Thanksgiving Day Parade; US deaths; Joe Biden unit

Like pretty much everything in 2020, Thanksgiving is looking very different due to COVID-19.

Many spend theirs first Thanksgiving alone or without lover. Families spin Video calls in the dining table. Even the Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons are social distancing.

“I know the land has grown tired of fighting,” said President-elect Joe Biden in a Thanksgiving Eve address calling for unity. “We need to remember that we are at war with the virus, not with each other. Not with each other.” . “

Biden gave his address a day after the US reported its deadliest day since May, with more than 2,000 new cases. It could get worse: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday published a national ensemble forecast that predicts 294,000 to 321,000 deaths from coronavirus by December 19.

In Los Angeles County, the most populous health agency in the country, infections are growing rapidly and approximately one in 145 people is infected with the virus. That estimate was 1 in 880 residents two months ago. according to the Los Angeles Times.

📈 Today’s numbers: The US reported more than 12.7 Million cases and over 262,100 Deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The global sums: 60.3 Million cases and 1.4 Million deaths.

🗺️ Mapping the coronavirus: Track the US outbreak in your state.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade continues despite COVID-19

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade celebration is still going on this year, but it will look and feel a little different because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 94th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET Thursday, November 26th. While the celebrations in the past have drawn a large crowd to the streets of Manhattan – there were approximately 3.5 million spectators on the 2.5-mile parade route in 2019 – all activity this year is centered in Herald Square in Midtown and the US The only way to watch it is on television.

“For New Yorkers, who usually see it live and in person, it means they will experience it just like the rest of the country,” said Susan Tercero, executive producer of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. “But I don’t think it will be too different for the rest of the country.

“You will still see the balloons. You will still see the floats. You will still see Santa and Broadway and all these elements that you see every year. It is you. I will still see these things. You might see some Have differences in that we will see social distance. We will have masks, things like that. But it will still be the parade that they know and love. “

– Alex Biese, Asbury Park Press

SCOTUS is blocking NY COVID restrictions on some places of worship

The Supreme Court placed Religious freedom before pandemic precautions Wednesday night that temporarily blocked recent New York rules that severely restricted gatherings at places of worship in areas hardest hit by COVID-19.

The new, more conservative majority in the court Ruled 5-4 that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s boundaries for churches, synagogues and other places of worship for 10 or 25 worshipers in hard-hit areas appeared to be in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

“Even in a pandemic, the constitution cannot be repealed and forgotten,” said the unsigned majority opinion of the court.

It was a reversal of previous actions by the Supreme Court in response to government restrictions on organized religion during the coronavirus pandemic. But since then Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and was succeeded by Associate Justice Amy Coney BarrettGive conservatives a 6-3 majority.

– Richard Wolf

The Missouri doctor’s video gives in to what COVID patients “end up” seeing.

Dr. Kenneth Remy knows the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in the US and is confident that with an effectively distributed vaccine, things will get better in 2021. First, the country needs to weather the winter – and that means taking coronavirus-related precautions like wearing a mask, he said.

So Remy, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis and a doctor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. made a video to emphasize the point. The video is meant to show first-person what it’s like to be intubated while breathing too fast – “30, 40, 50 times a minute,” said Remy.

“You lie in this bed and look at me and others in the room,” he said. “It basically simulates what it looks like to breathe and then, frankly, what it looks like to me to come up to you with an endotracheal tube and laryngoscope.”

He added, “For some patients, that’s all they see at the end of their life. They see it, they get medication, and they never wake up again. ”

– Jordan Culver

Coronavirus is postponing national math and reading tests until 2022

A national reading and math test that has long been used to track U.S. student performance is the latest shift amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday.

Concerns about the accessibility of the National Education Progress Assessment have postponed the test to 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics said.

The national educational progress assessment, usually held every two years, was scheduled for hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders in the country early next year. The national ratings are presented to a representative sample of students from all socio-economic backgrounds in the 50 states. It is monitored by the government.

– Elinor Aspegren

4 players on the MLS Playoff Team test positive for COVID

Have four Columbus Crew players tested positive for COVID-19, the club announced on Wednesday evening, four days before Sunday’s home game in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Nashville SC.

No other players or staff tested positive on Wednesday, according to the club’s press release. The crew is said to continue to train on Friday and Saturday and have not identified those who tested positive.

This latest outbreak comes as Ohio continues to see increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases every day. State officials recorded 10,835 new cases on Wednesday.

– Jacob Myers, The Columbus Dispatch

Mink infected with COVID rises from their graves in Denmark

Mink infected with a mutated strain of COVID-19 in Denmark appears to be rise from the dead, ignites national madness and calls on local officials to burn mink carcasses.

While the sight is certainly terrifying for residents of West Jutland, a region of the country grappling with confirmed COVID-19 cases related to mink, there is likely a scientific explanation for the zombie-like reappearance from their graves. A Danish police spokesman, Thomas Kristensen, told a state broadcaster that gases are formed as the body disintegrates underground. according to the Guardian.

“In the worst case, this will push the mink out of the ground,” said Kristensen of the nightmarish sight.

The nation has planned to kill all of the country’s 15 million mink, which produces 40% of the world’s mink fur. Because of the hasty burial, the animals were placed in shallow graves – just over three feet deep. Now officials plan to bury the creatures in tombs that are almost twice as deep.

– Joshua messenger

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock apologizes for the vacation trip

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has apologized for flying to visit family members in Mississippi, despite advising residents of the city asking them to avoid traveling.

Hancock said his family canceled plans for a large gathering and instead boarded the plane to visit his wife and daughter, who lived in Mississippi. Hancock said he believed traveling alone was less of a risk than both of them returning home for the vacation.

“I realize my decision has disappointed many who believe it would have been better to spend Thanksgiving alone,” Hancock tweeted on Wednesday.

“I have made my decision to be a husband and a father, and for those who are angry and disappointed, I humbly ask you to forgive choices that are made in my heart, not my head.”

The contradiction between Hancock’s recommendation and his actions brought to mind another elected leader, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had to apologize after reports surfaced of his attendance at a friend’s birthday party at a restaurant that violated the guidelines he constantly promoted for public health.