Category: Corona Virus

WASHINGTON President Biden was in close contact with a White House official who later tested positive for the coronavirus, the administration said on Monday.

The president spent about 30 minutes near the official aboard Air Force One on a trip from South Carolina to Pennsylvania on Friday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. The official, who was vaccinated and had received a booster shot, began experiencing symptoms two days later and tested positive on Monday morning.

The president is tested on a regular basis. As part of that regular testing, the president received an antigen test Sunday, and tested negative, Ms. Psaki said. This morning, after being notified of the staffers positive test, the president received a P.C.R. test and tested negative.

The news came as administration officials acknowledged that as the highly contagious Omicron variant has surged, a cluster of cases have been reported in and around the White House, including at the National Security Council, the State Department, Treasury and other agencies. Mr. Biden, who is 79, will deliver a speech on Tuesday that his advisers say is meant to emphasize that fully vaccinated people will face far fewer health risks from the virus and its variants than the unvaccinated.

This is not a speech about locking the country down, Ms. Psaki told reporters on Monday. This is a speech outlining and being direct and clear with the American people about the benefits of being vaccinated, the steps were going to take to increase access and to increase testing, and the risks posed to unvaccinated individuals.

In her statement about Mr. Bidens exposure to the virus, Ms. Psaki added that he would be tested again on Wednesday, and that as a fully vaccinated person, he was not required to quarantine after exposure. According to guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully vaccinated people who have had close contact with someone who has Covid should be tested five to seven days from the date of exposure and wear a mask in public indoor settings for two weeks or until they receive a negative test result.

Researchers still do not know how likely Omicron is to cause severe illness in most people, but its speed has stunned public health experts. With Omicron already the dominant form of the coronavirus in the United States, White House officials have tried to emphasize that breakthrough cases among the fully vaccinated and boosted will most likely be mild compared with infections the unvaccinated may face; but given the variants contagiousness, those cases could become more common.

Officials have also said that there is no reason to treat this wave like the devastating one the United States faced in spring 2020, but the virus is interfering with day-to-day functions in the administration. At least one person a journalist who traveled with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to Southeast Asia last week tested positive, causing Mr. Blinken to cut short his trip. Another White House official, who attended a Christmas party with journalists on Tuesday, later tested positive. The administration has not disclosed the scope of infections in the White House and at various agencies.

I would just note that we do expect there to be breakthrough cases, as there are as there will be across government, Ms. Psaki said on Monday when asked to describe infections in the administration.

Some federal agencies are planning to require employees to return to the office. A memo sent to Commerce Department employees on Friday from Don Graves, the deputy secretary, outlined a plan to start a staggered approach to return beginning in January. Ms. Psaki said on Monday that everyone who worked in the administration was encouraged to receive a booster shot and that 99 percent of the White House staff had received one.

Dec. 21, 2021, 8:38 p.m. ET

Still, a memo sent to the staff on Monday afternoon provided a link to schedule a Pfizer dose and a plea: The best way to protect yourself and others is by being fully vaccinated and receiving a booster as soon as you are eligible. Both memos were obtained by The New York Times.

In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. Biden is expected to encourage the public to receive a booster shot as soon as they are eligible.

President Donald J. Trump, who for years falsely claimed that vaccines were dangerous and pointedly declined to be seen receiving his coronavirus vaccine while he was in office, told the former Fox News host Bill OReilly on Sunday that he had received a booster.

Their audience, at a speaking tour stop in Houston, began to boo, according to a video distributed by one of Mr. OReillys social media accounts.

Dont, dont, dont, dont, Mr. Trump said, waving his arm to dismiss the naysayers and downplaying the reaction.

Mr. Bidens advisers have pointed out that they have taken extra precautions to keep him safe from exposure, including protocol that requires day-of testing if an official is to meet with him. Officials who see the president every day are therefore tested every day, an administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal planning.

Mr. Trump, on the other hand, eschewed most precautions while he was in office.

Azi Paybarah and Lauren McCarthy contributed reporting.

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Biden Was in Close Contact With Official Who Tested Positive for Covid - The New York Times

KANSAS (KSNT) Kansas has now surpassed the half-million mark when it comes to the number of residents who have had the coronavirus.

On Dec. 20 the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported the state had 500,448 cases. There are 2.913million people who live in Kansas.

Roughly, one in six Kansas residents has had the virus.

Five days ago the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) announced that the state Health and Environmental Laboratories has found the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in one Kansas resident.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) says COVID-19 is to blame for seven more Kansas deaths since Friday, bringing the states death toll to 6,916. In the past week, the KDHE has reported 41 deaths due to coronavirus, down from 132 deaths reported in the previous week.

Hospitalizations are also down slightly with 57 hospitalizations since Friday. Over the past week, the KDHE reported 287 hospitalizations due to COVID, down from 316 the week before.

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KDHE: 1 in 6 Kansans have had coronavirus - KSNT News

Weekly coronavirus cases in Oregon climbed just 10% in the past seven days, state data released Monday shows, with the lurking omicron variant not yet producing documentation of a feared spike in infections.

The Oregon Health Authority recorded 5,589 cases in the past week, including 1,941 announced Monday for the preceding three days.

The jump in weekly cases was outpaced by a roughly 21% increase in weekly testing, according to state data. In fact, Oregon in the past week has seen fewer new cases per capita than nearly any state in the country, according to federal statistics.

But the highly transmissible omicron variant is expected to lead to another wave in infections locally and nationally. If the dire projections pan out, that could produce record local hospitalizations, according to a recent forecast by Oregon Health & Science University.

State health officials Monday also announced three COVID-related deaths.

Where the new cases are by county: Baker (9), Benton (41), Clackamas (212), Clatsop (21), Columbia (27), Coos (37), Crook (3), Curry (4), Deschutes (161), Douglas (57), Gilliam (1), Harney (2), Hood River (6), Jackson (106), Jefferson (15), Josephine (60), Klamath (13), Lane (140), Lincoln (16), Linn (110), Malheur (2), Marion (123), Morrow (2), Multnomah (390), Polk (17), Sherman (1), Tillamook (29), Umatilla (10), Union (1), Wasco (6), Washington (266) and Yamhill (53).

Who died: Oregons 5,532nd COVID-19 related death is a 95-year-old Umatilla County woman who tested positive Nov. 9 and died Dec. 14 at her residence.

The 5,533rd fatality is a 91-year-old Klamath County woman who tested positive Dec. 5 and died Dec. 11 at Sky Lakes Medical Center.

The 5,534th fatality is a 47-year-old Jackson County woman who tested positive Dec. 4 and died Dec. 9 at her residence.

The presence of underlying health conditions was confirmed or still under investigation for each person.

Hospitalizations: 352 people with confirmed COVID-19 infections are hospitalized, down 31 since Friday. That includes 101 people in intensive care, down two since Friday.

Vaccines: 9,005 people have been reported newly vaccinated since Friday.

Since it began: Oregon has reported 407,153 confirmed or presumed infections and 5,534 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported 6,561,274 vaccine doses administered, fully vaccinating 2,745,825 people and partially vaccinating 274,109 people.

To see more data and trends, visit https://projects.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

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Coronavirus in Oregon: Weekly cases up 10%, but testing up even more - OregonLive

There is a distinction between reasonable fear and anxiety that becomes disproportionate and all-consuming, said Dr. Itai Danovitch, the chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. A meta-analysis of dozens of community-based studies on mental health and the coronavirus showed that anxiety among the general population has increased threefold during the pandemic.

But in such tumultuous times, a certain level of anxiety is understandable, he said.

It is important to normalize how people are feeling: Anxiety and fear are common, its OK to feel anxiety, its OK to feel low, its OK to feel some distress, Dr. Danovitch said.

Since Rachel McEneny, of Albany, N.Y., began sniffling last Saturday, she has taken two rapid tests, both negative. Yet when a housekeeper came to her home, Ms. McEneny drove her car in circles around the neighborhood with her dog, Yaeger, afraid that she might give her employee the coronavirus in the remote case that both tests had produced a false negative.

As Ms. McEnenys illness dragged on, she was unconvinced by the at-home test results and took a P.C.R. test on Thursday. She began wearing a mask when watching television with her teenage daughter.

You are wearing a mask and youre hiding from people and youre absolutely miserable and youre so worried, said Ms. McEneny, 49, the commissioner of administrative services for Albany, who considered canceling her Christmas dinner plans. Compounding her anxiety, she added, is the stigma of being sick in public with anything in the coronavirus era.

The minute I hack people wince being around you and I do it too, she said. Socially you dont want to be part of that. Late Friday evening she got her results back: Her illness was not Covid.

For many workers, the rigmarole of sorting out which illness they have a cold they can handle with Gatorade and NyQuil, or the coronavirus, for which health officials recommend a period of isolation can translate into lost wages or worry that they are leaving their employers in the lurch.

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Is That Sniffle a Cold? Or Is It Covid? - The New York Times

The University of Illinois will temporarily switch to remote learning in January before opening classrooms to students.

Students and staff in Chicago and Champaign-Urbana will need to show negative COVID-19 tests, the university said Monday.

The Chicago campus will go online for two weeks, starting Jan. 10, with some exceptions. The Champaign-Urbana campus will be online Jan. 18-23.

We anticipate the two-week period of online instruction will allow students to get booster doses, settle in and navigate any health issues without the concern of missing the beginning of the semester, the Chicago campus letter said.

The COVID-19 vaccination rate at all campuses, including Springfield, is more than 95%.

We dont know how much vaccination and boosting will protect from the omicron variant but it seems like there is likely some protection from that, said Susan Bleasdale, an assistant vice chancellor in Chicago. Not necessarily from transmission but from severe disease.

Northwestern University announced a similar online plan.

Meanwhile, Illinois reported about 12,330 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily total in more than a year.

Cristian Ruiz took her three children to get tested after possible exposure at school. It could take five days for results.

Our picture with Santa, we never got to have that, Ruiz told the Chicago Tribune.

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University of Illinois to Briefly Go Online in January as Coronavirus Heats Up - NBC Chicago

The unvaccinated Beasley, who was fined by the NFL last summer for failing to wear a mask inside the teams facility, threatened to retire in June over how the leagues COVID-19 protocols specifically targeted unvaccinated players.

In July, Beasley opened training camp by saying hes not anti- or pro-vaccination, but pro choice, in criticizing the NFL for failing to provide transparent information in making their choice to get vaccinated. In doing so, he contradicted coach Sean McDermott for saying the team has done everything possible to educate its players.

Also, the Chiefs added wide receiver Tyreek Hill, cornerback Rashad Fenton and tight end Blake Bell to their growing COVID-19 list that already included tight end Travis Kelce and kicker Harrison Butker.

The Chiefs also have Charvarius Ward on the list, which means two of their top three cornerbacks are in the leagues virus protocol, along with defensive tackle Chris Jones, linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and wide receiver Josh Gordon.

Linebacker Nick Bolton, offensive lineman Kyle Long, right tackle Lucas Niang and safety Armani Watts also were added to list.

For the Chiefs, Jones, Gay and Gordon tested positive last week and missed Thursday night's win over the Chargers. There's a good chance the trio could return two negative tests and be available for this week's game against the Steelers.

Kelce, Butker and Ward tested positive on Monday, when the Chiefs began to return from their long weekend. The team did not have any formal meetings or practice until Tuesday and will begin game preparation in earnest on Wednesday.

Until the past two weeks, the Chiefs had navigated the season relatively unscathed when it came to COVID-19, losing only star safety Tyrann Mathieu for a week and a couple of role players. But the rapid transmission of the omicron variant across the league has hit Kansas City hard, resulting in some of their most important players going on the list.

Hill is second in the league with 102 catches and fourth with 1,178 yards to go along with nine touchdown catches. He had 12 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown in his most recent game against Los Angeles, breaking a tie with Chris Burford for third place in franchise history with 56 touchdown receptions.

Hill needs just six more catches to pass Kelces single-season franchise record of 105 set last year.

The Browns got bad news on defensive end Takk McKinley. Theyre hoping for better on Myles Garrett.

Clevelands defense, already ravaged by COVID-19 cases, was dealt another tough blow as McKinley will miss the rest of this season with a torn Achilles tendon suffered in Monday nights 16-14 loss to the Raiders.

Also, the Browns are anxiously awaiting test results on Garrett after the star injured his groin in the fourth quarter. Garrett left the field and was checked in the sideline medical tent before returning.

The 2020 All-Pro was clearly not himself in the final minutes and struggled just getting to the sideline.

Coach Kevin Stefanski was awaiting more information on Garrett, who has a career-high 15 sacks.

Stefanski, who missed Mondays game after a positive COVID-19 test and hasnt cleared protocols, wouldnt speculate on whether Garrett will be available for Saturdays game at Green Bay.

I just dont know at this point, he said. Still have more information coming in.

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Bills place vaccine critic Cole Beasley on reserve/COVID-19 list; Chiefs add Tyreek Hill, others to growing coronavirus problem - The Boston Globe

The dread was familiar.

As news spread of the latest coronavirus surge, fueled by the Omicron variant, parents faced a return to the drudgery of school through a screen, child care crises and restless young bodies, penned inside for the winter.

In Manhattan, Olivia Strong received an email from her sons public middle school on Monday, informing her that his cohort of eighth graders would transition to remote learning because of multiple positive virus cases.

I was not even slightly surprised; I fully expected it, she said, sighing deeply. Her hope, she added, was that a short break to reset would allow schools to reopen more safely in the new year.

Districts have mostly reassured families that despite targeted classroom closures to contain spread of the virus, they plan to continue in-person learning until the Christmas break and reopen as planned in January. New York City, Boston and Montgomery County, Md., in suburban Washington, were among the large school systems that said they would not shift districtwide to remote learning, or would do so only if forced to by public health officials.

Still, the alarming spread of the virus could expose the rickety infrastructure that has kept schools running through most of this year. Many schools are still in need of substitute teachers and bus drivers, and can ill afford an outbreak that would send even more staff members home. There still are not enough rapid tests to quickly screen whole classrooms or schools. And some districts may have a tough time meeting demand for online learning as children are quarantined or concerned parents choose to keep them home.

School officials must simultaneously address the devastating impact of the pandemic on students: academic deficits, mental health struggles and labor shortages.

This is going to be a winter of challenging choices for schools, but closure cannot be the default, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a think tank that has studied district responses to Covid-19.

Despite targeted classroom closures to contain spread of the virus, things have gone relatively smoothly for schools. Across the nations 13,000 districts and 98,000 public schools this week, there are about 600 shuttered schools or districts, according to data from Burbio, a company that has tracked how schools have operated through the pandemic. There are fewer closures now than in November.

And school outbreaks remain limited, as they have been throughout the pandemic.

New York City, the nations largest district and the one currently most threatened by the Omicron variant, has 1,600 schools; seven are currently closed because of virus cases, with 45 under investigation.

On Tuesday, the test positivity rate in the citys schools was 1.76 percent out of more than 10,000 tests, according to a district spokesman. The citywide community positivity rate has been 4 percent over the past two weeks. Even though the policy is to test only unvaccinated students who have parental consent, the data suggests schools are relatively safe environments.

The picture nationally had been bright enough that many schools relaxed virus restrictions in recent weeks.

Several school districts in Florida dropped their mask mandates. New Jersey relaxed school quarantine rules, decoupling them from community transmission rates and reducing the number of stay-at-home days for students who had close contact with an infected person.

And in Missouri, the attorney general, a Republican, sent a letter to districts directing them to drop mask mandates and quarantine requirements after a circuit court judge ruled that such measures violated the State Constitution. Several districts are resisting, a sign perhaps that there may be political dissension after the holidays, when schools weigh whether to reopen classrooms after family gatherings that will almost certainly make the current surge more severe.

Washington, D.C., has already extended its vacation by two days, directing families to pick up rapid tests at schools and test students before returning them to the classroom.

But Prince Georges is an outlier; the political will to keep schools open is notable given that many of the states experiencing the heaviest virus case loads are in the Northeast and Midwest, which have powerful teachers unions. They spent much of the pandemic fighting for strict mitigation measures and longer periods of remote learning.

This time, union leaders in New York, Boston and Philadelphia said they were not asking for districtwide remote learning, and were instead focused on pushing administrators to enforce virus mitigation measures.

But in an interview on Friday, the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Stacy Davis Gates, did not rule out pushing for a period of remote learning after the holidays.

She argued that the districts contact tracing efforts had been sluggish and that the city should make greater efforts to vaccinate students and parents on school grounds and provide families with free, at-home rapid tests.

Several schools, she said, already had to contend with large numbers of absent staff members because of the virus. At what number do you say its unsafe for people to be in the building without X number of adults? she asked.

Chicago Public Schools said in a written statement that after the holiday break, which began on Friday, it would restart a free, weekly P.C.R. testing program at schools and would push to urge families to consent to testing.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged schools on Friday to reduce quarantines and closures by using a protocol known as test-to-stay, in which close contacts are given frequent rapid tests; only those who test positive must stay home.

Many districts do not have a sufficient supply of such tests, however, nor the staffing to widely administer them. Chicago has piloted test-to-stay in a single elementary school. Boston Public Schools said last week it had hired an outside staffing agency to help fill open nursing positions.

Another challenge is that many parents have not given consent for their children to be tested for the virus at school. Some teachers unions have urged districts to shift from a protocol of parental opt-in to one of parental opt-out.

If there is a positive case in a class, everyone should just get tested, Erik Berg, vice president of the Boston Teachers Union, said. If our universities and colleges can test everyone on campus twice per week, it says a lot about the commitment to K-12 education that we cant even test people we know were in the same room with a positive case for six or seven hours.

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Covid-19 and Schools: Are They Ready for the Next Big Surge? - The New York Times

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The Ohio Department of Healthhasreleasedthe latest number of COVID-19 casesin the state.

As of Tuesday, Dec. 21, a total of 1,867,723 (+12,502) coronavirus cases have been reported in Ohio, leading to 93,302 (+584) hospitalizations and 11,479 (+81) admissions into the ICU.

With 12,502 new cases reported today, that is the most cases in one-day ever for the state of Ohio. The previous high was 11,885 new cases reported on Nov. 23, 2020, a difference of 617.

An additional 8,606 people have begun the vaccination process 59.27% of all Ohioans for a total of 6,927,726.

ODH reported 249 deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total to 28,277. The state is updating the number only after death certificates have been processed, usually twice a week.

Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the Ohio National Guardon Friday to help hospitals with their pandemic-related staffing shortages.

The 21-day case average is sitting at more than 8,000.

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COVID-19 in Ohio Tuesday update: Most cases in one-day ever at more than 12,500 - NBC4 WCMH-TV

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 275.5 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.36 million. More than 8.75 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

India has recorded 200 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant across 12 states, mostly in the western state of Maharashtra and the nation's capital New Delhi, the health ministry said on Tuesday. The country's tally of Omicron cases has nearly doubled within a week, but there have been no deaths reported so far.

New Zealand has postponed its phased border re-opening plans until the end of February over concerns of the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The country had just started easing some of the world's toughest pandemic measures and its international border restrictions were to progressively loosen from January, with all foreign tourists allowed into the country from April.

Thailand will reinstate its mandatory COVID-19 quarantine for foreign visitors and scrap a quarantine waiver from Tuesday due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The decision to halt the country's 'Test and Go' waiver means visitors will have to undergo hotel quarantine, which ranges between 7 to 10 days.

China reported 81 new confirmed coronavirus cases for 20 December, down from 102 a day earlier, its health authority said on Tuesday. Of the new infections, 57 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 37 a day earlier.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

COVID-19 cases surged in New York City and across the US over the weekend, dashing hopes for a more normal holiday season, resurrecting restrictions and stretching the country's testing infrastructure ahead of holiday travel and gatherings.

The spike in COVID-19 cases is alarming public health officials, who fear an explosion of infections after the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

The Omicron variant now accounts for 73% of US COVID-19 infections based on sequencing data for the week ended on Saturday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday.

Lines for COVID-19 tests wrapped around the block in New York, Washington and other US cities over the weekend as people tried to find out if they were infected before celebrating the holidays with family.

The European Union has approved the use of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine in people 18 years and older, giving a boost to the US company after long delays and paving the way for a fifth shot in the EU as the Omicron variant spreads.

Data from two large studies showed the vaccine has an efficacy of around 90%, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.

It is not clear yet, though, how Novavax performs against the Omicron variant, or whether a booster dose will be needed. Some early data has suggested that many two-dose vaccines do not work well against the variant while a third shot improves their efficacy.

Novavax said earlier this month it could begin manufacturing a vaccine tailored for Omicron in January.

COVID-19 infections have broken records in parts of Europe in recent weeks, with governments and researchers scrambling to bolster defences against the fast-spreading Omicron, prompting renewed curbs ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Keeping workers well. It is the united aim of a global community influencing how companies will keep employees safe. What is the role of COVID-19 testing? What is the value of contact tracing? How do organizations ensure health at work for all employees?

Members from a diverse range of industries from healthcare to food, utilities, software and more and from over 25 countries and 250 companies representing more than 1 million employees are involved in the COVID-19 Workplace Commons: Keeping Workers Well initiative. Launched in July 2020, the project is a partnership between the World Economic Forum and Arizona State University with support from The Rockefeller Foundation.

The COVID-19 Workplace Commons: Keeping Workers Well initiative leverages the Forums platforms, networks and global convening ability to collect, refine and share strategies and approaches for returning to the workplace safely as part of broader COVID-19 recovery strategies.

Companies can apply to share their learnings and participate in the initiative as a partner, by joining the Forums Platform for Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare.

Learn more about the impact.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: Top news stories about the pandemic on 21 December | World Economic Forum - World Economic Forum

In the dance world, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater canceled performances at New York City Center, while Mark Morris canceled performances over the weekend at Zellerbach Hall at the University of California, Berkeley.

In sports, the N.B.A. and N.H.L. announced a round of game postponements, and the N.F.L. adjusted its testing policies, to address a surge in cases.

The film world offered evidence that audiences are still willing to gather. The industry had a great weekend, thanks to Spider-Man. But not all theaters were joining the party: Metrograph, citing the pandemic, said it would close its Lower East Side theater until Christmas, and Spectacle Theater, in Brooklyn, closed until Jan. 4.

Off Broadway, there were multiple shows down over the last week, often canceling at the very last minute. Trevor, a new musical at Stage 42, canceled its Sunday matinee and then on Monday said it would shut down, canceling the remaining two weeks of performances. And among those that canceled at least one performance were The Alchemist at Red Bull Theater, Cheek to Cheek at York Theater Company, Emmet Otters Jug-Band Christmas! at New Victory Theater, Hear/Now:LIVE! at Keen Company, Kimberly Akimbo at Atlantic Theater Company, Morning Sun at Manhattan Theater Club and While You Were Partying at Soho Rep.

Although the cancellations have been prompted by the testing of arts workers, there are indications that safety protocols for audiences are likely to shift: The Metropolitan Opera announced last week that it would require Covid booster shots for patrons, as well as employees, starting in mid-January. The Public Theater said it would require not only proof of vaccination, but also a negative Covid-19 test, for entry; in the short-term that new policy will only affect audiences at Joes Pub, which is the only part of the Public with performances scheduled over the next few weeks.

And, in a flashback to earlier pandemic practices, some organizations are rethinking live audiences. Saturday Night Live last weekend performed without a live audience. Play-PerView, a streaming platform born in the first weeks of the pandemic, canceled a live reading in Los Angeles on Monday, opting to stream only, while a New York cabaret space, the Green Room 42, said Monday that it would begin livestreaming all of its shows, while still continuing to welcome in-person patrons, until this wave passes.

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Hamilton and Other Broadway Shows Cancel Performances Through Christmas - The New York Times