February 11 coronavirus news

By Adam Renton, Brad Lendon, Cristiana Moisescu, Laura Smith-Spark and Rob Picheta, CNN

Updated 2:18 a.m. ET, February 12, 2021
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4:53 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

UK variant is "going to sweep the world" says head of genetic surveillance program

From CNN's Hannah Ritchie

The UK's National Heath Service track and trace staff carry out coronavirus testing at a church in Manchester, England, on February 9, after a mutation of the Kent variant was detected there.
The UK's National Heath Service track and trace staff carry out coronavirus testing at a church in Manchester, England, on February 9, after a mutation of the Kent variant was detected there. Peter Byrne/PA Images/Getty Images

The UK coronavirus variant that has “swept the country” is “going to sweep the world in all probability” Sharon Peacock, director of the Covid-19 Genomics UK consortium, told the BBC on Wednesday. 

The highly transmissible UK strain of coronavirus was first identified in September 2020, in the English county of Kent. It has already been detected in at least 86 countries and was the catalyst for the UK’s current lockdown. 

Peacock predicted that her sequencing work, which tracks mutations of the coronavirus, will likely be required for another decade as the virus continues to circulate throughout the world. 

“We’re building up a list, a kind of leader board of mutations that we worry about that we can look out for ... I think, looking in the future, we’re going to be doing this for years. We’re still going to be doing this 10 years down the line, in my view,” She told the BBC’s Newscast podcast.  

Where did it come from? Speaking on the origins of the UK variant, known as B.1.1.7, Peacock said there was growing scientific literature suggesting it had evolved in an immunosuppressed patient. 

“This virus is so different to everything else that was circulating that there are only two possible explanations, one is that it was introduced, the second explanation is very plausible, and that is that it was in a patient who had a simmering infection for many months and that virus had the opportunity to adapt and change over time. I think there is some growing literature evidence that this is the case” Peacock said. 

"Jury out" on whether variant is more deadly: Addressing a Downing Street news conference in late January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had warned that the new UK variant could be 30% more lethal than previous strains. 

Peacock told the BBC on Wednesday that no concrete evidence had emerged to support that theory.  “The jury is still out on that, I don't think the evidence is really firm … I think it’s still under investigation,” she said.

3:41 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

Trump's policies worsened decades of US health neglect, Lancet report says

From CNN Health’s Maggie Fox

Former US President Donald Trump listens to a question during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on August 5, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Former US President Donald Trump listens to a question during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on August 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump’s four years in office worsened a decades-long decline in US health and set up the country for its disastrous handing of the coronavirus pandemic, a team of experts concluded in a new report released Thursday.

“During his time in office President Trump politicized and repudiated science, leaving the USA unprepared and exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Lancet Commission on Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era said. His administration also “undermined health coverage, weakened food assistance programs (and) curtailed reproductive rights,” it added.

The group of 33 experts from the United States, Britain and Canada made a scathing assessment of Trump policies, but said much of the damage dated back to former President Ronald Reagan’s policies in the 1980s.

“Trump’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic— compounded by his efforts to dismantle the USA’s already weakened public health infrastructure and the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage expansions—has caused tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths,” the report, published by the Lancet, reads.

“His elimination of the National Security Council’s global health security team, and a 2017 hiring freeze that left almost 700 positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unfilled, compromised preparedness.”

Funding cuts for public health agencies dating back to 2008 led to the loss of 50,000 frontline staff, the report noted. “The fragmented and profit-oriented health-care system was ill-prepared to prioritize and coordinate pandemic response,” it said.

Changes at the Environmental Protection Agency may be especially harmful, the report predicted. “Many of President Trump’s policies have yet to extract their full toll of ill-health. Some of the damage, as in the case of climate change, will last generations,” it said.

3:07 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

Mexico grants emergency use approval for 2 China-made Covid-19 vaccines

From CNN's Eric Cheung

A health worker shows the Sinovac vaccine at a community health centre in Lambaro, Indonesia on January 18.
A health worker shows the Sinovac vaccine at a community health centre in Lambaro, Indonesia on January 18. Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico has issued emergency use approval for China's CanSino and Sinovac coronavirus vaccines, the country's deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell announced Wednesday.

He said the approval was granted by Mexico's Federal Committee for Protection from Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) after it reviewed the vaccines' quality, safety and efficacy, according to a statement posted on the Health Ministry's website.

The first bulk shipment of the CanSino vaccine will arrive in Mexico from China on Thursday, where it will be packed at a plant in the central city of Queretaro, the statement said.

Mexico has also issued an emergency use authorization for Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and ordered millions of doses.

At least 1,957,889 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 169,760 deaths have been reported in Mexico, according to Johns Hopkins University.

2:43 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

More state leaders are loosening Covid-19 restrictions. Experts have warned it may be too soon

From CNN's Christina Maxouris

A sign requiring masks is seen outside a store in downtown Billings, Montana on November 11, 2020.
A sign requiring masks is seen outside a store in downtown Billings, Montana on November 11, 2020. Lynn Donaldson/Bloomberg/Getty Images

More state leaders have announced they're loosening Covid-19 restrictions, even as experts warn the US is still not in the clear -- especially as variants spread across the country.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill on Wednesday shielding businesses and houses of worship from legal liability for Covid-19 transmission as long as they take measures to follow public health guidelines, and announced he would not extend the statewide mask mandate.

"The mask mandate will expire on Friday," the governor said, adding, "Since we're not out of the woods yet, I will continue to wear a mask, and I will encourage all Montanans to do the same."

Chicago officials said Wednesday indoor service at bars, restaurants and events can expand to the lesser of 25% capacity or 50 people per room or floor. The measure, which will be effective Thursday, comes as part of a broader plan to slowly ease Covid-19 restrictions in the city.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced major stadiums and arenas can reopen starting February 23, with approval from the state's health department. The venues will also have to follow health guidelines including capacity limits, social distancing and face-covering requirements and both staff and attendees will need to receive a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours of any event.

"While we continue to fight COVID on multiple fronts, we must also get this economy re-opened intelligently and in a balanced way," Cuomo said in a statement.

In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state will drop its mandatory-quarantine rule for people coming from "high-risk" states, attributing the policy change to a "cautiously brighter pandemic outlook after several months of unsustainable strain on the state's health care system."

Variants pose risk: But health experts have warned Covid-19 variants complicate the country's outlook. Easing restrictions now is "incredibly risky," Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned earlier this week.

"It is absolutely essential that we continue to do steps beyond vaccination to keep this under control," Besser said. "The more this virus is allowed to spread in our communities, the more we're going to see these variants spreading."

Read the full story:

1:13 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

US reports more than 93,000 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Joe Sutton in Atlanta

The United States reported 93,166 new cases of Covid-19 and 3,219 additional virus-related deaths on Wednesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

That raises the national total to at least 27,285,621 infections and 471,422 fatalities since the pandemic began.

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

Vaccines: At least 65,972,575  vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 44,769,970 shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CNN is tracking US cases.

12:56 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

Japan has the most beds per capita in the developed world. So why is its health system crashing?

From CNN's Selina Wang and Junko Ogura

In late December, Su became sick with Covid-19.

The single mother-of-two had a persistent fever and trouble breathing. She knew that her asthma and chronic bronchitis had left her vulnerable to the worst effects of the illness.

"I wondered if I would wake up tomorrow," said the 32-year-old, who asked not to be identified because of the stigma Covid-19 carries in Japan.

When her condition worsened, she called the public health center in Hyogo prefecture for assistance, but she said no one answered her calls.

Instead, she had to isolate in her tiny bedroom, while her children, age 3 and 6, slept alone in the living room for nearly two weeks. Her mother would drop off food for the family but could not stay because the children had been exposed to the virus, and they couldn't get tested for nearly a week. Su said she communicated with her children via a tablet -- and could often hear them fighting.

"My small children were trapped in the small living room alone without going outside at all for 10 days. "I was feeling sick, in terrible condition, but I felt more pain leaving my children alone."

A representative at the Hyogo Prefecture Health Center could not speak directly to Su's case but said that while they try to contact isolating patients daily, the holiday period was incredibly busy.

The pandemic has stretched Japan's national health care system to the brink, as the country deals with its worst wave since the outbreak began. Cases have more than doubled in the past two months to over 406,000 cases.

As of February 4, more than 8,700 people across 10 prefectures, who tested positive for Covid-19, were waiting for a hospital bed or space at an isolation center. The week before, more than 18,000 people across 11 prefectures were waiting, according to the prefectures' health ministries.

That means people are dying at home from Covid-19, fighting deteriorating conditions alone, and spreading the virus to family members.

Read the full story:

12:02 a.m. ET, February 11, 2021

Peru is facing an oxygen shortage, with demand tripling due to new Covid variants

From CNN's Tatiana Arias and Ana Cucalon

Relatives of Covid-19 victims queue to refill oxygen tanks, in Lima, Peru on February 9, 2021. 
Relatives of Covid-19 victims queue to refill oxygen tanks, in Lima, Peru on February 9, 2021.  Luka Gonzales/AFP/Getty Images

Peru's hospitals are facing an oxygen shortage and the consumption of oxygen supplies has tripled due to new coronavirus variants that spread easier and faster, the country's Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti warned on Wednesday.

“The virus we started with, is not the same one we have today,” Mazzetti said.

She added that before Christmas, the national positivity rate was 7% -- but “in these four weeks of January, the positivity rate has very quickly increased to 21%.”

“The initial calculation for the amount of oxygen needed, which we thought was going to double, has tripled. Meaning, we have a 300% increment (in the need for oxygen),” Mazzetti said.

Peru is in need of 510 tons of oxygen a day, but currently can only access 400 tons, leaving the county in “a deficit of 110 tons daily,” she said.

Also on Wednesday, Peruvian Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez announced that quarantine measures will be extended from February 15 to February 28 in 32 high-risk provinces.

11:11 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

California overtakes New York as US state with most Covid-19 deaths 

From CNN's Cheri Mossburg

Funeral service workers load the casket of a person who died after contracting Covid-19 into a hearse at East County Mortuary on January 15, in El Cajon, California. 
Funeral service workers load the casket of a person who died after contracting Covid-19 into a hearse at East County Mortuary on January 15, in El Cajon, California.  Mario Tama/Getty Images

California has surpassed New York as the US state with the highest number of Covid-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

As of Wednesday, California has reported a total of 45,351 Covid-19 fatalities -- eclipsing New York's total of 45,312 deaths.

The grim designation comes after a catastrophic surge of new infections over the holidays in California led to a record wave of deaths that has lingered into February, even as new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations have fallen in recent weeks. On Wednesday, state data showed a rolling daily average of nearly 500 deaths.

“This is a heart-wrenching reminder that Covid-19 is a deadly virus, and we mourn alongside every Californian who has suffered the tragic loss of a loved one during this pandemic,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Though California has the highest number of total deaths, many other states have a higher rate of deaths per capita. New Jersey has the highest rate, followed by New York, which was hit hard early in the pandemic.

California saw a surge in new cases in the fall, soaring from a total of 1 million just before Thanksgiving to more than 3 million by mid-January.

The mounting death toll in California comes despite the state’s accelerated vaccine rollout. “Deaths continue to be devastating,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday at the opening of the state’s largest mass vaccination center at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which will administer up to 15,000 doses each day.

11:05 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

Los Angeles will temporarily close all vaccination sites because it has run out of vaccines

From CNN's Sarah Moon

Hundreds line up to get Covid-19 vaccine shots at Dodger Stadium on Monday, February 8, in Los Angeles.
Hundreds line up to get Covid-19 vaccine shots at Dodger Stadium on Monday, February 8, in Los Angeles. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Los Angeles will temporarily close five Covid-19 vaccination sites, including one of the nation’s largest at Dodger Stadium, due to a lack of vaccine doses, Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday.

“We don’t have enough vaccines,” Garcetti said at a news conference, as he explained that the vaccine doses aren’t arriving soon enough.

“We’re vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving here in Los Angeles and I’m very concerned,” he said. “Our vaccine supply is uneven, it’s unpredictable, and too often, inequitable.”

The sites will shut on Friday and Saturday, and Garcetti says he hopes to reopen them by Tuesday or Wednesday.

“These closures, unfortunately, are inevitable,” he said, adding that the city will have exhausted its supply of the Moderna vaccine for first dose appointments.

While the city has been administering about 13,000 doses a day, only 16,000 new doses arrived this week. So far, the city has administered more than 293,000 doses across the five sites.