January 20 coronavirus news

The White House will require daily testing for coronavirus and N95 masks for staffers in a bid to model good pandemic behavior, according to press secretary Jen Psaki.

She said the new rules also include stringent requirements on social distancing.

Psaki said President Joe Biden "has asked us also to be models to the American people" -- a contrast to the previous administration, which largely ignored government mask and social distancing recommendations.

Psaki also said the administration will resume regular briefings with public health officials in addition to the daily White House press briefings. 

Psaki said that the White House will combat misinformation by giving accurate information to the American people “even when it is hard to hear.”

The Trump administration had briefings with health officials regularly last spring when the coronavirus pandemic initially took hold, however those briefings were often not entirely focused on the pandemic as then-President Donald Trump led them awry.

Those regular briefings ended in April after Trump suggested injecting disinfectant could be a cure for coronavirus.  

Infectious diseases specialists endorsed President Joe Biden’s first executive order requiring face masks on federal property and other areas of federal authority, saying masks are “crucial” to controlling the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden’s team is hoping state and local leaders will follow suit,

"While those who are vaccinated can be protected from severe illness, they may still transmit the virus to others who are not, underscoring the importance of mask use even among those who are vaccinated," the IDSA said.

"Significant numbers of Americans remain unvaccinated and the duration of vaccine protection remains unclear."

A coronavirus study commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has warned that the prevalence of coronavirus is at its highest since the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, adding that infections in England increased by 50% from early December, with one in 63 people infected.

"Prevalence of infection at the beginning of 2021 is at the highest levels since the peak of the first wave in March and April 2020,” the study, carried out by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Ipsos MORI, noted. 

While the prevalence of coronavirus increased nationally in all adult age groups, the study found it was highest in 18- to 24-year-olds at 2.51%. Among people aged 65 and over, the prevalence has more than doubled -- from 0.41% to 0.94%. 

“Our data are showing worrying suggestions of a recent uptick in infections which we will continue to monitor closely. To prevent our already stretched health system from becoming overwhelmed, infections must be brought down,” Paul Elliott, director of the program at Imperial, said.

Speaking in response to the findings, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the country “must not let down our guard” over the coming weeks.

The new findings come just after the UK reported its highest daily increase in coronavirus-related deaths, with 1,820 deaths recorded on Wednesday.

At least 144 cases of a variant first identified in the UK have been identified in 20 US states, according to data posted Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This includes at least 46 cases in Florida, 40 in California, 17 in New York, six in Colorado, five in Georgia, five in Minnesota, four in Indiana, three in Maryland, three in Texas, two each in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, and one case each in Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

CDC says this does not represent the total number of cases circulating in the US, but rather just those that have been found by analyzing positive samples. The agency cautions that its numbers may not immediately match those of state and local health departments.

While the variant, known as B.1.1.7, appears to spread more easily, there's no evidence that it's any more deadly or causes more severe disease, according to CDC. It has also been found in at least 60 countries worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Related Coverage: Coronavirus variant discoveries in UK and South Africa began with a bet of a bottle of wine

A panel of experts from Chile’s Institute of Public Health voted to authorize the emergency use of Covid-19 vaccine made by Chinese company Sinovac on Wednesday, for people between the ages of 18 and 59. The vote was 10 in favor, 2 against, and one abstention.

Heriberto Garcia, the director of the Institute, said the vaccine was "safe and effective. It prevents hospitalizations” and fights the “severity of the disease.” He also noted the vaccine has already been authorized in China, Indonesia, Turkey, and Brazil.

Late-stage trials of the Sinovac vaccine in Brazil showed just 50.38% efficacy, significantly lower than earlier results had shown -- raising questions as to the reliability of the data.

Sinovac is expected to send safety reports and conduct quality control checks on batches of vaccines, the Chilean health panel said.

Chile is already using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. It has been administered to 10,000 health officials and the elderly.

On Wednesday, Chile reported 3,583 new cases of coronavirus and 21 deaths. The country now has 680,740 total Covid-19 cases and 17,594 deaths.

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The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) plans to continue meeting regularly with the Biden administration to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

In early December, NACCHO began meeting on a weekly basis with Nik Blosser of the Biden transition team, along with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Indian Health Board, said Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO's chief executive officer.

"We'd meet for an hour," Freeman told CNN on Wednesday. "We would come together and make recommendations on topics to discuss -- timely and urgent matters leading into the transition -- and what they needed to be aware of from the broader public health system standpoint, in terms of things like Covid, the response, testing, tracing and vaccines."

Freeman added that the last meeting with the Biden transition team was on Tuesday, but there are plans to continue regular meetings now with Eduardo Cisneros, director of Covid-19 intergovernmental affairs under the Biden administration.

"Obviously, vaccines are high on the priority list," Freeman said. "At the same time, we don't want to diminish that we still have a lot of spread and a lot of burden from that spread on our health care systems and a lot of death from the disease. We still have a lot of work to do."

The World Health Organization is evaluating 15 vaccines and says it could list several of them for emergency use within weeks, according to a new guidance document published by WHO on Wednesday.

The organization is part of a global initiative called COVAX to ensure rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world.

The only vaccine in the document it already has listed for emergency use is the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which is also authorized in the United States.

The WHO document says that a decision around emergency use for AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine is anticipated by the end of January, at the earliest. The same vaccine, produced in South Korea by SK Bioscience, could be listed for emergency use by the second half of February at the earliest.  

By mid-February, the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India could also be listed for emergency use, according to WHO documents. 

The document also estimates that Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine, which already has been authorized in the United States, could get an emergency use listing by the end of February.

By March at the earliest, China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine and Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine could be listed for emergency use. The Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, which is administered as a one-dose shot, could be listed for emergency use by May at the earliest, notes the WHO document.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has been recorded saying the nation should have closed its borders back in March due to the pandemic.  

The recording was reportedly made during a Zoom call on Tuesday night with the Conservative Friends of India group.

Asked to comment on the audio recording, a Home Office spokesperson did not deny its authenticity and told CNN on Wednesday: "We have strong measures at the border in place which are vital as we roll out the vaccine."

The government has faced criticism over relaxed measures at the border, which were changed earlier this week. Initially, several countries had travel corridors with the UK, meaning visitors could enter the country without having to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.

Patel's reported comments come after the UK closed all the ‘travel corridors’ -- effectively shutting the nation's borders -- on Monday for the first time during the pandemic. The decision was made in response to increasing concern over the new variants evolving internationally.

The UK’s Covid-19 death toll – the highest in Europe -- currently stands at more than 93,000, according to the government’s dashboard. 

Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer readout Patel's words from the audio recording in Parliament on Wednesday and asked why Prime Minister Boris Johnson had overruled the Home Secretary on border closures.

Johnson did not dispute what Patel said in the recording.

"I think it was the right honourable gentleman who last March said we didn't need to close borders but as usual Captain Hindsight has changed his tune to events," Johnson said.

"We are... in the middle of a national pandemic and this country is facing a very, very grave death toll and we are doing everything we can to protect the British public."

Johnson joked: "I'm delighted [Starmer] now praises the Home Secretary, a change of tune."

Starmer repeated the question, asking again why Johnson had overruled the Home Secretary.

Johnson responded: "We've instituted one of the toughest border regimes in the world and it was only last March that he and along with many members of his party were continuing to support an open borders approach.”  

In an on camera interview on Wednesday, Patel’s comments were again put to Johnson. Asked whether Britain should have closed its borders last March, he said: “There’s plenty of chance to look back at what decisions were taken when and what approach was taken back in March last year… but what I can say today is that the UK has amongst the toughest border regimes in the world.” 

CNN has contacted the Conservative Friends of India for comment.

In her first statement as Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky promised that "healthier days lie ahead" -- but getting there will require a rapid acceleration of Covid-19 testing, surveillance and vaccination.

Walensky, who began her post on Wednesday, also said the agency is conducting a comprehensive review of all existing Covid-19 guidance, which will be updated wherever needed.

"We must also confront the longstanding public health challenges of social and racial injustice and inequity that have demanded action for far too long. And we must make up for potentially lost ground in areas like suicide, substance use disorder and overdose, chronic diseases, and global health initiatives," Walensky added.

Newly inaugurated President Biden selected Walensky for the top post at CDC in December. Previously, she ran the infectious diseases division at Massachusetts General Hospital's and was a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.