CNN -
January 28, 2021
Covid-19 cases in the US may be trending in the right direction, but experts say there's still reason to worry. For one, there are new variants circulating in the US that are threatening another surge and could make even everyday activities more dangerous. Cases of a variant first spotted in the UK have been detected in at least 28 states, new data from the CDC shows. And Minnesota officials recently announced the first US case of another variant, detected in a traveler from Brazil.
The Wall Street Journal -
January 28, 2021
The U.S. economy’s 4% holiday-quarter increase wasn’t enough to ward off a full-year contraction, but growth is expected in 2021. … [Economists] say growth in the third and fourth quarters isn’t likely to fully offset the sharp downturn from the first half of the year, leaving the U.S. with a projected 2.4% annual contraction, its first since 2009 when the economy shrank by 2.5% in the wake of the financial crisis.
AP -
January 28, 2021
States are loosening their coronavirus restrictions on restaurants and other businesses because of improved infection and hospitalization numbers but are moving gradually and cautiously, in part because of the more contagious variant taking hold in the U.S. While the easing could cause case rates to rise, health experts say it can work if done in a measured way and if the public remains vigilant about masks and social distancing
American Heart Association -
January 28, 2021
Heart disease remains the #1 cause of death worldwide in the latest annual Statistical Update from the AHA. Experts say the effects of COVID-19 are likely to influence cardiovascular health and mortality rates for many years, directly and as a result of increased lifestyle-related risks during and after the pandemic.
HealthDay -
January 28, 2021
Retired doctors and nurses are being called to the front lines of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination effort, the White House COVID-19 Response team announced Wednesday. The HHS is amending its rules to allow retired health professionals to administer COVID-19 vaccine shots … [The rules] will also be adapted to allow licensed doctors, nurses, and health practitioners to administer shots across state lines, Zients said. The team also went over other strategies being implemented to increase vaccination rates across the United States, including the following…
Fox Business -
January 28, 2021
Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show 847,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims in the week ended Jan. 23 …The number is nearly four times the pre-crisis level but is well below the peak of almost 7 million that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued in March. Almost 70 million Americans, or about 40% of the labor force, have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
CNN -
January 28, 2021
The two rounds of direct stimulus payments that were sent to millions of Americans are tax-free. But the special pandemic unemployment benefits are treated like income and could increase your 2020 tax bill if money hasn't already been withheld for taxes. But some people might actually receive more stimulus money when they file their 2020 tax returns. Because stimulus checks were calculated using 2018 or 2019 income, those who lost their job in 2020 or otherwise saw their income fall from the year before could be due extra cash -- which they can claim on their return.
WSB-TV -
January 28, 2021
11ALIVE -
January 28, 2021
11ALIVE -
January 28, 2021
NPR -
January 27, 2021
A review of data from K-12 schools that reopened for in-person instruction in the fall has found little evidence that schools contributed meaningfully to the spread of COVID-19, according to a new article published Tuesday in JAMA ... The review from the CDC, authored by three of its scientists, represents the clearest view yet of the facts behind what has become a heated debate over when and how schools should reopen.
NPR -
January 27, 2021
President Biden announced Tuesday that his administration is working to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use, with the goal, the White House says, of having enough vaccine supply for the entire adult U.S. population by the end of the summer. He also announced steps to increase vaccine doses going to state and local governments over the next three weeks, and to provide them more clarity going forward about how much supply they should expect.
AP -
January 27, 2021
Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. is surging deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Biden, calling the push a “wartime effort,” said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines.
PEOPLE -
January 27, 2021
As of Tuesday, there have been at least 100,091,831 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, with more than 2.1 million deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States accounts for more than a quarter of global cases reported, with over 25.4 million infections and 424,164 coronavirus-related deaths in the country.
Reuters -
January 27, 2021
The Biden administration is “actively looking” at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on U.S. domestic flights, a senior CDC official said on Tuesday. On a call with reporters, Dr. Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, was asked about whether new domestic travel testing requirements might be employed. Cetron replied that there were “conversations that are ongoing and looking at what the types and locations of testing might be... We’re actively looking at it.”