Government

CTV News reports: The Ontario government will shutter most non-essential businesses, including gyms and personal care services, and will prohibit sit-down service in restaurants in two of the province’s COVID-19 hot spots as they grapple with a rise in infections. Toronto and Peel Region have been placed in a lockdown, which is the province’s final category of the COVID-19 tiered …

CNN reports: The number of Americans hospitalized with Covid-19 and the number of new US cases reported rose to record levels for a second day in a row on Friday. More than 82,000 people were hospitalized, according to the Covid Tracking Project, topping Thursday’s record. More than 193,000 new cases were reported, according to Johns Hopkins University data — the …

Just in via press release: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York will receive this year’s International Emmy® Founders Award, in recognition of his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and his masterful use of television to inform and calm people around the world. The Emmy® will be presented to Governor Cuomo, also a New York Times best-selling author, during the …

The Washington Post reports: Americans hoping to travel to visit their northern neighbors might not be able to this year. Canada’s border closure to nonessential travel has been extended until Dec. 21, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a tweet on Friday. Border conditions were set to expire on Saturday if they were not renewed. Canada’s border closed on …

The Guardian reports: South Australia’s six-day lockdown will end three days early at midnight on Saturday after it was revealed a male who tested positive for Covid-19 had lied to contact tracers over working in a pizza bar where another case had worked. The state’s premier, Steven Marshall, made the admission after contact tracers further investigated a male with Covid-19 …

CNN reports: More than 2,000 American deaths were recorded by Johns Hopkins University on Thursday — the highest number since early May. And as the virus runs unabated across US communities, experts warn the coming weeks will likely be brutal and the pandemic’s death toll will keep climbing. By December 18, more than 2,300 Americans could be losing their lives …

Los Angeles’s ABC News affiliate reports: Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered a curfew for all California counties in the purple tier amid climbing coronavirus cases. The curfew will affect 41 of the state’s 58 counties — a vast majority of the population. The curfew, which the state is calling a “limited Stay at Home Order,” stops short of a full …

USA Today reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending against travel for Thanksgiving. During a press briefing Thursday, Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, said the agency is “recommending against travel during the Thanksgiving period.” “The tragedy that could happen is that one of your family members from coming to this family gathering and they …

The New York Times reports: At least 1,923 new coronavirus deaths and 172,391 new cases were reported in the United States on Nov. 18. Over the past week, there has been an average of 162,816 cases per day, an increase of 77 percent from the average two weeks earlier. As of Thursday morning, more than 11,613,800 people in the United …

The Associated Press reports: Former President Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” sold nearly 890,000 copies in the U.S. and Canada in its first 24 hours, putting it on track to be the best selling presidential memoir in modern history. The first-day sales, a record for Penguin Random House, includes pre-orders, e-books and audio. The only book by a former White …

Reuters reports: Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to keep House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her job for another two years, despite the Nov. 3 elections in which the party lost seats to Republicans. The full House still must vote for speaker in early January, when Republicans will put up their own candidate for the job, …

Frankfort’s Fox News affiliate reports: Gov. Andy Beshear unveiled new, targeted actions Wednesday to address the exponential growth of COVID-19 in Kentucky, including temporary halts to indoor dining and in-person learning. “When addressing COVID-19, action is unpopular,” Beshear acknowledged, “but inaction is deadly.” “The defeat of this virus, we can see it, we can almost taste it,” Beshear said, referring …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: Gov. Tim Walz will impose new restrictions on bars, restaurants and fitness centers starting Friday, closing them down to the public for four weeks as COVID-19 cases surge across the state. Bars and restaurants will still be allowed to offer takeout services during that time. The new restrictions will also include a temporary pause on youth …

The Washington Post reports: More than 3 million people in the United States have active coronavirus infections and are potentially contagious, according to a new estimate from infectious-disease experts tracking the pandemic. That number is significantly larger than the official case count, which is based solely on those who have tested positive for the virus. The vast — and rapidly …

Yahoo News reports: Boeing’s 737 Max is one large step closer to returning to American skies after being grounded for over a year and a half. The FAA has issued an order effectively clearing the 737 Max’s return to service once airlines follow key procedures. They’ll have to install Boeing’s updated software, use updated manuals and procedures, rework horizontal stabilizer …

The New York Daily News reports: A 40% cut in weekday subway service and layoffs of more than 9,000 transit workers are on the table as MTA honchos battle a COVID-19 financial catastrophe, the Daily News has learned. “This would absolutely be an end to the New York way of life,” said Andrew Albert, the non-voting rider advocate on the …

The Washington Post reports: Los Angeles County, the most populous in the United States, will implement a host of new restrictions — including a curfew — in an attempt to slow rampant spread of the coronavirus, officials announced Tuesday evening. Beginning Friday, restaurants, bars, breweries and wineries must close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., while all businesses allowed to …

Via press release from the FDA: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test for self-testing at home and that provides rapid results. The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is a molecular (real-time loop mediated amplification reaction) single use test that is intended to detect the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 …

STAT News reports: Pfizer may be within days of filing for an emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine, having collected the safety data necessary to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration, CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday. “We are very close to submitting for an emergency use authorization,” Bourla said during the STAT Summit, which this year …

The Washington Post reports: Judy Shelton’s nomination to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors failed to advance in the Senate on Tuesday, jeopardizing her prospects of being confirmed due to a combination of Republican absences and opposition to her installation to the central bank. On a 47-50 vote, Democrats and two Republican senators filibustered Shelton’s nomination to the Fed. Senate …