October 10 coronavirus news

Emergency physicians across the US are beginning to see an uptick in severe coronavirus cases, prompting fears that the second wave of the virus is coming, according to Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency medicine physician with Brown University in Rhode Island.

"We are all seeing increasing numbers of Covid-19 patients who are coming into our ER's, who are getting really sick, requiring hospitalization and even intensive care," Ranney told CNN’s Erica Hill.

She noted the spike in cases which occurred among younger people about a month ago is now spreading within communities.

 Ranney emphasized that there is still no cure for the virus.

 "We're quite fearful for what we are heading into," she said.

France recorded 26,896 new cases of coronavirus Saturday, setting a new record for daily reported infections since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the French Health Ministry.

Saturday's record was an increase of 6,557 more cases than the day before when the previous record was set with 20,339 cases.

The rise in infections takes the total of reported infections in the country to 718,873.

An additional 54 deaths were reported by the ministry on Saturday, bringing the total of fatalities to 32,684.  

An outbreak of coronavirus cases in Anchorage, Alaska, are being tied to a youth hockey tournament held on Oct. 2-3.

The exact number of cases tied to the event has not yet been determined, as contact tracing continues, but Anchorage Public Health Director Heather Harris says up to 300 attendees are being asked to isolate or quarantine as a result of their potential exposure.

“All teams that have participated in the tournament have been quarantined since Tuesday, Oct. 6 and have been advised to get tested for the virus,” according to a post on the Anchorage Hockey Association’s website.

The three-day event, the Termination Dust Invitational, hosted players, coaches, and fans at two separate sites. Organizers had mitigation plans in place and kept a contact log of participants, Harris said.

“It is just a continual reminder about how pervasive Covid is and how it can strike anyone at any time,” Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz said in a news conference Friday.

Alaska has confirmed 9,182 coronavirus cases to date, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

President Trump, in his first public event since he was diagnosed with coronavirus, gave a brief campaign style speech from the balcony of the White House where he attacked Joe Biden and focused on his law and order messaging.

Though members of the audience were mostly Black Americans — members of a group known as "BLEXIT" that was founded by conservative firebrand Candace Owens to encourage African Americans to leave the Democratic Party — the lines of Trump's speech seemed aimed at White suburbanites who are not sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement.

"If the left gains power, they will launch a nationwide crusade against law enforcement," Trump said.

Some context: Just as the US sees an upward trend in hospitalization rates, Trump invited some 2,000 people for the speech from a White House balcony, in just the latest sign that his staff and doctors are acquiescing to his desires rather than following public health guidelines and common sense.

The large gathering follows Trump's acknowledgment during a televised interview with Fox News Friday that he may have contracted the virus at one of the recent events at the White House. It's unknown whether he's still contagious, but Trump gave an incomprehensible answer about his latest coronavirus test results Friday.

The White House said attendance at today's event is expected to be less than a thousand people, according to reporters at the scene.

Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere told the White House press pool that President Trump's speech is expected to last roughly 30 minutes.

"This is an official event," not a campaign event, and no campaign staff is involved, Deere said.

"The campaign is not involved in this," he said.

More details: CNN took video of the line to get onto White House grounds for the event.

There was a large group of people seen wearing blue shirts associated with "Blexit," a group founded by conservative commentator Candace Owens. Some people were not wearing masks as they waited in line.

The latest forecast of an influential coronavirus model projects 394,693 total US coronavirus deaths by February 1.

That’s about 181,000 additional lives lost beyond the current US death toll of 213,860, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The model, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, projects that daily deaths in the US will peak at about 2,300 in mid-January. For comparison, Friday's US death toll was 990, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The new projections are based off of current conditions. If US social distancing mandates are eased, the model projects 502,852 coronavirus-related deaths by February 1.

Masks make a difference. If 95% of people in the US wore masks, the model projects that 79,000 fewer lives would be lost by February 1, and daily deaths would peak at less than 1,400. 

Greater context: Globally, the model predicts that 2,488,346 people will die from coronavirus by February 1. The model shows that if 95% of people around the world wore masks, more than three-quarters of a million lives would be saved by that date.

Hawaiian Airlines is cutting inter-island flights and cargo service, citing low travel demand and quarantine restrictions, the airline announced in a news release. 

‘Ohana by Hawaiian offers multiple flights each day from Honolulu to Molokai and Lanai and is operated by third party Empire Airlines. That service will be suspended starting Nov. 1, along with cargo service between the islands.

Hawaii had implemented a 14-day quarantine for travelers to the Aloha State, but recently announced a revision that will allow visitors to provide a negative Covid-19 test within 72-hours of traveling.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Trump on Saturday discussed ongoing efforts by their countries to manage the coronavirus pandemic.

As President Trump hosts supporters at the White House for his first public event since testing positive for coronavirus, the Democratic National Committee War Room is planning a spectacle of its own.

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., a mobile billboard is expected to roam the streets around the White House to call attention to the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, and how, per the DNC War Room, Trump is “still putting lives at risk.”

The billboard truck is expected to feature a screen with rotating pandemic statistics, including 7.7 million coronavirus cases in the US, 213,000 US deaths, 657,000 children infected, 400,000 businesses closed for good, and 40 million Americans at risk of being evicted by the end of the year.

And the truck will play audio of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who told CBS News Radio in an interview this week, “We had a superspreader event in the White House.”

“Even after the White House has been turned into a hotspot in this pandemic, Trump still hasn’t learned his lesson or started listening to his own public health experts,” DNC War Room spokesperson Lily Adams said in a statement. “Instead, he is doubling down with another potential superspreader event today and a return to rallies next week.”