#AloneTogether
* “I didn’t feel a thing—well done.”–VP Mike Pence, after being vaccinated on live television.
* “We need at least several more vaccines if we are to get enough doses to vaccinate the overwhelming majority of the country … and get a good umbrella of immunity.”–Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
*According to the CDC, drug overdoses have accelerated during the pandemic: 2020 will become the year with the highest number of overdose deaths on record.
* “How can we come to terms with all this when people are living in separate informational realities?”–Kate Starbird, associate professor and misinformation expert at the University of Washington.
* Approximately 22 percent of regular hospital beds and 18 percent of adult intensive care unit beds were—as of last weekend—open statewide. The numbers in Tampa Bay were 23 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
* Visit Tampa Bay announced that its tax collection on overnight stays was down 45 percent in October compared to the same month last year.
* According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction employment in the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater metro area declined by 5 percent or 3,900 jobs, across all forms of construction between October 2019 and October 2020.
* 25: the approximate percentage of the inmate population in the Tampa Bay area’s largest state prison facility (Zephrhills Correctional Institute) that has tested positive for COVID-19.
* What would Jesus say about churches struggling to accommodate parishioners during a pandemic? It’s beyond presumptuous to even guess, but here goes: “First things first; protect yourselves and others. When in doubt, stay home and continue to live a principled, faith-based life. I’m good with virtual worship.”