We know a lot more about Omicron now. It’s not good news.

DECEMBER 20, 2021

THE BIG STORY

We know a lot more about Omicron now. It's not good news.

When the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant was first announced, health officials warned us not to panic, cautioning that it would take weeks to know how it would alter the course of the pandemic. Three weeks later, here's a rundown of what scientific analyses and case reports have revealed about the variant:

Early indications suggest that Omicron is highly contagious. Omicron cases appear to roughly double every two days, according to the CDC. The Delta variant at this stage in its first advent, in June, doubled once every two weeks.
Up from nothing, the variant caused 3% of US COVID cases in the last week, most strikingly in New York and New Jersey, where it caused 13% of cases.
Thankfully, while the vaccines don't prevent contracting COVID caused by Omicron, they appear to remain effective against severe disease and hospitalization. This appears to be true for the J&J shot, as well as the more widely used mRNA ones.
What's more, booster shots seem to restore much of the vaccine's protection against infection. "For the unvaccinated, you are looking at a winter of severe illness and death," said White House pandemic czar Jeff Zients. "Get vaccinated."

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

A week after the deadly tornadoes, this is how Kentucky is recovering

After several states were hit by a series of tornadoes, the level of destruction is still being assessed. Damage was most severe in Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear said that 3,280 people are still without power almost seven days later. Hundreds of homes and buildings were destroyed in the storm, and at least 77 people in the state have died.

Volunteers pass out hot food outside of Redemption City to those in need as the recovery continues from last week's tornado on Dec. 16, 2021, in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Scott Olson / Getty Images

Volunteers, mostly from the Mayfield Consumer Products factory, help salvage possessions from the destroyed home of Martha Thomas in the aftermath of tornadoes that tore through the region several days earlier. Gerald Herbert / AP

Volunteers prepare food to distribute to those in need as the recovery continues from last week's tornado on Dec. 16, 2021, in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Scott Olson / Getty Images

SNAPSHOTS

Kim Potter acknowledged that Daunte Wright never acted threatening before she accidentally killed him during a traffic stop. Potter testified in court that she didn't see any weapon in Wright's possession and that he never threatened or punched her or her fellow officers.

Over 100 asylum-seekers have found themselves trapped in Mexico under the newly reinstated Migrant Protection Protocols. Attorneys add that US border authorities have incorrectly placed some immigrants with medical conditions in the "Remain in Mexico" program.

Rapper Drakeo the ruler is dead after being stabbed at a music festival. The 28-year-old rapper was fatally stabbed backstage at the Once Upon a Time in LA musical festival, where he'd been scheduled to perform.

These real-life Brandons would like to not be associated with the "Let's go Brandon" chant. Brandons all over the world are now having to deal with their name becoming an anti-Biden inside joke.

JURY BEGINS THERANOS CASE DELIBERATION

Elizabeth Holmes could have fled the sinking ship of Theranos, but "she believed in this technology," her lawyers argued

Elizabeth Holmes arrives at the federal courthouse in San Jose with her mother and partner on Dec. 16, 2021. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

In their closing arguments last week, Elizabeth Holmes' legal team argued that the former CEO wasn't trying to hide anything, and that "she believed she was building a technology that would change the world."

Now, a 12-person jury will decide if Holmes intentionally defrauded investors and patients by making misleading and false statements about the capabilities of her blood-testing technology, the company's work with the military and pharmaceutical giants, and the accuracy of its test results.

The jury began deliberations late Friday after a trial that stretched over three months and featured testimony from more than 30 witnesses, including Holmes. Holmes is charged with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each count carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if she is convicted.

"WE'RE DANCING IN THE SAME ROOM / AND YOU'RE AN OCEAN AWAY"

Meet the women behind the TikTok Bridgerton musical who made Grammy history

Igor Kasyanyuk / Via Barlow & Bear

"Ok, but what if Bridgerton was a musical?" Abigail Barlow asked in a TikTok. The first video in her Bridgerton-inspired project with fellow composer Emily Bear, "Ocean Away" would eventually spawn into a 15-track concept album within six weeks of starting the project.

The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical is unique in more ways than one. It's the only piece nominated this year in the Best Musical Theater Album category by women, and it's the first TikTok-based collaboration to ever be nominated in the category. (Bridgerton is not the first-ever TikTok musical created. Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical started as a TikTok homage to Remy, the Parisian rat-turned-chef from the Disney Pixar film of the same name.)

"A lot of artists are very hesitant to put that process out there because it can be very vulnerable," Bear told BuzzFeed News. "We just pulled back the curtain on a very gate-kept art form."

There are things in this life that we can't control. Don't be hard on yourself about it,

Alexa

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