On this episode of Quick News Daily, I go on a very deep dive into the possibility of this new strain of COVID in the UK, what it could mean for the vaccines, and how it's different from the regular coronavirus. Also, I talk about the stimulus deal and the approval and rollout of the Moderna COVID vaccine.
Make sure to check out my new article: https://teespring.com/loser- in-chief
And check out the new merchandise: https://medium.com/quick-news-daily-podcast/trumps-covid-response-reagan-hiv-aids-8cd2e265aadc
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Find Quick News Daily on your favorite podcast player: https://rebrand.ly/QuickNews
Sources:
Hill leaders reach $900 billion Covid relief deal in breakthrough following partisan disputes
Several countries ban travel to the U.K. due to new coronavirus strain
US asked to prioritize frontline essential workers as distribution of Moderna shots begins
FDA authorizes a second vaccine as average daily cases and deaths hit records
(Mostly Accurate) Transcript:
OPEN
Today is Monday, December 21st, and we are just 4 days away from Christmas, if you celebrate that sort of thing. Personally, I celebrate the commercial version of Christmas, which is pretty much just the food and gifts, not the religious part on my end. But Christmas, or whatever, might come early for you because I finally designed that new merchandise! I also wrote another article that’s available on Medium, so stick around to the end and I’ll have more info on those items. Otherwise, it seems to have been a relatively normal weekend (at least normal for 2020). Let’s get caught up with the stimulus news, COVID news, and more!
STIMULUS
Well, much later than pretty much everybody thought, Congress has apparently reached a new deal on a COVID relief stimulus package. They’re trying to brand this as relief for small businesses, unemployed Americans and health care workers, as well as more help distributing the COVID vaccine.
The actual text of the bill wasn’t available yet at the time of this recording, but Democratic House and Senate members released what help was going to be in the deal eventually. So, here’s what we know so far:
The deal is worth $900B total, which was way less than the 3 trillion that Democrats were trying to push for.
Direct payment checks will be sent out again, which will be about $600 for each child and adult.
There is $284B for forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program and $15B for “live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions”.
In addition to the usual unemployment benefit, if you qualify for that, you’ll get an extra $300 per week over what is usually available.
$25B for rental assistance and to extend the moratorium on evictions.
$82B for schools and colleges, mostly to help them reopen safely.
$7B to increase broadband access, which will help those in rural areas. That has to be tough when everyone is doing virtual work and you barely get reception.
Lastly, there’s a tax credit “to support employers offering paid sick leave”, because of course there is. Apparently, there’s nothing more American than giving companies free money for doing the right thing (coming from the same people who will rant for 20 minutes about “kids these days and their participation trophies”).
The bill itself hasn’t passed yet. There are still a lot of procedures that need to happen, but Trump’s reaction on Twitter could speed things up or slow them down dramatically. I’ll make sure to keep you updated.
COVID
So, we are slowly learning more about the possible new strain of COVID that’s spreading through the UK at the moment. One early number that’s being thrown around by experts is that this new strain could be up to 70% more transmissible than regular COVID. They’re also saying that this could explain why London and Southern England are seeing such a crazy amount of spread. However, these experts are also saying that even if this is the case, there is still no evidence that the new str
