December 30 coronavirus news

More than 14 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in the United States, Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said Wednesday.

Perna did not say how many of those doses have been administered. The vaccine distribution process, he said, has entered a good cadence.

“This week we provided jurisdictions with the final allocations of doses available,” Perna said. “That means by tomorrow night, all the jurisdictions will be able to place orders for up to 20 million doses of vaccine, which has been collective over the last two weeks plus.”

Perna said the US is working to get people their second doses soon.

“This week we started not only pushing first dose vaccine, but we started pushing second dose vaccine for the Pfizer vaccine,” he said.

"It is a pretty grim and depressing picture at the moment" in England, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam told a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday.

Echoing the prime minister’s call for the nation to stay at home over New Years, Van-Tam said: "You have just got to play your part now in bringing us back from this dangerous situation we find ourselves in.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assailed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for slow-walking the $2,000 CASH Act providing more relief funding for Americans in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that passed through the House earlier this week. 

"I do hope that in the days ahead – we only have a few days left in this session – that they will see the light and understand the suffering that is going on in our country," Pelosi added.

She did not, however, commit to bringing the CASH Act back up in a new Congress if it dies in the Senate.

“Let’s be hopeful it can happen this week, because the sooner it happens, the sooner the checks can go out. We’re not giving up on it, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is advocating for it,” she said. “It would have bipartisan support in the Senate if Mitch McConnell would only allow it to come to floor instead of being an obstruction to those checks going to the American people."

Pelosi also blasted the current administration for “holding up” the distribution the coronavirus vaccination to Americans, saying that “this has to be done better.”

“Let’s hope in the last few weeks of the Trump administration that they will follow the science," she added.

“This pandemic is horrible,” Pelosi said. “But it has also pulled back the curtain to reveal further disparities in our economy in our society, “ she said, announcing that she is going to ask the Rules Committee in the new Congress to stand up a new committee to address economic disparity and fairness. 

Pelosi also addressed the death of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow of Louisiana, who died from complications of Covid-19, “It could happen to anyone, and it has happened to 350,000 Americans.”

New York Police Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan said Wednesday the New Year’s Eve Times Square event “will look completely different than it has any other time in history.”

“We could all agree that 2020 has been a year unlike anything else we’ve experienced,” he said at a Wednesday briefing.

His message: “Please stay at home.”

“Don’t come,” he said, “if you think you’re going to be able to stand there and watch the ball, you’re mistaken.”

There will be “absolutely no spectators allowed in Time Square” and no “fireworks” in Coney Island or “midnight run” in Central Park.

Hotels in the area will be allowed to operate, but patrons must remain in the hotels.

The spectators that will be seen on television are cast members part of the production that have been prescreened for the virus, he said.

There will be “many less” NYPD officers in time square but he assures the NYPD will still have assets “similar” to what has been seen in the past.

He said there is about an 80% reduction in cops that will be in Times Square, which will allow cops to be in the outer boroughs “where they are needed.”

Officers will be posted in the streets of Times Square and subways, including heavy weapons teams and a counter terrorism overlay.

New York is currently "undertaking preparations" to have emergency hospital facilities ready in case there is another Covid-19 surge, including Javits Center in New York City, an official in the governor's office said. 

"The Governor has made clear that we’re laser focused on preserving hospital capacity and protecting our healthcare system as cases increase and continue to do so as we move through the holiday season," said Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

Azzopardi encouraged New Yorkers to continue taking precautions against Covid-19 so that the state can "avoid a surge that overwhelms our hospital system."

Americans can expect to start seeing $600 in their bank accounts immediately as the federal government's second round of stimulus payments is being sent out, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service said.

The direct deposits will continue into next week, while paper checks will be mailed out beginning Wednesday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday said that the Treasury and the IRS are working with "unprecedented speed" to issue the second round of payments.

The Covid-19 relief package, which President Trump signed Sunday evening, provides individuals who meet income limits with $600; couples who meet income limits with $1,200; and eligible families with an additional $600 per child.

The $600 is half of what Americans received in the first round of stimulus payments Congress approved back in March. It took two weeks after that first Covid-19 relief bill was passed for the IRS to start sending out the money — but some eligible recipients still haven't received it, months later.

An individual's most recent tax returns determines their eligibility for the stimulus payment.

Anyone who made under $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a couple would receive the full amount.

Read more here.

Unemployment benefits for workers will be extended through March 14, but relief may be held up because President Trump delayed signing the coronavirus relief package.

Amir Bukhari and Fareeha Haq are raising their family of six in Brooklyn, New York, on less than $400 a week in unemployment, and they could go without that money next week. 

“It’s going to hit rock bottom,” Bukhari told CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich. The money that was supposed to arrive this week was going to feed the family, he said. The couple lost their jobs in March.

Under the relief package, the jobless will receive a $300 weekly federal enhancement in benefits through March 14. The amount is half of the earlier federal boost, which ran out at the end of July.

Also, the deal extends by 11 weeks two other pandemic unemployment programs that were created in the $2 trillion CARES Act in March and were set to expire at year's end. An estimated 12 million laid-off workers in these programs were facing the loss of their aid.

Haq used to work at the Council of Peoples Organization handing out food. Now she relies on the nonprofit to help feed her family. 

“I was there helping people receive benefits, and now I'm on the other end and I'm asking for benefits,” she said. 

Watch their story:

Wednesday’s English Premier League encounter between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham has become the latest fixture to be postponed following positive Covid-19 test results within Fulham’s players and first team staff.

The game was due to kick-off at 6 p.m. GMT at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

It’s the third game to be postponed this season after Aston Villa vs. Newcastle United (Dec. 4) and Everton vs. Manchester City (Dec. 28).

In a statement Tottenham said: “The Premier League informed us of the decision this afternoon, with Fulham having requested the postponement on the grounds of the number of COVID-19 positive cases among their players and staff.”

The team added that a new date for the fixture would be confirmed in due course.

The Premier League said that despite the postponement it “continues to have full confidence in its COVID-19 protocols and being able to continue to play our fixtures as scheduled.”

Some more context: On Tuesday, the Premier League announced 18 new positive Covid-19 tests among players and club staff in its latest round of testing.

That's the highest number of positive tests recorded since the league began weekly testing at the start of the current season.

More areas of England will move into Tier 4 "stay at home" coronavirus restrictions – meaning three quarters of the population will be under the strict regulations, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday.

Hancock told the House of Commons over 21,000 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus in England.

"Unfortunately this new variant is spreading across most of England," he warned.

The Midlands, the North East, parts of the North West and parts of the South West of England are among those escalated into Tier 4 from midnight local time. 

Between Dec. 18 and 24 the weekly Covid-19 case rate in England rose to 402.6 per 100,000 – a 32% increase on the previous week – the Department of Health said in a press release Wednesday.

The NHS reports 14,915 patients have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in the past week – an 18% increase on the week before – it added.

More areas of England have also been moved into Tier 3.