US sets records for Covid deaths and hospitalisations as it approaches grim 14 million cases milestone – live updates
US on course to record its 14 millionth coronavirus case today after record 3,157 deaths yesterday
- There are over 100,000 Covid patients in US hospitals for first time
- Biden team to meet with Latino lawmakers over cabinet picks
- Ivanka Trump was quizzed as part of inauguration fund lawsuit
- Trump releases 46 minute video repeating baseless vote fraud claims
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10.31am GMT
The potential arrival of a vaccine before the end of the year is one glimmer of hope in the pandemic, but with public trust in vaccines in the US seemingly low, it also appears it may spark a public spectacle. Former presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton have all volunteered to get a coronavirus vaccine shot in public to prove it’s safe. CNN report:
The three most recent former presidents hope an awareness campaign to promote confidence in its safety and effectiveness would be a powerful message. Freddy Ford, Bush’s chief of staff, told CNN that the 43rd president had reached out to Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx to see how he could help promote the vaccine.
“He wants to do what he can to help encourage his fellow citizens to get vaccinated,” Ford told CNN. “First, the vaccines need to be deemed safe and administered to the priority populations. Then, president Bush will get in line for his, and will gladly do so on camera.”
10.23am GMT
California’s agricultural workers have contracted Covid-19 at nearly three times the rate of other residents in the state, a new study has found, laying bare the risks facing those who keep a $50bn industry afloat.
Farmworkers have been deemed “essential” and thus continued to work throughout the duration of the pandemic. Epidemiologists already knew that this primarily Latino workforce was disproportionately affected by the virus, with Latino individuals experiencing five to seven times the risk of Covid-19 mortality relative to white individuals in the US.
Related: Covid and California’s farmworkers: study lays bare disproportionate risks
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