 | BY RENUKA RAYASAM | With help from Myah Ward MEANWHILE, IN OTHER BAD NEWS — Not even two weeks into the new year, January is shaping up to be the worst month ever when it comes to Covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations. In the first 10 days of 2021, nearly 30,000 Americans died because of Covid, more than the country’s total death toll in all of February, March and the first half of April. These past 10 days alone have accounted for nearly 8 percent of the country’s total death toll of 365,630. The virus could claim another 70,000 lives by Jan. 31, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation — 100,000 deaths in just one month. Here’s a look at the places that have been particularly overwhelmed: — Most cases: Arizona (126 cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days), Utah (104), Arkansas (103), California (102) and Oklahoma (99). Source: The Covid Tracking Project from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10 Over the summer, as the virus subsided in the Northeast, it surged in Arizona. The daughter of one of the state’s Covid victims spoke at the Democratic National Convention last year about the political failures that she said led to her father’s death. Now the state has once again emerged as the global epicenter for Covid cases. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has maintained a light touch with Covid restrictions. Arizona doesn’t have a statewide mask mandate, though Ducey has allowed city and county leaders to impose their own mandates. He has opposed business closures or a stay-at-home order even as Arizona’s hospital administrators plead for new measures to limit in-person contact. One Arizona health official said last week that the state is days away from becoming like Los Angeles, where ambulances have stopped transporting some critically ill patients to emergency rooms. — Most hospitalizations: Arizona (707 per million people), Nevada (591), Alabama (587), Georgia (576) and California (573). Source: Covid Tracking Project as of Jan. 10 Los Angeles County officials are warning that overflowing hospitals are about to see even more patients: About 1 in 10 Angelenos are expected to test positive for Covid in the coming days from the impact of family holiday gatherings. The Covid situation in L.A. is starkly different than the one in California’s more rural Northern communities, which are sparsely populated and whiter: ICU capacity is at 35 percent in Northern California compared to zero percent in Southern California. Health officials say Covid is quickly spreading among people who work in agriculture or in other jobs that must be done in person. Latino residents in L.A. are being infected at double the rate of white residents. — Most deaths: Arizona (2.1 per 100,000 people over the last 7 days), Rhode Island (1.9), Pennsylvania (1.7), West Virginia (1.6) and Tennessee (1.6). Source: CDC Rhode Island’s Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo took an aggressive approach to containing Covid early in the state with lots of testing, tracing and isolation, a statewide shutdown and a mask mandate. For a while the plan worked. But then the fall hit. Now, more than 100,000 Rhode Island residents, nearly 10 percent of the state’s population, have tested positive for Covid. The state’s death rate for the entire pandemic is the fourth highest in the country, after New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Raimondo, who has been tapped to be President-elect Joe Biden’s Commerce secretary, has kept many businesses closed and limited gatherings. But Rhode Island probably suffers from a classic case of Covid fatigue : In November cold weather and the holidays hit, and people gathered with their families. Because of the tiny state’s high population density, high numbers of elderly people and nursing homes, the virus has been especially devastating. — Lowest vaccination rate: Georgia (1,346 first doses per 100,000 people), Arkansas (1,355), South Carolina (1,535), Alabama (1,561) and Mississippi (1,792). Source: CDC Even with our terrifyingly high Covid case rates, the country is far from the herd immunity that would be needed to slow the spread. Like water, the virus will continue to find new places to infect more and more people, said Marta Wosińska, deputy director at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. There’s also some evidence that a more transmissible Covid variant could accelerate the virus spread in the coming weeks. States in the South with the highest rates of uninsured people are among those that have distributed the fewest vaccinations. And Biden is already worried that his team won’t be able to pull off his promise of delivering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. Biden got a second dose of the Covid vaccine today.
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| Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. ICYMI: Women accounted for ALL of December’s job losses. Reach out at rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @renurayasam .
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| | A NEW YEAR, A NEW CONGRESS, A NEW HUDDLE: It was an ugly and heartbreaking week inside the Capitol, particularly for all of those who work on the Hill. How are lawmakers planning to move forward? How will security change? How will a new Senate majority impact the legislative agenda? With so much at stake, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings you the most important news and critical insight from Capitol Hill with help from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the essential guide to understanding Congress. It has never been more important. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | THE ENEMY WITHIN — The Pentagon is confronting a resurgence of white supremacy and other right-wing ideologies in the ranks and is scrambling to track how acute the problem has become in the Trump era, senior national correspondent Bryan Bender writes. It’s an issue that has simmered in the military for years, but is now front and center following signs that former military personnel played a role in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol last week. Tackling the influence of hate groups, racist propaganda and anti-government sentiment in the officer corps and enlisted ranks must be an immediate task for Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of Defense, retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, according to lawmakers, retired military leaders and experts on extremism. If confirmed, Austin would be the first Black Defense secretary. “There is a crisis issue: the rise of extremism and white supremacy in the ranks,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a retired Army officer and member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. “That has been fueled by President Trump, unfortunately. So that has to be dealt with right away and unequivocally. That’s top of the list.”
| | WOLF OUT — Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf is stepping down from his post , two DHS officials confirmed to POLITICO today. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have also stepped down following the Capitol attack. BIDEN’S PLAN EN ROUTE — Biden is set to unveil a sweeping coronavirus vaccination plan on Thursday, calling the nationwide distribution effort his “No. 1 priority.”
| | 2 CAP POLICE OFFICERS SUSPENDED — At least two Capitol Police officers have been suspended after a pro-Trump mob overtook the Capitol last week, the top House lawmaker overseeing funding for the law enforcement agency said tonight. Of the two, one took a now-infamous selfie with one of the rioters, and the other wore a “Make America Great Again” hat while “directing“ members of the mob, said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), chair of the Appropriations Legislative Branch Subcommittee. Ryan also said he believes a third officer has been arrested for conduct during the riot, although he did not have details and said the individual might instead be a member of the National Guard, Caitlin Emma writes. As many as 10 to 15 instances involving Capitol Police are currently under investigation, Ryan said. Many Capitol Police officers were in danger as they worked Wednesday to protect lawmakers, aides and journalists during the deadly insurrection. Many sustained injuries, and one officer, Brian Sicknick, died from his injuries late Thursday. LATEST ON IMPEACHMENT — Key members of the House Judiciary Committee introduced a single article of impeachment today that has already gathered at least 218 cosponsors, according to a congressional aide involved in the process, meeting the majority needed for passage in the House. The vote is scheduled for Wednesday, precisely one week from the day that a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and sent lawmakers scrambling for cover, while Capitol Police struggled to hold off the violent crowd. Among House Republicans, only Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has said publicly he could vote in favor, though House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming has privately signaled she may support impeachment, according to multiple sources. But there are as many as 10 House Republicans who are seriously weighing it.
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A Capitol police officer walks past boarded up windows at the U.S. Capitol. | Getty Images | TAKE 2 — After last week’s events, Democratic leaders are once again faced with the question of whether to impeach Trump. In the latest POLITICO Dispatch, congressional bureau chief Heather Caygle breaks down the arguments for and against the move.
| | | | NATION GIRDS FOR ARMED PROTESTS — The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration, stoking fears of more bloodshed after last week’s deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol. An internal FBI bulletin warned that, as of Sunday, the nationwide protests may start later this week and extend through Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, according to two law enforcement officials who read details of the memo to The Associated Press. Investigators believe some of the people are members of some extremist groups, the officials said. PAGING DIAN FOSSEY — Not even our primate cousins can escape California’s coronavirus surge. Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed today that gorillas at the San Diego Zoo had tested positive for the virus, Jeremy B. White writes.
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| | KEEP UP WITH THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WITH TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: It was a dark week in American history, and a new administration will have to pick up the pieces. Transition Playbook brings you inside the last days of this crucial transfer of power, tracking the latest from President-elect Biden and his growing administration. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news and analyzes the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | Nightly asks you: What are you most hopeful about heading into 2021? Send us your answers through our form, and we’ll use select responses later this week.
| | VERBOTEN — Twitter’s decision to suspend Trump’s account is pushing European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, to stress the need to regulate social media companies. European leaders said governments, not the companies themselves, should regulate social media platforms. Today, a spokesperson for Merkel said Twitter’s Trump ban was “problematic.” “The fundamental right [of freedom of expression] can be interfered with, but along the lines of the law and within the framework defined by the lawmakers. Not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms,” government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said. Still, “The German government is convinced that social network operators bear a very high level of responsibility ... for ensuring that political communication is not poisoned by hatred, by lies, by incitement to violence,” Seibert added.
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33 percent Trump’s approval rating in the latest Quinnipiac poll , a drop from his 44 percent approval rating in December. His approval rating among Republicans was 71 percent, a significant decline. The poll also found 74 percent of voters feel American democracy is under threat. |
| | | ‘GUESS WHAT?’ Nightly’s Myah Ward writes: My dad called me last month on his way home from work. “Guess what?” I could hear it in his voice — he was grinning. “I’m getting the vaccine soon,” he said. My 55-year-old dad is a health care worker at a long-term care facility for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He’s worked there since he was 18, and I’ve always been in awe of his ability to connect with the people he cares for, and how hard he works every day to make sure patients have what they need. That hard work has meant so much more this year. He’s had to be selfless. He’s had to protect himself in order to protect those that are vulnerable. So he doesn’t take risks. He avoids gatherings. He carries sanitizing wipes everywhere he goes, and he puts on his mask the second he enters his work building. He won’t even take it off for his lunch break. He eats in his car instead. And today at 10:30 a.m., I finally got the text I’ve been waiting for. “Got my vaccine,” he said. I know he was probably grinning when he sent that one, too — as was I. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. | |
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