COVID-19 Update

World

• New Cases:   786,764 (⬆︎ .90%)
• New Deaths:    14,581 (⬆︎ .78%)

USA

• New Cases:   260,973 (⬆︎ 1.21%) 🏆  NEW RECORD!!
• New Deaths       4,100 (⬆︎ 1.21%) 🏆  NEW RECORD!!

Yesterday, an American died of COVID-19 every 21 seconds.

And even though the astonishing pace of yesterday's COVID numbers will likely not be sustained, it serves us well to understand that if this monster is allowed to continue unaddressed, the outlook is bleak indeed.

Before the end of next month 

• Total Cases:  40 million
• Total Deaths:   1 million

Of course, our government is otherwise occupied, having been recently inconvenienced by a minor insurrection at the US Capitol yesterday. But hey - we can walk and chew gum, right?

WaPo:

• National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins acknowledged that the distribution of coronavirus vaccines got off to a “rocky beginning” but said he wasn’t surprised.
• Students on the campus of the University of California at San Diego can now access free, self-administered coronavirus tests at vending machines.
• Private payrolls unexpectedly contracted in December for the first time in seven months, a signal that the economic recovery is stalling.
• The World Bank has downgraded its global economic forecast for the coming decade, saying Tuesday that a “decade of growth disappointments” could be on the way if policymakers don’t take swift action.
• An already scaled-back Grammy Awards ceremony has been postponed because of the “deteriorating COVID situation” in Los Angeles, where intensive care units are at capacity and ambulances are being told to ration oxygen.