ZCZC
BFF-01
HEALTH-VIRUS
Americans urged to stay home for Thanksgiving as virus surges
LOS ANGELES, Nov 20, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – US authorities on Thursday urged
Americans not to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday as virus cases soared in
the worst-hit nation and California announced a night-time curfew aimed at
curbing the surging pandemic.
America was hit by a spike of over 200,000 new infections and 2,239
fatalities — the worst death toll since May — over the past 24 hours,
according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.
A powerful weapon against the virus could be coming soon though, as
BioNTech and Pfizer planned to apply on Friday for emergency use
authorisation of their vaccine in the US.
The recent surge in US cases has sufficiently alarmed authorities that they
asked Americans to stay home for next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, which
normally sees millions travel to gather with their families for meals —
ideal conditions for virus spread.
“It’s not a requirement. It’s a strong recommendation,” Henry Walke, a US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doctor, told reporters.
Thanksgiving is the busiest US holiday in terms of travel, as it falls on a
Thursday and many Americans take the Friday off work and make a long weekend
of it.
– No US shutdown –
Despite the warning, President-elect Joe Biden did not come out for the
type of national shutdown that some European nations have put back in place
as cases have jumped after a summer lull.
“There’s no circumstance which I can see that would require total national
shutdown. I think that would be counterproductive,” Biden, who takes office
on January 20, told reporters Thursday.
US states and cities have been imposing their own restrictions, including
home confinement, the closure of indoor dining and a limit on gatherings as
infections soar across the country.
New York City on Thursday closed its schools — affecting 1.1 million
students — but left gyms and bars open, the opposite of the virus strategy
in many European cities where schools have stayed open.
California will impose a 10:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew from Saturday, with
state Governor Gavin Newsom saying it was “crucial to decrease transmission
and slow hospitalizations.”
President Donald Trump has been muted in his public reactions to the surge
in cases, staying largely out of the public eye as he presses his
unsubstantiated fraud claims in the election he lost to Biden.
Health Secretary Alex Azar told a White House briefing that the
BioNTech/Pfizer application was expected Friday, confirming a timeline
BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin shared with AFP in an interview.
“There is a chance that we can receive approval from the US or Europe or
both regions this year still,” Sahin said.
“We may even start delivering the vaccine in December,” he added, “if
everyone works together very closely”.
The BioNTech/Pfizer shot and another one from US firm Moderna have taken
the lead in the race for a vaccine, after large-scale trial data this month
showed their jabs were around 95 percent effective against Covid-19.
Trials for another vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca,
also show it safely produces a robust immune response in healthy older
people, while producing fewer side effects than in younger people, its
British maker said on Thursday.
– Europe outbreaks easing –
Vaccines would be a major weapon against the virus that has killed at least
1,350,275 people and infected 56 million since the outbreak emerged in China
last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on
Thursday.
After the US, the second worst-affected country is Brazil with 167,455
deaths, followed by India with 131,578 and Mexico which hit 100,104 deaths on
Thursday.
But in some parts of Europe, there were signs of new restrictions imposed
to halt the second wave were taking effect.
New infections in Germany have plateaued since a partial lockdown came into
force in early November, officials said, even though the daily number of new
coronavirus cases remains high.
France, too, has seen declines in daily new Covid-19 cases since a second
nationwide lockdown began at the end of October.
President Emmanuel Macron and ministers will discuss easing some
restrictions from December 1, though officials warned the country was still
far from the end of its lockdown.
The virus and restrictions imposed to halt its spread continue to disrupt
businesses, sports and entertainment worldwide.
Face-to-face meetings between the chief negotiators in Brexit talks were
suspended on Thursday after a member of the EU team tested positive for
coronavirus.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0856 hrs