October 13 coronavirus news

The Philadelphia Eagles announced they will welcome fans to Lincoln Financial Field for the first time this season for their game vs. the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Occupancy will be limited to 7,500 people, which includes players, coaches, team and stadium personnel, media and fans. The total seating capacity at Lincoln Financial Field is over 65,000.

In making the announcement Tuesday, Eagles president Don Smolenski said, “We have been working very closely with state and local officials, public health experts and the National Football League on a number of scenarios to safely bring Eagles fans back to Lincoln Financial Field. After many thoughtful and active discussions, we are thrilled to announce that the fan experience will return to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday.”

Fans attending games at Lincoln Financial Field will have to wear masks at all times, other than when actively eating or drinking, which will be allowed in seats only. Fans will also be required to maintain six feet of distance from other fans and stadium staff at all times. The team has established personalized seating pods for proper social distancing and limited fan-to-fan contact.

Social gatherings or tailgating at the sports complex in which Lincoln Financial Field is located are not permitted for the entirety of the 2020 season.

Increasing coronavirus test positivity in various regions of the country might mean that a resurgence of cases is soon to come, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said Tuesday.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he’s observed a trend in various regions of the country – particularly the Midwest, the upper Northwest and the states above the Sunbelt.

“We’re seeing an uptick in what's called test positivity – namely, the percentage of tests that you do in a community surveillance that turn out to be positive,” Fauci said at an event hosted by the College of American Pathologists. “You'd like to see them less than 3%, optimally 1% or less.” 

Fauci said that test positivity is a good indicator of what’s to come.

At least 26 schools in Michigan are reporting outbreaks of Covid-19 totaling 116 new cases, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday.

This is in addition to the 5,151 Covid-19 cases already reported from outbreaks in 81 schools. Michigan includes K-12 and colleges among its count.

The department defines an outbreak as “two or more Covid-19 cases who may have shared exposure on school grounds and are form different households.”

Michigan schools have a choice of specifying if the cases are from students, staff or both so these numbers are not all a direct comparison.

Of the 26 schools to report new outbreaks, 7 are from preschool through elementary schools, 7 are from middle schools, 6 are from high schools and 6 are from college. Kalamazoo reported the highest number of new cases, with a total of 21, which includes both students and staff.

Of the 81 ongoing school outbreaks, 17 are from pre-school through elementary schools, 7 are from middle schools, 26 are from high schools, 30 are from colleges, and one is from a graduate school. Michigan State University has the most cumulative cases at 1,531, which includes both students and staff.

The data is updated on Mondays by 3 p.m.

Note: These numbers were released by Michigan's HHS Dept. and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

The National Football League and NFL Players Association confirmed that eight players and seven staffers tested positive for coronavirus between Oct. 4 and Oct. 10.

This brings the NFL’s total number of positive cases to 39 players and 60 other personnel since Covid-19 monitoring testing began Aug. 1.

Eighteen employees from a United States Postal Service processing center in Las Vegas have tested positive for coronavirus since Sept. 26, USPS spokesperson Rod Spurgeon tells CNN. There are 775 employees that work at the facility.

Spurgeon said they’re continuing with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's protocols, such as social distancing, mask wearing and sanitizing, but there has been no "operational impact" at the center.

The condition of the employees who tested positive will be kept confidential, according to Spurgeon.

A patient in Mexico tested positive for Covid-19 and influenza, José Luis Alomía, the health ministry's director of epidemiology, confirmed Sunday.

This is the first case in the country where a patient has tested positive for both viruses simultaneously.

Alomía, speaking during a nightly briefing in Mexico City, reported that the 54-year-old patient has a history of autoimmune disease, cancer, obesity and chronic lung disease.

Health authorities confirmed the patient remains hospitalized and in stable condition.

There are at least 7,817,863 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 215,355 people have died from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

So far today, Johns Hopkins has recorded 13,664 new cases and 270 reported deaths.

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

Nineteen student-athletes from the swimming and diving teams at the University of Delaware were sanctioned and suspended after violating the school's Covid-19 protocol, the university confirmed on Tuesday.

According to a statement from a university spokesperson, the suspensions were issued after a "large indoor social gathering hosted on September 26, 2020 at an off campus residence."

The school said all student-athletes who attended the gathering were quarantined and tested for Covid-19, all tested negative.

The latest numbers: The University of Delaware has reported at least 361 cases of Covid-19 since Aug. 30, according to the school's online Covid dashboard. The university's protocol includes a surveillance testing pool where groups are tested twice per week.

Facebook announced on Tuesday that it will no longer allow ads that discourage people from getting vaccinated. 

"Ads that advocate for or against legislation or government policies around vaccines – including a COVID-19 vaccine – are still allowed,” the company wrote.  

Facebook also said it will be rolling out the ad ban in the coming days.