Global total tops 55 millionThe global total overnight passed 55 million cases, and the world is adding about 1 million new cases every 2 days. 1,333,479 people have died from their infections, according to Johns Hopkins tracking.
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Russian health officials said today that mutations have been detected in SARS-CoV-2 samples from Siberia, but they didn't say if the changes have affected virus transmissibility or pathogenicity, Reuters reported.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-cases/russia-says-coronavirus-mutations-appearing-in-siberia-as-deaths-hit-record-daily-high-idUSKBN27X106---------------------------------------
Covid-19 Cases On the Rise In All 50 States, NBC News Data Showshttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1248006
Coronavirus cases have increased in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam over the past 14 days, the latest NBC News data showed Tuesday.
And in a dozen of those states — Vermont, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Pennsylvania and New York — infections have spiked in the last two weeks, meaning there has been a 100 percent or more increase in confirmed cases over 14 days.
The White House coronavirus task force bluntly stated in it's latest weekly report that there is "now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration."The task force report, obtained by NBC News, warned that current efforts to stop the spread "are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve" and that the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday has the potential to "amplify transmission considerably."
With so many new cases, hospitals across the country — and the doctors treating the deluge of new patients — were reaching the breaking point.
... So far the Trump Administration has not told Biden's coronavirus team “where the supplies are, how much of it the federal government has bought, how they might allocate it and what models they’re using," Dr. Nicole Lurie, who served at the Department of Health and Human Services under former President Barack Obama, told NBC News.
... In Cleveland, there were so many new infections reported over the weekend that city workers could not count them all in time for the Monday briefing.
“The City of Cleveland is experiencing an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, unlike anything yet reported during this pandemic,” the city said in a statement.
https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-numbers/coronavirus-numbers-cleveland-surging/95-4a75253c-e864-4899-a173-70c7020611db-----------------------------------------
Over 900 Mayo Clinic Staff Have Gotten COVID-19 In Past Two Weekshttps://www.postbulletin.com/newsmd/coronavirus/6766256-Over-900-Mayo-staff-have-gotten-COVID-19-in-past-two-weeksROCHESTER, Minn. — Over 900 Mayo Clinic staff have contracted COVID-19 in the past two weeks, according to a briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 17, by Dr. Amy Williams, dean of clinical practice.
Williams said that 93% of staff who have contracted the virus did so in the community, and that the majority of those who contracted the virus at work did so while eating in a break room with a mask off.
The 900 staff newly diagnosed with COVID-19 equals over one-third of the 2,981 Mayo employees diagnosed since the start of the outbreak. When you add in staff who are quarantined or taken offline in order to care for relatives, the clinic is currently experiencing a stable shortage of 1,500 staff systemwide, 1,000 in Rochester.
In other news, with 32 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the clinic's General Medicine ICU dedicated for the care of COVID-19, the clinic has filled all of its allotted ICU beds for the virus in Rochester, and is in the process of expanding that center by 12 to 13 beds. "We have 32 COVID patients needing tertiary care, and that's not good," Williams said. "It tells us we're in a surge."
The clinic is also managing "hundreds and hundreds" of COVID-19 patients in an outpatient setting, including many with the drug Remdesivir, after discharge, freeing up pressure on beds and staff.
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GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, 87, Tests Positive for Coronavirushttps://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/11/17/gop-sen-chuck-grassley-87-tests-positive-for-coronavirus.htmlSen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The lawmaker, who at 87 years old is considered at high risk for severe illness, tweeted Tuesday that he tested positive hours after he said he would isolate following exposure to the virus.
Grassley, who is president pro tempore of the Senate, presided over the chamber during votes Monday.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1328830806291341312Grassley's home state of Iowa has endured one of the country's worst coronavirus outbreaks as measured by per capita infections. The state most recently reported 2,071 cases, an increase of about 17% from a week before, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
https://covidtracking.com/data/state/iowaIowa's Gov. Kim Reynolds issued the state's first mask mandate after the Republican spent months dismissing face covering restrictions as “feel good” measures. At 51.73 percent, Iowa now has the third highest Covid-19 positivity testing rate in the country after Wyoming and South Dakota.
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