Coronavirus: The virus is surging again in the Northeastern U.S. Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut have reported records for new daily cases in the past week.
England and parts of Italy are set to begin a new lockdowns as the fight against the second wave in Europe intensifies.
A mutation in the virus has prompted Denmark to kill millions of infected mink. In Utah, nearly 10,000 mink at nine fur farms have died from the virus.
Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.
The coming months look grim
Votes are still being counted in the presidential race, but no matter who wins, President Trump will lead the country’s response to the virus during the next few months — which look likely to be the bleakest and potentially deadliest period of the pandemic.
Infections are escalating toward a record-breaking 100,000 cases a day, hospitals are strained and deaths are rising. At least 22 states have added more cases over the last week than in any other weeklong stretch of the pandemic, and the country recorded 1,130 deaths on Tuesday, one of the highest daily totals since the surge this summer ended.
In Europe, which is being hit by a similarly ferocious fall wave, many countries have announced fresh restrictions in the last several days to slow the spread of the virus. But there is deep skepticism that the American president will follow suit in the coming weeks.
Even if Mr. Trump is not re-elected, he will keep his job until Jan. 20 and he has been sticking to his message that the country is “rounding the corner” on the virus. He has largely shut down the White House Coronavirus Task Force and has stopped listening to his health officials.
One person Mr. Trump does listen to is Dr. Scott Atlas, a radiologist who now serves as his coronavirus adviser. Dr. Atlas has questioned the effectiveness of mask wearing and has suggested that the government should let the pandemic run its course — a position that has been adopted by some Republican governors — and one that health experts and epidemiologists say would lead to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
When the election is decided: If Mr. Trump prevails, Americans can expect him to double down on prioritizing the economy over public health, demanding that schools reopen, and dismissing mask wearing and restrictions on large gatherings in favor of promises of therapeutics and vaccines.
If Joe Biden is elected, he would prepare to put his plan in place for ramping up testing, ensuring a steady supply of protective equipment, distributing a vaccine when available, securing money from Congress for schools and hospitals, and possibly putting in place a national mask mandate.
The New York Times