What you need to know about the coronavirus today

United States celebrates scaled-back Thanksgiving
Americans awoke on Thursday to celebrate a Thanksgiving Day transformed by the pandemic, with the Macy's parade limited to a television-only event and many families resigned to meeting on video for turkey dinner.
The parade in New York has been scaled back significantly. The route is a block long, rather than 2.5 miles; balloon handlers have been replaced by specially rigged vehicles; and spectators will not be allowed to line the streets as before.
U.S. hospitalizations for COVID-19 reached a record 88,000 on Wednesday, and experts warn that Thanksgiving could significantly boost a death toll that has exceeded 260,000 nationwide.

Germany will probably have to stick with measures to dampen the pandemic into January, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, while her chief of staff suggested that restrictions might be needed until March.
"Given the high number of infections, we assume that the restrictions which are in place before Christmas will continue to be valid until the start of January, certainly for most parts of Germany," Merkel told parliament.
South Korea reported 583 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest since March, as it grapples with a third wave of infections that appears to be worsening despite tough new social distancing measures.
The government reimposed strict distancing rules on Seoul and surrounding regions this week, only a month after they had been eased following a second wave of infections.
Beijing's Xinfadi market, which was linked to a coronavirus outbreak in June, has suspended sales and storage of cold-chain and aquatic products, state-backed Beijing News reported.
Several infections in recent months in Qingdao and Tianjin cities involved handlers of imported frozen food.
Refrigerated meat, seafood and frozen products in the market were disposed of, and the market has disinfected over a hundred cold storages and shut down their power.
Thailand recorded its first 1,201 foreign tourists in October since a ban in April, as the country gradually opens up to a select number of visitors to help its struggling, tourism-reliant economy.
Southeast Asia's second-largest economy contracted by 6.4% in the third quarter from a year earlier after the second quarter's 12.1% slump as most virus restrictions were eased, but an absence of tourists limited the recovery.
The 1,201 foreign visitors in October compares with 3.07 million arrivals in the same month last year.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Asian airlines, British pubs
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U.S.

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden and sitting Republican President Donald Trump, like hundreds of millions of Americans, planned quiet Thanksgiving celebrations at home on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States.
Former Democratic Vice President Biden was spending the holiday in the small seaside town of Rehoboth, Delaware, where he and his wife Jill have a vacation home.
For Republican President Trump, Thursday was a far cry from last year when he made a surprise visit to Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s pardon, which could be the first of several after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, drew condemnation from Democrats and other critics.

The U.S. Supreme Court late on Wednesday backed Christian and Jewish houses of worship challenging New York state’s latest restrictions in novel coronavirus hot spots.
The order marked one of the first consequential actions on the court of President Donald Trump’s new appointee, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who cast a deciding vote in favor of the religious groups. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts dissented along with the court’s three liberals.

World

The Ethiopian military will begin the “final phase” of an offensive in the rebellious northern Tigray region, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday, hours after an ultimatum for Tigray forces to surrender expired.
The government gave the Tigray People’s Liberation Front 72 hours on Sunday to lay down their arms or face an assault on Mekelle, the regional capital of 500,000 people.
Rights groups raised concerns for civilians caught up in military operations.
As global COVID-19 infections surge, China is pushing a narrative via state media that the virus existed abroad before it was discovered late last year in the central city of Wuhan, where it was traced to a seafood market.
Chinese state media have cited the presence of the coronavirus on imported frozen food packaging, as well as scientific papers claiming that the coronavirus was circulating in Europe earlier than previously believed, as evidence that China may not have been its origin.

Argentines will formally bid farewell on Thursday to one of the nation’s favorite sons, soccer great Diego Maradona, a beloved athlete whose life was marred by struggles with addiction.
Maradona, who died aged 60 following a heart attack at home on Wednesday, will lie in state at the pink-hued Casa Rosada presidential palace from Thursday through Saturday.
Huge crowds are expected to visit his casket as part of three days of national mourning declared by President Alberto Fernandez.