The Johns Hopkins COVID Dashboard for Saturday, December 5 at 5:27 a.m.:

Worldwide cases:66,081,451      Worldwide deaths: 1,522,030

U.S. cases: 14,396,444   U.S. deaths: 279,253

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide case report increased by 672,664  in the last 24 hours.  Deaths worldwide increased by 12,287.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 236,039 cases in the last 24 hours.

In the last day,  the number of reported deaths in the U.S. from  COVID-19 increased by 2,740.

The COVID Tracking Project reports that 101,276 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of yesterday.   Hilo Medical Center has one patient with COVID-19, and reports the facility has adequate staffing and Personal Protective Equipment.  Hospitalizations across the nation have created shortages of both in many mainland hospitals.

The FDA is set to review two vaccines for COVID-19:  on Dec. 10, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (already approved for use in the U.K.) and on Dec. 18, the Moderna vaccine.   Other vaccines are also on the horizon.  However, local officials are noting that it will take months for the vaccines to get distributed to everybody who wants to be vaccinated.  Meanwhile, it’s important to continue wearing masks, distancing, and washing hands frequently.