The seven-day average of cases and hospital admissions in the U.S. are both down about 15 per cent from a week earlier, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Friday.
In its most recent seven-day period, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the U.S. had a daily average of roughly:
106,400 COVID-19 cases.
8,300 hospital admissions.
More than 1,476 deaths.
Walensky again urged people to get vaccinated, saying the shots protect not just the individual but the broader community.
“While we have made tremendous progress in our campaign to vaccinate as many Americans as possible, we still have work to do to make sure that vaccination coverage is high and even across the country,” she said.
The U.S. is on track to double the number of COVID-19 rapid-scale tests on the market in the months ahead, said White House coronavirus response co-ordinator Jeff Zients.
Health officials welcomed news that a pill developed by U.S. drugmaker Merck could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19, but would not provide a timeline for when it could be approved by regulators.
“The news of the efficacy of this particular antiviral is obviously very good news,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “The company when they briefed us last night, had mentioned that they will be submitting their data to the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] imminently.”
-From Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 12:45 p.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Frustration grows over Alberta’s 4th-wave response:
Frustration grows over Alberta’s 4th-wave response
16 hours ago
Albertans are frustrated over the Kenney government’s response to the fourth wave of the pandemic as hospitals struggle to keep up with patients sick with COVID-19. On Thursday, Premier Jason Kenney announced all public servants would be required to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30, but stopped short of introducing further restrictions. 2:14
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says the province is finalizing an agreement to receive up to 10 medical staff from the Canadian Armed Forces, along with more from the Red Cross and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Doctors have called for a swift lockdown to stem the tide of COVID-19 patients, but Kenney has said the government is waiting to see if recently implemented health restrictions work.
The province, which on Thursday reported 1,706 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 additional deaths, is facing massive strain on its health-care system — particularly in overburdened intensive care units.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 7:45 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
Men wearing protective masks make their way in heavy rain in Tokyo on Friday. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
As of early Friday morning, more than 233.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus-tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.7 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, typhoon winds and rain dampened what might have been a more celebratory mood in Tokyo on Friday, as restaurants were allowed to sell alcohol and stay open later following the lifting of the latest COVID-19 state of emergency.
Japan is cautiously easing restrictions that have prevailed across much of the nation for almost six months. New COVID cases in Tokyo totalled 200 on Friday, a sharp drop from more than 5,000 a day in August amid a fifth wave driven by the infectious delta variant that brought the medical system to the brink.
Meanwhile, Pakistan banned unvaccinated adults from flights Friday as it tries to push vaccinations and avoid further lockdowns to contain the coronavirus. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan announced the ban on Twitter, saying “only fully vaccinated passengers of age 18 years and above will be allowed to undertake domestic air travel within Pakistan.”
In Africa, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has eased restrictions to the lowest alert level, as the country looks to open up its economy ahead of the summer holiday season.
Egypt on Thursday received 1.6 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the United States as part of the COVAX initiative, the first batch of a total of five million doses.
In the Americas, beaches and recreation centres have reopened in Cuba’s capital, after authorities announced it is time to resume outdoor activities, including strolling on the Malecon coastal promenade that has long been a gathering place in Havana.
Cuban authorities announced on Wednesday the reopening of beaches and swimming pools, as well as the Malecon area in Havana. (Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images)
Officials say Thursday’s reopening was possible because 90 per cent of the city’s residents are vaccinated against the coronavirus and the number of new cases has been declining.
In Europe, a fire at a hospital in the Romanian port city of Constanta killed at least seven COVID-19 patients, authorities said Friday.
All the victims were in the intensive care unit of Constanta’s Hospital for Infectious Diseases, said Constantin Amarandei, head of the city’s emergency inspectorate.
Interior Minister Lucian Bode said Friday the early official figure of nine dead was “wrongly” reported. “We are talking about seven people. Five in hospital and two after being transferred to other hospitals,” he said.
The health ministry said in a statement that 113 patients were in the medical unit of the hospital and all the survivors have now been evacuated. The fire was extinguished by mid-morning but its cause is not yet known.
President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement Friday that the Romanian state “has failed in its fundamental mission to protect its citizens.”
In the Middle East, Israel’s health ministry has identified fewer than 10 cases of heart inflammation following a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine among millions administered, according to recently released data.
-From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 8:20 a.m. ET
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Schools in Mexico will have six months to implement a government-sponsored ban on junk food or else face heavy fines, officials said Monday.
The rules, published on Sept. 30, target products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican schoolkids: sugary fruit drinks sold in triangular cardboard cartons, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chile. School administrators who violate the order will face fines equivalent to between $545 and $5,450, which could double for a second offense, amounting to nearly a year’s wages for some of them.
Mexico’s children have the highest consumption of junk food in Latin America and many get 40% of their total caloric intake from it, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund which labeled child obesity there an emergency.
The new ban targets products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican schoolkids: sugary fruit drinks sold in triangular cardboard cartons, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chile.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday schools would have to offer water fountains and alternative snacks, like bean tacos.
“It is much better to eat a bean taco than a bag of potato chips,” Sheinbaum said. “It is much better to drink hibiscus flower water than soda.”
However, the vast majority of Mexico’s 255,000 schools nationwide do not have free drinking water available to students. According to a report in 2020, the effort to install drinking fountains succeeded in only about 10,900 of the country’s schools, or about 4% of them. Many Schools are located in areas so poor or remote that they struggle to maintain acceptable bathrooms, internet connection or electricity.
Also the most common recipes for beans, refried beans, usually contain a significant dose of lard, which would violate rules against saturated fats.
Mexico instituted front-of-package warning labels for foods between 2010 and 2020, to advise consumers about high levels of salt, added sugar, excess calories and saturated fats. Some snack foods carry all four of the black, octagonal warning labels.
But under the new rules, schools will have to phase out any product containing even a single warning label from school snack stands. It wasn’t immediately clear how the government would enforce the ban on the sidewalks outside schools, where vendors usually set up tables of goods to sell to kids at recess.
Mexican authorities say the country has the worst childhood obesity problem in the world, with about one-third of children overweight or obese.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
