. U.S. hits 13m cases
By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The rapid rise in fresh cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) has forced the Los Angeles County to announce a new stay-home order in the U.S. most populous county.
The announcement on Friday came as the county confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new cases of COVID-19. The five-day average of new cases was 4,751, according to USATODAY report.
The stay-at-home order on Friday is for three weeks, which takes effect Monday.
The order advised residents to stay home “as much as possible” and to wear a face covering when they go out.
It also banned people from gathering with people who were not in their households, whether publicly or privately.
Exceptions are made for church services and protests, “which are constitutionally protected rights,” the county Department of Public Health said in a statement.
Businesses and outdoor trails are also allowed to remain open.
Meanwhile, a national surge in COVID-19 cases continues as the United States recorded its 13 millionth case on Black Friday, a day typically marked by crowds of bargain hunters. This year, however, many shoppers across the country turned to online deals, keeping crowds thin.
Even so, experts worried that testing disruptions over the holiday will lead Americans to falsely believe the virus’ spread has slowed. That’s because testing sites have shorter hours and fewer people are expected to be swabbed.
“I just hope that people don’t misinterpret the numbers and think that there wasn’t a major surge as a result of Thanksgiving, and then end up making Christmas and Hanukkah and other travel plans,” Dr. Leana Wen, a professor at George Washington University and an emergency physician, told the Associated Press.
In vaccine news, AstraZeneca hit a setback when it was revealed that a dosing error was behind a high effectiveness rate among some overseas trial participants.
The U.S. has reported more than 13 million cases and over 264,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. This week, five states set death records and 23 states had higher case counts than last week.
The global totals: more than 61 million cases and 1.4 million deaths.