‘Rise up’: White House coronavirus adviser tells Michigan to fight new shutdown

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Even after the enactment of COVID-19 last month, basic public health measures such as face-covering under Trump, who withdrew mask orders, became political, while Biden supported their widespread use.

However, in recent days some Republican governors have had to take action, with North Dakota joining 35 other states over the weekend and making Iowa mandatory this week under certain circumstances.

Forty U.S. states reported a record number of COVID-19 cases in November, with a record 20 deaths and 26 hospitalizations, according to Reuters.

The latest 7-day average shows that the United States reports 144,000 cases and 1,120 daily deaths daily, the highest for any country in the world.

“This is very important in the smooth transmission of information,” Dr. Anthony Fauzi, a U.S. epidemiologist and member of the White House Task Force, told CNN’s State of the Union program. “It’s almost like crossing the baton in a race. You don’t want to stop it and give it to anyone. You must want to keep going.”

The Biden team plans to meet with Pfizer Inc. this week to release positive initial data on its experimental novel coronavirus vaccine and other drug manufacturers, Klein said.

Washington State bans meetings outside homes

In the state of Washington, Governor Jay Insley announced a one-month ban on indoor services at restaurants and gyms and reduced store retail capacity to 25%.

Indoor meetings outside one’s home are prohibited and public meetings are limited to five people in Washington State.

The new restrictions come as daily new infections in recent days have doubled from the single-day highs reported during the previous U.S. peak in mid-July. The number of COVID-19 patients in US hospitals has also reached an all-time high.

Katie Shepard, with files from The Washington Post