News Roundup 12/02/20
Britain’s COVID-19 vaccine takes the lead
As there has been talk of a COVID-19 vaccine in the works for the United States, Britain has taken the lead, and announced that they will begin to treat high-risk patients as soon as next week. This news may be reassuring now, considering U.S. hospitals have seen new records in hospitalizations for four consecutive days, as of yesterday. The death toll has now officially surpassed 270,000 deaths since the pandemic started. An FDA panel of advisors will meet on Dec. 10 to discuss the emergency authorization of the Pfizer vaccine, then is expected to review Moderna’s similar vaccine a week later. Although authorization is expected within a few days around Dec. 10, this process could take weeks.
Source: Reuters
Elliot Page, star of “Juno” and “Umbrella Academy,” announces he is transgender
On Tuesday, Dec. 1, 33-year-old Canadian-actor, Elliot Page, announced that he is transgender.
The actor primarily known for his performances in “Juno,” “Umbrella Academy” and the X-Men franchise, posted to Twitter and Instagram, “Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot…” he also included in his statement, “I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life.”
As he and the queer community celebrate Page’s announcement, his wife Emma Portner also lovingly voiced her support towards the LGBTQ+ community, and to her husband. Page publicly came out as gay in 2014 and has since then acted as an advocate for the progress of the LGBTQ+ community in Hollywood.
Source: New York Times
Where did the weird monolith go?
A week ago, a strange monolith was discovered in Utah. Since then, the reportedly 10-12ft, mysterious pillar has gained much attention from the internet. Speculations of aliens carried the trend until recently early this week, the monolith had been reported “missing.” At the time of the Utah monolith’s disappearance, another strange pillar had been discovered in Romania, which encouraged even more conspiracies. To the dismay of thrill-seekers and alien-believers, the monolith had been dismantled by not extraterrestrials, but by humans. A group of photographers witnessed the scene, and luckily were able to take pictures before the monolith was taken down, and the words, “leave no trace,” were heard from the men dismantling it.
Source: The Guardian
Spotify Wrapped: A look back on your 2020, in music
Spotify announced their annual end-of-the-year feature just yesterday saying, "#2020Wrapped is here." Users can use the streaming service’s in-app feature to review their top artists, top songs, top genres, and more. The feature even shows you the “one song that helped you get through it all,” paying homage to your favorite song, even in the bleakest and most stressful of times. Spotify users have taken to social media to share their results, either with pride or embarrassment, and a flurry of memes took dominance over Twitter as “2020 Wrapped” trended.
Source: NBC
Couple with COVID-19 arrested for boarding flight to Hawaii
A couple from Hawaii is facing reckless endangerment charges after knowingly boarding a flight from San Francisco to Kauai, after testing positive for Covid-19. After being told to not board and to quarantine instead, they ignored instructions from the officials at the Quarantine Station and proceeded to board their flight anyway. Upon landing, they were greeted by Kauai Police Department, and arrested for reckless endangerment. The couple has since been able to post bail, set at $1,000 each.
Source: Fox News