Individual hospital beds are lined up in a corridor with curtains at the new temporary hospital at the DCU in Worcester, MA on November 25. The hospital is being set up for a second time within a year. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
There have been at least 13,047,202 cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 264,624 people have died from Covid-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Johns Hopkins recorded the first case of coronavirus in the US on Jan. 21.
98 days later, on April 28, the US hit 1 million cases
44 days later, on June 11, the US hit 2 million cases
27 days later, on July 8, the US hit 3 million cases
15 days later, on July 23, the US hit 4 million cases
17 days later, on Aug. 9, the US hit 5 million cases
22 days later, on Aug. 31, the US hit 6 million cases
25 days later, on Sept. 25, the US hit 7 million cases
21 days later, on Oct. 16, the US hit 8 million cases
14 days later, on Oct. 30, the US hit 9 million cases
9 days later, on Nov. 8, the US hit 10 million cases
7 days later, on Nov. 15, the US hit 11 million cases
6 days later, on Nov. 21, the US hit 12 million cases
6 days later, on Nov. 27, the US hit 13 million cases
Eleven other countries in the world have reported over 1 million total Covid-19 cases. They are:
India has over 9 million total cases.
Brazil has over 6 million total cases.
France and Russia have over 2 million total cases.
Spain, United Kingdom, Argentina, Italy, Colombia, Mexico and Germany all have over 1 million total cases each.
5:18 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
CDC advisers meeting to vote on their recommendations for first vaccine recipients
From CNN’s Maggie Fox
Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called an emergency meeting Tuesday so they can vote on recommendations for the first people to get a coronavirus vaccine once one gets emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, the committee’s chair told CNN Friday.
“We are meeting because the FDA, the Operation Warp Speed, have asked states and other jurisdictions to please submit their plans on Friday of this coming week,” Dr. Jose Romero, chair of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, told CNN.
“We foresee imminent authorization if this vaccine is shown to be effective and safe in the near future and we want to be at the point where we are providing appropriate guidance to the states and jurisdictions for the use of these vaccines,” said Romero, who is Secretary for Health for the Arkansas Department of Health.
“This is not something that is being rushed. We have already discussed the groups within the first tier. We are simply going over the data once again and having a vote primarily on the first tier group 1a – health care providers and the people in the long-term, congregate facilities.”
ACIP met on Monday to discuss the priority groups for receiving any vaccine that may get emergency use authorization from the FDA. The CDC has already recommended that the first group – designated as 1a – should be frontline health providers and support personnel, as well as residents of long-term care facilities who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
“It is important because these are the individuals that are really at the front line providing the care,” Romero said.
Vaccine maker Pfizer has submitted to the FDA for emergency use authorization, or EUA, for its vaccine and biotech company Moderna is expected to do so, also. The FDA has scheduled a meeting of its own vaccine advisers for Dec. 10.
Romero said it was important for ACIP to hold a public meeting and a public vote.
4:31 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
NFL postpones Ravens-Steelers game for second time due to Covid-19 outbreak
From CNN's Cesar Marin
Members of the Pittsburgh Steelers warm up before the start of their game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on November 01 in Baltimore, Maryland. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
The NFL announced on Friday that it will move the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers to Tuesday out of an “abundance of caution to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and game day personnel.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played on Thanksgiving Day, but was then moved to Sunday after several Ravens players tested positive for coronavirus in consecutive days. Now the league is moving the game for a second time.
Baltimore has sent 12 players to the Reserve/Covid-19 list this week, including MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens currently have 14 players on the list overall, according to the Ravens’ website.
The NFL describes the Reserve/Covid-19 list as being for players who either test positive for Covid-19 or who have been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person or persons.
The Ravens were set to host the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday but the NFL also announced that game has now been moved to Dec. 7.
4:22 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
More than 264,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US
From CNN's Jamiel Lynch and Amanda Watts
A Miami-Dade County resident creates a symbolic tombstone for a relative at a memorial cemetery for those lost to Covid-19 in Liberty City, Florida on November 24. Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/Getty Images
At least 12,993,261 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the US and at least 264,241 people have died from virus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.
So far today, Johns Hopkins has reported 109,997 new cases and 787 deaths.
Friday marked the 25th consecutive day the US reported more than 100,000 new coronavirus cases.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
4:06 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
CDC advisers to vote next week on who gets coronavirus vaccine first
From CNN’s John Bonifield and Maggie Fox
A security guard walks on the grounds of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 14. Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will vote Tuesday on the very first people to get a coronavirus vaccine once one gets emergency authorization.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices has scheduled an emergency meeting for Tuesday to discuss allocation of Covid-19 vaccines, according to a document obtained by CNN.
Members of the committee will discuss who should be in the first group, and clinical considerations for the group. Draft recommendations have suggested that health care workers should be in the 1a vaccine allocation group. Other possible members of the group: people most likely to catch, spread and develop severe disease from the virus such as nursing home residents.
The advisers will also discuss how to monitor safety after allocation of the vaccine, according to the document.
3:36 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
Delta cancels more than 500 flights this week following staffing reductions due to pandemic
From CNN’s Greg Wallace and Pete Muntean
Passengers wait in line to check-in for Delta Air Lines flights at Los Angeles International Airport ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in Los Angeles, California, November 25. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
A surge in Thanksgiving demand is taxing Delta’s smaller pandemic-era workforce.
The issue led Delta to cancel hundreds of flights this week, according to the pilot union and the airline.
Delta ultimately canceled nearly one in every five flights it was scheduled to operate on Thanksgiving Day, and has dropped in total more than 500 flights this week. The airline said it expects its system to return to normal over the weekend.
The union representing pilots said staffing reductions due to the coronavirus pandemic and drop-off in travel “have left a smaller pool of pilots qualified and ready to fly in the fleets that are seeing an increased demand over this holiday.”
Delta said Wednesday that a “number of factors have pressured our ability to timely staff some of our scheduled holiday flights” but did not specify the issues.
After distributing the November employee schedules last month, Delta added flights to its schedule and asked for volunteers to cover those flights, according to a source familiar with the situation. But when there were not enough employees to cover those legs, the airline was forced to cancel some of those.
The airline declined to comment on that explanation. The Delta Master Executive Council at the Air Line Pilots Association said its pilots have stepped up to take on extra flights over the holiday period and receive the incentive of premium pay for picking up extra legs.
But when demand surged this week, the heavy cuts to the aviation system due to the coronavirus began to show.
Airline passenger traffic is currently only about 40% of what it was last year, according to data from the Transportation Security Administration, and US airlines are running 43% fewer flights.
Delta and other US airlines responded to the drop in demand by cutting from employee ranks. Work schedules were reduced, 1,800 pilots retired early, and others were placed on inactive status or are in line for training because the model of planes they flew were retired.
Employee unions and executives at the major US airlines have called for a multi-billion extension of a payroll support program that kept their employees on the job through September. Legislation to do that includes other stimulus and has stalled in Washington.
The airlines have seen a relative surge in bookings this week as distanced families reunite for Thanksgiving dinner and college students are booted from university housing. More than one million people have crossed through TSA checkpoints only four times since the spring – and three of those days were in the last week.
Travelers are also booking closer to their departure dates, airlines have said, giving the companies less visibility when arranging schedules more than a month in advance.
The union, in a statement, said the scheduling issue cannot be attributed to crews calling out sick because of the coronavirus.
3:44 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
California surpasses 19,000 Covid-19 deaths
From CNN's Isaac Engelberg
Nurses hold candles during a vigil organized by California Nurses United for healthcare workers who died from Covid-19 in Los Angeles, California on November 23. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
California reported 54 deaths on Friday, pushing the state past a sober benchmark for Covid-related fatalities, which is now a total of 19,033.
California is only the third state to reach this milestone, after New York and Texas.
The state also added 12,635 Covid-19 cases Friday, bringing the total to 1,171,324. This is down about 2,000 from Thursday's 14,640 cases.
The positivity rate of Covid-19 in California remains at 6.1%, a 1.9% increase from 14 days ago.
According to the state's dashboard, 191 more people were also hospitalized, a 2.6% increase from the previous day. This continues an upward trend since the beginning of November. There are now 1,904 beds remaining in intensive care units across the state, down 23 from yesterday.
The state's case data reporting may be incomplete due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
2:54 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
Targeted Covid-19 vaccination may be needed, WHO official says
From CNN’s Naomi Thomas
World Health Organization Health Emergencies Programme Director Michael Ryan talks during a daily Covid-19 press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on March 11. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
While modeling studies have suggested that around 60 to 70% of the population would need to be immune to Covid-19 in order to achieve herd immunity, targeted vaccination may be needed to defeat the virus, said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program.
Ryan said it may take “some very clever vaccination strategies” that target people in society who are more likely to carry, transmit and spread the virus.
Herd immunity is built around the idea that disease spreads evenly through a community and that everyone’s absolute risk of being infected is about the same, Ryan explained during a news briefing in Geneva on Friday.
But the virus does not spread evenly.
If there are lots of protected people surrounding those who are unprotected then “effectively, there’s a barrier. There’s a firewall around some who are not vaccinated, a firewall of vaccinated people, and therefore you can achieve control and eradication, sometimes, without vaccinating everyone,” he said.
“The virus is very opportunistic,” added Ryan. “We've seen that the virus can spread, in particular circumstances, we've seen in many clusters that only 20% of the cases go on to transmit to others. Eighty percent don't transmit to anybody else. We've seen superspreading events, certain contexts and certain groups who mix and the disease can explode.”
While an overall number may be important in terms of policy, Ryan said it will be important to be strategic about which groups are targeted for vaccination.
“It may be much more important to target certain sections of the community than it will be to necessarily target some others who may not be participating in transmission as much,” he said.
And the vaccine may not be a miraculous solution to the pandemic, he cautioned. “I don’t think anyone can promise eradication of this virus until we understand much more about the vaccine, and much more about how the vaccines work in the real world and until we understand much more about the details of transmission of this virus.”
Katherine O’Brien, director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO, added to Ryan’s point with the example of measles. Last year was a terrible year for measles outbreaks globally, she said.
“Many of those outbreaks were happening in countries that had very high measles vaccine coverage,” she said. “But it wasn’t about the whole country’s coverage that was important, it was about the sub communities, the sub national coverage.”
2:27 p.m. ET, November 27, 2020
Distribution of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine is possible with the right tools, WHO official says
From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas
With the right tools, distribution of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine – which requires ultra-cold storage – is possible, but people may need to be strategic about where they allocate those resources, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said Friday.
“There is demonstrated experience of delivering ultra-cold chain vaccines, even in some of the most difficult and remote areas,” said Katherine O’Brien, director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO.
The task does require enormous resources, and people may need to use a targeted distribution approach, O’Brien said during a news briefing in Geneva.
“Part of the approach that many countries may take is to choose to use vaccines that require an ultra-cold chain for only certain portions of the population that need to be vaccinated,” she added.
O’Brien said some may choose to use the vaccine among health care workers, in facilities where installing an ultra-cold freezer may be more simple than in other settings.
“Every country is going to have to work very hard and is going to have to innovate around systems to actually deliver vaccines that do have an ultra-cold chain,” O’Brien added, citing solutions like portable freezers and dry ice.
O’Brien noted that Pfizer has developed special thermal shippers to transport the vaccines, which can maintain the temperature of the vaccines for about 10 to 15 days.
“The intention is certainly to be able to use it, along with other vaccines because no one vaccine is going to have adequate supply, nor will any one vaccine necessarily have suitable operational characteristics to meet all of the needs,” she said.
Remember: Pfizer and BioNTech submitted on Nov. 20 to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for their coronavirus vaccine candidate.
Emergency use authorization, or EUA, from the FDA is not the same as full approval. An EUA allows products to be used under particular circumstances before all the evidence is available for approval.
