Friday’s figures from the Labor Department suggest that employers have rehired roughly all the workers they can afford to after having laid off more than 22 million in the spring—the worst such loss on record.
The full duration of immunity is speculative because the novel coronavirus has been circulating in human beings for barely a year and there isn’t long-term data. The oldest specimens studied were obtained about nine months ago.
Meanwhile, the number of Americans who have gotten their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine climbed to at least 5.9 million Thursday, a one-day gain of about 600,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Investors and analysts are anticipating the Biden administration and a Democrat-controlled Congress will try to deliver $2,000 checks to most Americans, increase spending on infrastructure and take other measures to nurse the economy amid the worsening pandemic.
The Indiana State Department of Health said 128,026 people in the state have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination and 585 have been fully vaccinated, as of Tuesday.
Lawmakers in the Indiana Senate and House are reviewing bills that would fully fund virtual students and protect schools from losing state funding—at least through July 2021.
In Indiana, 15,515 people filed initial unemployment claims in the week ended Jan. 2, up from an adjusted number of 12,013 the previous week.
Hoosiers 80 and older account for 3.8% of the state’s population but more than 19% of hospitalizations and 52% of COVID-19 deaths.
More than three weeks into the vaccination campaign, just 4.8 million people in the U.S. had gotten their first shot out of 17 million doses distributed as of Wednesday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Indiana State Department of Health said 13,092 new individuals were tested, the highest number in five days.
Sales of new vehicles in the U.S. fell 14.6% last year, but the 2020 performance was better than most forecasters had expected when the pandemic forced auto factories and many dealerships to shut down in April and May.
A number of taxpayers who use tax preparation services, such as H&R Block and TurboTax, say their second relief payments were sent to the incorrect bank account, forcing them to wait longer for their money.
Because of the uncertainty caused by the current resurgence in virus cases and initial problems in distributing vaccines, the World Bank cautioned that its forecast is highly uncertain.
Statewide hospitalizations due to COVID-19 rose from 2,836 on Sunday to 2,907 on Monday, the third straight day of increases.
The S&P 500, which ended 2020 at an all-time high, slid 1.5% after earlier dropping as much as 2.5%. It was the benchmark index’s biggest decline since late October.
Viruses have the opportunity to change through mutations that arise naturally as they replicate and circulate in their hosts. The new COVID-19 strain is thought to be 57% to 70% more transmissible than other strains of the virus.
Statewide hospitalizations due to COVID-19 rose from to 2,714 on Saturday to 2,836 on Sunday.
IBJ reporter John Russell has been looking for answers to basic questions about the vaccine, including: When can I get a vaccine? So we invited him onto the podcast to tell us what he’s learned.
Dr. Anthony Fauci expressed optimism that the momentum will pick up by mid-January and that ultimately the U.S. will be vaccinating 1 million people a day.
The state said 6,914 new individuals were tested for COVID-19, the fifth time in the past week that testing in that category has dropped below 10,000.
