Coronavirus updates: Positive test forces Pac-12 to cancel game; Ohio governor wishes Trump would mask up; US passes 100K single-day count

Lindsay Schnell, Adrianna Rodriguez and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY
·12 min read
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A fall surge of COVID-19 — the one experts warned for months was likely — seems to be in full effect, as the United States surpassed 100,000 new daily cases for the first time.

That staggering number comes less than a week after surpassing more than 9 million confirmed cases, which is more than any other country.

It also comes two days after Americans went to the polls to elect a president, though the virus wasn't on most voters' minds: only 1 in 6 voters cited the pandemic as most important to their vote. Follow election news here.

Cases are on the rise in the U.S. and across the globe, as numerous other countries tighten restrictions and some prepare for more lockdowns. According to a USA TODAY analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the last 1 million coronavirus cases confirmed worldwide were reported in less than 36 hours — a rate of 7.8 cases every second.

Here's what to know today:

  • The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits for the first time fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level.

  • China is suspending entry for most foreign passport holders who reside in Britain, reacting to a new surge of coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom.

  • Denmark's prime minister said Wednesday that the government wants to slaughter all 15 million minks in Danish farms to minimize the risk of them transmitting the coronavirus to humans.

  • As the pandemic surges on across the nation, the NFL and college football continue to feel its effects. Another NFL quarterback is sidelined and another ACC game is postponed.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 9.5 million cases and more than 233,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: more than 48 million cases and 1.22 million deaths.

🗺️ Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak in your state.

This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.

Start of Pac-12 football season marred by canceled Washington-Cal game

Saturday's delayed start to the Pac-12 football season will take place with one fewer game than scheduled.

Washington's game at Cal was canceled at the request of the host Golden Bears after one of their players tested positive for the coronavirus. The required isolation of other players left Cal without enough players to participate. The game won't be rescheduled and will be declared no-contest.

Cal coach Justin Wilcox said he felt especially bad for his players. "They have done so well following the protocols that have been put in place,'' Wilcox said, "but as we are finding out first-hand, playing football during 2020 is a fragile situation.”

On Aug. 11, the Pac-12 and Big Ten announced they were postponing their seasons because of the risks of playing amid a pandemic. But after the Big Ten reversed course a month later and opted to play a limited schedule, the Pac-12 was left as the only one of the Power Five conferences out of action and eventually chose a seven-game schedule of only league games.

Missouri election supervisor may have exposed poll workers

An election judge supervisor in Missouri may have exposed nine poll workers to the coronavirus after testing positive and ignoring instructions to quarantine by working on Election Day, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The supervisor, who was not identified, later died.

St. Charles County health officials said the supervisor tested positive for the virus Oct. 30 and was told to quarantine for 14 days, but ''failed to follow the advice.'' The officials don't believe the supervisor came in close contact with any of the 1,800-plus voters who cast their ballots at the polling site Tuesday.

Ohio governor wishes Trump had a 'more happy relationship with masks'

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told NPR on Wednesday that he wished President Donald Trump had a "more happy relationship with masks."

The Ohio Department of Health reported 4,071 new cases of coronavirus in the state on Wednesday. It was the second day in a row that the state had reported more than 4,000 new cases after a single-day record of 4,229 cases was reported Tuesday.

"Well, I certainly wish the president had a more happy relationship with masks. You know, we know so much more today than we knew in March. We now know that these masks really work," DeWine told NPR.

He stressed that the current virus spread is happening because people are not wearing masks around friends and family.

"If Ohioans understand that they can't let their guard down, that realization, I think, is really what will make a difference because it's personal decisions that are being made, personal responsibility," DeWine said.

– Sarah Brookbank, Cincinnati Enquirer

Another 751K Americans filed for unemployment last week as virus deepens economic pain

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits for the first time fell slightly last week to 751,000, a still-historically high level that shows many employers keep cutting jobs in the face of the accelerating pandemic.

A surge in viral cases and Congress’ failure to provide more aid for struggling individuals and businesses are threatening to deepen Americans' economic pain. Before the virus struck in March, the weekly figure had remained below 300,000 for more than five straight years.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department said the number of people who are continuing to receive traditional unemployment benefits declined to 7.3 million. That figure shows that some of the unemployed are being recalled to their old jobs or are finding new ones.

But it also indicates that many jobless Americans have used up their state unemployment aid — which typically expires after six months — and have transitioned to a federal extended-benefits program that lasts an additional 13 weeks.

US reports more than 100K cases in one day, breaking single-day count record

Wednesday's one-day record count, reported Thursday by Johns Hopkins University, of 102,831 was the first U.S. daily total to break 100,000. It translates to an average of more than 70 Americans reporting positive every minute.

In the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, the U.S. reported 629,012 new cases, also a record, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data. Almost half the states set records for new cases for a seven-day period and five states had a record number of deaths in a week. Illinois reported 9,935 new cases Thursday, more than 2,000 above its previous high set Oct. 31. In Minnesota, ICU bed use was at 92% capacity statewide and at 98% in the Twin Cities area.

"The seasonal uptick has been predicted for months," Dennis Carroll, who led the pandemic unit at the federal Agency for International Development for nearly 15 years, told USA TODAY. "As it stands, we’re no better prepared than the spring, meaning widespread closures and shutdowns as we are witnessing in Europe are inevitable."

– Mike Stucka and John Bacon

COVID disrupts NFL teams' preparation, but 49ers-Packers still on

The San Francisco 49ers are still expected to host their Thursday night game against the Green Bay Packers despite placing four players on the NFL's reserve/COVID-19 list the previous day.

According to several reports, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne tested positive for the coronavirus and fellow receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, as well as offensive tackle, also were put on the list because of close exposure to Bourne.

The virus disrupted normal operations for four other NFL teams Thursday, when the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs had to close their facilities because of a positive test. The Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans also had to alter their game preparations because of positive tests on their ranks.

U.S. abstains from voting on UN pandemic summit

The U.S. joined Israel and Armenia as the only countries to abstain from voting as the United Nations unanimously decided Thursday to hold a December summit on the COVID-19 pandemic to press for action on the global spread of the coronavirus. The vote was 150-0.

The summit, scheduled for Dec. 3-4, will include prerecorded speeches by world leaders and a discussion led by World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who currently has COVID.

Assembly President Volkan Bozkir called the high-level special session “a historic moment and a test for multilateralism” that “will be defined by our collective action on one of the most critical issues of our time.”

-- The Associated Press

Minister who called coronavirus a 'privilege' dies of COVID

A Texas televangelist who railed against sex outside marriage and called the coronavirus "a wakeup call'' and "a privilege'' has died of COVID-19, his ministry announced.

Irvin Baxter, who founded Endtime Ministries -- now based in the Plano, Texas -- was hospitalized with the disease last week and died Tuesday, according to a posting in the Christian organization's website. He was 75.

In a March television appearance, Baxter denunciated "fornication'' and said 7.5 million unwed American couples were living together, which he said meant they wouldn't get to heaven. “God may be using this as a wake-up call,” Baxter said. “This coronavirus may be a privilege, because I'll tell you right now, there is a much bigger judgment coming. It's in the Bible.”

Woman sheds coronavirus for 70 days without showing symptoms: Case study

A woman who had COVID-19 was shedding the infectious virus for up to 70 days without showing any symptoms, according to a case study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Cell.

The patient had leukemia and hypogammaglobulinemia, a condition that results in fewer antibodies, making her immunocompromised and more vulnerable to infection.

The infectious virus was located in the woman’s upper respiratory tract for up to 70 days and the virus RNA was observed for up to 150 days past initial diagnosis, according to the report.

Researchers concluded that certain immunocompromised patients may shed infectious virus for longer durations than previously recognized. The woman was treated with convalescent plasma twice before the infection finally cleared.

New Jersey begins releasing inmates who survived COVID-19 spread in prisons

Thousands of people left New Jersey state prisons and halfway houses Wednesday under a law reducing sentences for inmates who served time during the coronavirus pandemic.

State officials said 2,261 inmates were released throughout the day, marking a single-day drop of 15% in the state prison population.

The drastic decline was lawmakers' response to the coronavirus's devastation in New Jersey prisons. The death rate inside state prisons was the highest in the nation, according to the nonprofit criminal justice newsroom The Marshall Project.

– Stacey Barchenger, Trenton Bureau

Denmark wants to slaughter 15 million minks over coronavirus fears

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday the government wants to cull all 15 million minks in Danish farms to minimize the risk of them transmitting the new coronavirus to humans.

Frederiksen said a report from a government agency that maps the coronavirus in Denmark has shown a mutation in the virus found in 12 people in the northern part of the country who got infected by minks. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said half the 783 human COVID-19 cases in northern Denmark ”are related” to minks.

“It is very, very serious,” Frederiksen said. “Thus, the mutated virus in minks can have devastating consequences worldwide.”

Denmark is one of the world's main mink fur exporters, producing an estimated 17 million furs per year. Kopenhagen Fur, a cooperative of 1,500 Danish breeders, accounts for 40% of the global mink production. Most of its exports go to China and Hong Kong.

China bars entry for residents from Britain as cases rise in United Kingdom

China is suspending entry for most foreign passport holders who reside in Britain, reacting to a new surge of coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom.

The suspension covers those holding visas or residence permits issued before Nov. 3, with exceptions for diplomats and some others. Foreign nationals wishing to visit China for emergency needs may apply for special-case visas.

The Chinese Embassy in London says the suspension will be “assessed in accordance with the evolving situation and any adjustment will be announced accordingly.”

China has largely contained the spread of the coronavirus within the country but continues to record imported cases, including another 20 reported Thursday. Chinese officials require all people arriving in China to undergo two weeks of quarantine.

Two possible COVID-19 vaccines could be ready by December, scientists say

The chair of Britain’s coronavirus vaccine task force said data evaluating the efficacy and safety of the two most advanced candidates should be available in early December.

Kate Bingham told a Parliamentary committee on Wednesday that information on the two vaccine candidates — developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and Pfizer and BioNTech — should be available by then. After that, the vaccine candidates will need regulatory approval, Bingham says.

“If we get that, we have the possibility of deploying by year end,” she said.

Oxford Vaccine Trial Chief Investigator Andrew Pollard said results from late-stage trials could be presented by then, Reuters reported. The National Health Service in England is preparing to start distributing a possible vaccine before Christmas, just in case one is ready by then.

Louisville-Virginia college football game postponed

Louisville's football game against Virginia on Saturday has been postponed because of a coronavirus outbreak on the Cardinals team. The game will be moved to Nov. 14, replacing the Cardinals' originally scheduled bye week. Louisville missed nine players in last week's game against Virginia Tech due to coronavirus-related issues.

Louisville athletics director Vince Tyra said the football program is dealing with 15 COVID-19 cases -- 10 of them among players -- with seven more people in quarantine. Five of them are players.

— Cameron Teague Robinson, Louisville Courier Journal

COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY

Contributing: Grace Hauck; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID update: Cases in US hit record number; China travel restrictions