Gazette Daily News Briefing, Dec. 22
Congress took up a $900 billion pandemic relief package Monday night that would deliver cash to businesses and individuals and vaccination resources to states.
The package passed the House and remained on track for approval in the Senate and the expected signature of President Donald Trump.
The bill establishes a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct payment to most Americans. It also provides a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and restaurants, in addition to money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the direct payments would start arriving in bank accounts next week.
The bill provides $600 to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and $1,200 to couples making up to $150,000, with payments phased out for higher incomes.
An additional $600 payment will be made per dependent child, similar to the last round of payments in the spring.
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics expects its first shipment of about 1,500 doses of the Moderna brand of the vaccine this week, possibly today.
As of Monday, more than 1,100 front-line UIHC employees who work directly with patients had received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which arrived last week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11 approved emergency use of Pfizer’s vaccine, and it granted the same approval of Moderna’s on Friday.
UIHC is receiving its vaccine allocations from Johnson County Public Health only for employees at this time, in alignment with guidance from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
UI leaders have told reporters they would like to be involved in vaccinating the broader community but have not been given doses or clearance to vaccinate anyone other than health care employees.
Iowa again reported no new confirmed COVID-19 deaths Monday, keeping the state’s death toll at 3,589 and marking the third time the state has reported zero deaths in the past five days.
According to data from the Iowa Department of Public Health, the state recorded 601 new COVID-19 cases from 11 a.m. Sunday to 11 a.m. Monday, bringing the total of cases to 267,748.
Another inmate in Iowa’s corrections system has died, likely due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions, state Department of Corrections officials said Monday.
Dale Dean Viers, 58, died Sunday at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Viers, who originally was housed at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, was the 13th inmate in Iowa’s prison system to die from coronavirus-related medical complications.
Viers had been serving a life sentence for a first-degree kidnapping conviction from Black Hawk County. His sentence began March 30, 1995.
Corrections officials also report that two staff members have died from COVID-19 complications since the virus was first detected in Iowa last March.
The Iowa Hawkeyes announced Monday that the football team is suspending all in-person activities because of a coronavirus outbreak within the program. Head coach Kirk Ferentz announced last week he has COVID-19, and he is believed to be one of six coaches infected, according to Gazette sources.
Multiple players and other support staff personnel also have tested positive, sources said. The Iowa athletics department released its weekly testing numbers Monday, with 14 confirmed positive cases last week, though Athletic Director Gary Barta said not all the cases are from the football program.
Iowa is scheduled to play Missouri in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 30. Barta said Iowa still intends to play the game, scheduled for a 3 p.m. kickoff on ESPN.
According to the National Weather Service, Tuesday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 42. There will be wind, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Rain is likely early Tuesday night. Otherwise, it will be mostly cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 44 by 5 a.m. It will be breezy, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Looking ahead, there’s a chance of snow Wednesday afternoon.
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