Here is what is happening on Saturday with the pandemic in the United States:
THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY
– The United States is by far the top country in COVID-19 cases, with the number of infections surpassing 80 million worldwide. Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed the mark on Saturday morning after 472,000 cases were recorded worldwide on Christmas Day. The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus pandemic across the world stands at 1.75 million. The United States reported 18.8 million infections, followed by India with 10.2 million and Brazil with 7.45 million.
– The impact of the pandemic on the homeless census worries the authorities. Federal officials and advocates fear that the 2020 census greatly underestimated the number of homeless residents. The Census Bureau identified 33,000 homeless camps last spring for enumerators to visit, but postponed tally until the fall due to COVID-19. Now the General Accounting Office says the pandemic-ravaged economy could lower the count because employed people who responded to the census last spring could now be out of work and on the streets.
– The COVID-19 community hotline was part of emergency communications that were out of service in Nashville, Tennessee, after a recreational vehicle exploded in the city’s downtown area on Christmas morning. An AT&T central office was hit by the blast, shutting down police emergency systems in Tennessee and Kentucky. Authorities believe the blast was intentional but said they did not know the motive.
THE NUMBERS: The seven-day moving average of daily new deaths in the United States has declined over the past two weeks, from 1,841.7 on December 11 to 1,747.9 on December 25, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.
NUMBER OF DEATHS: The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States stands at 330,345.
QUOTE: “If I were white I wouldn’t have to go through this. This is how black people are killed, when you send them home, and they don’t know how to fight for themselves, ”Dr. Susan Moore, a black doctor, said in a Facebook post in which she accused a Indianapolis hospital to treat their COVID-19 differently because of their race. Moore died on December 20. The IU Health North Hospital in Carmel has promised a “full external examination”.
ICYMI: The Duke women’s basketball team ended their season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The team roster made the decision on Friday. The team had postponed three games since Dec. 16 due to two positive tests in the women’s basketball community.
ON THE HORIZON: President Trump is spending the vacation weekend golfing at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Springs with a COVID-19 relief package sent to him by Congress in doubt. He again indicated in a Friday night tweet that he should include $ 2,000 stimulus checks to most Americans instead of $ 600. A spokesperson said he had been briefed on the Nashville bombing but had not made any public statement about it.
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Find full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by AP at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
The Associated Press
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