Coronavirus: The Hill and the Headlines, November 9 2020

In Washington:

• On Nov. 7, most major networks and news sources announced that Joe Biden won the presidential election to become the 46th President of the United States. The call came after Biden’s lead if Pennsylvania became insurmountable, pushing him across the 270-votes threshold with 273 electoral votes.  Biden can still increase his electoral lead since he's up in Arizona and Georgia, and most sources have called Nevada Democratic.  Meanwhile, President Trump refuses to concede the election and has mounted several legal challenges in many states attempting to turn over Biden's wins. So far, none of the allegations and challenges have been proved.  CNN say that the President plans to begin a media and communications campaign to fuel his baseless claims that the election was stolen from him and rampant voter fraud. The campaign has summoned all staffers and said, “the President is still in this fight.” Axios reports that President Trump has already told advisors that he may run for president again in 2024.

• Today President-elect Joe Biden gave a COVID-19 briefing where he laid out his COVID-19 plan and how his transition team will take action as soon as Biden and Vice-President Elect Harris are sworn into office on Jan 20, 2021. Biden also pleaded with Americans to wear a mask and announced his COVID-19 Advisory Board.
  • The board includes many doctors and public health experts, including Dr. Rick Bright, a former Trump administration whistleblower and Health and was one of Human Services’ (HHS) top vaccine experts, who resigned amid allegations his early warnings over the pandemic were ignored. Biden plans to add more advisors throughout the transition.  
  • The advisory board and his plan will follow science and the advice of health officials; create a contact tracing system; make rapid testing more widely-available, increase manufacturing of PPE; provide clear and detailed guidance for schools and businesses; scaling up treatments and therapeutics; and making sure vaccines are distributed free and fairly while prioritizing delivery to the at-risk populations first.  
  • Biden’s plan also includes working with governors and mayors to mandate mask-wearing. Biden said in his briefing that the goal of mask-wearing is not to make “life less comfortable or take something away” but to give back “a normal life” to everyone.  “The goal is to get back to normal, as fast as possible,” Biden said. Details about Biden’s COVID-19 plan can be found on his transition website.  

• Senate lawmakers returned to Washington today and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is taking the lead in coronavirus relief negotiations saying that work on a coronavirus aid bill is “job one.” The House will return on Nov. 16.  Both sides have already agreed in principle to a second individual stimulus payment, but the timing, amount, and who will qualify for a stimulus money remains to be seen. The package is likely to include extension of extra unemployment benefits, stimulus funds for small businesses and a widespread coronavirus testing and tracing program.  But there is still a question on whether there is much incentive for a large stimulus bill now that Biden has won the presidential election.  Prior to the elections, President Donald Trump pledged a large post-election stimulus bill, but now has little leverage to drive a deal through a divided Congress.  Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may continue citing falling unemployment for a smaller more targeted relief bill and still has a problem with a divided caucus on whether there should be additional stimulus funding.  Democrats might try and pass some relief in the spending bill that is needed to avoid a federal government shutdown on Dec. 11, but might also wait to see if they win the two January Georgia Senate runoff races, which would give them a slim Senate majority with Vice President-Elect Harris being the tie breaker.

• Housing Department Secretary Dr. Ben Carson has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office announced.  Carson is the latest official who attended a White House election night party to get COVID-19.  The word comes days after it was revealed White House chief of staff Mark Meadows also contracted the virus. It has being reported that five other White House and a Trump campaign staffer have tested positive for the virus.  

• On Nov. 7, POLITICO announced that Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tested positive for COVID-19.  Gaetz had tested positive on Election Day and had told several people on The Hill.   He said he is not sure where he contracted the virus but has regularly attended and participated in President Trump’s rallies. 

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, applauded the news of Pfizer’s progress on a COVID-19 vaccine (details below), telling The Washington Post, “[t]he results are really quite good, I mean extraordinary.” Fauci added that the results may indicate that Moderna’s vaccine candidate may also have positive results since both vaccines use similar technology which he said “gives you hope we might even have two vaccines.” 

In the News:

• Pfizer announced Monday that that data from its trials show that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine “prevents 90% of people from catching the disease.”  The company said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US authorization this month for emergency use of the vaccine.  The U.S. paid $1.95 billion for 100 million initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

• The U.S. surpassed 10 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins data.  The U.S. has reported over 100,000 new coronavirus cases every day since last Wednesday. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by 10,000 since Oct. 30, and the seven-day average of deaths from the virus reported by states has increased 36 percent in the past three weeks, the COVID Tracking Project notes.  

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. In a tweet Monday afternoon local time, Zelensky said that he would self-isolate and continue to work remotely while he recovered. Ukraine clocked 10,000 new COVID-19 cases per day for the first time this month in a fall surge. The country has recorded just under half a million infections since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

• Three major publicly traded movie theater chains reported more than $1 billion in losses in the third quarter with no end to the losses in sight. During the latest quarter, AMC, the largest cinema chain in the world, saw revenue during the three-month period ended Sept. 30 fall nearly 91percent, while Cinemark, the third-largest cinema chain, saw a nearly 96 percent drop in revenue. Marcus Corporation, the fifth-largest movie theater owner saw its revenue slip 84 percent. Once again, the companies’ fates rest in the hands of movie studios, which they hope will release new films, a dicey proposition as COVID-19 cases surge, leaving doubt in studios’ minds as to whether audiences will return soon.

Authored by Ivan Zapien