November 9 coronavirus news

Dr. Anthony Fauci has said the news that Pfizer's candidate vaccine is more than 90% effective bodes well for other Covid-19 vaccines in development.

Pfizer's candidate uses a never-before-approved technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to produce an immune response in people who are vaccinated.

The US federal government has invested $1.95 billion in Pfizer and partner BioNTech’s vaccine but is not directly working to help its development. 

Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is working with Moderna and other companies to test their experimental vaccines. Four coronavirus vaccines are in advanced, Phase 3 trials in the US now.

Fauci told CNN that Pfizer was able to get results so quickly due to the pandemic being so bad.

US stocks surged at the opening bell in New York on Monday in reaction to the news. The Dow opened up 1,600 points.

Oil prices also skyrocketed, with US crude spiking 11% to $41.22 a barrel.

But some voiced caution over the interim results.

The nonprofit group Public Citizen released a statement on Monday calling for more data.

The Chinese city of Tianjin has reported two Covid-19 cases related to a frozen food storage facility, health officials said at a Monday press conference.

The two infections involve one symptomatic and one asymptomatic case, authorities said, adding that both were "highly related" to cold storage facilities.

According to state-run news agencies, authorities have closed the cold storage facility at Hailian Frozen Food Co. Ltd and are conducting nucleic acid tests on nearby residents.

On Monday, China's National Health Commission issued new guidelines on handling imported cold-chain foods.

It said that all items must undergo "preventive, thorough disinfection" before Chinese officials contact the goods.

European countries are monitoring a coronavirus outbreak on mink farms in Denmark as the continent continues to record significant Covid-19 case numbers.

Denmark

The Scandinavian nation will cull its entire mink population after it discovered evidence that the novel coronavirus had mutated in the animal before being passed on to humans. As of Friday there are 214 confirmed human infections.

The Danish government also announced restrictions for the seven municipalities where the new strain was detected.

There are between 15 million and 17 million mink in Denmark, whereas its human population stands at around 5.5 million. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was tracking the situation in Denmark.

Belgium

Belgium has seen its number of daily coronavirus infections fall by more than 16,000 in the last two weeks, with 6,047 new cases registered on Friday.

The country is also monitoring and testing its mink population weekly following news of Denmark's outbreak.

England

England has banned visitors from Denmark over the mink outbreak. British nationals returning home from the country will be forced to quarantine for two weeks.

The country is currently under a second national lockdown until December 2.

Finland

While parts of Europe are struggling with second wave outbreaks, Finland has gone three weeks without a Covid-19 related death, according to the latest data from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. 

The country last reported a single death on Friday October 16, and it has recorded 356 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic.

EU celebrates cross-border success

The European Union has hailed the success of its cross-border Covid-19 contact tracing system.

In a tweet on Sunday, the European Commission highlighted the work of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, and Spain in using the system to ensure that “their contact and warning apps work across borders.” 

Wales’ 17-day “firebreak” lockdown has come to an end as scheduled, with schools, gyms, bars and restaurants allowed to reopen from Monday.

National measures have now come into force instead of the lockdown and people will need a “reasonable excuse” to travel in or out of Wales, including to neighboring England, which entered a month-long nationwide lockdown on November 5.

Mass testing, like the scheme piloted in the English city of Liverpool, is also being considered for Wales. 

After being told to stay at home, people in Wales can now visit one other household and meet in groups of four in bars, pubs and restaurants, which can serve alcohol until 10pm. Small businesses can also reopen and supermarkets can once again sell non-essential items.  

Asked whether the Welsh Government should extend the lockdown, Dr. Giri Shankar, from Public Health Wales, told Sky News on Monday: "We have always recognized that it's a balancing act of trying to control the Covid harm versus the non-Covid harms."

"Clearly coronavirus hasn't gone away and once we come out of restrictions it isn't going to be as normal as before, so people still have the duty to comply with the new guidance”, he added.

Wales has reported 59,981 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began with 2,033 deaths, according to Public Health Wales. 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has called his company's Covid-19 vaccine candidate "the greatest medical advance in the last 100 years.” 

Pfizer announced earlier on Monday that the vaccine is more than 90% effective according to early data.

"Emotions are very high," Bourla told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

The drugmaker has no safety concerns so far, Bourla added.

He added that the vaccine will be available free to all American citizens.

The CEO said Pfizer planned to have more than 1 billion doses available globally next year.

Around 10 million doses of the vaccine are to be manufactured and made available to the United Kingdom by the end of 2020 if approved by regulators, a Downing Street spokesperson said Monday.

According to the spokesperson, the UK has procured 40 million doses of the Pfizer candidate vaccine in total.

Bourla did tell CNN that it was unclear how long protection from the vaccine could last.

When asked if the timing of the announcement was related to the US election, Bourla said: "The science brought it exactly at this time. We announced it the moment we learned about it, and I said multiple times the election for us is an artificial timeline."

US President-elect Joe Biden congratulated the scientists behind the vaccine in a statement Monday and thanked "the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and to give us such cause for hope."

US President Donald Trump also reacted on Twitter, writing: "STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!"

Shanghai health authorities have detected a new locally transmitted Covid-19 case in the city's Pudong district, officials said Monday.

A 50-year-old man who worked as a Pudong airport porter cycled to a local hospital on Sunday and reported symptoms. 

On Monday, the man's positive result was confirmed and he was transferred to the city's Public Health Clinical Center for isolation and treatment, health officials said. 

The man had no contact with anybody infected with the virus and had not visited any "medium- and high-risk areas" in China in the last 14 days.

Twenty-six of the man's close contacts have been tested, and 23 tests have returned as negative, health officials said.

Shanghai's Zhuqiao County is now marked as a medium-risk area and residents are advised not to leave the city. Those who need to leave will be required to submit a negative nucleic acid test certificate received in the last seven days. 

The risk levels of other areas in Shanghai remain unchanged.

One hundred and eighty people related to close contacts are being transferred or are already in isolation facilities.

Shanghai has recorded 1,254 cases in total, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Drugmaker Pfizer has said its coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective according to an early look at data -- a much better than expected efficacy if the trend continues.

A so-called interim analysis from the company examined the first 94 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who received either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo.

The analysis found fewer than 10% of infections were in participants who had been given the vaccine. More than 90% of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo. 

Pfizer said that the vaccine provided protection seven days after the second vaccine dose and 28 days after the initial dose.

The company's final goal is to reach 164 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.

In a press release, the pharmaceutical giant said it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) soon after volunteers have been monitored for two months after getting their second dose of vaccine, as requested by the FDA. 

Pfizer said it anticipated reaching that point by the third week of November. Its vaccine trial is conducted in partnership with German company BioNTech.

The Phase 3 vaccine trial has enrolled 43,538 participants since July 27. As of Sunday, 38,955 of the volunteers have received a second dose of the vaccine. The company says 42% of international trial sites and 30% of US trial sites involve volunteers of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds. 

 Pfizer's study will also evaluate whether the vaccine protects people against severe Covid-19 disease and whether the vaccine can provide long-term protection against Covid-19 disease, even in patients who have been infected before.

The US FDA has said it would expect at least 50% efficacy from any coronavirus vaccine.

BioNTech's shares rose sharply after the news.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports:

European countries are rolling out increasingly strict coronavirus restrictions as the continent's second wave continues.

In Hungary, the government has proposed a series of tougher lockdown measures, in an effort to curb the spread of cases.

The new measures -- which will come into force as of midnight on Tuesday, pending parliamentary approval -- will include the closure of restaurants, universities and leisure facilities.

A curfew will also be imposed on all citizens from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, unless they are considered exempt for work. 

While Orban has said that all gatherings will be prohibited under the proposals, up to ten people will be permitted to participate in family gatherings, while a limit of 50 people will be placed on funerals.

In Italy, where a nationwide curfew is already in place, the association of doctors has called for a national lockdown.

Meanwhile in France, a second nationwide lockdown has resulted in the country’s economic activity being 12% lower than normal in November, the governor of the Banque de France said Monday.

The governor added that he expects economic activity will be down between 9% and 10% in 2020. 

Under the second national lockdown non-essential businesses in France such as bars and restaurants are closed.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a more positive note Monday, when she congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden.

And in Russia, the coronavirus response center said Monday that 21,798 new cases of coronavirus had been reported in 24 hours. That total is Russia's highest daily tally since the pandemic began.

Iran has once again marked a record high day of Covid-19 cases, reporting 10,463 infections on Monday according to the country's Health Ministry.

Iran recorded 458 deaths on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 38,749, according to governmental statistics. 

On Sunday, the country recorded 459 deaths, the highest tally since the outbreak began in February.

Iran is the worst hit country in the Middle East with a total number of 692,949 cases.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last month that the country was suffering through a third wave of the pandemic.