ATLANTA — The CDC is strongly recommending passengers on planes, trains and buses wear masks, but it’s stopping short of requiring it.
The CDC says the coronavirus is still being transmitted in the U.S. and internationally through travel. Those travelers are often in close contact with others, sometimes for several hours. Masks are necessary because travelers may be unable to stay 6 feet apart on planes and buses, CDC says.
It says masks should be worn by all passengers and workers on planes, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-sharing vehicles.
That includes in airports and at subway and bus stations. All leading U.S. airlines require passengers other than small children to wear masks during flights, but enforcement can be spotty. The Federal Aviation Administration has declined to require masks.
The CDC says it was offering the new recommendations to support state and local health officials and transportation operators who have imposed their own mask rules.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— AP-NORC poll: Two-thirds of Americans don’t trust Trump much on virus
— CDC: ‘Strong recommendation’ for masks on planes, trains, buses
— Arizona reports more than 1,000 coronavirus cases
— Federal judge considers challenge to CDC order halting evictions of certain renters through the end of year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
— British PM Johnson imposing strict coronavirus restrictions on Greater Manchester, England’s second-largest urban area, after talks fail on financial support.
— World Series opens Tuesday night with Major League Baseball relieved to reach the championship of a pandemic-delayed season.
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Follow all of AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
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PHOENIX — Arizona reported more than 1,000 daily coronavirus cases for the second time in a week.
The state Department of Health Services reported 1,040 cases Tuesday and seven more deaths, increasing the statewide totals to 232,937 cases and 5,837 deaths.
The state’s rolling average of daily new cases rose over the past two weeks from 508.6 new cases on Oct. 5 to 835.3 on Oct. 19, according to Johns Hopkins University data analyzed by The Associated Press.
The rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 12 per day to 10 during the same period. The rolling average of Arizona’s positivity rate rose from 6.6% to 8.9%.
Arizona was a national hotspot in July and July.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of people hospitalized in Oklahoma with the coronavirus reached a record high 821.
The number reported by the Oklahoma State Department of Health on Tuesday is 28 more than the previous record of 793 recorded on Friday.
Gov. Kevin Stitt plans to discuss hospital capacity in the state. The health department reported an additional 1,475 cases and 18 deaths.
There’s been a total of 109,548 confirmed cases and 1,191 deaths in Oklahoma.
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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Bosnian officials say social restrictions might become unavoidable if the population flouts current restrictions, including mask mandates and a ban on large indoor gatherings.
“It would be very difficult to adequately respond to continued sudden spikes in infections because our human resources are limited,” says Goran Cerkez, the assistant health minister in the larger of the country’s two autonomous parts.
Over the past seven days, there’s been an average of 506 cases per day registered in Bosnia, an increase of more than 40% from the average a week earlier. At the same time, several hospitals around the country say their COVID-19 wings are filling up.
The impoverished Balkan nation of 3.5 million record 728 infections on Tuesday, increasing to 35,400 confirmed cases. Bosnia’s total death toll has surpassed 1,000.
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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he’ll impose the highest level of coronavirus restrictions on the Greater Manchester region, after no deal was reached on a financial package.
Johnson says action was needed to protect the lives of Manchester’s residents and the region’s health care system. The Tier 3 measures mean pubs and businesses must close and people in England’s second-largest city are banned from socializing with other households.
Leaders of the Greater Manchester region have resisted the tough restrictions for days, saying local businesses forced to close would need more financial support from the government.
Mayor Andy Burnham says he asked for an aid package, but the government walked away from the talks.
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MADRID — Spain is poised to become the first country in Europe to surpass the milestone of 1 million officially recorded cases of the new coronavirus.
The Spanish Health Ministry reported Tuesday that authorities have recorded nearly 14,000 new cases, taking the total to 988,322.
At the current rate of infection, Spain is likely to exceed 1 million on Wednesday.
Health experts say the true number of infections is probably much higher. That’s because insufficient testing, asymptomatic cases and other issues mean official counts fail to capture the real scale of the outbreak.
Spain has confirmed 34,210 deaths from the coronavirus.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The number of people hospitalized in Ohio because of the coronavirus has reached 1,154, the department of health reported.
The agency says that’s the highest since July, with 158 on ventilators.
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine again asked Ohioans to wear masks and stay socially distanced.
The Health Department reported 1,837 confirmed virus cases on Monday, above the 21-day case average of 1,515.
A record 2,178 cases reported on Oct. 15. Ohio has reported more than 183,000 confirmed cases and 5,075 deaths.
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PRAGUE — The Czech Republic’s health minister says more restrictions may be needed after the current measures failed to slow a surge in coronavirus infections.
Health Minister Roman Prymula says the number of people in hospital could reach about 11,000 by Nov. 11, almost a full capacity, and some 3,000 will need intensive care.
He says the government has been acquiring ventilators for the hospitals.
Prymula says nearly 30% of all tests are positive.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the Czech Republic has risen over the past two weeks from 26.26 cases per 100,000 people on Oct. 5 to 80.76 on Monday.
The country has 180,000 confirmed cases, with 110,000 recorded during the first three weeks of October.
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WASHINGTON — A new poll finds Americans’ trust in the people and institutions giving them information about the coronavirus has fallen across the board.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they don’t trust President Donald Trump much or at all for accurate coronavirus information. That’s according to a poll by USAFacts and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The poll finds that the percentage of people saying they trust COVID-19 information from their state or local governments, the news media, social media and their friends and family has dropped significantly compared to similar questions in April. After Trump, the poll shows only social media has higher distrust levels.
The poll also shows a large chunk of Americans find it hard to know if COVID-19 information is accurate.
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ROME — Pope Francis is presiding over an interfaith peace prayer in Rome, donning a facemask after shunning them in recent weeks despite a surge in coronavirus infections across Italy.
Francis wore a white mask throughout the service Tuesday, except when he delivered his remarks. At 83 and with part of a lung removed in his 20s due to an illness, the pope is at high-risk for COVID-19 complications.
The pope has drawn criticism from even his ardent followers for shunning facemasks during his recent Wednesday general audiences. In the past week, 11 Swiss Guards and a resident of the hotel where Francis lives have tested positive.
The event brought a host of religious leaders despite the pandemic: the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew I, was on hand from Istanbul, Turkey. Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu and other Christian leaders traveled from continental Europe and beyond.
All participants wore facemasks and sat apart from one another in keeping with COVID-19 restrictions. Italy recorded 10,874 new cases Tuesday and 89 deaths.
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TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has reported a single-day record of more than 5,000 coronavirus cases.
Iran’s health ministry reported 322 deaths, pushing the death toll over 31,000. The new cases on Tuesday eclipsed the previous high of 4,830 last week.
Hospitals in the hard-hit capital of Tehran are overflowing. The increase comes after Iranians packed cafes and restaurants at vacation spots during recent national holidays and the re-opening of schools last month.
The government closed museums, libraries, beauty salons, schools and universities in Tehran earlier this month and imposed a mask mandate outdoors.
Iran officials have resisted a total lockdown because they don’t want to further weaken an economy already devastated by unprecedented U.S. sanctions. The Trump administration re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran after withdrawing in 2018 from Tehran’s nuclear accord with world powers.
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, a day after claiming the American people are tired of listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci, insists he gets along him.
However, Trump says the nation’s top infectious disease specialist is not a “team player.”
“He’s a nice guy,” Trump said of Fauci in a telephone interview with “Fox & Friends” from the White House. “The only thing I say is he’s a little bit sometimes not a team player.”
Trump denied the two were “at odds.” Fauci appeared on CBS' “60 Minutes” on Sunday and said he was concerned Trump might acquire the coronavirus after attending several events, including one at the Rose Garden, with little mask wearing and social distancing.
Trump’s strained relationship with Fauci has political overtones as the president defends his record on the pandemic just two weeks before Election Day. The president heads to a rally Tuesday evening in Erie, Pennsylvania.
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MADRID — Spain’s health minister says the government won’t extend the state of emergency in the Madrid region when it expires on Saturday but may introduce curfews at coronavirus hotspots around the country.
Health Minister Salvador Illa says the partial lockdown in the Madrid area in recent weeks had helped limit community transmission that made it one of Europe’s most significant coronavirus clusters.
However, he noted Madrid’s number of cases is still high. The region has reported more than 29,000 cases in the past two weeks. It’s tally on Tuesday was 354 new cases in 24 hours — Spain’s fourth-highest rate.
Illa says he’s conferring with Spain’s regional governments about targeted curfews as the country approaches the milestone of 1 million officially recorded cases.
“I want to be very clear,” Illa says. “Some very hard weeks are coming.”
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WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Health Ministry reported nearly 9,300 new daily coronavirus cases and 107 deaths Tuesday, among the highest daily numbers under the pandemic.
The Health Ministry says 42,000 tests were done in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 4.05 million tests in a nation of 38 million. The ministry says 725 ventilators are in use across the country and nearly 9,000 COVID-19 beds are full out of 15,000.
The ministry is aiming for more ventilators and 10,000 more beds. It’s turning the National Stadium in Warsaw, built for the EURO 2012 soccer championships, into a hospital for some 50 serious COVID-19 cases and 500 mild cases. Other cities are turning conference centers into COVID-19 wards.
Many professionals leave Poland for better paid jobs abroad because of an underfunded health care system. The government is offering bonuses to volunteers for jobs treating coronavirus patients. Warsaw and some other big cities and regions are red zones. All of Poland is a yellow zone, where masks are required.
There’s been nearly 193,000 cases and more than 3,700 deaths in Poland.
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