By Nectar Gan, Adam Renton, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Ed Upright and Jack Guy, CNN
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
New York State is back under 1% Covid-19 infection rate after breaking its nearly 40-day streak.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that of the 75,087 tests reported yesterday, 652 were positive, which is .87% of the total.
The state hit a 1% positivity rate Tuesday after being under the 1% threshold for 39 days.
From CNN's Samantha Tapfumaneyi
The Welsh government has locked down one of the nation’s biggest regions — barring people from entering or leaving — following a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.
Rhondda Cynon Taf, in the south of Wales, is the second county to be locked down. It has a population of nearly 240,000 people.
In a statement on Wednesday, Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:
“We now have evidence of wider community transmission in the borough, which means we need to take urgent action to control and, ultimately, reduce the spread of the virus and protect people’s health.”
The new measures will be imposed on Thursday from 1 p.m. ET. The rules apply to everyone living within the Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The government said people will not be allowed to enter or leave the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council area without a reasonable excuse.
Enforcement of the new restrictions will be undertaken by the local authority and by the police.
From CNN's Wayne Sterling
The Big Ten Conference will play football this fall after all. On Wednesday, the conference reversed its postponement decision made last month.
The Big Ten announced the season will start the weekend of Oct. 23 and 24.
The conference will require student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing.
Test results must be completed and recorded prior to each practice or game. Student-athletes who test positive for the coronavirus through point of contact (POC) daily testing would require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the result of the POC test.
Some context: The Big Ten announced on August 11 that it was postponing the 2020-21 fall sports season because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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From CNN's Naomi Thomas, Niamh Kennedy, Katie Polglase, Lauren Mascarenhas and Ivana Kottasová
Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at US Health and Human Services, said during a briefing on Wednesday it’s an aspiration that no American will have to pay for a Covid-19 vaccine
“In terms of a principle and an aspiration, it’ll be that no American has to pay a single dime out of pocket to get a vaccine,” Mango said. “And we’re getting very close to that aspiration right now.”
Where things stand on vaccine development: The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine trial, halted last week after an unexplained illness in one of the volunteers, will resume, the University of Oxford announced Saturday.
The university, which is developing the vaccine with AstraZeneca, did not say when the trial would resume. AstraZeneca said the trial will only resume in the United Kingdom, adding that it's working with health authorities across the world to determine when other trials can resume.
Before the pause, the company was testing its vaccine, dubbed the Oxford vaccine, in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom, Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of three coronavirus vaccines in late-stage, Phase 3 trials in the US. It has the backing of the US federal government. Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTec are the other two groups with phase three trials under way, also with federal government funding.
From CNN's Haley Byrd
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended her approach to coronavirus stimulus negotiations on Wednesday morning, as a vulnerable swath of her caucus is raising concerns about the impasse over new aid between top Democrats and Republicans.
“What we want is to put something on the floor that will become law, and that requires a negotiation,” Pelosi said during an interview with MSNBC.
She said there are “a number of schools of thought” among Democrats about how they should proceed as talks remain stalled. Some members want the House to vote on the more than $3 trillion Heroes Act again, Pelosi said.
“We could put a bill on the floor, but we want to put a bill on the floor that will become law,” she said.
Pelosi argued that Republicans don’t recognize the needs of the moment and noted Democrats have already lowered their offer. GOP lawmakers hold that a $2 trillion package would be too expensive.
“We have come down, but the needs of the American people, we can only go so far,” Pelosi said.
“We think they should come to the table,” she added.
From CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht
The US Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense on Wednesday released two documents outlining the Trump administration’s strategy to distribute Covid-19 vaccines.
HHS said it developed the documents with the Department of Defense and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Preparing for the implementation of the safe and efficacious Covid-19 vaccine programs is a critical next step in the efforts to protect Americans and reduce the impact of Covid-19 and restore our normal way of life,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie is recommending Broward schools reopen for in-person learning on Oct. 5, according to a tweet from the superintendent's verified account.
"The same science criteria we used to close our schools is what we will use to open them," Runcie said in the tweet.
Runcie is proposing the school district advance to "eLearning Phase 2," which opens schools but allows for learning from home as well, according to the Broward County Public School (BCPS) coronavirus website.
The phase two reopening plan will be presented to the Broward County School Board for review on Tuesday, said Runcie.
BCPS has reported at least 50 Covid-19 cases among its school staff and contract employees, affecting 38 school and administrative office sites, according to the BCPS coronavirus dashboard.
From CNN's Simon Cullen
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain’s coronavirus testing record compares favorably to other European countries, adding that recent problems are due to a “colossal spike” in demand.
“What is happening is that the British people -- quite understandably -- are responding to that system with a huge, huge surge in demand and so it’s very important that everybody follows the guidance about when they should be getting a test,” Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday.
However, the government has at times sent mixed messages on who should be getting coronavirus tests.
Last week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC that there had been “a rise in the number of people who are not eligible for a test coming forward and getting those tests.” He estimated that 25% of those getting tested were not eligible.
UK government guidelines are that only those displaying one of three symptoms, or those who have been asked by a government body, are eligible for a test.
Nonetheless, on July 21, Hancock tweeted that “anybody who needs a test can get a test,” and that “if you have symptoms, if in doubt, get a test.”
But the National Health Service Providers organization, which represents many of the UK’s hospitals and other health services, says some health staff are having to isolate for extended periods because they are unable to access coronavirus testing.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said Tuesday that it is “unacceptable” that some people in the country have reportedly been asked to wait weeks, or travel hundreds of miles, for a coronavirus test.
Testing is the latest hurdle for Johnson's government, which has been criticized for its handling of the pandemic as the UK has so far recorded the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe.
And reported coronavirus infections have been surging again in the UK. There were an average of 3,004 new infections per day in the seven days to Tuesday, compared to 2,032 per day in the previous seven-day period.
From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman
Racism and discrimination are factors that play a role in the larger number of minority deaths and hospitalizations from Covid-19, according to a new analysis from the Epic Health Research Network and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Although minorities were more likely to test positive for Covid-19 and need more immediate care at the time of testing than Whites, they were also more likely to require hospitalization and to die from the virus than White patients, the analysis found.
Researchers examined the Epic electronic health records of about 50 million patients in 21 states, including 53 health systems and 399 hospitals.
“The racial disparities in illness and death are not fully explained by differences in underlying sociodemographic characteristics and health conditions,” the authors said.
“This analysis points to delays in testing for people of color, who are sicker and more likely to be infected when they do get tested,” said KFF President and CEO Drew Altman. “The findings highlight the continued importance of addressing racial disparities in responding to COVID-19 as in health care more broadly.”
Among the key findings of the research: Hispanics were more than two and a half times more likely to test positive for Covid-19, and Blacks and Asians were nearly twice as likely to test positive compared to Whites – and they were more likely to be hospitalized by the time they were tested.
Covid-19 infection rates for Hispanics were three times higher and for Blacks and more than two times higher compared to their White counterparts. Hospitalization rates for Hispanics were four times that of Whites – and for Blacks, it was more than three times that of Whites.
“Death rates for both groups were over twice as high as the rate for White patients (5.6 and 5.6 compared to 2.3 per 10,000)” the analysis found. “Asian patients also faced significant disparities in these measures.”
The findings of this analysis suggest that racism and discrimination are affecting outcomes among similar sociodemographic groups, the authors wrote.
“Understanding the factors underlying COVID-19 infections and severe complications can help us devote resources appropriately to the most vulnerable communities,” Dr. Christopher Alban, Epic Vice President of Clinical Informatics, said in a news release.
“This study adds nuance to our understanding of inequities in our COVID-19 response by showing racial and ethnic disparities that persist when comparing populations with similar health and socioeconomic status."
