November 23 coronavirus news

South Korea has declared an “emergency period” in the capital city of Seoul until the end of the year as cases continue to spike, Seoul’s acting mayor Seo Jung-hyup said on Monday. 

Under the new restrictions, public transportation is reduced by 20% after 10 p.m. and gatherings are capped at 10 people.

The city will also conduct regular Covid-19 tests on some 40,000 workers and users of nursing hospitals and daycare centers, Seo added. Stricter virus control measures will also be introduced to facilities such as religious centers and call centers. 

Seo urged people to refrain from holding end-of-year gatherings, and for religious groups to turn to online services. 

The Seoul metropolitan area will also be placed under Level 2 social distancing measures for two weeks, starting November 24.

Under Level 2 restrictions:

On Monday, South Korea reported 271 Covid-19 cases from Sunday, including 112 cases in Seoul, according to the Seoul government.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca announced on Monday that its experimental coronavirus vaccine has shown an average efficacy of 70% in its large scale trials -- the latest of several vaccine trials worldwide to post their results this month.

The vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, showed 90% efficacy in one dosing regimen, and 62% efficacy in a second regimen. That averages to a 70% efficacy, AstraZeneca said. 

The interim analysis included a total of 131 Covid-19 cases, according to the release.

Other vaccines in the works: This comes after Moderna announced earlier this month that its vaccine was 94.5% effective against coronavirus, and Pfizer announced its vaccine was 95% effective.

The Chief Minister of India's Maharashtra state, Uddhav Thackeray, has warned the public to practice Covid-appropriate behavior to avoid a "tsunami" of infections after the festival season.

“The second and third wave of coronavirus that some states are experiencing, if you compare it with previous waves, it’s not a wave but a tsunami," Thackeray said in an address on Sunday, referring to rising infections in Delhi and other states. 

He added that Maharashtra has gained some control of the situation -- but cautioned citizens to wear masks and avoid crowds.

Maharashtra, India's second most populous state, has reported more than 1.78 million Covid-19 cases. The state's death toll stands at 46,623, according to the Indian Ministry of Health.

Australia reopened travel between New South Wales state and the former virus hotspot of Victoria on Monday, after four months of closed interstate borders. 

Flights between Sydney and Melbourne, once the busiest flight route in the country and second busiest in the world, also resumed on Monday. Qantas and Jetstar will operate 17 flights between Sydney and Melbourne on Monday alone according to Qantas.

Why the border shut: The border between NSW and Victoria was closed on July 8, when Victoria saw a large spike in coronavirus cases. The country's largest outbreak so far peaked in July and August, and cases have slowly fallen back to single and double digits per day.

Both New South Wales and Victoria recorded no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases on Sunday.

The reopening of the border comes after Victoria further relaxed restrictions, including allowing the number of people attending outdoor gatherings in public places to 50 people. Cinemas, galleries and museums will be allowed to host up to 150 people indoors.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has ordered a statewide "pause," saying Covid-19 cases are growing at a "wildfire level."

The new restrictions, which go into effect on Tuesday, will last for three weeks, Sisolak said at a news conference.

Here's what the restrictions mean:

The state’s positivity rate is at a record 16.5%, and 10% of all cases ever reported in Nevada have been in the past seven days, the governor said.

The United States reported 142,732 new coronavirus cases and 921 virus-related deaths on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

At least 12,246,849 Covid-19 cases and 256,782 deaths have now been reported in the US, according to the university's tally.

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

CNN is tracking US cases:

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Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

Shanghai's Pudong International Airport tested all personnel working in the cargo areas of the airport on Sunday following the discovery of several coronavirus cases.

On Sunday, another two airport workers tested positive for virus, bringing the total number of reported infections linked to the outbreak to five.

The number of new Covid-19 cases per week has tripled in Florida since Gov. Ron DeSantis reopened the state in one swoop in late September.

That means three times more Floridians per week are testing positive for Covid-19 now, than the week the state was reopened.

In an effort to curb the spread of the virus, a bipartisan group of mayors from across the state asked DeSantis last week to issue a mask mandate, bolster contact tracing, increase funding for Covid-19 testing, and give mayors more local control. 

DeSantis issued a video message last week sharing “promising news” about therapeutics and vaccines -- but he didn't address the rise in cases.

The Chinese city of Tianjin has launched a mass testing program that will test 2.6 million residents in just a few days after five locally transmitted cases were reported on Friday.

Four of the five new cases were reported in the same residential compound in Binhai New Area district, located in the eastern part of the city, the city's health commission said in a statement.

The mass testing, which started on Saturday, will cover all residents living in the district, it added. The testing was expected to be completed in three days. 

As of Sunday evening, Tianjin had received more than 2.25 million test samples, of which over 1 million have come back negative, the health commission said. 

Tianjin, a major port on China's northeastern coast, is home to more than 13 million people.