The new clusters are a "stark reminder" that the state is still not out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
"We've had clusters in the past stemming from factories, churches, bars and other locations," Cuomo said . "We're quite familiar with this, and when there's a cluster, we are very aggressive on it and we're oversampling in the clusters."
Cuomo's announcement comes as states across the US have begun reporting alarming Covid-19 trends in recent days -- and after experts warned of a coming surge in cases.
Wisconsin reported its highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations on record, with patients nearly doubling in the state since September 18, according to hospital officials. The governor of Illinois is tightening restrictions in one part of the state after an increase in positivity rates. And in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear urged the state needs to stop a recent "escalation" of cases after reporting more than 1,000 new infections for the second day in a row.
At least 27 states have reported more new cases since the previous week and only nine are reporting a decline, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Nationwide, more than 7.2 million people have been infected and more than 206,000 Americans have died.
When a vaccine could be available to US population
On Wednesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said if their Covid-19 vaccine is proven safe and effective, it could be available to the general population by late March or early April.
Moderna began their Phase 3 clinical trial for Covid-19 in the US in July. It's one of four companies that have begun Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trials in the US -- the others include Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca. The AstraZeneca trial was paused after an unexplained illness in a volunteer, and US health authorities are still considering crucial questions that remain around the injections of the experimental vaccine.
"I think a late Q1, early Q2 approval is a reasonable timeline, based on what we know from our vaccine," Bancel said at a conference hosted by the Financial Times.
But there are several steps that will have to come before that.
If the safety and efficacy data checks out, Bancel says he expects Moderna will be able to file a Biologics License Application (BLA) with the US Food and Drug Administration by late January or early February. That application asks the FDA to consider fully licensing a drug, while an emergency use authorization (EUA) expedites a drug candidate for use on an emergency basis.
Moderna could file for an EUA as early as November 25 for people who are deemed high priority, including healthcare workers and the elderly, Bancel said at a conference hosted by the Financial Times.
Until a vaccine is available, experts have for long said the country's most powerful tools against the pandemic are face masks and other safety measures like social distancing. But even when a vaccine is ready, health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci have said there will still be room for the virus to spread, as it's unlikely the vaccine will be 100% effective or taken by 100% of the population.
"I think if we can get 75 to 80% of the population vaccinated, I think that would be a really good accomplishment," Fauci said last week.
Mississippi lifts mask mandate
Despite officials continuing to advocate for the use of masks, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday he will not extend the state's mask mandate, saying the state's numbers for average new Covid-19 cases have declined.
"It has been a great few weeks for Covid-19 numbers," the governor said. "We've cut our average number of new cases in half, we've cut hospitalizations by two thirds of what they once were."
Mississippi has reported more than 98,000 infections since the start of the pandemic. According to data from Johns Hopkins, Mississippi is one of 14 states that have been trekking steady in their number of new cases compared to the previous week.
More communities across the country have further loosened restrictions in recent days, including Florida, where the governor cleared the way for bars and restaurants to fully reopen. Wyoming, which last week set a single-day record for new Covid-19 cases, also loosened rules around restaurants. Nevada also loosened restrictions on public gatherings, while in California, several counties were given the green light to move into less restrictive tiers of the state's reopening plan.
Despite doing away with the mask mandate in Mississippi, the governor urged residents to continue wearing face coverings, saying it's the "smart, prudent and wise thing to do."
"I believe this is the right decision to make at this time," he added. "I believe that this will protect my fellow Mississippians and give us the opportunity should things not continue to improve or stay relatively flat, it gives us more opportunity in the future."
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