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Coronavirus Watch: New infections up 41% from a month ago

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

We're moving toward Christmas in dramatically different shape than we were before Thanksgiving.

Reporter Mike Stucka found that, compared to a month ago, the pace of new daily cases in the U.S. is up 41%.

The pace of cases is up 393% in Hawaii, more than tripled in Connecticut and New Jersey, and more than doubled in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. But cases appear to have fallen in at least a third of the states – down 72% in Montana, 61% in Wyoming, 58% in Alaska, 46% in Colorado.

It's Monday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know:

  • A Moderna booster dose will be effective against omicron, the first data available from a lab study suggests. A study released earlier this month by Pfizer and BioNTech showed that a third dose boosted neutralizing antibodies against omicron.
  • People fully vaccinated who have breakthrough infections end up with "super immunity," a study by Oregon researchers found.
  • Multiple elected officials have tested positive. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker and Rep. Jason Crow have breakthrough cases with mild symptoms, they announced on Twitter. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he received a positive rapid test Monday. "I have been vaccinated and boosted, and I am feeling fine at the moment," Hogan tweeted.
  • Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency and reinstated an indoor mask order lifted a month ago. 
  • In Boston, patrons of indoor dining, bars, nightclubs and gyms must show proof of at least one vaccine dose starting Jan. 15, Mayor Michelle Wu said. Proof of full vaccination will be required for adults Feb. 15, and city workers must get vaccinated.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 50.9 million COVID-19 cases and 807,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 275.1 million cases and more than 5.3 million deaths. About 73% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 61% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among U.S. adults, 85% have received at least one shot, and about 72% are fully vaccinated.

Conquering COVID-19: In a Paste BN special edition, read how the Department of Defense is fighting the coronavirus with two very different weapons: inoculation and investment.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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