September 10 coronavirus news

An elementary school teacher died of coronavirus complications a week into the start of the school year in South Carolina.

Demetria Bannister was diagnosed with the virus Friday and died Monday. The 28-year-old had taught at the Windsor Elementary School in Columbia for five years, CNN affiliate WIS reported. She started her third year of teaching third-grade students virtually on August 31.

In addition to teaching, Bannister was also passionate about music, and worked with the school choir in various projects. She also hosted a student club for aspiring singers.

"Known as Windsor's Songbird, Ms. Bannister used her musical talents to bring a great deal of joy to our school," said Denise Quickel, principal of Windsor Elementary.

At a school attendance event last year, she wrote a song about the importance of not missing classes to the tune of "Old Town Road," the popular song by rapper Lil Nas X.

"The song and video were a big hit with our school family," Quickel said. "Ms. Bannister loved her students and never missed an opportunity to advocate for students and public education."

Read more:

RELATED

A 28-year-old elementary school teacher dies of coronavirus in South Carolina

Another 884,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The number of claims filed was unchanged from the prior week.

That said, the headline number only counts claims for regular benefits that not everyone who lost their livelihood due to the pandemic has access to.

That's why claims for benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, that help workers like independent contractors, are so important. First-time claims under the PUA program totaled 838,916 last week, up from the prior week.

Meanwhile, 13.4 million American workers filed claims for unemployment insurance for at least two weeks in a row.

A majority of Americans — 62% — believe political pressure from the Trump administration will cause the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to rush approval of a coronavirus vaccine before Election Day on November 3, according to a new Health Tracking Poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)

The KFF poll, conducted between August 28 and September 3, found 85% of Democrats, 61% of independents and 35% of Republicans believe the FDA would cave to pressure from President Donald Trump and push through a Covid-19 vaccine before ensuring it’s safe and effective.

More women than men — 70% compared to 55% — said they worried the FDA would rush approval of a vaccine, the poll found.

If a Covid-19 vaccine was ready and available for free before the upcoming election, just over half of respondents, 54%, said they would not get one, while 42% said they would

However, 81% of those surveyed said they don’t believe a coronavirus vaccine would be available before November 3.

President Donald Trump and members of his administration have suggested in recent weeks that a vaccine could be available before November, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked states to prepare to distribute one.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 27.8 million people worldwide and killed more than 904,000. Here's what you need to know about Covid-19:

The extradition hearing for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was halted after it was revealed that a lawyer representing the US government may have been exposed to Covid-19, PA Media reported on Thursday. 

The revelation prompted Assange’s defense, joined by lawyers representing the US government, to call on judge Vanessa Baraitser to adjourn the hearing.

Judge Baraitser agreed to the request saying she would suspend the hearing until the lawyer in question – whose identity was not revealed – was tested for coronavirus. 

The judge also asked both parties for submissions on what to do, should the test come back positive.

A private biomedical company in India has paused Phase 3 clinical trials of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University, according to a statement provided by the company to CNN.

The Serum Institute of India (SII) said Thursday that it had "paused the trial in India until further instructions from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on what to do next."

The DCGI heads the government body in charge of approving new drugs and clinical trials in India.

SII is described on its company website as the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by the number of doses produced and sold globally.

The development comes after the drug giant AstraZeneca said Tuesday that it had paused global trials of its coronavirus vaccine because of unexplained illness in one of the volunteers.

The trials were taking place at more than a dozen sites in India with more than 1,000 participants, according to a source with knowledge of the trials.

SII received approval from the Drug Controller General of India on August 3 to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The US Senate will vote on Thursday to advance a Republican party proposal to address the health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic, four months after House Democrats passed their $3 trillion plan.

The narrower Senate bill is expected to fail to reach the requisite 60 votes but could help Republican senators in tough reelection races by giving them a rebuttal to Democratic challengers attacking their delayed response.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the bill after negotiations with Democrats stalled over a month ago. McConnell has acknowledged that the bill "does not contain every idea" that Republicans want but asserted on Wednesday that it is much better than "doing nothing."

Read more:

RELATED

After negotiations falter, Senate to vote on Republican bill addressing coronavirus pandemic

As Thomas Hontalas cleaned out the restaurant he shared with his brother, it was hard to fathom that his 83-year family legacy was coming to an end.

Louis' Café, which sat on a San Francisco cliff overlooking Ocean Beach, was started by his grandfather at the end of the Great Depression. Through World War II, devastating fires and threats of demolition, Louis' held his grandfather's name and stayed in the family through three generations. Until the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

Coronavirus shuttered much of the US at the outset of the pandemic, and the hit on restaurants was especially devastating. A recent study showed that nearly two-thirds of New York restaurants could be out of business as soon as January without government aid.

Already, several restaurants across the US that weathered the economic chaos of the Great Depression to become fixtures in their communities have not been able to withstand coronavirus.

Read more:

RELATED

These restaurants made it out of the Great Depression but couldn't weather coronavirus

As schools begin their fall semester, universities and colleges are struggling to contain coronavirus outbreaks with cases reported at campuses in all 50 states.

There have been more than 40,000 cases of Covid-19 among students, faculty and staff at colleges and universities across the country. The number represents cases that CNN has reported so far -- and is likely higher due to a lag from schools that update their data every few days.

With social life trickling back to life on campuses, coronavirus outbreaks have hit places students congregate such as fraternities and sororities, where some have continued to gather despite remote learning.

A cluster of Covid-19 cases was linked to a fraternity party at the University of New Hampshire last weekend. More than 100 people attended the August 29 party and few wore masks. Eleven people connected to the party have tested positive for the virus, university officials said.

Read more:

RELATED

Colleges in all 50 states report coronavirus cases as clusters linked to fraternities and sorority parties grow