The Latest: President Trump returns to the Oval Office
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office for the first time since he was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Spokesman Brian Morgenstern confirmed that the president has returned to the Oval Office. He has been convalescing in the White House residence since he returned from a three-night hospital stay on Monday evening.
Trump is likely still contagious with the virus.
Morgenstern says of the Oval Office return that there are “certainly ways to do it without compromising anyone.”
White House officials say they have put additional safeguards in place to protect staff who may interact with the president, including requiring full personal protective equipment.
Morgenstern says Trump is being briefed on economic stimulus talks and a potentially devastating hurricane heading toward the Gulf Coast.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— President Trump’s doctor says he’s been symptom-free for 24 hours
— What do we know about superspreader events in the pandemic?
— Gov. Cuomo issues restrictions in parts of New York
— Eli Lilly and Company has asked the U.S. government to allow emergency use of an experimental antibody therapy.
— Ethics experts say the special treatment Trump received to access an experimental COVID-19 drug raises fairness issues and public’s right to know about his condition.
— Tennessee will not be returning to the team’s facility after two more players tested positive and New England Patriots have canceled practice through Thursday amid reports that a third player has tested positive for the coronavirus.
— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
PARIS — France set a grim new record on Wednesday, with more than 18,700 new cases of COVID-19 infections detected in the past 24 hours.
Health officials said that more than 80 people died of the virus in 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths linked to the coronavirus to 32,445, among the highest counts in Europe.
In another high, the rate of positives in the increasing number of tests being conducted is over 9 percent, the public health agency said.
Authorities have been trying to beat back the worrying increase in infections that began after the summer holidays when people let down their guard, but do not want to return the nation to the strict two-month lockdown that ended in mid-May.
A day ago, bars were closed down in the Paris area — placed on a maximum alert level — and restaurants are being forced to comply with strict conditions if they want to remain open, like taking names and phone numbers of each client.
Festive activities were banned. Paris far outpaces other French cities for the number of people hospitalized and treated in ICUs, including Marseille, another trouble spot.
On Monday, the director of the Regional Health Authority, Aurelien Rousseau, said about 3,500 new cases of infection were confirmed on average each day in the Paris region, and 36% of ICU beds in the area were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
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MIAMI — Florida’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed more than 15,000 people as the state detected more than 2,500 new virus cases and local governments and school districts carried on with reopening plans.
Health officials tallied 139 new deaths, while 2,128 patients are being treated in Florida hospitals for COVID-19, a slight decrease from Tuesday’s figures. The health department figures do not represent casualties in a 24-hour period, and include deaths from several previous days.
Miami public schools continued to welcome children for physical instruction on Wednesday after more than a month of virtual learning.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said shipments with hundreds of thousands of rapid test kits will help better detect the virus and protect those with underlying conditions.
According to data kept by the Associated Press, Florida’s death toll from the virus is the fifth highest in the country overall and the 12th highest per capita at more than 69 deaths per 100,000 people.
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HELENA, Mont. — Montana health officials reported 733 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, again shattering the record for daily cases. The previous record, set on Tuesday, stood at 504 cases. Missoula County health officials said the 211 new cases reported in the county represent a reporting lag. However, an official said Tuesday the Missoula health department would increase enforcement of statewide regulations with unannounced inspections of businesses. Gov. Steve Bullock has previously said it is up to to local counties and health departments to issue stricter regulations to prevent the spread of the virus. Bullock was expected to hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the outbreak.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A member of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office staff has tested positive for COVID-19 and contact tracing has begun.
The governor’s office says in a statement Wednesday that the staff member had not interacted with Newsom or with staff that routinely interacts with the governor.
Separately, a state employee who works in a space shared with some staff from the governor’s office also tested positive for COVID-19 but the person also had not interacted with the governor or his close staff.
The governor’s office says it received word of both positive tests earlier this week and COVID-19 protocols for California state agencies were implemented.
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MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s governor has announced a field hospital at the state fairgrounds will open within the next week as a surge in coronavirus cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
According to the state Department of Health Services, only 16% of the state’s 11,452 hospital beds are available as of Tuesday afternoon. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has grown to 853, including 216 in intensive care.
The COVID-19 test results on an additional 262 in-patients are pending. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a 530-bed field hospital on the state fairgrounds in West Allis in April, but it wasn’t needed until now.
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins refused to grant the temporary restraining order requested by plaintiffs represented by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.
Watkins says there is no urgency because the health orders were first issued this spring and the mask order followed in July. The case will go forward. Watkins asked the two sides to file briefs on whether the case should be dismissed.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey last week extended the state mask order through Nov. 8. Ivey says the measure has proven effective at helping control the state’s coronavirus outbreak even if some people do not like it.
Moore argued the mandate, as well as state health orders that closed businesses or directed people to stay home, were unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed by Moore’s Foundation for Moral Law on behalf of seven plaintiffs.
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JOHNSTON, Iowa — Gov. Kim Reynolds says the health care system can handle the increase in coronavirus cases and record hospitalizations without more action to reduce infections.
There were 444 people treated for the coronavirus in hospitals on Wednesday. In the past day, the state confirmed 919 new positive cases and 15 deaths.
Despite the increases, Reynolds said hospital officials had reported that they were equipped to handle the surge.
Reynolds emphasized everyone needs to take personal responsibility. Asked whether the state should do more, Reynolds says there would be a cost to requiring more stringent safety measures.
She says it’s a balancing act, and she’s “working with Iowans and businesses across the state. There’s more than just one side of this.”
Iowa’s total cases stand at 94,342 and 1,414 deaths.
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BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry has registered a new daily record of 1,459 coronavirus cases.
The ministry also reported nine deaths on Tuesday raising the toll to 433. The new cases raise the total number of registered coronavirus cases in the country of 5 million people to 48,377.
Lebanon has been witnessing an increase of cases since early July when a lockdown was eased and the country’s only international airport was reopened.
The numbers shot up dramatically following a massive blast on Aug. 4 that killed and wounded many and led to wide damage in the capital. Crowding at hospitals in the aftermath of the blast, at funerals, or as people searched through the rubble account for the rise.
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HONOLULU — Hawaii will welcome most visitors who test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their departure, starting Oct. 15.
The pre-travel testing program marks the loosening of months of economically crippling virus restrictions, among them a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arriving travelers and two separate lockdown orders for locals.
The new plan was postponed when infection rates soared over the summer.
Some residents worry that gaps in the October plan could further endanger a community still reeling from the pandemic and summer infection rates that reached 10% after local restrictions were eased ahead of holidays.
Hawaii has lived under quarantine laws for months, but many people have arrived since the pandemic started. Some have flouted safety measures, leading to arrests and fines for the scofflaws.
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s physician says the president had been symptom-free for 24 hours and his vital signs have remained stable and in normal range.
Dr. Sean Conley, in a memo, also wrote that Trump, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 five days ago, told him “I feel great!”
Conley didn’t detail which medications the president was taking. He says the president has not required any supplemental oxygen since returning to the White House late Monday.
The president had also been fever-free for four days.
(This item has been corrected to show Trump’s doctor is Sean Conley.)
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BOSTON — Boston is delaying plans to reopen the city’s schools by a week after the coronavirus positivity rate increased beyond 4%, Mayor Marty Walsh announced Wednesday.
Remote learning began on Sept. 21 and families could opt in for hybrid learning scheduled to start this month.
Now, preschoolers and kindergartners who were scheduled to report to school the week of Oct. 15 instead will start Oct. 22, Walsh says. Grades 4 to 8 are now scheduled to transition to a hybrid model the week of Nov. 5, and grades 9 to 12 the week of Nov. 16.
Massachusetts has more than 133,000 confirmed cases and 9,323 deaths.
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LONDON — The Scottish government is banning indoor drinking at bars and forcing restaurants to close in the evening to help contain the coronavirus.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon say the measures were “a short, sharp action” and will last for 16 days starting Friday.
Cafes and restaurants can open between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. to sell food and non-alcoholic drinks. Drinking alcohol is only allowed outdoors and until 10 p.m.
Five areas with high infection rates, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, face other measures that include a recommendation to avoid public transportation.
Britain is experiencing increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Scotland already has tighter restrictions than most of the U.K.
Sturgeon says the measures were “tough” but were not a new lockdown. “We are not asking people to stay at home.”
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BRUSSELS — Brussels will close all bars, dancehalls and cafeterias for a month to counter an uptick in coronavirus cases.
That follows nationwide restrictions announced Tuesday that closed bars at 11 p.m. Because the pandemic is hitting the capital especially hard, the Brussels region says the full closures will last at least a month.
Belgian cases have increased from 1,570 to 2,466 during the week ending on Oct. 3.
Belgium has a total of 134,291 confirmed cases and 10,092 deaths, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University.
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INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Lilly and Company says it has asked the U.S. government to allow emergency use of an experimental antibody therapy.
That’s based on early results from a study suggesting the drug reduced symptoms, the amount of virus, hospitalizations and ER visits for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19.
The company announced the partial results Wednesday in a news release. They have not yet been published or reviewed by independent scientists.
The drug is similar to one President Donald Trump received on Friday from a different company. These medicines supply concentrated versions of specific antibodies to help the immune system fight the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
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BOSTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, told current students at his Massachusetts alma mater to remain optimistic in the face of the “nightmare” coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci, a 1962 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, took questions from students for about 40 minutes during a virtual meeting on Tuesday.
The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a top member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force acknowledged that this relationship with President Donald Trump is challenging but working.
He told students to remain upbeat and there is likely to be a vaccine for the coronavirus by the end of the year.
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BUCHAREST, Romania — Authorities in Bucharest have shut down a variety of businesses and public venues due to increased coronavirus cases.
Indoor restaurants, theaters, movie cinemas, plus gambling and dance venues in Bucharest were ordered to shut down Wednesday as the country reported a record one-day 2,958 coronavirus infections.
That takes the confirmed total to more than 142,570 cases and 5,200 deaths. Almost two thirds of the confirmed cases were reported since the end of July.
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ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says there will be restrictions in certain coronavirus hotspots in the state, including shutdowns of businesses, houses of worship and schools.
The rules will take effect no later than Friday in parts of Brooklyn and Queens, sections of Orange and Rockland counties north of the city, and an area within Binghamton near the Pennsylvania border.
The planned restrictions include school and nonessential business shutdowns in some areas. Others would see limits on gatherings and in restaurants.
Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, criticized what it said was a “surprise” measure and the 10-person limit in red zones, saying religious practices were being targeted. Cuomo says it’s “about protecting people and saving lives.”
Some men gathered on Tuesday night in the streets of Borough Park, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, and burned masks in bonfires.
In New York City, about 11,600 people have tested positive since Sept. 1, compared with less than 7,400 in August. In early April, 5,000 to 6,000 people or more tested positive each day when there was less testing.
The city has been averaging around four deaths from COVID-19 per day since Sept. 1, compared with nearly 550 daily in April.
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TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian state TV say 239 deaths in the country is the highest number of daily deaths from the coronavirus.
The report quoted the spokesperson of the country’s health ministry Sima Sadat Lari saying 239 people died since Tuesday. The previous high was 235 daily deaths.
The ministry spokesperson says the latest increase brought the total to 27,658 confirmed deaths. There’s been 4,019 confirmed cases since Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Iran to 483,844.
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