Coronavirus Breaking News

Billboard.com exclusively reported on November 11, 2020, attending concert events in 2021 may require an attendee to disclose their personal health information to commercial companies.

The event ticket management firm Ticketmaster is reported to be working on a data management framework for post-COVID-19 pandemic fan safety that uses digital solutions to verify prospective fans' vaccination status or whether they've tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus within 72-hours.

Many of the details of this health privacy disclosure plan have not been finalized, reported Billboard.

New York-based Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech SE announced that they have reached an agreement with the European Commission to supply 200 million doses of their investigational BNT162b2 mRNA-based vaccine candidate to the European Union Member States. The vaccine deliveries are anticipated to start by the end of 2020, subject to clinical success and regulatory authorization.

According to the press statement on November 10, 2020, the European Commission has an option to purchase an additional 100 million BNT162b2 vaccine doses.

This mRNA SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus preventive vaccine candidate is in various late-stage clinical trials.

The U.S. CDC published a scientific briefing on November 10, 2020, which concluded 'experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Multi-layer cloth masks have been found to both block up to 70% of fine droplets (10 microns) and limit the forward spread of those particles that are not captured.

The CDC says 'the relationship between source control and personal protection is likely complementary and possibly synergistic so that individual benefit increases with increasing community mask use.'

Note: none of the studies reviewed for this CDC briefing focused on the benefits or risks to a person when wearing a mask outside.

The Russian Federation's capital city of Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on November 10, 2020, in an effort to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is causing COVID-19, restrictive measures would be extended from November 13, 2020, until January 15, 2021.

During this time frame, schoolchildren in Moscow will continue online, remote learning, reported TASS on November 10, 2020.

The U.S. CDC reported about 156 million coronavirus diagnostic tests, excluding antibody, and antigen tests have been performed during 2020. Overall, these test results indicate a COVID-19 infection positivity rate of 7%, as of November 9, 2020.

The states of California (16,391,323), New York (15,191,030), Florida (12,244,769), and Texas (9,633,808) lead the USA's testing efforts.

And, as of November 9, 2020, the U.S. FDA had authorized 288 coronavirus diagnostic tests, which include 223 molecular tests, 58 antibody tests, and 7 antigen tests, since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

Liverpool became the first city in England to roll out mass testing of its 496,000 population for COVID-19 under the UK's Operation Moonshot program, reported The BMJ on November 3, 2020. All people living or working in Liverpool will be offered COVID-19 tests regardless of whether they have symptoms.

Several types of covid tests will be used in the pilot, including existing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab tests, new lateral flow swab tests that can turn around results without the need to be processed in a laboratory, and new LAMP technology that will be deployed in Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for NHS staff.

The pilot will test the feasibility of the government’s ambitious plans for mass population screening throughout England, as The BMJ first revealed in the leaked Operation Moonshot documents in September 2020. The UK Army will provide logistical support, with 2,000 personnel deployed.

Luke Allen, an academic clinical fellow at the University of Oxford, said in the BMJ article: “If it can be implemented smoothly then we will have a much clearer picture of how the virus is spreading. There are several big ‘ifs,’ though: people need to show up for testing, testing should happen repeatedly in order to track changes over time, and—most importantly—the track and trace system needs to function effectively.”

The Governor of Utah Gary R. Herbert declared a State of Emergency to address hospital overcrowding on November 8, 2020. Pursuant to the State of Emergency, the governor and Utah Department of Health have issued concurrent executive and public health orders designed to curb the surge of SARS-CoV-2 virus cases in Utah.

Under Utah's new public health order, all Utahns must wear masks in public, and when within 6-feet of anyone they don’t live with.

This mandate is also enforceable in business settings, which must require employees to wear masks, promote patrons to wear masks, and post signage to that effect. Businesses that fail to do so will be subject to fines.

Both orders became effective November 9th and will remain in effect until November 23, 2020. 'Please note that even after the 'orders' expire, the mask mandate will be extended for the foreseeable future,' added the Governor's press statement.