November 20 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Sebastian Shukla and Angela Dewan, CNN

Updated 12:00 a.m. ET, November 21, 2020
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9:27 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Canada's largest city is going into lockdown for at least 28 days

From CNN's Gisela Crespo

Shoppers walk through the Eaton Centre in Toronto on November 20. Retail will be allowed to operate for curbside pick-up or delivery only under lockdown rules that take effect Monday.
Shoppers walk through the Eaton Centre in Toronto on November 20. Retail will be allowed to operate for curbside pick-up or delivery only under lockdown rules that take effect Monday. Steve Russell/Toronto Star/Getty Images

Toronto, Canada's biggest city, is going into lockdown for at least 28 days to limit the spread of Covid-19, according to a news release from the Office of the Premier of Ontario published Friday. 

The lockdown will go into effect Monday and it includes Peel Region, which is part of the Greater Toronto Area. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in the news release that Covid-19 numbers are "rising rapidly in certain regions," adding the lockdown will protect "hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes, and every person in this province." 

"We cannot afford a province-wide lockdown, so we are taking preventative action today by moving Toronto and Peel into lockdown level restrictions ... We need to take decisive action to stop the spread of this deadly virus," Ford said. 

These are the lockdown rules:

  • Indoor social gatherings or events won't be allowed except with members of the same household, and outdoor gatherings will be limited to no more than 10 people, according to the release. 
  • Wedding services, funerals, and religious ceremonies where physical distancing can be maintained indoors or outdoors will also be limited to no more than 10 people. 
  • Retail will be allowed to operate for curbside pick-up or delivery only. Certain businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies will be allowed to open at 50% capacity. 
  • Schools and childcare will remain open, and post-secondary education will move to virtual learning except for training that can only be provided in person. 

Other parts of the province will move to higher levels of restrictions starting Monday as well, according to the release. 

9:09 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Washington governor says "the house is on fire" when it comes to Covid-19 outbreak

From CNN’s Andy Rose

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks during a news conference on Nov. 15, at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks during a news conference on Nov. 15, at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington. Ted S. Warren/AP

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says he and other state leaders have had no choice about putting tighter Covid-19 restrictions in place this week given the size of the pandemic.

“We have to understand that the house is on fire, right,” Inslee said Friday.

This week, the state prohibited indoor gatherings with people outside the organizer’s own household unless they quarantine ahead of the event, and get a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours. Indoor service in restaurants is prohibited. The restrictions will last until at least December 14.

“Given the extraordinary raging of this virus, we did not have the luxury of cutting this with a scalpel and taking months to decide where the right point was,” Inslee said.

To address concerns of businesses being closed again, Inslee announced that the state is releasing another $135 million in leftover CARES Act money, $70 million of which is earmarked for business grants.

But Inslee added this is probably the last stimulus the state will be able to scrape together without more assistance from the federal government. “We are nearing a cliff of support from the federal government for Washingtonians,” he said.

8:17 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Almost a million people have been given an experimental Chinese coronavirus vaccine, pharma giant claims

From CNN's Ben Westcott and Sophie Jeong

Almost a million people have been given an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm as part of an emergency-use program authorized by Beijing, the Chinese pharmaceutical giant's chairman said.

No serious adverse effects have been reported from vaccine recipients so far, Sinopharm said Wednesday in an article on social media platform WeChat, citing Chairman Liu Jingzhen.

"In emergency use, we now have used it on nearly a million people. We have not received any reports of serious adverse reaction, and only a few have some mild symptoms," Liu said.

Liu said the vaccine had been given to Chinese construction workers, diplomats, and students who have gone to more than 150 countries during the pandemic -- and none of them has reported an infection.

He said on November 6 that there were 56,000 people who had received emergency vaccinations and then gone overseas.

"For example, a transnational company has 99 employees in one of its overseas offices, of whom 81 were vaccinated. And later, an outbreak broke out in the office, 10 of the 18 people who were not vaccinated were infected and none of those vaccinated were infected," he said.

Read the full story:

6:21 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Donald Trump Jr. tests positive for coronavirus

From CNN's Kaitlan Collins 

Donald Trump Jr. attends a book signing to promote his book "Liberal Privilege"in Long Island, New York, on Sunday, October 18.
Donald Trump Jr. attends a book signing to promote his book "Liberal Privilege"in Long Island, New York, on Sunday, October 18. Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

President Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., has tested positive for Covid-19, his spokesperson said.

“Don tested positive at the start of the week and has been quarantining out at his cabin since the result. He’s been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended COVID-19 guidelines," his spokesperson said.

Bloomberg first reported the story. 

5:40 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

FDA announces advisory committee to meet to discuss Pfizer's vaccine application in December

From CNN's Ben Tinker and Maggie Fox

The US Food and Drug Administration said Friday it has scheduled a meeting of its outside advisory panel to discuss Pfizer and BioNTech’s application for emergency use authorization for a coronavirus vaccine.

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on Dec. 10. 

The companies submitted their application for an EUA earlier Friday. It’s the first application for an FDA regulatory OK for a coronavirus vaccine.

"The FDA recognizes that transparency and dialogue are critical for the public to have confidence in Covid-19 vaccines. I want to assure the American people that the FDA's process and evaluation of the data for a potential Covid-19 vaccine will be as open and transparent as possible," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement.

"The FDA has been preparing for the review of EUAs for Covid-19 vaccines for several months and stands ready to do so as soon as an EUA request is submitted. While we cannot predict how long the FDA's review will take, the FDA will review the request as expeditiously as possible, while still doing so in a thorough and science-based manner, so that we can help make available a vaccine that the American people deserve as soon as possible.”

The FDA is supposed to post the VRBPAC meeting schedule in the Federal Register at least two weeks ahead of time. The agency has promised to fully consider input from the committee, which is made up of vaccine experts and others with no ties to the companies submitting vaccines for FDA approval or authorization.

“A discussion about the safety and effectiveness of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine with this committee, made up of outside scientific and public health experts from around the country, will help ensure clear public understanding of the scientific data and information that the FDA will evaluate in order to make a decision about whether to authorize a vaccine for emergency use for the prevention of Covid-19,” Hahn said.

The FDA said it will livestream the VRBPAC meeting on the agency's YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels and from the FDA website.

5:42 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Regeneron has had discussions with Biden's team about Covid-19 antibody treatment

From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas

The president of the company that makes the monoclonal antibody treatment given to President Trump says his company has been speaking with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.

“We have had discussions with representatives of the Biden administration before, during and since the election,” Dr. George Yancopoulos, president and chief scientific officer of the biopharmaceutical company Regeneron, said Thursday.

Regeneron has applied for emergency use authorization for its antibody treatment for coronavirus, but is still waiting for a decision from the US Food and Drug Administration.

“I know that they have a lot of sophistication, and they have tremendous interest of course in all these approaches, including these antibody treatments. They want to know all about them,” Yancopoulos said at a conference sponsored by Reuters.

He added that Regeneron has presented its latest data to Biden’s team.

“Biden has always been a pro-science guy, so of course we're hopeful that they're going to take a careful and a data-based approach, and try to do the best to figure out how to best deliver the available therapies and vaccines to the people who might benefit the most,” Yancopoulos said. 

 

9:12 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Scotland bans all nonessential travel to England

From Amy Cassidy in Glasgow

Cars pass a Covid warning sign on the eastbound M8 motorway in Glasgow ahead of the introduction of further coronavirus restrictions on Friday, November 20.
Cars pass a Covid warning sign on the eastbound M8 motorway in Glasgow ahead of the introduction of further coronavirus restrictions on Friday, November 20. Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images

Scotland on Friday banned all nonessential travel across the border to England, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed in her daily briefing.

The new law came in to force at 6 p.m. local time on Friday (1 p.m. ET), anyone caught breaking the rules could face a fine of around $80.

Travel to Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is also prohibited, unless for essential reasons. 

However, people living under restriction levels zero to two — which includes the Scottish Borders region — are technically still allowed to travel overseas for a holiday. Starting Friday it will be an offense for those living under tiers three and four to leave their local area.  

“Just because it’s not against the law to travel overseas doesn’t mean we think it’s OK to do it just now. This is a global pandemic, and it is for that reason that we have repeatedly advised people not to travel overseas unless it is for an essential purpose,” Sturgeon said at the briefing.

It was announced on Tuesday that over two million people in 11 areas in the west of Scotland — including Glasgow, the country’s largest city — will move into the highest level of restrictions starting Friday. 

This will see nonessential shops, cafes and gyms close for at least three weeks. Bars, pubs and restaurants in most of these areas have been closed since Oct. 9, and people can only meet with one other household in an outdoor setting. 

Sturgeon also confirmed that on Friday Scotland registered 1,018 new cases of Covid-19 and 32 deaths, bringing the country's total figures since the start of the pandemic to 86,630 confirmed cases and 3,459 deaths.

Authorities in England are yet to say if they will reciprocate the cross-border travel ban.

5:06 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody for Covid-19 gets interim approval in Canada

From CNN's Jen Christensen

Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid-19, bamlanivimab, got interim authorization from Health Canada Friday, according to a company news release.

The treatment is approved for use in Canada in adults and children older than 12 with a mild to moderate case of Covid-19 who are at high risk of progressing to more severe disease.

This is the second authorization for bamlanivimab. The US Food and Drug Administration gave it an emergency use authorization Nov. 9.

The treatment was created through a partnership with the help of the Canadian biotechnology company AbCellera.

5:15 p.m. ET, November 20, 2020

Brazil surpasses 6 million Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Mayumi Maruyama

A container carrying the experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac is unloaded from a cargo plane that arrived from China at Guarulhos International Airport in Guarulhos, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday, November 19.
A container carrying the experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac is unloaded from a cargo plane that arrived from China at Guarulhos International Airport in Guarulhos, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday, November 19. Andre Penner/AP

Brazil has surpassed 6 million cases of Covid-19, making it the third country to hit this milestone after the United States and India.

Brazil registered 38,397 new infections Friday, raising the total number of cases to 6,020,164, according to data released by the health ministry.

The country registered 552 more deaths on Friday, bringing the total to 168,613.

Last week, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed the high number of Covid-19 deaths, saying “we will all die one day.”