BALTIMORE — The United States set a record of more than 126,400 confirmed cases in a single day on Friday.
The seven-day rolling average of new daily cases in the U.S. is approaching 100,000 for the first time, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Total U.S. cases since the start of the pandemic are nearing 10 million, and confirmed cases globally are approaching 50 million.
Worldwide infection numbers are also setting records. The world reached 400,000 daily confirmed cases on Oct. 15; 500,000 on Oct. 26, and 600,000 on Friday.
The seven-day rolling average for daily deaths in the U.S. rose in the past two weeks from 772 on Oct. 23 to 911 on Friday. Those numbers were higher in the spring and August.
The global death toll hit a daily record of 11,024 confirmed deaths on Wednesday.
Oklahoma says case rise due in part to glitch
OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of newly reported coronavirus cases in Oklahoma on Saturday more than doubled the previous one-day record, but the state Department of Health said a bureaucratic backlog and duplicate reporting partially account for the steep increase.
There were 4,741 new cases, bringing the total to 136,492 since the pandemic began, the department said. The previous one-day record of 2,101 new cases was recorded Thursday as cases in the state have surged in recent weeks.
“We have reason to believe that our normal case count would have continued on an upward trajectory without the backlog and duplication,” which is due to a transition from a manual to electronic reporting system, according to a health department statement. Officials said they were not sure how many cases were recorded twice but were investigating.
In a statement, Gov. Kevin Stitt, called on residents to wash hands often, socially distance and voluntarily wear masks at indoor public places.
“Oklahomans pulled together back in April so we could safely reopen our economy, and I am asking for that same unified effort once again to slow the spread of this virus and keep Oklahomans safe,” Stitt said.
Italy hits record 39,800 daily coronavirus cases
MILAN – Italy registered a record 39,811 daily confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday.
That tops the 37,809 cases on Friday. In Lombardy, one quarter of the coronavirus tests came back positive for a daily total of nearly 11,500.
Lombardy is one of four regions designated a “red zone,” with a partial lockdown in effect since Friday.
Hospitalizations continue to rise, with 1,104 more people hospitalized on Saturday and 119 more in intensive care.
There are more than 862,000 total confirmed cases in Italy. Deaths nationwide rose by 425 for a confirmed total of 41,063, sixth highest in the world.
India records more than 50,000 new cases in day
NEW DELHI — India reported 50,356 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, while cases in New Delhi surpassed 7,000 on Saturday.
The country has seen an overall steady dip in positive cases after reaching nearly 100,000 a day in mid-September.
The government warned that the situation can worsen due to people crowding markets for festival shopping and high air pollution levels in the capital.
India’s confirmed cases exceeds 8.4 million, the second highest in the world behind the United States. The Health Ministry reported 577 deaths on Saturday, increasing the total confirmed death toll to 125,562.
Trump’s chief of staff diagnosed with virus
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has been diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic.
Two senior administration officials confirmed Meadows tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans so far this year. Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to Election Day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count.
He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago.
The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. have increased more than 50% in the past two weeks, the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases rose from 61,166 on Oct. 22 to 94,625 on Thursday, according to an AP analysis of data from John Hopkins University.
Malaysia will expand movement restrictions
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s government says it will expand movement restrictions to most parts of the country after coronavirus cases tripled in a month. Another 1,168 new cases were reported Saturday, bringing the total tally to 39,357 — compared to just 13,993 cases a month ago. The death toll stands at 282.
Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob says the entire peninsula Malaysia, except for three states, will be placed under a conditional movement control order from Monday until Dec. 6. He says the move will help curb the virus spread and allow targeted screening to be done.
The restrictions have been imposed since Oct. 14 in Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya and the richest state of Selangor.
Iran reports nearly 10,000 cases
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has reported 9,460 cases of the coronavirus, breaking its previous single-day record earlier this week.
The health ministry registered 423 deaths on Saturday, pushing its confirmed death toll to 37,832, the highest in the Middle East.
Iran has seen a recent surge of infections as the government resists a centralized lockdown to salvage its sanctions-hit economy. However, authorities have recently tightened movement restrictions and introduced travel bans and mask mandates as hospitals in the hard-hit capital of Tehran near overwhelming numbers of patients.
Iran’s medical council announced Saturday that 300 health workers had died from the virus.
Germany reports daily record of new cases with more than 23,000
BERLIN — Germany’s disease control center is reporting a daily record of 23,300 coronavirus infections.
The Robert Koch Institute says that surpassed the record of 21,506 set the day before, which was the first time the country had registered more than 20,000 daily cases.
It reported 130 deaths, a number trending upward but far lower than the high of 315 deaths reported one day in April.
Germany has imposed significant new restrictions to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed. A four-week partial shutdown took effect on Monday, with bars, restaurants, leisure and sports facilities closed and new contact restrictions imposed. Shops and schools remain open.
Germany has recorded 642,488 coronavirus cases and 11,226 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Russian death tolls tops 30,000
MOSCOW — Russia reports the coronavirus death toll has exceeded 30,000.
The national coronavirus task force says 364 people died on Friday, bringing the total to 30,251 since the start of the pandemic.
It says 20,396 new infection cases were recorded, down slightly from Thursday’s record of 20,582. Overall, some 1.75 million people in Russia have been infected with the virus.
Texas judge upholds shutdown order
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas district judge on Friday upheld an order from El Paso County’s top elected official shutting down businesses while the region fights an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.
The decision from Judge Bill Moody of El Paso’s 34th District Court came as federal military medical teams deployed to the border region at the request of the state.
The county’s top elected official, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, ordered a two-week shutdown of nonessential activities late last week.
In making his decision, Moody pointed out that during the Spanish flu pandemic in the early part of the 20th century, city and county elected officials had authority to respond as they “thought was necessary to protect the health and financial interests of their individual communities.”
Chris Hilton, an attorney with the Texas attorney general’s office, said the state would appeal. Attorney General Ken Paxton has argued that Samaniego’s order is illegal because it goes against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide order to reopen businesses.
Meanwhile, three Air Force medical teams were expected to arrive in El Paso by the weekend, according to Seth Christensen, chief of media and communications for the Texas Department of Emergency Management.
El Paso joins a list of 10 other cities, including Houston, San Antonio and multiple communities in the Rio Grande Valley region, to receive aid from the Department of Defense at the request of Texas officials, Christensen said.
Illinois governor mulls stay-at-home order
CHICAGO — Faced with 20,000 new cases of coronavirus illness in the last two days, a stay-at-home order is possible if the spread is not slowed, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday just before his office announced that he was self-isolating after he had been exposed to the virus.
With a record 10,374 new infections reported Friday, and the 10,000-death mark passed this week, Pritzker was asked if he would order people to stay in their homes as was required by Illinois and many other states during the spring onslaught of COVID-19.
“We’re in a bad situation (but) I’m not looking at the broader mitigation of stay-at-home … as in something I would do in the coming days or a week. But I can’t guarantee you what it looks like two weeks from now or three weeks,” he said. “I just don’t know.”
About an hour after his daily COVID-19 briefing, Pritzker’s office announced that the governor was self-isolating after learning that an infected person attended a meeting with Pritzker last Monday. He is awaiting test results.
It is the third time during the pandemic that Pritzker has been exposed to the virus — twice previously it was the result of a staff member getting sick.
Wast Virginia governor tests negative
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he and his staff tested negative for the coronavirus after a staffer in the Capitol building tested positive on Friday morning. The attorney general’s office later said the employee believed to have the virus tested negative on Friday evening.
Justice says he was tested for the virus minutes before a noon news conference Friday, where he announced a record high of new cases. The state reported 540 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
The employee who initially tested positive Friday morning works for the attorney general, said Curtis Johnson, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
But after testing staff and the individual again Friday evening, “all of our tests came back negative,” Johnson later told the AP.
“The office is taking appropriate precautions that include testing to ensure the safety of not only its employees, but all of those in the Capitol building and the surrounding community,” Johnson had said Friday afternoon after the positive test.
The governor’s office declined to say exactly how many people were tested and whether anyone will consider quarantining.
Kentucky reports 2,300 new infections
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky reported 2,302 new coronavirus cases and 10 more virus-related deaths Friday. More than 1,000 people remain hospitalized with the virus.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear also urged Kentucky’s 80 counties classified as “red zone” counties to follow the state’s emergency recommendations. In last week’s report, 68 Kentucky counties were on the red-zone list, due to the high prevalence of cases.
“I know we’ve been in this fight for so long that it’s easy to get numb to the scary headlines and high case numbers,” Beshear said. ”That’s normal. It’s human nature. But you have to understand this is the most dangerous COVID-19 has ever been in the commonwealth and it is leading to more of our fellow Kentuckians becoming sick, being hospitalized and dying.”
Kentucky set a high Thursday with 2,318 new cases.
The state’s test positivity rate Friday reached 6.77%, the highest since June.
Alaskan officials to boost enforcement of mask mandate
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Officials in Anchorage plan to boost enforcement of an expanded mask mandate and restrict indoor gathering sizes in a bid to curb coronavirus cases.
The updated mask mandate, which takes effect Monday, requires masks to be worn, with some exceptions, in indoor public settings or communal areas and outdoors when distancing from non-household members is not possible.
Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson says the revision will get rid of loopholes in the order that has been in effect. She says the municipality plans to bolster its enforcement efforts in response to concerns from the business community.
Kansas adds more than 5,400 new cases
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas added a record-setting 5,418 new coronavirus cases over two days as hospitals warned that staffing was under strain.
The increases in confirmed and probable cases reported Friday brought the state’s total to 97,633, a 5.9% increase from Wednesday.
Data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows that state averaged 1,779 new cases a day for the seven days ending Friday. The state also added 79 COVID-19 deaths to bring the total to 1,166. Deaths have more than doubled since mid-September.
State health department head Dr. Lee Norman says cases “are just skyrocketing” because people are spending more time indoors and attending public events and family gatherings without being diligent about wearing masks or social distancing.
He says he’s concerned cases will spike again from family Thanksgiving get-togethers. Norman adds many local officials “haven’t done anything” to check the surge.
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