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Your Coronavirus Update Today Dec. 23, 2020
Photo: Dr. Anthony Fauci, after getting the first of his two vaccinations. He will turn 80 on Christmas Eve.
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
The COVID19 relief package did not provide new funding for state and local governments, which is likely to lead to more job cuts and higher taxes in parts of the country. Some states have said that among the likely areas for the cuts that state and local government will have to make: public transportation, police and fire departments, schools and health care programs.
7,400 more Rhode Islanders file for unemployment
New Massachusetts restrictions for 2 weeks will include cutting gatherings to 10 indoors, 25 outdoors; businesses 25% occupancym etc. They start the day after Christmas.
A Portsmouth Abbey boarding school student has tested positive
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island is partnering with local businesses to offer free grocery delivery for some of its Medicare Advantage members. More than 1,800 members with health conditions that put them at high risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 are receiving weekly contactless grocery deliveries during December and January.
Brown University’s School of Public Health recently received a supplemental grant of $273,000 from the National Institute of Aging to design and administer a monitoring system to identify side effects after the most frail receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
RI Data: Dec. 22, 2020
Deaths: 8
Tests: 12,445 – Positives: 880 – Percent Positive: 7.1%
Hospitalized: 440 – ICU: 54 – On ventilators: 38
Deaths in-hospital: 8 – New admissions: 54 – New discharges: 39
1st Vaccinations: 6,400
Governor’s address:
No address next week – next one is Thurs, Jan. 7th, 1pm
TY to members of the press for attending…
Reviewed Data.
New data is vaccinations administered. 6,400 Rhode Islanders have received their first dose. Long way to go and of course these people also need their 2nd shot in a few weeks. Hearing that manufacturers are cranking up their production, so RI is in good shape.
Percent positive rate is going in the right direction – we want to be at 5% or below – but we have turned the corner. That’s because of the pause, doing more testing, and better contact tracing, with no big backlog.
Name of the game: Protect your household. Stay with the people you live with. Do things with those you live with.
Asking everyone to get tested twice before the end of the year.
CaresAct funds: How we spent it. RI received 1.2billion. We’ve allocated all of that. We’ve spent it in6 areas of support: COVID Health Response, Business & Economic Support, Rhode Island Support, Education Support, Municipal Support, and State Government Response.
130 million to direct COVID health response – field hospitals, contact tracing, PPE, testing, community mitigation.
Half a million to business and economic development – hospitals, and local businesses. More than 10% of CARES Act money to struggling small businesses. We spent more than 5X much as CT and 15X as MA.
$125 M to small business
$45M for Back to Work initiative – job training and placement
$117M for schools
By end of next week, more than 5,000 out of work Rhode Islanders will have been trained, supported, and matched up with a job.
Thank you to all public employees who have stepped up and helped other Rhode Islanders move along. Governor thanked nearly all state departments and individuals who helped get Rhode Island through.
Wishes for a happy holiday – different kind of holiday – feels lonely – not what we would want but it’s about loving, finding the light in the darkness, finding hope. We did it. We made it to the end of the year.
Dr. Scott: Great to be back and thank you to all who left good wishes. Never symptomatic, was able to protect household.
Three main topics: Vaccinations – Testing – Treatment
Vaccinations: will start in nursing homes just after Christmas. Numbers will rise quickly.. We will vaccinate early on in Central Falls and move on to other zip codes that are hardest hit. Equity will be the guiding principle. There are warnings about scams issued in other countries. No paying for vaccines. No lists to get on.
Pop up testing sites are about meeting people where they are – not getting people to come to the site to get tested.
Not inclined to close down state to travel coming from outside US.
Brett Smiley: Don’t know exactly how much is coming from federal government for RI in latest package – rental assistance is exciting. Eviction moratorium extended. Will be a week or two before we know.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
Zillow predicts the biggest jump in home sales next year in US
36 people in Antartica have tested positive – elminating their zero positivity record
South Carolina Governor Henry McCaster tested positive for Covid-19 Monday evening and is experiencing “mild symptoms,”
A holiday celebration at a church in a small town in North Carolina has led to 97 Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, and this number is expected to grow in the coming days,
Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire has closed until at least mid-January
Dr. Birx said that she will be “helpful in any role that people think I can be helpful in, and then I will retire.” Though she didn’t name the AP report directly, Birx highlighted “what was done in the last week to my family.” She said that she intends to “be helpful through a period of time,” but added that “this experience has been a bit overwhelming, it’s been very difficult on my family.”
Vermont‘s Governor has eased restrictions to ok 2 households getting together for Christmas
Dr. Fauci, and other top health leaders received their vaccine shots today.
In a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll Wednesday through Sunday, 46% say they will take the vaccine as soon as they can.
President Trump took to a taped video message to insist that Congress amend the COVID Relief legislation that only provides $600 per person – advocating $2,000 per person. He also wants unrelated projects removed from the package. Speaker Pelosi supported the $2,000 edit – as well as Rep. Cicilline in RI. This is a developing story.