CBS News -
October 20, 2020
A quarter of U.S. workers have even considered quitting their jobs as worries related to the pandemic weigh on them, according to a poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in collaboration with the software company SAP. A fifth say they have taken leaves of absence. About 7 in 10 workers cited juggling their jobs and other responsibilities as a source of stress.
CNN -
October 20, 2020
More Hispanic workers were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in food processing plants, manufacturing plants and agriculture workplaces in the US last spring than workers of other races or ethnicities, a team led by the US CDC reported Monday. The study found that nearly 73% of workers at meat and poultry plants and similar settings across the country who were diagnosed with the virus were Hispanic or Latino, despite accounting for only 37% of the work force in these work places.
TIME -
October 20, 2020
Its daily infection rate is doubling every seven to eight days in some regions, more people are now hospitalized there than on March 23 (when the country went into general lockdown), and in some regions, hospital beds and intensive care units are at 90% capacity. … The answer, hard as it may be to sell to a COVID-weary public, is another lockdown—sort of. British epidemiologists and policymakers are increasingly calling for what’s known as a “circuit-breaker” strategy: a short, sharp lockdown of just two to three weeks to get ahead of the virus and, if nothing else, buy a little time.
Reuters -
October 20, 2020
A California panel of experts will independently review the safety of new coronavirus vaccines and initial plans for distribution, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday. The 11-person panel specializing in topics such as epidemiology, biostatistics, and infectious disease will review any vaccine approved by the FDA before it is distributed to state residents, Newsom told a news conference.
CNN -
October 20, 2020
States still have no idea how they're going to pay for coronavirus vaccine distribution, despite filing plans last week, state officials said Monday. Friday was the deadline for states to submit their plans to the US CDC, but they still don't have the needed federal money to help carry them out, officials said. … The CDC distributed $200 million to states for preparedness and planning, Blumenstock said, which "certainly would not be sufficient at all for a campaign of this magnitude and duration." The association has asked Congress for $8.4 billion to help states distribute and administer vaccines to people once they became available.
WJCL-22 -
October 20, 2020
News4JAX -
October 20, 2020
11ALIVE -
October 19, 2020
Yahoo! Finance -
October 19, 2020
AP -
October 19, 2020
The actual worldwide tally of COVID-19 cases is likely to be far higher, as testing has been variable, many people have had no symptoms and some governments have concealed the true number of cases. To date, more than 1.1 million confirmed virus deaths have been reported, although experts also believe that number is an undercount. The U.S., India and Brazil are reporting by far the highest numbers of cases — 8.1 million, 7.5 million and 5.2 million respectively — although the global increase in recent weeks has been driven by a surge in Europe, which has seen over 240,000 confirmed virus deaths in the pandemic so far.
KTLA-5 -
October 19, 2020
Rural Jerauld County in South Dakota didn’t see a single case of the coronavirus for more than two months stretching from June to August. But over the last two weeks, its rate of new cases per person soared to one of the highest in the nation. … As the brunt of the virus has blown into the Upper Midwest and northern Plains, the severity of outbreaks in rural communities has come into focus. Doctors and health officials in small towns worry that infections may overwhelm communities with limited medical resources. And many say they are still running up against attitudes on wearing masks that have hardened along political lines and a false notion that rural areas are immune to widespread infections.
CNN -
October 19, 2020
With all the previous and current measures to offset the spread of the virus, "the country is fatigued with restrictions," said Fauci, ... "We want to use public health measures not to get in the way of opening the economy, but to being a safe gateway to opening the economy,"... "So instead of having an opposition, open up the economy, get jobs back, or shut down. No, put shut down away and say 'we're going to use public health measures to help us safely get to where we want to go.' " He added that it's not safe yet to say the country is "on the road to essentially getting out of this."