Over-the-counter home test for COVID-19 gets U.S. green light French theater, cinema workers protest against virus closure Pandemic backlash jeopardizes public health powers, leaders Sweden’s prime minister says health officials misjudged new infection wave U.S. COVID-19 deaths top 300,000 just as vaccinations begin
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
ATLANTA The first coronavirus vaccines were administered Tuesday in Georgia as new infections continued to soar and many schools closed in-person classes for the remainder of the last week before Christmas.
Gov. Brian Kemp and Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey visited Savannah as the first four shots were administered to local health care workers.
9 & 10 News
December 15, 2020
SACRAMENTO, Calif. California is distributing 5,000 body bags mostly to the hard-hit Los Angeles and San Diego areas and has 60 refrigerated trailers standing by as makeshift morgues in anticipation of a surge of coronavirus deaths.
The precautions come from hospitalizations that now are double the summertime peak and threaten to soon overwhelm the hospital system.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the number of average daily deaths has quadrupled from a month ago. The surge is forcing an urgent scramble for more staff and space, a crush that might not abate for two months despite the arrival of the first doses of vaccines this week.
Coronavirus vaccines begin in Georgia; infections rise more
By JEFF AMYDecember 16, 2020 GMT
ATLANTA (AP) The first coronavirus vaccines were administered Tuesday in Georgia as new infections continued to soar and many schools closed in-person classes for the remainder of the last week before Christmas.
Gov. Brian Kemp and Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey visited Savannah as the first four shots were administered to representatives of the Chatham County Health Department and Savannah’s three hospitals, who will in turn give the shots to coworkers. The Republican governor warned the state is “not out of the woods” as cases continue to soar and many schools sent students home in the face of rising infection and quarantine numbers.
Over-the-counter home test for COVID-19 gets U.S. green light French theater, cinema workers protest against virus closure Pandemic backlash jeopardizes public health powers, leaders Sweden’s prime minister says health officials misjudged new infection wave U.S. COVID-19 deaths top 300,000 just as vaccinations begin
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
BOISE, Idaho A proposed public health order that would have included a mask mandate for Idaho’s most populated region was voted down on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters again gathered outside the Central District Health building in Boise.
A previous attempt to vote on the order was abruptly halted last week after Boise city police asked the board to end the meeting early amid protest-related safety fears.
9 & 10 News
December 16, 2020
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan The number of daily COVID-19 deaths in Pakistan crossed 100 for the first time in five months with the virus spreading fast in the financial capital of Karachi.
The 105 fatalities in the last 24 hours increased Pakistan’s death toll 9,010 since February. Pakistan also reported 2,731 new cases, increasing its total to 445,977.
Karachi has been especially hard hit with the positivity rate of 18.76% compared to 7.2% nationwide.
Despite repeated requests from the government, most Pakistanis appear to still not adhere to social distancing rules, causing a fresh surge in the country that until recently had kept COVID-19 deaths in double digits.