The first Democrat to take the state since Bill Clinton in 1996, Biden wins its 16 electoral college votes as part of a victory by 306-232. The Associated Press called the race on Thursday evening following the recount, which election officials said reaffirmed Biden’s victory more than two weeks after election day. Trump has inched about 1,400 votes closer to Biden as a result, but remains the loser.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has told Americans to avoid travel for the Thanksgiving holiday amid soaring Covid-19 cases. But the agency stopped short of issuing a travel ban for Americans. The US has so far recorded more than 11.6 million coronavirus infections and more than 250,000 deaths. Thanksgiving typically heralds the busiest week for travel in the US.
South Australia’s drastic six-day coronavirus lockdown was triggered by a “lie” to contact tracers from a man who tested positive and restrictions across the state are set to be lifted much sooner than first planned, authorities said on Friday. The shock announcement came just two days after the state government ordered people to stay at home and shut many businesses to combat what was considered a highly contagious outbreak of coronavirus.
The antiviral remdesivir should not be used as treatment for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, the World Health Organization said Thursday, only a month after the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug to treat patients over age 12 who are hospitalized with Covid-19. Remdesivir, also known as Veklury, and the steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs authorized to treat Covid-19 patients.
The Vatican has launched an inquiry after Pope Francis’ Instagram account liked a photo of a Brazilian bikini model wearing clothes resembling a school uniform. It reports that the Pope’s various social media channels are managed by a communications team of employees – and that an internal inquiry is underway to determine how the incident occurred. The “like” was reported by news outlets this month.