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Michigan Gov. Whitmer to hold COVID news conference

Gretchen Whitmer is planning to hold a news conference Friday morning to provide an update on Michigan’s efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Whitmer will be joined by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. A screenshot of Covid Act Now's map of the U.S. with states color-coded according to their "Covid Risk Level." Michigan is labeled as "at risk" of a COVID outbreak, while most other states are considered to be experiencing an "active or imminent outbreak," according to data. Photo courtesy of Covid Act Now's website.

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Oct. 15 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

The training puts a spotlight on the unexpected challenges that store workers have been forced to grapple with during the pandemic. Most retailers were early to require masks and distancing in stores, but some shoppers have flouted the rules, putting employees in uncomfortable and sometimes frightening positions. Altercations with belligerent customers have regularly gone viral on social media this year and have even led to violence, spooking staff and other shoppers just as stores try to drum up foot traffic.

chicagotribune.com

Gene sleuths suggests wide virus spread from Boston meeting in February

NEW YORK A meeting at a hotel in Boston last February may have ignited the spread of the pandemic virus to some 19,000 people in the area, a new study suggests. Health authorities had previously linked the meeting to more than 90 cases among people at the meeting and their contacts. But researchers found that a specific mutation in the virus from people associated with the meeting also showed up in hundreds of other cases, which allowed them to estimate the broader extent of the spread. She and co-authors began their analysis by deciphering the genetic makeup of the new coronavirus that was recovered from people sampled mostly in the Boston area between January and May. But the conference occurred before people in in the Boston area were taking steps to minimize the spread of COVID-19, she said.

So, how exactly does coronavirus spread?

This newest coronavirus, COVID-19, has been making headlines nonstop ever since it arrived in the United States. The virus has infected 98,000 people and killed more than 3,300 globally — even though in the U.S., those numbers are much smaller. There’s a lot to know about how to protect yourself from the coronavirus, but one of the most important things to be aware of is how it spreads. The first infections were linked to a live animal market, but it’s now spreading from person to person, health officials said. The CDC recommends keeping infected and possibly infected people quarantined so that the virus can’t spread anymore.