CDC advises 'universal' masks indoors as US Covid deaths again break records
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new coronavirus guidelines, including requesting “universal face mask use”, after the US again set a record for the highest daily number of coronavirus deaths.
Related: Florida investigation finds governor misled public on Covid as cases rose
On Thursday, 2,879 people died from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, while there were 217,664 new cases, also a record. The number of people admitted to hospital with Covid exceeded 100,000 for a second day in a row, as the top infectious disease official, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned: “January is going to be terrible.”
The CDC issued fresh public health guidance on Friday, in a weekly report. It recommended that state or local agencies should “issue policies or directives mandating universal use of face masks in indoor (non-household) settings” – stronger advice than previously issued.
The CDC also recommended avoiding “non-essential indoor spaces” and postponing travel.
Numerous states have warned that they are running out of intensive care beds, with 100,667 people currently in hospital with Covid.
California plans to implement a sweeping stay-at-home order in a desperate attempt to get infections under control. Joe Biden, meanwhile, said he would ask all Americans to wear face masks during his first 100 days in office and, in remarks to the press on Thursday afternoon, warned of “a very dark winter ahead”.
Americans, Biden said, are “in trouble through no fault of their own. What they need, they need us to understand, we’re in a crisis. We need the Congress to act, and act now.”
Biden also discussed vaccines and plans for their distribution, saying of the Trump administration: “They’ve clued us in on their planning, on how they plan to distribute the actual vaccine to the states, but there is no detailed plan – that we’ve seen anyway – as to how you get the vaccine out of the container into an injection syringe and into someone’s arm.”
Biden said of his inauguration, in Washington on 20 January: “It is highly unlikely there will be a million people on the mall going all the way down to the monument.”
He instead predicted an event with virtual elements similar to the Democratic convention in August.
“First and foremost is to keep America safe, but to celebrate, and see one another celebrate,” said Biden.
Donald Trump stayed silent on the crisis on Thursday, as number of US deaths reached 276,366. On Saturday the president is due to hold a rally in Georgia, which is seeing its highest number of coronavirus cases since August Two Republican senators face runoff elections in the state in January, key to control of the chamber.
In an interview with Newsweek, Fauci warned that the worst was yet to come.
“I think January is going to be terrible because you’re going to have the Thanksgiving surge super-imposed upon the Christmas surge,” Fauci said. “So it’s entirely conceivable that January could be the worst.”
Fauci, who has accepted Biden’s offer to be chief medical adviser, said he expected data to show a further rise in cases and deaths in mid-December – largely attributable to Thanksgiving.
“If you and I travel and then go home and have family dinners, you’re gonna see infections two to three weeks from there and then a week later you’ll see more hospitalizations and then two weeks later you’ll see more deaths,” Fauci said.
Despite warnings, millions traveled over Thanksgiving. Wednesday, the day before the holiday, was the busiest day for air travel since mid-March, with nearly 1.1 million people clearing airport security.
On Friday, the Associated Press reported that while vehicle travel in early November was as much as 20% lower than last year, it surged around the holiday. On Thanksgiving itself there was only about 5% less vehicle travel than in 2019.
The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Stephen Hahn, told Reuters vaccinating 20 million Americans before the new year was realistic. The FDA is due to hold a public hearing as it considers whether to allow a vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech to be administered. The UK approved it this week.
“We expect to move quickly,” following the 10 December meeting, Hahn told Reuters. Some officials have predicted a decision within days.
California is fast becoming one of the most severely hit states in the country, and its governor, Gavin Newsom, announced a series of new restrictions on Thursday.
Stricter stay-at-home orders will be implemented in areas in the state where intensive care units are expected to fall below a capacity of 15% – with the vast majority of the state expected to meet that criterion within the next few days.
“The bottom line is if we don’t act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed,” Newsom said. “If we don’t act now, our death rate will continue to climb.”
The five Bay Area counties’ will implement a preemptive adoption of the regional stay-at-home order, affecting about 6 million Californians, on Sunday.
The order, the most far-reaching since the pandemic began, will include restrictions on business and gathering spaces – no salons, no gyms, no indoor worship, no playgrounds. Restaurants will be allowed only takeout or delivery. Retail already limited to 20% of customer capacity will be allowed to remain open, but all non-essential travel is restricted.
The record high number of cases came amid news that the recovery in the US jobs market collapsed in November. The US added just 245,000 new jobs, less than 638,000 in October, 672,000 in September and 1.4m in August. The unemployment rate fell to 6.7%.
Additional reporting by Dominic Rushe
