LOS ANGELES, Calif. - With Thanksgiving over, now we wait. As Americans head home from feasts with family and friends, it is likely that some are unknowingly taking coronavirus back home with them. 23 states have set a record for new daily cases in the last six days.
Health officials report 60 people are dying in the U.S. from Covid-19 each hour. Authorities said there are countless more that will have life-long disabilities from Covid-19 with physical, mental, and financial repercussions.
 
The need for nurses is so dire in Oklahoma that their Department of Health is allowing asymptomatic Covid-19 positive nurses to keep working.
Surging case numbers have some cities making preemptive strikes. L.A. County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said, "Just two weeks ago we were looking at maybe 1200 cases a day - and now we are at 4700 cases a day. She recalled that one day there were 6,000 new cases.
Starting Monday, gatherings in L.A. County with anyone outside of a person's household will be banned. The only exceptions are religious services and protests.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advisors will vote Tuesday on who will be the first to get a coronavirus vaccine when one is approved for use in the US.

The Federal Government yesterday explained that Nigeria's economic response to the Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pandemic was largely targeted at saving jobs, protecting businesses, and attracting new investments.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated this during a webinar with some French business leaders under the auspices of the Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Vice President in a statement issued by his Spokesman, Laolu Akande, said the administration hoped to achieve these by elaborately executing the Economic Sustainability Plan, ESP, which is currently being implemented.
Prof. Osinbajo noted that part of what the Buhari administration had done in its response to the pandemic was to "build a business environment that will be supportive of domestic and foreign investors."
According to him, "It is important to recognize that the pandemic, which really is the cause of the downturn, not just in the Nigerian economy, but practically all of our economies, all over the world, except perhaps China, also provides incredible opportunities for doing all manner of very innovative, and creative things.
"And I think that we are in a season where we are ready to experiment and ready to do a lot more. And if you look at our Economic Sustainability Plan, which is our response to the pandemic, what we tried to do was to do a few things that we thought would be game-changing.
"For example, one of the important things that we are trying to do with respect to renewable energy is with solar power. We are collaborating with several solar power companies to provide, within the next 12 months, five million Nigerian households with solar home systems.
"This is partly to address the issues with the national grid by providing more off-grid capacity and provide more opportunities in the renewable energy space. What we are doing is to get the financing through the Central Bank of Nigeria as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan."

How can politicians convince large swathes of the American public to take a vaccine once it becomes available? The answer may be counterintuitive, but simple: Keep mum, and let the scientists and public-health experts share the facts with the American people.
In a study of American attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, we found that Americans’ support for vaccination declines in the face of political involvement in the vaccine process.
A Trump endorsement dampens the likelihood that individuals will vaccinate. A Biden endorsement fares no better statistically. Despite missteps by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in responding to COVID-19, endorsements by either would be a more powerful lure for Americans than either a Trump or Biden endorsement.
An effective public-health strategy should incorporate what we are learning about public attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine. And what we are learning clearly indicates that politics has no place in the vaccination process.

The disbursement came same yesterday that they had their Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting for consideration and distribution of October generated revenue to the three tiers of government.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who disclosed this in a statement signed the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Hassan Dodo, clarified that the disbursement followed compliance with the Amended COVID-19 Responsive 2020 Budget by 35 eligible states.
The project was financed with a $750 million loan from the International Development Association (IDA.
Each state got $5 million (N1.9 billion) under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme-for-Results.
Rivers is the only one that missed out on the largesse for failing eligibility criteria.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) together with the National Security Council (NSC) announced today the formation of the Central Region Covid-19 Unified Command Centre to help manage the Covid-19 response in Klang Valley.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that the centre will be led by Selangor Health Department director Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman and assisted by Dr Sarah Shaikh Abdul Karim, a trauma specialist from the Sungai Buloh Hospital.
Dr Noor Hisham added that the bed capacity in both Sungai Buloh and Kuala Lumpur hospitals have been increased, as well as the conversion of Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital into a hybrid Covid-19 hospital.
“We have also opened up eight blocks at the Malaysian MOH Training Institute (ILKKM) in Sungai Buloh to be converted into a low-risk Covid-19 quarantine centre,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said that the move to increase bed capacity, designate the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital as a hybrid Covid-19 hospital, and open eight blocks at ILKKM Sungai Buloh was due to high cases in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
He added that the bed capacity in Klang Valley was now 4,739 or 14 times what it was before.
“We have increased the number of beds in Sungai Buloh hospital to accommodate 630 Covid-19 patients, Kuala Lumpur Hospital to 831 beds and now the Cheras Rehabilitation hospital can accommodate 231 Covid-19 patients,” he said.
The eight blocks at ILKKM Sungai Buloh could accommodate up to 2,400 patients.
“We will also continue to use the National Leprosy Centre in Sungai Buloh as a low-risk quarantine centre that can hold up to 648 patients,” he said.

The tally of recorded COVID-19 cases in Nigeria has reached 65,148 after some 152 new infections were confirmed across the country over conducted tests Sunday, health authorities announced.

“On the 15th of November 2020, 152 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria,” the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said in its latest update.

“Till date [Sunday], 65,148 cases have been confirmed, 61,073 cases have been discharged and 1,163 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” it added.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, reportedly could soon witness a second wave of infections which has already hit some parts of Europe and the US.

Worldwide, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.3 million lives in 191 countries and regions since first being detected in Wuhan, China in December.

The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 54.41 million infections have been reported worldwide, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

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The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 65,148 confirmed cases.
On the 15th of November 2020, 152 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 8,265 samples across the country.
To date, 65,148 cases have been confirmed, 61,073 cases have been discharged and 1,163 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 705,809 tests have been carried out as of November 15th, 2020 compared to 697,544 tests a day earlier.According to the NCDC, the 152 new cases are reported from 8 states- Lagos (136), Kano (4), Niger (3), Ekiti (2), Kaduna (2), Ogun (2), Taraba (2) and FCT (1).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 22,404, followed by Abuja (6,372), Plateau (3,719), Oyo (3,617), Rivers (2,914), Kaduna (2,764), Edo (2,685), Ogun (2,101), Delta (1,823), Kano (1,764), Ondo (1,720), Enugu (1,332),  Kwara (1,084), Ebonyi (1,055), Katsina (965), Osun (940), Gombe (938). Abia (926),  Borno (745), and Bauchi (744).
Imo State has recorded 648  cases, Benue (493), Nasarawa (485), Bayelsa (423),  Ekiti (343), Jigawa (325), Akwa Ibom (319), Niger (286), Anambra (285), Adamawa (261), Sokoto (165), Taraba (155), Kebbi (93), Cross River (89), Yobe (82), Zamfara (79), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government

Nigeria’s infrastructure sector is grossly underdeveloped and has limited access to social services and significantly increased cost of production and trade.
 
This was the submission of the Former Chief Executive Officer of The Infrastructure Bank Plc, Adekunle Oyinloye, at the 2020 stockbrokers’ conference in Lagos.
   
According to him, the value of Nigeria’s infrastructure, which is about 35% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), is low when compared to 70% contributions from peers in other emerging economies, with public infrastructure expenditure valued at 3.5% of total GDP.
He argued that the infrastructure deficit in Nigeria cannot be bridged through public resources alone as it will cripple the economy amid current fiscal constraints.
 
“Nigeria needs $15 billion annually over the next five to six years to finance its infrastructural deficits. With the estimate that the country needs to fund about 18% of its GDP on infrastructural development, it is important to start to look for alternative sources of financing to bridge the deficit.”
 
However, he noted that with the current political situation and declining government revenues propelled by the crash in crude oil prices, government’s ability to finance infrastructure is constrained.
 
He added that the Nigerian capital market presents the best platform for financing infrastructure, but decried that the bourse is bedevilled with problems that render it largely unpredictable for investors.
 
Oyinloye argued that Nigeria as an emerging economy needs a sound and effective capital market that is properly regulated to bridge the huge infrastructure-financing gap that exists.

Urges stronger Nigeria, Germany ties
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday declared that dealing with the disruptions caused by COVID-19 on economies and livelihoods, stronger international cooperation and collaboration among countries was crucial to expedite economic recovery.
Osinbajo stated this during the 8th German-Nigerian business forum that held virtually. The event also featured presentations by representatives of the German and Nigerian business communities.
Emphasizing the importance of building stronger collaboration and cooperation in post COVID-19 era, the vice president said: “As it turned out, the pandemic is no respecter of borders, and has forced us to ponder on the importance of collaboration and international cooperation in solving some of our most pressing problems.
“This year will probably go down as perhaps the most challenging in recent global history. No one can be blamed for the circumstances that led to it. However, history will hold us responsible as individual nations and collectively if we do not see and seize the immense opportunities that the moment presents.
“Bilateral cooperation is a major plank of that effort. We must use the German Nigeria forum to snatch growth and prosperity for our countries from the jaws of the pandemic.”
On the German-Nigerian business cooperation, Osinbajo said: “There are several reasons the economic relationship between Nigeria and Germany is important and natural.
“With its population of nearly 200 million people and as the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria is a natural partner of Germany, which is also the largest economy in the European Union and also its most populous country. Both countries have a shared experience of paving the way in their respective continents and serving as strategic entry points for investors across industries.”
Osinbajo, who noted that the cooperation between Nigeria and Germany has become more important than ever, said: “We already have an excellent example in the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), a power infrastructure upgrade and modernisation programme, agreed to by the Nigerian government and Siemens AG of Germany, with the support of the German government.
“Under the initiative, the Nigerian government will on behalf of the other shareholders in the DisCos invest in infrastructure upgrades in the form of improved payment systems, distribution substations, transformers, protection devices, smart meters and transmission lines.”
The vice president said the focus of the Nigerian government’s interventions was aimed at addressing the fallouts of the pandemic.
“The priorities we, as a government, have set for ourselves are centered around nine inter-related and inter-connected areas, which include
stabilising the economy, achieving agriculture and food security, attaining energy sufficiency especially in power and petroleum products, improving transportation and other infrastructure and driving industrialization with a special focus on SME’s.”
Other participants at the meeting include Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar; Germany’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Birgitt Ory and the Chief Executive Officer of Afrika-Verein, Christoph Kannengiesser.

Coronavirus cases in the United States surged by at least 120,276 in the past 24 hours, according to a Reuters tally, the second consecutive daily record rise as the outbreak spreads in every region.
Yesterday, the country set a national record with nearly 105,000 new infections, according to a Reuters tally.
The tally is expected to push higher still when California's county-by-county data is added.
US cases have risen by more than 100,000 for three out of the past seven days, putting pressure on hospitals in several states and causing families to rethink their plans for Thanksgiving dinner on November 26.
Nineteen out of 50 states reported record one-day increases on Thursday (local time).
Previously, the most states that reported records for new cases in a single day was 16 on October 30, according to Reuters data.
While the spread of the virus is wide, the outbreak is hitting the Midwest particularly hard, based on daily new cases per capita.
Illinois reported nearly 10,000 new cases on Thursday (local time) and along with Texas is leading the United States in the most cases reported in the past seven days.
Other Midwestern states with record increases in cases on Thursday were Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Arkansas, Maine, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and West Virginia also set records for rises in new infections.
Some cities and states have announced new measures such as curfews or reduced gathering sizes to combat the spread of the virus, but the US has taken no action at the federal level.
Seventeen out of 50 states do not require people to wear masks.
Many countries in Europe are shutting high-risk businesses and even ordering national or regional lockdowns in the face of a second wave of the virus.
In addition to rising cases, US hospitalisations of COVID-19 patients rose to over 52,500 on Thursday, up for an 11th consecutive day and getting closer to the record of 58,370 set in July.

There is palpable apprehension at the World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, following the contact by its Director General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, with a person that has tested positive for COVID-19. Consequently, the Ethiopian is self-quarantining in line with extant safety protocols.

In a tweet late on Sunday, the DG added that he was symptom-free and feeling well. “I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home,” Ghebreyesus said.

The 55-year-old has been at the forefront of the organisation’s efforts to contain the pandemic. The former foreign minister stressed on Twitter that, “it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance.

“This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems,” he added. WHO charged individuals on hand-washing, wearing of face masks, social and physical distancing, as well as called on authorities to find, isolate, test and care for infected persons in addition to tracing and quarantining their contacts.

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday advised citizens to strictly adhere to precautionary measures against COVID-19 infection to prevent a recurrence of the lockdown of the economy.
Prof. Akin Abayomi, the State Commissioner for Health, said that resurgence of cases in Lagos might lead to reversal of strategical measures put in place by the state government to open up the economy.
Abayomi warned that continuous flagrant disregard of safety guidelines by citizens portends danger and might lead to a second wave of new infections in Lagos.
He also advised the citizens against unnecessary movement and social gatherings, saying that travelling into and outside the country should be discouraged, except if absolutely necessary.
Abayomi said that many countries and cities were experiencing a second and third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a resultant spike in the number of cases and fatalities.
The commissioner said many of the affected countries around the world have found it necessary to impose a second lockdown and restriction of movements, which have significant socioeconomic and security consequences.
“The first wave of Coronavirus started in December 2019 and swept through an unprepared world.
“The first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was recorded in Lagos on Feb. 27. Lagos has since become the epicentre of the outbreak in Nigeria with a record of 21,107 confirmed cases and 212 deaths from the virus till date.
“The containment measures put in place at the time included COVID-19 testing, isolation and treatment, surveillance, total shutdown of the state for about 12 weeks and partial shutdown of social, economic and academic activities for over four months,” Abayomi said.

The 162 new COVID-19 cases reported by Nigerian authorities on Saturday has taken the total number of infections in the nation to 62,853.
Meanwhile, no deaths were recorded on Saturday as a result of complications from the coronavirus, meaning that the fatality toll stays at 1,144.
This is according to an update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Saturday night.
Of the over 62,000 total, about 58,675 persons have been discharged from hospitals after treatment while a little over 3,000 active cases remain in the country.
Nigeria has been reporting cases below 300 in at least three months. The death toll has also reduced.
But despite the declines, authorities have cautioned against relenting and urged residents to adhere to COVID-19 protocols including social distancing and use of face masks..
The NCDC had warned that there is likely to be an even more devastating second wave of coronavirus.
The 162 new cases were reported from 14 states- Gombe (54), FCT (35), Lagos (26), Ogun (12), Plateau (10), Rivers (10), Kaduna (4), Ekiti (3), Edo (2), Osun (2), Bayelsa (1), Imo (1), Ondo (1), Oyo (1).
Gombe had the majority of infections on Saturday with 54 new cases. Abuja, Nigeria’s capital and the second most impacted city, followed with 35 new infections.

Although our country has been in chaos recently, we still need to pay attention to safety. After all, the epidemic has not completely subsided. In countries with severe epidemics, the daily death data is too worrying. I hope that the epidemic in our country can be completely controlled.

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 62,521 confirmed cases.

On the 29th of October 2020, 150 new confirmed cases and 2 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 3,008 samples across the country.

To date, 62,521 cases have been confirmed, 58,249 cases have been discharged and 1,141 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 620,758 tests have been carried out as of October 29th, 2020 compared to 617,750 tests a day earlier.

This is great research. As long as we have a deeper understanding of the epidemic, we will be more confident to face the epidemic. Understanding is the first step to the solution. Those countries with severe epidemics should also be like us. Only in this way can they solve the dilemma they are currently facing.

The launch coincides with the appointment of 54gene as the Nigerian country partner for the International Registry of Healthcare Workers Exposed to COVID-19 (UNITY Global) Study. In collaboration with Certara, a global leader in biosimulation, 54gene will provide clinical trial management oversight and support for all aspects of the study conducted in Nigeria.

The news comes just one month after the company announced its collaboration with Illumina, to open a new genomics facility in Lagos, Nigeria, equipped with a suite of Illumina’s sequencing and high-density microarray technology platforms.

“Alongside key partners like Certara and other important stakeholders across the continent, the UNITY Global Study is a great opportunity for some of the best clinical teams across Sub-Saharan Africa to come together and ensure outcomes of any COVID-19 studies are relevant to Africans. The insights generated from this program could potentially unlock breakthrough clinical discoveries that can improve health outcomes for millions of people globally,” added Rich.

The UNITY Global study is an international registry of healthcare workers to collect information on risk factors for developing COVID-19 and the use of preventative therapies. The study first launched in Pakistan on August 3 and aims to enroll 10,000 healthcare workers in additional companies including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The registry will examine the link between the use of preventive treatments and the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers providing care to patients with COVID-19. To mitigate their risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, data such as medications taken by healthcare workers, level of exposure to infected patients, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and antibody tests will be collected on a weekly basis from enrollees across a 12-week period.

“Healthcare workers have a high incidence of severe COVID-19 as they are repeatedly exposed to individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2,” stated Roman Casciano, general manager of Certara’s evidence and access group. “With limited evidence on the effectiveness of the preventative measures and treatments currently being used, collaborating with key partners such as 54gene is invaluable for expanding the current body of research.”

“Through our country partners’ support and findings from the registry, we hope to provide meaningful data to inform decision making that will help protect healthcare workers worldwide battling COVID-19 on the frontlines.”

54gene’s collaborations and initiatives continue to demonstrate the company’s commitment to global health and position to help bridge the gap of African inclusion in global studies.

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 62,224 confirmed cases.

On the 27th of October 2020, 113 new confirmed cases and 3 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 2,326 samples across the country.

To date, 62,224 cases have been confirmed, 57,916 cases have been discharged and 1,135 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 614,480 tests have been carried out as of October 27th, 2020 compared to 612,154 tests a day earlier.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.

On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.

In the United States, many people actually know that protective measures are effective against the epidemic. However, the power to make rules is not in their hands, and those with power do not take the epidemic seriously. In order to suppress the virus, this situation should be changed.

William Rector is a lifelong resident of Kerrville and has practiced medicine there for about three decades. He said he understands the personal liberty argument, but doesn’t buy it.

“Well, there are many instances where our personal liberties have been impugned because of greater good,” he said. “Wearing a seat belt is one, driving the speed limit is one, placing a child in a child carrier in a vehicle — those are all things that are against our personal liberties, but we do them because we realize that they save lives.”

He spoke at that Kerr County Commissioners meeting in late June, when the Commissioners Court decided not to implement a mask mandate. He argued that a mandate would help businesses reopen and stay open — that widespread mask use was essential to a successful and safe reopening.

“It was disappointing,” he said. “But I think that — looking in retrospect — it was not the decision that we needed for this community because after that meeting, the number of cases of COVID in Kerrville began to rise, and rise rather rapidly.”

Cases were rising exponentially across Texas. Locally, the total caseload had increased from 20 at the start of the month to just more than 100 the day after the meeting. And then, on July 2, just three days after the commissioners chose to not implement a mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott released a YouTube video. He presented graphs with alarming trend lines.

“COVID-19 is not going away,” he said. “In fact, it’s getting worse.”

He implemented a statewide mask order.

“Our numbers began to drop down significantly,” William Rector said.

It took a while. The trend line didn’t truly flatten out till August. After a few weeks of minimal case growth, Judge Kelly wanted to make a change in mid-September.

“Our county judge decided that, ‘Hey, things are so cool, we can take away the masks,’” Rector said. “And when that happened, our numbers started going back up again.”

Judge Kelly did not respond to TPR’s interview request. Tom Moser was the only county commissioner who accepted an interview, and the City of Kerrville did not respond.

In the first week of October, the county took a closer look at the data and backpedaled on the mask issue, requesting the state put the county back on the mask mandate list.

The current trend line isn’t as steep as it was in the worst weeks of July, but the total caseload continues to grow. And the summer surge was preceded by the statewide reopening of bars. In mid-October, Kerr County opted into the governor’s new reopening plan for bars.

Once again, people are congregating, glasses are clinking and the specter of another surge is lurking.

COVID-19 has disproportionately sickened or killed Native Americans across the U.S., creating another Election Day challenge for a poor and geographically isolated population already fighting to overcome steep voting barriers ranging from discriminatory election laws to distant polling stations.

Though this election has seen many Americans turn to voting by mail to avoid COVID-19 exposure, some Indigenous Americans risk having their votes ignored given the limited and inefficient nature of postal service on many rural reservations. Spotty internet access also makes it challenging to access information on how to vote in a pandemic.

The epidemic has severely affected people's lives. The outbreak of the epidemic has also affected the election that some people in the United States value. If the United States paid attention to the epidemic earlier, perhaps their elections would not be disturbed. I don't know if they regret it now.

Because the United States does not care about the epidemic, the epidemic in the United States is severe. Under such circumstances, this outbreak of the epidemic is undoubtedly worsening the situation. If the government does not take action again, I don't know how serious the epidemic will be.

In Ohio, more people are hospitalized with the coronavirus than at any other time during the pandemic. North Dakota, which is leading the nation in coronavirus cases per capita, reported more than 1,000 cases on Tuesday, the state’s worst daily total yet. And as of Monday, 16 states had added more cases in the prior week than in any other seven-day stretch.

After weeks of spread and warnings in certain areas, a third surge of coronavirus infections has now firmly taken hold across much of the United States.

The latest wave — which is raging most acutely in the Midwest and the West, but is also spreading in various areas around the country — threatens to be the worst of the pandemic yet.

Its arrival comes as cooler weather is forcing people indoors, setting up a grueling winter that will test the discipline of many Americans who have grown weary of wearing masks and turning down invitations to see family and friends. Over the last week, the country has averaged about 59,000 new cases a day, the most since the beginning of August. The daily total could soon surpass 75,687, a record previously set on July 16.

The high case count — which has so far not translated to soaring deaths — in part reflects increased testing. With about one million people tested on many days, the country is getting a far more accurate picture of how widely the virus has spread than it did in the spring.

But the latest developments also reflect a serious new level of the outbreak. Hospitalizations, the most accurate picture of how many people are seriously sick from the virus, are on the rise nationwide, worrying many public health officials. A rise in deaths tends to lag behind a spike in cases. And deaths are creeping up in places: Officials in Wisconsin reported 36 on Tuesday, a single-day record.

Deaths among hospitalized patients have also dropped, to 7.6 percent from 25.6 percent in the spring, according to one study. That may be because doctors have better treatments at hand, and the patients are younger and in better health on average than those in the first wave.

Still, Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota, recently offered an ominous warning: With infections rising and compliance eroding, he said, “the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the entire pandemic.”

(CNN)The Trump Administration's faltering response to the coronavirus pandemic has led to anywhere between 130,000 and 210,000 deaths that could have been prevented, according to a report released Thursday by a team of disaster preparedness experts.
Insufficient testing, a lack of national mask mandates or guidance, a delayed overall response and outright mocking of basic public health practices by the administration has put the United States at the top of the global coronavirus death toll, the report from Columbia University Earth Institute's National Center for Disaster Preparedness finds.
"We estimate that at least 130,000 deaths and perhaps as many as 210,000 could have been avoided with earlier policy interventions and more robust federal coordination and leadership," the report reads.
"Even with the dramatic recent appearance of new COVID-19 waves globally, the abject failures of U.S. government policies and crisis messaging persist, U.S. fatalities have remained disproportionately high throughout the pandemic when compared to even other high-mortality countries," it adds.
"The inability of the U.S. to mitigate the pandemic is especially stark when contrasted with the response of high income nations, such as South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, and Canada, as well as low- and middle-income countries as varied as Thailand, Pakistan, Honduras, and Malaysia. All of these nations have had greater success in protecting their populations from the impact of the coronavirus."
According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has tallied more than 8.3 million coronavirus cases and more than 222,000 deaths.
"The data establishes that a significant number of lives could have been saved if the Trump administration acted on the advice from the scientific and public health community," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia. "As the country faces a second wave of this virus, we need to hold leadership accountable. The magnitude of loss, caused by a disorganized response, will have devastating and long-lasting consequences for millions of American families."
When measured by deaths per 100,000 population, the report calculates that the US mortality rate is 50 times higher than Japan's, and more than twice as high as Canada's. "Although both the U.S. and South Korea confirmed their first case of coronavirus on January 20th, South Korea was able to institute an aggressive diagnostic testing strategy and isolate infected patients, leading to a proportional mortality rate today that is 78 times smaller than that of the United States," the report reads.
"From the moment the pandemic was first identified, President Trump and his team have downplayed the crisis and ignored basic and widely known public health guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19," said Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of health policy and management at Columbia.
"To stop the ongoing epidemic in the U.S., it is urgent to examine the available data, identify the failures, call out the Administration's relentless misinformation, and hold the Trump Administration accountable for its failure to slow the virus's spread and the more than 200,000 lives that have been unnecessarily lost."
The research team compared the US response to the policies in other countries. If the US had followed the policies and protocols of Australia, as few as 11,699 people may have died, the report estimates.
Following Japan's policies would have led to as few as 4,315 deaths in the US, the Columbia team calculated. Even France did better and had the US followed France's lead, 162,240 Americans would have died -- around 60,000 fewer than the current total.

In the recent sudden surge of infections, mass demonstrations will undoubtedly increase the chance of infection. The parade is to convey the demands of the people, but in the case of the recent surge in the epidemic, we must pay attention to our own safety. Hope the chaos ends soon.

As tens of thousands of demonstrators continue to take to the streets across Nigeria against extra-judicial killings and brutality by police, a senior official warned that mass gatherings may speed up COVID-19 transmission in the next two weeks.

The prediction was due to a total disregard for the preventive measures against the virus exhibited by thousands of citizens protesting in the ongoing #Endsars campaign across various cities in the country, Boss Mustapha, secretary to the Federal Government and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, told the media in Abuja on Monday.

Thousands of Nigerians in the past days took to the streets across the country to protest against reported police brutality, harassment and extra-judicial killings by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a police unit for anti-robbery purpose.

According to Mustapha, any mass gathering that does not adhere to the non-pharmaceutical interventions that have been put in place, which include wearing masks, social distancing, keeping personal hygiene and avoiding mass gatherings, could become super spreader events.

"So I can say with a definitive voice that two weeks from today, get everybody that congregated in those places...we would definitely be contending with an increase in infections," Mustapha told reporters.

According to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, the country's tally of COVID-19 infections has hit 61,558 with 118 new cases on Monday.

Doctors struggling at the forefront are respected. For the battle of the epidemic, we have gained a lot and lost a lot. Always remember to look forward, accept new knowledge and perspectives, and don’t use old perspectives to influence your own judgment.

A total of 16 doctors have been killed so far while battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, said a medical association leader on Monday.

Baba Issa, chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the western state of Kwara, told reporters the figure was confirmed across the 36 states of the country since the pandemic broke out eight months ago.

Over the past eight months, Issa said that 1,031 doctors had been exposed to the virus in Nigeria, and 321 had contracted the disease.

"Nigeria in the past eight months has had a fair share of the disease and has battled relentlessly to contain the rising cases of infection affecting every state in the nation, albeit disproportionately," he said.

"Sadly, many health systems were overwhelmed by the pandemic due to inadequate emergency preparedness and response, largely due to inadequate human resources, infrastructural deficit, and medical consumables, including personal protective equipment," he added. Enditem

Recently, the epidemic situation in various countries has been increasing sharply. Although there is no way to avoid it, we have succeeded once in containing the epidemic, and this time we have also been able to overcome the difficulties.

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 61,194 confirmed cases.

On the 16th of October 2020, 212 new confirmed cases and 3 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 4,848 samples across the country.

To date, 61,194 cases have been confirmed, 52,304 cases have been discharged and 1,119 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 572,705 tests have been carried out as of October 16th, 2020 compared to 567,857 tests a day earlier.