Bustos won’t seek to chair DCCC again in wake of 2020 results | TheHill (elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as DCCC chair!)

Bustos won’t seek to chair DCCC again in wake of 2020 results

Bustos won't seek to chair DCCC again in wake of 2020 results
© Greg Nash

Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos will not run for a second term leading House Democrats’ campaign arm following a disappointing election where her party saw at least seven vulnerable incumbents go down to defeat.

Source: Bustos won’t seek to chair DCCC again in wake of 2020 results | TheHill

Coronavirus: Ohio seeing ‘unprecedented’ spike in hospitalization, says chief medical officer

More than 150 hospitalizations were reported in Ohio Monday, just below the state’s 21-day average of 166. There are 2,533 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the state, up by more than 1,000 than the 1,456 patients reported on Oct. 27, according to ODH.

In southwest Ohio, there were 671 hospitalized coronavirus patients on Monday, with 163 in the ICU and97 on ventilators. COVID-19 patients account for 9.76% of the region’s hospital beds, with 2,018 beds, or 29.34%, open.

Ohio added 4,706 coronavirus cases Monday, bringing its total to 254,974, according to the ODH. It is the seventh straight day the state has reported more than 4,000 cases a day.

Source: Coronavirus: Ohio seeing ‘unprecedented’ spike in hospitalization, says chief medical officer

Four Texas battleground races remain undecided days after Election Day | The Texas Tribune

In Texas, Monday is the last day for counties to receive overseas and military mail-in ballots. Tuesday is the last day for counties to review provisional ballots so they can be sent to ballot boards for counting. Nov. 16 is the last day for ballot boards to count late-arriving mail-in and provisional ballots, and the next day is the canvass deadline.

A runner-up candidate is eligible to request a recount if the difference between the number of votes they received and the number of votes the No. 1 finisher received is less than 10% of the latter. (For instance, if the leading candidate gets 2,000 votes and second place gets 1,850 votes, the margin of 150 is less than 200, which is 10% of 2,000, so the second-place candidate can call for a recount.)

Source: Four Texas battleground races remain undecided days after Election Day | The Texas Tribune

Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine – and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved | The Independent

Dr Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer’s head of vaccine development, told the New York Times: “We were never part of the Warp Speed … We have never taken any money from the US government, or from anyone.”

Pfizer later clarified that they were considered “part” of Warp Speed, because the US government had placed an order for a potential vaccine. But they received no funding for its development, unlike their rivals.

Source: Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine – and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved | The Independent

Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective. Here’s what we know. – Vox

Phase 3 clinical trials are where a vaccine is tested against the virus in the real world. Pfizer and BioNTech enrolled 43,538 participants around the world and randomly sorted them into two groups: one that received the vaccine and one that received the placebo. Then the company waited to see how many confirmed Covid-19 infections emerged.

The findings reported on Monday showed that 94 volunteers in this group developed Covid-19, but the vast majority of these cases were in the placebo group, indicating that the vaccine seems to be highly effective against the virus. The companies, however, did not disclose the exact split of infections between the treatment and placebo groups.

The more effective a vaccine, the earlier a signal will emerge in a clinical trial. But 94 cases is not enough to conclude the trial. Pfizer and BioNTech said that the endpoint of their trial is when they can confirm 164 Covid-19 infections in their pool.

Therefore, the results are not enough for the Food and Drug Administration to grant full approval to the vaccine. The safety standard for a vaccine is much higher than it is for a treatment, because a vaccine is distributed to vastly more people than a treatment, including those who are healthy and those that may have underlying health concerns. So even rare complications become magnified, making it critical to have a high bar for safety.

Source: Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective. Here’s what we know. – Vox

Virus Cases Spike Again in N.Y.C. as New Restrictions Are Considered – The New York Times

The number of new infections is swiftly rising, with more than 1,000 cases identified in the city four days in a row this past week, a level that last occurred in May, according to the state’s Department of Health. Just a month ago, daily cases were typically in the 500 to 700 range.

Hospitalizations and death rates are a small fraction of what they were at the height of the pandemic, and case count comparisons can be tricky, given that much more testing is occurring now. What’s more, the positivity rate in New York City is still well below that in neighboring states.

Still, on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to announce that the “Covid crisis is entering a new phase,” and he will call on New Yorkers to “double down to stop the spread,” according to his prepared remarks provided by his office.

Utah governor declares state of emergency as COVID-19 patients strain hospitals | TheHill

In a series of tweets, the governor said that all Utahns would be subject to a statewide mask mandate and added that all extracurricular activities in state schools were suspended.

“Due to the alarming rate of COVID infections within our state, tonight I issued a new state of emergency with several critical changes to our response. These changes are not shutting down our economy, but are absolutely necessary to save lives and hospital capacity,” he wrote.

Source: Utah governor declares state of emergency as COVID-19 patients strain hospitals | TheHill