THE BIG STORY

Congress announced new coronavirus relief, including $600 for many residents

After the parties spent most of the weekend negotiating, Congress has reached a deal to pass a second major coronavirus aid package that includes support for small businesses, unemployment benefits, and $600 in direct payments to most US residents.

The announcement of the $900 billion package comes as a third wave of COVID-19 hits the US. After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the announcement, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called it “better late than never.” The House is planning to vote on the bill Monday, and the Senate should follow after.

It would be the first pandemic aid passed by Congress since the CARES Act in March. Since then, aid programs have expired and almost 8 million people have fallen into poverty.

What you should know about the bill:

👉 It includes checks of up to $600 for every US adult, as well as $600 for each child dependent.

👉 $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits (on top of state benefits) for 11 weeks, half of what Congress approved in the spring.

👉 $35 billion in rental assistance and extension of a federal eviction moratorium.

Of note: Initially, the new deal did not include any direct payments, but Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley led a last-minute charge to include checks for $1,200 to all residents. They ended up getting half of what they were demanding.

A Bushwick small business owner at a rally about the extreme financial challenges that they have faced since COVID-19 crisis began. Erik Mcgregor / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

The US didn’t see a major additional COVID-19 Thanksgiving surge. Christmas will be a bigger challenge.

There was a palpable fear that Thanksgiving would lead to a terrifying surge in COVID-19 cases. Three weeks later, it’s hard to see any clear changes in the trajectory of cases and hospitalization indicating an additional Thanksgiving surge.

We asked Dr. Anthony Fauci and other experts about this. They told us the expected Thanksgiving surge may have been masked by the bigger pattern of the recent wave of COVID-19, and suggested that maybe many people did listen and stay at home.

Fauci told us he’s worried about Christmas because it’s fundamentally different from Thanksgiving, in that it’s “a larger holiday. It’s extended over a larger period of time. It goes from a couple of days before Christmas to New Year’s Day.”

SNAPSHOTS

The FDA has authorized a second COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna’s vaccine has been shown to work very well, preventing COVID-19 with no serious effects.

Teachers, grocery store workers, and those older than 75 should get the COVID-19 vaccine next, a CDC panel says. The panel voted 13-1 to recommend the elderly and frontline essential workers, including teachers and grocery store workers, should be next in line.

Immigrant families are being deported without their asylum claims heard lawfully, advocates say. The families, who have been detained by ICE for more than a year, were subjected to Trump administration policies that have since been blocked by federal courts.

The NYPD’s actions during the George Floyd protests exacerbated tensions with protesters, report finds. The city's Department of Investigation report concluded NYPD's mistakes went far beyond individual officers' actions and were rather a failure of the whole department.

A Latino couple accused of trying to kidnap an influencer mom’s kids have been cleared by police. Katie Sorensen's tale of barely escaping a pair of kidnappers at her local Michaels blew up social media. Police officials said they have instead found evidence that supports the couple's version of events.

FAR FROM HOME

She collapsed in her kitchen from COVID-19. The next day, she was 300 miles from home.

Cheri’s collapse came a few days after testing positive for COVID-19. One day she was in her rural Wisconsin home, the next day at a North Dakota hospital, a nearly 300 mile drive from her family. “‘How the fuck am I gonna get home?’” Cheri’s daughter said her mom told her over the phone from the hospital.

Cheri’s story is not unique. As the coronavirus hammered rural areas, the small hospitals that serve those areas have found themselves with too many patients, too few beds, and not enough staff to deal with the situation.

So patients are being airlifted to any hospital that can take them, no matter the distance, scattering rural patients all over the country.

Ema O’Connor wrote about the reality for rural COVID-19 patients flown hundreds of miles from home.

THE BEST SURPRISE

Lizzo surprising her mom with a new car for Christmas is the heartwarming content we need right now

The singer posted a video to her Instagram of the moment she surprised her mother with a new car.

Along with the video, Lizzo posted a heartfelt message about what it means to her to be able to help her family. “I remember crying in my car when my daddy passed,” she wrote. “No job, no money, nowhere to live, wishing I could one day provide for my family.”

Through tears, Lizzo’s mom responds, “You see these things on television and you never expect it to happen for yourself.”

The whole thing is so lovely.

Lizzo / Instagram

Turn inward and begin today from a place of softness,

Elamin