October 17 coronavirus news

On Friday, at least ten states reported their highest coronavirus case totals since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Here's a look at the states' cases, according to Johns Hopkins University: 

There were 3,861 new cases of coronavirus reported in Wisconsin on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University, charting a new record high number of cases for the state. 

Wisconsin's previous high was 3,743 cases, which was set on Thursday. 

On Friday, United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that Wisconsin is a Covid-19 red state, with a rising positivity rate. 

"It is critical that we actually understand where this virus is circulating so that we could get cases under control and reverse positivity,” he added. 

Adams spoke at a news conference announcing a new Covid-19 surge testing location in Neenah, Wisconsin. 

The COVID Tracking project reports Wisconsin’s positivity rate at 23.91% as of Saturday morning. 

President Trump is set to hold a rally in Janesville, Wisconsin on Saturday evening.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has appealed to citizens to do more to fight rising numbers of coronavirus infections across the country, urging Germans in a video message to abide by the regulations set out by the government.   

“We must do everything to ensure that the virus does not spread in an uncontrolled way. Every day now counts,” Merkel said as daily infections have hit record highs this past week.  

“How the winter will be, how our Christmas will be, that will be decided in the coming days and weeks,” Merkel added.  

Germany’s strategy against the pandemic has so far centered around effective contact tracing of infected individuals in order to isolate them before they can infect others.  

“Health authorities are doing amazing work in this regard … but where the number of infections become too high, they simply cannot keep up,” the German Chancellor said.  

In an effort to stem the continued spread of the virus, Merkel also urged citizens to “meet with a lot fewer people” both outside and inside their homes, adding that people should try to avoid traveling or attending large gatherings unless absolutely necessary.  

“If each us drastically reduces the amount of contacts outside if their own family, then it is possible to stop and even reverse this trend,” she added.

Germany recorded another daily record in new coronavirus infections, the country’s center for disease control reported on Saturday. 

The Robert Koch Institute said 7,830 new infections have been confirmed in a span of 24 hours, an increase about around 500 cases on the day before. 

A total of 33 patients died in that same period, bringing the total number of dead in Germany to 9,767. 

German politicians are trying to bring the situation under control, but the powerful governor of Bavaria, Markus Soeder, told German pubic media outlet ARD that authorities "are in danger of losing control in some areas of Germany."

The Czech Republic registered 11,105 new coronavirus cases on Friday, new data from the Ministry of Health revealed, marking a new record high in the daily number of new infections across the country.  

The tally is an increase of 1,384 on Thursday’s confirmed total of new infections.

According to the latest government data, the total number of active coronavirus cases now stands at 92,736, while the total number of coronavirus-related deaths has reached 1,283.

The country, which was initially heralded for suppressing the virus in the early days of the pandemic, introduced a new range of restrictions to bring the spread under control on Monday.

All sporting, social and religious events are now limited to groups of 10 people indoors and 20 people outdoors, unless all participants come from the same household. University students are barred from in-person learning, except for practical medical training.

A total of 3,120 coronavirus patients currently remain hospitalized, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.

There are at least 8,048,865 reported cases of coronavirus in the United States -- including at least 218,575 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

On Friday, Johns Hopkins University reported 69,156 new cases and 883 additional coronavirus-related deaths in the country. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

For the latest Johns Hopkins University US numbers, check here. CNN’s map, using JHU data, continues to refresh every 15 minutes.

US President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally in Florida on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic is "rounding the turn."

But that's not the case, says influential Covid-19 modeler Dr. Chris Murray.

The US has passed 8 million total cases of Covid-19 and recorded 63,000 fresh infections on Thursday -- a significant uptick from the daily numbers just a few weeks ago. More than 218,000 Americans have died from the virus.

“We expect the death toll, unfortunately, unless we change our behavior, is going to reach 390,000 deaths by February 1,” Murray said, citing IHME’s recent predictions.

“No, it's not over. The worst is still to come unfortunately.”

The New York City Police Department is observing “an uptick” in coronavirus cases, Detective Sophia Mason, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a statement to CNN.

“We are watching it very closely,” she said.

There are now 54 uniformed members and 18 civilian members who have tested positive for Covid-19 and are out sick, according to Mason, who declined to provide additional information, such as when the uptick was first observed.

In a local television interview Friday morning, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the department is doing its best to trace the cases.

The federal government hopes to start vaccinating people against coronavirus within a day or two of Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization, officials said Friday.

“We fully anticipate that both Pfizer and Moderna will have data of both safety and effectiveness of their vaccines very shortly. We are very encouraged because their clinical trials are going extraordinarily well,” Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Health and Human Services Department, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Mango was announcing a plan for retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens to distribute any eventual coronavirus vaccine to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes under an agreement – not a contract – with the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Dr. Jay Butler noted that a third of coronavirus deaths in the US have been among residents of long-term care facilities. “We believe that this plan will be the quickest and easiest way to provide vaccines to long-term care facility residents,” Butler told reporters.

The CDC asked states to submit plans for vaccine distribution Friday. Workers and residents of long-term care facilities are expected to be among the first to get vaccinated.