Latest: China Blockades Hebei Region Due to Virus Outbreak

Rail, aviation and highway connections to Shijiazhuang have been suspended, local urban communities and villages have been strengthened and classes have been suspended.

Authorities are taking similar strict measures in Shenyang and Dalian in Liaoning Province, just north.

Being wary of a new wave of infection, China discourages travel to Chinese New Year holidays next month and begins school holidays a week earlier.

Health and Welfare Secretary Alex Azar says the government will begin allowing more drugstores to start giving shots to speed up coronavirus vaccination. Some governors and other politicians are putting pressure on them after the slow deployment of the coronavirus vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that the United States will soon be able to vaccinate one million times a day. The United States has reported 29 severe allergic reactions to the vaccine.

The European Union has approved the Moderna vaccine. This decision gives blocks in 27 countries a second vaccine to use against the coronavirus. The UK has vaccinated 1.3 million people and said it plans to operate nearly 1,000 vaccination centers later this week.

— Follow the Associated Press at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine, https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

What else is happening:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana — A Louisiana hospital warns that the influx of COVID-19 patients is dangerously short of beds and the situation is expected to worsen due to holidays.

Governor John Bel Edwards and public health officials said Wednesday that efforts were being made to speed up coronavirus vaccination. But they add that nothing happens fast enough to reduce the outbreak of the Louisiana coronavirus, except for the precautionary measures they have preached for months.

The virus regulation is due to expire next week, and the governor says he doesn’t know if the rules will be tightened or will be updated. New Orleans announced new restrictions on Wednesday.

Lansing, Michigan — Next week, Michigan will begin giving coronavirus vaccines to seniors and front-line workers such as teachers and police.

The state then planned to immunize people over the age of 75 and essential workers, including first responders, prison guards, and childcare providers. But officials said Wednesday, including residents aged 65-74.

“Every time I shoot my arm, it’s a step towards ending this pandemic,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The first stages of the Michigan vaccination program were limited to healthcare professionals and nursing home residents. At least 152,000 people in the state received their first dose in just three weeks. Michigan will move on to the next stage on Monday.

Austin, Texas-Texas reports a daily high of 326 deaths from COVID-19.

The total reported on Wednesday far exceeded the record high of 278 deaths reported on July 23. It raised the state’s pandemic death toll to 28,545.

Texas authorities have reported 19,535 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus.

A record high of 13,628 people were reported in hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19, setting new highs in Texas for the 10th consecutive day.

Seattle-Washington officials say that everyone over the age of 70 and people over the age of 50 living in multigenerational households will be the next priority for coronavirus vaccination in the state.

The Department of State announced it at an online media briefing on Wednesday.

The newly established Secretary of State Umair Shah reiterated that Washington was in the first stages of vaccine distribution, with high-risk health care workers, first responders, and residents of long-term care facilities first lined up. But within a few weeks, he says, the state should be able to focus on the state’s older people and move on to the next stage.

So far, state officials have given 126,602 of the 522,550 doses the state received.

New Orleans-New Orleans officials have stated that starting Friday they will ban most public rallies and special events involving people who are not members of the same household.

This is an enhancement to the current limit of 75 indoor special events and 150 outdoor events. The tightening of coronavirus restrictions announced on Wednesday will also limit corporate occupancy to 25%.

The stricter restrictions will come into effect on Friday at 6 am

Mayor LaToya Cantrell and director of the city’s health department, Jennifer Avegno, said the change has been made as the percentage of positive coronavirus tests doubled in about a week to over 10%. The rise in positive rates had already led to the suspension of indoor bar services in the city last week.

The Prime Minister of Montreal-Quebec has imposed a curfew at 8 pm throughout the state starting Saturday as a way to curb the proliferation of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

This state will be Canada’s first state to impose a curfew to combat a pandemic.

Prime Minister François Legoe has announced a four-week curfew banning leaving home between 8 pm and 5 am unless he plans to go to work, saying he needs to take drastic action. Said.

Authorities have concluded that the virus has spread through residential rallies, and the curfew aims to prevent it, he says.

Jerusalem — The Israeli Cabinet has agreed to strengthen the blockade in hopes of delaying the outbreak of the raging coronavirus.

Most schools and businesses will be closed for two weeks starting Thursday midnight, meetings will be restricted, and public transport will be restricted. Thousands of police are expected to be deployed to force the closure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the decision late Wednesday.

Israel hastily started vaccination of its population, immunizing 15% of its 9 million people in just two weeks. But at the same time, it faces one of the countries with the highest coronavirus infection rates in the world.

The Israeli Ministry of Health reported more than 462,000 cases of coronavirus, including more than 8,000 new cases on Wednesday. In addition, more than 3,500 deaths have been reported.

Raleigh, North Carolina — Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, announced on Wednesday a three-week extension of the 10 pm curfew aimed at delaying the spread of the coronavirus.

As the state moves beyond health care workers and nursing home workers to a new stage of vaccine distribution to certain older citizens of the general public, some sites quickly run out of supplies, long lines and crowds. Occurred.

Not all counties have begun a new phase, as not all major healthcare professionals in regular contact with COVID-19 have had the opportunity to receive the first dose of the Pfizer or Motona vaccine.

Cooper warned residents to stay vigilant when data from the State Department of Health and Human Services showed that 96 out of 100 North Carolina counties were spread to substantial or important communities.

“Whether you live, work, worship, or play, COVID-19 remains a deadly threat and should be treated that way,” Cooper said. Says.

ST. Petersburg, Florida — Florida begins converting one of its major testing sites to vaccination sites, and Governor Rondesantis said Wednesday that residents over the age of 65 would have other large venues, churches, and even food. He said that even a retail store could get an injection right away. Stores around the state.

DeSantis spoke at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, with some first responders vaccinated. He calls Wednesday a “soft opening” and it lasts for a few days until the site is open to the public.

Over 329,000 people in Florida, or about 1.5% of the population, are vaccinated, almost all of whom are health care workers, long-term care residents, or people over the age of 65.

“We believe that prioritizing older people is the right policy for public health issues,” said Desantis.

Drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens said Wednesday that the first vaccination of the COVID-19 vaccine at nursing homes would be completed on time by January 25.

CVS said it was almost half completed as of Tuesday. We work with 7,822 nursing homes nationwide and have completed nearly 4,000 initial dose clinics.

Overall, CVS said as of Tuesday, it had given nursing homes 351,231 vaccines, including nearly 30,000 in large states like California and Florida.

With more than 15,000 nursing homes nationwide, drugstore chains are more vulnerable and require more care than people staying in other long-term care areas, so first focus on vaccinations in those areas. I did.

CVS and Walgreens are expanding their vaccine offerings to other locations, including the Assisted Living facility. CVS said it had completed nearly 700 initial dose clinics at these locations and administered more than 26,000 shots.

However, drugstore chains are still waiting to set a start date in eight states, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, before starting work in these locations. Said that.

Boise, Idaho — An 87-year-old man in south-central Idaho has filed a federal lawsuit against Republican Governor Brad Little and the State Health Department seeking to bring people over the age of 65 to the forefront. I did. Coronavirus vaccination.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, Rogerson’s Richard Byrd said that COVID-19 infection is a life-threatening problem for older people, who tend to die at a much higher rate than younger people. I will.

Bird argues that denying access to the vaccine immediately is an infringement of his rights under the US Constitution. The Idaho Attorney General’s office refused to comment on the proceedings.

Birmingham, Alabama-Mayor of Birmingham, Randall Woodfin, was released from the hospital on Wednesday after being treated for COVID-19 and was scheduled to recover from his illness and continue quarantine at home.

Woodfin, 39, was admitted to the Princeton Baptist Medical Center on Monday and COVID-19 caused pneumonia in his left lung. He said his grandmother, who died of a new coronavirus-induced illness, was resting while she was discharged.

“It afflicts me. I can’t be there, and I miss her. She died at COVID-19 at the age of 87,” he said in a statement. “If you don’t need to go out, don’t go out. Wash your hands. Wear a mask and practice social distance.”

Woodfin received remdesivir and convalescent plasma therapy during hospitalization.

Woodfin became ill at the same time that three other Alabama mayors from Auburn, Decatur and Florence were fighting the illness.

Kansas Mission — Kansas State University warns that the spring semester may begin online as the coronavirus is rampant throughout the surrounding communities and states.

In a written statement, President Richard Myers said the COVID-19 indicators that the university is monitoring to make decisions are “not moving in the positive direction.”

The number of cases in Kansas increased by 5,501 from Monday to 236,818, and the number of deaths increased by 130 to 3,027.

John Rolf, a member of the Kansas Board of Directors, who heads the state’s regional COVID-19 reporting activity, said the hospital’s intensive care unit beds, which can handle patients with acute care, are “precious”.

In Labette Health, southeastern Kansas, staff are becoming more tired after months of fighting the virus, and additional staff are coming to help, said CEO Brian Williams.

Army veteran Williams said the ICU can resemble a front-line battlefield. “Initially, we didn’t think we would lose COVID patients. We were very good, I think the ICU nurses were very good,” he said. “I think it will do harm when reality begins.”

Chicago — Illinois will allow residents aged 65 and over to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the next vaccination phase.

Governor JB Pritzkar provided the latest information on Wednesday as Illinois approached one million infections. The age is lower than the 75-year-old recommended by the Government Advisory Committee.

Pritzker said it was lowered to make the process more equitable, citing data showing that older black and Latino residents die younger with COVID-19.

Currently, healthcare and long-term facility workers are eligible, equivalent to approximately 850,000.

The next stage, which is expected to begin in the next few weeks, will include older people and essential workers. Approximately 3.2 million people will be targeted during this phase.

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