U.S. coronavirus cases top 10 million
09 November 2020
The U.S. surpassed 10 million confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins data.
Why it matters: The U.S. has reported over 100,000 new coronavirus cases every day since last Wednesday, when it first passed the threshold, per the COVID Tracking Project.
The big picture: COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by 10,000 since Oct. 30, and the seven-day average of deaths from the virus reported by states has increased 36% in the past three weeks, the COVID Tracking Project notes.
- One in every 462 people in the U.S. tested positive for the virus in the week leading up to Saturday.
- The milestone comes the same day that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced its vaccine trial was effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in 90% of previously uninfected people and did not produce any serious safety concerns.
Go deeper: Biden unveils coronavirus crisis team tasked with curbing surging cases
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.