November 6 coronavirus news

By Nectar Gan, Steve George, Lauren Kent, Rob Picheta and Hira Humayun, CNN

Updated 12:32 AM ET, Sat November 7, 2020
31 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
5:47 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

NFL punishes Raiders again for violating Covid-19 protocol, with team set to lose draft pick

From CNN’s Jill Martin

A general view during a game at Allegiant Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A general view during a game at Allegiant Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The NFL is punishing the Las Vegas Raiders again for not adhering to Covid-19 league protocol, a source with knowledge of the penalties confirmed to CNN. Yahoo was the first to report the news.

The Raiders have been fined $500,000, head coach Jon Gruden has been fined $150,000, and the team will lose a sixth-round draft pick.

Some of the violations include Gruden not consistently wearing a mask, players attending a large indoor gathering and the team allowing an unauthorized person into the locker room following a game.

The Raiders are the first team to lose a draft pick for violating Covid-19 protocol.

CNN has reached out to the Raiders for comment but has yet to hear back. CNN has also reached out to the league.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were also fined for violating coronavirus protocal in their last game against the Ravens on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals announced Friday that two players have tested positive for Covid-19. The team did not identify the players.

The Bengals are currently on their bye week, during which time all players will be tested daily. The team says that players have not been in the team facility since Wednesday and will not return until next week.

In a statement, the team said: "Players have not been in the facility since Wednesday. Under NFL bye week protocols players will test daily, but will not be back in the facility until next week.”

The Bengals next game is November 15 on the road at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

5:33 p.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Belgium may be at "peak of second wave," says country's head of viral diseases

From CNN’s James Frater in London

A member of the medical team works in the intensive care ward for COVID-19 patients at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020.
A member of the medical team works in the intensive care ward for COVID-19 patients at the MontLegia CHC hospital in Liege, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Francisco Seco/AP

Belgium may have reached “the peak of the second wave,” Head of Viral Diseases at the Belgian Health Authority Professor Steven Van Gucht said on Friday.

Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, he said, “This may mark the peak of the second wave. The number of infections continues to fall slightly, and hospital admissions appear to be decreasing slightly for the first time.”

He added that “the number of deaths is still very high, but here too we see the pace slowing down slightly.”

Professor Van Gucht also warned that “despite this decrease, the number of infections is still very high. The infection rate in Belgium is still among the highest in Europe, together with Czechia.”

Data from the Belgian Health Authority, Sciensano, shows that on October 27 the number of new cases reported reached a peak of 22,171. Since then, the number of new cases has consistently fallen with the latest consolidated data showing 13,345 new cases reported on Tuesday, November 2.

On average in the last week, 13,213 new cases were reported each day, compared to the previous week when there were 16,067 new cases reported each day.

Since the beginning of the pandemic Belgium has recorded 479,341 cases of coronavirus and 12,520 deaths. 

To allow for delays in receiving data from the regions, it takes four days for figures from the Belgian Health Authority to be finalized.

11:56 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Poland reports deadliest day since pandemic began

From CNN’s Artur Osinski

A health worker outside a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday.
A health worker outside a hospital in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday. Czarek Sokolowski/AP

Poland has witnessed its deadliest day since the coronavirus pandemic began, with a further 445 deaths reported by its health ministry on Friday.

The country also reported 27,086 new Covid-19 cases -- only 57 fewer than Thursday’s record-high. The total number of confirmed infections in Poland stands at 493,765 and the total death toll at 7,287

As infections rise across Europe this week, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced further restrictions that will go into effect from Saturday, including remote learning for younger children, cultural institutions closing, stores reducing capacity and hotels only opening for business trips.

"A step beyond the measures that we are announcing today is only a national quarantine, that is, a total lockdown," said Morawiecki.

11:33 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Strict lockdown extended in parts of Madrid amid Spain's second wave

From CNN's Tim Lister and Claudia Rebaza

A woman wearing a face mask holds an umbrella in central Madrid, Spain, on Thursday.
A woman wearing a face mask holds an umbrella in central Madrid, Spain, on Thursday. Manu Fernandez/AP

Tighter restrictions on movement will be extended for another two weeks in more than 30 districts in and around the Spanish capital of Madrid, in an effort to combat a rise in coronavirus cases.

The restrictions essentially isolate areas and neighborhoods with 500 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period, the Community of Madrid said Friday. The lockdown measures were imposed on 32 districts on October 26, and a further three districts this week. Some 835,000 people are affected by the measures in total.

"In all there has been a decrease in the incidence, but they do not reach the set objective" to allow measures to be relaxed, said Elena Andradas, director general of public health for the community of Madrid.

A further six districts in the Madrid area will be added to the list of restricted areas from next Monday.

As Spain battles a second wave of infections, the government in the southern region of Andalucia has warned it may also introduce stricter measures this weekend. A nationwide curfew came into force in Spain on October 26.

According to the latest figures, Spain has had a total of 1,306,316 coronavirus cases, with 21,908 new infections registered on Thursday. The country's death toll is 38,486, with 368 deaths recorded Thursday. 

10:55 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

China suspends visitors from nine countries after imported virus cases rose by 45% in October

From CNN's Beijing bureau

A traveler wearing a face mask to protect against the coronavirus sits at a boarding gate at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020.
A traveler wearing a face mask to protect against the coronavirus sits at a boarding gate at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

China suspended entry to visitors from nine countries due to a 45% rise in the number of imported cases in October. This posed a risk to "China's hard-won pandemic prevention," according to the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. 

So far, China has restricted non-Chinese nationals from Italy, Russia, India, the UK, France, the Philippines, Belgium, Ukraine and Bangladesh. 

"The proportion of overseas imported cases in October increased by about 45% compared with September, reaching 515 cases. At the same time, local clusters also occurred in some places in China," Wang Wenbin, ministry spokesman said Friday.  

Wang added that the measures had been imposed to "maintain China's hard-won pandemic prevention and control achievements" and to "minimize the risk of cross-infection of people who come to China during their trip."

The country has reported a total of 86,151 confirmed cases and 4,634 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the latest data from China's National Health Commission.

9:51 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

So far this month, 20 US states have hit record high Covid-19 cases

From CNN’s Amanda Watts

In the first five days of November – as the United States has been focused on its presidential election – 20 states have already reported at least one record high day of new Covid-19 cases during the month, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The states are: Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah and West Virginia.

In October, 31 states reported at least one record high day of new cases during the entire month.

Following a week marked by high case numbers, the entire country set a grim new Covid-19 record on Thursday – surpassing 120,000 infections in a single day. It was the second day in a row the US reported more than 100,000 infections.

Health experts had warned weeks ago that the nation's daily cases would reach six digits, but those alarming figures hit sooner than expected. And Covid-19's death toll could reach 266,000 by the end of November, according to an ensemble forecast published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CNN is tracking Covid-19 cases in the US here:

9:46 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Serbia’s leading religious figure admitted to hospital for coronavirus

From Martin Goillandeau

Serbian Patriarch Irinej during a funeral service on November 1, 2020 in Podgorica, Montenegro.
Serbian Patriarch Irinej during a funeral service on November 1, 2020 in Podgorica, Montenegro. Filip Filipovic/Getty Images

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, was admitted to hospital on Wednesday, after he tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement by the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Irinej, 90, “was admitted to hospital for medical supervision and control,” and “is generally feeling well, asymptomatic and without fever,” the statement read.

Irinej headed a funeral service for the late Montenegro-Littoral Bishop Amfilohije in Podgorica, Montenegro, last Sunday. Amfilohije, the church's most senior cleric in Montenegro, died of coronavirus-related ailments last week.

According to CNN affiliate N1 Serbia, his body was in an open casket during the service before being interred in the crypt of the church. A large crowd gathered in front of the church, with few of the mourners and none of the priests wearing masks, according to N1.

Serbia has reported 55,676 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 861 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health on Thursday. Montenegro has reported 21,533 cases, with 328 deaths, according to data published Thursday by the country’s Institute of Public Health.

9:41 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

US added 638,000 jobs last month but is still 10 million down since the pandemic started

From CNN’s Anneken Tappe

A woman checks information as information signs are displayed at IDES (Illinois Department of Employment Security) WorkNet center in Arlington Heights, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020.
A woman checks information as information signs are displayed at IDES (Illinois Department of Employment Security) WorkNet center in Arlington Heights, Ill., Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. Nam Y. Huh/AP

The US economy added 638,000 jobs in October -- more than economists had expected, although it was a slowdown from the previous month.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.9%, down from 7.9% in September. It had been the highest jobless rate going into a presidential election.

Votes are still being counted and the nation is still in the dark about whom the next president will be. But whoever takes the White House has their work cut out for them -- both with the coronavirus pandemic and America's unemployment problem. The US job market needs fixing and the unemployed need more support to make ends meet.

Read more as this story is updated:

9:06 a.m. ET, November 6, 2020

Italian regions express anger at government for new lockdowns amid record-high cases

From Livia Borghese and Schams Elwazer

People take part in a demonstration against the COVID-19 lockdown in Cosenza, Italy, on November 05, 2020. The Italian region of Calabria imposed a lockdown in the attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus. 
People take part in a demonstration against the COVID-19 lockdown in Cosenza, Italy, on November 05, 2020. The Italian region of Calabria imposed a lockdown in the attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus.  Paolo Manzo/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Local officials and some protesters have expressed their anger at the Italian government over restrictions that came into effect Friday in four hotspot regions – Lombardy, Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta and Calabria. 

In northern Italy, a few hundred people gathered on Thursday evening in the city of Bergamo -- one of cities worst hit by the first wave of the pandemic -- to protest against the new measures ordering people to stay home except for essential necessities, health or work.

Protesters, who included business owners and professions but also members of far-right groups and the opposition League party, demonstrated at city hall then gathered outside the mayor’s residence where they “chanted slogans with flags, banners and smoke bombs,” the city’s mayor Giorgio Gori said on Facebook. 

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza defended the government’s decision to declare the four regions as “red zones.” He also said decisions around new restrictions “cannot be the field of a political battle,” adding that “our only enemy is the virus.”

Maximum precaution is a mandatory way to stem the spread of this pandemic,” Speranza told parliament Friday, adding that regional representatives were involved in the decision to impose new lockdowns.

The leaders of the northern regions of Lombardy and Piedmont claimed the government’s decision to impose new restrictions on their areas was based on data that was out of date.

The head of the Piedmont region, Alberto Cirio, demanded “clarity from the government” for the region’s citizens and for “the many businesses that will remain closed."

Elsewhere in northern Italy, Milan mayor Beppe Sala urged residents “to stay at home as much as possible in these difficult days” following small anti-lockdown protests there. 

Small protests also erupted in the southern “red zone” of Calabria, with the regional president Nino Spirli saying online that he plans to appeal the government’s decision.

“This region does not deserve an isolation which risks being fatal to it,” Spirli said.

The mayor of the Calabrian village of Carolei, Francesco Iannucci, told state broadcaster RAI that he would not enforce the new lockdown measures, simply by “not doing any control” in bars and restaurants.

On Thursday, Italy hit new records for the number of new Covid-19 infections and deaths in a single day, according to data from the country’s Health Ministry.

Italy reported 35,505 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 824,879 since the start of the pandemic. The country also reported 445 more deaths, taking the death toll to 40,192.