New York City is seeing a "leveling off" in Covid-19 cluster areas in Brooklyn and Queens, the mayor says
From CNN's Sheena Jones
People walk past closed stores in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, New York City, on October 9. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday the city is beginning to see a “leveling off” in the red zone cluster areas across Brooklyn and Queens.
The mayor said the city is days into the restrictions imposed in the red zone and “we are seeing some results.”
“This is the week we can start changing the tide in those fundamental areas,” the mayor said.
Very robust enforcement has begun and will deepen across those areas, de Blasio added.
There were at least $150K in fines and over 100 summonses given out in the red, orange and yellow zone areas over the weekend, the mayor said.
10:57 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Johnson & Johnson learned of “unexplained illness” in Phase 3 coronavirus trial on Sunday
From CNN'S Wes Bruer
A single-dose COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson is seen in September. Cheryl Gerber/Courtesy of Johnson & Johnson via AP
Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that it learned of the “unexplained illness,” which caused it to pause its Phase 3 coronavirus vaccine trial in the US, on Sunday and immediately informed the Data and Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, which monitors clinical trial developments.
The drugmaker said it did not know whether the volunteer who became ill had received the vaccine or placebo.
“We are now awaiting further medical information and evaluation, which we will then forward to the DSMB for further independent recommendations,” Mathai Mammen, Global Head of Research and Development at Janssen, said Tuesday on the company’s third quarter earnings call. “It’s not at all unusual for unexpected illnesses to occur in large studies over their duration,” Mammen said. In some cases, these are called serious adverse events, or SAEs, and may have something or nothing to do with the drug or vaccine being investigated,” Mammen said.
Mammen said the company has “very little information right now” regarding the illness which paused the trial, but said that the DSMB has submitted a number of specific questions for them to answer.
As of Tuesday morning, the trial remains blinded, meaning that participants and those administering the vaccine candidates are unaware if they are receiving the vaccine or a placebo. Mammen added that the DSMB has the ability to unblind the study in order to investigate the unexplained illness if necessary.
Johnson & Johnson announced the clinical trial pause on Monday, making it the second Phase 3 coronavirus vaccine trial to be paused.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine trial was paused last month because of an a neurological complication in a volunteer in the UK. While the trial resumed there and in other countries, it remains paused in the United States while the US Food and Drug Administration investigated.
10:39 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Soccer superstar Ronaldo tests positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio
Portugal's forward Cristiano Ronaldo warms up before a friendly football match between Portugal and Spain at the Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon on October 7. Carlos Costa/AFP/Getty Images
Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for coronavirus, the Portuguese Football Federation said in a statement Tuesday.
“Cristiano Ronaldo has been released from working with the National Team after testing positive for Covid-19, so he will not be facing Sweden,” the statement said. “The Portuguese international is well, without symptoms, and in isolation."
“Following the positive case, the remaining players underwent new tests this Tuesday morning, all with negative results, and are available to [coach] Fernando Santos for this afternoon’s training session, at the Cidade do Futebol."
“The game, part of the qualification phase of the League of Nations, is scheduled for Wednesday, at 19:45, in Alvalade,” the statement said.
11:10 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
London mayor says tougher restrictions are “inevitable” in the coming days
From CNN's Amy Cassidy
The Mayor of London said it was “inevitable” the UK’s capital would meet the threshold for tougher coronavirus restrictions in the coming days.
Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, Sadiq Khan said:
"All the indicators I have – hospital admissions, ICU occupancy, the numbers of older people with cases, the prevalence of the disease, the positivity – are all going the wrong direction. “Which means, I'm afraid, it's inevitable over the course of the next few days London will have passed a trigger point to be in the second tier."
Like most of England, London is currently on “medium” alert – the lowest level of the government's new three-tier system announced Monday – meaning bars and restaurants are still open until 10 p.m. and up to six people from different households can meet indoors.
The mayor is calling for the capital to be moved into the second tier “high” alert level, which would ban people from socializing with other households indoors.
He added it should cover the whole city because people frequently travel between boroughs to work and study.
The Liverpool City Region is currently the only part of England in the third tier and is on “very high” alert, with bars and pubs closed. This area is situated in the northwest of the country, which has the highest infection rate of 1,741 per 100,000 people.
The current rate of infection in London is 695 per 100,000 people, according to government data.
The UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer on Monday voiced “great concern” that the virus was spreading to southern parts of the country.
Hear from London residents on how police are enforcing Covid-19 rules:
9:40 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Stocks open mixed
From CNN’s Anneken Tappe
People walk by the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan on October 2 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The US stock market was mixed at Tuesday’s opening bell in New York, with only the Nasdaq Composite starting the day in the green.
Tech stocks are in focus again as Apple is set to reveal its latest iPhone and Amazon’s Prime Day kicked off.
Earnings season is upon us as America’s big banks reported third quarter results this morning. This – along with stimulus hopes, the election and the path of the pandemic – will keep investors on their toes for the coming weeks.
Here's where things opened:
The Dow opened 0.3%, or 80 points, lower.
The S&P 500 inched 0.1% lower.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%.
9:30 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Pelosi to House Democrats on stimulus: "Significant changes must be made to remedy Trump proposal’s deficiencies"
From CNN's Phil Mattingly
Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during the Weekly News Conference on Capitol Hill on October 8 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a letter to House Democrats Tuesday morning, detailed a series of major differences between Democrats and the Trump Administration in their stimulus negotiation – underscoring that the two sides are nowhere near an agreement.
Pelosi laid out eight key areas where tangible differences exist between the two sides, the issues largely mirror the splits that have existed between them for more than three months.
Pelosi also made clear that those eight areas “are not exhaustive of our many outstanding concerns.”
“Significant changes must be made to remedy the Trump proposal’s deficiencies,” Pelosi wrote to her colleagues.
11:05 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Florida first grader tests positive for Covid-19
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
A Broward County first grader tested positive for Covid-19 after attending the first day of school on Friday, according to Pembroke Pines spokeswoman Marianne Wohlert.
The first day of face-to-face instruction on school campuses for Broward students was Friday.
The child attended Pembroke Pines Charter Elementary West campus, which is overseen by the city of Pembroke Pines, Wohlert said.
On Saturday "the parents notified the school" of the confirmed Covid-19 results, Wohlert told CNN.
The charter school follows Broward County Schools policies and procedures regarding confirmed covid cases and the entire school was notified of the positive results, according to Wohlert.
For our international readers: Broward Country is located in southeastern Florida and is the second most populous county in the state. First grade is the first year after kindergarten in the US, so students average about 6 to 7-years old, although we don't know exactly how old this particular student is.
12:36 p.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Delta warns investors: "It may be two years or more" for air travel to recover from the pandemic
From CNN’s Chris Isidore
Travelers wait for flights as Delta Air Lines planes sit at gates at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 15. George Frey/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Delta Air Lines posted more massive losses in the third quarter, warning investors "it may be two years or more" for demand for air travel to return to normal.
The airline posted a $2.1 billion operating loss in the third quarter, excluding special items – like charges for buyout packages for employees who voluntarily left the company and early retirement of aircraft. Including those items, its net loss topped $5 billion for the second consecutive period.
The third-quarter loss was larger than forecast by Wall Street analysts, and Delta shares fell 3% in premarket trading on the news.
Analysts expect total losses among US airlines to top $10 billion for the last quarter, as the pandemic continues to fuel a huge drop in demand. Delta is the first US airline to report results for the quarter.
9:19 a.m. ET, October 13, 2020
Argentina tops 900,000 Covid-19 cases as schools reopen in parts of the country
From CNN’s Tatiana Arias
Health workers transport a COVID-19 patient on a stretcher at a hospital in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on October 10. Natacha Pisarenko/AP
Schools are reopening in parts of Argentina, with measures in place to limit the spread of the pandemic, even as coronavirus cases in the country top 900,000.
The nation's largest province, Buenos Aires, is planning a return to school on Tuesday, with at least 24 of its districts resuming in-person classes, according to a statement published Monday on the country’s state-news agency, Telam.
"Classes will last 90 minutes without breaks and students will be divided into the necessary subgroups to respect social distancing according to the protocols," reads the statement. Students' temperatures will be taken at school entrances and they must certify that they "are in conditions to attend."
In the capital city itself -- considered medium risk for Covid-19 contagion -- "non-scholar, educational activities such as artistic, recreational [ones]" will go ahead "with a maximum of 10 people, including the teacher," according to Telam's statement.
The Governor of Buenos Aires province, Axel Kicillof, has announced a "significant reduction" in cases, but authorities have tightened restrictions in 18 other regions of the country for another two weeks, in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
Argentina’s health authorities reported 9,524 new coronavirus infections late Monday, bringing the country's Covid-19 case count to 903,730.
Additionally, 318 new virus-related deaths were reported, taking the country’s death toll to 24,186, according to the Ministry of Health.
