September 15 coronavirus news

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.

There have been at least 6,585,763 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 195,275 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

So far on Tuesday, Johns Hopkins has reported 32,111 new cases and 782 reported deaths.

New York state has removed six states from its Covid-19 travel advisory list, according to a statement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office on Tuesday.

Travelers from California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio no longer have to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival to New York, Cuomo’s office said. 

The Northern Mariana Islands have also been removed from the list, while Puerto Rico has been added, the statement said.

Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that the home of the Texas Rangers, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, will host the 116th World Series this October. 

It will be the first neutral site World Series since the 1940s. 

MLB’s 2020 postseason plan includes hosting games at four neutral site stadiums in California and Texas starting with the Division Series. 

The league made the historical change “due to health, safety and competitive considerations.”

Nursing homes in New York can resume limited visitations for facilities that have not have a Covid-19 case for at least 14 days as of Thursday, the New York State Health Department said.

This is an update to previous guidelines that asked for a 28-day window before eligibility. 

According to the New York State Department of Health, this guidance would allow eligible visitation in approximately 500 of the states 613 nursing homes. 

The guidelines also require visitors to present a negative test result within seven days. 

Officials said the number of visitors to a nursing home must not exceed 10% of the resident census at any time, adding that only two visitors will be allowed per resident at any one time.

The University of Arizona has issued a recommendation, in accordance with the local county health department, strongly urging students to shelter in place until Sept. 30, the university announced, following a large number of positive Covid-19 cases.

Exceptions include obtaining food, attending work, seeking medical treatment and going outside where social distancing is possible. 

The school is also limiting in person instruction to “essential courses” only until Sept. 27. 

The University of Arizona recorded 261 positive Covid-19 tests on Monday, according to the school’s coronavirus dashboard, and has seen roughly 1,400 cases total since July 31.

“Proving that a vaccine works is easier than proving that it’s safe,” former US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Tuesday.

During an event hosted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Frieden said he has two safety concerns regarding a potential Covid-19 vaccine.

“First are the Kawasaki-like syndrome and illnesses that we've seen in children, and possibly similar illnesses in adults,” Frieden said. “That is an immune reaction, and therefore there's a theoretical chance that some vaccines could create that kind of reaction.”

Frieden, who is currently president and CEO of the global health initiative Resolve to Save Lives, emphasized that he is not predicting this will happen, but suggesting that we do due diligence in watching out for it.

“The second concern is sometimes called antibody-dependent enhancement,” Frieden said. “This has been seen in some old vaccines, half a century ago, but it also was seen in an animal model of one SARS vaccine.”

“The risk there would be some people – after vaccination, if they then became infected with Covid – could get sicker then they would have otherwise,” he explained.

Frieden said that we likely will not know everything we need to about vaccines until they are given to thousands, or maybe even millions of people.

“But we need to track safety at every step of the way and be completely open with the public about it,” he said.