Government

Florida Sees Highest COVID Cases In Two Months

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 …

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Europe At Center Of Record Rise In COVID Cases

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 …

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New Zealand Prime Minister Reelected In Landslide

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 …

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Supreme Court Will Review Trump’s Attempt To Exclude The Undocumented From Congressional Apportionment

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. …

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All Full: Kansas City Hospitals Turn Away Ambulances

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 …

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FY Federal Budget Deficit Hits Record $3.1 Trillion

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 …

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Midwest States See Record Cases And Hospitalizations

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. …

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France Declares Emergency As COVID Cases Soar

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 …

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Court Rules For Cuomo After Orthodox Groups Sue

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 …

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WI Gov To Open Fairgrounds As COVID Field Hospital

The Associated Press reports: Wisconsin health officials announced Wednesday that a field hospital will open next week at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee as a surge in COVID-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Wisconsin has become a hot spot for the disease over the last month, ranking third nationwide this week in daily new cases per capita. Health experts have …

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Italy Mandates Face Masks Outdoors As COVID Surges

Reuters reports: Italy on Wednesday made it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors nationwide in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as new infections jumped to the highest daily tally since April. The decree was approved at a cabinet meeting after a steady increase in cases over the last two months. It will probably be effective from …

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Cuomo To Close NYC Shops In Heavily Orthodox Areas

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Cuomo unveiled a plan to combat coronavirus “clusters” Tuesday that includes closing businesses and limiting religious gatherings in areas seeing a surge in cases. The governor called the measure a “last resort” and blamed the uptick in infections in the city on Mayor de Blasio failing to enforce social distancing and mask-wearing mandates. …

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Paris On High Alert Amid Surge, All Bars To Re-Close

The BBC reports: Paris will shut all bars completely from Tuesday after the French government raised the city’s coronavirus alert to maximum following a period of high infection rates. Bars, gyms and swimming pools will all be closed for two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, the city’s police chief said. But restaurants will remain …

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Alabama Sued Over “So Help Me God” Voter Oath

The Christian Post reports: The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s Secretary of State John H. Merrill [photo] claiming that the state’s voter registration form is unconstitutional because it includes an oath that says “so help me God.” “Alabama is the only state in the country that requires voters to register on a form mandating they swear …

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27 US States Saw COVID Cases Rise In September

Reuters reports: New cases of COVID-19 rose in 27 out of 50 U.S. states in September compared with August, led by an increase of 111% in Wisconsin, according to a Reuters analysis. The Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin all saw cases surge more than 50% month-over-month, as did Montana, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Illinois had …

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Amy Coney Barrett Signed Far-Right Abortion Group’s Ad Backing Criminalizing Discarding Unused Embryos

The Guardian reports: Amy Coney Barrett, the Trump administration’s supreme court nominee, publicly supported an organization in 2006 that has said life begins at fertilization. It has also said that the discarding of unused or frozen embryos created in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process ought to be criminalized, a view that is considered to be extreme even within the …

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Cuomo Warns Of New Lockdown As Spikes Continue

NBC New York reports: Alarmed by soaring infection rates in nearly a dozen New York ZIP codes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo felt compelled to hold a second conference call in two hours Monday to discuss the clusters and warned drastic measures may come next. Of 1,769 ZIP codes in the state, Cuomo said 10 are averaging an infection rate of about …

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Global Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses One Million

The Associated Press reports: The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 1 million on Tuesday, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work. The bleak milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population …

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FL Passes 700K Cases As All Lockdown Rules Are Lifted

Click Orlando reports: The state of Florida surpassed a grim milestone Sunday after new cases pushed the state over the 700,00 case mark. The Florida Department of Health announced 1,882 new cases of the coronavirus in the state as of Sunday. The new cases of the respiratory illness bring the state’s total to 700,564 since the pandemic was first detected …

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NY Cases Tick Above 1000 For First Time In Months

Bloomberg News reports: New York state reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time since early June. The state confirmed 1,005 additional positive cases, or 1% of those tested yesterday, bringing the total to 454,760. Hospitalizations increased by 16 to 527, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. New York, the early epicenter of the U.S. Covid-19 outbreak, …

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