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Coronavirus Watch: 3 states report worse surge than summer

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

The latest coronavirus surge has states reporting COVID-19 cases at a blistering pace.

North Dakota is reporting cases at a speed a third faster, on a per-capita basis, than any U.S. state experienced in the worst of the spring or summer surges. South Dakota and Montana are also ahead of the summer records while Wisconsin is not far below.

This startling development comes as 14 states set records for new cases in a week, while four states had a record number of deaths in a week.

It's Thursday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the most significant news of the day, as of 4 p.m. ET:

  • Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris canceled campaign stops Thursday after two people connected to her campaign tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Good news for people with O-type blood: Two studies published in the journal Blood Advances suggest that they may have a lower chance of contracting COVID-19 – and have less severe symptoms.
  • President Donald Trump and Democratic opponent Joe Biden will participate in competing town halls Thursday night. The original debate was canceled after Trump tested positive for the coronavirus and he refused to do a virtual debate.
  • First lady Melania Trump revealed that her 14-year-old son Barron Trump had COVID-19 but has now tested negative. 
  • The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to 898,000, a historically high number and evidence that layoffs remain a hindrance to economic recovery.
  • The CDC's latest "ensemble" forecast — a prediction of the next four weeks based on state and national data aggregates — estimates that there may be up to 240,000 deaths by Nov. 7.
  • London residents from different households will no longer be able to congregate indoors as part of the United Kingdom capital's Tier 2 lockdown. And French President Emmanuel Macron announced that 18 million citizens in nine regions, including in Paris, will have a curfew starting Saturday through Dec. 1.

Paste BN is investigating how racist policies of the past and present have fueled high COVID-19 deaths in communities of color. Check out the six-part series here.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 7.9 million cases and 217,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been more than 38.7 million cases and 1 million fatalities. See the numbers in your area here, and check out where cases are rising here.

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– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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