November 7 coronavirus news

The first day of Liverpool's mass testing pilot ran "very smoothly," for the most part, said Matt Ashton, director of public health for Liverpool city council.

"It was good, it wasn't perfect, but we'll improve it," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday.

The city in the north of England is aiming to test up to 50,000 people a day once fully operational.

There were some hiccups with the operation however, as some people claimed they were made to line up for tests alongside people they didn't know had symptoms of the virus.

The UK government hopes to test the entire population of the city -- nearly 500,000 people -- in 10 days. 

Liverpool has some of the highest infection rates in Britain. Weekly cases currently stand at 410.4 per 100,000, as of October 25, according to government data.

Liverpool soccer star Trent Alexander-Arnold sent a message to the people of his native city on Friday.

"Let's start the fightback against Covid, let's get tested," he said in a video posted on the club's official Twitter account.

The UK government has implemented a travel ban with Denmark from 4am (local time) on Saturday after a mutated strain of the coronavirus -- connected to the country's mink farms -- was detected.

Visitors arriving into the UK from Denmark will not be permitted entry into the UK, except for freight and hauliers, said the Department for Transport.

"The decision to act quickly follows the release of further information from health authorities in Denmark reporting widespread outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19) in mink farms, with a variant strain of the virus spreading to some local communities," the department said in a statement on Saturday.

The Danish government announced new restrictions in seven municipalities on Thursday.

According to the Danish government, the mutated form of the virus has been passed back to humans.

Statens Serum Institut, the Danish authority based in Copenhagen which deals with infectious diseases, found five cases of the virus in mink farms and 12 examples in humans that showed reduced sensitivity to antibodies.

The travel ban and expanded self-isolation requirements will be reviewed after one week.

On Friday, there were 126,480 new coronavirus cases recorded in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

It marked the highest single-day number of cases reported in the country since the pandemic began.

It was also the second consecutive day that the US surpassed 120,000 cases, and the third in a row of more than 100,000 infections.

Worst coronavirus days in the US so far:

There were also 1,146 more Covid-related deaths in the US on Friday, according to JHU.

The US had four straight days of more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths this week. The last time there was such a streak was in August.

About 2,000 military personnel have been drafted in to help roll out a new mass-testing program in England's northwestern city of Liverpool. They've been trained to administer rapid tests for the coronavirus on members of the public, shuttling swabs from booths to test tubes to get results in as little as half an hour.

The United Kingdom government hopes to test the city's entire population of nearly 500,000 people in 10 days. It's a voluntary scheme open to anyone who lives and works in the city, regardless of whether they have symptoms. And it's the largest call-up of the military to help with a civilian crisis in recent years.

As Europe battles a second wave of coronavirus cases, with increasing numbers of countries imposing partial or nationwide lockdowns to try to limit infection rates, the UK is not alone in drafting in the military to help ease the huge strain on its health care systems.

Across the continent, members of the armed forces have for months been taking on roles ranging from supporting overstretched hospital staff to disinfecting testing sites to transporting patients.

Read more here.

Coronavirus cases are going to surge even higher over the next few weeks, former United States Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said during an interview on CNBC on Friday.  

Gottlieb was asked whether the US was heading for a national lockdown as Covid-19 cases surged to more than 125,000 Friday -- the country's highest single-day total since the pandemic started.   

The number of Covid-19 infections is actually much higher, he added. 

Gottlieb said the current surge is different from last spring, when there were concentrated infections in small areas.

Sixteen states reported record high Covid-19 hospitalizations on Friday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, and 22 states have reported at least one record-high day of coronavirus hospitalizations in November.

Latvia will enter a four-week lockdown on Monday, a government spokesperson told CNN, after a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

According to the spokesperson, Latvia reported 357 new cases on Friday -- bringing its total number of infections to 7,476. The country has also registered 95 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The vast majority of the country’s cases were recorded in the last month. Up until October 1, Latvia had only recorded 1,945 cases.

Starting Monday, social contact is being discouraged. Only indoor gatherings with a maximum of 10 people from no more than two households will be allowed. Restaurants will only be allowed to serve takeout, and stores will limit the number of people inside at the same time.

Other restrictions include continuing distance learning for high school students, as well as professional, vocational and higher education institutions, while lower levels of school will remain open. Only stores selling basic necessities like groceries, medication and pet food will be allowed to stay open on weekends and holidays.

All public events are banned, including concerts and theatre performances. Museums, libraries and bookstores will remain open under strict safety measures.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has tested positive for coronavirus, two officials confirmed to CNN.

Meadows traveled with United States President Donald Trump on Sunday and Monday. He was also at the White House election night party on Tuesday and in close contact with members of the President’s family. 

White House officials are now alarmed given Meadows has been around other staffers while potentially contagious, one aide says. The White House had invited people to watch the results roll in that night.

At the time, White House communications director Alyssa Farah said there would be temperature checks and precautions taken given the pandemic. Initial plans to hold an event at the Trump Hotel were scrapped because of local restrictions on indoor gatherings and fear there would be significant fines. 

The President delivered remarks from the White House press briefing room last night.

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