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 , 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 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.  Europe's medicines regulator said some of the emails leaked on the internet from the cyber-attack it disclosed last month had been manipulated by the perpetrators in a way which could undermine trust in vaccines  President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration is set to be a celebratory event, featuring big names like Lady Gaga, John Legend and Bruce Springsteen, among others, but ahead of the big day, the new administration is first hosting a ceremony to remember and honor Americans around the country who have been killed COVID-19, with a ceremony, scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30PM ET, featuring the first-ever lighting around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

US Snapshots Seven-Day Trending Data compiled daily from John Hopkins CSSE Tracking and The COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic, which uses a Creative Common CC-BY-NC-4.0 license type

Trends as of Daily Average Daily Average Currently Currently on Fri Jan 15 Case Increase Death Increase Positivity Rate Total Tests Hospitalized Currently in ICU Ventilators This Week 239,332 3,310 8.35% 278,054,836 127,235 23,593 7,772 Last Week 244,950 2,961 8.20% 264,181,811 131,889 23,886 7,909 Change -5,618 349 0.15% 13,873,025 -4,654 -293 -137 % -2.29% 11.79% 1.83% 5.25% -3.53% -1.23% -1.73% As of Jan 14 10.52% 17.91% 2.33% 5.24% -2.59% 0.29% -0.28% As of Jan 13 15.96% 25.79% 2.59% 5.24% -1.58% 0.72% -0.69% As of Jan 12 18.65% 22.08% 2.98% 5.17% 0.10% 1.58% -1.22% As of Jan 11 18.25% 21.73% 3.37% 5.11% 1.20% 0.25% -1.88% As of Jan 10 16.68% 21.63% 3.38% 5.04% 2.94% 1.70% -2.01% As of Jan 9 18.71% 22.99% 3.52% 4.87% 5.77% 2.50% -1.65%

Trending Charts Charts compiled from Sunknighty CVOB web site via Johns Hopkins University data, updated daily at 5AM from the previous day’s numbers

3

4

States Charts data compiled from and posted to John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center

5

US Vaccinations Total Doses Data compiled by The Washington Post, updated January 15

Current Doses Data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, normally updated weekdays at 9AM on day of reporting

Total Doses % of Total Total Doses % of Total Date Distributed Change Population Administered Change Population

6 1/15/2021 31,161,075 532,900 9.50% 12,279,180 1,130,189 3.74% 1/14/2021 30,628,175 1,248,050 9.34% 11,148,991 870,529 3.40% 1/13/2021 29,380,125 1,683,975 8.96% 10,278,462 951,324 3.13% 1/12/2021 27,696,150 2,215,425 8.44% 9,327,138 339,816 2.84% 1/11/2021 25,480,725 3,343,375 7.77% 8,987,322 2,299,091 2.74% 1/8/2021 22,137,350 717,550 6.75% 6,688,231 768,813 2.04% 1/7/2021 21,419,800 4,130,850 6.53% 5,919,418 612,621 1.80% 1/6/2021 17,288,950 268,375 5.27% 5,306,797 470,328 1.62% 1/5/2021 17,020,575 1,602,075 5.19% 4,836,469 273,209 1.47% 1/4/2021 15,418,500 2,346,575 4.70% 4,563,260 337,504 1.39%  Total doses distributed are cumulative counts of vaccine doses recorded as shipped in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Tracking System.  Doses distributed are for both Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine; administered doses are for Pfizer BioNTech vaccine only at this time

State Doses Data compiled by CDC COVID Data Tracker for the number of people who have received initial doses, updated January 15

7

Vaccine by Type Data compiled by CDC COVID Data Tracker for the number of people who have received initial doses, updated January 15

8

Highlights NEW - President-elect Biden’s Coronavirus Plan 1. In a speech from Wilmington, Delaware today, President-elect Joe Biden laid out an ambitious plan to dramatically increase the number of vaccines administered after he takes office, with a chief goal of administering 100 million shots within his first 100 days in office. 2. The President-elect plans to encourage states to vaccinate all Americans 65 and older in an effort to speed up the vaccination process., saying that “The process of establishing priority groups was driven by science, but the implementation has been too rigid and confusing.” 3. Biden said his administration would support the establishment of new, federally supported community vaccination centers across the country, pay states back for any use of the National Guard to roll out vaccines, set up mobile vaccination clinics, help make more vaccines available in pharmacies and work more closely with federally qualified health centers, which provide health care to 30 million people. 4. The President-elect said he plans to use FEMA and the National Guard to build vaccine clinics in places like school gymnasiums, sports and communities centers across the US, and would invoke the Defense Production Act, if necessary, to build up vaccine supply. 5. Biden promised to help vaccinate more Americans by approving a wider range of professionals who can administer vaccines, and also said he would ask Congress to hire 100,000 more public health professionals to “surge the public health workforce.” 6. The administration will also make “programs available for high-risk settings, including homeless shelters, jails and institutions that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” 7. The President-elect pledged to better communicate with states about vaccine distribution, in the hopes of having a little less confusion about how many doses are coming and when, and in a fact sheet released as the President-elect relayed his vaccine plan pledged to make sure as many doses of vaccine are made available as possible and as fast as possible. 8. A face sheet released by the transition team said “President-elect Biden will address workforce needs by taking steps to allow additional qualified professionals to administer vaccines and strongly encourage states to use their flexibility fully to surge their workforce, including by expanding scope of practice laws and waiving licensing requirements as appropriate.” 9. Biden discussed the state of the pandemic in the country, saying the country remains in "a very dark winter," and that the “vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far." 10. Biden also announced that he will issue an executive order requiring everyone to wear masks in places where he has the authority to mandate it, called on Americans generally to “mask up for the next 100 days” and lambasted those who have made face coverings a political issue. 11. The mask executive order would cover federal property and interstate travel, such as on trains and planes, and Biden said he will be asking states and local governments to implement mask mandates through the spring.

9 12. The President-elect has selected David Kessler, a close adviser on the coronavirus crisis, to lead the next administration’s efforts to accelerate the manufacture, distribution and administration of coronavirus vaccines, the Biden transition team announced Friday morning. 13. Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said Friday he supports President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to try to speed up vaccination in the US. Vaccines – US 1. Vaccine maker Pfizer says it has second doses of vaccines ready to ship as needed - something that should reassure governors infuriated by the federal government’s announcement today that it does not have a reserve stockpile of vaccine doses. 2. Many US pharmacies, including those inside Kroger Co supermarkets and the drugstore chain of CVS Health Corp, say they will not be checking IDs before administering vaccines, leaving the door open to those who do not meet states' guidelines to jump the line. 3. A former Arkansas health official is sounding alarms about the pace of vaccines being administered to residents of long-term care facilities under a U.S. plan that puts major pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens in charge of many of the shots. 4. New York will get 50,000 fewer doses next week from the federal government than it did the week before, despite increasing the number of people eligible for the vaccine this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday. 5. New Jersey is receiving less than a fourth of the vaccines doses that it could be administering each week, according to state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. 6. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday they would run out of doses by next week, adding “It makes no sense that we’re being starved of the capacity we need.” 7. Northwell Health in New York, the largest health provider in the state, said yesterday that it was not scheduling additional appointments for the next several days given its limited supply. 8. Los Angeles County said it would open five more large-scale vaccination sites, including ones at famed concert venue the Forum, Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park and the Pomona Fairplex, site of the county fair, with each site able to accommodate about 4,000 people a day. 9. Mount Sinai Health System, one of New York City’s largest hospital networks, canceled many upcoming vaccination appointments for older patients Thursday, saying the doses it had anticipated receiving were no longer likely to arrive. 10. High winds caused a power outage in Colorado overnight on Thursday, affecting a supply of 165 doses of vaccines after a refrigerator at Kaiser Permanente Lakewood Medical Office temporarily stopped working. 11. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a rollout plan for her city today which includes three large vaccination sites as well as community sites that will distributed 10,000 doses per day, and starting January 19, people who live and work in the city can sign up to get vaccine notifications at a new website. 12. The Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was launched as a mass vaccination site starting Friday morning that will have the capacity to vaccinate 12,000 people each day, with a whole workforce deployed to administer doses. 13. Dr. , set of serve as President-elect Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Friday morning that "it's quite feasible" the US can achieve the new administration’s goal to distribute 100 million doses of vaccine in his first 100 days. 14. The White House administration’s move to expand vaccine access this week may have set unrealistic expectations that local health departments will have to manage, Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus advisory board said on Thursday, explaining “There’s no way vaccines are going to get to that number of people until in the summer, yet we just gave people this message.” 15. Rick Bright, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board, said today the administration plans to “push harder” on vaccination, adding that “We want to open the floodgates on vaccination and make sure everyone who wants to get vaccinated can do so as quickly as possible.” 16. The incoming Biden administration plans to retire the name for the vaccine effort under President Trump - - with a transition official for the incoming president saying they are "moving to a new phase" of the response. Vaccines - Global 1. Paraguay has become the latest Latin American country to approve emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said on Friday.

10 2. Nepal on Friday granted approval for AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine, the government said, following a meeting with neighboring India, a major manufacturer of the shot. 3. The European Union has administered 4.3 million doses of vaccine, according to data collated by Oxford University and last updated on Thursday, with the following representing the highest country totals:  The United Kingdom reports that 2,918,252 people have received their first dose, with many also receiving a second, according to government data.  Italy has seen a total of 972,099 total vaccinations given, according to Health ministry data.  Germany has seen 842,455 people receive the vaccine, which represents about 1% of the country's population, according to latest data from the Robert Koch Institute.  Spain has 676,186 people who have received the first dose, according to Spanish Health Ministry data.  Poland reports that 410,480 vaccinations have been given, according to the latest Polish government data.  France has a total of 318,216 people who have received the shot since the vaccine rollout began on December 27, according to the country's Health Ministry. 4. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday the government hoped to complete the vaccination program for care home residents and workers by the end of month, acknowledging problems with infection rates in such settings. 5. India is preparing to launch one of the most ambitious and complex nationwide campaigns in its history, the rollout of vaccines to 1.3 billion people, an undertaking that will stretch from the perilous reaches of the Himalayas to the dense jungles of the country’s southern tip. 6. Israel’s inoculation process has been the fastest, with roughly 25% of its population of nine million getting vaccinations in just one month. 7. Brazil’s Butantan health research institute in São Paulo will immediately deliver 6 million doses of the imported CoronaVac vaccine to the federal government following an urgent request from the health ministry. 8. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has been briefed and reassured by Pfizer's CEO that "all guaranteed doses of the first quarter will be delivered in the first quarter," she said Friday, and thought there is a production delay in the next weeks, the company deliver the vaccines as agreed. 9. Canada’s procurement minister called it "unfortunate" that Pfizer vaccine shipments would be delayed noting, "such delays and issues are to be expected when global supply chains are stretched well beyond their limits." 10. Germany's Health Ministry said the country's federal and state governments ''noted with regret'' the ''very short notice and unexpected announcement by the [European] Commission and Pfizer'' to limit vaccine deliveries temporarily due to modifications at the Puurs Pfizer plant in Belgium. 11. Italy’s virus emergency czar Domenico Arcuri said Friday he’s warned Pfizer that it faces potential unspecified action for temporarily reducing shipments of its vaccine to the country and other European countries. 12. Norway’s Director of Infection Prevention and Control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Geir Bukholm, said the country will receive 7,800 fewer doses than Pfizer had previously reported due to the delay of Pfizer vaccine supply. 13. In wake of the Covid-19 pandemic claiming 2 million lives, Secretary General António Guterres, the head of the United Nations has called for countries to "commit now" to share excess doses of vaccines, saying "The world’s leading economies have a special responsibility. Yet today we are seeing a vaccine vacuum. Vaccines are reaching high income countries quickly, while the world’s poorest have none at all." New Variants 1. Pfizer-BioNTech, the team making one of the authorized vaccines, released findings late Thursday showing that blood from people who have been vaccinated can effectively neutralize the mutated variants. 2. Testing labs across the US should be monitoring samples for mutated variants of the virus, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday, and there is a chance the mutations will cause some tests to return false-negative results, the agency warned, though it's unlikely most tests will miss people who are contagious and the risk of impacting overall accuracy is low. 3. Brazil researchers are warning that a new strain spotted just days ago could be aggravating an outbreak in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon rain-forest, with experts willing to infer the surge in cases that’s left Manaus hospitals without available beds and oxygen is tied to the new strain, but haven’t yet been able to confirm the suspicion. US Outbreak

11 1. There were 229,386 new cases confirmed in the US on Thursday, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University, the 10th consecutive day that the country has reported more than 200,000 infections. 2. The seven-day averages for cases are declining throughout the US, according to The COVID Tracking Project, with averages down in all four regions - Northeast, Midwest, South and West – the tracker compares. 3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ensemble projections now estimate 403,000 total deaths in the US by the third week of January as hospitals and health care systems scramble to keep up with the influx of new patients. 4. The influential coronavirus model at the University of Washington is projecting 192,000 people will die from coronavirus in the US between now and May 1, bringing the total to 566,720 deaths by May 1, the same number projected in its last estimate released December 23. 5. California recorded its second-most number of daily deaths Friday, and there were 21,856 patients hospitalized with the virus, down 1.6% from the prior day and 4.4% from a peak last week. 6. Texas recorded 20,000 or more new cases for a fourth consecutive day on Friday, the longest such streak since the pandemic emerged. 7. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday the city had added 4,650 confirmed and probable cases, recorded 286 new hospitalizations, and reported an 8.7% positivity rate on a seven-day average. 8. Laredo, Texas tweeted an "emergency message" Thursday saying their medical professionals are overwhelmed with the surge in cases, and asking people to “stay at home unless absolutely necessary.” US Restrictions & Schools 1. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum on Friday announced the state health officer’s statewide mask mandate that initially took effect November will be allowed to expire on Monday, and said that while officials are seeing lower numbers across the state, "we must remain vigilant," and encouraged the public to keep wearing masks "as part of the important work that we need to do to contain this virus and to maintain the strong position that we're in." 2. Illinois eased restrictions on three regions following a sustained drop in Covid-19 hospitalizations and cases on Friday but most regions including Chicago still need to see more declines before mitigation measures are relaxed and activities such as indoor dining are allowed again, Governor J.B. Pritzker said today. Global Outbreak 1. Britain recorded 55,761 new cases on Friday, an increase on the 48,682 cases recorded the previous day, as the number of infections rises despite hopes that lockdowns across the country could start to help push rates down. 2. Germany on Friday surpassed two million cases after adding 22,368 new coronavirus infections within 24 hours, the country's disease and control agency, the Robert Koch Institute said, with ten of the country’s 16 federal states now having reached 85% capacity in their intensive care units. 3. South Africa on Friday delayed the start to its new school year by two weeks to February 15, in order to prevent schools becoming transmission centers for COVID-19, as new cases have hovered around 20,000 a day for the past week. 4. Spain’s new cases rose to a daily record of 17,039, from 16,676 on Thursday, and the country’s 14-day infection rate climbed to 575.1 per 100,000 people from 522.7 the previous day. 5. Italy registered 16,146 new virus cases on Friday, from 17,246 the day before, and the positive test rate dropped from 10.7% to 5.9%. 6. Ireland’s Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group said on Thursday that almost half of the country’s infection since the pandemic began have been reported in the last two weeks, with 71,286 new cases, or one in every 67 people, confirmed in 14 days. 7. Russia will fully reopen schools across the country from next week and the second wave may have passed its peak, authorities said on Friday, as the national case tally passed the 3.5 million mark. 8. Tunisia said on Friday it recorded 4,170 new confirmed cases, a record since the start of the pandemic. 9. China continues to record an increasing number of new daily infections, with the country's National Health Commission reporting 144 new cases for Thursday, and of those cases, 135 were locally transmitted, with 90 in Hebei province, 43 in Heilongjiang province, 1 in Guangxi autonomous region, and 1 in Shaanxi province. 10. China’s National Health Commission said on Friday that more than 1,000 people nationwide were being treated for Covid-19, a day after the country reported its first death on the mainland since May, as the virus appears to be spreading widely once again despite the measures taken, including electronic monitoring and new lockdowns.

12 11. Moscow reported 5,534 newly confirmed cases and a new daily record of on Thursday, according to Russia's coronavirus response headquarters. 12. A Chinese city in Hebei province is building a quarantine facility with capacity for 3,000 people to support an anticipated surge of cases ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. 13. France Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday those traveling to the country from outside the European Union, including the United Kingdom, will need to present a negative test before arrival and self-isolate for seven days in the country, and extended the national curfew from 6PM until 6AM in a bid to fight its outbreak and “avoid harsher measures.” 14. Madrid has announced plans to bring forward the region’s curfew to 11PM from midnight starting January 18, and restaurants will need to close by 10PM. 15. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said today she will meet earlier than planned with the country's 16 regional leaders to discuss ramping up restrictions, as the virus surges across the country. 16. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has offered to send oxygen tanks to Brazil's hard-hit Amazonas state that is suffering from what the country’s health minister called a “collapse” in the healthcare system due to a spike in cases. 17. Greece’s conservative government said it would establish a dedicated police force for public transport in Athens following a series of violent altercations regarding masks, the most serious captured on a security video that shows two young men who had refused to wear masks repeatedly kicking a 53-year-old station master in the head and the back, breaking his nose, jaw and ribs. Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment 1. An experimental COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson produced protective antibodies against the novel coronavirus in 90% of 805 volunteers by 29 days, and that increased to 100% by day 57, according to data from an ongoing mid-stage study, with side effects such as fever, muscle aches and injection site pain resolving quickly. 2. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday that it still remains unclear for how long someone who has recovered from Covid-19 might be protected from getting re-infected and whether they can still carry the virus and spread it to others. 3. A large, national study in the United Kingdom by the University of Oxford examining convalescent plasma as a therapy for Covid-19 was ended after a finding that the treatment touted by US President Donald Trump doesn’t work. 4. Combining small antibodies called nanobodies into single molecules to fight the novel coronavirus may be more effective than targeting it with conventional antibodies or single nanobodies, according to a new study from the University of Bonn. 5. The US is estimated to lag behind more than 30 nations in its need for genetic sequencing that will help determine whether treatment regimens and vaccines remain effective against new mutations of the virus, according to an analysis by the Broad Institute, from the global GISAID Initiative database. Business Related 1. President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal calls for the most ambitious expansion of paid leave provisions yet, as it would extend mandatory paid leave to every American employee, calling for Congress to reinstate the requirement from last year for companies to provide at least two weeks of paid sick leave to workers at 100 percent of their pay, plus an additional 12 weeks to take care of children or family members for coronavirus- related reasons at two-thirds of their pay. 2. Small businesses won’t be able to get a second loan through the popular Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, according to a spokesperson at the Small Business Administration. 3. Holiday sales rose 8.3% from 2019, according to data released by the National Retail Federation Friday, figures that exceeded the industry group’s own expectations who had predicted in November that 2020 holiday sales would rise between 3.6% and 5.2% year-over-year, amounting to between $755.3 billion and $766.7 billion. 4. Trader Joe’s is providing employees with two hours of pay per dose of the vaccine received, and the popular grocery store chain is also providing scheduling flexibility so shifts don’t interfere with workers’ vaccination appointments. 5. Dollar General said that it would be giving a one-time payment equal to four hours of pay to frontline hourly team members after getting vaccinated and providing accommodations for salaried workers who need to take time off to get vaccinated.

13 6. Apple is reclosing some of its retail stores in Texas, North Carolina and Georgia amid spikes in those areas, with other stores temporarily closed or open by appointment only. 7. The number of new skyscrapers built globally dropped more than 20% in 2020, according to data released this week by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and last year saw the completion of 106 new buildings measuring 200 meters (656 feet) or above, down from 133 in 2019 - and the lowest total since 2014. Other Stories 1. Plans for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games are growing more uncertain by the day, and as cases rise throughout Japan and in several large countries in Europe and the Americas, officials in Tokyo and with the International Olympic Committee have begun to acknowledge that holding a safe Games might not be possible, endangering dreams that the Olympics could serve as a global celebration of the end of the pandemic. 2. Thailand’s national tourism authority has named six resorts that are offering “golf quarantine” packages under a December law that allows foreigners who meet certain requirements to spend their mandatory two-week quarantine on the links.

The Good Stuff: For ICU nurse Caitlyn Obrock, the last year has been a blur. She's treated hundreds of COVID-19 patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. But, she says, one patient stands above. "From the very beginning Monique was special to me," Obrock said. Monique Jones, 28, came to the hospital deathly ill from COVID-19 and six months pregnant. "The baby was priority over her," Obrock said of Jones. "She would do anything for her baby." Jones was eventually intubated, but Obrock talked to her and prayed over her for countless hours. When doctors decided the only hope for mother and child was an emergency C-section, Obrock made a promise. "I was like, if Monique makes it, we're going to throw her the biggest baby shower there is to have," Obrock said. It was a promise she joyfully kept when Zamyrah arrived - all 2 pounds, 5 ounces of her. "I just started crying as soon as I saw everything, like this couldn't be for me," Jones said of the baby shower. Obrock raised thousands from friends, family and coworkers. And even though her favorite patients are now out of the hospital, Obrock still visits regularly. She has to - she's the godmother and Jones' new best friend. "I never really felt that special to somebody. I really needed somebody like her," Jones said. It's important, especially at the end of this week, to know that, while all that was going on, so was this. While chaos reigned in Washington, compassion ruled in this corner of the heartland and across the country. Because the soul of America can't be ransacked and the solution to what ails us sure as heck isn't under a dome. "It's not a matter of politics, it's just a matter of loving people," Obrock said. "That's what we need. Days that I feel like I can't go anymore - through those hard days when I don't think my patient is going to make it - I just know there's another Monique that needs us." And there's your battle cry, America, for a real uprising.

Outbreak Statistics Numbers from John Hopkins CSSE Tracking are pulled daily at 5:00PM and changes reflect the past 24 hours Global Numbers Date Cases Deaths Recovered 15 Jan Fri 93,626,393 (+843,916) 2,004,269 (+17,633) - 2.14% 51,579,841 (+389,980)

14 Jan Thu 92,782,477 (+671,045) 1,986,636 (+13,577) - 2.14% 51,189,861 (+293,785) 13 Jan Wed 92,111,432 (+737,062) 1,973,059 (+16,424) - 2.14% 50,896,076 (+358,362) 12 Jan Tue 91,374,370 (+649,559) 1,956,635 (+15,492) - 2.14% 50,537,714 (+370,633)

11 Jan Mon 90,724,811 (+650,488) 1,941,143 (+9,090) - 2.14% 50,167,081 (+243,830) 10 Jan Sun 90,074,323 (+677,340) 1,932,053 (+10,101) - 2.14% 49,923,251 (+272,799) 9 Jan Sat 89,396,983 (+779,068) 1,921,952 (+13,956) - 2.15% 49,650,452 (+352,785) Top 15 Global Country Counts  Daily case change (total): US: +252,599 (23,475,380), United Kingdom: +104,599 (3,325,636), Brazil: +67,758 (8,324,294), Spain: +40,197 (2,252,164), South Africa: +33,383 (1,311,686), Russia: +24,294 (3,483,531), France: +21,785 (2,931,350), Germany: +19,662 (2,023,653), Colombia: +17,121 (1,849,101), Mexico: +16,468 (1,588,369), Italy: +16,144 (2,352,423), India: +15,590 (10,527,683), Argentina: +13,286 (1,770,715), Indonesia: +12,818 (882,418), Portugal: +10,663 (528,469)

14  Daily death change (total): US: +3,995 (391,098), United Kingdom: +2,533 (87,448), South Africa: +1,327 (36,467), Brazil: +1,131 (207,095), Germany: +1,033 (45,705), Mexico: +999 (137,916), France: +640 (70,090), Russia: +542 (63,558), Italy: +477 (81,325), Poland: +388 (32,844), Colombia: +367 (47,491), Indonesia: +238 (25,484), Spain: +235 (53,314), India: +191 (151,918), Canada: +190 (17,721) US Numbers Date Cases Deaths Recovered 15 Jan Fri 23,475,228 (+252,599) 391,095 (+3,995) - 1.67% 9,221,778 (+121,083) 14 Jan Thu 23,222,629 (+224,461) 387,100 (+3,765) - 1.67% 9,100,695 (+91,114)

13 Jan Wed 22,998,168 (+222,942) 383,335 (+3,894) - 1.67% 9,009,581 (+84,151) 12 Jan Tue 22,775,226 (+234,409) 379,441 (+4,071) - 1.67% 8,925,430 (+116,869) 11 Jan Mon 22,540,817 (+240,273) 375,370 (+1,704) - 1.67% 8,808,561 (+42,023)

10 Jan Sun 22,300,544 (+240,108) 373,666 (+2,053) - 1.68% 8,766,538 (+103,949) 9 Jan Sat 22,060,436 (+260,533) 371,613 (+3,687) - 1.68% 8,662,589 (+74,049) US State and Territory Counts  Cases by daily change (totals): California: +42,879 (2,896,220), Texas: +26,914 (2,069,286), New York: +19,469 (1,212,922), Florida: +16,875 (1,548,067), Arizona: +16,457 (658,186), Georgia: +9,806 (801,130), North Carolina: +8,914 (659,840), Ohio: +7,149 (814,442), Illinois: +6,642 (1,059,324), Pennsylvania: +6,079 (759,243), Massachusetts: +5,955 (454,402), Tennessee: +5,557 (676,039), Kansas: +5,316 (258,306), Virginia: +4,795 (422,634), South Carolina: +4,787 (375,967), Indiana: +4,666 (583,160), Kentucky: +4,063 (317,344), Louisiana: +3,705 (364,853), Oklahoma: +3,538 (348,044), Utah: +3,161 (320,102), Michigan: +3,088 (579,661), Alabama: +2,945 (417,528), Maryland: +2,924 (320,739), Connecticut: +2,846 (223,422), Wisconsin: +2,706 (563,866), Washington: +2,575 (283,777), Arkansas: +2,491 (264,511), Colorado: +2,403 (369,177), Mississippi: +2,342 (248,189), West Virginia: +2,257 (106,649), Missouri: +2,238 (445,827), Nevada: +1,878 (258,050), Minnesota: +1,627 (443,562), New Mexico: +1,424 (160,543), Iowa: +1,297 (303,103), Puerto Rico: +1,138 (85,954), Oregon: +1,137 (130,246), Rhode Island: +1,057 (104,443), Idaho: +994 (153,358), Nebraska: +932 (180,131), New Jersey: +898 (610,619), Maine: +823 (32,781), Delaware: +662 (68,727), New Hampshire: +653 (54,778), Montana: +525 (88,635), South Dakota: +425 (104,937), Wyoming: +412 (48,701), District of Columbia: +320 (33,140), Alaska: +309 (51,466), North Dakota: +221 (95,599), Hawaii: +164 (24,113), Vermont: +161 (9,734), Guam: +0 (7,457), Virgin Islands: +0 (2,166), Northern Mariana Islands: +0 (128), American Samoa: +0 (0)  Deaths by daily change (totals): California: +709 (32,426), Texas: +400 (31,693), Arizona: +367 (11,040), Pennsylvania: +225 (18,935), New York: +206 (40,637), Florida: +186 (23,799), Georgia: +163 (12,138), New Jersey: +159 (20,320), Illinois: +149 (19,873), North Carolina: +108 (7,933), South Carolina: +103 (6,037), Alabama: +85 (6,030), Tennessee: +79 (8,311), Massachusetts: +74 (13,433), Ohio: +67 (10,057), West Virginia: +62 (1,733), Connecticut: +58 (6,594), Mississippi: +55 (5,411), Kentucky: +51 (3,042), Maryland: +45 (6,494), Indiana: +44 (9,246), Oklahoma: +43 (2,925), Wisconsin: +42 (5,770), Arkansas: +42 (4,228), Nevada: +40 (3,698), Michigan: +39 (14,550), Washington: +38 (3,876), Minnesota: +33 (5,918), Missouri: +32 (6,436), Colorado: +31 (5,316), Virginia: +30 (5,656), New Mexico: +29 (2,836), Oregon: +29 (1,737), Idaho: +27 (1,591), North Dakota: +23 (1,395), Maine: +16 (477), Nebraska: +15 (1,818), South Dakota: +15 (1,629), Puerto Rico: +13 (1,692), Utah: +12 (1,472), New Hampshire: +12 (897), Rhode Island: +9 (2,005), Montana: +9 (1,086), Delaware: +7 (1,002), Iowa: +6 (4,257), Hawaii: +6 (317), Alaska: +1 (229), Vermont: +1 (163), Louisiana: +0 (8,080), Kansas: +0 (3,343), Wyoming: +0 (522), District of Columbia: +0 (842), Guam: +0 (124), Virgin Islands: +0 (24), Northern Mariana Islands: +0 (2), American Samoa: +0 (0)

US Testing and Treatment Statistics Data from The COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic, which uses a Creative Common CC-BY-NC-4.0 license type, typically posted by 7PM

% of Positive Negative Positive Pending Currently Currently in Currently on Date New Tests Results Results Total Results Tests Tests Hospitalized ICU Ventilators

15 Jan Fri 2,279,606 23,226,923 212,245,495 278,054,836 8.35% 11,948 127,235 23,593 7,772

15 14 Jan Thu 2,010,144 22,982,927 210,652,505 275,775,230 8.33% 12,138 128,947 23,891 7,878 13 Jan Wed 1,793,568 22,757,516 209,596,324 273,754,398 8.31% 10,942 130,383 23,877 7,898 12 Jan Tue 1,871,244 22,538,426 208,367,360 271,960,830 8.29% 9,181 131,326 23,881 7,879

11 Jan Mon 1,897,059 22,324,541 207,001,005 270,089,586 8.27% 11,039 129,748 23,494 7,781 10 Jan Sun 1,935,115 22,124,929 205,529,180 268,115,423 8.25% 10,957 129,229 23,625 7,782 9 Jan Sat 2,000,196 21,899,125 204,145,236 266,165,031 8.23% 10,850 130,777 23,731 7,787  Testing by daily change (currently): New York: +324,671 (28,455,705), California: +319,170 (37,449,536), New Jersey: +142,565 (8,676,802), Florida: +141,762 (17,424,558), Texas: +139,440 (15,443,899), Illinois: +107,156 (14,564,776), Massachusetts: +100,968 (12,147,366), North Carolina: +87,544 (7,937,712), Ohio: +63,540 (8,368,521), Arizona: +58,182 (5,912,271), Indiana: +56,420 (6,328,023), Maryland: +54,297 (6,352,475), Georgia: +43,014 (5,844,021), Michigan: +42,418 (8,757,257), Colorado: +41,266 (4,937,103), Minnesota: +41,027 (5,808,350), Tennessee: +34,138 (6,067,669), South Carolina: +33,632 (3,609,752), Connecticut: +30,477 (4,880,936), Louisiana: +29,479 (4,593,428), Wisconsin: +29,446 (5,745,570), Oklahoma: +29,085 (2,937,452), Washington: +24,797 (4,153,214), Virginia: +23,966 (4,730,680), Rhode Island: +22,490 (2,242,295), West Virginia: +21,675 (1,732,732), Oregon: +21,108 (2,895,680), Missouri: +21,019 (3,903,116), Pennsylvania: +18,566 (4,195,105), Kansas: +16,433 (1,100,365), Nevada: +14,971 (2,304,127), Arkansas: +14,768 (2,248,612), Maine: +14,579 (1,238,547), Utah: +14,503 (2,436,305), Kentucky: +13,548 (3,392,110), Alabama: +12,520 (2,012,213), Delaware: +11,518 (1,101,490), Vermont: +9,581 (788,759), New Hampshire: +8,568 (1,130,805), District of Columbia: +7,962 (986,795), Wyoming: +7,489 (549,805), Nebraska: +7,460 (1,894,614), Montana: +7,137 (869,564), Alaska: +6,950 (1,389,226), Hawaii: +5,812 (894,688), North Dakota: +4,640 (1,298,741), Iowa: +3,243 (1,212,121), Idaho: +2,614 (571,813), Mississippi: +2,342 (1,471,115), South Dakota: +1,336 (389,508), Puerto Rico: +1,138 (391,926), Guam: +244 (100,467), American Samoa: +0 (2,140), Northern Mariana Islands: +0 (17,557), Virgin Islands: +0 (37,925), New Mexico: -13,068 (2,127,494)  Hospitalization by daily change (currently; that report this data): Louisiana: +26 (2,001), Washington: +22 (1,105), Utah: +21 (635), Arkansas: +19 (1,314), Nebraska: +16 (465), Alabama: +13 (2,863), North Dakota: +10 (88), Rhode Island: +9 (384), Maryland: +5 (1,848), Hawaii: +4 (108), Ohio: +4 (3,793), Oklahoma: +3 (1,847), Guam: +0 (6), Idaho: +0 (338), Maine: +0 (193), Vermont: +0 (45), Wyoming: +0 (89), Georgia: -1 (5,967), District of Columbia: -2 (285), Missouri: -3 (2,611), South Carolina: -3 (2,424), Alaska: -4 (77), Montana: -4 (188), Indiana: -8 (2,432), Colorado: -12 (891), Delaware: -15 (451), New Hampshire: -15 (255), New York: -15 (8,808), Michigan: -16 (2,222), Kentucky: -17 (1,644), Iowa: -19 (513), West Virginia: -19 (717), Connecticut: -20 (1,098), South Dakota: -20 (227), New Mexico: -21 (670), Massachusetts: -25 (2,201), Puerto Rico: -25 (382), Oregon: -26 (444), Wisconsin: -27 (998), Minnesota: -33 (612), Mississippi: -46 (1,407), Virginia: -49 (3,147), Arizona: -64 (4,866), Illinois: -65 (3,446), Nevada: -70 (1,676), North Carolina: -74 (3,916), New Jersey: -95 (3,543), Texas: -99 (13,953), Kansas: -116 (776), Tennessee: -116 (3,034), Pennsylvania: -132 (4,848), Florida: -234 (7,528), California: -354 (21,856)

Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment Tracker data is consolidated from The New York Times and US CDC, (#) is change from last update, see Reference detail in Compiled Information following Vaccine Tracker (last updated January 14) PRECLINICAL PHASE I PHASE II PHASE III EARLY/LIMITED APPROVED

~150+ 43 22 20 8 2

Vaccine candidates Vaccines testing Vaccines in expanded Vaccines in large- Vaccines approved for Vaccines approved being evaluated safety and dosage safety trials scale efficacy tests early or limited use for full use

Early/Limited Use (in country): CanSinoBIO Biologics (China), Gamaleya Research Institute (Russia), Sinovac Biotech

(China), Sinopharm - Wuhan (China), Vector Institute (Russia) Emergency Use (in country): Pfizer-BioNTech (US and elsewhere), Moderna (US), AstraZeneca/University of Oxford

(Britain and elsewhere), Bharat Biotech (India), Sinopharm (China, UAE, Bahrain)

16 Approved (in country): Pfizer-BioNTech (multiple countries), Moderna (Canada and multiple countries) New additions and recent updates: • The Israel Institute for Biological Research moves to Phase 2 – Jan 14 • Brazil announces Sinovac’s vaccine has an efficacy of just over 50 percent – Jan 13 • California-based Arcturus moves to Phase 2 – Jan 12 • Canada’s VIDO enters Phase 1/2 – Jan 12 • The European Union authorizes Moderna’s vaccine – Jan 6 • Israel authorizes Moderna’s vaccine – Jan 4 • Taiwan’s Medigen moves to Phase 2 – Jan 4 • India authorizes a vaccine from Bharat Biotech – Jan 3 • India and Argentina authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – Jan 3 • India’s Zydus Cadila moves to Phase 3 – Jan 3 • India authorizes a vaccine from Bharat Biotech – Jan 3 • India and Argentina authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – Jan 3

Drug and Treatment Tracker (last updated January 8)

1 2 2 13 2 3 Tentative or mixed Pseudoscience or FDA Approved Widely used Promising evidence Not promising evidence fraud

FDA Approved: Remdesivir, Antibody (emergency use), Regeneron (emergency use) Widely Used: Prone positioning, ventilators and other respiratory support devices Promising: and Other Corticosteroids New additions and recent updates:  Regeneron’s antibody cocktail receives emergency use authorization from the F.D.A. - Nov. 21  An antibody treatment called bamlanivimab receives emergency use authorization from the FDA - Nov. 10  Remdesivir is approved as the first drug to treat Covid-19 - Oct. 23  A trial of Eli Lilly’s antibody therapy was paused to investigate a potential safety concern - Oct. 13  President Trump is taking the steroid dexamethasone. Oct. 4  President Trump is receiving a five-day course of remdesivir. Oct. 3  President Trump receives an experimental antibody cocktail - Oct. 2  Added vitamin and mineral supplements to other treatments - Sept. 29  Convalescent plasma was approved for emergency use - Aug. 24

US Restrictions Data compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation, typically updated at least every two weeks, Table available at CVOB website for sorting US Restrictions and Policy Actions - January 14 (previous update January 11) Status of Reopening Paused (4); New Restrictions Imposed (37: -1); Reopened (10: +1)

Stay at Home Order Stay at Home Order Eased or Lifted (41); New Stay at Home Order in Place (4); No Action (6) Mandatory Quarantine for Travelers Traveler Quarantine Mandate in Place (12); Traveler Quarantine Mandate Eased or Lifted (19); No Action (20) Non-Essential Business Closures Some or All Non-Essential Businesses Permitted to Reopen (28); New Business Closures or Limits (18); No Action (5)

Large Gatherings Ban All Gatherings Prohibited (6); >10 Prohibited (20); >25 Prohibited (3); >50 Prohibited (4); No Limit (18) Restaurant Limits Reopened to Dine-in Service (24: +1), Newly Closed to Indoor Dining (6); New Service Limits (20: -1), No Action (1) Bar Closures Closed (15); Reopened (18: +1); New Service Limits (18: -1)

Face Covering Requirement Required for General Public (40); Required for Certain Employees (5); Allows Local Officials to Require for General Public (4); No Action (4)

Emergency Declaration Yes (51); No (0

17

Back-to-Normal Index The Moody’s Analytics and CNN Business US Back-to-Normal Index is comprised of 37 national and seven state-level indicators, ranges from 0% - representing no economic activity, to 100% - representing the economy returning to its pre- pandemic level in March, and is updated weekly on Fridays for Wednesday numbers (see FAQ following for methodology) As of Wednesday, January 13, the Index was 81.0% (+7.0), with 51 (+45) states showing improvement since the previous week Recent Historical Trending

Oct - 6-Jan 7 9-Dec 2-Dec 4-Nov 13-Jan 13-Jan 28-Oct 21-Oct 14-Oct 30-Dec 23-Dec 16-Dec 25-Nov 18-Nov 11-Nov

81.0% 74.0% 75.3% 81.7% 82.0% 80.0% 78.5% 82.4% 81.6% 81.6% 80.0% 82.7% 81.5% 81.3% 81.2%

18

Statistics Sources John Hopkins CSSE Live Tracking Map, CDC US Case Reporting, Worldometer Coronavirus Pandemic, News Break Coronavirus Realtime Update Stats, Bing Covid19 Tracker, Covid Tracking Project, Uncast Social Distancing Scoreboard, University of Washington Outbreak Model, Moody’s Analytics and CNN Business Back-to-Normal Index

Reference CNN, Washington Post, CNBC, NBC News, CBS News, Bloomberg, Reuters, BBC, Reddit, American Banker, Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Compiled Informational FAQ’s, Insight, Tips and Best Practices (previously provided) – Temporarily removed, please reference our website and/or previous communications.

Max M. Morris Senior Director | Cyber Defense & Response [email protected] 704-534-0861

This message has been classified Proprietary by Morris, Max.

19