Government

Politico reports: The Senate cleared a key procedural hurdle Sunday for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court, bringing the 48-year-old judge one step closer to confirmation to the high court. In a 51-48 vote, the Senate kicked off 30 hours of debate on Barrett’s nomination, setting up a final confirmation vote for Monday evening, just eight days before …

Euronews reports: The Spanish government on Sunday agreed to declare a new state of emergency, which would allow a curfew to be imposed across the country as it continues to battle a resurgence of coronavirus cases. An extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers was held in Madrid on Sunday morning “in order to examine the terms of a new …

CNN reports: Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Saturday that she will ultimately vote yes on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States. “I believe that the only way to put us back on the path of appropriate consideration of judicial nominees, is to evaluate Judge Barrett as we would want to be judged — on the …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Florida added 5,558 coronavirus cases Thursday, the highest number recorded in a single day since August 15, excluding two days where health officials noted irregularities in reporting. Thursday’s caseload brings the total number of infections recorded statewide to 768,091, according to the Florida Department of Health. The weekly average number of cases jumped to about …

NBC News reports: The U.S. set a record Thursday as the number of new coronavirus cases rose to over 77,000, topping the previous record in July. Nationwide, 77,640 new cases were reported for the day, up from the previous record of 75,723 on July 29, according to NBC News’ tally. The record-breaking daily tally comes as the total number of …

Axios reports: New York reported over 2,000 positive coronavirus cases on Wednesday — the most infections seen in the state since May, per COVID Tracking Project (CTP) and health department data. The big picture: Hospitalizations have been creeping back up in New York, alongside 38 other states. New York is currently seeing more than 900 hospitalizations a day, the CTP …

The SFist reports: On Tuesday, Mayor London Breed announced that the city and county of San Francisco had moved into the least restrictive “yellow” tier in the state’s reopening framework, becoming the first Bay Area county to do so since the four-color pandemic-response rating system was created two months ago. And with this move, more businesses are going to get …

The New York Times reports: The government of Ireland announced a six-week lockdown beginning Wednesday night, becoming the first European country to reimpose a national lockdown. The new measures, announced on Monday, are a dramatic U-turn for the government, which just two weeks ago fell short of imposing the highest level of restrictions despite advice from public health experts. Under …

CNBC reports: Coronavirus hospitalizations are growing in a majority of U.S. states as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warns that the world is not yet “on the road” to ending the pandemic. Coronavirus hospitalizations, like the so-called positivity rate and deaths, are a key measure because they help scientists gauge the pandemic’s severity. Covid-19 hospitalizations were …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count ballots received up to three days after the election, rejecting a Republican plea. The justices divided 4-4 Monday, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed election officials to receive and count ballots until Nov. 6, even if they don’t have a clear postmark. Republicans, …

The Associated Press reports: The White House quietly told Tennessee early this week that “a statewide mask mandate must be implemented” to curb its growing spread of COVID-19, strong instructions that the White House and governor did not discuss publicly before the report emerged in a records request. The Oct. 11 state report for Tennessee, where Republican Gov. Bill Lee …

Miami’s CBS News affiliate reports: Florida reported its highest coronavirus numbers in two months with another uptick in new infections Saturday, surging to more than 4,000 cases. The state also reported nearly 90 more deaths, which pushed its official death toll to nearly 16,000 Floridians since March. The rise in Florida comes as infections are increasing alarmingly in other parts …

Reuters reports: Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 400,000 for the first time late on Friday, a record one-day increase as much of Europe enacts new restrictions to curb the outbreak. Europe, which successfully tamped down the first surge of infections, has emerged as the new coronavirus epicentre in recent weeks and is reporting on average 140,000 cases a …

NBC News reports: Incumbent Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern won a second term in office Saturday in a historic election landslide, viewed by many as an endorsement of her handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In a victory speech in front of hundreds of cheering supporters in Auckland, Ardern, 40, said her party had gotten more support from New …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review President Trump’s attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants when calculating how congressional seats are apportioned among the states. The unprecedented proposal would have the effect of shifting both political power and federal funds away from urban states with large immigrant populations and toward rural and more Republican interests. …

The Kansas City Star reports: Some Kansas City area hospitals, facing their biggest influx of coronavirus patients since the pandemic began, are refusing ambulances because their beds are already filled, according to a leading doctor at St. Luke’s Health System. On Wednesday night, eight metro hospitals and emergency departments reported such high volumes of patients that they temporarily stopped accepting …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. budget deficit eclipsed $3.1 trillion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to government data released Friday, by far the biggest one-year gap in U.S. history. The deficit — which is the gap between government spending and tax revenue — shows the dramatic surge in spending the U.S. government approved in order …

Reuters reports: Wisconsin and other states in the U.S. Midwest are battling a surge in COVID-19 cases, with new infections and hospitalizations rising to record levels in an ominous sign of a nationwide resurgence as temperatures get colder. More than 22,000 new cases were reported on Wednesday across the Midwest, eclipsing the previous record of more than 20,000 on Oct. …

Reuters reports: The French government on Wednesday declared a public health state of emergency, giving officials greater powers to impose new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Announcing the decision in a statement, the government said the epidemic was a public health disaster which endangered the health of the population and justified the adoption of strict measures. The government’s …

Gothamist reports: A federal judge on Friday denied a request by Jewish organizations to temporarily block Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order to restrict attendance at houses of worship as part of a renewed shutdown in regions of the state experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases. “[The governor] has lawfully exercised his power without religious animus to make sure we don’t find …