November 22 coronavirus news

New York State is reporting 5,391 new cases of Covid-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted today.

The overall statewide test positivity rate is 2.74%, and within the cluster zones, the positivity rate is 4.39%. 

On Sunday, the state reported at least 2,562 people were hospitalized because of Covid-19 and 30 people died from the virus on Saturday, the governor tweeted.

Read the tweet:

One thing to note: These numbers were released by the state’s health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and our Covid tracker.

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, and CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen is urging Americans to skip visiting family and friends to have holiday dinners around indoor dining tables.

She said people can still visit family by socializing outdoors and described how Americans can host outdoor gatherings.

Here's what she said:

If you're the host, set up chairs and tables in advance. I like to have a big table in the middle, where I put all the drinks and plates. I also have chairs set up so that every household is spaced at least 6 feet apart. I'll pour drinks and then have people come up, individually, to pick them up. Food should be plated separately; no buffets or people reaching into a common bowl. We won't share food or drinks.

Make sure to keep an eye on the kids. To be safe, put masks on the kids if they're playing together, though be sure to enforce physical distancing. If they are sharing toys, apply hand sanitizer frequently. We try to do it every 30 minutes.

Designate a bathroom for guests. Guests should go indoors, one at a time. No gathering indoors. Everyone should wear masks while using the restroom. Open windows and doors leading to the restroom if possible.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation on Sunday, that implementing mitigation efforts can help flatten the curve leading up to the holiday season.

Fauci says implementing mitigation measures — such as universal mask wearing, physical distancing, closing bars and avoiding crowds — “can blunt curves and as we're getting into the colder season.”

“I would hope that the people who are pushing back on the recommendations for mitigation measures just look at the numbers – look at the facts,” he said. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have the ultimate determination for recommendations on who gets a Covid-19 vaccine first, and that he would have no hesitation in taking it if he was in that group. 

“The CDC has the ultimate determination for the recommendations,” he told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday. “They do that closely with an Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is also being complemented by recommendations from the Nation Academy of Medicine, but at the end of the day it’s the CDC.” 

Fauci explained that the CDC will make recommendations after an emergency use authorization is implemented as they will know what was discussed with the FDA. 

“They’ll be able to say okay, on the basis of our determination and our advisory committee, this is the prioritization of people who will get it,” he said, adding that that if things go well, “and I think that they will,” and the vaccines get the EUA which is expected, “we will have maybe 20 million people will be able to get vaccinated by the middle to the end of December and then as we get into January, February, even more.” 

“Would you take it next month?” Brennan asked him. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that there are two things that make a vaccination program effective: the efficacy of the vaccine and how many people take it. 

Fauci was speaking to CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation on Sunday. Brennan quoted Operation Warp Speeds chief scientific advisor, Moncef Slaoui, saying “we could have true herd immunity take place somewhere in the month of May as the vaccine is distributed.”

Brennan then asked Fauci if America goes back to normal life in May.

“If you have a highly efficacious vaccine, and only a relatively small 40, 50% of the people get vaccinated, you’re not going to get the herd immunity you need,” Fauci said. “What we do need is we need to get as many people as possible vaccinated.”  

This is why, he explained, “we want to be very transparent” and for people to understand the independent, transparent process which led to the point of the US Food and Drug Administration, along with independent advisory committees, saying that the vaccines are safe and effective with an EUA and ultimately a license. 

“When the American public hears that, you should be assured that that is the case and if you get an overwhelming majority of the people vaccinated with a highly efficacious vaccine, we can reasonably quickly get into herd immunity that would be a blanket of protection for the country,” Fauci said. 

In anticipation of the upcoming holiday season, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is warning Americans about the risk of infection at friends and family gatherings. 

“One of the spots, if you want to call them, where you have a risk is seemingly innocent family friends get togethers indoors and it seems like the most natural thing,” Fauci said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation.

 Fauci said he is concerned about people traveling through crowded airports. 

“When you get on a crowded plane, you're in a crowded airport, you're lining up, not everybody's wearing masks – that puts yourself at risk,” he said. 

He also said that the he is concerned about a possible spike in cases leading up to Christmas.

“You're not going to see an increase until weeks later – things lag,” he said. “So what you don't want to see is another spike in cases as we get colder and colder into December and then you start dealing with the Christmas holiday – we can really be in a very difficult situation.”

“So you want to tell people to please, seriously consider decisions that you make,” he added. 

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the head of the government's effort to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" this morning to answer questions about the US's race to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine.

Here are the key takeaways from his interview:

The US is seeing an unprecedented pandemic resurgence, and nearly a quarter of all Covid-19 cases reported in the United States so far were recorded in November.

Records are being set in some states: Mississippi reported a single day record in the state with 1,972 cases on Saturday, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.

In New Mexico, records were set on Saturday with 825 hospitalizations, a tweet from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said.

Overall, 37 states are reporting more coronavirus cases in the past week than they did in the previous week. Another eight are seeing a steady number of new cases, and just five are seeing declining numbers.

Here's a look at where cases are rising:

Sen. David Perdue campaign spokesperson Casey Black says the Georgia senator will remain at home until Sen. Kelly Loeffler receives confirmation of her test results. 

What is this about: As CNN reported Saturday, Loeffler’s campaign confirmed that the Georgia Republican tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday but a subsequent test came back as inconclusive on Saturday evening.

Loeffler was maskless with Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Perdue during campaign events most of the day Friday. The trio rode on a bus from the airport to two campaign events for Georgia senate seat runoff elections.