September 29 coronavirus news

Florida's Tampa International Airport today announced a new pilot program, which makes it the first airport in the country to offer two different types of Covid-19 testing, PCR tests and rapid antigen tests, for any arriving or departing passenger, John Tiliacos, executive vice president of operations and customer service for the airport said.

According to Tiliacos, testing will be available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. Tests will be administered by BayCare nurses and medical professionals, and passengers have the option of receiving the PCR test with results within 48 hours or the rapid antigen test that gives passengers results within 15 minutes, Tiliacos said.

“This is about taking a bold step to restarting air travel. This is about instilling even greater confidence in the flying public, and frankly it's about breathing life back into our industry that is very badly needed right now,” Tiliacos added.

New York City is reporting a spike of Covid-19 cases in nine neighborhoods in the city. The Department of Health released the zip codes where the 14-day average is higher than the citywide average.

The clusters across Brooklyn and Queens account for 25% of the overall city cases despite accounting for 7% of the city’s population according to Dr. Dave Chokshi, the Commissioner of the Department of Health.

Citywide, Health Department is reporting a 1.38% positivity rate over the last seven days.

Here are the neighborhoods identified by the Department of Health:

The city is also noting three more zip codes which are “showing increased growth of cases and test positivity between 2% and 3%.” 

The city said to combat these rising positivity rates it is reaching out to non-public schools about implementing new guidelines, canvassing streets and "using soundtrucks to reinforce COVID-19 guidance an precautions," the Health Department said in a statement.

The city also said it has sent more mobile testing units to these neighborhoods.

The Dutch government announced Tuesday that it is introducing stricter measures in an attempt to clamp down on the rising rate of coronavirus infections in the country. The daily rate of reported infections is now more than double the ‘first wave’ record.

The measures include:

Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands are rising at a significant rate. There were 43% more reported coronavirus infections over the seven-day period ending Tuesday compared to the previous week-long period, according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.

The R-number is 1.27, according to the RIVM, and a further 3,025 infections were reported on Tuesday. (The ‘first wave’ record for single-day reported infections was 1,335, set on April 10.) 

There are a number of exceptions to the rules, including for funerals, some businesses, and education.

The Finnish government will introduce a 1 a.m. curfew for bars and restaurants starting on Oct. 1.

The move, announced by the government in a statement Tuesday, is designed to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country. It will be debated at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, and it is expected to be approved. 

The new law will require catering establishments to close no later than 1 a.m. local time and to stop serving alcohol at midnight. It will be in place until Oct. 31. Bars and restaurants will have a transition period of a week to adapt to the new norms, which must be in full effect by Oct. 8. 

In addition to the existing curfew, throughout the month of October, the Finnish government will be monitoring the spread of Covid-19 in regions across the country. Regions where the infection rate is increasing could see a further clampdown, forcing catering establishments to close no later than 11 p.m. and stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m. 

South Dakota is seeing the highest seven-day coronavirus positivity rate in the US. When asked about the increase, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken told CNN’s John King that his state values personal freedom — so there haven’t been many lockdowns and restrictions.

The mayor attributed the positivity rate to events, as well as schools and universities resuming.

However, the health care system is “comfortable” in handling this surge, even though he says “they are operating at a pretty intense level in terms of the cases they are seeing.”

“That being said, of course, we want to see the hospitalization numbers decrease," he added.

TenHaken described a “light-touch government approach” to mandates and lockdowns. Instead, they focus has been on ramping up messaging.

“If we take a personal freedom approach that comes with responsibility, that comes with mask-wearing when you feel it's appropriate, that comes with social distancing," he said.

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There have been at least 7,159,222 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 205,345 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 today, Johns Hopkins has reported 11,177 new cases and 273 reported deaths. 

India's Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has tested positive for Covid-19, according to a tweet posted on his official Twitter account.

The tweet went on to say that Naidu is asymptomatic and in good health after undergoing a routine Covid-19 test on Tuesday morning. He has been advised to quarantine at home.

His wife, Usha Naidu, tested negative and is in self-isolation.

New York City could implement further restrictions as early as tomorrow, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference today.

Earlier in the news conference, de Blasio cautioned that if necessary, the city will prohibit gatherings, except small ones, and may close non-essential businesses. 

The mayor added that New York City middle schools and high schools are still on track for in-person learning on Thursday. Up to 500,000 will learn in person this week, the mayor said.

CNN has previously reported those who learn in person are not in school full-time. They are still hybrid. Other families have chosen to do fully remote learning.

“I have total faith in our educators that we will get there and be able to provide a great school year for our kids” de Blasio said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced an array of new measures aimed at stopping a recent spike in novel coronavirus infections in the country. 

At a press conference following a meeting with Germany’s state governors, Merkel announced that gatherings in public venues would be limited to no more than 50 people in areas with a large number of coronavirus infections.  

“We know that a more difficult time is coming, fall and winter,” Merkel said as she justified the news restrictions which also include fines of at least 50 Euros for patrons in bars and restaurants who provide false contact data used by authorities for tracing.  

Merkel also issued a strong warning saying that if the current trajectory of rising coronavirus infections continues unabated, Germany could see up to 19,200 new infections per day in in the winter months.

“This underscores the urgency to act,” Merkel added.

Frederik Pleitgen reports: