MIAMI – The Biden Administration has reinstated restrictions in regard to travel, and passengers will begin to see those changes as soon as Tuesday.
Anyone planning to fly out of the country will need to show the airline a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight back into to the United States. If not, the CDC said travelers will not be allowed to fly back into the U.S.
Additionally, the negative test can be no more than three days old.
Travel restrictions that were set to be lifted under a Donald Trump executive order will be reinstated under by the Biden Administration.
The new White House Press Secretary Jan Paski tweeting: “With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel.”
Non-US citizens from South Africa, Brazil, the UK, Ireland and more than two dozen European countries will be banned from entering the United States.
Miami International Airport spokesperson Greg Chin told Local 10 News the airport is seeing a month-to-month increase in traffic coming off a busier than expected holiday season, though that’s coming off of pandemic lows.
“It really remains to be seen how much of an effect it’s going to have,” said Chin. “Most of our traffic is domestic, and the international restriction which requires testing is something that many of our travelers are accustomed to, already.”
Chin also said the new requirements and restrictions may actually help stabilize things.
“They’ll see the same requirement in the US as they do in other countries,” he said. “This actually helps the industry recover. It’s easier to communicate to the traveler that where ever you go, this is what you can expect.”
Airport officials said starting on Tuesday, CDC officials will be randomly picking flights and checking for that information once those planes arrive at the gates.

President Joe Biden took the oath of office Wednesday, leading a nation where more than 403,596 people have died from Covid-19.
When Biden said "so help me God" at 11:48 a.m., at least 24.39 million had been sickened by the deadly virus since the pandemic reached the U.S. shores a year ago, according to a rolling count by NBC News.
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly downplayed the virus, even though he knew of its deadly potential in February. 
Biden last week announced his proposals for a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package.

ABUJA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Nigeria has written to the African Union to request 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to supplement the COVAX programme and has allocated $26 million for licensed vaccine production, the health minister said on Monday. Nigeria, like other countries across Africa, is grappling with a second wave of the novel coronavirus. As of Monday, Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country of 200 million inhabitants, had 110,387 confirmed cases and 1,435 deaths.
The African Union has secured a provisional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states, its chair South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said last week.
“Nigeria has written to express interest in 10 million doses of the viral vector vaccine, which could be supplied as from March 2021,” Health Minister Osagie Ehanire told reporters in the capital Abuja. “This vaccine does not require deep freezers.” Ehanire did not mention the name of the vaccine.
He also said the ministry of finance had released 10 billion naira ($26.27 million) to support domestic vaccine output as Nigeria was exploring options of “licensed production in collaboration with recognised institutions”. The government is already in talks with “one or two producers”, he said.
Last week the finance minister said the government was working on the type and quantity of COVID-19 vaccines to procure and would make financial provision for them.
Nigerian authorities have said the country is working with the COVAX programme backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) that aims to secure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries, and expects to receive its first doses in late January and early February.
WHO Africa director Matshidiso Moeti last week said African countries could start to receive the first doses from COVAX by the end of March, with larger deliveries by June.

While the pandemic has forced many to stay home, museums across the United States are bringing their world-famous collections online for anyone to view.
The public response has been enormous. American tech company Google recently reported its most searched terms of 2020, and the second most popular search after the word “virtual” was “virtual museum exhibitions.”
Here are five popular art exhibitions anyone can appreciate from home.
The Thannhauser Collection, including Paul Cézanne’s “Still Life: Flask, Glass, and Jug (Fiasque, verre et poterie),” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. (© David Heald/Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation)
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has digitized each floor of the museum so virtual visitors can wander its winding halls, top to bottom. Stand in front of a Glenn Ligon painting or in the center of the building and look up at the Alexander Calder mobile to get the full experience of this New York institution.
In Los Angeles, the J. Paul Getty Museum allows visitors to peruse the museum’s permanent collection as it hangs on the walls or view each work individually — there are over 13,000 pieces from which to choose.
Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer has only 35 known works in existence. The National Gallery of Art in Washington has four of these paintings, which are now available to view in an online exhibition, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting. Viewers can zoom in on Vermeer’s A Lady Writing to see his immaculate application of oil paint. Clicking through the show, visitors can also learn more about several of Vermeer’s contemporaries, like Gerard ter Borch, a master at painting satin dresses.

By Seriki Adinoyi
With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has raised the alarm on the need for governments at all levels to immediately establish more oxygen plants to cater for increasing demand for oxygen by patients.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Jos, the National President of the association, Professor Innocent Ujah also appealed to government to immediately suspend the NIN registration exercise, which according to him, exposes more Nigerians to the highly contagious disease, as COVID-19 protocols are highly violated.
According to Ujah, there is no such urgency with NIN registration that should make government give it a priority over the health of Nigerians.
“If I have the opportunity to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, I will advise him to suspend the registration exercise.
Warning that hospitals are getting overwhelmed, he said, “Our primary concern now is for governments at all levels to establish oxygen plants across the country; we are in serious shortage of it. Even in Lagos state where there are about 10 plants, it’s not enough to cater for the oxygen demand. In Plateau, there is just one, and it’s grossly inadequate.”
Ujah said that doctors have had hectic times in recent months confronting the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting government to tackle the current health challenge.
On the Pfizer vaccine, the NMA President rated it as 95 per cent safe, but warned that the cost of the supply chain, bringing the vaccine into the country and preserving it under appropriate temperature conditions was going to be expensive.
Earlier, Ujah had led the leadership of NMA on a courtesy called on Governor Simon Lalong, where he called on the governor to look into the implementation of the CONMESS which is at 83 per cent at the moment. He also solicited the support of the Government towards the development of the National NMA Headquarters in Abuja as well as the training of more medical doctors from Plateau State to fill the gap that has continued to widen with the exodus of doctors from the country.
Lalong explained that his administration has worked for the establishment of the Faculty of health sciences at the State University as a way of ensuring that more health personnel are trained to increase manpower. He disclosed that the construction of the new faculty has gone far as the teaching hospital is also being constructed in Shendam.
He appreciated the medical professionals for sacrificing themselves in the fight against COVID-19, which has seen some of them infected and others losing their lives, and assured them that the state government was doing everything possible to ensure that the Plateau Health Research team led by Prof. Noel Wannang comes up with home-grown solution to COVID-19 and other diseases. The three drugs developed by the team he said have passed pre-clinical stage and undergoing clinical trials before approval by relevant authorities.

Pope Francis announced that he is about to receive a Covid-19 vaccine and has urged Catholic faithfuls to get vaccinated, citing that getting vaccinated is an ethical choice to protect the life of others.
The Pope announced this on Saturday in an interview with an Italian news channel. He said:“I believe that ethically, everyone should take the vaccine. It is an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others.”
The Pope said the Vatican has commenced plans to launch its own vaccination programme next week, and that he has booked himself to receive the vaccine.“Next week, we will start doing it here, in the Vatican, and I have booked myself in. It must be done.”
The Vatican disclosed this Month that it would vaccinate all residents and workers who live outside the walls of the Vatican. The Vatican added that it has acquired an ultra-cold refrigerator to store vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which must be stored at minus 70 Celsius.

The year 2020 has come and gone with its challenges which include the coronavirus pandemic, banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and several other depressing episodes, and of course some spirit-lifting events. Here, Daily Trust on Sunday gives a list of what to expect this New Year.
Increased agitation for 2023
There is likely going to be increased agitation ahead of the 2023 general elections this year, and among other issues, whether or not zoning will determine who political parties decide to make their flagbearer, for the presidency.
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) is likely to entrench its position on the subject, as its president, Alhaji Yerima Shetima, has rejected the agitation for the zoning of the number one position. Holding the same position is Mamman Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari's nephew, who said competency and not zoning should be the consideration in electing Buhari's successor.
However, people like Alhaji Shuaib Mustapha Kano, political adviser to a former governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, are likely to remain adamant on zoning the presidency to Eastern Nigeria.
Both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have debated whether or not their parties' tickets should be zoned to the North or to the South. This debate will most likely deepen this year.
Floods still in sight
Flooding has become one of the disasters that never seems to go away, and 2020 is a typical example. It happened again despite forecasts by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Hydrological Services Agency (HAS) that revealed there would be massive flooding across many states from the beginning of the year. Also, donor agencies and even private firms repeatedly warned of the impending and imminent floods. The floods came and agricultural output and property worth billions were lost. It happened in Akwa Ibom State where 100 houses were destroyed and 300 persons displaced in Eket Local Government Area (LGA) in 2020, and in Borno where hundreds of shelters in Internally Displaced People's (IDP) camps were destroyed. Thousands of people were displaced and property destroyed in several parts of the country.
A report by Relief Web posted on October 19, 2020, indicated that flood levels at the hydrological stations monitored in Niamey (Niger Republic) and Malan Ville (Benin Republic) reached the red alert zone due to the intensity of torrential rainfall and caused flooding in Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Sokoto and Zamfara states, among others, affecting 91,254 people or 15,209 households. The flood incident was caused by the intensity of the rainfalls at the peak of the flood season and the release of dams located in neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Benin which resulted in the Benue and Niger rivers overflowing and affecting communities living along their banks and in surrounding areas.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. —Bars and restaurants across Wyoming will be allowed to return to normal operating hours beginning Jan. 9 as COVID-19 hospitalizations decline in the state.
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports Gov. Mark Gordon made the announcement Saturday. He praised businesses for adapting to health orders and thanked residents for recognizing the strain on hospitals.
The updated health orders allow bars and restaurants to resume onsite consumption from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and they allow gyms to increase the number of participants in group fitness classes from 10 to 25.
Counties can still opt out of the requirements if local conditions move to safer levels in accordance with White House metrics.

Amidst the rising COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) has directed all Federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to increase COVID-19 testings and reopen all isolation centers, according to a report by Naija News.
Reportedly speaking on a news brief earlier on Tuesday, Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of the PTF has redirected all 36 states and FCT to increase COVID-19 testing.
Mustapha said, "we wish to urge all states to reopen all laboratories and ensure that testing is expanded and turnaround time for results is substantially reduced. In the same vein, states should please keep their Isolation and Treatment Centres open because of the rising cases of infection nationwide".
"Reports received also point to the fact that laboratories recently established in the states are not working optimally. You will recall that we moved from two laboratories to about ninety (public and private) located in all states of the Federation. Their inability to function optimally has resulted in unacceptable levels of delay in receiving results and pressure on the national reference labs", he added.
As Tweeted by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the country has reported 749 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

The Covid-19 death this month of a Black physician who said she had to beg for proper medical care and was prematurely discharged from a hospital underscores the bias that Black people, particularly Black women, face in the U.S. health care system, numerous physicians and others said, expressing outrage.
The woman, Dr. Susan Moore, 52, of Indianapolis, said she tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov. 29 and was hospitalized at Indiana University Health North. She documented her tumultuous stay in a Dec. 4 Facebook post, which included video recorded from her hospital bed. The video, about 7 minutes long, detailed her complaints and dissatisfaction with how staff members were treating her, which she believed was because she was Black.
"You have to show proof that you have something wrong with you in order for you to get the medicine," Moore said in the impassioned video. "I put forth, and I maintain, that if I was white, I wouldn't have to go through that."
A number of her peers on social media agreed.
"These are the issues we face, as we give up so much to take care of patients, even in harm's way, and when we find ourselves as patients, we are disrespected, devalued & dismissed," Dr. Omolara Uwemedimo tweeted. "It cost Dr. Moore her life. Her medical degree did not save her from the racism that she endured while battling for her life."
In an opinion article published in The Washington Post, four advocates for racial justice in health care said Cooper's death resulted from a biased system.
"No matter how well-intentioned our health-care system is, it has not rooted out the false idea of a hierarchy of human valuation based on skin color and the falser idea that, if there were such a hierarchy, 'White' people would be at the top," said the piece by Dr. Aletha Maybank, chief health equity officer at the American Medical Association; Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, a family physician and epidemiologist and past president of the American Public Health Association; Dr. Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity; and Dr. Joia Crear Perry, president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.
Moore said that throughout her stay, her doctor was not receptive to her concerns and routinely downplayed her pain. Only after she underwent a CT scan, which allowed hospital personnel to see Moore's lungs for themselves, did the doctor agree to prescribe her the narcotics she needed, Moore said.
In the Facebook post, which she kept updated, Moore chronicled her discharge from the hospital, her return home and the worsening of her condition.
"I was home for less than 12 hours. Spiked a temperature of 103 and my blood pressure plummeted to 80/60 with a heart rate of 132," Moore wrote. "I'm back in the hospital, a different hospital Saint Vincent Carmel."
Moore said that she was diagnosed with pneumonia but that she was receiving "compassionate care" and the pain medication she needed at her new hospital.
In her last update, Moore said she was being transferred to intensive care. She died Dec. 20, according to news reports.
A spokesperson for Indiana University Health North would not comment about Moore's allegations specifically but said, "We are very sad to hear of her passing," and shared the following statement on behalf of the hospital:
"IU North respects and upholds patient privacy and cannot comment on a specific patient, their medical history or conditions. As an organization committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation. Treatment options are often agreed upon and reviewed by medical experts from a variety of specialties, and we stand by the commitment and expertise of our caregivers and the quality of care delivered to our patients every day."

In surprising comments, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night shredded a just-passed massive Covid-19 relief package, saying the legislation contains measures that have nothing to do with the pandemic and is too stingy on payments to average Americans.
"I am asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 (direct payment) to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple," Trump said in a video posted to Twitter of him speaking from the White House.
"I'm also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill, or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package."
He added, "And maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done."
Before the remarks, all signs and expectations had been that Trump intended to sign the Covid relief bill as soon as it lands on his desk, possibly later this week.
While Trump doesn't explicitly say he will veto the legislation, his remarks suggest that he might. If the president did, lawmakers may be able to override his veto.

As part of its support to the coordinated COVID-19 response in Nigeria, the Government of Japan has launched a series of initiatives aimed at cushioning the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on vulnerable communities –part of which is the Unconditional Cash Transfer Project. The N2.95 billion project, launched in partnership with the UNDP, Federal Government of Nigeria, Lagos and Kano State Governments will benefit over 39,000 individuals comprising household and SMEs/informal businesses in Lagos and Kano States.
Lagos and Kano States were two of the key hotspots at the onset of the pandemic recording 20,000 cases by Q4 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to trigger a 60 per cent decline in earnings for the world’s 1.6 billion informal workers, while half of the world is trying to survive without any form of social protection. In key local governments across both states, 32,200 families will benefit from cash transfers, while over 7,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will receive funding for business continuity or innovative start-ups that will benefit their communities.
This intervention is particularly crucial amidst looming repercussions for a second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic which has already brought adverse effects on Nigeria’s poor and vulnerable population. In drawing on lessons learned from the country’s ever-changing context to ensure that COVID support is dynamic and flexible, the Government of Japan has deployed a continuous stream of support in various states and across development indices aimed at restoring livelihoods, acceleratingearly recovery and building sustainable, resilient communities.
The Unconditional Cash Transfer Project comes on the back of other economic opportunities and rehabilitation projects funded by Japan comprising vocational skill programs, village saving and loans schemes, sexual and gender-based violence prevention campaigns, as well as trainings for community leaders. Between 2016 and 2020, the Government of Japan has allocated an estimated $10.5 million for economic recovery and peacebuilding of conflict-affected communities in Nigeria as part of the Integrated Community Recovery Programme implemented in partnership with UNDP.
The Government of Japan will continue to support the COVID-19 response in Nigeria through interventions covering risk communication, community engagement, strengthening state-level surveillance capacity, infection prevention/control; building case management capabilities of healthcare workers and strengthening hospital systems while liaising with Civil Society Organisations to deliver fast, effective pandemic response mechanisms.

On Sunday, several European countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria and Ireland announced new restrictions on flights to the United Kingdom in order to prevent the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus in England. 
When asked if a similar move could happen in the United States, testing czar Admiral Brett Giroir told ABC's "This Week" that he doesn't believe a ban on travel to the U.K. is necessary yet.
Giroir noted that health officials have seen almost 4,000 different mutations of the coronavirus and that there is "no indication" that the variant in the U.K. is "overcoming England."
"I read the British medical journals this morning, it's up to 20% of cases in one county, aside from that it is very low and we don't know that it is more dangerous," Giroir said. "I don't think there should be any reason for alarm right now."
U.S. health authorities at the National Institute of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are "looking very closely" into the variant, according to Operation Warp Speed's chief scientific adviser Moncef Slaoui.
Slaoui told CNN's State of the Union that health officials "don't know" if the variant is currently present in the United States. However, he noted that no strain of the virus appears to be resistant to any of the currently available vaccines as of this moment.
"Up to now, I don’t think there has been a single variant that would be resistant to the vaccine," Slaoui said. "We can’t exclude it, but it’s not there now, and this particular variant in the UK, I think, is very unlikely to escape vaccine immunity."

The United Nations has said that the private sector is the engine of growth, and can help catalyse investments in infrastructure and industrialization. It also stated that the private sector can contribute crucially to post COVID-19 economic recovery.
This was disclosed in a statement by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), after the launch of “Economic Report on Africa 2020: Innovative Finance for Private Sector Development in Africa” on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary, ECA, said the innovative financing is a way of ensuring that Africa grew into a prosperous continent.
William Lugemwa, Director, ECA Private Sector Development and Finance Division, disclosed that the ECA found out economies in Africa are not diversified, citing low investments in innovation and private sector led reforms which impedes production.
Lugemwa said the ECA also noticed that capital markets, private investments, crowd-funding platforms and other alternative methods of financing were gaining momentum in Africa, even though the report still highlighted challenges affecting Africa’s private sector.
He stated that the UN forecasts Africa needs $1.3 trillion annually to funds its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which would be heavily impacted by population growth. He also added that for Africa to achieve its SGDs, investments need to be made in innovative financing and increased private investments.
He added that Africa needs regulations on capital market requirements to avoid the spread of financial instability.

Nigeria's Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad has tested positive for COVID-19, local media reported Tuesday.
Muhammad is currently in Dubai receiving treatment, said Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, a member of the Supreme Court, as quoted by news website The Nation.
Muhammad was reportedly absent at the swearing in of dozens of senior advocates.
Health authorities in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, have confirmed 1,197 deaths due to COVID-19. The tally of cases is at 73,374 with 66,314 recoveries.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other top U.S. officials will be offered the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine beginning on Monday as part of a plan aimed at ensuring the continuity of government, a source familiar with the plans said.
Essential personnel at the White House and certain officials in all three branches of government were to be vaccinated within the next 10 days, said the source.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump would get the vaccine immediately, given that he has already contracted the novel coronavirus and recovered.
It was also not clear whether President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and other members of Biden’s transition team would be offered vaccinations.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel on Saturday recommended the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, as the U.S. COVID-19 death toll topped 298,000.
Doses of the vaccine will reach 145 locations across the country on Monday, with initial doses to go to healthcare workers and elderly residents of long-term care homes.
National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said senior officials in the executive branch, Congress and judiciary would also receive vaccinations in line with a protocol aimed at ensuring the U.S. government can continue to operate during a pandemic or catastrophic emergency.
“The American people should have confidence that they are receiving the same safe and effective vaccine as senior officials of the United States government on the advice of public health professionals and national security leadership,” Ullyot said in a statement.
A senior administration official said a comprehensive “National Continuity Policy” was established by the administration of former President Barack Obama in July 2016.
“This will further ensure that the United States government will continue essential operations, without interruption, for our citizens as we continue to fight this pandemic and work toward a return to prosperity for our nation,” the official said.

On Tuesday, 334 days after the first reported coronavirus death in China, the U.K. became the first country to roll out a clinically approved vaccine.
For many, seeing these shots injected into Britons' shoulder muscles will come as a much-needed morale boost at the end of a hellish year — one that's seen 1.5 million people killed, 65 million others sickened, and countless more subjected to economic hardship.
But the reality is that even wealthy countries like the United States face an enormous logistical challenge in trying to vaccinate priority groups — let alone everyone else.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is set to kick off a summit at the White House on Tuesday to highlight the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine he is eager to take credit for despite criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The summit, designed to provide an update on the status of the administration's ambitious plan to vaccinate all Americans against the coronavirus, comes two days before the FDA advisory committee will meet to review Pfizer and BioNTech's application for emergency authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine and distribution is expected to begin within 24 hours of authorization. The FDA will also meet on Dec. 17 to review Moderna's emergency request for its vaccine.
Trump has repeatedly credited Operation Warp Speed, his administration's public-private coronavirus response initiative, for the record development of vaccines but has not acknowledged a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases that's led to more than 282,000 deaths in the U.S.
Tuesday's event will be split into sessions and is expected to include drug manufacturers, transportation companies like UPS and FedEx, drug store chains CVS and Walgreens, and a group of state governors. Moderna and Pfizer, the two U.S. companies behind the vaccine candidates, told USA TODAY that officials will not attend the summit.
The White House was initially in talks to include both drugmakers but determined their participation was not required after the decision to include Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation.
"It was more appropriate not to have one or more vaccine companies with pending applications before the FDA also participating," a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters Tuesday evening.
Trump also plans to sign an executive order designed to ensure that all Americans have access to vaccines before the U.S. government begins aiding other nations with their inoculation efforts. It was not immediately clear how Trump would enforce the directive.
The order comes after administration officials reportedly passed on buying additional doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, according to a New York Times report. As the global race for a vaccine heats up, the U.S. may not be able to buy additional doses of Pfizer's vaccine until June because of the drugmaker's commitments to other countries, the newspaper reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has heard all the arguments about personal freedom, and the agency apparently doesn't want to hear them any more.
"JUST WEAR THE MASK," the CDC tweeted in all caps late Saturday. "Cover your mouth AND nose. Stay 6 feet from others. Wash your hands. Stay home if you can."
The agency pointed to nationwide data over the last few weeks showing a sharp increase in cases, deaths and hospitalizations. Among the new cases, apparently, is Rudy Giuliani, lawyer for President Donald Trump. Trump, who has recovered from his own bout with the virus, shared the news by tweet Sunday, writing “Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!”
Still, the troubling data has thus far failed to convince some public officials – among them Don Barnes, the Republican sheriff of Orange County, California – to enforce mandates issued by a growing number of governors.
"Policy makers must not penalize residents for earning a livelihood, safeguarding their mental health or enjoying our most cherished freedoms," Barnes said in a statement.
The CDC's tweet included a simple warning: "If we don’t act together and do what we can to slow the spread, thousands more could die."
Freedom should be built on the basis of being alive.

Banking in Nigeria remains a particularly attractive sector, with over $9 billion in value pools, but despite high levels of competition, the vast majority of consumers are underserved. Lack of access to services, especially in rural areas, issues of affordability, and poor user experience all contribute to the frustration consumers experience right across the customer spectrum.
This has created an opening that fintechs have been quick to take advantage of, with many stepping up to develop enhanced propositions across the value chain to address pain points in affordable payments, quick loans, and flexible savings and investments, among others
Start-ups have moved to take advantage of increased technology penetration and high levels of unmet needs in the traditional banking sector to seize market share. In the past three years, fintech investments in Nigeria grew by 197%, with the majority of investment coming from outside the country. There has been a multitude of innovation from fintechs in product development, designing product and services to cater for the needs of millions of Nigerians and in turn fuelling the growth of e-commerce.
However, despite this the impact created by fintechs is still only at a fraction of its potential. However, the opportunity is there, particularly as Nigeria faces a significant financial inclusion challenge with around 40% of the country’s population without a bank account.
The McKinsey report also discusses the potential shift of the drivers of Nigeria’s Fintech sector due to Covid-19, with the impact of the crises on fintech being mixed so far. While lockdowns have accelerated trends driving digital adoption and financial inclusion, the disruption to employment and incomes are expected to have a negative effect on funding and specific product lines.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has said that Nigeria’s inflation rate which stood as high as 14.2% in October is expected to begin to moderate by the first half of next year.
This is as the Federal Government had introduced a number of measures to help stabilize the economy, increase productivity and ensure recovery from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
This disclosure was made by Emefiele during his presentation at the 55th Annual Bankers Dinner organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Lagos on Friday.
The CBN Governor pointed out that inflationary pressure persisted during the year due to several factors which include disruption to global and domestic supply chains due to Covid-19, increase in the VAT rate, increase in petroleum prices, electricity price adjustments and farmer-herder clashes.
It also includes exchange rate adjustment and flooding that occurred in many parts of our farm belt areas.
Emefiele in his statement said, ‘’Inflation in October 2020 stood at 14.2%. we, however, expect inflation to begin to moderate by the first half of 2021 as efforts are being made to enable significant cultivation and production of key staple items during the dry season.’’
It can be recalled that at the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit, the Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, also said that the country is expected to exit from recession by the first quarter of 2021 with the Federal Government working towards reversing the declining economic trend in the country.

Nurses from the profession’s largest union in the United States have warned of dire stresses on the healthcare system as the country sees a new surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalisations.
In a news conference on Monday, members of the National Nurses United, which represents 170,000 registered nurses across the US, detailed harrowing accounts of hospital understaffing, a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and an inadequate response from local and federal authorities.
On Saturday, the US surpassed 12 million confirmed coronavirus cases. More than 247,000 people have died in the country after contracting COVID-19, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
Despite a lull in hospitalisations in the middle of the year, the numbers of patients currently hospitalised has more than doubled as the US enters its colder months. As of Friday, more than 83,000 patients in the US were hospitalised with COVID-19, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Officials in some areas have warned hospitals could face stresses worse than they did during the first major outbreak earlier in the year. Data from the Health and Human Services Department released last week showed that 18 percent of hospitals across all 50 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico report being “critically” short on staff. North Dakota is the worst hit, with 51 percent of hospitals reporting shortages. Seven other states are above the 30 percent mark.
“Nearly one year into this pandemic, our hospitals are still not prepared,” said Jean Ross, the president of the union and a registered nurse in Minnesota. She said a survey of nurses conducted by the organisation found that 80 percent of hospitals in the US have not done adequate planning for a surge in cases.
“Our government and healthcare employers have not implemented what is needed since the pandemic started,” she said. “We are still fighting for safe staffing and optimal PPE”, as well as proper “infection control” measures.

One of the experimental drugs that President Trump received while he was battling the coronavirus has been approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, made by the biotech company Regeneron, is the second antibody treatment to win emergency use approval from the FDA.
The treatment combines two antibodies — casirivimab and imdevimab — and administers them together by IV. In a clinical trial of about 800 people, the combination was shown to significantly reduce virus levels within days of treatment.
In its authorization on Saturday, the FDA made clear that the drug is only for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in people 12 years and older who are at high risk of developing more severe symptoms. It's not for patients who are hospitalized because of COVID-19 or who require oxygen therapy because of the virus.
"The emergency authorization of these monoclonal antibodies administered together offers health care providers another tool in combating the pandemic," said Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We will continue to facilitate the development, evaluation and availability of COVID-19 therapies."
Both Regeneron's drug and another approved treatment, made by Eli Lilly, are synthetic versions of human antibodies that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful pathogens. They bind to the coronavirus and prevent it from invading cells.
The White House celebrated the "promising results" and noted that the administration has spent close to half a billion dollars to support large-scale manufacturing of Regeneron's antibody treatment for delivery to U.S. hospitals.
"Due to advancements in quality care, information for medical personnel to better treat patients, and life-saving vaccines rapidly advancing toward approval faster than ever before, the United States has never been more prepared to confront the coronavirus and save millions of lives as we are now," White House spokesman Michael Bars said in a statement.
Regeneron's drug, called REGEN-COV2, "is designed to mimic what a well-functioning immune system does by using very potent antibodies to neutralize the virus," Regeneron's chief scientific officer, Dr. George Yancopoulos, said in a statement. "We are encouraged that no variants resistant to the cocktail were identified in the clinical trial analyses to date."
Both Eli Lilly and Regeneron applied for FDA authorization in October. Eli Lilly's product got the green light first, and its first batch has been distributed to hospitals around the United States. Regeneron's product will now be available to boost the supply, and the company estimates that 300,000 doses will be given to patients at no cost, though together there still won't be nearly enough to serve all the people who could qualify for them.
Neither drug has yet gotten full FDA approval, which entails much more rigorous reviews that take longer to complete. Emergency use authorizations are granted during public health emergencies when a treatment could be effective.
On Thursday, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for baricitinib, which when used with remdesivir has shown to be effective in battling more severe cases of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization or a ventilator.

Health-care workers in the United States could get the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine in about a month.
Pfizer announced Wednesday that it planned to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use “within days” after a final data analysis found its vaccine was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 and, in addition, appeared to fend off severe disease in patients who contracted the virus. The news follows Moderna’s announcement Monday that its vaccine was 94.5% effective.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC earlier this week that the FDA would move “as quickly as possible” to clear both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines. The FDA process is expected to take a few weeks, and an advisory committee meeting to review the vaccine has been tentatively scheduled for early December.
“We will independently call those balls and strikes on the data and evidence, but we’re going to do so as quickly as possible, consistent with just making sure the science, the evidence and the law support authorization,” Azar told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday.It’s a record-breaking time frame for a process that normally takes about a decade for an effective and safe vaccine. The fastest-ever vaccine development, mumps, took more than four years and was licensed in 1967. The coronavirus was discovered less than year ago and has already infected more than 55.6 million people across the globe.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said earlier this week that vaccinations to prevent Covid-19 could begin soon. In an interview with NPR that aired Tuesday, Fauci said there will be some people in the U.S. who will be getting inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine toward the end of December.
“This December. Literally, next month,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said, according to a transcript of his comments. “We hope that we’ll be getting vaccine into people. The recommendation of who that will be will be finalized by the CDC - likely will be health-care workers, as well as people who are at a high risk for serious disease.”
Public health officials have previously said the vaccine would be released in phases. In September, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a proposal for distributing a vaccine in the U.S. if and when one is approved for public use. They devised the proposed guidelines at the request of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Public health experts are sounding the alarm about the trajectory of the pandemic in the United States as the coronavirus spreads through the country largely unabated and officials muse aloud about the possibility of fresh lockdowns.
The experts use different language to underscore the situation’s urgency: Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Tom Frieden said the nation is experiencing a “dangerous time.” CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta called the crisis a “humanitarian disaster.” Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who was recently named to President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, described the situation bluntly as “covid-hell.”
Their warnings come amid widespread fatigue with restrictions, even as the virus is nowhere near finished rampaging across the country. Although several states implemented new mitigation measures this week, many people have been letting down their guards or, in some cases, vowing outright to ignore the rules.
Fourteen states, mostly in the Midwest, had reported record numbers of hospitalizations by midday Thursday as the seven-day average number of cases reached highs in 23 states, from Nevada to Maryland, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. Hospital officials predicted that they could soon face excruciating decisions about how to prioritize care as they run short on beds and staff.
“Our hospitals are full,” Megan Ranney, an emergency medicine professor at Brown University, said in an interview. “Our workers are getting sick. And it is simply overwhelming the system.”

The United States has surpassed 1 million new confirmed coronavirus cases in just the first 10 days of November, with more than 100,000 infections each day becoming the norm in a surge that shows no signs of slowing.
The 1 million milestone came as governors across the nation are making increasingly desperate pleas with the public to take the fight against the virus more seriously. The Wisconsin governor planned to take the unusual step of delivering a live address to the state Tuesday, urging unity and cooperation to fight covid-19.
Minnesota’s governor ordered bars and restaurants to close at 10 p.m., and Iowa’s governor said she will require masks at indoor gatherings of 25 or more people, inching toward more stringent measures after months of holding out.
The alarming wave of cases across the U.S. looks bigger and is more widespread than the surges that happened in the spring, mainly in the Northeast, and then in the summer, primarily in the Sun Belt. But experts say there are also reasons to think the nation is better able to deal with the virus this time around.
“We’re definitely in a better place” when it comes to improved medical tools and knowledge, said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious-disease researcher.
Newly confirmed infections in the U.S. are running at all-time highs of well over 100,000 per day, pushing the running total to more than 10 million and eclipsing 1 million since Halloween.
Several states posted records Tuesday, including more than 12,000 new cases in Illinois, 7,000 in Wisconsin and 6,500 in Ohio.
Deaths — a lagging indicator, since it takes time for people to get sick and die — are climbing again, reaching an average of more than 930 a day.
Hospitals are getting slammed. And unlike the earlier outbreaks, this one is not confined to a region or two. Cases are on the rise in 49 states.
“The virus is spreading in a largely uncontrolled fashion across the vast majority of the country,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt University.