September 15 coronavirus news

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Tuesday he is extending the city's outdoor dining program until December. It was originally set to expire Oct. 31.

This means restaurants can continue to use private outdoor spaces as well as public spaces on streets and sidewalks, Walsh said during a briefing. 

Restaurants will be able to use electric heaters without a permit as long as the cords don't cross the sidewalk," the mayor said.

The latest numbers: Boston reported at least 51 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total to approximately 16,245 cases in the city, Walsh said. There were two deaths over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths to approximately 757. 

The positive Covid-19 test rate in Boston is 1.6%, down from 1.7% last week but Walsh encouraged residents to continue adhering to mask and social distancing guidance to avoid a spike in numbers. Walsh said 2,700 Boston residents were tested every day on average last week, including college students.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said “it’s just a matter of time” before the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial resumes in the United States. 

The trial went on pause worldwide last week while doctors looked into the illness of a Phase 3 clinical trial participant who received the vaccine and became ill. 

“It would be unusual to completely stop a trial on the basis of one single adverse event,” Fauci told CNN on Tuesday afternoon. 

The study participant who became ill is enrolled in a trial in the UK being run by the University of Oxford, which is working with AstraZeneca on the vaccine, since they developed.

The UK arm of the trial has already resumed. In its information for trial participants, the university mentions that study volunteers “developed unexplained neurological symptoms including changed sensation or limb weakness” and that “after independent review, these illnesses were either considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine or there was insufficient evidence to say for certain that the illnesses were or were not related to the vaccine.” 

Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said doctors leading the trial sites in the US will be told to look out for similar symptoms. 

“You have to be extra special careful and watch out to see if it happens again, and then if it does, it becomes an entirely different situation,” he said.

After her husband died of Covid-19, Sondra Wolfe wants people to see the human lives behind the numbers.

She described her husband, Mike, as a great father, grandfather and husband. She said losing him is leaving a big hole in their family and community.

"He took care of all of us. He was just an all around great guy," Wolfe said.

She said it is frustrating that President Trump and other federal leaders did not act on the severity of the pandemic earlier.

"Other countries have this under control and are protecting their citizens, and that they've made this political and about an election and about ratings, just makes me angry. This is about people and lives," she said.

"It is not going away," she added. "It is not political. It is a health crisis and we need to do what we can to take care of each other."

She urged people to wear masks and have empathy, saying that simple action could save lives.

"If you would pass this on to somebody else, how would it make you feel. If your selfishness was responsible for somebody's death," Wolfe said.

Watch:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced 87 Covid-19 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the highest number of deaths reported in one day since early May. 

He clarified that while the deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, it doesn't mean the deaths occurred in that time frame. About 83% of the deaths occurred within the last month, while the rest happened before then, he said. 

DeWine said there have also been at least 1,001 new Covid-19 cases – bringing the total to approximately 139,485 cases with a 3.6% positivity rate. There have been at least 4,506 total deaths reported in the state.

The governor said that in a recent conversation with university presidents in Ohio about the return to campus, many said that the major issue they are facing is large student gatherings without masks. DeWine encouraged students to wear their masks in any social situation and to remain outdoors whenever possible.

On the economy: DeWine also announced the launch of a new work program meant to help those lost their jobs during the pandemic find new positions. The program, which will first launch in Cleveland, will pair each person with a coach that will identify their strengths and provide any additional job training that is needed, he said.

The state is currently working with 30 employers on the job program and will provide job fairs to connect applicants and companies, he said.

Note: These numbers were released by the state of Ohio, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

US stocks were mostly in the green at the end of Tuesday. While the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite added another day of gains, the Dow finished flat.

Here's where things finished:

The market had started the session higher following positive news about China’s economic recovery, and some better-than-expected economic data.

Remember: As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might still change slightly.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved Miami-Dade County into phase two of the reopening plan yesterday – and today Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber fired back in a scathing letter.

Gelber blamed the state for failing to implement an “effective and sufficiently staffed contact tracing program” in Miami-Dade County and for sending mixed messages regarding mask use. 

“As we reopen, our positivity rates are actually worse than they were the last time we reopened,” the letter said. “So the only way this doesn’t become déjà vu all over again, is if we do something different.” 

Gelber urged DeSantis to improve contact tracing, to consider using a digital contact-tracing app and to mandate masks statewide.

CNN has reached out to the governor’s press office for comment.

New York state on Tuesday reported a Covid-19 infection rate of 1%, according to a news release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The 1% rate was derived from the 73,678 Covid-19 tests reported to state authorities on Monday — 766 of which were positive, the release said. 

The latest Covid-19 positivity rate follows 38-straight days of a rate below 1% in the state. 

New York also reported 11 new Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday. So far, New York has recorded 445,714 people who have tested positive for Covid-19 and 25,405 people who have died.

One thing to note: These numbers were released by New York state, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Countries that are going into the winter months will have to choose between having bars and nightclubs open, or schools in session, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program, said Tuesday.

“We have to sustain pressure on this virus, we have to reduce transmission at community level in order to lower the risk to those older and vulnerable people and to maintain an environment in which our children can continue to attend school,” Ryan said during a briefing in Geneva. 

Since there isn’t yet a vaccine, in order to keep children in school and protect older and vulnerable people, there is no alternative to sustained surveillance, test and trace, quick results, cluster investigation, isolation of cases and quarantining of contacts, Ryan said.

“I’m sorry to be boring, and I’m sorry to keep saying this over and over and over again, but there are no alternatives,” he said. “This is what we must do.” 

“If we are to serve our children and those older and vulnerable people in our population who might die this winter in these countries, then we must sustain these other activities and these cannot be sustained without government commitment to do this and society’s commitment to participate and be part of this,” he said. 

Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are not “disloyal to the administration. They are loyal to science,” former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Tuesday.

“I know the doctors and scientists at CDC well,” Frieden said at a briefing hosted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “They are devoted to stopping disease wherever and whenever it occurs.” 

Frieden, who is now President and CEO of the global health initiative Resolve to Save Lives, said the CDC is not loyal to any political party.

“The pledge of CDC to the American people is to base all decisions on the highest quality data, openly and objectively derived, to put the benefits to society above the benefits to the institution,” he said. 

He said that pledge is part of the CDC’s DNA.