Coronavirus Briefing: What Occurred At present

Scapegoating social gatherings

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, politicians and public well being officers have warned in opposition to gatherings amongst household and pals, calling them a serious driver of recent coronavirus infections. And they’re proper that it is best to reduce your danger this week.

Information on infections, nonetheless, means that the biggest drivers of infections are not small gatherings, but rather the usual culprits: long-term care amenities, meals processing vegetation, prisons, eating places and bars.

So why have social gatherings develop into such a preferred goal for politicians? Partly as a result of they’re the trail of least resistance.

For some politicians, it’s simpler to level to the person actions of personal residents reasonably than enact the politically fraught public well being guidelines that will really make a distinction, like closing companies and mandating mask-wearing.

In some states, this disconnect is resulting in draconian insurance policies that aren’t backed by science. Vermont, for instance, has prohibited neighbors from assembly for a socially distanced and masked stroll, however is allowing them to dine indoors at eating places earlier than 10 p.m. Minnesota has barred folks from completely different households from assembly indoors and outdoor, despite the fact that proof has persistently proven outside occasions to be comparatively protected.

My colleague Apoorva Mandavilli, who reported this story for The Occasions, stated the takeaway shouldn’t be that celebrating Thanksgiving is protected this yr.

“What the story is saying is that social gatherings are usually not the first supply of the unfold,” Apoorva stated. “However we are able to additionally do our half, and particularly now that we’re within the scenario the place the virus is in all places, actually, staying house is the most secure factor to do.”

Extra good vaccine information

The drugmaker AstraZeneca introduced that an early evaluation of late-stage medical trials showed that its coronavirus vaccine was effective in stopping Covid-19. The outcomes recommend that the world could quickly have three efficient vaccines, after Pfizer and Moderna introduced constructive outcome this month.

Scientists from AstraZeneca, which has been creating the vaccine with the College of Oxford, stated there have been no severe issues of safety with its product — a reassuring signal after trials have been briefly paused this fall when a participant developed a neurological sickness.

Individuals within the firm’s trial got one among two regimens: both a half-dose adopted by a full dose a month later, or two full doses a month aside. Researchers found that the half-dose routine was 90 % efficient, whereas the double full-dose routine was solely 62 %, for a mean effectiveness of 70 %.

Nevertheless, it might be troublesome to match how nicely AstraZeneca’s vaccine works with these by Pfizer and Moderna, as a result of the businesses took completely different approaches to evaluating them. Researchers for AstraZeneca counted infections by swabbing contributors weekly. That almost certainly would have turned up extra infections than the trials run by Moderna and Pfizer, which examined solely individuals who developed coronavirus signs.

One distinction does stand out: AstraZeneca’s vaccine prices about $4, a fraction of the worth of the others, and the corporate has pledged to make it accessible at value around the globe till no less than July.

Resurgences

• 9 states — Arizona, California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Vermont — are reporting greater than twice as many new cases a day as they did two weeks ago. Officers warn that it’ll solely worsen if folks disregard warnings about journey and gatherings through the holidays.

• In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new restrictions and issued a grim warning that the state was on monitor for an additional resurgence of the virus.

• Bulgaria, after implementing a strict lockdown within the spring and largely containing the unfold of the virus, is now confronting a surge in infections that’s straining an already underfunded well being care system.

• Seoul is closing nightclubs and banning late-night restaurant dining as South Korea tightens pointers to battle an uptick in infections.

Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.

What else we’re following

What you’re doing

We’re not capable of safely journey to go to our 4 grownup children on the West Coast, or their grandma in Ohio, for the vacations. So one of many issues we plan on doing collectively is planting a purple amaryllis flower bulb indoors on Thanksgiving. (We mailed them to every house.) We will preserve monitor of how they’re rising and blooming via these darkest months of the yr.

— Malinda Bergamini Chapman, Ticonderoga, N.Y.

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