October 27 coronavirus news

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking residents to refrain from traveling during the upcoming holiday season, saying "it's not business as usual."

He said this is a recommendations based on health care leadership.

For those who do travel, the mayor encouraged people get tested and follow the 14-day quarantine required upon return.

Mayor de Blasio also asked the federal government to mandate anyone getting on an airplane for an international or domestic flight receive a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours prior.

The latest numbers: The mayor said there were 60 patients admitted to hospitals with suspected cases of Covid-19 which is under the threshold of 200. However, the percentage of those confirmed positive is 21.6% which means nearly a quarter of those admitted were positive for the virus.

The number of new cases reported on a seven-day average is 528 which is only slightly under the 550 threshold.

While hospitalizations and deaths remain low, de Blasio asked everyone to remain vigilant as the holidays approach.

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.

Experts are giving mixed messages about the Covid-19 risks of air travel as Americans consider their Thanksgiving holiday plans.  

A Harvard University study released Tuesday modeled the airflow in airliners and say the specialized onboard ventilation systems filter out 99% of airborne viruses. 

The team of scientists concluded that a “layered approach, with ventilation gate-to-gate, reduces the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission onboard aircraft below that of other routine activities during the pandemic, such as grocery shopping or eating out.”  

A contract tracing study released by Irish researchers linked 13 cases to a single passenger on a seven-hour international flight this summer where fewer than one in five seats were filled. Some passengers may not have been wearing masks.

The researchers conclude that some of the spread must have occurred on the plane because some of the passengers “had no social or airport lounge link with Groups 1 or 2 pre-flight and were not seated within two rows of them.” 

The Harvard researchers described wearing masks as a critical part of keeping travelers safe in aircraft cabins, but stopped short of calling for a government mask mandate onboard flights. But with people bunching up in jetways, aisles, and airports – where ventilation systems may not be as efficient as those on aircraft, they say more research needs to be done.

The Harvard findings mirror those from recent studies from The Department of Defense, Boeing, and Airbus as airlines are struggle to bring domestic passenger traffic above 40 percent of last year's levels.

Last week, Southwest Airlines cited the earlier studies as the reason to resume the sale of every seat on its flights starting December 1.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that Covid-19 is something to be concerned about and it is frustrating that "people are not quite getting it."

As the state reports record numbers, she said people need to take personal responsibility to reduce infections each day – including things like following science and wearing masks.

Ezike fought back tears during a news briefing on Friday where she reported new coronavirus deaths and thousands of additional cases. She wiped a tear with her bare hand and turned away from the podium to compose herself. A man in a mask walked over with a box of tissues. She wiped her eyes and returned to the microphone.

"I know that sometimes the truth is painful, but I think the data, the facts, the science bear out the truth and I think all public health officials have been echoing the same chorus and we all need to be on that same page that the masks work," she said on CNN today.

Ezike said that it is frustrating that "people are not quite getting it" even though science has pointed to mitigation methods that "could make history not repeat" itself.

Ezike called for the country to have a unified approach to how to get the virus under control, including a national testing strategy, adding that she feels like there have been mixed messages that have confused the public.

"We are bordered by six states in Illinois and nobody lives in a vacuum so the sooner we have a unified approach, the sooner we can get this virus under control," she said.

Watch:

Erin Bromage, a biology professor specializing in immunology at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, outlined the risks of Halloween and Thanksgiving as coronavirus cases spike in the US — and how you can minimize the dangers. 

“When the children knock on the door, it becomes a really tight, confined space with number of people there yelling ‘trick or treat.’ And that just creates that close environment that we really are trying to avoid right now,” Bromage said on CNN’s “New Day.”

He said his neighbors are setting up tables at the end of their driveways or hanging candy from spiderweb decorations. 

Children should still wear cloth masks and keep their distance outside while trick-or-treating, according to Bromage.

Bromage also admitted he is “feeling a little dark about Thanksgiving.” 

He said families should think about limiting the number of people who gather for the holiday and changing plans to not include high-risk family members. 

He said if families are still thinking of celebrating with extended family members, they should consider not having kids in school or group sports, while adults should make sure they do not engage in any high-risk activities for at least a week beforehand.  

On Thanksgiving, open windows, space out people and consider buying a HEPA filter, he said.  

Watch more:

Europe's second coronavirus wave continues to bear down on the continent, with cases rising in many countries and areas implementing new restrictions as a result.

Here are some of the top headlines on the pandemic this morning:

Belgium is on the brink of a coronavirus disaster as a top health official warned that the country could run out of intensive care beds in as little as two weeks.

The country of 11.5 million people has reported on average more than 13,000 cases a day in the past week, according to the national public health institute Sciensano. The Covid-19 outbreak in Belgium is the second worst in Europe in terms of new cases per capita, after only the Czech Republic.

Yves Van Laethem, Belgium's spokesperson for the fight against the coronavirus, warned that unless Belgians change their behavior, intensive care units will reach their capacity of 2,000 patients in 15 days.

At a news conference Monday, Van Laethem said that 1,000 of the country's intensive beds are already being used, with total of 1,250 set to be occupied by the end of the week. Both hospital and intensive care admissions are doubling every eight days, he added.

Read the full story here.

The Portuguese government has published a new law requiring people to wear face masks in outdoor public spaces, where social distancing recommendations cannot be guaranteed. 

The new law was published in the country's national bulletin on Tuesday and will go into effect on Wednesday. 

Everyone from the age of 10 is now required to wear a face covering in indoor and outdoor public spaces, with the exception of those with medical conditions incompatible with the use of mask. People who are excused from wearing mask will have to carry a doctor’s note, confirming their condition.

Those who fail to comply with the law could be fined up to €500 ($590). The law is designed to be temporary and will be in place for a period of 70 days.

Protesters have clashed with police in northern Italy, as demonstrations erupted across the country Monday night over government restrictions aimed at quelling a second wave of Covid-19.

In Turin, dozens were wounded in the clashes, and protesters set fire to garbage bins and looted luxury boutiques, including Gucci and Louis Vuitton stores, police said.

In Milan, police fired tear gas to disperse crowds. Taxi drivers who stand to lose more business because of the restrictions in Turin were among protesters occupying a square in anger.

Social media footage from Milan shows demonstrators marching the streets with flares and throwing street barricades down subway stairs. Milan police said the protesters were a "heterogeneous" group, including young people, some from the far-right and non-EU citizens. They told CNN that investigations were carried out to confirm if political ideology was involved in the protests.

The Monday clashes followed an Italian government curfew for bars and restaurants, forcing them to close by 6 p.m. Cinemas, gyms and swimming pools were also obliged to shut their doors. Several regions, including Milan's Lombardy and Turin's Piedmont have imposed additional local restrictions.

Read the full story here.

India’s Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale has tested positive for Covid-19, the eight Indian minister known to test positive.

Athawale said in a tweet on Tuesday that he has been admitted to a hospital based on the advice of his doctors. He has asked those who have come in contact with him to get tested. 

On Monday, Athawale held a news conference at which he inducted actor Payal Ghosh into his political party. At one point, he and the actor were photographed without face masks.

They were surrounded by at least 12 people when the photographs were taken. 

At least seven other Indian ministers have tested positive for coronavirus, including Suresh Angadi who died from the virus. 

India reported 36,470 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, its lowest increase since July 17.