COVID-19

Both the House and Senate came to an agreement on a $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package on Sunday. Another round of pandemic assistance that includes direct payouts of $600 stimulus checks to Americans and a $300 per week jobless extension for the next 10 weeks. Payments are expected over the next two weeks.

North Carolina reported another record-breaking day of new COVID19 cases with 8,444 on Friday. This new total doubles a record reported a month ago. "I'm very worried for our state," NCDHHS secretary Mandy Cohen said in a press conference. "We must act now to protect each other."

The Christmas musical event at First Baptist Church took place over the December 5 weekend with a packed congregation of maskless attendees and choir members, who were singing shoulder to shoulder, witnesses told the Asheville Citizen Times.

Hawthorne at the Glen, a luxury apartment complex in Concord, N.C., hosted "Santa Doug" Eberhart, who showed up to the community event maskless on Dec. 15. The second time Eberhart was in defiance of Gov. Cooper's statewide mask mandate at a holiday event in less than a week. A report by WSOC said the Santa appeared at a south Charlotte Ben and Jerry's without a mask last Wednesday, forcing the ice cream shop to issue an apology.

Another grim milestone for the U.S that represents the equivalent of 100 days of Sept. 11 tragedies, eight times the number of people in the U.S. killed by the flu between 2018-19, and four times the number of people who died by a drug overdose.

North Carolina waits to see if restrictions will tighten as the Governor's current executive order is set to expire on Friday at 3 p.m. ET. As it stands right now, businesses are operating at a reduced capacity with most restaurant dining rooms shut down entirely. Some Business owners fear that further restrictions could force them to close permanently.

It's hard not to be upset with how some people have disregarded COVID-19 health recommendations. As we see cases climb in every state, a majority of entertainers, sports figures and politicians treat guidelines differently than the people who support them.

According to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN, two Panthers players tested positive for the virus Sunday morning. The team placed "additional players" on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but wouldn't say which players were on the list until those details are submitted to the NFL league office later today.

North Carolina reported a record 6,438 COVID-19 cases on Sunday. The grim report prompted Gov. Cooper to tweet out, “Our actions right now are life or death,” as his existing Coronavirus restrictions are set to expire this week.

"Thank you to all my friends and followers for all the prayers and kind wishes," Giuliani wrote. "I’m getting great care and feeling good. Recovering quickly and keeping up with everything." A source familiar with the situation told CNN he was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital on Sunday.