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Coronavirus Update: Coronavirus update: U.S. cases slip again, but deaths are rising in 39 states and hospitalizations break another record

The U.S. saw another slight dip in new cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19, but hospitalizations rose to another record and the death tolls are rising in most states, but Moderna Inc. provided a glimmer of hope by saying it was requesting emergency approval of its vaccine candidate on Monday. Read More...
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The U.S. saw another slight dip in new cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19, but hospitalizations rose to another record and the death tolls are rising in most states, but Moderna Inc. provided a glimmer of hope by saying it was requesting emergency approval of its vaccine candidate on Monday.

There were at least 136,313 new cases on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker, which is down from 151,247 on Saturday and from 205,460 on Friday. The daily average of the past week has been 162,007, up 8% from the average two weeks ago.

There were at least 818 new COVID-19-related deaths on Sunday, the Times data show, with deaths rising in 34 states and Puerto Rico. The states with the highest deaths per capita were New Mexico, Wyoming, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota.

The number of people currently hospitalized rose to a record 93,219 on Sunday, breaking Saturday’s record of 91,635, according to the COVID Tracking Project. In comparison, the hospitalization peaks of the previous case surges were 59,712 on July 23 and 59,773 on April 21.

Overall, the U.S. is first in the world by far in cases with 13.40 million and deaths with 266,986, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

While new COVID-19 case counts appear to have stabilized for now, there are worries cases will surge again following the big increase in traveling for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Data from the Transportation Security Administration showed that 1.18 million travelers went through TSA checkpoints on Sunday, the most since March 16. That’s the fourth day the number of travelers topped the 1 million mark since the weekend before Thanksgiving, even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged people not to travel to try to stem the spread of COVID-19.

That prompted Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases to say in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he was worried about yet another big outbreak:

“What we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December, that we might see a surge superimposed upon that surge that we’re already in. And when I give that message, I don’t want to frighten people, except to say, it is not too late at all for us to do something about this.”

Read more: U.S. may see ‘surge upon surge’ of coronavirus in the coming weeks.

And Dr. Deborah Birx, who is the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said Sunday that those who have traveled and gathered for Thanksgiving “need to be tested,” about five to 10 days later.

Also read: If you traveled or gathered for Thanksgiving, experts say to get tested soon — here’s how.

On the bright side, Moderna MRNA, +15.95% announced on Monday that a “primary” analysis of Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 demonstrated a 94.1% efficacy rate, which is in line with the findings two weeks ago of the first interim analysis which demonstrated 94.5% efficacy. The company said that data, and given that there was no new serious safety concerns identified, that it would request “today” for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Read more about Moderna requesting regulatory approval.

Also on the vaccine front, the U.K. government has told hospitals to get ready to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. PFE, +2.21% and its partner BioNTech SE BNTX, +7.50% as soon as next Monday, as it is expected to be approved by the country’s regulators within days.

In the U.S., the CDC advisory committee on immunization practices is meeting virtually on Tuesday, Dec. 1, regarding the distribution and allocation of COVID-19 vaccines. Registration isn’t required to watch the live-meeting webcast.

In other news

  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reversed course over the weekend by saying the city’s school systems will reopen to in-person learning, as the Associated Press reported. Some pre-kindergarten programs and elementary schools will reopen on Dec. 7, while other will take longer to reopen.
  • In a new book by Pope Francis, which will be released on Dec. 1, the head of the Roman Catholic Church criticizes those protesting against wearing face masks and lockdown measures aimed at attempting to stop the spread of COVID-19:

Some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions — as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom,” Pope Francis writes, as reported by MarketWatch’s Quentin Fottrell.

  • A hospital near Moscow reported Monday that it administered the first batch of the Russia-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, to civilians, the New York Times reported. The hospital said the first shipment made available for general use had already run out.

Latest tallies

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide climbed to 62.92 million on Monday, the Johns Hopkins University data shows, and the death toll is 1.46 million. At least 40.3 million people have recovered from COVID-19.

Brazil is second in the world, behind the U.S., with 172,833 fatalities and is third by cases at 6.31 million.

India is second in cases with 9.43 million, and third in deaths at 137,139.

India is first in recoveries at 8.85 million, followed by Brazil at 5.58 million and by the U.S. at 5.07 million.

Mexico has the fourth highest death toll at 105,655 and the 11th highest case tally at 1.11 million.

The U.K has 58,545 deaths, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world, and 1.63 million cases, or sixth highest in the world.

China, where the virus was first discovered late last year, has had 92,890 confirmed cases and 4,743 deaths, according to its official numbers.

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