As of Tuesday, December 8, 2020, here are the latest COVID-19 numbers around the world, according to statistics aggregator, Worldometer.
- World Cases: Over 68.2 million.
- World Deaths: 1,556,236 deaths.
Countries Outside of the US with Most Infections:
- India: 9,725,525 confirmed cases; 141,264 deaths.
- Brazil: 6,630,949 confirmed cases; 177,400 deaths.
- Russia: 2,515,009 confirmed cases; 44,159 deaths.
- France: 2,295,908 confirmed cases; 55,521 deaths.
- Italy: 1,757,394 confirmed cases; 55,521 deaths.
UK Begins Vaccinating
The United Kingdom has officially become the first world nation to begin vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19. The first Briton to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was a 90-year-old woman named Margaret Keenan – she received the first two doses at around 6:30 am local time on Tuesday. “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year,” Keenan said, according to a statement released by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). “This is for a good cause so I’m so pleased I had it done. This is a terrible, terrible disease so we do want rid of it,” she added.
Japan Approves $708 Billion Stimulus Package
Japan has approved a $708 billion stimulus package intended to reboot its economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report, stimulus package allocates $384 billion USD to fiscal spending from the government, $177 billion to post-coronavirus economic growth, $57 billion to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and $54 billion to infrastructure improvement.
National News
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
- US Cases: Over 15.3 million.
- US Deaths: 291,061.
US States with Most Confirmed Cases:
- California: 1,396,453 confirmed cases; 20,049 deaths.
- Texas: 1,366,709 confirmed cases; 23,335 deaths.
- Florida: 1,065,785 confirmed cases; 19,282 deaths.
- Illinois: 796,264 confirmed cases; 14,216 deaths.
- New York: 752,073 confirmed cases; 35,097 deaths.
President Trump to Sign EO Prioritizing Vaccine Shipment to Americans
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday which will prioritize the shipment of a COVID-19 vaccine to Americans before other nations, according to senior officials and reported by CNN. The signing is expected to take place during a vaccine summit at the White House, and is intended to quell any fears that there won’t be enough vaccine to go around to each American after dispensing begins.
Peer-Reviewed Data Confirms AstraZeneca Vaccine is 70% Effective
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate was confirmed to be 70.4% effective in an interim analysis, published in a peer-viewed journal. “Overall vaccine efficacy across both groups was 70.4%,” the researchers – from the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca and other institutions around the world – wrote in the study. “Here, we present the first interim safety and efficacy data for a viral vector coronavirus vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, evaluated in four trials across three continents, showing significant vaccine efficacy of 70.4% after two doses and protection of 64.1% after at least one standard dose, against symptomatic disease, with no safety concerns,” the researchers wrote.
Pfizer Says People Need to Take 2 Doses for 95% Efficacy
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that while patients have some level of protection from COVID-19 after 12 days of taking the first dose, a second dose is necessary to achieve 95% efficacy. “This is a two-dose vaccine, so people need to take two doses to be able to feel confident that they’re protected at 95% — 95% chance of being protected,” Bourla said during an International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations briefing on Tuesday. “At the dose one, it’s around 50%, something like that.”
Trump Administration Official Explains Why US Passed Up on Buying More Pfizer Vaccine
An official with the White’s “Operation Warp Speed” explained why the team passed up a chance to purchase more than the current total of 100 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. According to the official, the decision was made as part of a plan to “diversify” the nation’s vaccine arsenal through the purchase of millions of doses from Pfizer’s rivals. At the time, officials at “Operation Warp Speed” had no idea the Pfizer vaccine was going to be this effective. “The plan was to diversify and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
Monday, December 7, 2020
US Nears 200,000 Cases Per Day Average
The US infection rate is dire and a vaccine can’t come soon enough. The US is now averaging 200,000 new cases of COVID-19 each day. Health experts say that “behavior and cold weather” are the culprits for the surge. “People are going indoors, they’re not minding the three W’s,” Health and Human Services secretary, Alex Azar, told Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday. “Our advice is always the same. Wash your hands, watch your distance, wear face coverings.”
Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized with COVID-19
Former New York City mayor and personal attorney of President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. Giuliani, 76, was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital on Sunday, according to a CNN report. Giuliani Tweeted that he is, “Getting great care and feeling good.”
Thank you to all my friends and followers for all the prayers and kind wishes.
I’m getting great care and feeling good.
Recovering quickly and keeping up with everything.
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) December 7, 2020
Gov. Cuomo Orders New York Hospitals to Increase Capacity by 25%
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced as part of NY’s new “Surge and Flex” strategy that hospitals must increase bed capacity by 25%. The state’s positivity rate is currently 4.79%.
Friday, December 4, 2020
- US Cases: Over 14.5 million.
- US Deaths: 283,519.
US States with Most Confirmed Cases:
- Texas: 1,317,457 confirmed cases; 22,279 deaths.
- California: 1,291,214 confirmed cases; 19,588 deaths.
- Florida: 1,029,030 confirmed cases; 18,874 deaths.
- Illinois: 759,562 confirmed cases; 13,625 deaths.
- New York: 713,587 confirmed cases; 34,829 deaths.
Biden Urges Americans to Don Masks for 100 Days
President-elect Joe Biden is urging Americans to wear masks for the next 100 days to reduce the spread of COVID-19. “Just 100 days to mask, not forever. One hundred days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction,” Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
COVID-19 the Leading Cause of Death in the US This Week
COVID-19 is the leading cause of death in the US this week – surpassing heart disease, and cancer. There were an average of 1,660 deaths per day across America this week, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the University of Washington.
Fauci Apologizes for Suggesting UK Rushed Vaccine
Dr. Anthony Fauci today apologized for suggesting British regulators had not scrutinized the disease closely enough. There really has been a misunderstanding, and for that, I’m sorry and I apologize for that. I do have great faith in both the scientific community and the regulatory community at the UK,” Fauci told the BBC. “I do have confidence. It came out wrong and that was not the way I meant it to be,” he added.
Thursday, December 3, 2020
UK Did Not Scrutinize Pfizer Vaccine Trial as Well as US FDA Did, Says Fauci
British health regulators who authorized the Pfizer vaccine did not scrutinize the trial data as closely as the US FDA is doing in its review, according to Dr. Fauci. “The way the FDA is, our FDA is doing it, is the correct way,” Fauci said in an interview on Fox News.
“We really scrutinize the data very carefully to guarantee to the American public that this is a safe and efficacious vaccine,” he said. “I think if we did any less, we would add to the already existing hesitancy on the part of many people to take the vaccine because they’re concerned about safety or they’re concerned that we went too quickly.”
Moderna Expects 100-125 Million Doses of Vaccine Globally in Early 2021
Moderna said on Thursday it expects between 100 million and 125 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine available by the first quarter of 2021. “Today, Moderna re-affirmed its expectation of having approximately 20 million doses available in the U.S. by the end of 2020,” the company said in a statement. “Additionally, the Company expects to have between 100 million and 125 million doses available globally in the first quarter of 2021, with 85-100 million of those available in the U.S. and 15-25 million of those available outside of the U.S. These expected first quarter doses are inclusive within the 500 million to up to 1 billion doses that the Company expects to manufacture globally in 2021.”
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
First Shipments of Pfizer Vaccine to be Delivered on Dec. 15
The first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered on December 15, according to Operation Warp Speed and reported by CNN. The date is still contingent upon a decision by the US Food and Drug Administration to authorize each vaccine for emergency use. Pfizer submitted an application to the FDA on November 20, and Moderna submitted its application 10 days later, on November 30.
CDC Advisory Panel Votes on Who Gets Vaccine First
A panel of advisers to the US CDC voted 13-1 to recommend that both health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities to be first in line for any COVID-19 that receives emergency use authorization from the FDA.
CDC Director Suggests Mandating COVID-19 Vaccine for Certain Industries
Certain occupations and populations may benefit from a coronavirus vaccine mandate, according to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield. “It will be a decision, I think, each industry will make,” Redfield said. “I do think there are certain industries where I think it would be important to protect their workforce, and some other industries where it may be important to make sure that they protect their costumers and consumers.”
US Surpasses 100,000 Hospitalizations
The US surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday, according to a report from the COVID Tracking Project (CTP).
Almost 50 NBA Players Test Positive
According to the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), of the 546 players tested for COVID-19 during this initial return-to-market testing phase, 48 have tested positive. The league reported that anyone who has returned a confirmed positive test during this initial phase of testing in their team’s market will be isolated until they are cleared for leaving isolation.
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
CDC Shortens Virus Quarantine Time
The CDC will issue new guidelines that recommend people who come in contact with a person infected with COVID-19 should quarantine for 10 days after exposure – down from the previous 14 days that government currently recommends.
All Americans Who Want to Be Vaccinated Can Be By June
An official with the White House’s Operation Warp Speed said today that any American who wants a COVID-19 vaccine will have one available to them by June. “A hundred percent of Americans that want the vaccine will have had the vaccine by that point in time,” said Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, director of supply, production and distribution for Operation Warp Speed.
US Nursing Home Cases Surging
Nursing homes in the US have reported their highest daily cases of COVID-19 since the spring, according to a report from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). “Our worst fears have come true as COVID runs rampant among the general population, and long term care facilities are powerless to fully prevent it from entering due to its asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread,” said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL, in a statement.
Credit: Original article published here.
