November 6 coronavirus news

By Nectar Gan, Steve George, Lauren Kent, Rob Picheta and Hira Humayun, CNN

Updated 0532 GMT (1332 HKT) November 7, 2020
37 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
6:33 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Kansas City hospitals are reaching capacity due to increase in Covid-19 patients

From CNN’s Laurie Ure

Kansas City hospitals are reaching capacity due to the strain of Covid-19, hospital officials say.

Chief medical officers from seven hospital systems told reporters during a Zoom news conference that city hospitals could be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks. 

"If widespread community transmission continues to go up, we will be overwhelmed," said Dr. Steven Stites, chief medical director at the University of Kansas Health System. "That is the inescapable conclusion that we face." 

"Covid is the leading admission diagnosis" at the University of Kansas, Dr. Stites said.

The physicians, who earlier briefed local officials on the matter, say hospitalizations in the region are at their highest since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. They say the issue is less about the number of available beds as much as it is about the staffing to support patients who might occupy those beds. 

"Basically, there's a staffing shortage, and that staffing shortage is not going away any time soon," said Dr. Stites. 

"When we try to go get agency nurses or travelling nurses and things like that, we're trying to borrow from the same pool," he said.

On Tuesday, Kansas City area hospitals had 153 non-intensive care unit beds, but only 76 that could be staffed, and 32 ICU beds of which only 22 could be staffed, according to David Wild, Vice President of Performance Improvement at the University of Kansas Health System. This creates a significant difference from statistics that appear on the US Department of Health and Human Service's database of available beds, he said.

The doctors, while emphasizing that they're not at this point yet, said one unfortunate way to handle maximum capacity would be to ask patients to hold off on elective surgery to help with hospital capacity issues. They said this is a bad option because patients who do not address health issues during the Covid crisis can worsen their outcomes.

6:29 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Portugal sees highest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases since pandemic started

From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in London

A nurse puts on a second pair of gloves before doing a round tending to COVID-19 patients in negative pressure rooms at the Curry Cabral hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. 
A nurse puts on a second pair of gloves before doing a round tending to COVID-19 patients in negative pressure rooms at the Curry Cabral hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020.  Armando Franca/AP

Portuguese health authorities have reported 5,550 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily increase since the pandemic reached the country. 

Portugal now has a total of 166,900 diagnosed coronavirus cases. Health authorities also reported an additional 52 deaths from Covid-19, with the total death toll from the virus rising to 2,792.

Portuguese MPs are set to debate and vote on a new State of Emergency for the country on Friday. The move would give the government renewed powers to restrict civil liberties and movement as it implements strict anti-coronavirus restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19. 

6:25 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Reducing travel quarantines below 14 days carries risks, says WHO

From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio

An Air France Hop plane lands at dusk in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday.
An Air France Hop plane lands at dusk in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday. Christoph Soeder/dpa/AP

Reducing the two-week quarantine that some countries currently impose on arriving travelers could lead to authorities missing potential coronavirus cases, according to the World Health Organization's Covid-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove.

There is a balanced approach that if there is a reduction in that 14-day period, there are some risks that are associated with that, in terms of missing potential cases,” Van Kerkhove said during a daily briefing Friday.

Van Kerkhove said WHO’s recommendations on this have remained the same and that they were “based on science.”

“Our guidance for incubation period is 14 days, and that’s based on the amount of time most individuals, 95% of individuals, will develop symptoms after exposure,” the epidemiologist said.

6:25 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Cough droplets can travel beyond six feet, new simulation study suggests

From CNN's Jacqueline Howard

A new simulation study suggests that a person coughing can disperse droplets well beyond six feet, and that anyone shorter than the person coughing -- such as children -- might be at a greater risk of encountering the downward trajectory of those cough droplets.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the dispersion of cough droplets has become of great interest among scientists. The new study, published on Tuesday in the journal Physics of Fluids, evaluates the risk of spreading the virus through cough droplets in the air under different tropical outdoor environments.

"Young children may be at greater risk compared to adults based on the typical downward cough trajectory. Teenagers and short adults are advised to maintain a social distance greater than 2 m from taller persons," the researcher wrote in the study. "Surgical masks are known to be effective at trapping large droplets and therefore recommended for use as necessary."

The researchers -- from Singapore's Agency of Science, Technology and Research -- used numerical models to simulate the trajectory of droplets expelled by a person who suddenly coughs outdoors with someone listening nearby.

The researchers ran the simulation with different droplet sizes, air temperatures, relative humidity, wind speed and varying distances between the cougher and the listener.

Read the full story here:

6:29 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

FDA issues first test that detects neutralizing antibodies from Covid-19

From CNN Health’s Jamie Gumbrecht

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday it issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a blood test that can detect neutralizing antibodies from a past coronavirus infection.

The agency said the cPass SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Detection Kit made by GenScript USA Inc. specifically detects this type of antibody, which has been shown in labs to decrease the coronavirus’ infection of cells. The test is intended to be used to identify people with an adaptive immune response to the coronavirus, according to the authorization.

"There are still many unknowns about what the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies may tell us about potential immunity, but today's authorization gives us another tool to evaluate those antibodies as we continue to research and study this virus," Dr. Tim Stenzel, director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

“Patients should not interpret results as telling them they are immune, or have any level of immunity, from the virus," he said.

The agency noted it has issued EUAs to more than 50 antibody tests, but those tests don’t specifically detect antibodies that decrease the infection of cells. Antibody tests should not be used to diagnose an active coronavirus infection, since they don’t detect the virus itself, the agency said.

5:39 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Italy reports highest daily Covid-19 cases and deaths since its second wave

From Sharon Braithwaite in Pisa and Livia Borghese in Rome

A view of the Trevi Fountain in Rome on November 6, 2020. Italy has established a national curfew from 10pm to 5 am, aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. 
A view of the Trevi Fountain in Rome on November 6, 2020. Italy has established a national curfew from 10pm to 5 am, aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.  Tiziana FabiAFP/Getty Images

Italy registered a new daily record of Covid-19 cases and deaths on Friday since its second wave, data from the Health Ministry showed.

37,809 new daily coronavirus cases and 446 deaths have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours. These are the highest numbers since late March.

Its overall death toll is now 40,638. 

The hardest hit region is still Lombardy, with 9,934 new daily cases, followed by the neighboring Piedmont region with 4,878 new cases, and the southern region of Campania (+4,508).

5:47 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

NFL punishes Raiders again for violating Covid-19 protocol, with team set to lose draft pick

From CNN’s Jill Martin

A general view during a game at Allegiant Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A general view during a game at Allegiant Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The NFL is punishing the Las Vegas Raiders again for not adhering to Covid-19 league protocol, a source with knowledge of the penalties confirmed to CNN. Yahoo was the first to report the news.

The Raiders have been fined $500,000, head coach Jon Gruden has been fined $150,000, and the team will lose a sixth-round draft pick.

Some of the violations include Gruden not consistently wearing a mask, players attending a large indoor gathering and the team allowing an unauthorized person into the locker room following a game.

The Raiders are the first team to lose a draft pick for violating Covid-19 protocol.

CNN has reached out to the Raiders for comment but has yet to hear back. CNN has also reached out to the league.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were also fined for violating coronavirus protocal in their last game against the Ravens on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals announced Friday that two players have tested positive for Covid-19. The team did not identify the players.

The Bengals are currently on their bye week, during which time all players will be tested daily. The team says that players have not been in the team facility since Wednesday and will not return until next week.

In a statement, the team said: "Players have not been in the facility since Wednesday. Under NFL bye week protocols players will test daily, but will not be back in the facility until next week.”

The Bengals next game is November 15 on the road at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

5:33 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Belgium may be at "peak of second wave," says country's head of viral diseases

From CNN’s James Frater in London

A member of the medical team works in the intensive care ward for COVID-19 patients at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020.
A member of the medical team works in the intensive care ward for COVID-19 patients at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Francisco Seco/AP

Belgium may have reached “the peak of the second wave,” Head of Viral Diseases at the Belgian Health Authority Professor Steven Van Gucht said on Friday.

Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, he said, “This may mark the peak of the second wave. The number of infections continues to fall slightly, and hospital admissions appear to be decreasing slightly for the first time.”

He added that “the number of deaths is still very high, but here too we see the pace slowing down slightly.”

Professor Van Gucht also warned that “despite this decrease, the number of infections is still very high. The infection rate in Belgium is still among the highest in Europe, together with Czechia.”

Data from the Belgian Health Authority, Sciensano, shows that on October 27 the number of new cases reported reached a peak of 22,171. Since then, the number of new cases has consistently fallen with the latest consolidated data showing 13,345 new cases reported on Tuesday, November 2.

On average in the last week, 13,213 new cases were reported each day, compared to the previous week when there were 16,067 new cases reported each day.

Since the beginning of the pandemic Belgium has recorded 479,341 cases of coronavirus and 12,520 deaths. 

To allow for delays in receiving data from the regions, it takes four days for figures from the Belgian Health Authority to be finalized.

11:56 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Poland reports deadliest day since pandemic began

From CNN’s Artur Osinski

A health worker outside a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday.
A health worker outside a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday. Czarek Sokolowski/AP

Poland has witnessed its deadliest day since the coronavirus pandemic began, with a further 445 deaths reported by its health ministry on Friday.

The country also reported 27,086 new Covid-19 cases -- only 57 fewer than Thursday’s record-high. The total number of confirmed infections in Poland stands at 493,765 and the total death toll at 7,287

As infections rise across Europe this week, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced further restrictions that will go into effect from Saturday, including remote learning for younger children, cultural institutions closing, stores reducing capacity and hotels only opening for business trips.

"A step beyond the measures that we are announcing today is only a national quarantine, that is, a total lockdown," said Morawiecki.