Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has ended for the day.
The United States reported?125,379?current Covid-19 hospitalizations on Thursday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).
This is the 13th consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 current hospitalizations.?
The highest hospitalization numbers, according to CTP data, are:
Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines advisory committee, called the new coronavirus variants discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa “warning shots,” saying scientists need to be better at sequencing these viruses and identifying mutations.
Offit explained that the coronavirus is an RNA virus, meaning it is expected that it will mutate and create variants. For example, other RNA viruses like influenza and measles also mutate.
He said the difference between these two other well-known RNA viruses is that influenza changes so much within 12 months that the vaccine from the previous year doesn’t offer protection. Unlike influenza, the measles virus has never mutated away from the vaccine.
Offit said it’s important to catch any Covid-19 mutations early so that scientists can quickly determine if the vaccine is still offering protection. He said it is too early to tell if coronavirus will behave like either the influenza or measles viruses.
“When we have identified these?variants, we need to – within a week,?and we can do that quickly?determine whether or not the?virus has drifted away from?recognition by the vaccine,?because that would be a problem,” Offit said.
He added that while the new variants are believed to be more contagious, they are still spread the same way, which means social distancing and masks still work.
“It’s?contagious in the same manner?that the non-variant strain is,?which is to say it’s spread by?small droplets so masking and?social distancing still works,?but were this to mutate away?from the vaccine, that would be?a problem,” he said.
The ongoing Covid-19 surge is pushing all hospitals in Los Angeles, California, to the “brink of catastrophe,” L.A. County Department of Health Services (DHS) Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said during a news conference on Thursday.
Some DHS primary care clinics have had to close or reduce their hours because the county’s hospitals are “so incredibly taxed,” Ghaly said.
Over 700 nurses have been reassigned to fulfill duties within the inpatient units, the emergency department, as well as the quarantine and isolation beds provided by DHS.
“We are in the midst of a disaster,” said Cathy Chidester, the director of Emergency Medical Services Agency.
The amount of oxygen required for each coronavirus patient is causing extreme pressure on the hospital, Chidester said. They are also running out of ambulances and response times to 911 calls are getting longer and longer, she said.?
Chidester also added that a lot of these hospitals are older and not intended to house this many patients at one time.
All types of health care staff are being utilized and the county is requesting additional help from the state. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and teams from the US Department of Defense have been deployed in the county.
Chief Justice John Roberts sidestepped the roiling controversy over election results on Thursday instead using his annual report to recall the nation’s early history combating pandemics and to praise the “unsung heroes” in the judicial branch as they confronted Covid-19.
Roberts’ report reflects a clear desire to keep the court and its work out of the headlines at a fraught time while carefully and deliberately ignoring attacks from President Trump, who recently tweeted that the Supreme Court has been “totally incompetent and weak” for failing to act on his erroneous claims of massive election fraud.
Trump and his allies have suffered blistering losses in the courts, but continue to petition for the justices to overrule election results. This week, the Trump campaign launched two appeals targeting returns in battleground state of Wisconsin, even though the justices have sent a clear signal that they are uninterested in attempts to overturn the election.
Roberts, who submits an annual report on the state of the federal judiciary, chose to begin his 2021 edition by describing how more than 200 years ago John Jay, the nation’s first chief justice, traveled the country during a deadly spread of the flu.?
In 1790, Jay wrote from Connecticut that “almost every Family here is down with the Influenza” and later told his wife that “the Whole Country has been sick,” including President George Washington.?
Three years later it was Jay who had to adjourn the court due to the yellow fever epidemic that killed 5,000 of Philadelphia’s 50,000 residents. In 1918, the court was once again closed with an outbreak of the influenza pandemic.
Roberts said that advancements in medicine have diminished pandemic threats —?until now.
He noted that while most courts worked remotely, they managed to hold oral arguments by teleconference, made video and audio conferences available for certain criminal proceedings and carried out critical court functions “from their home offices – or their kitchen tables.”
He said that courts in Michigan and Florida held drive-thru naturalization ceremonies, while San Francisco courts held proceedings outdoors when possible.?
Roberts’ message is a departure from last year, when he said Americans in the modern era have come to “take democracy for granted,” and lamented that civic education has “fallen by the wayside.”
Distilleries that helped out in the beginning of the pandemic by making alcohol-based hand sanitizer won’t have to pay a hefty fee the government charged them this week by mistake.?
When hand sanitizer was in short supply in March, hundreds of distilleries jumped in and made it themselves.?
To do so, they had to register as drug makers, which have to pay user fees every year to the government. Earlier this week the US Food and Drug Administration, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, charged each of the distilleries a $15,000 fine, according to a senior HHS official.?
HHS rescinded that fine on Thursday.
Harrison said the distilleries were charged “by mistake” and that the fees were not cleared by HHS leadership.?
“Many of these are rather small business, craft distilleries, and their business and livelihoods were damaged when restaurants closed down,” Harrison said. “But they jumped into the fray and joined the fight against Covid. It was nothing short of heroic. They are American heroes.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong last name for Brian Harrison, HHS chief of staff.
Aurora Health Care Medical Group said the person who took the vials of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the refrigerator was a pharmacist for the hospital.?
The president of the medical group, Dr. Jeff Bahr, said during a news conference on Thursday that the vials of the vaccine were removed twice from the refrigerator over the course of two days.?
He said that a pharmacy tech found the 57 vials in the early morning hours on Dec. 26, and returned them to the refrigerator before reporting the incident. Hospital officials spoke to the now-former pharmacist who said it was an inadvertent error while trying to get other items from the refrigerator.?
He told reporters that they were able to vaccinate 57 individuals before having to discard the rest of the doses due to them having been rendered ineffective.?
During the course of the internal investigation, Bahr said the former pharmacist admitted to officials on Wednesday to removing the vaccines on purpose. The pharmacist also said the vaccines were removed for a period of time in the overnight hours of Dec. 24 and 25 and then returned to the refrigerator. He is no longer employed at the hospital.?
Bahr said that the 57 vaccinations that were given on Dec. 26 are now either less effective or ineffective, based on the new information provided by the pharmacist. He said that all individuals were notified and that based on conversations with Moderna, the vaccine does not pose any harm to those who received it.?
He said that they are partnering with Moderna and the Food and Drug Administration to figure out a strategy for those who received the vaccine on Dec. 26.
Some context: Grafton Police said they arrested the former pharmacist and charged him with three felonies. Police said in the news release that?he “intentionally removed the vaccine knowing that if it was not properly stored it would be ineffective.”
The police are working with the FBI and FDA on the investigation.
CNN has reached out to the FBI Milwaukee for a comment.
Most people with common allergies can safely get the coronavirus vaccine, allergists said Thursday.
“Patients with severe allergies to foods, oral drugs, latex, or venom can safely receive the Covid-19 vaccines,” Dr. Aleena Banerji, clinical director of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues wrote.
The two ingredients in both the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine that are mostly likely to cause allergic reaction are polyethylene glycol and polysorbate, they said. But people can easily be watched and treated for such allergic reactions, which are rare, they noted.
The report also offers guidance as to how physicians can make sure patients are informed about the safety of the vaccine, but also prepared for adverse reactions.
Patients who have an adverse reaction to the vaccine should “have the requisite information and support needed to decide if and how to receive the second dose,” they said. There is not much data yet on what happens to people who get a second dose of vaccine after suffering an allergic reaction to the first.
“To provide reassurance and support during widespread vaccination across America, allergists must offer clear guidance to patients based on the best information available,” they wrote in in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
Allergists are advised by the report to prepare to keep people with severe allergies informed and supported throughout the process of getting a Covid-19 vaccine.?
Even though 2020 is ending in a few hours, things won’t change overnight. For many people this year has been filled with challenges and loss, while others have found silver linings.
Andrea Bonior, a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Georgetown University, said there are things you can do to manage the stress and anxiety of the pandemic as we enter the new year.
Here are some tips:
Understand that grief can co-exist with silver linings
From realizing the importance of family, to creating a closer connection with your loved ones or accomplishing things you never previously had time to do, some people were able to find silver linings in 2020. But, at the risk of being insensitive to other people who are grieving losses, Bonior said there is a way for both of those to exist at the same time.
“We can also be grateful?and also mourn losses at the?same time. I think that’s truly engaging?with life,” she said. “That’s the ability to say there?are bright spots here, but?there’s also darkness.”
Don’t be afraid to reach out for help
“If you have experienced?severe loss, please reach out.?There are people who care.?There are people who love you,” Bonior said, adding that no matter the size of your loss, it’s important to reach out for support.
If you’re spending the holidays alone, thank you
For the first time, many people are spending the holiday season alone and away from their families, but Bonior said it’s an action that is saving lives.
“It hurts.?There’s no substitute for being?away from family when you don’t?want to be,” she said. “And yet hopefully when we’re all?out of this, you can have pride?in the fact that you did your?effort and keep people from?dying.”
Listen to your kids
As parents, we all want to say the perfect thing, but sometimes all our kids need is someone who listens to how they are feeling.
Bonior said its important to hear what their concerns are, validate their feelings and help them understand that there are baby steps you can take moving forward.
Watch Bonior’s interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper:
As Los Angeles County continues to experience a surge of coronavirus cases, deaths, and hospitalizations, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called the situation dire and “what we all feared.”?
On Wednesday, Los Angeles County surpassed a total of 10,000 coronavirus deaths and reported 274 new deaths, the highest number of deaths in a single day. One person is dying from the virus every 10 minutes, according to the county.?
He urged people to make their New Year’s resolution to stay home to stop the spread of the virus.
While the new coronavirus variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, has not yet been reported in Los Angeles, Garcetti said it’s “reasonable to assume someone has it” in the city.
Watch Mayor Garcetti’s interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper below:
The Dow and the S&P 500 started and ended this unprecedented year at all-time highs — with a lot of volatility along the way.
All three major indexes ended Thursday, the final trading day of the year, higher.
Here’s where things closed today:
While the economy is nowhere near its pre-pandemic strength, the stock market rally tells a different story. All three benchmarks ended the year with gains for a second year in a row.?
Here’s a look at the year:
At the start of 2020, investors worried the market might have less tailwind as the Fed stopped cutting interest rates and the economic jolt from President Trump’s tax cuts ran out.
But in the months that followed, as the economic pain from the pandemic continued, the stock market recovered faster than many expected, helped greatly by unprecedented intervention from the Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates and launched a slew of lending facilities to backstop markets and the economy.
A mutation of the novel coronavirus found in?South?Africa is spreading quickly, and researchers don’t know if it poses a challenge to the vaccine, according to the scientist who discovered the variation.?
Dr. Anthony Fauci,?director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,?told NBC’s Today Show on Thursday that a different?variant?of the virus, first identified in the UK, “does not seem to evade the protection that’s afforded by vaccines that are currently being used.”
De Oliveira said the?South?African?mutation does not appear to cause more severe disease, but it is spreading fast.?
“The more we study this?variant, the more worried we get,” said de Oliveira who is a virologist and an affiliate professor of global health at the University of Washington. “Our main worry is just the speed of transmission and how this?variant?has dominated so quickly.”?
He said out of samples taken from some 400 people with Covid-19 who were treated at over 100 different clinics in?South Africa since mid-November, 350 had this new?variant.?That’s 90% of the samples.
Some context: The?South?African?variant?has been found in seven other countries: the UK, Switzerland, Finland, Japan, Australia, Zambia and France.
The?variant?has 22 significant changes from previous strains of the coronavirus, an unusually high number of mutations. The UK strain only has 17 mutations. Several of the mutations are related to the spike proteins found on top of the virus, which is the target for antibodies generated by the vaccines.?
“What concerns us most is that three of those mutations are in the receptor binding domain, and that’s the most important region of the virus, and a main target of antibodies generated by the immune system and the vaccines,” he said.?
Pope Francis praised the work of health care professionals, teachers and public servants during the coronavirus pandemic in his New Year’s Eve address, according to a message from the Pope read by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re on Thursday.
The Pope praised the “daily commitment” of people who have tried to make the weight of the pandemic “more bearable” for others.
“We are thinking in particular of school administrators and teachers, who play an essential role in social life and who have to face a very complex situation,” he added.?
The Pope also said that public servants who prioritized the neediest also deserved thanks.?
“We also think with gratitude of the public administrators who know how to value all the good resources present in the city and in the territory, who are detached from private interests and also from those of their party, who truly seek the good of all, starting from the most disadvantaged,” he wrote in the homily.
Pope Francis did not lead the Vatican’s New Year’s Eve celebration due to sciatic pain, according to a statement from the Vatican. While it is the first time the Pope has missed New Year’s Eve or Christmas celebrations, it is not the first time he has skipped an event.?
As Covid-19 infections run rampant throughout much of California, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions continue to reach new highs.
Covid-19 hospitalizations in California have increased every day since Nov. 7.
Currently, at least 21,449 Covid-19 patients are in hospital beds throughout the state, with more than 4,500 of those in ICU.
Doctors in Santa Clara are treating some critically ill patients in the emergency room, because there’s just no room in ICU.?
“Despite these conditions, we come to work to do our part,” Randazzo added, pleading with residents to sacrifice this New Year’s Eve “for a lifetime of other experiences yet to come.”
The latest numbers: California added at least 27,237 new cases Thursday, along with 428 more deaths. More than 2.2 million Californians have been infected to date, and more than 25,000 of those have died as a result.
“What we are seeing now, is not normal,” Dr. Ahmad Kamal of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center said. “We are clearly not out of the woods, we are in the thick of the woods.”
The World Health Organization on Thursday listed Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the organization announced in a statement.
This designation “opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine,” WHO said. “It also enables UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries in need.”
WHO conducted its own assessment of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. The emergency use listing means that Pfizer will continue to generate data on the vaccine and share it with WHO.
A WHO advisory board will meet on Jan. 5 to outline recommendations for the distribution of the vaccine to populations.
GOP Georgia Sen. David Perdue announced he will quarantine ahead of the key Georgia Senate runoff election after coming “into close contact with someone on the campaign who tested positive for COVID-19,” according to a statement from his campaign.
The statement said both Perdue and his wife tested negative today, but will quarantine in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines. The statement added that he will also follow his doctor’s recommendations.
Control of the Senate chamber hinges on next week’s Jan. 5 match-ups.
If Democrats win both races, the Senate makeup would be 50-50, positioning Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to serve as the tie-breaking vote and setting up an easier path for President-elect Joe Biden to advance the agenda he promoted during his campaign.
Perdue and Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler are facing off against Democratic rivals Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
CNN’s Kyung Lah reports. Watch below:
Rapid?antigen?tests for Covid-19 are less accurate than RT-PCR tests for Covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday – often even less accurate than advertised.?
The fast tests may be missing many cases of infection, the CDC-led team said. And they are also often telling people they are infected when, in fact, they are not.?
Antigen?tests are generally cheaper than polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests, and can return results in as little as 15 minutes.?Multiple tests in both categories have gotten Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, but a study published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that?antigen?tests were not only less accurate than PCR tests, but less accurate than what was reported when the FDA gave emergency authorization.
“Among people reporting COVID-19 symptoms at the time the samples were collected, the Sofia?antigen?test was less accurate than reported in the FDA Emergency Use Authorization,” the CDC-led team wrote.?Antigen?testing in this study had a sensitivity rate of 80%, compared to a previously reported 97%.
The researchers investigated the tests at two Wisconsin universities by administering Quidel’s Sofia?antigen?test and a PCR test to both symptomatic and asymptomatic participants.?Antigen?tests quickly seek out evidence of the virus, which PCR tests take longer but work by amplifying genetic material from the virus.
“The Sofia rapid?antigen?test was less accurate than RT-PCR for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections in students and faculty tested at two universities in Wisconsin,” the researchers wrote. “The?antigen?test accuracy was lowest among study participants not showing symptoms (asymptomatic),” they added.
Investigators said that?antigen?tests may still be valuable in tracking infection because they are cheaper and quicker, and may be more accessible than PCR tests. But results from?antigen?tests should be paired with more accurate testing.
“To account for reduced test accuracy of?antigen?tests, CDC recommends considering confirmatory testing with an FDA-authorized molecular test, such as RT-PCR, following negative?antigen?test results in people who have COVID-19 symptoms, and following positive?antigen?test results in asymptomatic people,” said researchers.
The city and county of San Francisco will be extending its stay-at-home order and mandatory 10-day quarantine requirement amid the ongoing coronavirus surge, officials announced in a news release on Thursday.
While the state’s regional stay-at-home order for the Bay Area is set to expire on Jan. 8, San Francisco announced that it does not expect the region to meet the state’s threshold of an intensive care unit bed capacity above 15%.
The current intensive care unit bed capacity for the Bay Area is 7.5%, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.?
Anyone visiting, moving to, or returning to San Francisco from anywhere outside the Bay Area is required to quarantine for 10 days. The health order also strongly discourages any non-essential travel within the 10-county Bay Area region.?
According to the release, the health orders appear to have slowed the infections and more than 400 deaths may have been prevented. ?
More details: The extension of both health orders will continue until the Bay Area Region is no longer subject to the state’s regional stay at home order. Both health orders, implemented on Dec. 17, were set to expire on Jan. 4.
San Francisco is one of the most densely populated counties in the nation.
Speaking during his New Year’s address, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed confidence about 2021, noting that while there is still work to be done to overcome the pandemic, new coronavirus vaccines have brought hope and certainty to the country.?
“We can see that illuminated sign that marks the end of the journey, and even more important, we can see with growing clarity how we are going to get there,” he added.?
The prime minister acknowledged that the last year has been characterized by “grimness” and expressed regret that families across the country “lost too many loved ones before their time,” but stressed that the government’s mass vaccination program is “changing the odds in favor of humanity and against Covid.”
“I believe 2021 is, above all, the year when we will eventually do those everyday things that now seem lost in the past, bathed in a rosy glow of nostalgia – going to the pub, concerts, theaters, restaurants, or simply holding hands with our loved ones in the normal way,” Johnson said.?
The prime minister’s message comes as England prepares for tougher coronavirus regulations to be come into force across the country, with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reaching record highs and pressure on the National Health Service? mounting.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Trump, said Thursday morning that he would like a stand-alone vote on $2,000 stimulus checks in the new session of Congress, which begins this Sunday.
Graham also called for stand-alone votes on the two other issues Trump has been pushing,?a?full repeal of online liability protections and an investigation into voter fraud.?
“I am urging Sen. McConnell to give us standalone votes in the new Congress, after Jan. 3rd on all three measures,” the South Carolina senator said.
Graham is expecting to be the top Republican on the Budget Committee next year, CNN’s Ted Barrett notes.
Some background: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday blasted the House bill increasing stimulus payments to $2,000, arguing that giving $2,000 checks to high earning households who haven’t faced job loss is “socialism for rich people”
A Covid-19 outbreak has been confirmed at a Costco store in Washington state.
According to a news release from the Yakima Health District, 145 Costco employees have tested?positive for Covid-19. Employees who have tested positive have completed their quarantine or isolation period, the release said.
The release said that based on the number of cases and timeline, the evidence shows that the increase in cases “mimics the type of activity that happens after some sort of superspreader event.”?
“Costco will continue to provide on-going site-wide testing for their employees moving forward to monitor the outbreak,” the release said.
The Yakima Health District said it has not recommended closure for any business in the area, including Costco, due to the Covid-19 infections.?
Costco has required face coverings for all members, guests and employees other than those with medical conditions since May. According to a letter from their CEO, the policy was updated in November to require face coverings for anyone in the store over the age of 2.?
“Our goal is to continue to provide a safe shopping environment for our members and guests, and to provide a safe work environment for our employees,” Costco CEO Craig Jelinek said in a letter posted on the company’s website.?
Earlier this month, the?US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released?guidance to shorten?the 14-day Covid-19 quarantine to seven to 10 days. However, in its?Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC concludes that this move “carries a risk” to further spread the virus,?particularly the risk posed by household contacts.
Interim data from a CDC-supported study of household transmission of Covid-19, showed that?among 185 people who lived in households with someone who was sick with Covid-19, 109 of them ended up getting Covid-19 themselves.
Of those 109 people, 76% tested positive within seven days after the person they were living with first felt sick, and 86% tested positive within 10 days after the person they were living with first felt sick. This shows that?there is a potential for transmission of the virus from household contacts released from quarantine before 14 days, according to the report.
Household contacts who tested negative for the virus and were without symptoms through day seven had an 81% chance of remaining symptom free and testing negative through day 14.
But that means one in five people still became symptomatic or received a positive Covid-19, suggesting that?“reducing quarantine to less than 14 days might decrease but not eliminate the risk for spreading” the virus, the report said.
A case of the new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa in mid-December has been identified in France, the French health ministry confirmed Thursday.?
According to a statement, a man living in the area of Haut-Rhin, near the border with Switzerland, tested positive for the new variant of coronavirus “after a stay in South Africa, and following symptoms suggestive of Covid-19 that appeared a few days after his return.”
The health ministry has confirmed that the patient “immediately isolated himself at home” after experiencing symptoms and “has now recovered and is in good health.”
French health authorities proceeded to search for people who may have come into prolonged contact with the patient, but later confirmed that “none were identified,” the health ministry added.?
Following the identification of a new variant of coronavirus in South Africa, the French government announced that laboratories would be required to send all positive coronavirus test results from residents who have recently returned from South Africa to the French National Research Center.?
“A system for the detection and surveillance of possible cases of infection or carrier of the variant has been set up,” the French health ministry added.
China has confirmed its first case of the new Covid-19 variant — first identified in England — in a returning student from the UK,?the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a?report?published on Wednesday.
The patient — a 23-year-old female — returned to Shanghai from Britain on Dec. 14.
“Due to the closed-loop management upon passenger’s arrival at the airport, close contact investigation has been initiated,” it added.
The discovery of the case “poses a great potential threat to the prevention and control of Covid-19 in China,” the health authority said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday blasted the House bill increasing stimulus payments to $2,000, which President Trump has pushed alongside Democratic leaders, saying it’s not targeted enough.
McConnell argued giving $2,000 checks to high earning households who haven’t faced job loss is “socialism for rich people”… “a terrible way to help the American families that are actually struggling.”
Meanwhile, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer asked for the Senate to take up the House-passed bill to increase stimulus checks to $2,000, but McConnell objected.
“I will once again ask consent that the Senate set a time for a vote on the House bill to provide $2,000 checks to the American people,” Schumer said.
Schumer argued that the Senate should pass the House bill to increase stimulus checks to $2,000, saying, “There is one way and only one way to pass $2,000 checks before the end of the year and that’s to pass the House bill … Either the Senate takes up and passes the House bill or struggling Americans will not get $2,000 checks during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
“The Republican leader has invented an excuse to prevent a clean, up or down, yes or no, vote on $2,000 checks coming to the floor,” he said, adding, that McConnell’s maneuver to combine the direct payments with other unrelated issues “is intended to kill the possibility of $2,000 checks ever becoming law.”
McConnell, on Tuesday, introduced legislation that combined three Trump priorities — expanded stimulus checks, a full repeal of online liability protections and an investigation into alleged voter fraud —?each a prerequisite for Trump signing the Covid relief and spending package earlier this week. Trump himself has never specified that those three items should be tied together.
But on Wednesday, McConnell said the House bill had “no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate,” and said the Democratic-led effort ran astray of what Trump actually requested.
Where things stand: There are no votes scheduled on McConnell’s bill, or the House-passed legislation, and GOP aides say it’s likely the 116th Congress comes to an end without any action on increasing direct payments.
The United Kingdom has reported a further 55,892 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases recorded across the country to 2,488,780, the latest government data shows.?
A further 964 coronavirus-related deaths were also registered on Thursday, bringing the total national death toll to 73,512.?
According to the government’s latest health care data — as reported on Monday — there are currently 23,813 coronavirus patients in hospitals across the country, of which 1,847 have required mechanical ventilation beds.??
As of Sunday, a total of 944,539 people have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, data provided by NHS England shows.?
A surge in cases has led the British government to extend Tier 4 coronavirus restrictions to other parts of England – as announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Wednesday – with some?78% of the population to be placed under the?strictest level of regulations, according to?Downing Street.
The decision comes as pressure mounts on the National Health Service (NHS), with the new variant of coronavirus spreading across much of England, Hancock said.
Since midnight, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health has been tweeting at regular intervals to drive home the message that someone dies of Covid-19 every 10 minutes in the county.
So far, the health department has sent 53 tweets, with a brief description of a life lost, followed by a plea to stay home tonight, wear a face covering outside, and slow the spread.
“A mother.”
“A grandpa who marinated the Carne Asada with a Corona.”
“The friend who always fixed your resume.”
“The barber who got the lines right.”
These were some of the descriptions that health officials tweeted to drive the message home, as L.A. County finds itself the worldwide epicenter of concentrated Covid-19 cases.
Coronavirus cases surge: The average daily case count today is 10 times higher than it was just two months ago. On Thursday, Los Angeles County surpassed the grim milestone of 10,000 Covid-related deaths. The county, which has 10 million residents, has seen more than three-quarters of a million Covid-19 cases so far.
Ecuador will receive four million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, according to a statement from the office of President Lenín Moreno on Wednesday.
The first?50,000?doses of the vaccine?are expected to arrive to the South American country next month and?will be prioritized for health workers and people over the age of 65 living in long-term care facilities,?according to the statement.??
In the second phase of the vaccination program, Ecuador aims to administer the vaccine to police, military, firefighters and teachers.
The government will inoculate people over the age of 18?in the third phase of the plan.?
Ecuador is looking to?acquire a total of 18 million doses to help contain the outbreak.?
To date, Ecuador has reported a total of?211,512 Covid-19 cases and?14,023?deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to country’s health ministry.?
A New Mexico nurse cared for her 68-year-old father while he was a patient battling coronavirus.
Carolina Garcia said she was “very lucky” to be able to be at her father’s bedside before he died. She had coronavirus herself, she told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota.?
Garcia is survived by his wife of 50 years, nine children and 28 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her family visited him every day, watching him outside of a window, she said.?
“His kids, his family was?his number one priority, always,” Garcia said. “…?My dad has left us great?memories, and I’m just very proud?that I can call him my father.”
Watch her story:
Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the US Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee, said that the United States needs to step up its vaccination response.
While it is “remarkable what we’ve done?over the past year,” Offit told CNN of the vaccination rollout requires a “Manhattan Project-like response.”?
More than 2.7 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a long way from the 20 million vaccinations that?officials had promised by the end of the year.
There should be mass vaccination events in the US, Offit said on CNN’s “New Day.”
He also reminded Americans that the dominant variant of Covid-19 is still very contagious.?
“We sort of exist in this kind of?cult of denialism, where we just?kind of close our eyes tightly?and hope this all goes away.?We’re not doing the things we?need to do to prevent spread,” he said, referencing an NFL game with thousands of fans in attendance.??
Watch the interview:
The NFL’s Cleveland Browns announced Thursday the team’s facility remains closed after two additional members in the organization tested positive for Covid-19.
The Browns are scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday with a chance to clinch a playoff berth for the first time in 17 years.
New York City Mayor Bill?de?Blasio?said that invited guests including health care heroes and essential workers who “did amazing things in the year 2020 to see this city through”?will be in attendance at tonight’s New Year’s event in Times Square.
Remarking on the stark difference to years past, de Blasio said that even though this year will not have spectators, there will still be “magic,” he told CNN New Day’s Alisyn Camerota.
“We get to say goodbye to 2020, I cannot think of a more joyous exceptional wonderful celebration than that,” he said.
New York City’s own Jennifer Lopez will be performing along with Gloria Gaynor singing “I will survive” he said.
The mayor and his wife will be in attendance as well.
“In a country, in a city that sometimes could use some more unity, one thing unifies all of us Americans, we want to get the hell rid of 2020,” he said.
WATCH:
Scientists advising the British government on the response to Covid-19 believe that because of the new variant, it is “highly unlikely” that the outbreak’s growth can be suppressed if schools remain fully open.
In the minutes of a Dec. 22 meeting released on Thursday, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said:
The British government on Wednesday announced a series of delays in the reopening of schools in January. Primary schools in areas where there is the highest rate of infection will not return yet, with no date set.?
The list of areas published by the Department for Education features London, Essex, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire.?Secondary schools across most of England will also remain closed for an extra two weeks for most pupils, an extension of the previously announced, staged return.?
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said that the “overwhelming majority” of primary schools (pupils aged 5 – 11) would open as planned on Jan. 4 and emphasized that closures are only being used as a “last resort.”
In the Dec. 22 meeting, SAGE scientists said that closing secondary schools would likely have “a greater affect than closing primary schools.” The panel also cautioned that it “remains difficult to distinguish where transmission between children takes place, and it is important to consider contacts made outside of schools.”
In research released earlier this month, British researchers said that?they have evidence that coronavirus is not being spread by schools.
“What you see very clearly is in areas of very high transmission, adult rates went down very, very quickly because of the lockdown,” lead researcher Shamez Ladhani of Public Health England?said at the time. “And a week later, children’s rates also started going down, which adds to this whole idea that it’s the community infection rates that tends to drive infections in school aged-children.”
Portuguese health authorities reported at least 7,627 new cases of Covid-19, the highest daily tally since the beginning of the pandemic.
The previous record of infections, 7,497, had been registered on Nov. 4, according to data from the ministry of health.?
There are now at least 413,678 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. In the last 24 hours, 76 more people died with the virus, raising the total number of fatalities to 6,906.
Portugal eased restrictions for the days around Christmas but the government reintroduced stricter measures for New Year’s Eve.?
New numbers suggest Americans continue to travel for the holidays, despite public health warnings to stay home.?
The Transportation Security Administration reported its fourth-busiest day of the pandemic on Wednesday, screening more than 1 million people for the fifth straight day.?Nine days out of the past two weeks have seen more than 1 million people each.?
The 1,163,696 people screened on Wednesday are just over half of the 2.1 million passengers the agency screened on the same day in 2019.?Four days in the holiday travel period have reached more than 50% of the 2019 levels.??
That spike is notable — since September, TSA has averaged between 30% and 40% of last year’s levels.?
Data suggests most of the people traveling are leisure, rather than business, travelers.?The air carrier industry group Airlines for America reports corporate bookings are down approximately 78%.?Its data also show a notable upward trend in passengers since mid-December.?
Correction: An earlier version of this story included the wrong figure regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s busiest days of the pandemic. Wednesday was the TSA’s fourth-busiest day of the pandemic.
A memorial to honor the more than 340,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19 will be held in Washington, DC on January 19, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced Thursday.
The PIC has invited towns and cities across the United States to join the main ceremony in the American capital, where illuminated buildings and church bells will ring at 5:30 p.m. ET to remember those who have passed away in the pandemic.
“When so many Americans are grieving the loss of family, friends, and neighbors – it is important that we honor those who have died,” said PIC Communications Director Pili Tobar?in a statement.
The ceremony in DC will feature a lighting display around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which will be the first time a display there has been used to memorialize lost American lives.
More plans by the inaugural committee to remember those who have died will be announced in the coming days.
Another 787,000 Americans filed first-time claims for jobless benefits during the Christmas week, factoring in seasonal adjustments, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
It marked a decrease from the prior week. Overall, unemployment claims remain elevated well above historic norms, signaling ongoing pain in the job market during the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to regular jobless claims, another 308,262 workers filed for aid under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits to people who aren’t eligible for regular state aid, such as the self-employed and gig workers.
Together, 1.1 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, not adjusted for seasonal swings.
PUA payments will be extended by the new stimulus deal that President Trump signed into law on Sunday. The bill will also expand regular state benefits by $300 a week.
Meanwhile, 5.2 million workers filed continued claims, for their second week or more of benefits, in the week ending Dec. 19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Thursday it is “disappointing” that 20 million people were not vaccinated in the US by today, the end of 2020.
Fauci said he hopes vaccinations in the US will gain momentum as the country gets into the first couple of weeks in January.
“There really has to be a lot more effort in the sense of resources for the locals, namely the states, the cities, the counties, the places where the vaccine is actually going into the arms of individuals,” he said. “We have to support the local groups, the states and the cities, to help them to get this task done, which is a very prodigious task.”
?When asked whether it would be better if the federal government stepped in and took over the effort to vaccinate Americans, Fauci said “rather than stepping in and taking over, I think it would be maybe better to give more resources and to work with them, in tandem with them.”?
He noted, “In other words, not saying we’re taking over, we’re going to do your job, but saying we’re going to really help you to do your job, particularly by giving you many more resources.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Thursday said “it was inevitable” that the variant of the coronavirus that was first identified would be in the United States, given its spread to other European countries and Canada.
Fauci said the variant does not appear to make people more sick or lead to more deaths. He also said it does not seem to evade the protection that is afforded by Covid-19 vaccines that are currently in use.
He said the fact that it spreads more efficiently underscores the need to be vigilant against the virus by practicing public health measures.
“Those are the kind of things that will prevent this new strain from spreading even further,” Fauci said.
Remember: Two US states have now found the Covid-19 variant that was first identified in the UK. Health officials announced Wednesday the variant had been detected in a 30-year-old San Diego man, who is not hospitalized and had very few social interactions during his potential contagious period.
The first known case of the UK variant in the US was in Colorado, state officials said?earlier this week.?At least 27 countries have now reported cases of the variant, per CNN reporting.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Thursday, that spreading out the first doses of Covid-19 vaccine to more people is “under consideration.”
The Pfizer shot requires a second dose 21 days later and the Moderna shot requires a second dose?28 days later. Currently, those second doses have been held back by the federal government, so they will be available and administered when they are needed to provide those second doses.
What’s under consideration is dispensing those doses now, to vaccinate more people with their first shot. But there is risk involved. By not initially holding back the second doses, more vaccine doses will need to be produced and distributed by the time the required second doses are needed.?
Fauci said it could be debated either way, but one of the problems with doing it would be if a person didn’t get the second dose in time and there is a lag period.
He said that it’s known from the clinical trials “the optimal time is to give it on one day and then for Moderna 28 days later and for Pfizer 21 days later, that’s what the data tells us is the best way to do it.”
If you want to stick with the data, that’s how it should be done, he said, “but you can make an argument, and some people are, about stretching out the doses by giving a single dose across the board and hoping you’re going to get the second dose in time to give to individuals.”
Here’s a look at how the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines compare.
You’d struggle to find anyone in Europe who will be unhappy to see the back of 2020.
Covid-19,?Brexit?and the international political carnage of this year have hammered the continent and exacerbated tensions that have blighted the European Union for years.
But those problems are not going anywhere in 2021.
With no pandemic, fraught talks with the UK or an?American president?as anti-European Union as Donald Trump, Brussels might finally find space to address issues that have long undermined the bloc – though it won’t be easy.
To some extent, the crises of 2020 have masked a debilitating lack of unity across the EU.
For all Brussels’ lofty ambitions of greater integration and becoming a global force in its own right, it faces pushback on issues ranging from internal adherence to the rule of law to a coordinated strategy for dealing with China.
And whether it has the political will or talent to do so in 2021 without widening those cracks is another matter entirely.
Read the full analysis here:?
Pope Francis will not lead the Vatican’s New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations due to sciatic pain, the Vatican said on Thursday.
The Pope will be replaced by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, for Thursday afternoon’s year-end Vespers service.
Mass on New Year’s Day will be celebrated by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
Pope Francis will still lead the Angelus prayer on Friday, as planned.
It’s the first time the Pope has missed New Year’s Eve or Christmas celebrations, but not the first time he has skipped an event.
On February 27, Pope Francis, who is 84, canceled a scheduled mass for what the Vatican press office described as a “slight imposition,” denying rumors that the pontiff could’ve contracted Covid-19.
He was later seen coughing, sneezing and speaking with a hoarse voice.
Pope Francis first revealed he had sciatica – a painful, and sometimes debilitating condition originating from the herniation of spinal disk – during an inflight press conference while on a visit to Brazil in 2013.
“The worst thing that happened – excuse me – was an attack of sciatica – really! – that I had the first month, because I was sitting in an armchair to do interviews and it hurt,” Francis said at the time, when asked what the worst part of being the Pope was.
“Sciatica is very painful, very painful! I don’t wish it on anyone,” he said.
On August, 10, 2017, he announced he was able to deal with the condition.
The Vatican later confirmed the Pope had undergone treatment, including massages and injections twice a week to reduce pain in his leg.
The new Covid-19 variant first found in the UK is growing rapidly, is more transmissible than other variants, and affecting a greater proportion of people under 20, according to a study.
The research is a collaborative effort from scientists and researchers at Imperial College London,?the University of Edinburgh,?Public Health England, the?Wellcome Sanger Institute, the?University of Birmingham?and the?COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium.
As of December 30, at least 27 countries, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have so far reported cases of the new strain, per CNN reporting.?
“There is a consensus among all analyses that the VOC [the Variant of Concern or new variant] has a substantial transmission advantage,” the study said. It added that the difference between the reproduction number of the mutation, in comparison to other variants of the virus, is 0.4 to 0.7 higher. The reproduction number reflects the number of individuals that one infected person transmits the virus to.
“These analyses, which have informed UK government planning in recent weeks, show that the new variant of concern, B.1.1.7, has substantially higher transmissibility than previous SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the UK,” Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London said.
The study also said that while people under the age of 20 years make up a greater proportion of cases of the new variant of the virus, it is too early to determine the reason why.
As the new variant is more easily transmissible, controlling it will be more difficult, said Ferguson, who emphasized the “urgency of rolling out vaccination as quickly as possible.”
Imperial College’s Dr. Erik Volz said that “all viruses evolve, and very rarely a virus will change in a way that requires us to re-evaluate public health policy,” noting that experts had found “overwhelming evidence of a change in transmissibility of the B.1.1.7 variant that should be taken into account when planning our Covid-19 response in the new year.”?
On Monday, the UK will roll out the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which was authorized for use on Wednesday.
In the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, today’s New Year festivities around the world will be largely subdued and restricted.?
Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) say they will perform spot checks on New Year’s Eve gatherings to ensure Covid-19 restrictions are being adhered to, according to public broadcaster ABC.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing told ABC: “You are going to see large numbers of uniformed police officers out and about.”
“We’ll be checking licensed premises, we’ll be door-knocking when necessary, we’ll be out and patrolling public areas to ensure people abide by the current health orders,” he added.
Households are limited to five guests in Greater Sydney and surrounding areas, whilst outdoor gatherings are limited to a maximum of 30 people, according to ABC.
China will provide free coronavirus shots to all of its citizens, a top health official said in a news conference Thursday.
Zeng Yixin, a vice-minister of China’s National Health Commission said that vaccines provide a public benefit by their very nature and while their price may vary, “an important premise is that [they] will be provided to the public for free.”
On Thursday, China’s homegrown Sinopharm vaccine was approved for use by China’s regulator, the National Medical Products Administration.
Sinopharm subsidiary Beijing Biological Products Institute announced that its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 79% effective on Wednesday.
More than 4.5 million doses of the vaccine have already been administered to “key groups” and “high-risk groups” prior to the authorization of the vaccine as part of a controversial emergency use program that began in July.
Among?those?who have already been vaccinated, fewer than 0.1% developed a light fever, and about two?people?per million developed “relative serious adverse reactions” such as allergies, according to Zeng.
Pfizer says it does not have data to demonstrate that just a single dose of its Covid-19 vaccine would provide protection against the disease after more than 21 days, after the UK government announced plans to widen intervals between the first and second doses from three to?12?weeks.
“Pfizer and BioNTech’s Phase 3 study for the Covid-19 vaccine was designed to evaluate the vaccine’s safety and efficacy following a 2-dose schedule, separated by 21 days,” Pfizer said in a statement on Thursday.
The pharmaceutical giant explained that it did not evaluate different dosing schedules because “the majority of trial participants received the second dose within the window specified in the study design.”
Pfizer’s statement comes after the UK’s Chief Medical officers issued updated guidance on the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, now advising that a second dose may be given between three to?12?weeks?following the first dose.
Speaking during a televised briefing from Downing Street on Wednesday, the head of the UK medicines regulator (MHRA), Dr. June Raine said that the updated guidance “allows for a potentially longer interval” than previously recommended, presenting an opportunity to vaccinate more people with first doses sooner and potentially providing them with some degree of protection before receiving their second doses.
“While decisions on alternative dosing regimens reside with health authorities, Pfizer believes it is critical health authorities conduct surveillance efforts on any alternative schedules implemented and to ensure each recipient is afforded the maximum possible protection, which means immunization with two doses of the vaccine,” the company said on Thursday.
“We remain committed to our ongoing dialogue with regulators, health authorities and governments, including the UK, and to our continued data sharing efforts to help inform any public health decisions aimed at defeating this devastating pandemic,” Pfizer added.
The Czech Republic has recorded its highest daily tally of positive Covid-19 cases since the pandemic started, after health authorities reported 16,939 new cases on Thursday.
According to the Czech Health Ministry, 52% of tests carried out in the past 24 hours came back positive.
The Czech Republic is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus in Europe, with 718,661 diagnosed cases and 11,580 deaths.
The country is currently at level 5, the highest of its Covid-19 risk assessment levels, which means the situation across the country is at a critical stage.
Several Australian states moved to shut borders as cases stemming from an outbreak of Covid-19 in northern Sydney earlier this month continues to grow and take root in neighboring Victoria state.?
Interstate travel had largely been cut earlier this year during the country’s first wave.
Victoria, which reported three new locally transmitted cases Thursday, will close its borders with the state of New South Wales (NSW) starting Friday, according to public broadcaster ABC. As a result of the fresh outbreak in the state, new Covid-19 restrictions have been issued hours before New Year’s Eve celebrations, with gatherings of more than 15 people are no longer allowed and masks are now mandatory indoors.
The state of Western Australia said its restrictions – which were described by acting Premier Roger Cook as “essentially a hard border ” – were extended to the state of Victoria starting Friday.?Western Australia travel restrictions on those from NSW have been in place since December 19.?
In the Northern Territories,?Health Minister Natasha Fyles?announced that from Friday, travelers from the greater Sydney area would have to go into quarantine in a designated facility. She added they were monitoring the situation in metropolitan Melbourne in Victoria state.
The ABC also reported that the state of South Australia will close its border with NSW from Friday but its border with Victoria will remain open.
The usual New Year’s Eve fireworks display in Sydney has been shortened this year, with movement around the city restricted.
Pakistan will purchase 1.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China’s state-owned pharmaceutical giant?Sinopharm, Pakistani Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Hussain Chaudhry announced Thursday.
China approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm for public use on Thursday. Beijing Biological Products Institute, a unit of Sinopharm’s subsidiary China National Biotec Group,?announced on Wednesday that its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 79% effective.??
On Thursday, Pakistan reported 2,475 coronavirus cases for the previous 24 hours, bringing the country’s total caseload to 479,715. It also reported 58 virus-related fatalities, for a total death toll of 10,105.
A prison in Seoul has recorded 792 Covid-19 cases since late November, Vice-Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu said in a briefing Thursday.
The Dongbu detention facility, located in southeast Seoul, reported its first case after a staff member was believed to have contracted the virus from their family, according to Lee.
Of the 792 reported cases, 771 are inmates and 21 are staff, Lee said.
The minister said all prison facilities nationwide are now following the highest social-distancing measures, banning all visits except special lawyer-inmate meetings, and cancelling all work and classes from Thursday.
South Korea recorded 967 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the nation’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday.
The national tally of confirmed cases now stands at 60,740, with 900 related deaths, according to KDCA.
New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world will look very different this year as cities take precautions against the spread of Covid-19.
The best view of most major cities is going to be from your couch. Most of the large traditional displays of fireworks and celebrations globally have been canceled and replaced with smaller televised or streamed events.
Here are the places still holding events and where to watch the downscaled favorites.
London: London’s iconic?fireworks show over the River Thames is canceled?this year, and much of England is now under tough stay-at-home restrictions. But there will be a special broadcast on the BBC for people to enjoy while they’re inside.
New York: Yes,?the ball will be dropping?in Times Square and there will be some celebration, but the events are closed to the public. The show is going on for the annual national broadcasts on several stations, so even though no one is waiting for hours in the freezing cold, you can still see the events unfold as we count down to midnight.
Sydney: Sydney is forgoing its traditional public showstopping New Year’s Eve events for smaller celebrations that will be publicly broadcast. Instead of a huge fireworks show, there will be a smaller display over the Sydney Harbour Bridge at midnight.
Paris: There will be no public events held for those celebrating the new year in Paris, but there will be?a livestreamed concert?in Notre Dame Cathedral by composer and performer?Jean-Michel Jarre?for everyone to watch.
Read more:
The United States?reported?3,744?additional coronavirus deaths on Wednesday – a single-day record high for the second consecutive day, according to?Johns?Hopkins?University’s tally.
The previous record of 3,725 fatalities was recorded on Tuesday.
JHU also recorded 229,042?new Covid-19 cases nationwide on Wednesday.
At least?19,740,468?total cases and 342,312?deaths have now been recorded in the US, according to JHU.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.??
At least?12,409,050?vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 2,794,588?doses administered, according to the?US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.?
CNN is tracking US cases:
Japan’s government may consider declaring a state of emergency if Covid-19 continues to spread further, a minister in charge of the country’s coronavirus response said on Twitter Wednesday.
Tokyo recorded 944 new Covid-19 cases for Wednesday – the highest daily increase in infections since the pandemic began. The total number of people to have been infected in Tokyo now stands at 58,840, according to the Japanese Health Ministry.
Overall, Japan reported 3,851 new coronavirus cases and 65 virus-related deaths on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said. It added that 668 patients were in serious condition on Wednesday, down by seven from the previous day.?
The total number of?confirmed cases nationwide now stands at 231,016, while the death toll has reached 3,427.
The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) has modified its guide for emergency vaccine use after the pharmaceutical company Pfizer said it could not provide some of the information required by the Brazilian government to gain authorization.
Top officials from Anvisa met with representatives from Pfizer to discuss the emergency use rules on Wednesday, according to a news release from the health agency.
Among information Pfizer could not provide was a timeline for the number of doses that would be provided to Brazil, according to the release.
Some context: Earlier this week, Pfizer had announced that it would not seek emergency authorization in Brazil due to some of the rules put in place by Anvisa.
Brazil has recorded more than 7.5 million Covid-19 cases and its death toll is nearing 200,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Australia’s state of Victoria reported three locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Thursday, breaking a 61-day streak of no community infections.
As of Thursday morning, Victoria has a total of 10 active cases, the state’s Department of Health spokesperson Graeme Walker told CNN.
Among them, six cases are in quarantine from inbound travel, and another is a?teenage girl isolating at home after contracting the virus in the state of New South Wales.
As a result of the fresh outbreak in the state, new Covid-19 restrictions have been issued hours before New Year’s Eve celebrations. Gatherings of more than 15 people are no longer allowed and masks are now mandatory indoors.?
China has drastically scaled up its emergency use program in recent weeks, officials revealed Thursday as they announced the approval of the country’s first homegrown coronavirus vaccine, developed by Sinopharm.
Since December 15, the country has administered more than 3 million doses of coronavirus vaccines on “key groups” in the population, Zeng Yixin, vice-minister of China’s National Health Commission, said at a news conference Thursday. He did not identify who those groups were.
That’s on top of the more than 1.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines administered to “high-risk groups” as of the end of November, Zeng added.
Among?those?who have been inoculated, fewer than 0.1% developed a light fever, and about two?people?per million developed “relative serious adverse reactions” such as allergies, according to Zeng.
China rolled out its controversial emergency use program in July, inoculating hundreds of thousands of people with experimental vaccines that did not have their safety and efficacy proven in clinical trials. People who received the vaccines include healthcare workers, border control personnel and state-owned company employees who needed to travel overseas.
Chinese regulators have approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, officials announced Thursday.
Sinopharm said yesterday its coronavirus vaccine is 79.34% effective, citing interim analysis of Phase 3 clinical trials.
Though few details were provided, the company said the vaccine met the standards of the World Health Organization and China’s own regulator, the National Medical Products Administration.
Read more about the Sinopharm vaccine:
The United States reported?125,220?current Covid-19 hospitalizations on?Wednesday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid Tracking Project (CTP).
This is the 29th consecutive day that the US has remained above 100,000 current hospitalizations.?
According to CTP data, the highest hospitalization numbers are:
The new Covid-19 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, has been detected in a Covid-19 patient in San Diego, California,?county supervisor Nathan Fletcher?announced Wednesday during a news conference.?
Fletcher said the patient is a 30-year-old man with no travel history that started developing Covid-related symptoms on Dec. 27.?
An?ensemble?forecast?published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects there will be 383,000 to 424,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Jan. 23.
Unlike some individual models, the?CDC’s?ensemble?forecast?only offers projections a few weeks into the future. The previous?ensemble?forecast, published Dec. 23, projected up to 419,000 coronavirus deaths by Jan. 16.
At least?341,845?people?have already died from Covid-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Los Angeles County reported 274 new fatalities related to coronavirus, surpassing a total of 10,000 deaths, health officials confirmed in a news conference on Wednesday.
The county broke its previous record of 227 deaths on Tuesday.?
Ferrer also noted that the high number is due to a backlog associated with an outage.
According to Ferrer, the number of people dying from the virus is as high as the average number of people dying each day from every other cause, which is about 170 people.
Mortuaries across the county are filling up and they are struggling to find space for Covid victims, Department of Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said.
More data:?The daily positivity rate in the county is about 20% and over 7,000 people are hospitalized, Ferrer said.
While the new Covid-19 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, has not been reported in Los Angeles County, she said, “this doesn’t mean the variant is not circulating in L.A. County.”
She explained that the variant was not found in the first set of samples that were tested.
To date, the county has a total of 756,116 coronavirus cases and 10,056 deaths.
Things are going to drag on in the Senate for a few days.
Bottom line: There is absolutely no sign right now that a standalone bill on $2,000 checks is going to get a vote on the Senate floor. It looks like McConnell is?simply going to run out the clock. There were several opportunities on Tuesday when McConnell could have made that assurance or let Democrats pass the bill with a unanimous consent agreement that would have shielded his members from having to take a potentially tough vote.
McConnell?blocked those efforts.
Instead, he gave himself an out card down the line – and only if he needs one – by placing on the calendar a bill that would tie?a repeal of Section 230?to increasing direct stimulus payments to $2,000 for Americans under a certain income level. The Kentucky Republican may never bring it up. It’s there just in case he needs to put something on the floor. Democrats were furious. And there’s nothing they can do about it.
Meanwhile: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin?tweeted Tuesday evening?that direct payments to Americans were expected to begin arriving immediately. These would be the $600 payments included in the relief package President Donald Trump signed on Sunday evening.
Read the full story:
