"President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced the members of his coronavirus task force, a group made up entirely of doctors and health experts, signaling his intent to seek a science-based approach to bring the raging pandemic under control."

"The remnants of Hurricane Eta unleashed torrential rains and catastrophic flooding on Central America, with fatalities sharply up on Thursday mostly because of mudslides as streets turned into rivers and bridges came tumbling down."

"A rapidly rising flood of coronavirus infections engulfed much of the United States on Thursday, setting records for new cases in 20 states, killing 1,158 people and straining the health system’s capacity to keep up with the pandemic.

On Thursday, 116,707 new cases were reported, the second straight record for a single day and a figure that dwarfed the total for any day in the previous worst two periods of the outbreak, in April and July. From Washington state to West Virginia and from Texas to Pennsylvania, the country was awash in record or near-record case counts Thursday.

"The world’s largest mink producer, Denmark, says it plans to cull more than 15 million of the animals, due to fears that a Covid-19 mutation moving from mink to humans could jeopardise future vaccines."

"The United States recorded more than 100,000 new coronavirus infections in a single day for the first time on Wednesday as the nation waited to learn the results of a presidential election carried out in the shadow of a pandemic.

"Hurricane Eta ripped roofs from homes, unleashed major flooding and caused landslides as it battered the coastline of Nicaragua and neighboring Honduras on Tuesday, reportedly killing at least three people and putting dozens of fishermen in peril."

"A top White House coronavirus adviser sounded alarms Monday about a new and deadly phase in the health crisis, pleading with top administration officials for “much more aggressive action,” even as President Trump continues to assure rallygoers the nation is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic."

"Hurricane Eta has made landfall on the northeast coast of Nicaragua near the port of Puerto Cabezas, the head of the government’s disaster management agency SINAPRED said on Tuesday."