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U.S. NEWS Saturday 28 November 2020
Appeals court rejects Trump challenge of Pennsylvania race

By MARYCLAIRE DALE cials had announced Tues-
Associated Press day that they had certified
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Presi- their vote count for Presi-
dent Donald Trump's legal dent-elect Joe Biden, who
team suffered yet another defeated Trump by more
defeat in court Friday as than 80,000 votes in the
a federal appeals court state.
in Philadelphia roundly re- Nationally, Biden and run-
jected the campaign's lat- ning mate Kamala Harris
est effort to challenge the garnered nearly 80 million
state's election results. votes, a record in U.S. presi-
Trump's lawyers vowed to dential elections.
appeal to the Supreme Trump has said he hopes
Court despite the judges' the Supreme Court will in-
assessment that the "cam- tervene in the race as it
paign's claims have no did in 2000, when its deci-
merit." sion to stop the recount in
"Free, fair elections are the Florida gave the election
lifeblood of our democ- to Republican George W.
racy. Charges of unfairness Bush. On Nov. 5, as the vote
are serious. But calling an count continued, Trump
election unfair does not posted a tweet saying the
make it so. Charges re- President Donald Trump waves from a golf cart as he plays golf at Trump National Golf Club, Fri- "U.S. Supreme Court should
quire specific allegations day, Nov. 27, 2020, in Sterling, Va. decide!"
and then proof. We have Associated Press Ever since, Trump and his
neither here," 3rd Circuit surrogates have attacked
Judge Stephanos Bibas, a by widespread fraud in right to amend it for a sec- court for 20 years, retiring in the election as flawed and
Trump appointee, wrote for Pennsylvania. However, ond time. 2019. filed a flurry of lawsuits to
the three-judge panel, all Giuliani failed to offer any The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court "Voters, not lawyers, try to block the results in
appointed by Republican tangible proof of that in of Appeals called any re- choose the president. Bal- six battleground states. But
presidents. court. visions "futile." Chief Judge lots, not briefs, decide they've found little sympa-
The case had been argued U.S. District Judge Matthew D. Brooks Smith and Judge elections," Bibas said in the thy from judges, nearly all
last week in a lower court Brann had said the cam- Michael Chagares were on opinion, which also denied of whom dismissed their
by Trump lawyer Rudy Giu- paign's error-filled com- the panel with Bibas, a for- the campaign's request to complaints about the secu-
liani, who insisted during plaint, "like Frankenstein's mer University of Pennsylva- stop the state from certify- rity of mail-in ballots, which
five hours of oral arguments Monster, has been hap- nia law professor. Trump's ing its results, a demand he millions of people used to
that the 2020 presidential hazardly stitched together" sister, Judge Maryanne called "breathtaking." vote from home during the
election had been marred and denied Giuliani the Trump Barry, sat on the In fact, Pennsylvania offi- COVID-19 pandemic.q

Experts: Virus numbers could be erratic after Thanksgiving

By DANIELLA PETERS and an emergency physician. had dropped by about a third Fri- they've continued to have gath-
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The corona- A similar pattern unfolds on many day, could be adjusted as more erings outside their immediate
virus testing numbers that have weekends. Because some testing results are returned. family."
guided much of the nation's re- centers, labs and state offices are In several state and cities, officials Experts worry how people might
sponse to the pandemic are likely closed on Saturdays and Sundays, reported sharp drops in testing interpret the situation after the
to be erratic over the next week COVID case numbers often drop Friday and reminded people not long weekend, especially if it
or so, experts said Friday, as few- each Sunday and Monday, only to read improvements into them. takes a few weeks for Thanksgiv-
er people get tested during the to peak on Tuesday. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ing exposures to show up in testing
Thanksgiving holiday weekend Dr. Mark Rupp, professor and said the drop means that resi- data.
and testing sites observe shorter chief of infectious diseases at the dents might not know for weeks Cities and states generally use
hours. University of Nebraska Medical how much their efforts to slow the hospitalization and intensive care
The result could be potential dips Center in Omaha, said the ef- spread affected the state's rate of numbers, which lag behind vi-
in reported infections that offer fect of Thanksgiving is likely to be positive tests. rus case reporting, to determine
the illusion that the spread of the a magnified version of the week- While testing was down Thursday when to increase or ease public
virus is easing when, in fact, the end figures. The Thursday holiday and Friday, health officials said health restrictions and recom-
numbers say little about where will exacerbate the record-keep- they anecdotally saw a jump mendations. But the public is more
the nation stands in fighting CO- ing discrepancies over the long in people getting tested before likely to look at testing numbers or
VID-19. The number of Americans weekend, artificially depressing deciding to travel or gather for case counts, which might be mis-
who have tested positive passed the reported numbers for four or Thanksgiving meals. They warned leading, Wen said, and waiting
13 million Friday, according to five days before spiking as test re- that the tests are often a snap- until hospitals are overwhelmed is
Johns Hopkins University. sults catch up. shot, not a complete assurance risky.
"I just hope that people don't mis- Johns Hopkins University reported that someone has not been ex- "Where we are now is a complete-
interpret the numbers and think a high of more than 2 million tests posed to the virus. ly unsustainable place. I think it's
that there wasn't a major surge as a few days before Thanksgiving "I think it can be kind of a false extremely frustrating to those of
a result of Thanksgiving, and then as people prepared to travel, but sense of security for some peo- us in health care to see our calls
end up making Christmas and Ha- that number had dropped to less ple," Rupp said, predicting that are not being heeded," Wen said.
nukkah and other travel plans," than 1.2 million tests on Thanksgiv- the holiday will be followed within "And the level of alarm that we
said Dr. Leana Wen, a professor ing Day. The latter number, as well weeks by another surge "because have is not reflected in individuals'
at George Washington University as positive case numbers, which people have continued to travel, behavior."q