Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get „5 Things You Need to Know Today“ delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. Coronavirus The US has hit a new record average of daily Covid-19 cases, with 254,496 new cases reported in the last week as of yesterday. That shatters a previous record from all the way back in January. Much of that increase is being fueled by the Omicron variant, and while vaccinated and boosted individuals may only experience mild symptoms from Omicron, experts stress that is not the case for unvaccinated people. This surge is also affecting children, with pediatric hospitalizations up 35% in just the past week. In New York City, pediatric admissions have increased five-fold over the past month. 2. Capitol riot The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection has stood down on requests for some documents from the Trump White House after pushback from the Biden administration. This is the first time the administration has insisted the committee scale back its pursuits, though such an exchange isn’t unusual during a congressional inquiry into such high-profile affairs. As a result, the committee won’t be getting hundreds of pages of National Security Council records. However, the Biden White House said in a letter earlier this month that those materials didn’t appear to have anything useful for the committee’s purposes. 3. Hong Kong National security police in Hong Kong have raided another pro-democracy news outle t and arrested several people associated with the publication. After the raid, Stand News announced it would immediately cease publication and dismiss all employees. Among those arrested are Hong Kong pop star Denise Ho, who is a former Stand News board member.
