Illinois, Ohio Hit Highs; FDA Approves Remdesivir: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Illinois, Ohio, Utah and North Dakota reported daily records, as states from Florida to New Jersey reported jumps in infections. In Chicago, a night-time curfew will be imposed for non-essential businesses starting on Friday. Remdesivir, given to President Donald Trump as a Covid-19 treatment, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The seven-day average of U.S. deaths on Wednesday hit the highest in a month, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The nation recorded 994 confirmed and probable deaths, pushing the seven-day average to 757, signs of the start of a third ascent.

The surge in U.S. cases mirrors those seen in the Europe, where governments have started deploying curfews and other restrictions more widely. The outbreak gained momentum with France reporting more than 40,000 new cases for the first time, as well as record infections in Italy, Germany and at least eight other nations.

Key Developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases pass 41.5 million; deaths exceed 1.1 million
• Covid-19 deaths are increasing in the U.S. after months of decline
• Governments around Europe began to deploy curfews more widely
• Pelosi, Mnuchin to talk stimulus again as Trump hints at failure
• Europe facing dearth of medical staff in test of virus readiness
• Investors brace for barrage of Covid vaccine data to roil market

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on coronavirus cases and deaths.

Utah Hits Record as Governor Warns of High Hospitalizations (5:17 p.m. NY)

Utah reported a record 1,613 cases as Governor Gary Herbert warned that the medical system is near or at capacity.

“Our hospitals are being overwhelmed and the stress they are experiencing is unsustainable,” the Republican governor tweeted. The state has a total 99,549 infections and 563 deaths.

Texas Deploys Almost 500 Medics to El Paso Hot Spot (4:36 pm NY)

Texas is sending almost 500 medics, nurses and other personnel to the worst of the state’s hot spots in El Paso, Governor Greg Abbott announced on Thursday.

The deployment will almost triple the number of emergency medical personnel dispatched by the state to El Paso in recent weeks as caseloads surge and hospital capacity is strained.

The state is also sending ambulances, a mobile medical unit, hospital beds, oxygen concentrators and other gear to the city, according to the governor’s office. El Paso-area hospitals have just 18 intensive-care beds available to cover a region with almost 900,000 residents.

FDA Approves Remdesivir (4:21 p.m. NY)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral therapy remdesivir on Thursday, granting broad clearance for the coronavirus treatment.

Regulators had granted an emergency-use authorization for remdesivir earlier this year, and since then the drug has become a widely used therapy in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. It was given to President Donald Trump this month when he was diagnosed with the virus.

Gilead shares rose 0.8% to $60.67 at 4 p.m. in New York.

No Easing for Dakotas in Covid Outbreak (3:46 p.m. NY)

The Dakotas -- the two states with the highest number of cases per capita -- broke more records Thursday. North Dakota reported 1,038 cases, a new high, as hospitalizations in a state with a short supply of beds was at a near record. South Dakota reported 973 cases, the second highest on record, and hospitalizations reached a high, according the the Rapid City Journal.

Neither state has imposed lockdowns or mask mandates, though such measures have become an issue in the re-election campaign of North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a Republican, accused by an opponent of doing too little. The city council in the capital of Bismarck will, for the first time, consider a citywide mask mandate next week.

Ohio Governor Asks for Help as Cases Hit Record Again (2:55 p.m. NY)

Ohio passed another record number of infections, prompting Governor Mike DeWine to take to Twitter to give statistics county by country and to beg cooperation from citizens.

“We need you to be fully engaged in this battle,” he said in one of some three dozen tweets reeling off facts, figures and local restrictions. “When you see today’s data, when you see how fast the virus is spreading, when you see that the virus has spread and penetrated deeply into virtually every county in the state, it’ll become clear we all must fight back.”

The state reported 2,425 infections Thursday, and the Republican governor of the key swing state in the presidential election noted that records have been broken in eight of the last 10 days. The state has a total of 190,439 cases and 5,161 deaths, 12 in the last day.

Chicago Issues Business Curfew as Cases, Hospitalizations Surge (2:37 p.m. NY)

Chicago will implement a night-time curfew for non-essential businesses starting on Friday for at least two weeks to try to stop the rapid rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, calling it a “critical inflection point” for the city.

A curfew will be in place from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for all non-essential businesses, and bars without a license to sell food will no longer be able to serve customers indoors. All Chicagoans also are being asked to avoid social gatherings of more than six people and end them by 10 p.m. amid the city’s “second surge.”

New Jersey Cases Exceed 1,000 for Fifth Day (2:35 p.m. NY)

New Jersey logged 1,182 new cases, for its fifth straight day surpassing 1,000, among the daily data that Governor Phil Murphy called “not pretty” at a Trenton news conference.

Eighteen deaths were reported, matching the previous day’s total, and the 869 patients hospitalized were more than double from a month prior. New Jersey accounts for more than 7% of the nation’s deaths.

France’s Cases Top 40,000 as Curfews Widen (2:08 p.m. NY)

France reported more than 40,000 new cases for the first time, as the government prepares to expand curfews beyond Paris and some other big cities as the virus gained momentum.

Confirmed coronavirus cases jumped by a record 41,622, French health authorities reported on Thursday. The weekly pace of infections has been rising for 20 days.

Daily virus cases are hitting records around Europe, including new highs in Hungary, Romania, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Greece. In France, authorities will expand a curfew to more regions, with 46 million people ordered to stay at home from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Friday at midnight, as hospitalizations and deaths climb.

Walgreens Says Test Sites Now Open for Age 3 and Older (1:23 p.m. NY)

Walgreens will start testing children 3 and up, the U.S. drugstore chain of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Thursday. Children have fewer options to get tested than adults, posing a headache with schools reopening and coronavirus cases rising in much of the U.S. Rival drugstore chain CVS Health Corp. started testing adolescents 12 and older last month.

Walgreens currently operates about 620 testing sites and plans to open another 80 later this week, the company said.

U.K.’s Johnson Says Testing System Must Improve (12:45 p.m. NY)

Boris Johnson said he’s frustrated at the performance of the U.K.’s Covid-19 test and trace system, which he has repeatedly billed as “world-beating,” and said it needs to improve to help defeat the virus. A total of 189 more deaths were recorded on Thursday.

The prime minister was speaking after official figures showed only 59.6% of contacts of people who tested positive in England were reached by tracers in the week ending Oct. 14 -- the lowest proportion since the system began.

Separately, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak increased the generosity of the U.K. aid package for businesses, his third push in less than a month to stop a wave of job losses sweeping across the country.

Greece Places Athens Under Curfew as Cases Hit Record (12:28 p.m. NY)

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Thursday a ban on nighttime movement from 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. in high-risk areas including the capital Athens and the second-largest city of Thessaloniki. Mitsotakis also said that the wearing of masks is now also compulsory in indoor and outdoor spaces.

Greece recorded a third straight record daily increase with 882 new coronavirus cases bringing the total to 28,216 in a country of just under 11 million people. It recorded 15 more deaths in the past 24 hours with the total number of dead at 549.

Florida Cases Start to Jump Again (12:06 p.m. NY)

Florida posted 5,558 new Covid-19 cases Thursday, the most since mid-August, excluding two days affected by technical issues. The percent positive for new cases dropped slightly from a day earlier, but was also among the highest readings in two months, according to the health department report, which includes data through Wednesday.

Italy Reaches Record (11:24 a.m. NY)

Italy’s daily virus cases reached a record 16,079, up from 15,199 Wednesday as daily fatalities rose to 136. Patients in intensive care units rose by 66 to 992, the most since early May, while below the April peak of more than 4,000.

Lombardy, the region around Milan, reported 4,125 new cases, ahead of a night-time curfew starting Thursday.

Portugal to Limit Travel Between Municipalities (11:17 a.m. NY)

Portugal said it will limit travel between municipalities from Oct. 30 through Nov. 3.

The government on Thursday reported the biggest daily increase in confirmed virus cases since the start of the outbreak: 3,270 new infections, more than the previous record of 2,608 on Friday. The total is now 109,541.

Sweden Clamps Down on Nightclubs (10:28 a.m. NY)

Sweden will cap the number of club-goers at 50, after images of people partying in Stockholm sparked outrage in the country.

Sweden, which has stood out for its hands-off strategy in tackling the Covid-19 crisis, registered a higher death rate than most other European countries during the spring. The country had hoped that higher levels of infections would give some protection against a second wave, but recent numbers show a steady increase in the number of cases.

“It’s time for partying in nightclubs to stop,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said.

U.S. Jobless Claims Decline (8:46 a.m. NY)

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell for the third time in four weeks, suggesting the labor market is still gradually recovering while remaining far from its pre-pandemic health.

Initial jobless claims in regular state programs declined to 787,000 in the week ended Oct. 17, according to Labor Department data Thursday. Without adjustments for seasonal fluctuations, claims dropped by about 73,000.

Continuing claims -- the total pool of Americans on ongoing state unemployment benefits -- fell by 1.02 million to to 8.37 million in the week ended Oct. 10, though the number of Americans on extended unemployment benefits rose. That reflects people who exhausted regular state benefits.

Spain Warns Pandemic Out of Control (4:19 p.m. HK)

The spread of coronavirus is out of control in certain parts of Spain, according to Health Minister Salvador Illa.

“We are in the middle of a second wave, it’s no longer a threat but rather a reality,” Illa said in an interview on Madrid-based Onda Cero radio. “In some parts of our country the epidemic isn’t under control, so we need to take more drastic measures.”

Spain on Wednesday became the first country in Western Europe to surpass 1 million coronavirus infections, as authorities struggle to control fresh outbreaks and contemplate a curfew for the capital Madrid and its surrounding area.

Germany’s New Cases Jump to Record (1 p.m. HK)

Germany reported 12,331 new infections in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, the first time since the outbreak started that the daily increase exceeded 10,000. The number of new cases was up from 8,523 a day earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That took the total to 397,922.

Germany has added the U.K., Ireland, Switzerland and Poland to a list of coronavirus risk areas, the country’s RKI public health institute said Thursday. Twelve Italian regions and five Austrian regions were also added to the list, which determines who must quarantine upon arrival.

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