Here are the top 6 things you need to know on this Monday, November 16th.
It’s Monday, November 16th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - The United States surpassed more than 11 million COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the third wave of the virus continued its uncontrolled spread, new restrictions were introduced, and Americans weighed whether and how they can celebrate Thanksgiving, NBC News reports.
Florida added more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, the highest number of daily cases reported since July. The increase was fueled by an unprecedented number of test results — more than 146,000 — reported to the state for one day.
No. 2 - Officials are urging families to practice coronavirus safety as the holidays approach.
The City of Miami’s Thanksgiving safety guidelines suggest having a small dinner with only the people you live with, hosting a virtual meal with family and friends, sharing recipes virtually, and shopping online the day after.
South Florida local Andrea Collazo told NBC 6 that her huge family had made the tough decision to not be together for Thanksgiving this year. “Unfortunately we cannot gather,” said Collazo. “This is a sacrifice that we have to do to stop the spread.”
No. 3 - President-elect Joe Biden is quietly pushing forward with the business of preparing to become America’s next commander in chief even as President Donald Trump, who refuses to concede the election, and his allies seemed determined to make his transition as difficult as possible.
Local
Biden is building his administration and focusing on how to address the coronavirus pandemic once in office, without Trump's cooperation. This week, Biden's advisors will meet with vaccine makers for a detailed understanding of distribution plans being finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon.
No. 4 - SpaceX and NASA launched the Crew-1 mission on Sunday evening. It’s the company’s first fully operational astronaut launch and the beginning of regular missions to the International Space Station.
“With this milestone NASA and SpaceX have changed the historical arc of human space transportation,” NASA director of commercial spaceflight development Phil McAlister told reporters ahead of the launch.
The mission took off at 7:27 p.m. ET from launchpad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
No. 5 - A fast-strengthening Hurricane Iota is sweeping over the western Caribbean and has become a very dangerous Category 4 storm early Monday as it heads for the same part of Central American battered by a similarly powerful Hurricane Eta just over a week ago.
Forecasters said Iota continued to show signs of strengthening and could be a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane by the time it reaches Central America.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, we are looking at a mostly sunny and warm Monday with very little rain and highs in the mid-80s. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
