Officials give COVID-19 updates as U.S. sets another daily case record

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and state health leaders addressed record COVID-19 cases and the uncontrolled spread of the virus Friday as new restrictions on bars, restaurants and family gatherings go into effect.

Walz announced this week that the new restrictions, which target situations where young people congregate, place limits on gatherings including restaurants, funerals and wedding receptions. "I have to be absolutely candid in Minnesota — we are in the midst of a significant surge in coronavirus cases," Walz said Tuesday.

Starting Friday, there will be a 10-person limit on indoor and outdoor private social gatherings that include a maximum of three households, Walz said. 

Bars and restaurants will now be limited to 50% capacity both indoors and outdoors, with a maximum of 150 people. Dine-in service will end at 10 p.m., although delivery after that time can continue. 

Colorado Governor Jared Polis gave an update Friday on the state's COVID-19 response. 

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker gave his daily COVID-19 update Friday as officials urge people to stay home as much as possible.

California's health and human services secretary spoke Friday at 12 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET) on COVID-19 as the state recommends a 14-day quarantine for those traveling out of state.

A coronavirus field hospital will reopen at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker announced Friday at a press conference streamed on CBSN Boston. It will provide 240 beds and is expected to be ready as soon as the first week of December. 

It will be operated by UMass Memorial Medical Center.

The governor said UMass Memorial is "basically full" with COVID patients so that's why the state is only reopening one field hospital for now, CBS Boston reports.

"I think you're likely going to see us set up others," Baker said at a news conference, noting that he wants to do it on a staged basis.

Back in the spring, five field hospitals were opened in Boston, Worcester, Lowell, Dartmouth, and Hyannis to deal with the surge. Ultimately, three were not used. All were closed by early June when cases went down.

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington urged people visiting their states to self-quarantine for two weeks after they arrive. In a statement issued Friday, the governors said residents who traveled outside the three states should also self-quarantine upon their return.

The governors also called on residents to avoid any "non-essential" travel out of state and to stay in their local communities.

"Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in the statement.

The governors defined essential out-of-state travel as trips for work, school, "critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care and safety and security."

Oregon Governor Kate Brown recognized the difficulty in avoiding travel with Thanksgiving coming up. "This will be hard … But the best way to keep your family safe is to stay close to home," she said.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the number of coronavirus cases in his state has doubled in the last two weeks. "This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March," he said.

The Neighborhood Medical Center in northwest Dallas has offered drive-thru testing on demand since March. In the last couple weeks, it's seen demand grow, CBS DFW reports.

"Oh, a massive jump," said Alyssa McElya, who oversees the clinic's testing. "Most of them are sick. They've been exposed. They have a gnawing headache."

On Thursday, 435 people showed up, a new record for the clinic. This week, the clinic began hiring off-duty police to keep order.

The state also broke a record this week for the number of new COVID-19 tests performed. So far, more than 100,000 Texans have been tested each day. Those numbers are only expected to grow, as Thanksgiving draws closer and people want to take precautions.

"We're expecting massive amounts coming in," said McElya. "People want to visit their families. They want to go out of town. They want to get ready of that."

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Los Angeles County, health officials warned Thursday they may be forced to impose more restrictions on public activity, CBS Los Angeles reports.

The county reported another 2,533 confirmed cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 330,514. An additional seven virus-related fatalities were also reported, raising the death toll to 7,221.

"Our case rate continues to be the reason why we remain in the most restrictive purple tier," said Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

The county's recent testing-positivity rate is also rising, going from a seven-day daily average of 3.6% in early October to 4.4% last week, to 5.9% as of Thursday. Hospitalizations are also increasing, with 953 coronavirus patients as of Thursday, marking the second consecutive day over 900.

Ferrer noted that on October 3, the county was averaging 988 new cases per day, but as of last week, the average rose to 1,464.

"If collectively we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases, we will have no choice but to look at additional actions," Ferrer said. "All around the country, elected officials and public health leaders are introducing new requirements to protect health care systems from becoming overwhelmed."

Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, said the surge in cases in L.A. County and across California is the result of some people still not wearing masks and social distancing.

"We're in for a very dark winter," he said.

New restrictions on New York restaurants, bars and gyms take effect Friday as the state prepares to deal with a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City is also edging closer and closer to shutting down schools if the positivity rate goes above 3%. Right now, it's 2.6%.

"If any day we see in the morning the indicators come out and they reached that level, then we'll move immediately. The next day, schools will be shut down," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday, CBS New York reports.

Though the New York State standard is 9%, the teachers union is sticking to 3%, because New York City schools have a higher density than other regions.  

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza sent guidance to principals Thursday night, urging them to prepare for possible shutdowns. He said he believes it will be "a brief time of fully remote learning system-wide."

Staten Island Catholic schools have already gone fully remote.