The NBA's Toronto Raptors would love to play next season at home, but with travel between the U.S. and Canada currently restricted — including a 14-day quarantine — they're weighing a temporary U.S. residence.
The state of play: The NBA season is expected to start on Dec. 22, and a surge in positive cases in the U.S. means travel restrictions could remain for a while.
If Joe Biden pulls off a win, inauguration is still two and a half months from now, and the virus is raging. "The question now is whether leaders in hard hit areas who have favored a light touch will implement more aggressive covid control measures now that Election Day has passed," Johns Hopkins' Caitlin Rivers tweeted yesterday.
By the numbers: The U.S. reported 103,087 new daily coronavirus infections yesterday — a new single-day record for cases, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
European leaders are learning that the longer you wait to address the coronavirus, the harsher the mitigation measures to address an exponentially growing caseload must be.
Driving the news: Much of Italy will be placed under a strict lockdown as of Friday in the most drastic steps the country has taken to fight the coronavirus since it led the world into lockdown nearly eight months ago, Axios' Dave Lawler reports.
Health care stocks skyrocketed after Tuesday's election results indicated Republicans likely will maintain control of the Senate, all but assuring continued gridlock in both chambers of Congress.
The big picture: A Republican Senate means "the public option and direct government negotiation on drug prices are dead for at least the next two years," Spencer Perlman, an analyst at Veda Partners, wrote to investors Wednesday.
New coronavirus infections surged by roughly 20% over the past week as cases continued to climb in every region of the country.
Why it matters: All signs indicate that the pandemic will keep getting worse throughout the winter, making it harder and harder to eventually control — even if there's a new president, and even with a vaccine.
The U.S. reported 103,087 new daily coronavirus infections on Wednesday, setting a single-day record for cases, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
Why it matters: This is the first time the U.S. has reported over 100,000 new cases in a single day — a reminder of the high stakes of the election as votes continue to be tabulated.
A new study of more than 3,000 counties in the U.S. finds a correlation between higher levels of particulate air pollution and higher death rates from COVID-19.
Why it matters: COVID-19 may be caused by the novel coronavirus, but the outcome of an infection is influenced by everything from age to race to the environment. Understanding the connection between disease and pollution can help us address those risks going forward.
Much of Italy will be placed under a strict lockdown as of Friday in the most drastic steps the country has taken to fight the coronavirus since it led the world into lockdown nearly eight months ago.
The big picture: Italy managed to keep the spread of the virus largely under control for months after a brutal first wave. But like much of Europe, it's currently recording unprecedented daily case counts and scrambling to avoid a return to overcrowded hospitals and climbing death tolls in the coming weeks.
Four in 10 voters named the pandemic as their top issue in the presidential race, according to AP VoteCast. Another three in 10 said the economy and jobs were most important.
Why it matters: Voters were more likely to say that the government should focus on limiting the spread of the virus, even if it damages the economy, than to say the economy should be prioritized above all else.
If this is the end for the Trump administration, it will leave a legacy of failure on health care, and if he's re-elected, he'll have a lot of ground left to make up.
Why it matters: The administration failed to get almost anything it wanted — sometimes the setback was Congress, sometimes the courts, sometimes the administration itself.
Joe Biden has vowed to get the pandemic under control, but if he ultimately wins the White House — whenever we finally know a winner — he would take office facing the same partisan headwinds that have undermined America’s response all along.
Why it matters: Biden would likely take office at the height of an acute crisis, and calls for more mask wearing or tighter social distancing measures would face deeply entrenched partisan resistance in much of the country.
Minnesota, along with the swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio set new single-day coronavirus case records on Election Day, per the COVID Tracking Project and state data.
The big picture: Polling booths put coronavirus protocols in place, as cases soar across the U.S. Pennsylvania health officials urged voters Tuesday to take precautions including mask-wearing as the state reported a new high of 2,875 infections in one day, PennLive notes.
The NFL sent a memo to teams on Tuesday alerting them to stepped-up precautions against COVID-19, including on face masks and social distancing, the NFL Network first reported.
The big picture: As coronavirus cases surge across the U.S., the Baltimore Ravens placed seven defensive players on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday following cornerback Marlon Humphrey's positive test. Under the new protocols, the NFL will require masks be worn during physical interactions postgame and is advising teams to ask players to wear face coverings on the sidelines and in locker rooms.
