Coronavirus: US braces for post-Thanksgiving 'surge'

The US government's top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci predicted a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks after millions of Americans failed to heed warnings and traveled across the country for Thanksgiving festivities, he told CNN on Sunday.

"There almost certainly is going to be an uptick because of what has happened with the travel," Fauci said.

He warned that "we may see surge upon surge" of infections from the fallout of mass travel and socializing. He expected family gatherings at Christmas to further exacerbate the problem.

Also appearing on NBC, he pleaded with Americans to curb the spread of the virus by wearing masks, staying distant from others and avoiding large groups.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx pointed out how a holiday weekend in May had led to a leap in COVID-19 infections. She also warned that the situation was already much worse in the country this time.

"Now we're entering this post-Thanksgiving surge with three, four and 10 times as much disease across the country," she told CBS. "We are deeply worried."

The warnings from the experts coincided with the sudden reversal of a move by New York City's mayor, Bill DeBlasio, who decided to restart in-person teaching in the country's largest school system just 11 days after shutting schools due to rising coronavirus cases in the city.

California saw the number of people being hospitalized with coronavirus hit a record of 7,415 on Sunday. More than 1,700 of those patients were in intensive care units.

The US has reported more than 13 million cases of COVID-19, with over 266,000 deaths, making it by far the worst-hit country in the world.

Europe

Thousands marched in the Spanish capital Madrid in order to demand better working conditions for health care workers. The organizers of the "Marea Blanca" (White flood) movement accused the authorities of failing to properly fund the public health service.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic tested positive for the coronavirus, a government spokesperson said Monday.

Plenkovic has already been in isolation in his home as his wife tested positive over the weekend. The spokesperson said the prime minister felt well and would remain in isolation for 10 days.

Italy's Higher Health Council chief Franco Locatelli said on Sunday that he hopes ski resorts will remain closed until the end of the year, or, failing that, that travelers will be required to self-isolate for a period of time in order "to protect the general public."

Germany and Italy have pushed for ski resorts to remain closed until after the new year while Switzerland and Austria are planning to not close theirs at all.

Read more:Coronavirus: Germany seeks EU-wide ban on ski trips 

The number of confirmed cases in Germany rose by 11,169, bringing the total number of infections to 1,053,869 since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases. The reported death toll rose by 125 to 16,248. 

The new figures came as Economy Minister Peter Altmaier called on Germans to do more to reduce contacts and slow the spread of the virus, in an interview with public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

He added that pandemic relief aid for companies cannot be extended indefinitely, and taxes will not be raised during this parliamentary term, which will likely last until late next year. 

Read more:Coronavirus: No Christmas markets — but some mulled wine 'to go' 

Asia-Pacific

Australia welcomed international students for the first time since the country shut its borders to curb the spread of the virus in March.

A plane chartered by Charles Darwin University (CDU) carrying 63 international students arrived in the northern city of Darwin as part of a pilot program aimed at giving a boost to the country's billion-dollar higher education industry. The students are from mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia. 

Read more:Australia’s coronavirus vaccine shows promise in initial testing 

Vietnam confirmed its first locally transmitted case of the virus in nearly three months. The country's health minister subsequently ordered provinces and state agencies to tighten screening and controls and contact tracing efforts were launched after the 32-year-old man was confirmed as the first reported domestic case in 89 days.

The man was related to a flight attendant who had tested positive after returning from Japan two weeks ago.  Vietnam tamped down its first wave of infections in April, and went nearly 100 days without local transmission until the virus reemerged in Danang in July. Vietnam has recorded 1,347 coronavirus cases, 655 of which it said were imported. 

Africa

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will return home within days after being hospitalized in Germany for a month with COVID-19.

"The president of the republic assures the Algerian people about his health, that he is on the way to recovery and will be returning home in the coming days," said a statement from the president's office.

The office said he had finished treatment and was undergoing "post-protocol medical tests."

Global

Merriam-Webster announced "pandemic" as its 2020 word of the year. 

"Often the big news story has a technical word that's associated with it and in this case, the word pandemic is not just technical but has become general. It's probably the word by which we'll refer to this period in the future,'' Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam Webster, told the Associated Press.

He added that searches for the word "pandemic" on the Merriam-Webster website were 115.806% higher than searches conducted on the same date last year. Pandemic, with roots in Latin and Greek, is a combination of "pan'' for all, and "demos,'' for people or population. 

lc, ab/dr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)