Coronavirus Watch: Two more executive orders aim to provide economic relief
President Joe Biden is expected to sign a pair of executive actions Friday that aim to provide relief for Americans feeling financial pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The orders will give low-income families easier access to federal nutrition and food assistance programs and start the process for requiring federal contractors to pay their workers a minimum wage of $15 per hour and give them emergency paid leave.
Biden has also called on Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that would include another round of stimulus payments of up to $1,400.
It's Friday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news that you need to know:
- January is already the second-deadliest month during the pandemic for the United States, with 64,147 deaths reported so far, Johns Hopkins University data shows. The country has averaged about 3,055 deaths per day so far this month, a daily toll worse than the human cost of the 9/11 attacks. At this pace, by Tuesday, January will have become the deadliest month so far of the pandemic.
- The coronavirus variant first identified in the U.K. may be deadlier than the previous dominant variant, in addition to being more contagious, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday that the lack of candor and facts around the United States' pandemic response over the last year "very likely did" cost lives. Asked Thursday about his experience working for two different administrations, Fauci said being able to share science was "liberating."
- After weeks of railing against "vaccine tourism," Florida officials will limit the scant supply of COVID-19 vaccine to residents only. Until now, a person only needed to prove they were 65 or older.
- The NFL announced Friday that 22,000 fans will be in attendance for Super Bowl LV next month at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Of that, 7,500 will be fully vaccinated health care workers, the majority of whom will hail from hospitals or health care systems in the Tampa or central Florida area.
Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 24.6 million COVID-19 cases and 411,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 97.7 million cases and more than 2 million deaths.
See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.
– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck