New Zealand’s testing efforts. “Over 100,000 tests have taken place nationwide that have not shown any spread of the virus to date in other parts of New Zealand, despite the resumption of inter-regional travel,” she said.

So far, New Zealand has reported a total of 1,447 coronavirus infections and 24 deaths.

Australia’s Victoria state recorded 35 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services.

This is the state’s lowest daily increase in infections since June 26, according to statistics from the department.

The total number of cases confirmed in Victoria now stands at 19,870. Seven deaths were also recorded on Sunday, bringing the total death toll in the state to 730.

Protests: Over the weekend, anti-lockdown protests were held in Melbourne, leading to the arrest of at least 88 people. Video of the demonstrations showed police in riot gear arresting protesters in the streets while onlookers chanted “freedom.”

On Sunday night, Victoria also began slowly lifting certain coronavirus lockdown restrictions, according to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. In Melbourne, playgrounds and outdoor fitness equipment have been reopened, while those living alone or single parents are allowed to have one other person in their home.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said there is “quite a good chance” the team testing his company’s vaccine candidate for Covid-19 will know whether it works by the end of October. 

“In our best case, we have quite a good chance, more than 60%, that we will know if the product works or not by the end of October,” he said on CBS today. “But of course, that doesn’t mean that it works. It means that we will know if it works.” 

When asked whether people would have to wait until 2021 to receive the vaccine, Bourla said that he didn’t know how long it would take for regulators to approve the drug.

“We have a good chance that we will know if the product works by the end of October. Then, of course, it is (the) regulator’s job to issue (a) license or not,” he said.

Pfizer has started manufacturing the vaccine and Bourla said hundreds of thousands of doses have already been made. 

More details: Bourla said vaccine distribution will be a problem. Shipping medicines is complex, particularly when they need special storage conditions. But he said Pfizer already knows how to do it very well. 

As for who gets the vaccine, Bourla said that is something the authorities should decide, for example, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization received reports of 307,930 new Covid-19 cases worldwide in the past 24 hours – the highest single-day increase in global infections since the pandemic began.

The previous daily high was set on September 6, when 306,857 cases were reported.

The total number of cases that have been reported to the WHO from around the globe now stands at 28,637,952.

There were also 5,537 new coronavirus deaths reported to the WHO over the past 24 hours, bringing the global death toll to at least 917,417.

CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:

Israel approved a second general lockdown on Sunday evening as coronavirus cases surge across the country. The lockdown, which is expected to start Friday afternoon, will see the country return to many of the same severe restrictions of the first lockdown back in April. 

Schools, restaurants (except delivery), and entertainment venues will all close, as well as other businesses, for an initial period of three weeks. The public sector will operate with a limited workforce, while private sector businesses can operate as long as non-employees do not enter the workspace. 

People will be required to stay within 500 meters of their home. Emergency services, pharmacies and food stores will remain open. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 20 people, while indoor gatherings will be limited to 10. 

Restrictions will be eased once Israel records a sharp decline in infection rates, though no number has been put on what might constitute such a decline. 

At a cabinet meeting earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country’s coronavirus czar had raised “a red flag regarding the ability of the health system to handle the challenges that are upon us, and (thus) the need to take the necessary steps as a result.”  

By the numbers: Netanyahu announced the lockdown after coronavirus cases surged last week, hitting a new daily high of 4,217 cases in 24 hours on Thursday, the third straight day with more than 4,000 new cases recorded.

The number of patients in serious condition has also steadily climbed, reaching a high of 513 serious cases and 138 on ventilators as of Saturday.