November 22 coronavirus news

By Nectar Gan, Jenni Marsh, Rob Picheta, Mike Hayes and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 12:00 a.m. ET, November 23, 2020

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4:02 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

The US is seeing an unprecedented coronavirus resurgence. Here's where things stand.

With just days until the Thanksgiving holiday, coronavirus cases are rising across the US at staggering rates.

The US yesterday topped 12 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began — and more than 3 million of those cases have been in November alone, and the month is more than a week from being over.

If you're reading in now, here the latest on the pandemic in the US:

Shattering Covid-19 records: At least 83,227 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized Saturday, according to the Covid Tracking Project. That's the 12th straight day that the US has broken its record for Covid-19 hospitalizations. Meanwhile, today marked the country's 20th straight day of more than 100,000 new cases reported, according to Johns Hopkins. And more new infections mean more new hospitalizations and deaths in the weeks ahead.
About Thanksgiving this year: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week urged against Thanksgiving holiday travel. The nation's top health experts are urging Americans to alter their holiday plans this year, too: White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Americans should limit indoor gatherings to immediate households this Thanksgiving. And Dr. Anthony Fauci said he'll be having a Thanksgiving Zoom call with his three daughters.
The vaccine timeline: Moncef Slaoui, the head of the US government's effort to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, said the first Americans to receive a vaccine — if all things go according to plan — could be as early as the second week of December. However, Slaoui also said that based on plans, the amount of the population who need to be vaccinated for life to return to normal is likely to happen in May.

4:18 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

This is the 20th straight day with more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases in the US

From CNN's Hollie Silverman and Chuck Johnston

Medical staff treat a Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, on November 19. Go Nakamura/Getty Images

The US has reported more than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases daily for the last 20 days, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

An additional 101,387 new cases and 672 new deaths were reported as of 4 p.m. ET Sunday, for a total of 12,189,797 cases and 256,533 deaths since the pandemic began.

In the month of November, the US has reported an additional 3,065,803 cases as of 4 p.m. EST Sunday, accounting for more than a quarter, 25.15%, of all cases since the pandemic began.

There have been 25,410 deaths so far reported in the month of November. That accounts for 9.9% of deaths during the pandemic. The United States has reported more than 1,000 deaths in the month of November in 15 out of the 22 days so far.

3:38 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

Tennessee reports more than 4,000 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Melissa Alonso

Tennessee health officials reported 4,589 new Covid-19 cases and 55 deaths on Sunday, according to the Tennessee Department of Health (DOH).

DOH reported a 12.54% positivity rate for Sunday.

Gov. Bill Lee said in a tweet Sunday that operating hours will be extended at 35 county health departments on Monday "to provide additional COVID-19 testing options to Tennesseans before Thanksgiving."

There are at least 340,476 total coronavirus cases in the state, according to DOH.

There have been a total of 4,266 deaths in Tennessee linked to the virus, DOH reports.

One thing to note: These numbers were released by the state's public health agency and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

3:05 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

Catch up on pandemic best practices ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday

From CNN's Theresa Waldrop

The US is in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic resurgence. The country reported more than three million new Covid-19 so far this month — and there's still more than a week left before November is over.

As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving next week, here's a refresher on the basics of how to protect yourself and those you love:

Wear a mask — properly: A recent report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington found that if 95% of Americans wore masks, almost 70,000 lives would be saved. Masks should cover both your nose and mouth, and should fit snugly, with no gaps.
Wash your hands: Washing your hands frequently is still one of the most basic and simple things you can do. Work up a good lather and scrub your hands, fingers and under your nails for at least 20 seconds. Use clean, running water to thoroughly rinse, then scrub them dry.
Use hand sanitizer: It's not as good as washing your hands with good old soap, but hand sanitizer can be used when that isn't an option.
Stay home and keep your distance: The best thing you can do is stay home, if possible, and reduce your risk by cutting down on errands and trips to the store. Not everyone has the luxury of doing that, of course. But social distancing — keeping 6 feet between you and others outside your household — and wearing a mask are critical.

2:27 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

Illinois reports more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Hollie Silverman

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 10,012 new cases of Covid-19 Sunday, a day after it reported an all-time high for hospitalizations.

On Saturday, the department reported 6,175 Covid-19 patients hospitalized. That number has now decreased to 6,072 patients, according to a press release issued by the agency Sunday.

Of those patients, 1,179 were in the ICU and 589 were on ventilators, the release said.

The release said 76 additional deaths were also reported for a total of 11,506 Covid-19 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

A total of 656,298 cases have been reported statewide, according to the release.

1:59 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

GOP senator who tested positive for Covid-19 now tests negative

Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue wave to supporters at a campaign rally in Canton, Georgia, on November 20. Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign says the Georgia Republican’s Covid-19 test has come back negative.

“Senator Loeffler’s previously inconclusive PCR results were retested overnight and the results thankfully came back negative," campaign spokesperson Stephen Lawson said in a statement.

Lawson added that, “out of an abundance of caution, (Loeffler) will continue to self-isolate and be retested again to hopefully receive consecutive negative test results. We will share those results as they are made available. She will continue to confer with medical experts and follow CDC guidelines.”

As CNN reported Saturday, Loeffler’s campaign confirmed that the Georgia Republican tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday but a subsequent test came back as inconclusive on Saturday evening.

1:54 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

Former FDA commissioner says he thinks Covid-19 vaccine will be given annually "until we learn more"

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and a board member of Pfizer, told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Sunday that his guess is that a Covid-19 vaccine will be annual until more is learned.

“We don’t know yet,” Gottlieb told Brennan when she asked whether people would have to go back and get the vaccine every year.

“I think initially it’s probably going to be given on a general schedule until we learn more about the real-world benefits of the vaccine and how must it cuts down on transmission of the virus, you know, does it just prevent you from getting Covid symptoms or does it actually prevent you from gaining infection and spreading the infection,” Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb said that there is some data that suggests “the immunity is fairly durable and might last longer than a year, but we just don’t know that yet.”

He added that this probably wouldn’t be known at the time a vaccine gets authorized either, “so my guess is it’s going to be an annual vaccination for a period of time until we learn more.”

Gottlieb also spoke about the safety profile of the vaccine, saying “the safety profile has been good in the clinical trials.”

Most vaccine related adverse events happened in the first 40 days or two months of vaccination, he said.

“But, we’re not going to know the full profile until you have that long term follow up data,” which is why the FDA is taking what he called a prudent approach and probably won’t generally license the vaccine until they have six or eight months of long term follow up data on trial participants who were vaccinated and people who are vaccinated in the next several months.

1:41 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

The US has had more than 3 million Covid-19 cases in November — and the month isn't even over yet

The United States has reported more than three million new Covid-19 cases this month as of 1 p.m. EST Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. There's still more than a week left before November is over.

Here's the full breakdown of cases per month in the US:

November: 3,002,082 (As of this afternoon)
October: 1,910,668
September: 1,200,315
August: 1,462,797
July: 1,921,461
June: 834,309
May: 718,241
April: 884,026
March: 192,152

1:24 p.m. ET, November 22, 2020

Nearly 25% of the US's coronavirus cases have been reported this month

From CNN's Hollie Silverman

The United States has reported more than 3 million new Covid-19 cases in November as of 1 p.m. EST Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

There have also been at least 25,040 deaths from the virus in November as of Sunday afternoon.

Since November began, an additional 3,002,082 cases have been identified.

There have now been a total of 12,126,076 coronavirus cases and 256,163 deaths throughout the US.

November's new cases account for 24.75% of all cases in the US since the pandemic began and the month's death count accounts for 9.7% of all Covid-19 deaths in the US.