State Dept. employees told to avoid holiday parties as Pompeo invites hundreds to indoor gatherings
State Department leadership is instructing employees to avoid hosting non-mission-critical events in person and “opt for virtual events,” even as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invites hundreds to celebrate the holidays at large indoor parties.
“The COVID-19 pandemic will bring some changes to this year's holiday season,” according to a notice dated November 25. “With much of our team working remotely and in light of rising cases across the country, the Bureau of Administration wants to reiterate the Department's commitment to responsible physical distancing and mission-critical only gatherings.”
While the holiday parties at the State Department will offer guests festive alcoholic drinks and traditional holiday fare, the notice also made clear employees would not have the same privilege warning “[Management] will not be approving alcohol waivers for gatherings in Department facilities during this time.”
Instead, the State Department suggested employees try virtual alternatives including, “photo contests of door decorations, virtual holiday mask or sweater competitions and virtual hangouts.”
The note from leadership was first reported by the Washington Post.
Criminals offering fake coronavirus vaccines, Interpol warns
Interpol has issued a global alert that warns that criminals "have been advertising, selling and administering fake vaccines," particularly online.
The alert comes in the wake of news that the U.K. has approved the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, to be first administered this month, and the U.S. is likely to follow suit soon.
Approved vaccines in the U.S. will be administered in person by healthcare professionals.
“Criminal networks will also be targeting unsuspecting members of the public via fake websites and false cures, which could pose a significant risk to their health, even their lives," Inerpol's secretary general, Jürgen Stock, said a statement.
SCOTUS tosses out ruling on California Covid restrictions against religious institutions
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated a federal court ruling in California in a dispute over the effect on churches of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic restrictions.
The ruling that was tossed out had rejected a claim by a group of churches, which said the restrictions on public gatherings treated churches less favorably than businesses and other organizations.
The Supreme Court on Thursday sent the case back to the district judge, with instructions to reconsider it in light of the court’s ruling last week that blocked Covid restrictions on religious institutions in New York.
Fauci to speak to Biden transition team for the first time Thursday
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, will be speaking to members of Biden's presidential transition team Thursday for the first time.
"I'm going to be meeting with them today, by Zoom," Fauci said in an interview on CBS News' "The Takeout" podcast.
"So today will be the first day where there will be substantive discussions about the transition between me and the Biden team," Fauci said. "I'm very pleased that today we're having the first discussion about a number of things, vaccinations and things like that."
Facebook bans false claims about Covid-19 vaccines
Facebook on Thursday said it would remove false claims about Covid-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts, following a similar announcement by Alphabet’s YouTube in October.
The move expands Facebook’s current rules against falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the pandemic. The social media company says it takes down coronavirus misinformation that poses a risk of “imminent” harm, while labeling and reducing distribution of other false claims that fail to reach that threshold.
Facebook said in a blog post that the global policy change came in response to news that Covid-19 vaccines will soon be rolling out around the world.
California sheriff tests positive after refusing to enforce Covid measures
A California deputy tested positive for the coronavirus after refusing to enforce the governor's Covid-19 orders, authorities said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said Sheriff Scott Jones reported mild symptoms last week after being exposed to another employee who later tested positive, KRON-TV reported. His symptoms included a fever, congestion and a headache, according to the station.
On Nov. 24, Jones said he refused to enforce Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in the state, the station reported.
“I have a tremendous amount of faith in folks to make those assessments relative to Covid,” Jones said at the time.
Officials said Wednesday the sheriff was expected to recover and is under quarantine with his family, the station reported. It was unclear whether his family members tested positive.
Weekly jobless claims fall to 712,000, beating expectations
The number of claimants for initial weekly jobless benefits fell last week to 712,000, as the labor market struggles to rebuild itself amid a continued surge in Covid-19 infections.
The data, released Thursday by the Department of Labor, beat economists' expectations of 780,000 claims. In the prior week, total claims had ticked up sharply to a newly revised 787,000.
While claims remain well below the pandemic peak of 7 million in March, the weekly totals continue to represent three times the pre-pandemic average.
The United States set three grim records on Wednesday, recording the highest number of daily deaths, new infections and hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
The worsening public health outlook comes as millions of unemployed Americans are set to lose their benefits at the end of the year as emergency federal assistance expires.
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Treasury secretary, described the current economic situation as "an American tragedy."
Bill Gates says 'almost all the vaccines are going to succeed’
Bill Gates, who has warned for years of a global disease outbreak, said he expects almost all Covid-19 vaccines to succeed, but warned Americans not to get a false sense of security and urged them to continue following public health protocols until the vaccine is widely distributed.
Gates told Savannah Guthrie in an interview on the "TODAY" show Thursday that he anticipates a surge in the spring unless Americans "double down on our behavior."
"The most impactful thing is associating with people less, wearing a mask," Gates said. "This is a war — we're all in it together."
He added that while vaccine distribution would be difficult because “the federal government has abdicated some of its responsibilities in a public health crisis,” Gates said he remained optimistic.
"I would immediately step up and take the vaccine," he said.
Hackers targeting supply chain that keeps coronavirus vaccines cold, experts warn
Hackers backed by foreign governments are targeting companies involved in shipping and storing the coronavirus vaccine at a low enough temperature to keep it from spoiling, IBM said in research released Thursday.
The announcement is the latest in a series of cybersecurity research reports that point to foreign governments employing hackers to break into the networks of groups working to rush out a vaccine, and comes as the U.S. prepares to ship refrigerated boxes of vaccines across the country this month.
While not every potential vaccine requires the same refrigeration, the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, which was approved Wednesday in the U.K. and may soon become the first coronavirus vaccine approved for distribution in the U.S., has to be shipped in special boxes of dry ice that can only rarely and briefly be opened. The White House has claimed as many as 20 million doses of the vaccine could be distributed in the U.S. in December.