Coronavirus Watch: Most states are setting weeklong case records
More than half of U.S. states are setting weeklong case records. That hasn't happened since April.
A Paste BN analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Thursday shows 27 states set records for new cases in a week while five states had a record number of deaths in a week.
It's Friday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the most significant news of the day, as of 11:30 a.m. ET:
- New restrictions begin: In Massachusetts, a statewide face mask mandate, closure of some businesses, and limits to indoor and outdoor gatherings went into effect Friday. In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills issued a mask mandate regardless of whether people can physically distance from others.
- Idaho is seeing a record number of daily cases and hospitals are running out of space for COVID-19 patients.
- AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said Thursday that the company is hoping to show its COVID-19 vaccine candidate is safe and effective by the end of the year.
- An election judge supervisor who tested positive for COVID-19 and was aware of the test result still worked at a Missouri polling place and has since died, health officials say.
- The U.S. economy added 638,000 jobs in October as payroll growth roughly held steady despite a surge in cases and Congress’s failure to provide more aid to unemployed Americans and struggling businesses. The unemployment rate fell from 7.9% to 6.9%, the Labor Department said Friday.
Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 9.6 million cases and 235,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been more than 48.8 million cases and 1.2 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