Where do we stand across the country – and the world – as COVID-19 remains relentless?
Summary
COVID-19 cases and deaths are at an all-time high across the country as contact tracers and public health officials scramble to keep up.
- Despite promising vaccine trials, the COVID-19 pandemic is not letting up in the United States, with over 100,000 new cases per day and over 250,000 deaths total.
- Several states, including Michigan and California, have re-instituted lockdowns in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
- As Biden prepares to enter the White House, conversations have arisen surrounding a nationwide lockdown; he has said that he will not consider it.
- In New York City, schools will close for in-person classes after testing rates returned a consistent 3% positivity rate. It is unclear when schools will re-open.
- In California, in-person dining is banned and social gatherings are discouraged; Governor Gavin Newsom received backlash for apparently flouting these rules by eating at a high-end restaurant over the weekend.
- With the relief provided by the CARES Act set to expire on 26 December, the impact of the pandemic will soon be felt more urgently than ever by millions of Americans who will lose unemployment and housing benefits.
- Congress has been negotiating a new relief bill for several months to no avail. In a statement on Wednesday, Biden said that he is confident that a stimulus bill will pass once he is in office.
- Attributes the severity of the pandemic to individuals who lack collective responsibility. CNN highlights a statement from the WHO which says that lockdowns would not be required if individuals had followed mask mandates. Politico and New York Times highlight the Newsom scandal in California as an example of this irresponsibility, calling him a hypocrite who sends the message, “do what I say, not what I dine.”
- Slams Republicans for their role in the worsening crisis. CBS and HuffPost do a deep-dive on the 12 million Americans who will be impacted by the expiring unemployment benefits at the hands of congress and CNN says that Americans are suffering directly at the hands of Donald Trump’s poor leadership.
- Highlights the personal toll of the pandemic. Washington Post featured an emotional editorial from a contact tracer in North Dakota who has lost all hope. Independent reports on the schoolchildren in New York City who will not be able to attend remote classes because they lack resources and technology.
- Maintains that Democrats are equally to blame for the lack of movement on COVID-19 relief. The New York Post reports that Bill DeBlasio was obfuscating Coronavirus records, and Fox News reports on California Governor Newsom’s flagrant disregard for his own rules. The Daily Mail highlights other Democratic leaders who have not followed Coronavirus restrictions. Daily Caller writes that Democrats blocked the stimulus package.
- Expresses outrage at increasingly strict COVID-19 restrictions. The Blaze writes about a Pennsylvania county which mandates citizens to wear masks inside their homes.
- Generally reports that Republicans acknowledge the threat of the Coronavirus, and resents the sentiment being spread on the Left that they are not taking the virus seriously.
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© Evelyn Torsher, 2020
