WTF Just Happened Today

Thursday, December 10, 2020

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1/ The United States recorded more than 3,100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, exceeding the record set one week earlier. It’s the first time the U.S. recorded more than 3,000 deaths in a single day and it comes two weeks after Thanksgiving. The U.S. also reported 222,994 new coronavirus cases – another pandemic record. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / The Guardian)

• ???? Dept. of “We Have It Totally Under Control.”

• Global: Total confirmed cases: ~69,364,000; deaths: ~1,579,000

• U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~15,536,000; deaths: ~292,000

• Source: Johns Hopkins University

• Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / The Guardian / ABC News / CNN / CNBC / Wall Street Journal

2/ CDC Director Robert Redfield directed staff to delete an email from a Trump political appointee attempting to meddle with the agency’s scientific report on the coronavirus’s risk to children. Paul Alexander – then the scientific adviser to Health and Human Services spokesperson Michael Caputo – sent an Aug. 8 email to Redfield demanding that the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports be changed to match Trump’s rhetoric downplaying the virus. Alexander also accused career scientists of trying to subvert Trump’s reelection bid. Redfield instructed staff to delete the email. HHS Secretary Alex Azar, meanwhile, said that instructing staff to delete documents is unethical and possibly a violation of federal record-keeping requirements. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)

3/ An FDA advisory panel recommended the approval of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in people over 16 years old. The FDA is expected to follow the recommendation and could grant emergency use authorization as early as Friday. Once authorized, vials of the vaccine will begin shipping to all 50 states, giving health care workers and nursing home residents first priority to begin receiving the first shots early next week. (