USA TODAY is following the news around COVID-19 when a pair of vaccines joins the U.S. fight against a virus that has killed more than 360,000 Americans since the first reported fatality in February. Keep updating this page to get the latest updates on the coronavirus, including who is receiving Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as other important news from across the USA TODAY Network. Subscribe to our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates right in your inbox, join our Facebook group or go through our detailed answers to readers’ questions for everything you need to know about coronavirus.
In the headlines:
► California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed on Wednesday to extend a $ 600 moratorium on evictions and state stimulus checks to millions of low-income residents, including undocumented immigrants who declared taxes to the state under a budget proposal. . “Californians who have been affected by this pandemic will receive help to support their families and maintain a roof over their heads,” said Newsom in a statement. Golden State reported more than 2.4 million confirmed cases and 27,400 deaths, according to state data.
► New Orleans is tightening current restrictions on coronavirus at public meetings as coronavirus infections increase. Indoor special events will be limited to 75 people and outdoor events to 150. Business is restricted to 25% of capacity. The new restrictions will take effect Friday at 6 am
► Both CVS and Walgreens said they hope to finish delivering the first round of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to nursing homes on schedule by January 25. On Tuesday, CVS administered 351,231 vaccines in nursing homes, including nearly 30,000 in major states like California and Florida.
► Mexico reported 13,345 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, a record for the daily increase in cases. As Mexico experiences an increase in the number of cases, an increasing number of Americans are migrating to Mexico City, the country’s current pandemic epicenter, to “escape” the strict restrictions on coronavirus in the United States, the New York Times reported.
► Tommy John, the former major baseball pitcher, is hospitalized with COVID-19 near his home in Indio, California. John is not taking oxygen at the moment, he said, but received oxygen when he had a fit of pneumonia. He countered reports that he is a COVID-19 denier, saying, “I am not a denier. I am fed up, baby.”
► The governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi, said that he will eliminate the blockade on Sundays, shorten the curfew that has been in effect since the beginning of the pandemic and reopen beaches, marinas and swimming pools. The new curfew will be from 11 pm to 5 am and will last for 30 days from Thursday.
📈 Today’s numbers: The United States has more than 21.2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 361,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: Over 87.1 million cases and 1.88 million deaths.
Florida doctor dies after receiving COVID vaccine under investigation
A Florida doctor died several weeks after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, although it remains unclear whether his death on Monday was related to the injection he received on December 18. Dr. Gregory Michael, 56, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, died after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke apparently resulting from a lack of platelets.
Miami coroners are investigating his death, according to CNN. In a Facebook post, his wife, Heidi Neckelmann, said he sought emergency care three days after the injection because he had spots on the skin that indicated internal bleeding.
Pfizer, which together with its partner BioNTech made the vaccine the man received, said in a statement that it is aware of the death. “We are actively investigating this case, but we do not believe at the moment that there is any direct connection to the vaccine,” the statement said.
– Karen Weintraub
IRS: some stimulus payments will not arrive before tax time
The anger that has been growing among some taxpayers who want to know when they will receive their second stimulus payment prompted the IRS to issue further guidance on Tuesday. In short: some taxpayers will not see their second round of stimulus payments soon and may have to wait to fix the problem when they file their 2020 tax returns.
The IRS took a beating this year in handling the launch of stimulus payments. After a long guessing game, President Donald Trump sanctioned the second stimulus package to deal with the COVID-19 crisis on December 27.
The IRS started sending some checks on December 30th and the money arrived in some bank accounts as of January 4th. But many taxpayers started complaining online and wondering why they didn’t get the money. Here are some answers for frustrated taxpayers, according to the IRS.
– Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press
Carnival Cruise Line cancels US cruises until May
Princess Cruises has announced that it will cancel all cruises from US ports by May 14 – more than a year after the industry stopped in mid-March last year. Princess himself was affected by the pandemic from the start: two of his ships, the Diamond Princess and the Grand Princess, were among the first ships to quarantine passengers because of coronavirus infections.
Previously, Princess Cruises canceled all itineraries until March 31. Additional cancellations occur while the cruise line is working on restart plans that will comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Framework for Conditional Sailing announced in October.
The additional suspension also applies to European cruises scheduled before May 15, Princess Cruises spokeswoman Negin Kamali told USA TODAY.
– Morgan Hines
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared in the USA TODAY: COVID update: California stimulus checks; CVS, Walgreens vaccines