CDC Urges Schools to Reopen; Cuomo Under Fire: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) — Schools should use masks and social distancing to safely resume in-person learning as soon as possible, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Friday. President Joe Biden sought to rally support for his $1.9 trillion relief package during a bipartisan meeting at the White House with mayors and governors.

A U.S. program to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff is moving slowly toward completion in the coming weeks. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide told lawmakers the administration withheld nursing homes’ Covid-19 death toll to avoid a federal investigation.

The World Health Organization hasn’t ruled out any hypotheses about the roots of Covid-19, according to the group’s chief. The comments appeared to pull back from an earlier rejection of speculation that the virus could have leaked from a lab.

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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz eased restrictions, allowing as many 50 people to attend weddings, increasing capacity at restaurants and expanding their opening times by an hour to 11 p.m. Gyms, pools and other indoor entertainment can also host as many as 250 people but no more than 25% of fire-code capacity.

Covid-19 patients in U.K. hospitals are expected to drop by more than half over the next month, The Times reported, citing internal government projections it saw.

Hospital admissions and deaths expected to fall to October levels; infection rates are falling faster than expected, and scientific advisers are increasingly optimistic about the reopening of schools on March 8 and the relaxation of other restrictions in April, the report said.

The World Health Organization hasn’t ruled out any hypotheses about the roots of Covid-19, according to the group’s chief, after a fact-finding mission to China rejected speculation that the coronavirus could have leaked from a lab.

All avenues of research remain open, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing Friday. The investigation “has added important information that takes us closer to understanding the origins of the virus.” The comments appeared to pull back on the investigating team’s remarks earlier this week.

WHO is also reviewing reports that people in South Africa who already had Covid-19 are being reinfected with the more-transmissible variant recently discovered there, said Soumya Swaminathan, the group’s chief scientist.

Ohio reported 2,559 deaths on Friday, as it adds a recently discovered backlog of 4,000 virus fatalities that Governor Mike DeWine called “a failure of reconciliation.” The backlogged deaths are significant: the state’s total fatalities on Thursday were just over 12,500. The deaths will be added over several days, showing what DeWine called in a news conference on Thursday “a distorted number” of daily fatalities. DeWine and the state’s chief health official declined to say how the error occurred.

As of Feb. 22, travelers arriving in Canada will soon have to foot the bill for a pricey hotel stay, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday. On arrival to Canada, airline travelers will be required to spend the first three days of a 14-day quarantine at a supervised hotel for a cost that’s expected to be upwards of C$2,000 ($1,580 USD).

They’ll also need to pay for a Covid-19 test at the airport, and for another test near the end of the full quarantine. Rules for travelers arriving by land have also been tightened. “These border measures will help stop the spread of Covid-19 and new variants,” Trudeau said.

A U.S. program to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff is moving slowly toward completion in the coming weeks, with the goal of wrapping up the effort by late next month.

The federally run program contracted with major pharmacy chains around the U.S. Launched in December, it was meant to speed vaccines to the most vulnerable people in the U.S. But disruptions over the winter holidays and the challenge of going from facility to facility vaccinating older people have added at least a month to the timeline.

Brazilian cities including Rio de Janeiro risk halting vaccinations against as the supply of shots runs out and prospects for the delivery of new doses remain murky.

On the eve of Carnival, local authorities are begging people stay home to avoid an explosion of cases. Festivities were canceled in Rio and Sao Paulo, where governor Joao Doria also scrapped the holiday for civil servants, but there’s concern travel and large gatherings over the four-day weekend will increase transmission.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide told lawmakers the administration withheld nursing homes’ Covid-19 death toll to avoid a federal investigation, prompting Republicans to accuse him of a cover-up and demand his resignation.

Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa told Democratic leaders that the state rebuffed an August legislative request for the tally. She told lawmakers that former President Donald Trump had been tweeting about New York’s nursing-home deaths and “turned this into a giant political football,” according to a partial transcript released by the governor’s office Friday.

President Joe Biden sought to rally support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package during a bipartisan meeting at the White House with mayors and governors, including New York’s Andrew Cuomo.

“The federal government has a major role to play here,” Biden told reporters Friday in the Oval Office meeting. He said local and state leaders “are all on the front lines, they’ve been dealing with this crisis since day one.”

The meeting was intended to highlight the bill’s $350 billion provision for state and local governments, some of which have seen tax revenue decline sharply during the pandemic.

Nevada began lifting restricting on thousands of businesses and public facilities. Bars, restaurants and casinos can now allow guests at 35% of capacity indoors, up from 25% earlier. Events may now host 100 people, up from 50. Restrictions may be lifted further in a month, the state said.

“After making it through the very difficult winter surges and the pause, Nevadans want and deserve predictability about what our path forward will look like,” said Governor Steve Sisolak said in a statement.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy lifted restrictions Friday on parents and guardians attending youth sporting events. Up to two parents or guardians can now attend indoor or outdoor youth sports practices and competitions, but no other spectators are permitted. Indoor youth sporting events are capped at 35% capacity or 150 people. He said school districts can still impose stricter guidelines and supersedes the state’s guidance on spectators. “With our metrics trending in the right direction, we feel comfortable taking this step,” Murphy said.

Schools should use masks and social distancing to safely resume in-person learning as soon as possible, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Friday.

Whether students should physically attend school has been among the most contentious issues of the U.S. pandemic response. The stakes are high for President Joe Biden, who has made ending the coronavirus crisis a central goal.

Many children in the U.S. have been learning online for almost a year, as last spring many U.S. schools were closed to thwart the spread of the coronavirus. Some teachers have opposed reopening classrooms because of health concerns.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told Moderna it can put as much as 40% more vaccine in each vial, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the company’s operations.

Federal officials want Moderna to submit more data showing the switch won’t compromise vaccine quality. Two people familiar with Moderna’s manufacturing said retooling production lines to accommodate the change could be done in fewer than 10 weeks, or before the end of April.

Governor Andrew Cuomo allowed restaurants and bars in New York to stay open an hour longer starting Sunday, citing declines in infection rates and hospitalizations. Closing time will be extended to 11 p.m. statewide, Cuomo said in a statement.

New York City’s trailing one-week average rate of positive Covid-19 tests has fallen to 4%, the lowest since Dec. 26 and a fraction of the 26% rate seen in early January, Cuomo said.

New York state added 8,404 new cases in the latest daily update and another 135 deaths. The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients fell to 7,068, the fewest since Christmas Day.

A recent study of 3,984 coronavirus infections in Italy showed that 18% were the more-transmissible strain first found in the U.K., according to Giovanni Rezza, the head of prevention at Italy’s Health Ministry. Silvio Brusaferro, president of the ISS public…