GALLUP -
February 18, 2021
More than half of Americans, 53%, now see the disruption due to COVID-19 lasting past the middle of 2021, up from 33% who said the same in late December. This is largely due to a shift away from perceptions that the disruption would be over by mid-year, with 37% of the U.S. public now saying the situation will have improved by then -- a substantial drop from the 55% who previously said so.
New York Post -
February 18, 2021
Just 165 flu-related hospitalizations were recorded between Oct. 1 and Feb. 6, according to recent information from the CDC. That’s compared to roughly 400,000 people who were hospitalized during the 2019-2020 flu season, which also saw 22,000 deaths.
NPR -
February 18, 2021
Retail spending soared 5.3% last month compared to December, much more than anticipated, as U.S. families began receiving new federal coronavirus relief checks. People bought more across the board last month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday: furniture, electronics, clothes, sports equipment, restaurant food, groceries. In a replay of early fall, hard-hit department stores saw the biggest gains.
ABC News -
February 18, 2021
In recent weeks, hospitals in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Colorado, Nebraska and New Jersey have reported an increase in cases of MIS-C cases, a rare inflammatory condition found in children. The apparent uptick in MIS-C cases coincides with a decrease in COVID-19 cases nationwide, in the wake of a post-holiday surge. But experts interviewed by ABC News explained that there is often a lag -- sometimes three to four weeks -- between COVID-19 infections and the onset of MIS-C symptoms.
Fox News -
February 18, 2021
"Record-breaking cold and severe winter weather across most of the U.S. has forced the cancellation of American Red Cross blood drives in approximately 30 states — impacting approximately 16,000 blood, platelet and convalescent plasma donations this month," Jessa Merrill, spokesperson for the American Red Cross, said in an emailed statement. "The Red Cross is urging healthy individuals in unaffected areas, especially those with type O blood, to give now."
11ALIVE -
February 18, 2021
11ALIVE -
February 18, 2021
Decaturish -
February 17, 2021
WSB-TV -
February 17, 2021
11ALIVE -
February 17, 2021
Reuters -
February 17, 2021
The United States last week reported a 23% drop in new cases of COVID-19 and a 16% fall in the number of people hospitalized with the virus, with both figures declining for a fifth week in a row. The progress against the virus, however, is threatened by several new variants, experts said, adding that face masks and social distancing measures were still very much needed.
AP -
February 17, 2021
President Joe Biden is promising a majority of elementary schools will be open five days a week by the end of his first 100 days in office, restating his goal after his administration came under fire when aides said schools would be considered open if they held in-person learning just one day a week.
CNN -
February 17, 2021
Dr. Anthony Fauci said vaccines won't be available to the "general public" before mid- to late May or early June, he told CNN's Jim Sciutto on Tuesday. [Fauci] acknowledged that previous estimates had placed vaccine availability for the general public -- or nonessential workers under 65 with no health conditions -- closer to the end of April. … "That was predicated on J&J, the Johnson product, having considerably more doses than now we know they're going to have."