News and Weather Briefing for Thursday, December 31, 2020

OUTLOOK

Moisture increasing ahead of an approaching cold front will result in steadily increasing rain chances through Friday. Brief drying and very warm conditions are expected behind the departing front on Saturday, but with coastal low pressure along the stalling front likely bringing another round of rain Saturday night. Drier high pressure will return for the early and middle part of next week.

News Highlights

Macon County Public Health released a new schedule for their COVID-19 response. Currently, they are vaccinating people in Phase 1a.

• Three more COVID-19 Deaths in Macon County; Outbreak at Eckerd Living Center [LINK]
• North Carolina and Macon County Currently in Phase 1A of COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out [LINK]
• NC Coronavirus Taskforce Briefing for 12-30-2020 (includes Vaccination Schedule by Groups) [LINK]
• An important message from Franklin High School regarding Spring Semester changes [LINK]
• Macon County Board of Education Special Called Meeting Information [LINK]
• Community mourns the passing of beloved, veteran fire chief in North Carolina (Fox Carolina) [LINK]
• Gov. Cooper issued an Executive Order extending North Carolina’s evictions moratorium through January 31, 2021. [LINK]


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General forecast through Saturday night


Franklin area

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1pm. Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-50s. Calm winds. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

New Year's Eve

Showers, mainly after 10pm. Patchy fog after 11pm. Lows around 50. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

New Year's Day

Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 5pm. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs near 60. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Friday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am, then a slight chance of showers between 2am and 4am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph shifting to come out of the southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday

Partly sunny, with high in the mid-60s.

Saturday Night

A chance of showers between 8pm and 3am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Highlands area

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 9am. Areas of fog before noon, then patchy fog after 4pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the lower 50s. Winds out of thet southwest 5 to 10 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Thursday Night

Showers, mainly after 10pm. Widespread fog, mainly after midnight. Lows in the mid-to-upper 40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible.

New Year's Day

Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 4pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the mid-50s. Winds out of the southeast 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Friday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 10pm, then a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph shifting to come out of the southwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Saturday

Partly sunny, witha highs in the mid-50s.

Saturday Night

A chance of showers between 8pm and 3am. Partly cloudy, with lows in the mid-30s. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Otto area

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 10am. Patchy fog could linger until noon. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-50s. Light winds out of the southwest. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Thursday Night

Showers, mainly after 10pm. Patchy fog after 9pm. Lows around 50. Calm winds increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

New Year's Day

Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 4pm. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs near 60. WInds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Friday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph shifting to come out of the southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday

Partly sunny, with highs in the low-to-mid 60s.

Saturday Night

A chance of showers between 8pm and 3am. Partly cloudy, with lows around 40. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Nantahala area

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2pm. Patchy fog could last until noon. Otherwise, cloudy, with highs in the mid-50s. Light winds out of the southwest. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Thursday Night

Showers, mainly after 11pm. Patchy fog after 11pm. Lows around 50. Calm winds increasing to come out of the southeast around 5 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

New Year's Day

Showers. Patchy fog early. Highs near 60. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible.

Friday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely before 1am, then a slight chance of showers between 1am and 4am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-to-uper 40s. Winds out of the southeast 5 to 109 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday

Partly sunny, with highs in the upper 50s.

Saturday Night

A chance of showers between 8pm and 4am. Mostly cloudy, with lows in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation is 40%.



HAZARDS

Heavy rainfall is possible across the region New Year's Eve and Friday. Localized flooding of streams and main stem rivers, as well as low-lying and poor drainage areas, is possible.






COVID-19 Briefing

Virologists Amy Rosenfeld and Vincent Racaniello answer your COVID-19 questions on this livestream from 12/30/20 (editor's note: Amy is a scientist who does not suffer fools gladly and has no social filter. LOL) Here are the latest COVID-19 Numbers and Demographics Report from Macon Public Health, along with a couple of charts by Macon Media to show you the long-term trends since April 17th.

Cases

1534 Detected
(+70 from Tuesday and +203 from last Wednesday and +578 in four weeks)

368 Active
(+15 from Tuesday and +113 from last Wednesday and +294 in four weeks)

1154 Recovered
(+52 from Tuesday and +87 from last Wednesday and +281 in four weeks)

12 Deaths
(+3 from Tuesday and +3 from last Wednesday and +3 in four weeks)

Testing

7829 by MCPH
(+100 from Tuesday and +100 from last Wednesday and +776 in four weeks)

5080 by Others

(+166 from Tuesday and +215 from last Wednesday and +1104 in four weeks)

12909 total
(+266 from Tuesday and +315 from last Wednesday and +1880 in four weeks)

90 tests pending results
(+10 from Tuesday and +10 from last Wednesday and -618 in four weeks)

Air Quality

Air quality is in the extreme upper range of green today for all elevations.

Pollen

Pollen levels are expected to be low (0.3 out of 12) with mixed traces of sources being detectable. Tomorrow is expected to be about the same(0.3 out of 12).


Weather Extremes for Macon County for December 31st


Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin in 1951
lowest Temperature 2°F at the Coweeta Experimental Station in 1983
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 4.34 inches in Highlands in 2012
Greatest One-Day Snowfall 3.0 inches in Franklin in 1963

Weather Extremes for Macon County for the Month of December

Highest Temperature 78°F in Franklin in 1951
lowest Temperature -12°F in Highlands in 1917
Greatest One-Day Rainfall 6.00 inches in Highlands in 1901 Greatest One-Day Snowfall 12.0 inches in Franklin in 1876

TROPICAL WEATHER
(The North Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1st to Nov 30th)

The North Atlantic Hurricane Season is over for the year. If anything does develop, the information will be posted in this section of the weather briefing.







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Published at 4:205am on Thursday, December 31, 2020

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Three more COVID-19 Deaths in Macon County; Outbreak at Eckerd Living Center

Here are a pair of press releases from Macon Public Health. Three more Maconians have died due to COVID-19 and one staff member and five residents at the Eckerd Living Center have tested positive for COVID-19.

This brings the known death toll to 12 in Macon County.

 The press releases are posted below.

Macon County Public Health Identifies COVID-19 Outbreak

Macon County Public Health has identified a COVID-19 outbreak at Eckerd Living Center. One staff member and five residents have tested positive for COVID-19. All are well and isolated from others. Both facilities have been following the highest levels of Personal Protective Equipment standards while in their facility and especially when working with patients.

All the residents and staff of Eckerd Living Center have been notified of their exposure and will be tested for COVID-19 at the direction MCPH’s Medical Director and the facility’s leadership team. Plans are in place to isolate any other individuals, should there be a positive result. Eckerd Living Center and Macon County Public Health have been working together and have verified that both facilities have all the necessary PPE, sanitizing, and monitoring supplies and guidance they need to assure that any spread is minimal.

Eckerd Living Center will be closed to visitors to slow the risk of spread within the facility and to the community.

. All residents and staff of the facility have been tested and are awaiting results. All residents and staff will be tested every week until there are two consecutive weeks of all negative results. When two consecutive weeks of negative results for all come back, then the facility can begin to allow minimal visitation again. In addition to staff and residents, MCPH is working to identify any additional close contacts of these individuals.

The CDC defines close contact as being within approximately 6 feet of a person with an infection with COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time of 15 minutes or longer. Based on information provided by theindividual, county health officials will assess risks of exposure, determine which if any additional measures are needed such as temperature and symptom checks, quarantine and/or testing.

The entire state of North Carolina is under a “Safer at Home” executive order, currently under phase three with masks required to be worn when social distancing cannot be maintained. Older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19; however, anyone of any age can become infected with this illness. Therefore, we ask that community members strictly follow the governor’s orders and continue to practice social distancing, as well as safe hygiene measures such as hand washing and frequently cleaning touched objects and surfaces. The public can monitor the different phases of re-opening and learn more about the restrictions at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/guidance.

Symptoms for COVID-19 are fever, cough, other lower respiratory illness (shortness of breath). If you believe that you may have COVID-19, please call the Health Department at 828-349-2517. The call center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am – 4:00pm, closing daily for lunch from 12:00pm – 1:00pm, until further notice.


Macon County Reports Three Deaths Related to COVID-19

Three Macon County residents diagnosed with COVID-19 have passed away. The persons were over the age of 65 and had underlying health conditions. To protect the family ́s privacy, no further information will be released about these patients. These deaths bring Macon County to twelve deaths related to COVID-19.

“The family and loved ones of these individuals are in our thoughts and prayers. With the approaching New Year and as more people stay indoors, our community needs to continue to practice the 3Ws and be mindful of those that are higher risk,” stated Kathy McGaha, Macon County Health Director.

Mrs. McGaha continued, “We can make a difference by wearing a mask, washing our hands, and staying 6 feet from others. Continue to practice social distancing and limit your trips outside your home to help to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

The entire state of North Carolina is under a “Safer at Home” executive order, currently under phase three with masks required to be worn when social distancing cannot be maintained. Older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19; however, anyone of any age can become infected with this illness. Therefore, we ask that community members strictly follow the governor’s orders and continue to practice social distancing, as well as safe hygiene measures such as hand washing and frequently cleaning touched objects and surfaces. The public can monitor the different phases of re-opening and learn more about the restrictions at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/guidance.

It is important to make sure the information you are getting about COVID-19 is coming directly from reliable sources. For more information, please visit the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus and NCDHHS’ website at www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus, which also includes future positive COVID-19 test results in North Carolina.

MCPH regularly updates our Facebook page with accurate and current information regarding COVID-19; we encourage the public to check our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MaconPublicHealth for up-to-date information.

Symptoms for COVID-19 are fever, cough, other lower respiratory illness (shortness of breath). If you believe that you may have COVID-19, please call the Health Department at 828-349-2517. The call center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am – 4:00pm, closing daily for lunch from 12:00pm – 1:00pm, until further notice.

Read More

NC Coronavirus Taskforce Briefing for 12-30-2020

The Coronavirus Taskforce Briefing took place today shortly after 2pm. During the briefing, Mandy Cohen, the NCDHHS Secretary outline the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for the state. The video and the outline are posted below.

  ...........................

Covid-19 Vaccinations: Your best shot at stopping COVID-19

You have a spot, take your shot. A tested, safe and effective vaccine will be available to all who want it, but supplies will be limited at first. To save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19, independent state and federal public health advisory committees recommend first protecting health care workers caring for patients with COVID-19, people who are at the highest risk of being hospitalized or dying, and those at high risk of exposure to COVID-19.
 
Keep practicing the 3 Ws —wear a mask, wait six feet apart, wash your hands—until everyone has a chance to get vaccinated.

Phase 1A: Health care workers fighting COVID-19 & Long-Term Care staff and residents.

• Health care workers caring for and working directly with patients with COVID-19, including staff responsible for cleaning and maintenance in those areas
• Health care workers administering vaccine
• Long-term care staff and residents—people in skilled nursing facilities and in adult, family and group homes.

Phase 1b: Adults 75 years or older and frontline essential workers.

There is not enough vaccine for everyone in this phase to be vaccinated at the same time. Vaccinations will be available to groups in the following order.

• Group 1: Anyone 75 years or older, regardless of health status or living situation
• Group 2: Health care workers and frontline essential workers 50 years or older
  The CDC defines frontline essential workers as first responders (e.g., firefighters and police officers), corrections officers, food and agricultural workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, and those who work in the education sector (teachers and support staff members) as well as child care workers.
• Group 3: Health care workers and frontline essential workers of any age

Phase 2: Adults at high risk for exposure and at increased risk of severe illness.

Vaccinations will happen by group in the following order:

• Group 1: Anyone 65-74 years old, regardless of health status or living situation
• Group 2: Anyone 16-64 years old with high-risk medical conditions that increase risk of severe disease from COVID such as cancer, COPD, serious heart conditions, sickle cell disease, Type 2 diabetes, among others, regardless of living situation
• Group 3: Anyone who is incarcerated or living in other close group living settings who is not already vaccinated due to age, medical condition or job function.
• Group 4: Essential workers not yet vaccinated.
  The CDC defines these as workers in transportation and logistics, water and wastewater, food service, shelter and housing (e.g., construction), finance (e.g., bank tellers), information technology and communications, energy, legal, media, and public safety (e.g., engineers), and public health workers.

Phase 3: Students

• College and university students
• K-12 students age 16 and over. Younger children will only be vaccinated when the vaccine is approved for them.

Phase 4: Everyone who wants a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccination.

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Published at 2:28pm on Wednesday, December 30, 2020

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Moderna Vaccine Arrives in Macon County

(photos provided and remixed above into a photo collage by Macon Media as the the media was not allowed to be present for the event) All the other photos and video clips that were sent in the press release are posted at the end of the article in the interest of promoting transparency, both in local government and other news outlets.

PRESS RELEASE
MACON PUBLIC HEALTH

The Moderna Vaccine has arrived at Macon County Public Health. With this delivery, we have received 300 doses that will be used to begin to vaccinate healthcare workers in Macon County. Those vaccination efforts will begin this week. Further information about when the public can expect to receive the vaccine will follow, as soon as it is available.

##END PRESS RELEASE##

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Published at 4:11am on Wednesday, December 30, 2020

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North Carolina Coronavirus Taskforce Briefing for 12-22-2020

Yesterday afternoon, the North Carolina Coronavirus Taskforce held a briefing to update North Carolinians on the progress of the state's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor provided updated numbers and the Secretary of NCDHHS provided an update on the County Alert System and urged North Carolinians to continue to practice pandemic hygiene. The governor introduced a couple of faith leaders to speak of their experience during the pandemic and to urge people to play it safe during the holidays and avoid large gatherings and celebrating the holidays with family members who are not in their bubble. The governor then took questions from the press. Full details are in the video and a transcript that is being added to the article as time allows.

Video of Briefing



Transcript
(Visual aids added by Macon Media)

[This is a work in progress, there will be errors due to the voice recognition software not recognizing certain words and they are being corrected as they are discovered. Please keep checking by to see what has been added (and what has been corrected after having slipped by my first and second passes).  --Bobby]

Governor Roy Cooper:

Well, good afternoon everybody and thank you for joining today's COVID-19 update in North Carolina.

As of today, we have had 488,902 total cases. 5,255 new cases reported today. 3,001 people in our hospitals with COVID-19, and sadly, there are 6,291 people who have died. Our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones who are fighting this cruel, violent virus. And we know their hearts are heavy during this holiday season.

Today, an update to our county alert map reinforces what we already know covered. 19 is spreading rapidly through our state. As of today, 65 counties air designated as red, which means critical community spread 27 counties air labeled orange, which means substantial community spread. This is alarming. 92 of our 100 counties are designated as red or orange.

In the last week, we saw a daily case record of 8,444 with the percent of test positive coming back at more than 10%. This virus continues to spread quickly. Don't get numb to these numbers. They have plateau owed a bit over the last few weeks, but they are too high. We have strong safety protocols in place right now, and we have to keep following them.

I want to thank local governments and law enforcement who are helping to enforce them. Our communities are safer for it, and your efforts will save lives. I also want to recognize those communities who have seen law enforcement officers shot and killed in the line of duty in these past several weeks. It is senseless and appalling violence can never be tolerated, including against law enforcement. And our hearts are with you and those families' calls to those families or some of the hardest calls that I make and my prayers are with them and those entire communities.

So last week marked the first distribution of the Pfizer vaccine to 53 of our hospitals. This week will continue distributing the Pfizer vaccine and began distributing the Madonna vaccine as well, which is slated to go to 59 hospitals and 97 local health department sites. The federal government tells us how many doses to expect each week, and then the state decides where to send them.

We expect about 60,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine this week and 176,000 of the Moderna vaccine. I've witnessed firsthand some of our frontline healthcare workers receiving the first doses of the vaccine. And Dr Cohen and I were told yesterday at Duke Health that the most common side effect of the vaccine they were seeing is joy, joy that is a good kind of contagious. I was so glad to see this because our frontline healthcare workers have had a tough time dealing with this painful, lonely, slow death and destruction caused by this virus.

Until this vaccine gets enough people immunized, we owe it to those health care workers to double down on our prevention efforts like wearing a mask. When you think about their heroic efforts spending all day on their feet in full protective gear, rushing from one ill-covered patient to the other, it doesn't feel so hard to simply wear a mask at the grocery store or when we're with people we don't live with. Come on, guys, we can do this.

Finally, I wanna warn about scams that we're seeing related to the vaccine. Don't fall for crooks calling or emailing you and offering a place on a vaccine waiting list. There is no such thing. They're either trying to steal your money, your identity or both. The state has an action plan to distribute the vaccine effectively, and it does not involve calling you and asking for your personal information or your money.

Now I'd like to recognize Dr Mandy Cohen, our secretary of health and human services, for an update on where we are in North Carolina.

Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH

Secretary NC Department of Health and Human Services:

Good afternoon. Thank you, Governor.

We are at a moment in this pandemic of incredible highs and unfortunate painful lows. As the governor mentioned, he and I had the privilege of watching as our frontline healthcare workers who have been caring for COVID patients receive some of the first vaccines in the state, and you could see the relief on their faces when they rolled up their sleeves. It is gratifying to see these heroes who are courageously showing up every day to care for others get cared for themselves. We witnessed the promise of better days ahead. Unfortunately, those days are not yet here, and the lows of this past week have been painful.

The number of North Carolinians who have died from this pandemic surpassed 6000. Record numbers of people in our state are becoming sick enough to need to be in the hospital, and record numbers are in our intensive care units. And as you'll see from the data from our COVID-19 County Alert system, all but eight counties are red or orange.

Let's walk through that report right now as a reminder of the COVID-19 County Alert System uses a combination of three metrics to categorize counties.

• Case rates per 100,000 people over 14 days,
• Percent of tests that are positive, and
• A composite hospital impact score.

Using these metrics, we categorize counties into three color tears to describe the level of viral spread and healthcare impact. Red represents critical orange. Substantial yellow Significant.

This slide shows an updated county alert map. We now have 65 counties in the red at critical levels of viral spread. In our last report just two weeks ago, 48 counties were in the red.

In addition, there are another 27 counties that are now orange, with substantial levels of viral spread. That means over 90% of counties in North Carolina are red and orange, with the remaining eight in yellow, still having significant viral spread.

If you are in a red or orange county, you should limit going out to essential activities and avoid people that you don't live with.

On this slide, you can see how quickly things can escalate. That first map at the top is from just one month ago. There was a lot more yellow then, and remember, yellow still means significant viral spread, as you can see from the map on the bottom are state is now mostly red.

As I said at the outset, it's a time of mixed emotions. I remain very worried, and at the same time I'm full of hope. Hope, because we have vaccines that are 95% effective in preventing COVE in 19. They were built on years of work to develop vaccines for similar viruses.

More than 70,000 people volunteered to be in clinical trials that ultimately showed These vaccines are safe and work.

And as of early this morning, more than 24,000 healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients have received the first dose of the vaccine.

That data is now available on our COVID-19 dashboard.

[ Source: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations]
[Editor's Note: According to [this press release], from Angel Medical Center, they vaccinated 117 medical personnel Tuesday. The data in the dashboard may be delayed up to 72 hours. It is only (at the time of writing) showing 2 vaccinations in Macon County]

You can see how many people have been vaccinated statewide and by county of residents, as well as demographic information such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity supplies.

The vaccine is very limited for now. It will take many, many months to vaccinate everyone who wants it. Until then, I don't want to lose any more North Carolinians to this pandemic.

Together, we can keep people from getting sick, save lives and make sure our hospitals can care for people, whether it's for a heart attack or a car accident or for COVID-19, keep wearing a mask, waiting apart, and washing your hands frequently.

As you think about the upcoming Christmas and New Year's holidays, please avoid traveling and gathering. If you absolutely must get tested ahead of time. Where a mask all the time. Keep it small and keep it outdoors.

I'm grateful to the faith leaders here with us today who are doing all they can to protect their communities and finding new ways to join together in prayer and fellowship. Today, my reason is hope.

Whatever your reason, get behind the mask. Thank you, Governor.

[More to be added, please check by later this afternoon --Bobby]




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Published at 3:15am on Wednesday, December 23, 2020

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COVID-19 Briefing for 12-22-2020

Here is an update for this morning on how humanity is dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic that is caused by SARS CoV-2. The story is told through links to news outlets, research papers, and videos. They are presented without comment.


VIDEO: SARS-CoV-2 UK variant: Does it matter? (12-21-2020) [LINK]



COVID-19 Numbers from Macon County Public Health

Here are the latest COVID-19 Numbers and Demographics Report from Macon Public Health, along with a couple of charts by Macon Media to show you the long-term trends since April 17th.


Cases

1287 Detected
(+76 from Friday and +180 from last Monday and +378 in four weeks)

257 Active
(+76 from Friday and +134 from last Monday and +203 in four weeks)

1021 Recovered
(unchanged from Friday and +46 from last Monday and +174 in four weeks)

9 Deaths
(unchanged from Friday and unchanged from last Monday and unchanged in four weeks)

Testing

7708 by MCPH
(+4 from Friday and +179 from last Monday and +825 in four weeks)

4742 by Others
(+168 from Friday and +237 from last Monday and +1077 in four weeks)

12450 total
(+821 from Friday and +416 from last Monday and +1902 in four weeks)

92 tests pending results
(-145 from Friday and -192 from last Monday and +2 in four weeks)

Videos





Dr John Campbell: Update (12-21-2020)






Dr John Campbell: Viral mutation news (12-21-2020)






Dr John Campbell: Update (12-20-2020)





Michael Mina: Rapid Testing, Viruses, and the Engineering Mindset | Lex Fridman Podcast #146





Episode 36 Osterholm Update COVID-19: The Miracle in Brainerd



Inside this California hospital, a ‘constant battle’ against covid-19



UK Coronavirus Mutation | A Doctor Explains



Boris Johnson briefing after over 40 countries ban UK arrivals BBC News live (12-21-2020)



The WHO gives a COVID-19 update as new virus strain spreads in the UK





LIVE: Senate Takes Up $900 Billion Covid-19 Relief and Spending Bill as Vote Nears







Stories About Vaccines



Phased Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccines [LINK]

Do You Still Need the Vaccine If You've Already Had COVID-19? [LINK]

Debunking COVID-19 vaccine myths [LINK]

German health minister says vaccines effective against new coronavirus strain [LINK]

U.S. Has Administered 556,208 Vaccine Shots in First Week [LINK]

Pelosi, McConnell to get vaccine, urge members to do same [LINK]

Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask [LINK]

German health minister says vaccines effective against new coronavirus strain [LINK]

More Than 1.8 Million People Vaccinated, Moderna Shot Approved: Covid-19 Tracker [LINK]

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine shots leave warehouses, widening US push to immunize [LINK]

Johnson and Johnson Takes Big Step Forward With Its Vaccine Trial, Has Potential to Be Single Shot [LINK]

First shipments of Moderna vaccine roll out, a new weapon in U.S. Covid-19 response [LINK]

Adults over 75, frontline essential workers should be in second Covid-19 vaccine priority group, says CDC advisory panel [LINK]

No serious side effects from China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine: Egyptian official [LINK]


CDC Health Stats on first 100k doses in UK [LINK]

U.S. slashed vaccine numbers for several states due to confusion over FDA requirement [LINK]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine Status: Moderna to start dosing tomorrow; Oxford to get UK approval next week [LINK]

Viral targets for vaccines against COVID-19 [LINK]




Research Papers, Clinical Trials, Vaccines, and News About Testing



The engines of SARS-CoV-2 spread [LINK]

Threat Assessment Brief: Rapid increase of a SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike protein mutations observed in the United Kingdom [LINK]

Particle Testing Has Scientists Expecting a New Surge of COVID-19 Infections – Here’s Why [LINK]

Structural stability of SARS-CoV-2 virus like particles degrades with temperature [LINK]

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Threat Assessment Brief: Rapid increase of a SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike protein mutations observed in the United Kingdom [LINK]

Concern about loved ones might motivate people to mask up and get vaccine [LINK]

NERVTAG meeting on SARS-CoV-2 variant under investigation VUI-202012/01 [LINK]

Potential lessons from the Taiwan and New Zealand health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic [LINK]

Glycyrrhizin effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in vitro by inhibiting the viral main protease [LINK]

Sterilizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters conferred by a novel recombinant subunit vaccine [LINK]

SARS-CoV-2-Specific Antibody Profiles Distinguish Patients with Moderate from Severe COVID-19 [LINK]



Medical Professions and the Medical System




Hospitals Are Still Short on Masks and Other Protective Gear
Health care workers are urging the incoming Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to increase domestic manufacturing of personal protective equipment. [LINK]

Heartbreaking Photos From COVID-19 Medical Frontlines [LINK]

Readmission and Death After Initial Hospital Discharge Among Patients With COVID-19 [LINK]

Distressing video shows California hospital overwhelmed by COVID patients [LINK]

CDC appointees describe messaging winning out over science at the agency [LINK]

Hospitals at the brink as states brace for surge in COVID-19 deaths (video) [LINK]

Stillwater Medical Center to convert conference room to hold COVID patients (Oklahoma) [LINK]

COVID-19 crushing county's ERs: Too many patients, too few beds, not enough staff (San Diego County, California) [LINK]

Radio host dies after struggling to find ICU bed [LINK]

Babies and children 'forgotten and failed' in Covid response, say health workers [LINK]

Doctors say BJC prioritizing older employees for COVID-19 vaccine, not frontline workers (Missouri) [LINK]

Nursing Homes Grapple With Staff Hesitant to Get the Covid-19 Vaccine [LINK]



COVID-19 in the USA

Doctor Charged In Fake Covid ‘Miracle Cure’ Scheme Selling $3,995 Kits With Hydroxychloroquine Pills He Got For $1 [LINK]

US Public Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates [LINK]

Congress agrees to $900 billion Covid stimulus deal after months of failed negotiations [LINK]

EXPLAINER: Are New Coronavirus Strains Cause for Concern? [LINK]

Student with mom who's high risk for COVID-19 takes exams in hazmat suit [LINK]

Unprecedented coronavirus outbreaks at L.A. County supermarkets further strains the essential service (California) [LINK]

Police, firefighters, teachers will be next in line for COVID-19 vaccine [LINK]

Minnesota bar vows to stay open despite lawsuit, ban on indoor dining [LINK]

Buncombe County Schools pauses in-person learning because of COVID-19 community spread (North Carolina) [LINK]

Michigan movie theaters, casinos, bowling alleys to reopen Monday [LINK]

US considers lifting coronavirus restrictions for British travellers amid pressure from airlines and UK [LINK]

U.S. Ban on U.K. Flights Isn’t Needed, Virus Team Member Says [LINK]

TN Gov. Lee signs order limiting indoor public gatherings to 10 people, other measures [LINK]

Questions arise in vaccine distribution as Georgia tops 500,000 COVID-19 cases [LINK]

Businesses, lacking legal immunity, fear COVID-19 lawsuits [LINK]

COVID-19 in Tennessee: 16,036 cases, 111 deaths reported for Dec. 19 and 20 [LINK]


Florida reports 8,401 coronavirus cases, 97 deaths on Sunday [LINK]

Mostly virus-free Kauai hit by pandemic after travel resumes (Hawaii) [LINK]

From restaurants to retailers, virus transformed economies [LINK]

Birx travels, family visits highlight pandemic safety perils [LINK]

Racism targets Asian food, business amid COVID-19 pandemic, report suggests hate and discrimination against Asians went up by 46% in LA and 14% in New York [LINK]



COVID-19 Around the World

Patient in Rome found with new COVID-19 strain identified in UK [LINK]

'This is deadly serious' - New coronavirus variant 'out of control', health secretary warns (United Kingdom) [LINK]

Italy bans flights to/from UK, effective immediately. [LINK]

Most Texans want the vaccine, study finds [LINK]

Canada becomes the latest country to prohibit inbound flights from UK. France, Germany, Italy have already banned flights from UK due to rise in cases [LINK]

Romania ravaged by COVID as its doctors work abroad [LINK]

New coronavirus strain: What is it and should we be worried? - The Irish Times - Dec. 20, 2020 [LINK]

Turkey bans flights from UK, Denmark, Netherlands and S.Africa amid new virus strain [LINK]

S. Korea: New virus cases under 1,000 on fewer tests, further rise looming amid bigger wave of pandemic [LINK]


Colombia bans all flights from the United Kingdom, orders recent U.K. travelers to 14 days isolation [LINK]

‘Covid Can’t Compete.’ In Afghanistan, the Virus Is an Afterthought. [LINK]

Ontario will enter province-wide lockdown as of Christmas Eve, sources say (Canada) [LINK]

New COVID-19 strain: Saudi Arabia suspends international flights, closes land and sea ports [LINK]

Europe's coronavirus crisis is resurging. For months, 3 Nordic nations kept it under control — without lockdowns [LINK]

Sweden to ban travel from UK over new Covid strain [LINK]

South Africa’s second coronavirus wave is fueled by a new strain, teen ‘rage festivals’ [LINK]

India May Start Covid Vaccination In January, Says Health Minister [LINK]

Europe Moves to Isolate U.K. as Mutant Virus Ruins Christmas [LINK]

Victoria closes border to Greater Sydney residents as NSW COVID cluster explodes (Australia) [LINK]

Japan reports 2,496 new COVID-19 cases and 37 deaths for December 20th (as of 8PM JST) [LINK]

Emergence and rapid spread of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage with multiple spike mutations in South Africa [LINK]



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Published at 3:30am on Tuesday, December 22, 2020

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