Category: Corona Virus

There are scant details yet available on when a COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed to service members and whether it will be mandatory, the Pentagons top spokesman told reporters Tuesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration and others are coordinating to draw up plans and prioritize groups, Jonathan Hoffman said, but the militarys place in that pecking order has not yet been established.

I dont have information for you to share on that right now, Hoffman said. Im going to defer answering that question to when we give the vaccination update in the coming weeks. And well have a fuller conversation about what will and will not be required.

Broadly, he said, the federal government is looking at first vaccinating health care workers, other essential personnel, adults with high-risk preexisting conditions and residents of long-term health care facilities.

Youll see from that list that the department may not have a huge number of individuals that fall into those initial categories, he said. Most of our personnel, particularly uniformed personnel, are much younger.

In general, service members are not considered a particularly high-risk population, due to the overwhelmingly young average age of troops and their relative health and fitness, thanks to physical requirements and regular health screenings.

Though the infection rate among troops is on par with the general U.S. population, at about 3 percent, hospitalizations and deaths are exponentially lower.

The military does have a good deal of frontline medical personnel, however, who have been tasked with carrying out testing and initial care of Defense Department personnel, and in some cases, have deployed to the hardest-hit areas to augment civilian medical personnel.

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Hoffman could not clarify whether military medical personnel will be considered, as with their civilian counterparts, high priority. That will be part of the decision making in the next month, with CDC coordination.

As soon as we are at a place where were prepared, with the approval of CDC and FDA, to release that information, well be doing so, he said.

Meanwhile, some installations are tightening up their access in response to the record-high numbers of new cases developing all around the country. This includes the Pentagon, which will be reducing its work force down from 50-percent telework back to 80-percent telework and increasing temperature screenings at entrances, upgrading to Health Protection Condition B+.

We have seen DoD facilities across the country adjusting their health condition levels in the last few weeks, depending on local conditions, he said, specifically calling out Naval Station Norfolk, Va., which upgraded to HPCON C last week. And we expect to see other increases in the coming weeks.

The Pentagon and other installations spent most of the pandemic so far at HPCON C, relaxing to B in late summer. Per policy, it will still be up to individual installation commanders to adjust their protection levels.

During the summer, as some restrictions relaxed amid infection spikes in states like Florida, Texas, Arizona and California, commanders did not always turn around and lock things down again. This surge is expected to be different.

Once again, thats going to be a decision based on local communities and the operational needs of the services and the bases, Hoffman said. So yes, I believe well see those closures go up.

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Here's what you need to know about the military's coronavirus vaccine roll-out - Military Times

An analysis of nearly 800 nursing homes in six states experiencing the biggest surges, including North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, found that these homes are still hot spots of viral transmission and that little has been done since the spring to reduce that risk.

It is nearly impossible to compare the relative contribution of social gatherings to the number of cases in different states, or even to find a consistent definition of what constitutes a gathering.

Rhode Island, which limited private gatherings to 10 people, helpfully defined the term, including family get-togethers, birthday parties, baby showers and sleepovers. But some states also add larger events, such as weddings and funerals, into the category.

These gatherings, especially if held indoors, certainly can drive infections. In rural Maine, a wedding with 55 guests ultimately resulted in 177 cases, while a wedding in Washington State led to at least 17. Outbreaks in communities with tight-knit social networks, such as the Amish and the Hasidic Jewish population, were also powered by large social events.

But the same cannot be said of smaller private gatherings with friends and family. In Colorado, only 81 active cases are attributed to social gatherings, compared with more than 4,000 from correctional centers and jails, 3,300 from colleges and universities, nearly 2,400 from assisted living facilities, and 450 from restaurants, bars, casinos and bowling alleys.

In Louisiana, social events account for just 1.7 percent of the 3,300 cases for which the state has clear exposure information.

Its important to give good public health advice about whats coming in the holidays, no doubt about it, said Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. But it is not good to suggest that they are now the preponderance of the source of spread.

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Small Gatherings Spread the Virus, but Are They Causing the Surge? - The New York Times

Find all of the most important pandemic education news on Educating N.J., a special resource guide created for parents, students and educators.

Although an increasing number of schools are switching to all-virtual learning, New Jersey students and teachers are continuing to transmit the coronavirus in the classroom and during other in-school activities, according to the states latest statistics on in-school outbreaks.

Ten new outbreaks were reported in schools in eight counties this week, bringing the totals to 66 outbreaks involving 269 students, teachers and school staff since the start of the school year, according to the states COVID-19 dashboard.

School outbreaks are defined as cases in which contact tracers determine two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted the coronavirus to each other at school or during school activities. Cases in which people contracted the virus at home, at parties, during sports practices or during other activities are not included in the totals.

Citing the privacy of students and staff who tested positive, state officials did not identify the names of the schools with outbreaks or any of the details about how the virus was transmitted at school despite mask rules and social distancing measures.

This weeks newly-reported outbreaks include: two in Cape May County (involving a total of 4 cases) and two in Monmouth County (involving a total of 8 cases). There was also one new school outbreak each in: Camden (involving 3 cases); Bergen (2 cases); Cumberland (2 cases); Mercer (2 cases); Somerset (5 cases); and Warren (2 cases).

There were also two additional positive COVID-19 tests in Salem County related to school outbreaks that had previously been reported.

With hundreds of school districts open for in-person classes, Gov. Phil Murphy has said the number of school outbreaks is relatively low and an indication that most schools are doing a good job keeping students safe. He has cited the statistics as one of the reasons why he has not called for a statewide school shutdown during the second wave of COVID-19 currently sweeping the country.

However, some critics have cited the school outbreak numbers as misleading because they do not include the total number of students and teachers who have tested positive for the virus since schools reopened.

School data reported by the state is misleading at best because it does not include cases where students or staff are infected with COVID during school-related activities such as sports and other extracurricular programs. School buildings and school-related activities are far more dangerous than the states data indicate, the New Jersey Education Association, the states largest teachers union, said in a statement last week.

The 66 confirmed school outbreaks were in:

Only Essex and Morris counties have reported no school outbreaks, the state said.

The numbers include both public and private K-12 schools.

Most of the states school districts continue to operate on hybrid schedules that bring a limited number of students into classrooms each day on a rotating basis while others learn at home via laptops and live video classes.

But the number of public school districts announcing a switch to all-virtual classes has been growing each day.

Newton, Toms River, Gloucester Township, Pemberton Township, Vineland, Hoboken, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, Woodbridge, Vernon and Phillipsburg are among the school districts that recently announced they are moving to all-remote learning.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.

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8 counties report new school coronavirus outbreaks, bringing total to 66 across N.J. - NJ.com

Coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic virus discovered in Japan and Cambodia  Nature.com

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Coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic virus discovered in Japan and Cambodia - Nature.com

Another Mainer has died as health officials on Monday reported 186 new coronavirus cases across the state.

Mondays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 10,544. Of those, 9,471 have been confirmed positive, while 1,073 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency revised Sundays cumulative total to 10,358, down from 10,359, meaning there was a net increase of 185 over the previous days report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the states cumulative total. The Bangor Daily News reports on the number of new cases reported to the Maine CDC in the previous 24 hours, rather than the increase of daily cumulative cases.

New cases were reported in Androscoggin (15), Cumberland (43), Franklin (1), Hancock (1), Kennebec (28), Knox (6), Lincoln (5), Oxford (7), Penobscot (18), Sagadahoc (2), Somerset (7), Waldo (3) and York (49) counties, state data show. Information about where an additional case was reported wasnt immediately available.

Only three counties Aroostook, Piscataquis and Washington reported no new cases.

The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 205.9, up from 204.4 a day ago, up from 189 a week ago and up from 33 a month ago.

A man in his 50s from Lincoln County has died, bringing the statewide death toll to 177. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

Health officials have warned Mainers that forceful and widespread community transmission is being seen throughout the state. Every county is seeing high community transmission, which the Maine CDC defines as a case rate of 16 or more cases per 10,000 people.

There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel.

There are now 84 known cases of coronavirus among more than 30,000 University of Maine System students, faculty and staff, according to UMS spokesperson Dan Demeritt.

Of the 80 cases reported, 22 are among residence hall students.

There are 66 cases with 6 new cases involving students five commuter and one residential at the University of Maine; Three cases at University of Maine at Augusta; Two cases at University of Maine Farmington; One case at University of Maine at Machias; Four cases at University of Maine at Presque Isle; and eight cases at University of Southern Maine with two commuter students released from isolation.

The only two schools in the UMS with no active cases of coronavirus are University of Maine at Fort Kent and University of Maine Law School.

So far, 674 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 103 people are currently hospitalized, with 45 in critical care and 11 on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 195 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 7,986. That means there are 2,381 active confirmed and probable cases in the state, which is down from 2,392 on Sunday.

A majority of the cases 6,286 have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Monday, there have been 825,553 negative test results out of 838,605 overall. About 1.5 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 3,599 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths 71 have been concentrated. Other cases have been reported in Androscoggin (1,390), Aroostook (95), Franklin (196), Hancock (214), Kennebec (696), Knox (194), Lincoln (139), Oxford (292), Penobscot (666), Piscataquis (35), Sagadahoc (136), Somerset (409), Waldo (213), Washington (178) and York (2,089) counties. Information about where an additional three cases were reported wasnt immediately available.

As of Monday evening, the coronavirus had sickened 12,369,978 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 257,274 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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Another Mainer dies as 186 new coronavirus cases are reported across the state - Bangor Daily News

CHICAGO Coronavirus killed 203 Illinoisans over the weekend, according to state data.

Among the most recent victims were 88 people from Cook County, including a man in his 30s. At least 11,506 people have died from COVID-19 in Illinois, and another 545 deaths are considered to be probably related to coronavirus.

The state also reported 21,903 confirmed cases over the weekend. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois up to 656,298.

With Chicago and the rest of Illinois firmly in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19, officials are urging everyone to cancel their Thanksgiving plans and stay home. The states top doctor said getting a negative test does not mean you can safely gather for Thanksgiving since you can have and spread coronavirus but still get a negative test.

Coronavirus could kill up to 45,000 more Illinoisansbetween now and March without restrictions, Gov. JB Pritzker said this week.

RELATED:Chicago-Area Health Care Workers Completely Burned Out As Hospitalizations Soar With No End In Sight

To prevent more deaths and to slow down the virus and hopefully avert a full stay at home order the entire state is under Tier 3 restrictions as of Friday morning. The rules close museums, casinos and theaters; cut capacity at stores; stop indoor sports and put stricter rules in place at gyms and salons, among other things.

Chicago is under a stay at home advisory. People are being asked to stay home as much as possible, leaving only for essential things like grocery shopping; to work from home if possible; to stop gathering with anyone outside their household; and to stop traveling.

People should also wear masks and wash their hands regularly, officials have said.

The surge in new cases in Chicago and across Illinois can only partially be explained by increased testing; in reality, there are more cases because coronavirus is spreading so much, officials have said. Theres evidence of that in the way positivity rates and COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations have rapidly risen in recent weeks.

Illinois seven-day positivity rate was at 11.3 percent Sunday with 92,437 tests reported. It was at 11.5 percent Friday. The figure represents total confirmed cases divided by total tests.

Illinois seven-day test positivity, which measures how many tests were positive out of total tests, fell to 13 percent Sunday. It was at 13.4 percent Friday.

As of Sunday night, 6,072 people were hospitalized with coronavirus in Illinois, including 1,179 people in the ICU and 589 people using ventilators.

In Chicago, 36 deaths and 4,081 cases were reported over the weekend. At least 3,335 people have died from COVID-19 in the city and there have been 149,084 confirmed cases, according to state data.

An average of 2,076 confirmed cases are being reported per day, a 13 percent decrease from the prior week. The citys seven-day positivity rate is at 14.2 percent, down from 15.7 percent the week before.

The city is seeing an average of 12 deaths from coronavirus per day, up from 10 deaths the week prior.

Block Club Chicagos coronavirus coverage is free for all readers. Block Club is an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom.

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203 Illinoisans Die From Coronavirus Over Weekend, And 21903 Cases Reported - Block Club Chicago

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohios coronavirus case total has surged so much this fall that 1-in-32 residents statewide is now known to have contracted the virus, most of them during just the last five weeks.

The addition of 11,885 cases reported by the Ohio Department of Health on Monday means that the total has doubled to 363,304, from 181,787 on Oct. 18.

Many more people may also have been diagnosed. But Gov. Mike DeWine said the state in the last few days has fallen behind in processing the records both because of the overwhelming volume and in delays from labs.

Deaths reported to date increased from 5,067 to 6,020 during the same time period - Oct. 18 through Monday. But it is premature to know the extent of new deaths that may be related to the recent surge in cases. Deaths often occur weeks after the onset of systems, and then are delayed further until they are reported by the state.

Ohio has reported at least 6,000 new coronavirus cases each of the last 12 days.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Separate data compiled by the Ohio Hospital Association shows the patient count in hospitals is up more than five-fold since the beginning of October, with 4,358 patients hospitalized as of Monday across the state.

There were 1,685 patients on Nov. 1 and 700 on Oct. 1 as the fall surge in cases was just beginning to take off. Among the current total, a record 1,079 were being treated in intensive care units. This is up from 449 on Nov. 1 and and 196 on Oct. 1.

Though hospital bed capacity has not become a problem yet, hospital officials are concerned both with the upward trend of new hospitalizations and a shrinking amount of available staff. For example, the Cleveland Clinic said 970 of its caregivers were not available, either because they had COVID-19 or were being quarantined.

More than 4,000 COVID-19 patients are now in Ohio hospitals.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The vacancy rate statewide was reported Monday at 30.5%, down slightly from 30.9% a week ago. There were 8,266 vacant beds, 4,358 in use by COVID-19 patients and 14,516 in use by other patients. Hospital officials have been working to free up more space for COVID-19 patients. A week ago, there were 17,552 non-COVID patients hospitalized.

The ICU vacancy rate was reported at 24.8%, a tightening from 27.5% a week ago - 1,240 vacant beds, 1,079 being used by ICU patients and 2,503 by other patients.

The number of deaths now reported at 6,020 increased by 278, or 4.8%, from the previous weeks total of 5,742. Deaths reported daily over the last week were 24, 41, 0, 65, 63, 55 and 30. The reports lag several days from the actual date of death and sometimes are reported by the state in clusters.

Both new coronavirus case totals and patients hospitalized have been increasing in Ohio.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The 57,940 cases added in the last week amounted to a 19% increase from 305,364. This compares with increases the previous weeks of 50,390, 33,065, 21,678, 16,607, 13,445, 10,215, 8,162, 6,637 and 6,681.

Ohio had 557.9 cases per 100,000 residents over the seven days, including highs in Noble County (1,012.2 per 100,000), Darke (917.6), Tuscarawas (915.3), Defiance (903.2) and Mercer (901.1).

Six of the seven Greater Cleveland counties were below the statewide average for new cases. Only Lake County was higher at 828.2 newly reported cases per 100,000 residents, followed by Geauga (508.3), Medina County (495.7), Lorain (492.2), Cuyahoga (484.2), Summit (449.7), and Portage (399.5).

Testing for coronavirus is a record levels in Ohio, but not so much so as to explain the increased known spread of the virus.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The state reported that 5,718,750 tests have been conducted to date. This includes 415,682 in the last week, more than during any seven-day period since the start of the pandemic.

In comparison, the state during the previous eight weeks reported 398,821, 51,979, 328,098, 293,230, 278,874, 273,083, 281,328, 249,350, 232,298, 196,815 and 181,579 tests. During the last week of May, about 60,000 tests were conducted.3

The health department estimates that 230,678 Ohioans have recovered from COVID-19. This is not based on individual case information, but on the number of cases at least three weeks old that have not resulted in death.

Based on the estimate for recoveries, a record 126,606 Ohioans currently have the coronavirus, up from 94,424, 63,196, 44,912 and 35,137 the last four weeks.

More than 125,000 Ohioans are estimated to currently have coronavirus.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The state is now reporting that the onset of symptoms was as early as January for 107 cases. The seven earliest cases date to Jan. 2 in Erie, Licking, Lucas, Mahoning (2), Summit and Warren counties.

The age range for cases is from under 1 to 109, with a median age of 42. The median age for deaths is 80.

The health department last updated the number of deaths for nursing home patients on Wednesday, with a total of 3,523, representing close to 60% of all known COVID-19 deaths in Ohio at that point. This share has dropped in recent months.

For all cases this year, more than three-fourths of the deaths have been to people age 70 and up. By age group the deaths have broken down this way: under age 20 (4), in their 20s (13), in their 30s (42), in their 40s (96), in their 50s (333), in their 60s (824), in their 70s (1,528) and at least 80 years old (3,179).

Those 80 and up accounted for 44% of deaths from all causes nationally in 2017.

Deaths from coronavirus were known to be highest in the spring in Ohio.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

But for hospitalizations, the cases are more spread out age-wise: under age 20 (549), in their 20s (1,081), in their 30s (1,451), in their 40s (2,128), in their 50s (3,851), in their 60s (5,232), in their 70s (5,547) and at least 80 years old (4,858).

The counties with the most deaths are Cuyahoga (736), Franklin (665) and Lucas (409), with 16 more deaths in Cuyahoga, 14 in Franklin and nine in Lucas.

For the deaths in which race was reported, 80% of the people are white, and 16% are Black. For total cases, 71% are white and 16% Black. Ohios population is 82% white and 13% Black, census estimates say.

Among all cases reported to date, 24,705 have been hospitalized, including 4,454 in intensive care up from 22,478 and 4,223 a week ago. This means up from that in the last week, the state learned of 1,859 new hospitalizations, 204 in ICUs.

The counties with the most cases are Franklin (49,267), Cuyahoga (35,214) and Hamilton (29,462). They are the states three largest counties. Cases per capita are shown in the chart at the bottom of this story.

The first three cases were confirmed on March 9. The total topped 100 on March 19, 1,000 on March 27, 10,000 on April 18, 100,000 on Aug. 9, 200,000 on Oct. 26 and 300,000 on Nov. 16.

The state on April 10 began new reporting standards to include more types of testing and cases identified from non-testing evidence. This has resulted in 19,250 probable cases being included in the total cases reported for Ohio to date.

Corrections in the data are made from day to day by the state. Sometimes the state has reduced the number of cases in individual counties from one day to the next as corrected residency information is received.

The chart below is based on the most recent case data from the Ohio Department of Health. Cleveland.com calculated the cases per 100,000 rates based on 2019 census population estimates.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral.

Some mobile users may to use this link instead to view the county-by-county case, hospitalization and death chart above.

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Mapping Ohios 363,304 coronavirus cases, updates, trends; half of total in just the last 5 weeks - cleveland.com

So far, it has pulled in only $3.6 billion in funding for research, manufacturing and subsidies for poor countries. AstraZeneca, one of three companies that have promised to deliver vaccines, just announced promising data showing that its candidate is 70 percent effective on average, and potentially up to 90 percent effective. It is not yet known whether the other two will be effective. And it may be difficult to secure the necessary billions of doses in an affordable, timely way because the United States and other wealthy countries have cut separate deals for their citizens.

In recent months, Mr. Gates, who emphasizes that he is one of many involved in the vaccine effort, has hosted online round tables with drug company officials. He has pursued financial commitments from world leaders: In one week alone, he and his wife and co-chair, Melinda Gates, spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi.

In Washington, he has consulted frequently with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nations chief infectious disease expert and a longtime collaborator on vaccine initiatives, and talked to Senator Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor who has been supportive of programs to eradicate that and other scourges. And to help staff the vaccine effort, his foundation has provided millions of dollars for McKinsey & Company consultants.

Some people will say, Why should it be him? said Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mndez, former director of knowledge management at the W.H.O. He has the star power. He has the resources. He cares. There are many players that do things, but not at the scale of Gates.

If the initiative, aided by Mr. Gatess fortune and focus, manages to help protect the worlds poor from a virus that has already killed more than 1.3 million people, it will affirm the strategies he has promoted in his philanthropic work, including incentives for drug companies.

If the endeavor falls short, however, it could intensify calls for a more radical approach.

Amid the pandemic, some public health officials and advocates argue that vaccine makers, many of which have benefited from unprecedented public funding, should be compelled to share their technology, data and know-how to maximize production. India and South Africa, for example, are pushing to suspend the global enforcement of intellectual property rights involving the virus.

Dr. Zweli Lawrence Mkhize, South Africas health minister, said that the usual practices did not apply in this crisis. There has to be a degree of broader consultation that looks at what is best for humanity, he said in an interview.

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Bill Gates, Covid-19 and the Quest to Vaccinate the World - The New York Times

In this Nov. 5 photo, Donald Trump Jr. gestures during a news conference at Georgia Republican Party headquarters in Atlanta. Trump Jr. has been infected with the coronavirus but says he is currently asymptomatic. John Bazemore/AP hide caption

In this Nov. 5 photo, Donald Trump Jr. gestures during a news conference at Georgia Republican Party headquarters in Atlanta. Trump Jr. has been infected with the coronavirus but says he is currently asymptomatic.

Donald Trump Jr. has become the latest member of the president's orbit to test positive for the coronavirus.

"Apparently I got the 'rona," the president's son told his Instagram followers late Friday.

"You wouldn't know it based on anything that I felt or have seen," he said. "I've been totally asymptomatic."

Trump Jr. suggested that because of his lack of symptoms, his test result might have been a false-positive. "But out of an abundance of precaution, I'll quarantine, I'll follow the regular protocols," the 42-year-old said. "You know, take it seriously. No reason to do anything otherwise."

The president commented on the diagnosis Saturday. "My son Donald is doing very well," Trump tweeted.

The emerging research around the coronavirus suggests that about 1 in 5 people infected with COVID-19 won't develop symptoms a change in scientists' understanding of the virus and its toll. Early in the pandemic, some researchers thought that as many as four out of five people were asymptomatic. It can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks for symptoms to develop.

Trump Jr. said he got tested because he was supposed to go on a father-son trip with his son. "Gotta cancel that trip," he said, adding that he hopes to test negative a couple of times in a row before resuming holiday activities. "Hopefully I can make it up with him a little bit later."

It's unclear how Trump Jr. contracted the virus, but he is just one of many members of the president's circle to have come down with COVID-19 in recent weeks. Trump himself was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October. First lady Melania Trump and the president's youngest son, Barron, also had the virus. Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, contracted the virus this summer.

Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, tested positive earlier this month, as did several others who attended an election night party held inside the White House. Trump and his supporters have been resistant to social distancing or wearing masks at public events.

A September gathering at the White House to celebrate the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is thought to have led to several cases. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called that gathering a "superspreader event."

Trump Jr. was in good spirits Friday. He asked his Instagram followers for "any good Netflix recommendations" because "I may have a couple days of solo time and there's only so many guns I can clean."

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Donald Trump Jr. 'Got The Rona,' Says He Feels Fine - NPR

The Agriculture Department shared Thanksgiving food safety tips on Monday. Our data shows that consumers can reduce their likelihood of foodborne illness by focusing on good hand hygiene and other food safety practices, said Dr. Mindy Brashears, USDA undersecretary for food safety. As home chefs nationwide prepare their Thanksgiving meals, proper handwashing and avoiding cross contamination in the kitchen are critical to keeping your loved ones safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people do not travel for the holiday to mitigate the spread of novel coronavirus. Here are some of the other recent headlines from over the weekend and today that you might have missed.

President-elect Joe Biden plans to reinvigorate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by bringing back regular briefings and giving career officials back their crucial roles after being sidelined during the Trump administration, Politico reported on Monday.

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are going to meet virtually with the United States Conference of Mayors on Monday, according to the daily transition schedule. Last week they met with a bipartisan group of governors to discuss the pandemic.

On Saturday, the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for the coronavirus antibody treatment (from the biotechnology company Regeneron) that President Trump received when he was being treated for coronavirus. In a clinical trial of patients with COVID-19, [antibodies] casirivimab and imdevimab, administered together, were shown to reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk for disease progression within 28 days after treatment when compared to placebo, said the FDA. The safety and effectiveness of this investigational therapy for use in the treatment of COVID-19 continues to be evaluated. This is the second antibody treatment for which the FDA gave emergency use authorization.

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientist for the administration's Operation Warp Speed, said on CNN on Sunday that they plan to ship millions of vaccine doses within 24 hours of FDA approval. Pfizer and BioNTech submitted an application to the FDA on Friday and the FDAs vaccine advisory committee is set to meet on December 10. I would expect maybe on day two after approval, on the 11th or on the 12th of December, hopefully, the first people will be immunized across the United States, across all states, in all the areas where the state departments of health will have told us where to deliver the vaccine, he said.

Thousands of vaccine shots could be wasted due to the short shelf life of Pfizer and BioNTechs vaccine, Politico reported on Sunday. Pharmacies set to administer many of the shots are worried about waste, and cash-strapped state and local health departments say they need more money and direction from the federal government, said the report. The federal health department says states have what they need and that the government will backstop any shortages that occur.

Housing and Urban Development Department Secretary Ben Carson wrote on Facebook on Friday that he was desperately ill with coronavirus and the president cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received. He believes he is now out of the woods, NPR reported.

The Health and Human Services Department is seeking feedback on how the pandemic impacted health care systems and providers. Many health care systems and clinicians have rapidly reengineered their policies and programs to improve access, safety, quality, outcomes including mortality and morbidity, cost, and value for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 related medical conditions, said a request for information posted in the Federal Register on Monday. HHS plans to identify and learn from effective innovative approaches and best practices implemented by non-HHS organizations in order to inform HHS priorities and programs.

The Government Accountability Office told Government Executive on Friday that staff are still reviewing the Trump administrations withholding of funds to the World Health Organization, for its handling of the coronavirus, as a potential violation of the Impoundment Control Act. On Friday morning, three House committees published a report claiming the Office of Management and Budget withheld the funds to the WHO using the same tactic it did to illegally withhold funding to Ukraine last year, which was part of what led to the House impeaching Trump. A senior Trump administration official disputed the findings.

Todays GovExec Daily podcast episode is about the General Services Administrations delay in starting the formal presidential transition, which could harm vaccine distribution plans, among other things.

Help us understand the situation better. Are you a federal employee, contractor or military member with information, concerns, etc. about how your agency is handling the coronavirus? Email us at newstips@govexec.com.

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Coronavirus Roundup: FDA Approves Second Antibody Treatment; HHS Seeks Feedback on Handling of the Pandemic - GovExec.com