INDIANAPOLIS — Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic for Friday, Oct. 30, 2020.
Hamilton Heights H.S. moving to e-Learning after positive tests
Students at Hamilton Heights High School will learn virtually for the next two weeks after a fifth student tested positive for coronavirus.
Superintendent Dr. Derek Arrowood said in a letter to parents that the student began experiencing symptoms of coronavirus and went to get tested, which returned the positive result.
Due to the number of positive cases at the school and the impact it has on other students through contact tracing, the school decided to move to e-Learning starting Monday, Nov. 2. Students will learn virtually through at least Friday, Nov. 13.
After school activities, including athletic practices and games and club activities will be canceled over the two-week period.
The middle and elementary schools in the district are not affected.
Governor extends public health emergency
Governor Eric Holcomb has extended an executive order declaring a public health emergency in Indiana.
It's the eighth time since the coronavirus pandemic began that Holcomb has renewed the order. The move is mostly procedural, as state law does not allow for a disaster emergency order to last more than 30 days.
The public health emergency will be in place until Dec. 1, unless it is again extended by Holcomb's order.
ISDH update
The state is reporting 3,205 new cases for a total of 175,893 since the pandemic began. The seven-day positivity rate is now up to 7.6 percent.
The Indiana State Department of Health also announced 26 more deaths from COVID-19 for a total of 4,050 since March. Deaths are split almost equally between men (49.8 percent) and women (48.7 percent) with a small fraction where the gender was not recorded.
The vast majority of deaths (51.4 percent) are in those 80 and above. The next largest are 70-79 (25.5 percent) and people 60-69 (15.3 percent).
Health officials in Indiana prepare for COVID-19 vaccine
Indiana officials are preparing for when the state will get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Indiana Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said the first vaccine is likely to be a two-dose version from Pfizer. She said the timeline for a second vaccine from Moderna is a “rapidly developing situation, so a lot is subject to change.”
Neither vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and multiple vaccine candidates are still undergoing trials. Indiana's health care workers would be the first to be vaccinated.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 8.94 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. as of 3:30 a.m. ET Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 228,600 deaths and 3.55 million people recovered.
Worldwide, there have been more than 45 million confirmed cases with more than 1.18 million deaths and 30.3 million recoveries.
The real number of people infected by the virus around the world is believed to be much higher — perhaps 10 times higher in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognized.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
Surge in virus threatens to reverse global economic rebounds
The resurgence of coronavirus cases engulfing the United States and Europe is imperiling economic recoveries on both sides of the Atlantic as millions of individuals and businesses face the prospect of having to hunker down once again.
Growing fear of an economic reversal coincided with a report Thursday that the U.S. economy grew at a record 33.1% annual rate in the July-September quarter.
Even with that surge, the world’s largest economy has yet to fully rebound from its plunge in spring when the virus first erupted. And now the economy is slowing just as new confirmed viral cases accelerate and rescue aid from Washington has dried up.