September 17 coronavirus news

The World Health Organization has warned that a “very serious situation” is unfolding in Europe, as "alarming rates of transmission" of the coronavirus surge across the continent.

Weekly cases are now exceeding those reported in March — when the pandemic first peaked, WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge said during a news conference on Thursday.

Here's a look at some of the European countries reporting increases in coronavirus cases recently:

Despite President Trump appearing to undermine him on the issues of masks and vaccine timing, Dr. Robert Redfield has given no indications that he might resign — or has even considered resigning — as the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal health official close to the situation tells CNN.

The official said Redfield is "taking it in stride" and focused on the work at hand, a day after Trump's comments at the briefing.

What this is all about: Redfield said in a Senate hearing yesterday that the American public could expect to start seeing results from widespread coronavirus vaccination in the second or third quarter of 2021. Even if a vaccine for Covid-19 was released today, it would take six to nine months for enough people to receive it to create immunity, he said.

Later in the day, the President told reporters Redfield was "confused" when he said that. "I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information," Trump said.

Redfield also said masks may be a more effective protection against coronavirus than any potential vaccine that the President can't stop hyping. ""I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70%. And if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. This face mask will," he said.

Later, the President said Redfield's comments were incorrect and that Redfield may have misunderstood the question.

"Maybe he misunderstood it," Trump said, later adding, "As far as the masks are concerned, I hope that the vaccine is going to be a lot more beneficial than the masks."

John King reports:

Mumbai’s police department issued fresh orders today prohibiting movement of people across the city as Covid-19 continues to spread.  

What the order does: The order prohibits any movement in containment zones – sections of the city which are considered hotspots – except for essential activities. For the rest of the city, certain exemptions to the latest order will be in place. A list issued by the state government gives exemption to certain operations, including government offices, service providers, banks, ports and essential service providers. 

The order will go into effect by midnight local time on Friday and will continue until the end of September. It will be applicable to the city of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state. 

Maharashtra has recorded more than 1.1 million cases, including 30,883 deaths since the start of the pandemic. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio delayed K-5 and K-8 school's in-person openings until Sept. 29.

The mayor also delayed middle and high schools' in-person learning until Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, 3-K, Pre-K and District 75 schools, which serve special education kids, will open for in person learning as planned on Sept. 21.

The decision came in coordination with teacher union leaders.

The World Health Organization has warned that a “very serious situation” is unfolding in Europe, as "alarming rates of transmission" of the coronavirus surge across the continent.

Weekly cases are now exceeding those reported in March — when the pandemic first peaked, WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge said during a press conference on Thursday.

Kluge said that more than half of Europe's countries have reported an increase of more than 10% in new cases in the past two weeks. 

Here's what else we know about the coronavirus pandemic across Europe:

Reporting from CNN's Amy Cassidy, Laura Perez Maestro, Ingrid Formanek and Samantha Tapfumaneyi

Another 860,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.

What that number means: It was another week-on-week decline for jobless claims, but the improvements have been slow and the jobs recovery is running out of steam. Weekly claims have improved since mid-August, when they briefly inched higher. 

Continued jobless claims, counting workers who have filed for benefits for at least two weeks in a row, stood at 12.6 million, down significantly from last week.

Worse still, these numbers don't include claims filed under the government's various other jobless aid programs, such as the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits for those who aren't usually eligible, such as the self-employed. 

With some college campuses becoming hotbeds for coronavirus across the United States, universities are trying to gain control of outbreaks.

Since move-in started at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in late August, more than 2,000 students have tested positive for Covid-19, CNN’s Omar Jimenez reported. The campus positivity rate is right around 10%, students are restricted to essential activities only, and there is isolated housing for students who’ve tested positive. 

Freshman Keir Metter is in isolated housing at the university with mild symptoms, and he told Jimenez that it’s difficult for administrators to control students’ activities. 

University Chancellor Rebecca Blank said that the school is continuing to test students and isolate them. “We're almost certainly going to see significant case numbers continue over this coming week,” she said. 

Testing is free to all students, and it is required now for those living in dorms and in off-campus fraternities and sororities. 

The school said it is investigating more than 380 student violations and reviewing 12 students for emergency suspension, a step that's been taken at other schools, Jimenez reported.

WATCH:

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber says that President Trump is spreading misinformation about coronavirus — and that is “lethal.”

“Without a vaccine, good information is your vaccine. Misinformation, wrong information, withholding of information just becomes lethal,” Gelber said on CNN’s “New Day.” 

Gelber said that 39 people died from Covid-19 yesterday in Miami-Dade County.

He said he worries about both residents and visitors not following guidelines as the pandemic continues. 

“If all we're going to do is the same thing and the President is going to mock people who wear masks and have events where everybody is not wearing a mask, so that I have residents and visitors who say, ‘Why should I wear a mask? You’re an idiot,’” he added. 

Gelber continued to press Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to implement a statewide mask mandate. 

“We’re not in as good as shape as we were. We were at 2%…before we reopened last time; now we're at 4 to 5%,” he said about the coronavirus infection rate. 

Watch:

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 29.8 million people worldwide and killed more than 941,000. Here's what you need to know today: