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Interfor’s Covid-19 Updates – December 8
Latest numbers (as of 9am est):
Total Reported Cases: 67,719,720 (14,955,947 in United States)
Total Deaths: 1,547,487 (283,746 in United States)
NOTEWORTHY DEVELOPMENTS
United States
- The United States reported at least 102,148 current Covid-19 hospitalizations on Monday, setting a new record high since the pandemic began.
- Most of California has been placed under a lockdown for three weeks after hospital ICU capacity fell below a 15% threshold that triggered the new measures. These include closures of non-essential businesses, and a ban on travel except for essential activities.
- The Navajo Nation implemented a stay-at-home lockdown for the next three weeks. The lockdown requires all residents to “remain at home 24-hours, seven days a week, with the exceptions of essential workers.”
- New York has ordered hospitals in the state to increase capacity by 25% and warned that indoor dining would be limited if hospitalizations keep rising.
- President-Elect Biden will ask Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his administration.
- Wyoming issued a statewide mask order that requires people to wear masks in indoor public spaces across the state.
International
- The United Kingdom began administering the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outside clinical trials, launching a public health campaign to vaccinate tens of millions of people in a matter of months.
- South Korea plans to buy coronavirus vaccines for 44 million people. The government is allocating 1.3 trillion won($1.2 billion) for vaccines from COVAX, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen. The vaccines are expected to be brought in by March, and will be prioritized for those considered high risk.
- Australia extended restrictions on overseas travel until March 17. The restrictions limit cruise vessels’ movements and outbound international travel.
- Denmark announced a partial lockdown in 38 of its 98 counties until January 3, to curb rising coronavirus infection rates in harder-hit areas. Additionally, existing nationwide restrictions are extended until February 28.
- Greece will extend its coronavirus restrictions through Christmas to stem the spread of Covid-19. A nighttime curfew and a ban on movement between regions will remain in place until January 7.
RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS
- Based on recommendations from ranking epidemiologists, all non-essential travel should be reconsidered.
- Wear a mask. There is no downside and projected deaths in the United States are considerably lower if the populace wears masks, according to several studies.
- You can download Interfor’s return to work guidelines here.
WARNING: Be sure to vet ALL information and rumors.
Resources:
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
- CDC Symptoms page
- See Interfor’s new blog post about the need to properly vet employees.