Tuesday was deadliest day since April 15
The first day of December proved to be the most fatal from COVID-19 since mid-April.
According to Johns Hopkins data, 2,597 deaths were reported Tuesday, only 10 fewer than the record toll set April 15.
The U.S. has reported more than 13.7 million cases and over 271,000 deaths. The global totals: 64.1 million cases and 1.48 million deaths.
NY expects 170,000 vaccine doses Dec. 15
New York expects to receive 170,000 doses of an eventual vaccine by Dec. 15 and begin with vaccinations for health care workers and nursing home residents, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. The initial shipment will consist of the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech and depends on gaining emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.
The companies have reported the vaccine is 95% effective and the ongoing review of the data has not reported any serious safety concerns. The vaccine requires each person to receive two doses, and New York expects to receive another 170,000 doses within 21 days to meet that requirement, Cuomo said.
The rollout in New York is part of the initial wave of COVID-19 inoculations expected to begin across the country this month. Federal officials expect to be able to vaccinate about 20 million Americans by the end of December, or about 6% of the population, Cuomo said, calling the vaccination push as a historic challenge facing local, state and federal governments.
23-year-old: ‘I just had a stroke’
“Not taking this pandemic seriously? Keep reading,” Riley Behrens, a 23-year-old from Tempe, Arizona, wrote Sunday in a Twitter thread detailing five days of worsening illness. It had gotten nearly 150,000 likes and 45,000 retweets by Tuesday afternoon.
Behrens got a headache that night that he assumed was just stress. Thursday, he started to have trouble breathing and pain in his chest. It worsened on Friday.
On Saturday, he woke up with extreme weakness in his left side. He couldn’t balance on his left leg or open the door with his left hand. He was dizzy. His vision was also spotty through his left eye. After he was admitted, an MRI showed that he had a TIA, or a mild blood clot in the brain.
This sickness, he said, does not discriminate. It can affect people in ways we still know little about.
CDC warns against travel to Mexico
The CDC is urging Americans to avoid all travel to Mexico as that country grapples with rising deaths. The CDC has placed Mexico in the Level 4 risk category, which is the highest risk level for COVID-19. If anyone must travel to Mexico, the CDC recommends getting a viral test one to three days prior to traveling as well as prior to returning to the United States.
On Monday, World Health Organization DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “Mexico is in bad shape” and urged its leaders to be serious about the coronavirus and set examples for its citizens.
Mexico’s death toll has surpassed 105,000 – the fourth highest in the world – with 1.1 million confirmed cases. The country’s actual numbers are believed to be much higher partly because of low testing levels.
41 infected after La. swingers convention
At least 41 people have tested positive after attending a swingers convention in New Orleans last month, according to NOLA.com.
Bob Hannaford, the event’s organizer, said most of the cases were asymptomatic or very mild. Only one attendee was hospitalized in critical condition but has since been released, he said. Hannaford said Naughty in N’awlins attendees were required to wear masks, practice social distancing, use contact diaries and get tested for the coronavirus or antibodies before the event.
“If I could go back in time, I would not produce this event again,” Hannaford wrote in a blog post on Friday. “I wouldn’t do it again if I knew then what I know now. It weighs on me and it will continue to weigh on me until everyone is 100% better.”