Tag Archives: COVID-19

Pioneering Justice Ginsburg makes history again with U.S. Capitol honor

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of gender equality, will make history again on Friday as the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will be among those who will visit to pay their respects on Friday, when the late justice’s casket will be placed in National Statuary Hall, encircled by sculptures of prominent Americans.

Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the high court since 1993, died last Friday at age 87. Known simply as RBG, she was an icon to millions of Americans – including young girls – after a long legal career built on fighting for women’s rights.

Her ceremony will feature remarks by a woman rabbi, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

“We have a lot of cause for … observance of a historic time, for a historic woman who did more for the equality of women than anybody in our history,” Pelosi told her weekly news conference on Thursday.

“Her passing is like a death in so many families in our country because so many people pinned their hopes, heeded her guidance, admired her stamina, her love of the arts, bringing civility to her relationships in the court and in the country,” Pelosi said.

Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks was also mourned at the Capitol in 2005, but as a private citizen, she lay “in honor,” not “in state.” A statue of Parks, placed in 2013, will overlook Ginsburg’s casket during the ceremony.

Biden, who presided over Ginsburg’s confirmation hearings as a senator in 1993, said the judge was a “voice for freedom and opportunity.” He has called for Republicans to honor her wishes and not consider a nominee until after the Nov. 3 presidential election. Also visiting the Capitol on Friday will be Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, and Biden’s wife, Jill.

Statuary Hall was prepared for the ceremony by Thursday afternoon. Thick black ribbons were affixed to the colossal marble columns around the room’s perimeter, surrounding the area where a catafalque was to hold Ginsburg’s flag-draped coffin.

Crowds of mourners have flocked to the U.S. Supreme Court, across the street from the Capitol, since Ginsburg’s death was announced, standing vigil and leaving flowers and signs.

Just down a hallway from Statuary Hall, Trump’s fellow Republicans – who narrowly control the bitterly divided Senate – have pledged to confirm his as-yet-unidentified nominee to replace Ginsburg within the next few weeks, angering Democrats who feel he should wait until after the election.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ginsburg’s admirers have had to pay their respects outdoors at her coffin for two days of public viewing under the Supreme Court’s soaring portico.

The Capitol ceremony on Friday morning will be limited to invited guests because of concerns about the virus.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Mary Milliken and David Gregorio)

Cuomo says New York to review any COVID-19 vaccine authorized by federal government

By Maria Caspani

(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said the state will carry out its own review of coronavirus vaccines authorized or approved by the federal government due to concerns of politicization of the approval process.

Cuomo, a Democrat who has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump and his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, told reporters at a briefing he was going to form a review committee to advise the state on the safety of a vaccine.

“Frankly, I’m not going to trust the federal government’s opinion,” Cuomo said. “New York State will have its own review when the federal government is finished with their review and says it’s safe.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to comment on governor’s remarks. On Wednesday, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told a U.S. Senate committee that the agency would only approve a vaccine that was safe and effective.

Recent statements by Trump and his secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on authorization of COVID-19 vaccines currently in late stages of testing have caused concern among health experts that FDA decisions can remain independent of politics.

“The way the federal government has handled the vaccine, there are now serious questions about whether or not the vaccine has become politicized,” Cuomo said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Department of Defense and HHS officials will allocate authorized vaccines to the states, which are then expected to handle most distribution, the agencies have said.

Cuomo said a committee of state experts will devise a distribution and implementation plan for approved vaccines that would also determine who gets vaccinated first.

While all U.S. states are expected to come up with vaccine distribution plans, conducting an independent safety review would be a most unusual move.

Trump has repeatedly said a vaccine for COVID-19 could be ready for distribution ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

On Wednesday, Trump said he may not approve any new, more stringent FDA standards for an emergency authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine, saying such a proposal would appear political.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the FDA would issue the guidance to boost transparency and public trust over fears it was being pressured to rush out a vaccine.

“We’re looking at that and that has to be approved by the White House. We may or may not approve it,” Trump told a White House news conference, when asked about the report.

(Reporting by Maria Caspani, Additional reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

U.S. CDC reports 201,411 coronavirus deaths

(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported 6,916,292 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 41,310 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,136 to 201,411.

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 23 compared with its previous report a day earlier.

The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.

(Reporting By Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

U.S. new home sales vault to near 14-year high in August

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased to their highest level in nearly 14 years in August, suggesting the housing market continued to gain momentum even as the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 recession appears to be slowing.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday new home sales rose 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.011 million units last month, the highest level since September 2006. New home sales are counted at the signing of a contract, making them a leading housing market indicator.

July’s sales pace was revised upward to 965,000 units from the previously reported 901,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for about 14% of housing market sales, slipping 1% to a rate of 895,000-units.

The report followed on the heels of data this week showing sales of previously owned homes near a 14-year high in August.

The housing market is being powered by record-low mortgage rates and a pandemic-fueled migration to suburbs and low-density areas in search of more spacious accommodation as many people work from home. Unemployment has disproportionately affected low-wage workers in the services sector, who are typically young and renters.

In August, new home sales rose 5.0% in the Northeast. They jumped 13.4% in the South, which accounts for the bulk of transactions. But sales fell 1.7% in the West and decreased 21.4% in the Midwest. The median new house price fell 4.3% to $312,800 in August from a year ago. New home sales last month were concentrated in the $200,000 to $499,000 price range.

There were 282,000 new homes on the market last month, down from 291,000 in July. At August’s sales pace it would take 3.3 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, down from 3.6 months in July. About 71% of the homes sold last month were either under construction or yet to be built.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

UK’s Integumen unveils prototype COVID-19 breath test

LONDON (Reuters) – Integumen, a British company that developed a system to detect the COVID-19 virus in waste water, said the same technology could be deployed in a personalized breath test that could become an effective tool in fighting the pandemic.

AIM-listed Integumen has formed a consortium with water contamination monitoring company Modern Water and Avacta and Aptamer Group, which will supply COVID-19 binding agents for the tests, to adapt its technology to the new uses.

U.S. group Dell Technologies has also joined to provide data services, Integumen said at its annual meeting on Thursday.

The tests detect the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in real time by analyzing a sample of breath or waste water.

The company has designed, built and tested a prototype device, which can analyze a sample of breath to detect a high load of the virus.

Integumen said the device could be used for instant, real-time testing, with negative results used for a 24-hour digital health pass that could be combined with QR codes to allow entry into work locations, social locations and public transport.

Chief Executive Gerry Brandon said the devices were ready for live virus testing.

“The company believes that to enable the economy to re-open fully, the public are going to have to take the responsibility of testing against this virus themselves,” he said.

“By providing an instant real-time breath test with a digital reader platform, and combined with appropriately priced products, we can drive a consumer-led duty of care for personal COVID-19 responsibility.”

Both the breathe and the waste water devices would be tested with real COVID-19 virus samples at the University of Aberdeen, it said.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Nick Macfie)

New York City moves to curb COVID-19 spread in new clusters

By Maria Caspani

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City officials said on Wednesday they were working to address a rise in COVID-19 cases in parts of Brooklyn and Queens that was raising “a lot of concern.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the new outbreaks, including a large cluster in three Brooklyn neighborhoods, accounted for about 20% of confirmed positive cases citywide.

“We’re seeing a serious uptick in multiple neighborhoods simultaneously and it’s something we have to address with a very aggressive public health effort right away,” de Blasio told reporters, adding that the Sheriff’s Office and the New York Police Department would help tackle the spread.

Dr. Mitch Katz, the CEO of New York City’s public healthcare system, said the city would distribute masks, gloves and hand sanitizer while officials will ask religious leaders to reinforce key public health messages.

Robocalls in English and Yiddish and sound trucks will urge residents to physically distance and wear a face covering, Katz said. Brooklyn is home to many Orthodox Jews, a community that has been hard-hit by the coronavirus and where compliance with restrictions has been at times problematic.

After becoming the global epicenter of the pandemic in the spring, the city’s positive test results have fallen to below 1%.

However, in the borough of Queens, positive cases have risen to 2.24% in Kew Gardens and 3.69% in Edgemere-Far Rockaway. In Brooklyn, officials are concerned about Williamsburg, with a 2% positive rate, and a southern part of the borough that includes Midwood, Borough Park and Bensonhurst that officials are calling the Ocean Parkway Cluster, where the positive rate is 4.71%, the health department said.

Overall, there has been a slight uptick in coronavirus cases in New York City over the last two months. On Sept. 14, the city reported 380 new cases, the highest since July 20.

However, the average percent of tests coming back positive has remained virtually unchanged since August, according to city data.

(Reporting by Maria Caspani; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

U.S. CDC reports 200,275 coronavirus deaths

(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 6,874,982 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 49,285 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 813 to 200,275.

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 22 compared with its previous report a day earlier.

The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.

(Reporting By Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

As U.S. surpasses 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, Wisconsin sounds alarm over surges in cases

By Maria Caspani and Steve Holland

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Tuesday declared a new public health emergency and extended a face mask mandate into November to fight a coronavirus flareup in his state, as the number of people who have died across the United States since the pandemic began passed 200,000.

In-person social gatherings have led to cases in Wisconsin skyrocketing among people aged 18 to 24, Evers said, as he pleaded with students who returned to colleges for the fall semester to stay out of bars and wear masks.

“We are seeing an alarming increase in cases across our state, especially on campus,” the governor said in a statement announcing his decision.

The mask mandate, part of a second public health emergency the Democratic governor declared in late July, was due to expire on Monday. A conservative group is contesting the order in court, arguing Evers violated state law by using emergency powers more than once.

Wisconsin has experienced one of the highest percentage increases of coronavirus cases nationwide over the past two weeks, and has the second-highest rate of positive coronavirus tests in the nation at 17%, according to a Reuters tally.

The spike landed Wisconsin back on Chicago’s quarantine travel list, which requires people coming from the state to the city’s north to self-quarantine for 14 days.

“Unfortunately Wisconsin is currently in very poor control when it comes to COVID,” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said during an afternoon news conference. She said people traveling to and from Wisconsin for work are exempt from the order.

The United States continues to have world’s highest number of COVID-19 deaths. On a weekly average, it is losing about 800 lives each day to the virus, according to a Reuters tally, down from a peak of 2,806 daily deaths recorded on April 15.

In New York City, a global epicenter of the pandemic in the spring, health officials on Tuesday identified a new cluster of COVID-19 cases in the borough of Brooklyn, and noted a marked uptick in infections there and in some other neighborhoods.

‘SOBERING’ AND ‘STUNNING’

During the early months of the pandemic, many experts expected the maximum number of deaths in the United States from the pandemic to be around 200,000.

“The idea of 200,000 deaths is really very sobering and in some respects stunning,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, told CNN.

Thousands of tiny U.S. flags covered part of the National Mall in the nation’s capital on Tuesday to commemorate the lives lost.

The University of Washington’s health institute is forecasting coronavirus fatalities will reach 378,000 by the end of the year, with the daily death toll potentially skyrocketing to 3,000 per day in December.

Six out of every 10,000 residents in the United States has died from COVID-19, one of the highest rates among developed nations.

More than 70% of those who died from the virus in the United States were over the age of 65, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

(Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York, Steve Holland, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu in Washington and Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru, Editing by Bill Berkrot and Sonya Hepinstall)

U.S. CDC reports 199,462 coronavirus deaths

(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday reported 6,825,697 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 39,345 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 438 to 199,462.

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on Sept. 21 compared with its previous report a day earlier.

The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.

(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

Walmart to test drone delivery of COVID-19 test kits

(Reuters) – Walmart Inc. said on Tuesday it would run a pilot project to deliver self-collection test kits for coronavirus through automated drones at customers’ doorsteps.

The U.S. retailer has partnered with Quest Diagnostics and drone services provider DroneUp, to test-deliver collection kits in north Las Vegas from Tuesday and plans to conduct a trial run in Cheektowaga, New York in early October.

Earlier this month, Walmart piloted drone delivery of grocery and household products in Fayetteville, North Carolina, as it accelerated the expansion of its pickup and delivery services with virus-wary consumers preferring home delivery.

The drones launched on Tuesday will drop the COVID-19 self-collection kits on driveways, front sidewalks or backyards of homes within a one-mile radius of designated Walmart stores.

Customers can self-administer the nasal swab and send back samples to Quest Diagnostics for testing.

Walmart has also teamed up with Zipline to make on-demand deliveries of select health and wellness products near its headquarters in northwest Arkansas.

(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)