The Senate failed to advance a slimmed-down coronavirus relief bill Thursday that senators on both sides had acknowledged was unlikely to muster the votes to pass the chamber.
The bill was defeated in a 52-47 vote, and one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted with Democrats in opposing the bill.
The estimated $300 billion proposal, dubbed the Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act, included bolstered unemployment benefits, funding for schools and liability protections for businesses and health care facilities. Its failure leaves little chance a stimulus bill will pass Congress before the November election.
Meanwhile, universities across the country also continue to contend with COVID-19 challenges. The University of Wyoming on Wednesday extended its fall return for the second time in a week, while the University of Wisconsin-Madison shifted to online education for two weeks.
Some significant developments:
? Today’s numbers: The U.S. has more than 6.3 million confirmed cases and more than 190,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there are almost 28 million cases and more than 904,000 fatalities.
? What we’re reading: Here’s what President Donald Trump told the public about COVID-19 versus what he told veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward as early as February.
?️ Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak, state by state
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15% of cats in study test positive for COVID-19 antibodies
Nearly 15% of cats included in a Wuhan-based study tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, providing further evidence that the virus can infect the animals.
Researchers in Wuhan sampled 102 cats from shelters, pet hospitals and COVID-19 patient households from January to March and found that 15 tested positive for antibodies, including four abandoned cats, four cats from pet hospitals and three cats with patient owners, according to the study published this month in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections.
None of the cats showed symptoms or had an active infection. The three cats owned by COVID-19 patients who tested positive for antibodies had the highest level of neutralizing antibodies – or ability to successfully block the infection. Two of those cats had detectable antibodies for 110 days.
Researchers said that while there is no evidence of transmission from cats to humans, humans can transmit the virus to cats, and cats may transmit the virus to other cats via respiratory droplets.
Scotland joins England on social gathering limit of 6 people
Scotland has joined England in limiting social gatherings to six people after a recent spike in coronavirus cases.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told Scottish lawmakers the new regulations will start Monday, along with England, and apply to gatherings in and out of the home.
Scotland’s restriction is perhaps more onerous as it applies to a maximum of two households. In England, six individuals from six different households can meet.
– The Associated Press
FDA officials pledge to not rush COVID-19 vaccine amid political pressure
Senior members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have joined a growing list of government officials, drug makers and public health experts who pledge they won’t compromise safety in the race for a coronavirus vaccine.
In a letter published Thursday in USA TODAY, eight top FDA officials and doctors affirmed the agency’s commitment that all “decisions will continue to be guided by the best science” and maintain independence from political forces.
The letter comes as the agency in recent weeks has faced criticism for approving convalescent plasma therapy for emergency use as a COVID-19 treatment based on flawed analysis.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
Another 857,000 workers file for unemployment as layoffs persist
Although the nation is partially recovering from its steepest-ever recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses continue to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers as they grapple with fewer sales and depleted federal aid.
More than 857,000 Americans filed first-time applications for unemployment insurance – a rough measure of layoffs – last week, up about 20,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Over 55 million workers have filed for benefits over the past six months. While the weekly figures have trended down since peaking at 6.2 million in early spring, here’s some perspective: The previous all-time high for weekly claims on a non-seasonally adjusted basis was about 1 million during a recession in 1982.
– Paul Davidson
LA now just ‘recommends’ trick-or-treating not happen
One day after releasing guidelines banning trick-or-treating and other Halloween activities, health officials in Los Angeles walked back their rules on Wednesday. They now are just “recommending that trick-or-treating not happen this year,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.
Halloween carnivals, festivals, live entertainment, haunted house attractions and gatherings with non-household members – even if they are conducted outdoors – are not permitted, the updated guidance says. Online parties, car parades, drive-in movies, themed meals at outdoors restaurants and more are recommended.
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday that she does not “expect to see mass crowds trick-or-treating like we have in years past,” adding that, “It’s not safe for the children. It’s not safe for the adults.”
America is facing a monkey shortage as demand skyrockets for COVID-19 research, experts say
The race for a coronavirus vaccine to help end the pandemic has consumed the scientific community and created an escalating demand for an essential resource: monkeys.
Before drug companies call on human volunteers, monkeys are used in preclinical trials to test a vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. But with more than 100 vaccines in development around the world, there aren’t enough monkeys to go around.
“There is a shortage,” said Dr. Skip Bohm, associate director and chief veterinary medical officer of the Tulane National Primate Research Center. Read more.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
World may have entered ‘pandemic era’ driven by climate change
COVID-19 may only be the beginning of global pandemics – a future scenario in which climate change may also play a role. A recent study in the journal Cell said, written by Dr. Anthony Fauci and medical historian Dr. David Morens, argues that the world has “entered a pandemic era.” The study forecasts that pandemics could become more numerous.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but what we are seeing looks very much like an acceleration of pandemics,“ Morens told BuzzFeed News. Causes he cited include deforestation, urban crowding and wet markets for wild game.
Climate change has not stopped because of COVID-19, according to a United Nations report Wednesday. Emissions are heading in the direction of pre-pandemic levels following a temporary decline caused by the lockdown and economic slowdown, the report said.
– Doyle Rice
Trump told reporter in February he was downplaying dangers of COVID-19
President Donald Trump acknowledged that he was publicly downplaying the coronavirus while privately admitting its severity to veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward as early as February.
Trump told Woodward in an interview on Feb. 7 about how much “more deadly” COVID-19 would be than the flu, a startling juxtaposition from the president’s public remarks at the time and in the months since about COVID-19, its lethality and its spread. In Woodward’s book “Rage,” the journalist interviewed Trump 18 times and included audio recordings of their conversations.
“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump said to Woodward on March 19, according to news outlets. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
– Savannah Behrmann
U.S. to drop COVID-19 screenings for some international passengers
The U.S. government is halting its enhanced entry screening for certain international passengers at airports starting Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The current system of temperature checks and screening for COVID-19 symptoms at 15 centralized airports will be dropped in favor of shifting responsibility to the individual passenger. Instead, the emphasis will be placed on pre-departure, in-flight and post-arrival health education; voluntary electronic contact information collection; and post-arrival recommendations for self-monitoring, including staying home for 14 days if arriving from a high-risk destination.
– David Oliver
Donald Trump rally at Reno airport would break Nevada’s 50-person limit
President Donald Trump may have to find a new home for planned weekend campaign rallies in Reno and Las Vegas after local officials warned the events would violate Nevada’s ban on gatherings of more than 50 people during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority confirmed it had sent a letter to rally organizers warning that Saturday’s planned 5,000-person event “may not proceed” after airport attorneys determined it would violate state and local COVID-containment directives.
“This has nothing to do with politics,” airport authority CEO Daren Griffin said in a statement. “The letter we sent is about directives and safety and not political campaigns.”
Earlier Wednesday, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a Republican, tweeted without evidence that Trump’s scheduled appearances at the Reno-Tahoe Airport and Las Vegas’ Cirrus Aviation were scrapped in an “outrageous” act of “partisan political retribution.” Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, later tweeted that his office had “no involvement” in the decision.
– James DeHaven, Reno Gazette Journal
What we’re reading
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mandates face coverings for sports
Most Michigan high school sports are getting a late start this fall, and now a new executive order will make sure you see sports like you’ve never seen before.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order mandating a face covering be worn at all times by “athletes training for, practicing for, or competing in an organized sports when the athlete cannot maintain six feet of social distance, except for occasional and fleeting moments.”
Swimmers are excluded from this order, but football, soccer and volleyball players are not. So, expect to see players on the field and on the sidelines wearing masks under their helmets when games begin Sept. 18.
– Kirkland Crawford and Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press
University of Wisconsin shifts to remote learning after COVID spike
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has paused in-person classes because of a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus. Starting Monday, classes will be held remotely. Officials canceled classes from Thursday to Saturday. “Unfortunately, our positive test rate among students continues to rise far too rapidly,” officials announced Wednesday in a news release.
There’s also been a “sharp” increase of confirmed cases in two residence halls, and officials have asked residents to quarantine for the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the University of Wyoming extended the pause on its fall return until Monday. Officials said Wednesday that the extension will allow them “to gather additional data about the prevalence of COVID-19 infection among the UW community.” Last week, President Edward Seidel paused the university’s fall return after seven students tested positive for the virus on Sept. 2.
No COVID-19 deaths in Navajo Nation for second time in 3 days
Navajo Nation health officials reported zero deaths for the second time in three days on Wednesday.
The news comes after tribal health officials reported no additional deaths on Monday for the first time since March. Officials also reported 12 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 9,915. The death toll remains at 527. About 98,000 people have been tested as of Wednesday, and 7,100 have recovered, officials said.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ makes COVID-19 era changes for 38th season
“Wheel of Fortune” fans are going to see some changes when the long-running game show returns for its 38th season on Monday. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, production of “Wheel” has been adjusted to accommodate safety protocols to slow the spread of coronavirus, according to a press release from the game show’s production company, Sony Pictures Television.
In addition to following local government guidelines and rigorous testing protocol for contestants, talent, staff and crew, the upcoming season of “Wheel of Fortune” will see the platform surrounding the wheel redesigned, allowing for contestants and host Pat Sajak to stand six feet away from each other. Players must spin the wheel using a personal “spinning cap,” which is a small cloth pocket that allows contestants to grip and spin the wheel without actually touching it.
– Charles Trepany
A spike in teacher deaths raises concerns as school year starts
Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the coronavirus since the dawn of the new school year, and a teachers’ union leader worries that the return to in-person classes will have a deadly impact across the U.S. if proper precautions aren’t taken.
AshLee Marinis, a 34-year-old special education teacher in Missouri, died after being hospitalized for three weeks. Elsewhere, a third-grade teacher died Monday in South Carolina, and two other educators died recently in Mississippi, which has reported 604 cases among school workers.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said schools need guidelines such as mandatory face coverings and strict social distancing rules to reopen safely. “If community spread is too high as it is in Missouri and Mississippi, if you don’t have the infrastructure of testing, and if you don’t have the safeguards that prevent the spread of viruses in the school, we believe that you cannot reopen in person,” Weingarten said.
– The Associated Press
COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19 news: Senate coronavirus aid; Los Angeles halloween; layoffs
