This is what happens with the pandemic in the US on Friday:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
– After months of serving as a role model in the fight against COVID-19, California has seen infections spiral out of control for weeks. It now has the worst coronavirus diagnosis rate in the US. Experts say a variety of factors have combined to nullify California’s past efforts, which quelled the peaks and kept the virus manageable for much of the year. Cramped housing, travel and Thanksgiving gatherings contributed to the spread, along with public fatigue amid regulations that shut down many schools and businesses and encouraged – or required – an isolated lifestyle.
– Health officials say they have found evidence in a Florida man of the latest US case of the new and apparently more contagious variant of coronavirus first seen in England. The Florida Health Department tweeted a statement late Thursday that the variant was discovered in a man in his 20s with no recent travel history. It comes after recent reports of confirmed cases elsewhere, in Colorado and California. The cases have raised questions about how the COVID-19 variant circulating in England got to the US, where experts say it is likely already spreading.
– Quarantined for ten months and working from home because of the pandemic, the lives of pets and the relationships with people have changed in many cases. For many dogs, pandemic life is life as it was meant to be: people walk around 24/7, walk and treat on demand, and sneak up on their beds at night. Cats are more affectionate than ever, some even need attention. The long-term consequences are unknown.
THE NUMBERS: According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day moving average for daily new deaths in the US has dropped from 2,646 on December 17 to 2,387.7 on December 31 in the past two weeks.
DEATH TOLL: The number of COVID-19 related deaths in the US is over 346,000.
QUOTABLE: “I think January is going to get worse at this point than we imagined,” said Dr. Don Williamson, the head of the Alabama Hospital Association after watching Christmas events online that showed many people who were not wearing a mask. “We will absolutely reap the whirlwind of new cases because of our reluctance to do simple things simply.”
ICYMI: Authorities have arrested a pharmacist in suburban Milwaukee suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by taking them out of the refrigerator for two nights. Grafton police said the former Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless threat, falsifying a prescription drug and criminal property damage. Advocate Aurora Health Care Chief Medical Group Officer Jeff Bahr says pharmacist deliberately removed 57 vials containing hundreds of doses of the Moderna vaccine from the refrigerator overnight on December 24, returned them, and then returned them on the night of December 25. omitted.
ON THE HORIZON: Congress ends a chaotic session with a rare Republican rejection of President Donald Trump. GOP senators are ignoring the outgoing president’s demand to increase COVID-19 support checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000. They are ready to override his veto on a major defense law. Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says Congress could try again to approve larger COVID-19 support checks after the new session opens Sunday. Senate leader Mitch McConnell says Congress has provided enough pandemic aid for now. The stalemate is expected to lift over the weekend.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic