Coronavirus live updates: 1 in 17 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 WKXA

Myriam Borzee/iStock

By ROSA SANCHEZ, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 80.2 million people worldwide and killed over 1.7 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Here’s how the news is developing Monday. All times Eastern:

Dec 28, 12:46 pm
NY health group accused of line-skipping vaccine scheme referred to attorney general

New York State Police will refer ParCare Community Health Network to the New York Attorney General’s office for allegedly misappropriating the Moderna vaccine, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said the Orange County-based health care provider obtained the vaccine under false pretenses, moved it to Brooklyn, and gave it to people who weren’t on the priority list. While ParCare is the only organization currently under criminal investigation, the governor said recipients of the vaccine who violated the state’s distribution plan could also face charges.

“Whenever you have a valuable commodity that is being dispensed you should expect fraud,” Cuomo said.

Under New York’s current plan for “1A” distribution, only medical workers, first responders and nursing home staff members are allowed to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Other groups will follow in future rounds.

“We take this very seriously,” Zucker said in a statement last week. “Anyone found to have knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

New York State Police and other investigators were at the ParCare location in Borough Park on Saturday night.

A spokesman for ParCare told ABC News Sunday evening that it is cooperating with the state investigation and will return its unused vials. ParCare received 2,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 869 of those doses have already been administered, according to the spokesperson.

“ParCare followed all NYS DOH procedures for obtaining the Moderna vaccine and was approved by NYS DOH for distribution and by CDC as a network site. As a result, we have properly received the vaccines and have provided the documentation regarding the proper receipt of the vaccines to the NYS DOH,” the spokesperson told ABC News.

With regards to the patients who received their first shot, ParCare said it will be “working with the state to ensure that we provide the second dose for our patients.”

Dec 28, 12:23 pm
UK reports highest daily rise in infections since pandemic’s start

British health authorities reported 41,385 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the highest daily rise since the pandemic began. Over the last seven days, 256,220 people tested positive, which is a 25.7% increase in positive tests since the week prior.

England’s Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance said last week that the newly identified U.K. variant is more dominant and significantly more transmissible than the old coronavirus variant.

There’s no evidence the new variants are more deadly and it’s highly likely the vaccine will still work, experts said at a virtual Q&A hosted by the World Health Organization last week.

In total, the U.K. has reported 2,329,730 infections and 71,109 deaths from the virus.

Dec 28, 11:46 am
70 Americans test positive every 30 seconds

One out of 17 Americans, a total of 19 million people, have tested positive for coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. One in 1,000 have died from the virus.

Since some states don’t report and others give incomplete updates over the holidays, last week’s data doesn’t provide an up-to-date picture of the U.S. outbreak. But even without those numbers, December’s forecast remains grim, according to an ABC News analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project.

Since Dec. 1, there has not been a single day with less than 1,000 COVID-19 related deaths reported, the data showed.

The United States logged more than 5.4 million COVID-19 cases in December, more than any month on record and roughly equivalent to 70 Americans testing positive for the virus every 30 seconds.

Dec 28, 10:40 am
1st nursing home resident in NJ receives COVID-19 vaccine

New Jersey vaccinated its first nursing home resident, a 103-year-old resident of Roosevelt Care Center in Old Bridge Monday.

Mildred Clements, a Newark native who has lived through two pandemics, was met by a round of applause from the governor and state health commissioner after receiving her shot. Residents and staff at roughly 90 long-term care facilities in New Jersey are slated to start vaccinations Monday, according to the governor’s office.

Dec 28, 9:31 am
TSA reports highest number of airline passengers since pandemic hit

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Sunday saw the highest number of people screened at the airport since the pandemic hit, a spokesperson tweeted Monday.

The 1,284,599 people screened at airports nationwide marks the sixth day in the last 10 with more than 1 million airline screenings. “If you choose to travel, please wear a mask,” Lisa Farbstein, the TSA spokesperson, wrote on Twitter.

Dec 28, 8:00 am
US may not see 3rd wave of COVID-19: HHS assistant secretary

Health experts have been worrying about a third wave of COVID-19 hitting the U.S. after the holidays, as already 9 million people have traveled during the season. But speaking to “Good Morning America” Monday morning, Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said the country may not see another big spike in cases.

“How bad it will get really depends on what people do. After Thanksgiving, in the Midwest and the Northern Plains, we did not see a spike in cases, and in fact, it continued to go down,” he said.

He added that while traveling does put people at higher risk of contracting the disease, we will not necessarily see another spike if people follow the rules.

“Limit travel if you can. If you’re sick, please don’t travel. Always wear a mask and watch your distance. And be careful, it’s not really the travel, but it’s mixing your bubble with a new bubble once you get there,” Giroir said.

He added that this week, 4.7 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered to the U.S., getting the country closer to the government’s goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans by the end of the year.

Dec 28, 7:56 am
‘No evidence’ coronavirus variant is in US: HHS assistant secretary

Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spoke to Good Morning America Monday morning to discuss the new coronavirus variant taking over the U.K.

“We don’t have proof that it’s here, but we do suspect that it is likely here, given the global interconnectedness,” Giroir said. “We have no evidence that it’s here. It’s certainly not widespread here, but we need to look and make sure it’s not here.”

He added that while “there is increasing evidence that it really is more transmissible” or contagious, due to the viral load that people with that strain have been shown to have, there is “no evidence that it is more serious.”

There is no evidence that people who become infected with the variant are more likely to be hospitalized or die, Giroir said.

“And we still believe — don’t have absolute proof — but we have very good evidence and a good belief that the vaccines will still be effective,” he added.

Dec 28, 4:24 am
California hospital explains how it will allocate medical resources in case of shortage

Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California, released a patient information sheet documenting how they will use their medical resources should they see a shortage due to an overwhelming number of new patients following the holidays.

“We are not currently in this situation, but could be based on ongoing increase in hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” they told ABC News, adding that on Sunday they had their highest number of patients (189) in a single day.

In the letter, the hospital explained that due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the community, they may experience limited resources. These include life support machines (like a ventilator or breathing machine), intensive care unit (ICU) beds and healthy medical staff to care for patients.

If there is a shortage of resources, a team of medical professionals will review the cases of all patients who are critically ill to determine how these resources should be shared throughout the hospital.

“If a patient becomes extremely sick and very unlikely to survive his/her illness (even with life-saving treatment) — limited medical resources may go to treat other patients who are more likely to survive,” the letter reads.

“Our community is facing a public health emergency that has severely constricted the medical resources available to patients in the Los Angeles County and greater Southern California region. Hospitals such as ours are working hard to meet the dramatic rise in needed care during this COVID-19 surge. We expect to face additional challenges moving forward after the holiday season,” the hospital said in a statement.

Dec 28, 1:59 am
CDC issues new guidance on vaccinations for people with underlying health conditions

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines for people with underlying health conditions planning to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

They CDC said that adults with underlying medical conditions — who are more at risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 — can receive a vaccine against the virus as long as they have not had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in it.

The new guidelines state that people with HIV and those with weakened immune systems due to other illnesses or medication should be aware that information about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for their group is not yet available. While people with HIV were included in clinical trials, more data is required to provide safety guidelines regarding the effects a vaccine could have on them. The same is true for people with autoimmune conditions.

People who have previously had Guillain-Barre syndrome or Bell’s palsy may receive a COVID-19 vaccine, though experts are still acquiring more data about their groups as well.

The CDC added that people should continue to follow coronavirus health measures — such as wearing a mask and staying 6 feet away from others — after receiving the shot, as experts have more to learn about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide under real-life conditions.