US: Over 18.3M Cases - 325K Dead - 10.6M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 77.4M Cases - 1.7M Dead - 54.3M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 247   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 171
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Every state's single-day record for new cases
has been since November 1, except Hawaii

(Though it's important to remember how limited testing was, especially in the spring.)

COVID Economic Relief
Congress Strikes Long-Sought Stimulus Deal to Provide $900 Billion in Aid
Congressional leaders on Sunday reached a hard-fought agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package that would send immediate aid to Americans and businesses to help them cope with the economic devastation of the pandemic and fund the distribution of vaccines.

The deal would deliver the first significant infusion of federal dollars into the economy since April, as negotiators broke through months of partisan gridlock that had scuttled earlier talks, leaving millions of Americans and businesses without federal help as the pandemic raged. While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted in March, it is one of the largest relief packages in modern history. nytimes.com

  Americans will get stimulus checks as soon as next week, Mnuchin says

Leading Retailers Welcome COVID Relief Legislation
The bipartisan COVID relief deal announced today is vitally important for families and businesses whose lives and livelihoods have been upended by COVID-19. Today's agreement does not solve every problem families and businesses will face in 2021 as we look to recover and rebuild, but it is an important first step, and one that will provide hope to those struggling in this pandemic.

This holiday season brings the promise of vaccines and the hope of brighter days around the corner, but with millions still out of work and over 100,000 Americans currently hospitalized with severe coronavirus symptoms, funding for unemployment, health care, and first responders is what many families and communities desperately need right now. We urge Congress to quickly pass this relief bill and ask President Trump to sign it. rila.org

Grocery store employees among next vaccine group
CDC: Older adults, front-line essential workers to get Covid vaccine next
People ages 75 and older and front-line essential workers will be next in line to receive Covid-19 vaccines, according to recommendations from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee. On Sunday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in favor of the recommendations, which will go on to the CDC for final approval.

The new proposal comes less than a week after the first Covid-19 vaccines went out to health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities across the country. That group is referred to as Phase 1A. The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to two Covid-19 vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

In addition to those 75 and older, the next phase, deemed Phase 1B, would include first responders, such as firefighters and police officers, as well as teachers, day care staff and others working in education. Corrections officers, U.S. postal workers, public transit workers and those whose jobs are essential for the food supply - from farmers to grocery store employees - are also next up to receive the vaccine. Altogether, this group includes about 49 million people. nbcnews.com

1,000 Grocery Workers Give Blood Samples
University of Minn. grocery store worker antibody study to help
unlock COVID-19 clues

Grocery store workers' antibodies examined to determine virus' spread.

A University of Minnesota study of COVID-19 in grocery store workers could help solve vexing questions about the true spread of the infectious disease and guide state strategies to slow it down before the vaccine is broadly available.

Public health Prof. Craig Hedberg is recruiting 1,000 grocers from across Minnesota to mail self-collected blood samples to see if they contain antibodies in response to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Patterns in the positive results by worker type and geographic location will offer important clues, he said. startribune.com

Supermarkets in L.A. County see unprecedented coronavirus infection rates
Supermarkets have been hit hard by the unprecedented explosion of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, further straining an essential service that needs to remain open despite the new stay-at-home order.

Outbreaks are increasing at an alarming rate across industries, officials say - an unavoidable consequence of so many people falling sick in the region. But those at grocery stores and other essential retailers pose a unique challenge for officials attempting to reduce coronavirus transmission, as well as for county residents trying to pare down their activities to only what is necessary.

L.A. County is investigating ongoing coronavirus outbreaks at 490 businesses, compared with 173 a month ago, according to county data. The increase in outbreaks drives home officials' warnings that the only way to stay safe is to stay home, even as many businesses remain open.

Barbara Hughes, a cashier at a Food 4 Less in Palmdale, said she had to put in 70 hours last week because so many of her colleagues are out with COVID-19. Twenty-one employees have recently tested positive for the virus, according to county records.

Of the six outbreaks at Food 4 Less locations reported to the county during the pandemic, three - including the one at Hughes' store - were first logged this month, linked to the current surge, according to a Times analysis of outbreaks posted on the county's website. An outbreak is defined as three or more cases among staff in a 14-day period.

There have also been new outbreaks reported in December at three Trader Joe's locations, two Whole Foods Market stores, three Sprouts Farmers Market branches and several smaller grocery chains, county and company records show. latimes.com

Apple is temporarily closing all California stores, a dozen more around U.S. amid COVID-19 surges
Apple is temporarily closing all 53 of its retail stores California and about a dozen outlets in other states because of COVID-19 surges. The closures come during the final days of the busy holiday shopping season.

Besides California, Apple is closing, or already has shuttered, all four of its stores in Tennessee, all three in Utah, all four in Minnesota, its two stores in Oklahoma, and outlets in Anchorage, Alaska; and Albuquerque New Mexico, the company says. usatoday.com

A View of All OSHA COVID-19 Alerts Since March 2020
All OSHA COVID-19 Publications in 2020
All OSHA COVID-19 Downloads in 2020

Despite health warnings, holiday travel has already set a record
for busiest weekend of the pandemic
Pre-Christmas air travel surpassed 1 million daily passengers nationwide for three consecutive days this weekend - breaking the record for most weekend travelers of the pandemic and outpacing Thanksgiving numbers that assumed that title and worried health experts last month. The 3.2 million passengers screened Friday, Saturday and Sunday mark the only time during the pandemic that over 1 million air travelers were seen three days in a row.

The influx in air travel undercuts health officials' guidance for Americans to stay home this holiday season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance earlier this month that discouraged travel and urged those who need to travel to acquire coronavirus tests before and after their journey. washingtonpost.com

Biden to receive the coronavirus vaccine on live television on Monday

This interactive tool tracks covid-19 travel restrictions by country

Stuarts Draft, VA: Over 20 COVID cases reported at Target distribution center

1 in 5 prisoners in the U.S. has had COVID-19, 1,700 have died