WTF Just Happened Today

Thursday, December 17, 2020

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1/ The United States reported a record 247,403 new coronavirus cases and 3,656 COVID-19 deaths – the deadliest day of the pandemic to date. Three times as many people in the U.S. are dying every day now than three months ago, and the number of new cases is six times what it was then. (New York Times / NPR / The Guardian)

• The FDA’s advisory committee recommended that the Moderna coronavirus vaccine be granted an expected emergency use authorization. The FDA plans to authorize the vaccine Friday. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)

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

• Global: Total confirmed cases: ~74,729,000; deaths: ~1,658,000

• U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~17,150,000; deaths: ~310,000

• Source: Johns Hopkins University

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

2/ Another 885,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week – the highest weekly total in three months. Another 455,000 people applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federal program for the self-employed, gig workers, and others who don’t qualify for traditional unemployment benefits. Before the pandemic, weekly jobless claims typically numbered about 225,000. (Associated Press / Politico / Bloomberg / New York Times / CBS News /