November 12 coronavirus news

By Julia Hollingsworth, Jenni Marsh, Zamira Rahim, Ed Upright, Roya Wolverson and Joshua Berlinger, CNN

Updated 12:17 a.m. ET, November 13, 2020
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4:05 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Fewer than half of Americans are very likely to comply with another lockdown, polling shows

From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas

Washington Street is seen mostly empty in San Francisco, California on March 17, the first day of a Stay Home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Washington Street is seen mostly empty in San Francisco, California on March 17, the first day of a Stay Home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Fewer than half of Americans say are very likely to comply with another lockdown, despite growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the latest Gallup polling shows.

About 49% of Americans polled between October 19 and November 1 said they would be very likely to stay home for a month if health officials recommend it following a coronavirus outbreak in their community, down from 67% in the spring.

While 18% said they were somewhat likely to comply, a third of respondents said they would be unlikely to comply with lockdown orders -- double the rate seen in the spring. 

Though Americans are less willing to stay at home, the results show they are more worried about the pandemic, with 61% saying they believe the situation is getting worse, compared to 40% in April.

Political divide: The results show a political divide in those willing to stay home. About 40% of Republicans polled said they were willing to comply with a stay-at-home order, down from 74% in the spring. In comparison, 87% of Democrats said they would likely comply, a slight drop from 91% in March and April.

About 82% of people said they were confident in their ability to avoid infection, compared to 64% in March, which could play a role in Americans’ willingness to stay home.

Mask wearing: Health experts have said that mask use could significantly reduce the need for another lockdown.

Only about half of Americans reported wearing masks in April, shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested the practice for the general public. The number rose to 92% in July and now sits at about 88%.

3:21 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Tokyo 2020 is working to remove quarantine for athletes, Olympic staff and spectators

From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo

A man photographs the Olympic Rings in Tokyo, Japan on October 13.
A man photographs the Olympic Rings in Tokyo, Japan on October 13. Carl Court/Getty Images

Tokyo 2020 is working with the Japanese government to ensure that athletes and Olympic staff can avoid a 14-day quarantine on arrival in Japan ahead of the games, Toshiro Muto, the CEO of Tokyo 2020, said at a press briefing Thursday.

The aim is for the athletes and workers to be able to train and work in the lead up to the Olympics, which is due to be held in Summer 2021.

The athletes will likely still need to follow preventative measures, such as being tested for coronavirus before they're able to travel to Japan and will likely need to submit an activity schedule to organizers, according the organization committee.

Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese government are also hoping to implement Covid-19 prevention protocols to exempt foreign spectators from a 14-day quarantine on arrival to Japan as it is “impossible” to impose self-isolation rules on visitors.

The organizers announced that the maximum number of spectators allowed at the Olympic venues will be decided in spring. Those numbers will depend on the Covid-19 infection rates in Japan and across the world. 

2:38 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

The US reported more than 144,000 cases Wednesday. That's the highest single-day total since the pandemic began

The United States has now reported 10,400,227 cases of coronavirus, including least 241,798 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

On Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reported 144,133 new cases and 1,893 additional deaths.

Wednesday marks the highest number of cases reported in a day since the pandemic began.

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

For the latest Johns Hopkins University US numbers, check here. CNN’s map, using JHU data, continues to refresh every 15 mins.

2:07 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Doctors in Japan warn of third wave as Covid-19 infections hit a three-month high

From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo

People wait to cross a road as a taxi drives past on November 11 in Tokyo, Japan.
People wait to cross a road as a taxi drives past on November 11 in Tokyo, Japan. Carl Court/Getty Images

Japan’s Doctor's Association Chairman, Toshio Nakagawa, warned the recent surge in Covid-19 infections "is considered to be the third wave" and urged the government to step up prevention measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Japan's Health Ministry announced 1,546 new Covid-19 cases and 10 additional deaths for Wednesday -- the highest number of daily infections since August 7, which was the peak of the last wave. 

Japan has now reported 112,423 infections, including 1,864 deaths.

Tokyo reported 317 new cases Wednesday -- the highest daily toll since August 20, while Japan’s second biggest prefecture, Osaka, reported its highest number of new daily infections ever at 256. 

1:36 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

New forecast offers grim projections of upcoming trends in coronavirus pandemic

From CNN’s Shelby Lin Erdman

People line up outside a Covid-19 testing site in New York City, New York on November 11.
People line up outside a Covid-19 testing site in New York City, New York on November 11. Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

As the coronavirus pandemic accelerates across the United States, conditions could worsen on the West Coast, in the Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic states over the next several weeks, according to a new forecast from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Policy Lab. 

The CHOP Policy Lab will begin releasing weekly findings from its COVID-Lab county-level forecasts on the pandemic, the lab said Wednesday on its website. It noted that hospitalizations, ICU admissions and ventilator use are now rising in all 50 states.

Growing cases: The model is predicting “substantial growth” in Covid-19 cases over the next four weeks in the northeast and south through the mid-Atlantic region, “where dire trends previously seen in the Midwest have now set in,” the lab said. The forecast noted that mitigation efforts in and around New York City and Boston have “slowed but not abated” an increase in hospitalizations and ICU admissions in the cities.

The CHOP Policy Lab forecast is also projecting “significant case growth” along the West Coast in major cities in California, as well as in Portland and Seattle into mid-December.

Fast-filling ICU beds: “In every Midwestern state, COVID-19 patients are occupying more than 25% of ICU beds,” the lab reported.

In four states -- Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota -- coronavirus patients have filled up 50% or more of all available ICU beds. “We suspect that in many localities across these states, ICUs are near, at or over capacity,” the forecast said.

The forecast also noted that in Wisconsin, one of the earliest states to see an explosive growth in Covid-19 cases this fall, may be nearing a peak in transmissions, but hospitalizations and ICU admissions have not yet stabilized.

At least half of the 819 counties in the lab’s forecast are seeing a testing positivity rate of 9%, a measure of how prevalent positive coronavirus cases are compared to the number of tests administered.

1:17 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Delhi hits highest daily increase with 8,000 new cases 

From CNN’s Vedika Sud and Manveena Suri in New Delhi

A health worker uses a rapid kit to test for Covid-19 at a testing camp organized for shopkeepers and workers at a market place in New Delhi, India on November 9.
A health worker uses a rapid kit to test for Covid-19 at a testing camp organized for shopkeepers and workers at a market place in New Delhi, India on November 9. Altaf Qadri/AP

India’s capital region Delhi recorded 8,593 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, a record daily increase, according to a health bulletin issued by the local government.

This is the first time 8,000 cases have been reported in a single day in the capital region and brings the total number of active cases to 42,629. An additional 85 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the city's death toll to 7,228.

Delhi has now recorded 459,975 cases.

Last week, Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the capital was facing its third wave. 

The spike in cases is a result of people defying social distancing rules, and a rise in air pollution in the past week or so, said Dr Arvind Kumar, chairman of Center for Chest Surgery and founder and managing trustee at non-profit Lung Care Foundation.

“There are two factors which I feel are responsible for the increase in Covid-19 cases in Delhi," he said. "About two to three weeks back we had a major festival, where people met each other, greeted each other, prayed in groups. So a lot of social distancing norms were violated in the last two weeks.”
“Also, there has been a massive, massive spike in pollution in Delhi and the National Capital region,” he added. 

Experts are concerned that pollution may mean people spend more time indoors, and that poor air quality could aggravate respiratory conditions.

What's happening in India: Nationwide, India recorded at additional 47,905 cases on Thursday, bringing the country's total to 8,683,916 cases, according to the country’s health ministry. To date, 128,121 deaths have been recorded -- including 550 reported on Thursday.

12:25 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

US hospitals approach "crisis level" as some reach capacity and others face threats of strike

From CNN's Kay Jones, Brad Parks, Alec Snyder and Rebekah Riess

Hospitals in the United States are coming under immense strain as some reach full capacity and others face threats of strikes by staff.

Mississippi's Department of Health announced Wednesday that the state’s Covid-19 hospitalizations “are on track toward the crisis level we saw this summer,” warning that if changes weren't made immediately, there would be critical shortages of first-line care for those seriously ill or injured.  

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves extended mask mandates for 15 countries through December 11, according to a release from the Governor’s office. 

The Mayo Clinic Health System said its hospitals in Northwest Wisconsin were full to capacity, with 100% of its beds filled in the region. It said that half of the intensive care unit capacity is occupied by Covid-19 patients, while 40% of regular medical surgical beds are being used by Covid-19 patients -- who it said normally stay in hospital 2-3 times longer than non-Covid patients. 

"The public urgently needs to treat Covid-19 as the health emergency it is to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed,” the Mayo Clinic Health System said in a joint statement sent to CNN Wednesday.

Approximately 300 hospital staff in the area are on work restrictions due to exposure to Covid-19, the statement added. 

"While we are temporarily deferring elective procedures in order to free up beds for Covid-19 patients, the public needs to understand we continue to care for other patient populations in addition to Covid patients -- we remain open for trauma, emergency care, and urgent care needs," the statement said.

Meanwhile, at least 1,500 nurses in Philadelphia are on the verge of striking, according to a spokesperson with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP). 

The nurses feel they have been “pushed to the brink by unsafe staffing that seriously undermines patient safety,” according to the release.

“The frontline nurses at four Philadelphia-area hospitals have taken steps toward a strike to protect their patients and themselves on the cusp of a second deadly wave of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the release said. "The nurses are seeking a commitment to safe minimum staffing levels from each of the four hospitals."

CNN has reached out to Trinity Health, Tower Health and Einstein Health for comment. 

12:02 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic reveals “big problems” in clinical trials, FDA expert says

From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed “problems” with the state of clinical trials, Dr Janet Woodcock, the director of the Centers for Drug Evaluation and Research at the United States Food and Drug Administration, said this week.

There are currently more than 700 trials for coronavirus therapeutics underway in the US, Woodcock said.

Most are not going to tell doctors very much that’s useful, said Woodcock, who is also leading Operation Warp Speed’s search for new therapeutics against Covid-19.

Woodcock made her comments to the New England Journal of Medicine in a discussion that was posted online.

One of the concerns about the large number of trials is that they are started by different investigators and are each too small to have answers. Plus, there’s a lack of coordination among them. 

“You take convalescent plasma -- we don't have a single trial,” Woodcock said. “Even though that's been available for quite a long time, we don't have a single trial that is large enough to yield answers right now, a randomized trial, and we're supporting continued conduct of those randomized trials."

The uncoordinated nature of these trials “is a really big problem,” Woodcock said, adding that the trials are “underpowered,” and many will never enroll enough patients to really yield data.

“And since many of these patients are in the community, they don't have an opportunity to participate in trials, and so if tens of thousands of people who are ill and most of them cannot be entered into trials where we can learn knowledge quickly, this is really a challenge,” she added.

“We need as a community to come together after this and do some lessons learned and figure out how to respond better,” she said.

12:00 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Navajo Nation more than doubles number of communities with "uncontrolled spread" of Covid-19

From CNN’s Konstantin Toropin

The Navajo Nation -- a tribal area which spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah -- has issued a health advisory to 21 new communities warning residents of the “uncontrolled spread” of Covid-19, according to a statement.

The Native American territory now has 34 communities under a 14-day advisory for Covid-19 spread, the statement added. 

Residents in the impacted communities are “advised to stay on the Navajo Nation and refrain from off-Reservation travel,” a public health order from the Navajo Department of Health said.

“Individuals are also advised not to gather with anyone outside your immediate household and stay within your local communities.”

Navajo leaders said in the statement that the increase in the uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 is “largely due to travel off the Navajo Nation and family gatherings.”

As a result, the nation will implement a 56-hour curfew starting at 9pm on Friday November 13, the statement explained. 

“We are dealing with an invisible monster and the only way we are going to beat this virus is by doing it together and listening to our public health experts,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in the statement. 

The Navajo Nation was once a prominent hot spot for Covid-19 in the US. In May, the nation surpassed New York and New Jersey for the highest per-capita Coronavirus infection rate.

Nez cited multi-generation living situations, a lack of running water among residents and fewer places to purchase food as causes for increased spread of the disease in May.