This is what happens on Friday with the pandemic in the US:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
– After months of serving as a model in the fight against COVID-19, California has seen infections get out of control for weeks. It now has the worst coronavirus diagnostic rate in the United States. Experts say several factors combined to end California’s past efforts, which for much of the year reduced flooding and kept the virus at manageable levels. Reduced housing, travel, and Thanksgiving meetings contributed to the spread, along with public fatigue amid regulations that closed many schools and businesses and fostered (or required) an isolated lifestyle.
– Health officials say they have found evidence in a Florida man of the latest case in the United States of the new apparently more contagious variant of coronavirus seen for the first time in England. The Florida Department of Health tweeted in a statement Thursday afternoon that the variant was detected in a 20-year-old man with no history of recent travel. It comes after recent reports of confirmed cases elsewhere, in Colorado and California. The cases have sparked questions about how the COVID-19 variant circulating in England came to the United States, where experts say it is probably already spreading.
– Ten months of quarantine and work from home due to the pandemic, the life of pets and relationships with humans they have changed in many cases. For many dogs, the pandemic life is the life it should have been: humans around 24 hours, 7 days a week, walk and try a la carte products and sneak into bed at night. Cats are more affectionate than ever, some even acting in need of attention. The long-term impacts are unknown.
THE NUMBERS: The seven-day average of new daily deaths in the United States has declined in the past two weeks, from 2,646 on Dec. 17 to 2,387.7 on Dec. 31, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
DEATH WEIGHT: The number of COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. is more than 346,000.
QUOTE: “I think January will be worse at this time than we imagined,” Dr. Don Williamson said., the head of the Alabama Hospital Association after seeing online Christmas events showing many people not wearing a mask. “We will absolutely secure the whirlwind of new cases because of our unwillingness to do simple things.”
ICYMI: Authorities Arrest Milwaukee Suburban Pharmacist Suspected of Deliberately Ruining Hundreds of Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine taking them out of the fridge for two nights. Grafton Police Department said former lawyer Aurora Health’s pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless danger, adulteration of prescription drugs and criminal damage to property. Aurora Health Care attorney Jeff Bahr said the pharmacist deliberately removed 57 vials containing hundreds of doses of the Modern Refrigeration Vaccine during the night of Dec. 24, returned them and left them. leave again on the night of December 25th.
ON THE HORIZON: Congress ends a chaotic session with a rare rejection of President Donald Trump’s Republicans. Republican Party senators ignore the outgoing president’s demand increase COVID-19 aid checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000. They are willing to overturn their veto on a major defense bill. Trump’s ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, says Congress could try again to pass larger COVID-19 aid controls after the new session opens on Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Congress has so far provided enough help for the pandemic. The stagnation is expected to drag on over the weekend.
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Find full AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic