Microsoft Outlook

Morris, Max From: Morris, Max Sent: Friday, January 15, 2021 9:38 PM To: Morris, Max Subject: 01/15/2021 Coronavirus Daily Recap These updates are being shared to multiple organizations, individuals and lists who/which are bcc’d. Best effort we are sending Daily updates during the business week, typically in the evening, a Weekend Recap on Monday mornings, and any significant breaking news events provided anytime. Please note some numbers included in the Statistics and news stories come from various sources and so can vary as they are constantly changing and not reported at the same time. All communications are TLP GREEN and can be shared freely. Know someone who might want to be added to our Updates? Of course ask them first, and then have them send us an email to [email protected]. Live the message, share the message: Be safe – Stay home and limit travel as much as possible, self-quarantine if you or any members of your family are or may be sick, if you go out wear your mask – the right way, ensure safe social distancing, and practice good hygiene – wash your hands, avoid touching your face, and sanitize used items and surfaces. A (what I hope) great Friday evening All! Step back. Deep breath. You made it. Two weeks down. One week closer to getting back to our normal. Step by step. We can do it. Following are our key Headlines, US Snapshots, US Vaccinations, Highlights, the “Good Stuff” as well as key Statistics, Vaccine and Treatment information, US Restrictions and the Back to Normal Index related to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Tonight and until Monday, I leave you with the inspirational words of Jack London, who said: You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. As we look back over the past year, I think it is fair to admit that we all needed that little gentle shove in the back at least once. That little bit of extra incentive from ourselves – or someone else - to keep going a few times. Some days were good, others were a struggle, and then there were some that it took every ounce we had to struggle to even find the strength to keep going. But with all we have been through, we have found a way to keep going. And sometimes it may have taken the proverbial “club” over our head to help us get up and to find that inspiration. To keep moving ahead. And there will still be days like that ahead. We still have a ways to go. But. Yes, there’s my famous word again. But, with strength, with hope, with our family, with each other, we will continue. We will not give up, we will not let go of the promise of a brighter tomorrow. You have it in you. I have seen it since we started this journey together. And I will know we will all still have it when we come to the end of the road of the pandemic. So hang on, keep moving, keep the faith. And go after it with every ounce of internal fortitude and perseverance you have. Because it hasn’t stopped us yet. And it won’t now. Have a great weekend all. Remember … rest, recharge, relax . CVOB Website individual US State, US County, Global Trending Charts and Data as well as US Vaccinations, US Restrictions and our Communications Archive can be found at https://www.sunknighty.net/. Headlines The global death toll from the coronavirus soared past the two million mark on Friday, just over a year after the virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. US hospitalizations ticked lower for a second day straight on Thursday, according to data from The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project, with roughly 128,900 people currently being treated, down from 130,300 as of Wednesday and from 131,300 as of Tuesday, and though the earliest signs of improvement are a welcome change from skyrocketing hospital stays, patient volumes remain at overwhelming levels and near pandemic highs. The US has given more than 12 million doses of vaccines to 10.6 million people, according to data posted Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breaking down roughly to 7 million from Pfizer/BioNTech and 5 million from Moderna, with more than 1.6 million people already receiving both doses. 1 The highly contagious variant first seen in the United Kingdom will become the dominant strain in the US by March, its rapid spread heightening the urgency of getting people vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted Friday in its most sobering warning yet about mutations in the virus potentially fueling another wrenching surge of cases and deaths, releasing modeling data that backs up its forecast by showing a rapid spike in infections linked to the variant. Norway said vaccines may be too risky for the very old and terminally ill, the most cautious statement yet from a European health authority as countries assess the real-world side effects of the first shots to gain approval, as officials warned that 23 people had died in the country a short time after receiving their first dose of the vaccine, and of those deaths, 13 have been autopsied, with the results suggesting that common side effects may have contributed to severe reactions in frail, elderly people, according to the Medicines Agency. People across the world are generally likely to say yes to getting a vaccine, but would be more distrustful of shots made in China or Russia than those developed in Germany or the US, an international poll showed on Friday. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., racing against a surge in cases and the emergence of a new variant that could significantly worsen the public health crisis, announced a vaccination blitz Friday that calls for greatly expanding access while emphasizing equity in distribution, including to those in jail, but the plan is colliding with a sobering reality of only two federally authorized vaccines and supplies will be scarce for the next several months. [See special section following for Biden’s Coronavirus Plan announcement detail following] Governors, immunization managers and other officials expressed anger and dismay Friday when they learned the White House’s comments about holding back doses to ensure everyone who got a first dose would get a second one did not mean those second doses actually existed, as it was announced the reserve held for second shots was already exhausted when the administration vowed to release it earlier this week. New Jersey’s decision to allow the state’s estimated 2 million smokers to get vaccinated before teachers and public service workers is drawing intense criticism from some public health experts, who say the risks aren’t significant enough to bump them to the top of the list. Pfizer announced today that shipments from its vaccine facility in Puurs, Belgium, will be temporarily reduced as it scales up to produce two billion vaccine doses in 2021, with changes needed to the process and facility, and additional regulatory approvals required, but said that the company’s facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which supplies the US, will not be impacted. [See Global Vaccine section for reactions to the announcement] Covid-19 vaccines aren’t “silver bullets” and relying solely on them to fight the pandemic has hurt nations, according to the World Health Organization, with executive director Mike Ryan saying today that “We warned in 2020 that if we were to rely entirely on vaccines as the only solution, we could lose the very controlled measures that we had at our disposal at the time,” adding “And I think to some extent that has come true.” The United Kingdom will close all travel corridors from 4AM local time Monday, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday, who stressed that the only way to get into the country will be by having a negative test result within 72 hours before leaving. Although India has recorded more than 150,000 deaths, the world’s third-highest toll, hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims have gathered on the banks of the Ganges River in recent days as part of the Kumbh Mela, an annual pilgrimage. The US “has reason to believe” some Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, “with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses.” The World Health Organization on Friday refrained from advising proof of vaccination or immunity as a condition for international travel, citing "critical unknowns" regarding their efficacy in reducing transmission and limited availability. US retail sales declined 0.7% in December as renewed business restrictions undercut restaurant spending and reduced shopping mall traffic, with economists expecting flat retail sales in December, and the Commerce Department also saying November data was revised to show a sales decline of 1.4% instead of the 1.1% drop previously reported. The IRS announced it would begin accepting 2020 tax returns on February 12, a delay from the usual late-January start of tax season, as the agency said it needed more time to prepare its systems after the Covid relief act went into effect in late 2020. 2 The Federal Aviation Administration said it will implement a “zero tolerance” policy for unruly passengers and fine them up to $35,000, and Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian sent a message to travelers to behave or be banned after a spate of politically motivated disruptions on flights before and after the deadly riot at the US Capitol and an increase in the number of travelers who refuse to comply with pandemic face mask policies.

Load more