U.S. Cases Slow; Geneva Goes to Partial Lockdown: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) --

The U.S. added 78,157 new cases on Saturday, after two straight days of national records in the run-up to the election on Tuesday. Texas’s top court denied a Republican effort to render more than 120,000 votes invalid because they were cast by drive-thru, a measure aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s partial lockdown for England might have to be extended if it fails to contain the spread of the coronavirus, one of his top ministers said.

Countries across Europe are tightening restrictions to slow the outbreak, with Belgium set to enter lockdown overnight. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the country won’t close its borders even if the virus numbers get worse. Geneva is set to go under partial lockdown.

Key Developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases surpass 46.3 million; deaths top 1.19 million
• Trump’s dismissal of Covid risk paved way to White House outbreak
• Faced with hard science, Johnson hopes lockdown saves Christmas
• Europe’s woes multiply with leaders drifting to lockdowns
• Swiss try light touch virus curbs in effort to keep economy open
• U.K. increased Covid’s spread by subsidizing diners, study finds
• Vaccine Tracker: Clinical trials restart in hopeful sign

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 Reports Worst Week (5 p.m. NY)

Utah’s infections, deaths and hospitalizations all hit a high over the last week. On Sunday, the state reported 1,854 cases, higher than the average daily 1,648 in the worst week of the outbreak so far.

Another 10 people died, the third time that number was reached since Wednesday, for a total of 614 fatalities. Utah health officials have warned of possibly rationing medical care.

Huge Halloween Parties in New York City Broken Up (4:15 p.m. NY)

Two large Halloween parties in New York City, attracting almost 1,000 people, were broken up this weekend in violation of anti-virus measures.

The city’s sheriff said on Twitter it shut down a party Sunday morning in a Bronx warehouse that attracted more than 550 people. Almost two dozen organizers faced charges. On Saturday, it ended a party at another warehouse in Brooklyn with almost 400 people. Nine organizers were charged.

Texas’s Top Court Dismisses GOP Suit to Stop Voting by Car (3:04 p.m. NY)

The Supreme Court of Texas denied a Republican effort to render more than 120,000 votes in Harris County invalid because they were cast by drive-thru -- a measure aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 while voting.

The court made the ruling without comment on Sunday, ahead of a Federal hearing tomorrow. Harris County incorporates the Houston metropolitan area, is home to about 4.7 million people and has a Democratic mayor.

The Republican activists’ case argues that drive-thru voting is an illegal extension of curbside voting, which is meant for people who are sick or have a physical disability.

Cases Remain High in North Dakota, Worst Hit in U.S. (2:53 p.m. NY)

North Dakota, ranked with the U.S.’s biggest outbreak per capita, recorded a fourth day with cases more than 1,000. The state reported 1,128 new infections Sunday, a day after hitting a record, as hospitalizations continued to tick up. Health officials have warned the medical system is being overwhelmed.

Geneva in Partial Lockdown From Monday (2:05 p.m. NY)

Geneva, a hub of Swiss finance and seat of several United Nations agencies, is closing bars, restaurants, cultural venues and nonessential stores from Monday until Nov. 29, the cantonal government said in a statement. Schools up to the secondary level won’t close.

The measures, which are similar to partial lockdowns in many parts of Europe, follow an “alarming” rise in local virus cases, according to the statement. Geneva hospitals had 474 Covid-19 patients on Sunday, compared with 78 in mid-October.

Authorities appealed to people to stay home and avoid social contacts.

North Carolina Reports Over 2,000 Cases Again (1:50 p.m. NY)

North Carolina, a battleground state in Tuesday’s U.S. election, reported its sixth day of more than 2,000 cases, though Sunday’s number of 2,015 fell from the 2,806 reported Saturday. Cases have been rising since early September from a daily average of less than 1,000, state data show. At the same time, hospitalizations have ticked up only slightly, data from the Covid Tracking Project show.

French Cases Trending Above Average (1:30 p.m. NY)

Infections rose by more than the seven-day trailing average in France, which has accumulated the most cases in Europe. The rate of positive Covid-19 tests, a gauge of the pandemic’s spread, increased to 20.4% in Sunday’s data from 20.2% a day earlier, according to national health agency data.

Two days after a nationwide limited lockdown went into effect, France reported 46,290 new cases, more than the average of about 42,000 a day over the previous week. An additional 231 people died from virus-related illness, bringing the toll to 37,019.

Cuomo, Black Leaders Criticize Vaccine Distribution Plan (12:38 p.m. NY)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gathered top Black leaders to amplify his concern that the federal plan to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine relies too heavily on chain pharmacies and other institutions lacking in minority neighborhoods.

His criticism was echoed in a call with reporters on Sunday by National Urban League President Marc Morial, NAACP President Derrick Johnson and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who would not rule out litigation as a response.

“This plan to rely on the current health care infrastructure which has not served us well is thoughtless, it’s careless and needs to be taken back to the drawing board,” Morial said.

U.K. Daily Cases Continue Above 20,000 (11:36 a.m. NY)

The U.K. reported more than 20,000 cases for a seventh straight day. It had 23,254 new cases on Sunday, a day after the country passed the 1 million mark and announced a four-week partial lockdown for England. The figure compares to the previous seven-day average of 22,522. Another 162 people died, down from the average of 259 in the past week.

Trump Blamed for Wisconsin ‘Mess’ (11:18 a.m. NY)

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, whose state is a U.S. election battleground, blamed President Trump’s stance on Covid-19 precautions for helping trigger the state’s spike in cases. Wisconsin’s recent outbreak is one of the most severe in the nation.

“We need to do the basic things in Wisconsin and frankly some people aren’t doing them because they’re listening to Donald Trump,” Evers, a Democrat who backs Trump’s challenger Joe Biden, said on CNN on Sunday. “Wear a mask, stay socially distant -- all of this stuff that we know works. And now we’re in the middle of this mess.”

Trump’s claim at a rally last week that doctors are boosting their income by attributing deaths to the coronavirus is “stupid” and false, Evers said.

Italy Cases Slow as More Curbs Loom (10:57 a.m. NY)

Italy reported 29,907 new cases on Sunday, a slight decline from Saturday’s record of 31,758 but amid slower testing on the weekend. The positivity rate continued to increase, with 16 positive cases for every 100 tests.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to update parliament Monday and according to local media is set to sign off on stricter restrictions on Monday that will stop short of a nationwide lockdown. He wants localized curbs depending on virus transmissions -- something some regional authorities are resisting.

White House Slams Fauci for Pandemic Comments (8:52 a.m. NY)

The White House rebuked top U.S. infectious diseases specialist Anthony Fauci for his recent criticism of the U.S. handling of the pandemic. Fauci said in a Washington Post interview published Saturday night that the U.S. is “in for a whole lot of hurt” from Covid-19, and forecast a rising death toll over the winter.

“It’s unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr. Fauci, a senior member of the President’s Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump’s actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

Deere said Fauci was “choosing to criticize the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president’s opponent.”

Fauci told the Post that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was taking the virus “seriously from a public health perspective.”

France Seeks to Address Shopkeepers’ Lockdown Worries (8:10 a.m. NY)

The French government plans to address the concerns of store owners affected by the country’s partial lockdown by imposing limits on supermarkets’ sale of non-essential items and the number of shoppers allowed at any one time, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a BFM TV interview.

Le Maire said that if the outbreak slows, the government will try to find a way to allow stores to open in the coming weeks, possibly by using an appointment system for shoppers. He said online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. shouldn’t be “the clear winner of this crisis to the detriment of local shops or even supermarkets.”

U.S. Reports 78,157 New Cases After Two Record Days (8 a.m. NY)

The U.S. added 78,157 new cases on Saturday, after two straight days of national records that pushed the daily case count near 100,000. The 0.9% rise matched the average daily increase of the previous seven days, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

Average daily cases in the last week of October were about 35,000 higher than in the last week of September, an indication of the virus’s spike at the close of the presidential race. An additional 826 people died, down from the previous day’s 1,029, but in line with average daily increases of the previous week.

Infections rose fastest over the past week in the Midwest, which helped push President Donald Trump to victory four years ago, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Germany Won’t Close Borders (6:07 a.m. NY)

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the country won’t close its borders even if the coronavirus numbers get worse, according to the Berlin-based newspaper Tagesspiegel. Infections rose by 11,614 in the 24 hours through Sunday morning, down from Thursday’s record of 23,553, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The country is set to enter a partial one-month lockdown on Monday as Chancellor Angela Merkel tries to bring the outbreak under control.

England’s Lockdown Could Be Extended (6:03 a.m. NY)

A month-long partial lockdown announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson late Saturday might have to be extended if it fails to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said.

“It will get reviewed on Dec. 2, but we’re always driven by what the data show,” Gove said Sunday on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge show. “We will always take the decision in the national interest based on the evidence, the best information that we have.”

When pressed by Ridge on whether the restrictions could be extended if the data wasn’t good, Gove replied, “yes.”

Johnson said the new restrictions would come into effect on Thursday as virus cases spike and government scientists warn the health system faces being overwhelmed. All but essential shops will close, as will restaurants and bars, though schools and universities will remain open. State payments to furloughed workers will cover of as much as 80% of their wages through the new lockdown period, Johnson said.

Total virus cases in the U.K. since the outbreak began have now passed 1 million and the country has suffered more than 46,000 fatalities, the highest death toll in Europe.

Slovakia Tests 2.5 Million People in a Day (6 a.m. NY)

Slovakia has tested about 2.5 million people for the virus with about a 1% infection rate, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad told journalists on Sunday. The government plans to administer cheap antibody tests to nearly the entire population of 5.5 million over the weekend to help stop the resurgence in new cases that’s sweeping across the continent.

Poland Sees Drop in New Daily Cases, Deaths (5:47 p.m. HK)

Poland registered 17,171 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday, a 22% decline from the previous day’s record. Deaths fell to 152 from 280. The government has ordered public-sector employees to work from home for two weeks and encouraged private companies to send staff home.

Belgium to Enter Lockdown as Cases Surge (5:15 p.m. HK)

Belgium prepares to go into lockdown overnight after a daily average of nearly 16,000 cases was recorded over the past week, up by 24% from the previous week. The nation of 11 million people, which hosts the European Union’s main institutions and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reported Sunday that the number of patients in intensive care increased to 1,160, nearing the peak reached in April. More than 100 people have died each day on average over the past week.

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