Cuomo: New [COVID-19] Strain Found in United Kingdom is ‘very Concerning’
Tags: Vaccines, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Health, Vacation

Here’s the latest on the coronavirus pandemic for December 22, 2020:

The Virginia Department of Health reported 314,481 cases of COVID-19–268,472 confirmed and 46,009 probable — Tuesday. The death toll is now at 4,705.

Virginia Hospitals and Healthcare Association reported 28,175 people with the virus have been released from the hospital.

A total of 1,836 outbreaks in the state has contributed to 41,727 COVID-19 cases. The state’s positivity rate remains at 11.4 percent.

With about 80% of its ICU beds filled, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System will implement tighter restrictions on patient visitation Tuesday by limiting visits for adults without COVID-19 from noon to 8 p.m. only.

The current policy at VCU Health’s hospital in Richmond allows for only one person to visit a non-COVID-19 patient between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The impending change on Tuesday will cut that window by four hours, VCU Health spokeswoman Laura Rossacher told 8News’ Kerri O’Brien.

Dr. David Lanning, the interim chief medical officer for VCU Medical Center, said the system has over 70 COVID-19 patients as of Monday and will have to reschedule some elective surgeries and shift an unknown number of appointments to telemedicine due to growing concerns over the strain on the hospital’s ICU.

TESTING LOCATIONS NEAR YOU

CHESTERFIELD

Monday, Dec. 28–1 to 3 p.m. Second Baptist Church, 5100 West Hundred Road

Tuesdays: Dec. 22 and 29–10 a.m. to noon. Walmsley United Methodist Church, 2950 Walmsley Blvd.

Wednesdays: Dec. 30–10 a.m. to noon. St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, 4400 Beulah Road

Thursday: Dec. 31–10 a.m. to noon. Walmsley United Methodist Church, 2950 Walmsley Blvd.

Flu vaccines are also available everyday Monday-Friday throughout December (closed on the 24th and 25th), 8:00am-4:30pm at Richmond City Health District (400 E Cary St, Richmond, VA 23220).

LOCAL COVID-19 CASES

Charles City County: 169 cases, 8 deaths

Chesterfield County: 11,678 cases, 156 deaths

City of Colonial Heights: 546 cases, 27 deaths

City of Hopewell: 762 cases, 9 deaths

City of Richmond: 8,349 cases, 90 deaths

Dinwiddie County: 828 cases, 14 deaths

Goochland County: 543 cases, 7 deaths

Hanover County: 3,314 cases, 65 deaths

Henrico County: 10,924 cases, 275 deaths

New Kent County: 538 cases, 5 death

Powhatan County: 674 cases, 6 deaths

1. House passes $900 billion COVID relief, catchall measure

The House easily passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Monday night that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Lawmakers tacked on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill and thousands of pages of other end-of-session business in a massive bundle of bipartisan legislation as Capitol Hill prepared to close the books on the year.

The lopsided 359–53 vote was a bipartisan coda to months of partisanship and politicking as lawmakers wrangled over the relief question, a logjam that broke after President-elect Joe Biden urged his party to accept a compromise with top Republicans that is smaller than many Democrats would have liked.

The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House in a matter of hours. A Senate vote that would send the bill to President Donald Trump appeared likely to follow soon.

The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. It would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants, and theaters and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.

The 5,593-page legislation — by far the longest bill ever — came together Sunday after months of battling, posturing and postelection negotiating that reined in a number of Democratic demands as the end of the congressional session approached. President-elect Joe Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted in the fall.

“This deal is not everything I want — not by a long shot,” said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, R-Mass., a longstanding voice in the party’s old-school liberal wing. “The choice before us is simple. It’s about whether we help families or not. It’s about whether we help small businesses and restaurants or not. It’s about whether we boost (food stamp) benefits and strengthen anti-hunger programs or not. And whether we help those dealing with a job loss or not. To me, this is not a tough call.”

The Senate was also on track to pass a one-week stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight and give Trump time to sign the sweeping legislation.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a key negotiator, said on CNBC Monday morning that the direct payments would begin arriving in bank accounts next week.

Democrats promised more aid to come once Biden takes office, but Republicans were signaling a wait-and-see approach.

The measure would fund the government through September, wrapping a year’s worth of action on annual spending bills into a single package that never saw Senate committee or floor debate.

The legislation followed a tortured path. Democrats played hardball up until Election Day, amid accusations that they wanted to deny Trump a victory that might help him prevail. Democrats denied that, but their demands indeed became more realistic after Trump’s loss and as Biden made it clear that half a loaf was better than none.

The final bill bore ample resemblance to a $1 trillion package put together by Senate Republican leaders in July, a proposal that at the time was scoffed at by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as way too little.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took a victory lap after blocking far more ambitious legislation from reaching the Senate floor. He said the pragmatic approach of Biden was key.

“A few days ago, with a new president-elect of their own party, everything changed. Democrats suddenly came around to our position that we should find consensus, make law where we agree, and get urgent help out the door,” McConnell said.

On direct payments, the bill provides $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 to couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes. An additional $600 payment will be made per dependent child, similar to the last round of relief payments in the spring.

The $300 per week bonus jobless benefit was half the supplemental federal unemployment benefit provided under the $1.8 billion CARES Act in March. That more generous benefit and would be limited to 11 weeks instead of 16 weeks. The direct $600 stimulus payment was also half the March payment.

The CARES Act was credited with keeping the economy from falling off a cliff during widespread lockdowns in the spring, but Republicans controlling the Senate cited debt concerns in pushing against Democratic demands.

“Anyone who thinks this bill is enough hasn’t heard the desperation in the voices of their constituents, has not looked into the eyes of the small-business owner on the brink of ruin,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, a lifelong New Yorker who pushed hard for money helping his city’s transit systems, renters, theaters and restaurants.

Progress came after a bipartisan group of pragmatists and moderates devised a $908 billion plan that built a middle-ground position that the top four leaders of Congress — the GOP and Democratic leaders of both the House and Senate — used as the basis for their talks. The lawmakers urged leaders on both sides to back off of hardline positions.

“At times we felt like we were in the wilderness because people on all sides of the aisle didn’t want to give, in order to give the other side a win,” said freshman Rep. Elssa Slotkin, D-Mich. “And it was gross to watch, frankly.”

Republicans were most intent on reviving the Paycheck Protection Program with $284 billion, which would cover a second round of PPP grants to especially hard-hit businesses. Democrats won set-asides for low-income and minority communities.

The sweeping bill also contains $25 billion in rental assistance, $15 billion for theaters and other live venues, $82 billion for local schools, colleges and universities, and $10 billion for child care.

The governmentwide appropriations bill was likely to provide a last $1.4 billion installment for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall as a condition of winning his signature. The Pentagon would receive $696 billion. Democrats and Senate Republicans prevailed in a bid to use bookkeeping maneuvers to squeeze $12.5 billion more for domestic programs into the legislation.

The bill was an engine to carry much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished business, including an almost 400-page water resources bill that targets $10 billion for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental and coastal protection projects. Another addition would extend a batch of soon-to-expire tax breaks, such as one for craft brewers, wineries and distillers.

It also would carry numerous clean-energy provisions sought by Democrats with fossil fuel incentives favored by Republicans, $7 billion to increase access to broadband, $4 billion to help other nations vaccinate their people, $14 billion for cash-starved transit systems, $1 billion for Amtrak and $2 billion for airports and concessionaires. Food stamp benefits would temporarily be increased by 15%.

The Senate Historical Office said the previous record for the length of legislation was the 2,847-page tax reform bill of 1986 — about one-half the size of Monday’s behemoth.

2. Family of ICE detainee who died of COVID-19 sues for wrongful death

Carlos Escobar Mejia died in a hospital after contracting COVID-19 while being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in south San Diego County. He is considered the first person to die while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

The Otay Mesa Detention Center is run by a private company called CoreCivic under the direction of ICE.

In the suit, Escobar’s family claims “negligence, deliberate indifference to serious health and safety needs and wrongful death.”

Furthermore, they claim Escobar was held in conditions that would “expose him to a deadly disease.”

And that CoreCivic “deprived him of protective equipment, proper social distance, appropriate treatment, and all with the knowledge and participation of ICE and its officials.”

The family maintains Escobar’s death “did not have to happen.”

Otay Mesa Detention Center houses mostly migrants awaiting trial. It is operated by a private company based in Tennessee. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)

ICE has said it does not comment on pending litigation.

As for CoreCivic, it directed the media to a previous statement made after Escobar died:

“We extend our heartfelt sympathy to this individual’s loved ones.”

Records show Escobar was first detained in January after being arrested by the Border Patrol while riding in a friend’s car in San Diego’s East County. He has previously held for an immigration violation eight years earlier in Los Angeles.

He was denied bail and ordered held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

On April 24, Escobar was taken to a hospital and put on a ventilator.

“By the time defendant transported him to the hospital, Mr. Escobar was gasping for air and dying,” the lawsuit says. “He received a blood transfusion but he had already been too weakened by the virus.”

No monetary claim was made. The legal action calls for a jury to determine the amount of money to which the family might be entitled.

Including Escobar, eight migrant detainees nationwide have died from the virus since the pandemic began.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.

3. Warp Speed officials expect to distribute 8 million vaccine doses Christmas week

The second FDA-approved coronavirus vaccine started arriving at medical facilities Monday.

Officials with the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed (OWS) plan to distribute 7.9 million Moderna and Pfizer shots this week, even during the holiday.

“If needed and if required and if asked for by the states, industry is ready to go with delivery on Christmas Day,” said Gen. Gustave Perna, the OWS chief operating officer.

Perna is in charge of vaccine distribution and reiterated his apology during a briefing Monday after states complained about receiving fewer vaccines than they were promised. He called it a miscommunication.

“Everybody is receiving fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine,” Perna said.

OWS officials said that will continue as a third vaccine hits the market early next year. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna shots, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will take just one dose. However, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief advisor for OWS, said that doesn’t mean Johnson and Johnson’s is preferable to the others.

“All of these vaccines are important, and the doses are cumulative,” Slaoui said.

As more vaccine trials continue, Slaoui said so do studies of the shots in children. The FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for use in people 16 years of age and older, and Moderna’s shot for those 18 and up.

Slaoui stressed these 80 million children may be key to slowing the spread of the virus since they are usually asymptomatic.

“That’s why it’s really important that a large percentage of the population as a whole be vaccinated,” he said.

Slaoui said the shots are still on track to be widely available to all Americans by summer.

Following reports of a new mutation of the virus in the U.K., Slaoui said he expects the Pfizer and Moderna shots to be effective against the strain.

CVS also launched its partnership with the federal government Monday to vaccinate up to four million residents and staff at long-term care facilities across the country. The rollout begins with 12 states this week.

4. US health and defense officials give update 1 week into COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Senior officials with the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed provided an update Monday on the country’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The briefing with Department of Defense and Health and Human Services Department leaders comes exactly one week after the U.S. began administering the first coronavirus vaccines to health care workers.

Monday also marks the kickoff of a nationwide campaign to vaccinate nursing home residents against COVID-19.

US COVID-19 vaccination drive heads to nursing homes

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp are leading the program, in partnership with the federal government. It aims to vaccinate some 7 million people in more than 70,000 long-term care facilities.

The companies already started dosing some residents with Pfizer’s vaccine last week, but their full rollout begins Monday.

About 7.9 million doses of the two shots are being distributed nationwide this week, including on Christmas Day if necessary, according to U.S. Army General Gustave Perna, who oversees vaccine distribution through Operation Warp Speed.

About 50 million people in the United States will have had the first of two shots needed for immunization by the end of January, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said.

US health workers start receiving COVID-19 vaccines

The head of Operation Warp Speed said on Sunday that people who have been infected with the coronavirus — a group that includes President Donald Trump — should receive the vaccine.

White House officials have said that President Donald Trump will get the vaccine as soon as his team determines its best to do so. It remains unclear when that might be.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said last week that Trump was holding off, in part, “to show Americans that our priority are the most vulnerable.”

“The President wants to send a parallel message, which is, you know, our long-term care facility residents and our frontline workers are paramount in importance, and he wants to set an example in that regard,” she said.

Biden publicly receives COVID-19 vaccine

President-elect Joe Biden publicly received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine Monday. The vaccination was streamed live television as part of an effort to show that the inoculations are safe.

5. Gov. Cuomo: New COVID-19 strain found in United Kingdom is ‘very concerning’

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave an update regarding the state’s ongoing coronavirus response efforts, discussing new travel restrictions for incoming flights from the United Kingdom, vaccination rollout phases, and more during a Monday briefing.

On day 296 of the pandemic in New York state, the governor announced the following data:

156,510 COVID-19 tests statewide Sunday

5.75% positivity rate overall statewide

7.16% positivity rate inside micro-cluster hotspots

5.28% positivity rate outside micro-cluster hotspots

109 New Yorkers died Sunday from COVID-19

6,331 hospitalized

1,095 in ICU

613 intubated

The governor said the Rochester and Finger Lakes region remains the most problematic area in the state in terms of hospitalization rate per population, and positivity rate.

“They [Finger Lakes] have done a reversal with Western New York,” Gov. Cuomo said. “Finger Lakes is a problem because they are part of Western New York. There is a lot of travel between Buffalo, Erie County, Rochester, Monroe County, etc. The Finger Lakes are a problem in and of themselves, they’re also a problem for Western New York.”

The governor expressed caution about a new strain of COVID-19 found in the United Kingdom.

“This is very concerning, this new strain that they have found in the UK,” Gov. Cuomo said. “The strain, according to Boris Johnson, is 70% more transmissible than the old strain. They don’t know if there is any higher rate of death, they don’t know if the vaccine is effective with the new strain.

“The strain is so serious that the UK has closed down again,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We are on notice about it. Why don’t we act intelligently for a change? Why don’t we mandate testing before people get on the flight, or hold the flights from the UK now? Many other countries have done this, this is not a case of first impression. You have many countries that have just restricted flight from the UK, many European countries have done it. Why haven’t we done anything?”

The governor said that that he believes the new strain is in the United States already, although there’s been no documented cases of which at this time.

“When you do not require UK flights to be tested, you are allowing thousands of UK passengers to arrive here every day,” Gov. Cuomo said. “I believe, intuitively, it’s already here, because if it is flying around the world, it’s already here. I lived this and you lived this. This was the spring.”

The governor said British Airways has agreed to not send flights to New York state without the testing requirement. He said he asked Delta and Virgin Airlines to do the same.

“I am asking those airlines to add New York state to the list of the 120 countries that require tests before the flights leave the UK for New York,” Gov. Cuomo said. “If they [Delta and Virgin], and I’ve requested for them to voluntarily agree, if they do not agree, then New York state will pursue other options, but I would not be doing my job as the governor of New York if I sat here and let the federal incompetence create another disaster.”

The governor said some 38,000 New Yorkers have received the first dose of the vaccine so far.

“This is entirely done by medical professionals,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We get the vaccine, we distribute the vaccine to a regional hub hospital. That hospital does the vaccinations for that region. We define the categories of people who are eligible; phase 1a, phase 1b, etc. and we follow federal advice on that.”

The governor announced that vaccination started in nursing homes Monday morning and 101-year-old Freda Bernhardt of Rochester was among the first nursing home residents in the state to receive the vaccine.

101 year old Freda Bernhardt of Rochester among the first nursing home residents to receive COVID-19 vaccine in New York state. pic.twitter.com/awDNywv8yG

— News 8 WROC (@News_8) December 21, 2020

The governor said vaccination will expand to priority populations this week, including federally-qualified health center workers, EMTs, coroners, medical examiners, funeral home workers, and other congregate care workers and residents.

The governor also announced the formation of a new COVID-19 Vaccine Equality Taskforce, and four co-chairs.

“They’re job is to come up with an operational logistic plan,” Gov. Cuomo said. “How do we get it into black churches? Housing authorities? How do we get an education campaign to the black community, Latino community, poor communities, saying ‘this is safe.’”

The governor said that the vaccine means the end of the pandemic is in sight, but that New Yorkers must remain diligent throughout the holiday season to avoid a more severe COVID-19 surge.

“If we stay under control in the holiday season and, we don’t have a big spike, then it’s just a foot race: Us vs. the vaccine,” Gov. Cuomo said. “And we’re going to get the vaccine out, we’re going to get that vaccine out if I have to drive it.”

The governor said the $900 billion federal relief package included no funding for state and local governments, and he said that “would hurt people.”

“What they did provided no funding for New York state, New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, the counties,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We have a $15 billion deficit caused by COVID, cause by federal government, caused by their negligence, and the COVID spring ambush. I can’t make up a $15 billion deficit and that means we will lay off people.

“We should be fair to everyone,” Gov. Cuomo said. “When you don’t fund states and cities that means cities layoff police officers, firefighters, teachers: You hurt people when you don’t help the state. That means we can’t fund rent relief, mortgage relief. You hurt people, you hurt the schools. It was an impossible choice. An unfair, un-American choice.”

While other public officials, like Vice President Mike Pence and President-elect Joe Biden, have received the COVID-19 vaccine, the governor says he is in the general population portion and doesn’t want to take supply from essential workers.

“I’m in no special group,” Gov. Cuomo said. “I don’t have any underlying illnesses, so I am in no special group. I would be the general population group. We were thinking about getting people to take the vaccination as a way to build confidence in the vaccination and I think that’s why the vice president took it and Joe Biden took it.

“I have a lot of people who just say to me when I walk around ‘well if its so safe why didn’t you take it?’ which is such a good New York attitude,” Gov. Cuomo said. “I had said I would take it as soon as the panel authorizes it and I’m willing to take it. On the flip side it I don’t want to take it and make anybody say, ‘you took it when it could have gone to an essential worker.’ You can’t make anybody happy these days.”

In closing, the governor announced that the New York State Department of Health authorized a request for Santa Claus to be exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement, adding that Santa would wear a mask, and that it’s not practical to require quarantine for Mr. Claus.

In his briefings last week, the governor said the new mantra of the state will be “slow the spread, stop the shutdown,” as we head into the holiday season.

The governor said he believes the hospitals are equipped to handle the predicted holiday surge and the state can avoid a shutdown.

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