October 20 coronavirus news

The United States is unlikely to have a Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration before late November at the earliest, according to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health.

"These will be vaccines that are tested with the most rigorous standards for safety and efficacy," Collins said. "If we get to the point by sometime, maybe the end of this year, where one or more of those is judged to be safe and effective, it will be because it's safe and effective."

The White House Coronavirus Task Force still meets at least once a week with the Vice President to discuss issues such as "the worsening of the pandemic in the middle of the country," Collins added.

Dr. Scott Atlas, who has made controversial comments about mask-wearing recently, serves as the White House coronavirus adviser.

After Donald Trump's attack on Dr Anthony Fauci, Collins said the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was "probably the most highly respected infectious disease expert in the world," adding: "I have great confidence in him."

Collins also warned that the US "never got over the first wave" of the virus that hit New York particularly hard, saying "we never really drove the cases down to the baseline."

He said this was because the US had not succeeded in introducing "really effective public health measures" such as mask-wearing, social distancing and handwashing, adding that his family will not be gathering for Thanksgiving this year.

The Czech Republic has gone back to square one in its battle against Covid-19, reinstating a strict mask mandate that was in place in the spring, and which the government lifted over the summer, believing it had the epidemic under control.

The country's Heath Minister Roman Prymula announced Monday that masks will now be compulsory in all urban areas and in cars. Previously, they were only mandatory indoors and on public transport, including at outdoor stations.

There are few exceptions to the rules, with face coverings not mandatory when a person is exercising, or when they can keep a two-meter distance from people who are not from the same household. If someone is in a car on their own or with other members of their household, they don't have to wear a mask. Children under the age of two are also exempt.

The Czechs were among the first in the world to adopt strict mask rules during the first wave of the pandemic and, coupled with the country's decision to impose a strict lockdown relatively early, it was effective in sparing the country the worst ravages of Covid-19. 

But the Czech Republic appears to have become a victim of its own success. After easing restrictions over the summer, it is currently reporting more new Covid-19 cases per million people than any major country in the world.

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Russia reported another daily record of 16,319 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, according to the country’s coronavirus response center. 

The center reported 269 deaths in the past 24 hours, and added that the current growth rate in the infections is 1.2%. 

It said the number of new cases in Moscow -- Russia's most affected city -- had decreased slightly, falling below 5,000 for the first time in days. 

The total number of reported coronavirus cases in Russia as of October 20 is 1,431,635. It has reported 24,635 deaths, although the real figure is likely to be higher, due to the way the country calculates deaths, and reports of high excess mortality this year.

How many times do you touch the cabin in an airplane when you fly? How about the airport? How many times do the people working there touch your belongings?

The answer, as a rule, is "quite a lot."

But airlines, airports and the wider aviation industry want it to be "quite a bit less" in future. 

"Touchless travel" comprises a fairly wide collection of changes to the environment around us, from hands-free flushing in airport and airplane lavatories to automated scan-and-board gates, controlling your inflight entertainment system from your phone or tablet, and more.

It includes not just touch-free but also "less-touch" and "fewer-touch" travel.

Some of this, such as infrared sensing faucets, is automated -- but some of it is redesigning physical parts of the experience, such as doors or trash cans you can open with your feet.

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By John Walton, CNN

The UK's first rapid pre-flight Covid-19 testing facilities launched at London's Heathrow airport on Tuesday.

The test "costs £80 ($104) and aims to provide departing passengers with their results in around 60 minutes," airport service providers Collinson and Swissport announced in a statement on Tuesday. 

The new facilities, located at terminals 2 and 5, will initially supply Oxford LAMP rapid Covid-19 tests for passengers traveling to destinations that require pre-departure tests as part of local government requirements, including Hong Kong and Italy, the statement says.

The facilities "will seek to add other tests, including Antigen, as global governments continue to accept a wider variety of testing methods as an alternative to travel restrictions and quarantines," the statement adds.

Airlines British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific will offer the testing to passengers. The testing facilities will initially be open for four weeks, monitoring passenger and airline demand, according to the statement.

Dr. Anthony Fauci brushed off President Trump's attacks on him on Monday, calling them a "distraction" and emphasizing that he just wants to do his job.

Asked in an interview with KNX Radio in Los Angeles whether he ever feels like leaving his role at the White House due to Trump's attacks, Fauci responded with a quote from "The Godfather.”

"It depends if you take it personally. I focus totally on the health and the welfare of the people of this country. That's what I devoted 50 years of my career towards," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. 

Earlier Monday, President Trump claimed during a campaign call that people were tired of hearing about the coronavirus pandemic and criticized Fauci, calling him a "disaster."

"I would prefer not to comment on that and to just get on with what we're really trying to do," Fauci said.

"Many, many states that had been doing reasonably well are now showing upticks. That's what we should be concentrating on," Fauci said. "All that other stuff is a distraction and I would really prefer to stay away from that."

Fauci added that: "In this country, there is a fatigue of Covid. We've been dealing with this now for almost nine months."

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The coronavirus pandemic -- and all of the other things going on around us right now -- have left many people feeling the strain, pushed from one peak of anxiety to the next.

"It's the pandemic, it's the social unrest, it's climate change and the wildfires. It's the election, it's upcoming holidays," said Vaile Wright, the American Psychological Association's senior director of health care innovation.

If your coping skills already seem pretty worn down, there are actions you can take to boost your well-being and strengthen your endurance during this stressful time.

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Even as coronavirus cases rise across Europe and in the UK, London's leaders are looking for ways to help the capital "reinvent itself" and emerge stronger from the pandemic.

The City of London wants to revamp the capital's transport network to suit different commuting patterns as more people work from home, with the creation of "flexible working" season tickets one option being considered.

It also wants to encourage small businesses and arts organizations back to the capital’s center by providing affordable and "hyper flexible" working spaces, according to a new report from the City of London Corporation, published on Tuesday.

This could include transforming offices into hubs that can be rented flexibly, or turning unused space into artists’ studios or pop-up galleries. 

"London is today facing major challenges,” said Catherine McGuinness, policy chair at the City of London Corporation, in a news release. "Coronavirus, the UK’s exit from the European Union and increasing protectionism across the globe are all threats to the capital’s role as an international business hub."

The City’s goal is for a fifth of office tenants in London’s "Square Mile" to be new businesses within five years, according to the report, "London Recharged: Our vision for London in 2025."

It wants half of all journeys from major train stations to workplaces to be made on foot or by bicycle -- and 99% of all above-ground journeys under one kilometer. The report suggests prioritizing pedestrians at crossings and developing routes through the city’s green "arteries."

It also wants to increase the numbers of evening and weekend visitors to the city center by 50%, reduce buildings' carbon emissions and ensure buses and daytime delivery vehicles are electric.

It recommends making the case for visa and immigration changes to make it simpler for skilled workers to enter the UK; establishing a fund to support digital transformation and providing dedicated funding for underrepresented groups.

Plague outbreaks in London spread four times faster in the 17th century than they did in the 14th century, researchers have estimated after studying troves of wills and death records. 

Researchers from Canada's McMaster University analyzed thousands of documents spanning 300 years -- including personal wills and testaments, parish registers and the London Bills of Mortality -- to search for patterns on how the plague spread through the population. 

Plague, one of the deadliest bacterial infections in human history, caused an estimated 50 million deaths in Europe during the Middle Ages, when it was known as the Black Death.

Researchers believe that factors including population density, living conditions and cooler temperatures could help to explain the acceleration of the disease in London -- and assist with our understanding of modern pandemics, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.

"A given pathogen can cause very different epidemics, whether it's in the same place over time, or in different places," David Earn, a mathematics professor at McMaster and lead author of the research, told CNN.

The findings could provide clues to how the current coronavirus pandemic, and any future pandemics could behave.

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