November 4 coronavirus news

By Nectar Gan, Steve George, Zamira Rahim, Lauren Kent, Ed Upright, Rob Picheta and Hira Humayun, CNN

Updated 1:01 AM ET, Thu November 5, 2020
20 Posts
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7:44 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Indonesia wants to vaccinate 9 million people with China's experimental vaccine in late December 

From CNN's Sandi Sidhu

A engineer takes samples of monkey kidney cells as he tests an experimental Covid-19 vaccine at the Sinovac Biotech facilities in Beijing on April 29.
A engineer takes samples of monkey kidney cells as he tests an experimental Covid-19 vaccine at the Sinovac Biotech facilities in Beijing on April 29. Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images

Indonesia plans to vaccinate 9 million people with an experimental vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech in December, a senior government minister announced Wednesday.

Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said vaccinations "would likely start in the third week of December 2020." 

The Indonesian government will give vaccinations to "nine million people in specific areas that we believe contribute greatly to handling the high number of Covid-19 cases," Pandjaitan said. "In Jakarta, for instance, there are several areas that we believe contribute significantly to the tally of Covid-19 cases, and (we will) give them a shot." 

The vaccination drive is separate from Phase 3 clinical trials for Sinovac, taking place in West Java in conjunction with Indonesia's state-owned biotechnology company Bio Farma. 

Indonesian authorities said the vaccinations will put the country on track to lift restrictions in popular tourist destination Bali -- planned to reopen in early 2021.

"We are keen to see Bali become a green zone, which is our target. We are optimistic that Bali is becoming a green zone at the start of next year, as we will commence vaccinations in the third week of December," Panjaitan remarked.

Indonesia has recorded a total of 421,731 coronavirus cases and 14,259 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

7:07 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Oxford vaccine chief “optimistic” that trial results could be reached by end of 2020

From Amy Cassidy in Glasgow

The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is in collaboration with the University of Oxford on a Covid-19 vaccine.
The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is in collaboration with the University of Oxford on a Covid-19 vaccine. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

There is a "small chance" that results from Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine trials could be ready by Christmas 2020, according to one of the university's leading scientists.

“The first step is to reach the point where we can do an analysis and figure out whether or not the vaccine works...I'm optimistic that we could reach that point before the end of this year,” Andrew Pollard told UK lawmakers during a government committee hearing Wednesday.

He said there was a small chance the information could be ready before the festive season. But Pollard stressed that the data had to be reviewed by regulators before the vaccine could be distributed and that he did not know the timeline of the regulation process.

“Our bit we're getting closer to,” he said, referring to the analysis of the trials.

The university is developing its vaccine with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. Phase 3 trials for the vaccine began in September.

6:32 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

About 1,000 people to be tested for Covid-19 following Samsung chairman’s funeral in Korea

From CNN's Yoonjung Seo

A hearse carrying the casket of Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Kun-hee, left, leaves the company's semiconductor plant in South Korea, on Wednesday, October 28.
A hearse carrying the casket of Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Kun-hee, left, leaves the company's semiconductor plant in South Korea, on Wednesday, October 28. SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Around 1,000 people who gathered last week for the funeral of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee in Seoul, South Korea, will now be subject to coronavirus testing, South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) told CNN in a statement.

This comes after one person who attended the funeral home on October 26 tested positive for the virus several days later, the statement said. Health authorities believe the person might have been asymptomatic when visiting the funeral home.

South Korea has reported 118 confirmed coronavirus cases since Tuesday, 98 of which are locally transmitted infections and 20 are imported cases, according to KDCA Wednesday.

6:22 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Italy to enforce “stay at home” order as cases rise

From CNN's Livia Borghese in Rome

Italian Army health workers collect swabs for Covid-19 at a drive-through testing center at Cecchignola military compound on October 24, in Rome, Italy.
Italian Army health workers collect swabs for Covid-19 at a drive-through testing center at Cecchignola military compound on October 24, in Rome, Italy. Antonio Masiello/Getty Images

Italy will impose new restrictions on residents from November 5, requiring them to stay home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The country's new package of pandemic measures encompasses three different levels of risk, based on the virus transmission rate, the number of available intensive care unit beds and testing capacity.

Under national restrictions, public transport will be capped to 50% of capacity, museums and exhibition centres will be closed, and cruise ships suspended.

In addition, masks at school will be compulsory for all students above six years old. Restaurants and bars can remain open for regular clients until 6 p.m., after which they can only provide take away or delivery services.

As well as the national level, regional restrictions will also come into place in some areas. These will be designated “orange zones” and “red zones" depending on the severity of the pandemic.

Deputy health minister Sandra Zampa said in a radio interview that the new rules are “tailored” to deal with differing situations by region.

In “orange zones” people will be banned from leaving the area -- except for work or health reasons -- and bars and restaurants will only be able to do delivery and take away service.

In "red zones" people will not be allowed to move away from their town of residence and all non-essential shops will be closed. 

The new rules are set to last until December 3.

Italy has reported more than 750,000 cases of Covid-19 and 39,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

5:52 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Poland reports record rise in cases

From CNN's Antonia Mortensen

Health care workers wear personal protective equipment in an intensive care unit of Krakow University Hospital, Poland, on November 3.
Health care workers wear personal protective equipment in an intensive care unit of Krakow University Hospital, Poland, on November 3. Omar Marques/Getty Images

Poland reported a record 24,692 new coronavirus infections and 373 deaths on Wednesday, according to the country's health ministry.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is expected to hold a press conference Wednesday amid the surge, where he is expected to announce further measures to combat the virus.

Restrictions have also been imposed across Europe. England is set to enter lockdown from midnight Thursday, Germany's softer, so-called "lockdown light" restrictions began on Monday and Austria started a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Ukraine reported a record 9,524 new cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

These record case counts come just days after the World Health Organization said that Europe has once again become the epicenter of the global pandemic.

4:53 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Here's why you can test negative for Covid-19 but still be infected and contagious

From CNN's Holly Yan

A nurse hands a sample to a medical assistant at a Covid-19 testing site in Boston on October 22.
A nurse hands a sample to a medical assistant at a Covid-19 testing site in Boston on October 22. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe

If you think a negative test result means you don't have coronavirus, you could be wrong -- it can take days before a new infection shows up on a Covid-19 test. It is possible to be harboring the virus, but be testing negative and have no symptoms in the early stages of infection.

So if you want to get tested as a precaution before seeing friends or family, here's what you need to know:

If I got infected yesterday, would a test today pick that up?

Probably not. A study in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine examined false-negative test results of people who actually had Covid-19. The study estimated that during four days of infection before symptoms typically started, the probability of getting an incorrect/negative test result on Day 1 was 100%.

On the day people started showing symptoms, the average false-negative rate had dropped to 38%, according to the study. Three days after symptoms started, the false-negative rate dropped to 20%.

"The virus just takes time to replicate in the body to detectable levels," said Justin Lessler, a senior author of the study and associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in an email.

Could I be contagious while testing negative?

Absolutely. "People sort of feel like if you test (negative), you're out of the woods. And you're kind of not," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of the infectious diseases division at Massachusetts General Hospital.

For people who get sick with Covid-19, symptoms can take up to two weeks to appear, but the average time is about five days, Walensky said.

"It's generally thought that you're most infectious the two days before that day and the two days after that," she added.

Do different kinds of Covid-19 tests matter?

There are two main types of diagnostic tests that detect active coronavirus infections:

Molecular tests, such as PCR tests, look for the virus' genetic material. Most of these tests are performed with nasal swabs or throat swabs, though some can be done using saliva, the US Food and Drug Administration says. This test is typically "highly accurate" and does not need to be repeated, according to the FDA.

Antigen tests, often known as rapid tests (though some molecular tests are rapid, too), look for specific proteins on the surface of the virus rather than the virus' genetic material. The good news is you can get antigen test results in less than an hour. The bad news is you're more likely to get a false negative with a rapid antigen test.

So what should I do if I want to see friends or relatives?

If you insist on seeing loved ones for the holidays, self-isolating for 14 days beforehand is probably your safest bet, Walensky said.

"A 14-day quarantine -- with a real quarantine -- if you do that properly, you don't need a test," she said, adding that isolating properly means you cannot run errands or go to the grocery store. "That's probably the cleanest way to do it."

Adding a coronavirus test to your list of precautions "is a helpful thing, but only if it's done properly," Walensky said. "And if you don't know exactly when or how to use it, then you very well could be setting yourself up for a false sense of security."

Read more:

3:55 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

The border between Australia's two most-populous states will open on November 23

From CNN's Angus Watson in Sydney

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks at a press conference in Sydney, on November 04.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks at a press conference in Sydney, on November 04. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

The border between the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales will reopen later this month, according to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

"On Monday, 23 November, the NSW/Victoria border will reopen. We need to keep moving forward as we live with Covid-19. I have confidence that everyone will continue to work hard to keep everyone safe," Berejiklian said in a tweet Wednesday.

The border between the two states has been closed since July, when a second wave of coronavirus hit Victoria, resulting in more than 20,000 cases. Melbourne -- the biggest city in Victoria -- was under lockdown for months.

On Wednesday, Victoria announced zero new community transmission cases for the fifth day in a row, while New South Wales reported three new local cases Wednesday and six cases from overseas travelers.

Other domestic border restrictions remain in place.

3:47 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Russia reports highest daily virus toll, recording more than 19,700 new cases

From CNN’s Mary Ilyushina in Moscow

Russia reported 19,768 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the highest number it has ever reported in a single day, according to data from the country’s coronavirus response center. 

That brings Russia's total of officially reported cases to 1,693,454, including at least 29,217 deaths, according to data as of November 4.

3:13 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

North Korean officials who violate the country's emergency coronavirus laws could face execution

From CNN's Yoonjung Seo in Seoul

North Korean officials who violate coronavirus prevention laws could be subject to life in prison or execution, according to a South Korean lawmaker who attended a government audit hearing of the National Intelligence Service.

The violations are processed by marshal law, not civil law, the audit revealed, according to South Korean lawmaker Ha Tae-keung's office.

Ha's office also said North Korea is not accepting coronavirus-related aid from South Korea because of fear of transmission of the virus through the materials. South Korea's Unification Ministry confirmed that North Korea has not accepted hand sanitizer, masks, PPE and testing kits.

To date, North Korea has not reported any confirmed coronavirus cases.