WHO Begs For Billions To Support Global COVID-19 Vaccinations, Israel Sees Another Daily Record: Live Updates

Summary:

• CDC extends ‘no sail’ order until end of Oct. amid controversy
• WHO begs for more money for global vaccine effort
• New restrictions imposed in Spain, UK
• Germany sees another jump in cases
• Europe supports expedited review for AZ-Oxford vaccine
• Texas virus hospitalizations jump

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Last week, the CDC quietly published its latest calculations on the ‘Infection-Fatality’ Ratio, which found that Americans under the age of 70 have a 99%+ chance of surviving a bout of COVID-19. But as President Trump’s political opponents continued to castigate the CDC for the appearance of political interference, the agency last night ordered an extension of its “no sail” order until the end of October, following a New York Times report claiming that the administration had “blocked” a longer extension until February at the behest of the tourism industry.

To be sure, in Europe, national governments in Spain and France have undertaken many more consequential decisions to try and revive their flagging tourism industries. Last night, the CDC announced the extension until Oct. 31. The previous “no sail” order expired at midnight on Wednesday.

Just in: “@CDCgov announced the extension of a No Sail Order for cruise ships through October 31. This order continues to suspend passenger operations on cruise ships with the capacity to carry at least 250 passengers in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 1, 2020

And then per @axios
“Robert Redfield, the director of the @CDCgov was overruled when he pushed to extend a ‘no-sail order’ on passenger cruises into next year, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the conversation today in the White House Situation Room.”

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 1, 2020

The White House denied the NYT’s claims that the decision was politically motivated.

Brian Morgenstern, the White House deputy press secretary, said that the administration’s cruise ship plans were not politically motivated. “The president, the vice president and the task force follow the science and data to implement policies that protect the public health and also facilitate the safe reopening of our country,” he said.

At any rate, the administration could simply extend the order again later this month when the new deadline approaches. Still, the report represents the latest embarrassment for the CDC, which last month elicited an outpouring of criticism after publishing guidance on airborne transmission, only to revoke it a few days later. The agency also angered epidemiologists when it declared that asymptomatic people who were recently in contact with a COVID-19 positive individual didn’t need to be tested.

Meanwhile, as Bill Gates urges developed nations to pour more money into vaccination efforts for low-income developing nations, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared Thursday that the world needs a “quantum leap in support” for the global vaccination plan to contain the pandemic. The UK, Canada, Germany and Sweden have already pledged nearly $1 billion to secure developing nations’ access to vaccines. But COVAX, the WHO-led organization that’s leading the charge, says it needs another $35 billion, on top of the $3 billion it has already received, of which $15 billion will be needed before the end of the year. Some 168 countries are already signed up.

Global cases of the virus are approaching 34 million, with 33,832,124 as of Thursday morning at 0630ET, while the worldwide death toll has hit 1,012,341.

In Europe, the Spanish government ordered even more restrictions on movement in Madrid to try and slow the latest wave of infections. The new curbs will limit shops and public services to 50% capacity, while limiting operating hours to 10pm local time, with few exceptions. Local officials in Madrid agreed to implement the new measures, but said they might push back against them. In the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced new restrictions for areas in northern England to try and prevent the spread of the virus, warning that cases are “still rising”, even after a coterie of local officials wrote to Hancock asking him to ease up on the economy crushing restrictions in place in several cities in Northern England. The new measures require residents in the Liverpool region, as well as Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, to be barred from meeting other households in all settings except outdoor public spaces. Residents are also advised to avoid sporting events while only visiting care homes in “exceptional circumstances.”

Across the Mediterranean, Israel posted yet another daily record, with 8,919 new cases reported in a single day, following a dip in confirmed cases over the holiday weekend. The new cases brought Israel’s total to over 248,000, including more than 1,500 deaths. PM Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to lift the restrictions only slowly, saying they could be in place for as long as six months.

Here’s more COVID-19 news from overnight and Thursday morning.

Indonesia’s Kalbe Farma begins distributing the antiviral drug remdesivir to hospitals (Source: Nikkei) .

India reports 86,821 new cases over the last 24 hours, vs. 80,472 the prior day, lifting the country total above 6.3 million (Source: JHU).

China reports 12 new COVID-19 cases for Wednesday, vs 19 a day earlier (Source: Xinhua).

Germany sees the most new cases since late April, while its infection rate fell below a key benchmark of 1.0 for the first time in five days. There were 2,442 new cases in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, according to data from JHU. That’s still far short of almost 7,000 cases recorded at the peak of the pandemic in the spring. Nevertheless, officials are still worried about a new wave of the disease stretching the health-care system and are urging citizens to respect distancing and hygiene rules (Source: Bloomberg).

As the FDA expands its probe into the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, European regulators are getting ready to begin an accelerated review of the partnership’s vaccine, which would restore the group’s status as the fastest moving project in the West, despite some setbacks from Washington (Source: Bloomberg).

Just days after deaths fell to the lowest level in months, Texas virus hospitalizations just saw their biggest daily increase in more than three weeks, with a 3% jump (93) to 3,344, an 8.5% increase since the caseload bottomed out 10 days ago.