November 2 coronavirus news

The fall surge has left nearly 50,000 people hospitalized across the US due to Covid-19, and experts say the strain healthcare systems are under could soon get worse.

Hospitalizations were on the rise in 47 states last month, according to the Covid Tracking Project, and a total of 47,502 people were hospitalized as of Sunday.

The rates come alongside a surge of cases that made October a record-setting month for coronavirus infections in the US.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, expects Thanksgiving to be an inflection point, and has said the American hospital system is going to be facing pressure similar to the early spikes -- when hospitals around the country were reaching capacity and healthcare workers were stretched thin.

Experts have said that the impacts will likely continue to get worse as colder months drive up infections.

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Nearly 50,000 Americans are hospitalized with coronavirus as experts warn of growing healthcare pressure

US President Donald Trump suggested to a Florida crowd he may fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases, after this week's election.

Speaking after midnight following a full day of campaigning, the President was complaining about the news media coverage of Covid-19 when the crowd broke out into a "Fire Fauci" chant.

Most of the crowd in Florida was not wearing masks; Trump has proceeded with rallies in states with rampant coronavirus outbreaks, believing his message of reopening will resonate with voters.

Trump's comments come after the White House on Saturday unleashed on Fauci following his comments to the Washington Post that criticized the Trump administration's response to the pandemic, including Dr. Scott Atlas, whom the President has relied on for advice on handling the coronavirus.

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Trump suggests he might fire Fauci after election

Dr. Scott Atlas, an adviser on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, apologized after appearing in an interview with Russian state broadcaster RT, just days before Election Day.

In his apology, Atlas claimed he was unaware RT was a registered foreign agent.

RT is owned by Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti and subsidiary RT America is registered with the US Justice Department as an agent of the Russian government.

The Kremlin uses RT to spread English-language propaganda to American audiences, and was part of Russia's election meddling in 2016, according to a 2017 report from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Twitter labeled a video from the Russian-state controlled broadcaster RT as election misinformation on Thursday. YouTube videos posted by RT carry the disclaimer: "RT is funded in whole or in part by the Russian government."

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Dr. Scott Atlas, White House Coronavirus Task Force adviser, apologizes for interview with Russian propaganda network

According to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States, there were 81,493 new coronavirus infections recorded on Sunday, bringing the country's total number of confirmed cases to at least 9,206,975.

Johns Hopkins University also recorded 447 new deaths in the past 24 hours. The US death toll from Covid-19 now stands at more than 230,995 fatalities.

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

For regular updates, please follow CNN’s map, which uses Johns Hopkins data to refresh every 15 minutes:

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Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

The global death toll from the novel coronavirus surpassed 1.2 million Monday at 1 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), according to Johns Hopkins University's global tally.

As of Monday, Johns Hopkins reported 1,200,310 coronavirus deaths worldwide, with the United States holding the highest number of deaths from the virus.

To date, there have been more than 230,000 Covid-19 deaths in the US.

It has been just two weeks since the world reached 1.1 million coronavirus deaths on Saturday October 17.

The world's total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases currently stands at 46,500,057, according to the university's tally.

For the first time today, a "Fire Fauci" chant broke out during President Donald Trump's election campaign rally in Opa-Locka, Florida.

Later, he said of Fauci:  “He’s a nice guy but he’s been wrong a lot.”

President Trump's comments at his midnight rally in Florida come after the White House on Saturday unleashed on Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, following his comments to the Washington Post.

In an interview, Fauci criticized the Trump administration's response to the pandemic, including Dr. Scott Atlas, who the President has relied on for advice on handling the coronavirus.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons on Monday warning lawmakers that coronavirus deaths in the winter could be twice as high as during the first wave of the outbreak, according to Britain's Press Association. 

The news agency reports that Johnson will say there is no alternative but to impose a recently announced lockdown in England. 

"Models of our scientists suggest that unless we act now, we could see deaths over the winter that are twice as bad or more compared with the first wave," Johnson is expected to say, according to PA.

"Faced with these latest figures, there is no alternative but to take further action at a national level.”

The new lockdown, which is set to come into effect in England from Thursday morning, following a vote in Parliament Wednesday, will see all bars and restaurants closed except for takeout and delivery, as well as the closure of all non-essential businesses including gyms and hair salons. Schools, universities and childcare facilities will remain open. 

Residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for specific purposes including education, work (if they cannot work from home), exercise, medical issues, or to buy food and essential items. 

Johnson will say on Monday that the Government will "seek to ease restrictions" on December 2 when the lockdown period is scheduled to end, PA reported. 

However, UK Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove said Sunday that England's second lockdown could be extended beyond December 2.  

Around 2.58 million people in Slovakia were tested on the first day of countrywide coronavirus testing on Saturday, Slovakian news agency TASR reported. 

Of those tested, 25,850 or approximately 1% tested positive for the virus, according to TASR. 

After seeing a recent surge of infections across Slovakia, Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced last month a plan to test everyone aged 10 years and over in the country for Covid-19. 

Matovic said “testing will be free-of-charge” for the population of 5.4 million. 

Five thousand testing stations were set up for the operation and up to 20 thousand health workers have been involved in the testing. 

Slovakia went into an official state of emergency on October 1 when its infection rates started going up. 

According to TASR, the Prime Minister on Sunday said that the mask mandate for all public areas and other measures, including a ban on mass gatherings, will remain in place even after the mass testing is completed. 

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Sunday that he will self-quarantine after being "identified as a contact of someone" who tested positive for Covid-19.