(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
Jobs growth slower than expected in November; employment at 6.7 percent
Only 245,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in November, according to numbers released Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, putting the unemployment rate at 6.7 percent. That figure represents a slowdown in job growth from previous months and is lower than economist expectations, reflecting the continued pummeling the U.S. economy is receiving from the pandemic. Jobs were added mostly in transportation and warehousing, professional and business services, and healthcare. Employment declined in government and retail sectors.
The news comes as there is movement on Capitol Hill on a $908 billion COVID-19 relief proposal advanced by a bipartisan group of senators. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke over the phone Thursday to discuss pandemic relief for the first time since the November election. The bill will offer some support to the millions suffering economic losses in the pandemic, if the two sides can come together.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 65,359,887
Global deaths: 1,509,141. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 276,401.
Number of countries/regions: at least 191
Total patients recovered globally: 42,072,270
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 14,148,719 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 276,401. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 34,775.
U.S. total patients recovered: 5,404,018
U.S. total people tested: 197,409,766
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 1,290,775 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. This ranks third in the world after Maharashtra, India, which has 1,837,358 reported cases, and England, which has 1,438,725 reported cases. Texas is fourth, with 1,286,369 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million.
US COVID-19 cases surpass 14 million; single-day record set for cases and hospitalizations
The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has now surpassed 14 million, with at least 14,148,719 reported cases as of Friday morning. That’s according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, which also revised its Wednesday deaths count downward to 2,804, which still remains a record for the most deaths from COVID-19 in a single day in the U.S.
The Covid Tracking Project reports single-day records were again set Thursday for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, with 210,161 and 100,667, respectively. The U.S. crossed the 100,000 hospitalizations threshold on Wednesday. There is now an average of one in every 3,300 people in the U.S. hospitalized with the virus, with more than one person dying of it every minute.
As of Friday morning, there were 276,401 reported COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., more than in any other country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasts there will be from 303,000 to 329,000 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. by the week ending December 26. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a livestreamed interview on Wednesday that he anticipates the death toll to climb another 150,000 to 200,000 deaths by next February.
According to an internal Department of Health and Human Services memo, obtained by ABC News, 31 states and territories are currently in an upward trajectory of new COVID-19 cases, with seven at a plateau and 18 decreasing. Thirty percent of hospitals across the country have more than 80% of their ICU beds filled, with 20% of inpatients diagnosed with COVID-19, a statistic that’s quickly approaching the all-time peak of 24%. Further, 39% of hospital ventilators in use are being used by coronavirus patients, a number that’s increasing but still down from a peak of 45% in April.
CDC to offer “I was vaccinated” sticker, button “toolkits” for healthcare workers to issue
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to offer healthcare providers a template they can use to print buttons or stickers that would declare a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status, in much the same way polling stations offer “I voted” stickers to voters after they cast their ballot. The effort is part of a “toolkit” that the CDC proposes to provide healthcare systems to “education and promote vaccination,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund told ABC News. “We anticipate the toolkit will include a template for a button or sticker that could be printed by facilities and worn by people who have been vaccinated,” Nordlund said, adding the toolkits would be available “soon.”
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