October 10 coronavirus news

By Ben Westcott, Brett McKeehan, Tara John, Fernando Alfonso III and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 8:07 a.m. ET, October 11, 2020
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10:42 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

40 million people have been infected by Covid-19 in the US, former CDC director says

From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Coronavirus infections in the United States are much higher than the 7.6 million recorded so far by Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project, according to Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Almost certainly there have actually been more than 40 million people infected by this virus in the US,” Frieden said Saturday during CNN’s town hall.

“And that's why there have been well over 200,000 deaths,” Frieden said. “The death rate is a fact and it's a tragedy and we need not to get hardened to the reality that these are health care workers, these are mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, and it's going on every day.”

Frieden also predicted that with the current surge in cases across the country, as many as 20,000 more people could die from the virus by the end of the month.

Frieden said the most important thing anyone can do is to follow the science and the public health guidelines for mitigating the spread.

“That's why we all have to recognize that we're in this together. There's only one enemy, and that's the virus," he said.

10:24 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

Transparency is key when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine, infectious disease expert says

CNN
CNN

The White House administration needs to regain the trust of the American people when it comes to the development of a coronavirus vaccine through transparency, Dr. Julie Gerberding, an infectious disease expert who now is an executive vice president at Merck & Co Inc., told CNN today during its global coronavirus town hall.

"Americans can tolerate really tough truths but it has to come from reliable and credible sources," Gerberding said. "If we want people to have trust in the vaccines we have to tell them what we're doing why, we have to explain how we're managing the safety and the efficacy evaluation, we have to prepare them for whatever side effects we might realistically expect to occur and we have to keep them informed as we go forward."

Gerberding added: "Science is on our side."

Watch:

10:10 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

Former CDC director is hopeful that a Covid-19 vaccine will "make a difference"

A health worker wearing a protective mask works in a lab during Pfizer's clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday, September 9.
A health worker wearing a protective mask works in a lab during Pfizer's clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday, September 9. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Dr. David Satcher, a former director of the US Centers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who served as surgeon general under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said he hopes that a Covid-19 vaccine "can make a difference."

"I don't think that we are at the point of no return," Satcher said during CNN's global coronavirus town hall. "We're pursuing some important things as it relates to new vaccines. There's a lot of hope there, that we can come up with a vaccine that can make a difference."

Where development of a Covid-19 vaccine stands now: Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine candidate begins Phase 3 trials in the United States on Sept. 23. Trials for the single-dose vaccine will include up to 60,000 adult participants at nearly 215 sites in the US and internationally.

Phase 3 trials will begin immediately, with the first participants receiving doses on Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Stoffels said on a call with reporters. The vaccine candidate was developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Johnson & Johnson is now the fourth company to begin large-scale clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, behind Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca.

While the other vaccine candidates require two doses, Johnson & Johnson's candidate will be studied as a single-dose vaccine, which should expedite results, said Stoffels.

Watch:

10:04 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

The true number of coronavirus deaths in the US “is well over" 250,000, former CDC director says

From CNN Health’s Lauren Mascarenhas

The true number of coronavirus deaths in the United States is well over 250,000, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Saturday during CNN’s town hall.

Frieden, who served as CDC director under President Barack Obama, said a lot of the confusion about Covid-19 mortality rates is the result of the way fatalities are listed on death certificates.

“If you die from cancer, and you also have diabetes, you still died from cancer,” Frieden explained. “If you died from Covid, and you also had diabetes, you died from Covid.”

“Covid does affect older people much, much more than younger people, and many older people have lots of other health problems, so that ends up on the death certificate,” Frieden said.

“The best way to look at this is actually a statistic called ‘excess mortality’ -- deaths above baseline -- and that's actually quite a bit higher,” he said. “The true total of this, which includes Covid and Covid-associated (deaths), is well over a quarter of a million deaths in the US so far.”

Frieden said there are typically three types of deaths that result from coronavirus.

“People who died from Covid, and were diagnosed with it; people who died from Covid, but weren't diagnosed with it because there wasn't testing, it wasn't suspected, they died at home; and people who've died because of the disruption that Covid causes,” Frieden said.

10:02 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

US should expect 20,000 additional Covid deaths by the end of the month, former CDC director says

From CNN Health’s Leanna Faulk

An additional 20,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of the month are “inevitable,” according to a former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“From the infections that have already occurred, we will see something like 20,000 deaths by the end of the month -- additional deaths,” Dr. Tom Frieden said Saturday, during CNN’s Coronavirus: Facts and Fears town hall.

“Anytime we ignore, minimize or underestimate this virus, we do so at our peril and the peril of people whose lives depend on us,” Frieden said. “If you look around the world, the parts of the world -- and even the parts of the US -- that have been guided by public health and have supported public health have done better,” he said.

Fellow former CDC Director Dr. Richard Besser noted that projections aren’t set in stone.

“What we do matters. And if we follow the lead of public health, if we follow the lead of CDC and do the things that are working around the globe, in terms of wearing masks and social distancing and washing hands and investigating cases -- ensuring people have what they need to isolate and quarantine -- that we can have a very different trajectory and we can get this in control,” Besser said.

“The political messaging and the public messaging have to be one and the same,” he said.

As of Saturday night, more than 214,000 Americans have died of Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

9:59 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

Americans should “absolutely” be afraid of the coronavirus, former CDC director says

From CNN Health’s Andrea Kane

People in the United States should “absolutely” be afraid of the coronavirus, despite President Trump’s assertion that Americans shouldn’t let it dominate their lives, said Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, a former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“There are 210,000 people who've passed away, who hopefully needn't have in different circumstances,” Koplan said during CNN’s Coronavirus: Facts and Fears town hall Saturday.

Circumstances conducive to saving lives include listening to public health experts and embracing public health measures.

“But if your bosses -- if the people up the chain of command aren't supporting you, if the people up the chain of command are spreading false information, belittling important news and actions that need to be taken -- it doesn't work,” said Koplan, who is vice president of the Emory Global Health Institute.

Koplan said changing course is “doable.”

“We can do something about it. We can start right now, and should have. And in some parts of the country, the appropriate things are being done. But … when your leadership is working against you in this virus, the virus has an ally that makes it a pretty strong contender for further destruction.”

9:27 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

President's physician Dr. Sean Conley says Trump is no longer a coronavirus transmission risk

From CNN’s Jason Hoffman and Ben Tinker

President Donald Trump removes his face mask to speak from the Blue Room Balcony of the White House to a crowd of supporters, Saturday, October 10.
President Donald Trump removes his face mask to speak from the Blue Room Balcony of the White House to a crowd of supporters, Saturday, October 10. Alex Brandon/A

President Donald Trump has been cleared to return to an active schedule, according to a new memo from his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, released Saturday night.

The memo says Trump has met criteria from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end isolation but does not say whether the President has received a negative coronavirus test since first testing positive for the virus.

However, that is not a criteria for clearing isolation, according to the CDC.

“This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the President meeting CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning’s Covid PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others,” the memo from Conley reads in part. 

Conley writes that Trump is 10 days from the onset of symptoms, has been fever-free for “well over 24 hours” and after diagnostic tests, “there is no longer evidence of actively replicating virus.” 

Questions remain: Conley did not fully explain what “advanced diagnostic tests” the President received. For example, he did not disclose whether so-called viral culture was performed. That’s the process by which scientists try to infect living cells to see whether active virus is present.

President's schedule: Trump held his first public event Saturday since his diagnosis, delivering a speech to supporters at the White House. He is scheduled to hold at least three in-person rallies this week, beginning Monday in Florida. Conley says he will continue to monitor Trump “as he returns to an active schedule.”

Last negative test: It’s important to note we still don’t know when the President last tested negative before his positive test last week, which would offer insight into when he was contagious and how much so.

9:32 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

Covid-19 cases in the US expected to surge in November and December, medical expert says

Members of the Wisconsin National Guard test residents for the coronavirus COVID-19 at a temporary test facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 9. Wisconsin currently has one of the highest positivity rates for COVID-19 in the nation.
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard test residents for the coronavirus COVID-19 at a temporary test facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 9. Wisconsin currently has one of the highest positivity rates for COVID-19 in the nation.

The US could record nearly 400,000 coronavirus-related deaths by February 1, according to Dr. Chris Murray, a researcher behind an influential coronavirus model from the University of Washington.

Daily deaths will likely peak in the middle of January, Murray said during CNN's global coronavirus town hall tonight.

"We're expecting both cases and unfortunately deaths to really surge as we head into late November and December and probably peak sometime in January," Murray said.

Murray urged people to wear masks to mitigate the transmission of the virus.

Watch:

9:01 p.m. ET, October 10, 2020

Brazil coronavirus death toll surpasses 150,000

From CNN's Jonny Hallam and Sugam Pokharel 

Coronavirus victims buried in Taruman Park Cemetery in Amazonas, Brazil on October 3.
Coronavirus victims buried in Taruman Park Cemetery in Amazonas, Brazil on October 3. Junio Matos/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Brazil on Saturday reported 559 new deaths from Covid-19, raising the country's total fatalities to 150,198, according to the National Council of Health Departments.

After the United States, Brazil is now the second country in the world to reach 150,000 deaths, attributed by critics to the country's haphazard response to the outbreak, personified in President Jair Bolsonaro's leadership.

The actual death toll is believed to be much higher because of low Covid-19 testing capacity in some parts of the country.

The council also reported 26,749 new cases of the virus on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 5.08 million.

In terms of total cases, Brazil is ranked third worldwide, after the US and India, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.