5 things you need to know this morning: November 20, 2020

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. New public health projections shows 'rapid growth of COVID-19 in Canada

“Without sufficient reduction in contact rates, we are forecasting to have 20,000 cases daily by the end of December, with an attendant increase in hospitalizations and deaths," warns Dr. Theresa Tam as she presents new #COVID19 modelling for Canada. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/UPpewtl0YC

— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) November 20, 2020

Canada's chief public health officer is warning that the country is "not on a good trajectory," as the average number of daily cases approaches 5,000. Dr. Theresa Tam said that urgency is required to lower case counts, presenting new modelling projecting that "without sufficient reduction in contact rates," Canada is heading towards a surge of more than 20,000 cases per day by the end of December.

2. Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine to be available to frontline workers in India by February 2021

Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar Poonawalla said the Oxford #COVID19 vaccine should be available for healthcare workers and elderly people by around February 2021 and by April for the general public.#oxfordvaccine https://t.co/wOno6zVo9b

— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) November 19, 2020

Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine could become available by January-February 2021 to frontline workers in India, and to the general public by March-April. A dose of the vaccine would cost $5-6.

3. WHO advises against the use of Gilead's remdesivir for all hospitalised COVID-19 patients

The WHO recommended against using remdesivir to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients, saying, “there is currently no evidence that it improves survival or the need for ventilation" https://t.co/8BQpGtY1qm via @annaedney pic.twitter.com/OuHyHWAoky

— Stuart Wallace (@StuartLWallace) November 20, 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised against the use of Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir for treating COVID-19 patients. WHO said that it is not recommended, no matter how ill they are, because there is no evidence that the medicine improves survival or reduces the need to put patients on a ventilator. Gilead Sciences has called the recommendation "disappointing."

4. Trump campaign withdraws federal lawsuit in Michigan

Rudy Giuliani here claiming Wayne County hasn't certified its votes, even though it certified its votes on Tuesday evening.

The Republicans who voted to certify, in affidavits above they are basically trying to take back their votes pic.twitter.com/kCkipKGeES

— kadhim (＾ｰ^)ノ (@kadhim) November 19, 2020

In a statement by Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, the campaign said it was pulling its lawsuit in Michigan. Giuliani claimed that they had achieved "the relief we sought: to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted and every illegal vote has not been counted." However, local election officials voted to certify the results Tuesday night.

5. Japan's farmers tackle rising bear sightings with ‘Monster Wolf’ robots

These robot "monster wolves" are scaring bears roaming through towns in Japan pic.twitter.com/0Oi7rYNnG5

— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) November 13, 2020

A record number of bear sightings have been reported in Japan during the coronavirus pandemic, causing accidents and damaging crops. Farmers are fighting back using an interesting method — “Monster Wolf” robots. The intimidating robots are designed to scare away the hungry bears.