AP -
January 5, 2021
Many legislatures will start the year meeting remotely, but some Republican-controlled statehouses, from Montana to Pennsylvania, plan to hold at least part of their sessions in person, without requiring masks. Public health officials say that move endangers the safety of other lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists, the public and the journalists responsible for holding politicians accountable. The risk is more than mere speculation: An ongoing tally by The Associated Press finds that more than 250 state lawmakers across the country have contracted COVID-19, and at least seven have died.
HealthDay -
January 5, 2021
For nursing home residents with COVID-19, the odds of 30-day mortality are increased with older age, male sex, and impaired cognitive and physical function, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in JAMA Internal Medicine. … identified risk factors for 30-day all-cause mortality among 5,256 nursing home residents with COVID-19-related symptoms and confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection at 351 U.S. nursing homes.
The Telegraph -
January 5, 2021
NPR -
January 4, 2021
Nearly 300,000 new cases were reported on Saturday. The cumulative death toll crossed more than 350,000 the same day, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard. Saturday's total of 299,087 new cases marks a new single-day high for the U.S. Though COVID-19 deaths on Saturday totaled 2,398, down from the record high of 3,750 on Dec. 30. President Trump tweeted Sunday morning that the count of cases and deaths in the U.S. is "far exaggerated" and criticized the CDC’s method. … More than 4.2 million people have received the initial vaccination dose as of Saturday, according to the CDC. That number is far below the government's goal of having 20 million people in the U.S. vaccinated by the end of December.
CNN -
January 4, 2021
The US surpassed 20 million total recorded Covid-19 cases on Friday, hours after the country ushered in 2021 and left behind its deadliest month of the pandemic. The nation also has set a Covid-19 hospitalization record for four straight days. The high counts are a grim reminder that even with 2020 behind us, the pandemic continues to ravage parts of the country.
CBS News -
January 4, 2021
Hospitals in the US are on high alert for the new, more contagious COVID-19 strain that first surfaced in the UK and has since shown up in Colorado, California and now Florida. Florida health officials announced this week they have evidence of the first identified case of the strain in Martin County. In a Twitter post Thursday night, the state's health department said the man is in his 20s with no history of travel.
CNBC -
January 4, 2021
U.S. air travel hit its highest level on Saturday since mid-March, raising fears that the spike in holiday travel will result in another surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths in upcoming weeks. Even as the coronavirus rages across the country, 1,192,881 people passed through security checkpoints in airports on Saturday, according to the TSA. Air travel is still down significantly compared to previous years…
USA Today -
January 4, 2021
Thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s coronavirus relief program as many struggled to find banks that would accept their applications or were disadvantaged by the terms of the program. Data from the Paycheck Protection Program released Dec. 1 and analyzed by The AP show that many minority owners desperate for a relief loan didn’t receive one until the PPP’s last few weeks while many more white business owners were able to get loans earlier in the program.
AP -
January 4, 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Sunday that more onerous lockdown restrictions in England are likely in the coming weeks as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels. … The U.K. is in the midst of an acute outbreak, recording more than 50,000 new coronavirus infections a day over the past six days.
CNN -
January 4, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic transformed the working and social lives of millions of European adults in 2020. Children too have suffered immensely, with months of confinement only giving way to some sense of normality when schools in most countries reopened in the summer and autumn. Now even that is under threat.