October 22 coronavirus news

The percentage of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in New York City is at 1.77%, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

That figure falls under the 5% threshold. The seven-day rolling average is 1.76%, he said. 

The daily number of people admitted to hospitals for Covid-19 is at 103, a jump from 76 yesterday. This is under the 200 threshold. The confirmed positivity rate for Covid-19 for those patients is 24.2%

With regard to new reported cases on a seven-day average, NYC reported 523 cases, also up from yesterday. The threshold is 550 cases.

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

A coronavirus vaccine could be available to “all Americans” by early April, according to US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. 

“By the end of January, enough vaccine for all of our seniors as well as our health care workers and first responders,” Azar said in an interview Thursday with “CBS This Morning’s” Anthony Mason. “By the end of March and early April – enough for all Americans.”

Azar said HHS will have enough vaccines authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration to vaccinate “our most vulnerable people” by the end of the year.

After a rise in the coronavirus positivity rate, all Boston public schools are going remote starting today.  

The seven-day coronavirus positivity rate in the city jumped from 4.5% to 5.7% in just one week.  

Special-needs students will be the first to go back to in-person schooling once the city gets to 5% for a two-week consecutive period, Walsh said. The city is looking into setting up at-home services for the students, he said. 

"It was devastating for me to have to close the schools yesterday," Walsh said.

“I feel sad we're at this situation. But we need people to protect themselves. We need people to wear masks, we need people to stop congregating, we need people to take this virus seriously,” he said. “…We're asking people, particularly people under the age of 30, to really look out for each other. You might not be worried about the virus, but you're impacting other people." 

Portuguese health authorities have reported a record 3,270 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the highest daily increase since the pandemic first reached the country. 

It is also more than double the highest daily increase seen at the peak of the first wave –1,516 on April 10, according to CNN records. 

Most new infections were reported in the northern part of the country where most industries are concentrated. Earlier on Thursday, three municipalities in Northern Portugal were placed in a partial lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. 

Health authorities in the country also reported an additional 16 fatalities in the past 24 hours, with the death toll from Covid-19 rising to 2,245. 

Germany will require arrivals from the UK to quarantine for 14 days starting Saturday, according to guidance released Thursday by the German Missions in the United Kingdom.

Starting Saturday, Germany will classify the UK as a "COVID high-risk area," with the exception of the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

"The United Kingdom has been strongly affected by COVID-19," according to the German Missions in the United Kingdom. "Passengers travelling from these high risk areas must therefore undergo a 14-day quarantine upon entering Germany, unless they can provide a COVID-19 test that is no older than 48 hours, or get a test done upon arrival and it is negative. Those who get a test done upon arrival, must undergo quarantine until the result has arrived."

Southwest Airlines is about to sell every seat on board its flights.

The news comes on the heels of the airline announcing record financial losses because of the pandemic.

In a Thursday earnings report, Southwest announced it will no longer limit capacity on flights starting Dec. 1. The change marks an end to Southwest’s pandemic policy and allows it the opportunity to fill planes through the typically busy holiday travel season.

“This practice of effectively keeping middle seats open bridged us from the early days of the pandemic, when we had little knowledge about the behavior of the virus, to now,” Southwest said. “Today, aligned with science-based findings from trusted medical and aviation organizations, we will resume selling all available seats for travel beginning December 1, 2020.”

That leaves Delta Air Lines as the final remaining big four carrier to limit capacity in aircraft cabins. Executives have said that policy will continue until next year. United Airlines and American Airlines have been selling every seat for months.

Alaska Airlines announced Thursday it will extend its policy of blocking middle seats until Jan. 6.

A recently-released Defense Department study found that among mask-wearing airplane passengers, the risk of airborne droplet transmission in airplanes is limited due to specialized air flow and filtration systems.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he would continue to quarantine and test after a senior communications adviser tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

The governor told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle that while he had tested negative twice, "we're going to test a couple more times negative before we get back out and start reengaging with people."

Noting the rise in cases in his state, Murphy said he hopes with all of his “heart” the state does not have to shut down again. In terms of mitigating the rise, he thinks the best approach is with a “scalpel” rather than a “hammer,” pertaining to potential targeted action.

Murphy added that the state was concerned about "COVID fatigue," but that enforcement had become complicated by a rise in indoor gatherings instead of large, visible public ones.

He said most of the challenge is not in the “public square.” 

"It is much more often now in private homes, beyond your ability to, you know, regulate or more importantly, enforce compliance," Murphy said.

The governor said he had offered prayers for the recovery of his predecessor, Chris Christie, who was recently hospitalized for coronavirus, and who wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging people to wear masks.

Puerto Rico has closed the island's 911 emergency call centers after employees at both locations tested positive for coronavirus, Public Health Secretary Pedro Janer said in a statement. 

Janer said the island will be using central control as a point of contact in order to ensure operations and emergencies are tended to correctly. This will operate 24 hours a day with appropriate staffing, he added. 

For emergency situations residents are being told to call the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency. Personnel there will then launch all calls to the respective municipalities or state, Janer said. 

All employees who may have come into contact with a positive case have been asked to quarantine and will be tested in the coming days. 

The Portuguese government has placed three municipalities in the northern part of the country under partial lockdown after a surge in new infections. 

Residents in the municipalities of Felgueiras, Lousada and Paços de Ferreira must stay indoors except to go to work, acquire goods or services, for health reasons, to assist vulnerable family members or to take children to school, the Portuguese government said in a statement on Thursday.

The restrictions require all business to close no later than 10 p.m. and all gatherings and events are restricted to no more than five people.

Those who can work from home must do so, the statement reads. Visitations at care homes will also be suspended.