Coronavirus updates: San Francisco Bay Area issues stay-at-home order; vaccine doesn't mean virus is over, WHO warns

Thursday was the deadliest day of the pandemic in the U.S., with 2,897 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data. While the more than 277,000 COVID-19 deaths may not seem like a lot in a nation of nearly 330 million people, COVID-19 has replaced accidents as the third leading cause of death.

Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

With the help of USA TODAY's intrepid health reporters, she hopes that facts can change minds and counter misinformation.

The health officers in six San Francisco Bay Areas counties have issued a new stay-at-home order as the number of virus cases surge and hospitals fill. .

President-elect Joe Biden said more must be done to plan the distribution of vaccines for COVID-19 after they are approved, but that his health advisers are developing plans.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Biden said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was backing down from months-long demands for trillions in new coronavirus relief to support a $900 billion bipartisan deal because of two things: Joe Biden was elected president and a COVID-19 vaccine is on the way.

A new president and a vaccine,” Pelosi said, adding that some of her objections to the bill are OK because another batch of relief will come once Biden takes office.

The head of the World Health Organization is concerned that the vaccine may lead many to believe that the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a United Nations meeting Friday that “the light at the end of the tunnel” is beginning to emerge but that people across the world must not be complacent, according to Reuters.

“The truth is that at present, he said, “many places are witnessing very high transmission of the COVID-19 virus, which is putting enormous pressure on hospitals, intensive care units and health workers.”.

Key to ensuring the end of the pandemic, the WHO said, is ensuring that health care systems are able to survive — especially at a juncture in which hospitals in the United States are struggling again with resources, manpower and worsening COVID-19 cases.  .

Americans will likely experience at least one side effect from the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors say that’s normal and you should still get vaccinated.

Melanie Swift, an occupational medicine physician helping lead the COVID-19 vaccination plan at the Mayo Clinic, said it’s important to educate Americans about the vaccines’ side effects or it may deter people from getting the second dose.

There is no consensus among ethicists and public health officials on either point.

“We don’t have the full profile on these vaccines,” said Norman Baylor, president and CEO of Biologics Consulting and a former director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review at the Food and Drug Administration.

Continuing to compare the placebo and active vaccine groups could help researchers better understand how different demographic groups, such as the elderly, respond to the vaccine and identify any unexpected longer-term health issues.

Pressure to create a coronavirus vaccine is increasing by the day, but for a safe vaccine to enter the market, it takes time.

United said Thursday that it banned the couple that boarded a flight from San Francisco to Lihue, Hawaii, after knowingly testing positive for COVID-19

United said in a statement that all passengers must complete a checklist confirming they have not tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days before flying

Four of five California regions could meet the threshold to enter new stay-at-home orders "within a day or two" as intensive care unit bed capacity drops and COVID-19 threatens to overwhelm the state's hospitals, Gov

Gavin Newsom said Thursday

California’s virus hospitalizations have nearly quadrupled since mid-October and now stand at 8,240, including 1,890 in intensive care units. “If we don’t act now, we’ll continue to see our death rate climb, more lives lost,” Newsom said

The Navajo Nation on Thursday requested a Major Disaster Declaration from the federal government as COVID-19 cases surge amid shortages of medical supplies, personnel and hospital beds. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez announced the declaration in a virtual town hall after hearing from public health officials and health care workers about shortages and challenges across the Nation

The declaration, which can only be signed into effect by President Donald Trump, would bring a wide range of additional infrastructural and financial resources to the Navajo Nation, Nez said

As vaccines to fight the novel coronavirus near deployment, Facebook says it will ramp up its fight against misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines on its social media platforms

The platforms plan to remove vaccine claims that have been debunked by public health experts on Facebook and Instagram

"Since it’s early and facts about COVID-19 vaccines will continue to evolve, we will regularly update the claims we remove based on guidance from public health authorities as they learn more," Facebook said.