Tag Archives: Friday

Health

651 more COVID-19 cases, 17 deaths, 22,092 vaccinations reported Friday in Utah

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 651 on Friday, with 17 more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.

Eight of those deaths occurred before Feb. 5 but were still being investigated by state medical examiners, according to the health department.

The health department now estimates there are 17,979 active cases of the disease in Utah. Another 22,092 vaccine doses were administered as of Friday, according to the health department.

The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 694, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period reported with the “people over people” method is now 12.3%. The positive test rate per day seven-day average calculated with the “test over test” method is now 5.6%.

There are now 231 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 94 in intensive care, state data shows. About 73% of intensive care unit beds in Utah are filled as of Friday, including about 77% of ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds in Utah are occupied Friday.

A total of 682,536 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 660,444 Thursday. Of those, 239,877 are second doses of the vaccine, health department data shows.

The new numbers indicate a 0.2% increase in positive cases since Thursday. Of the 2,194,674 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.9% have tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests conducted has increased to 3,781,119 on Friday, up 15,599 from Thursday. Of those, 5,498 were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.

The 17 deaths reported Friday were:

  • An Iron County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was not hospitalized when he died
  • A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
  • A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
  • A Salt Lake County man who was over the age of 85 and was not hospitalized when he died
  • A Salt Lake County man who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
  • A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was hospitalized when he died
  • A Tooele County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was not hospitalized when he died
  • A Utah County man who was over the age of 85 and was not hospitalized when he died
  • A Washington County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
  • A Weber County man who was over the age of 85 and was not hospitalized when he died
  • Two Salt Lake County women who were between the ages of 65 and 84 and were residents of long-term care facilities
  • Two Salt Lake County women who were over the age of 85 and were residents of long-term care facilities
  • A Uintah County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
  • A Utah County woman who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was not hospitalized when she died
  • A Weber County woman who was over the age of 85 and was not hospitalized when she died

Friday’s totals give Utah 370,084 total confirmed cases, with 14,628 total hospitalizations and 1,907 total deaths from the disease. A total of 350,198 Utah COVID-19 cases are now estimated to be recovered, state data shows.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox provided a pandemic update at a news conference Thursday.

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Business

Tesla Inc. stock underperforms Friday when compared to competitors

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Shares of Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
-0.77%
shed 0.77% to $781.30 Friday, on what proved to be an all-around positive trading session for the stock market, with the NASDAQ Composite Index
COMP,
+0.07%
rising 0.07% to 13,874.46 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.00%
rising 0.00% to 31,494.32. This was the stock’s second consecutive day of losses. Tesla Inc. closed $119.10 below its 52-week high ($900.40), which the company achieved on January 25th.

The stock underperformed when compared to some of its competitors Friday, as Toyota Motor Corp. ADR
TM,
+0.07%
rose 0.07% to $153.55, General Motors Co.
GM,
+0.79%
rose 0.79% to $52.57, and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. ADR
HMC,
-0.73%
fell 0.73% to $28.49. Trading volume (18.8 M) remained 20.6 million below its 50-day average volume of 39.4 M.


Editor’s Note: This story was auto-generated by Automated Insights using data from Dow Jones and FactSet. See our market data terms of use.

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Health

Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 250 infections and no deaths reported Friday

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The latest count follows over a month of declining cases. Alaska saw a surge of infections in November and early December that strained hospital capacity. For the first time since September, daily case counts fell into the double digits twice last week.

Hospitalizations have fallen along with cases, and are now less than a third of where they were during the peak in November and December. By Friday, there were 40 people with COVID-19 in hospitals throughout the state. Another three patients were believed to have the virus.

The COVID-19 vaccine reached Alaska in mid-December. By Thursday, 101,631 — nearly 14% of Alaska’s total population — had received at least their first vaccine shot, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard. That’s far above the national average of 8.4%.

Among Alaskans 16 and older, 18% had received at least one dose of vaccine by Friday. The Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for use for people aged 16 and older, and Moderna’s has been cleared for use in people 18 and older.

Health care workers and nursing home staff and residents were the first people prioritized to receive the vaccine. In early January, the state said Alaskans older than 65 were now eligible, although appointment slots are limited and have filled quickly.

Thousands of new vaccine appointments went live on the state’s website last week, many of which are still available. Seniors and other eligible health care workers can call 907-646-3322 for assistance making an appointment.

Despite the lower case numbers throughout January, Alaska is still in the highest alert category based on the current per capita rate of infection, and public health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to keep up with personal virus mitigation efforts like hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing.

Of the 163 cases announced among Alaska residents Friday, there were 41 in Anchorage plus three in Eagle River; one in Anchor Point; one in Seward; one in Soldotna; one in Cordova; 13 in Fairbanks plus one in North Pole; one in Delta Junction; 17 in Palmer; 33 in Wasilla; six in Juneau; four in Ketchikan; one in Sitka; and six in Bethel.

Among communities with populations under 1,000 not named to protect privacy, there were two in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, one in the Aleutians East Borough; 23 in the Bethel Census Area; one in the Dillingham Census Area; and six in the Kusilvak Census Area.

There were also 87 cases among nonresidents in Alaska, including two in Anchorage, 80 in the Aleutians East Borough; and five in Unalaska.

While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

The state’s data doesn’t specify whether people testing positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. More than half of the nation’s infections are transmitted from asymptomatic people, according to CDC estimates.

Across the state, 2.45% of COVID-19 tests conducted over the past week have come back positive.

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Science

SpaceX fires 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, with more set to launch Friday – Spaceflight Now

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A Falcon 9 rocket climbs into a moonlit sky over Cape Canaveral after liftoff at 1:19 a.m. EST (0619 GMT) Thursday. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

Sixty more SpaceX-owned Starlink internet satellites rocketed through a moonlit winter sky over Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 launcher early Thursday, while another Falcon 9 stood on a different launch pad a few miles away to loft another 60 Starlink payloads Friday.

Nine Merlin 1D engines flashed to life and sent a rumble across Florida’s Space Coast at 1:19 a.m. EST (0619 GMT) Thursday. Hold-down clamps released to allow the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket to climb off pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Falcon 9’s guidance system steered the rocket northeast from Cape Canaveral to align with planned orbital inclination of the Starlink satellites.

After surpassing the speed of sound, the Falcon 9 soared into the rarefied uppermost layers of the atmosphere and shed its 15-story first stage booster around two-and-a-half minutes into the flight. An upper stage engine ignited to continue accelerating into orbit with the 60 Starlink satellites, while the first stage — designed B1060 in SpaceX’s reusable rocket inventory — descended to an on-target landing on SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” nearly 400 miles (630 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

The first stage’s landing punctuated the fifth trip to space and back for this booster, and it broke a record for the fastest turnaround between flights of a SpaceX booster, besting the previous mark of 38 days set last month.

The booster on Thursday’s mission last flew Jan. 7 with the Turksat 5A communications satellite, just 27 days ago.

The Falcon 9’s upper stage reached a preliminary orbit with the 60 Starlink satellites about nine minutes after liftoff Tuesday, then reignited its engine for one second to maneuver into a targeted orbit ranging between 155 miles and 180 miles (250-by-291 kilometers) in altitude.

The 60 Starlink satellites deployed from the rocket a little more than an hour after liftoff, while flying over the Pacific Ocean near New Zealand.

With the fresh broadband relay stations launched Thursday, SpaceX’s Starlink fleet appears to have grown to more 1,000 active satellites, according to data gathered by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who tracks global satellite and launch activity.

In total, the company has launched 1,085 satellites to date, including prototypes and failed spacecraft that are no longer in orbit.

Another 60 Starlink satellites are mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket awaiting liftoff from pad 39A, a few miles north of pad 40 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. That launch has been grounded several days to await better weather conditions in the offshore booster landing zone in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX briefly planned to launch both Falcon 9 rockets less than five hours apart early Thursday, but the company said Wednesday afternoon that the mission from pad 39A would be pushed back until Friday morning at 5:14 a.m. EST (1014 GMT) “to allow additional time for pre-launch checks.”

SpaceX has both of its ocean-going rocket landing platforms, or drone ships, deployed in the Atlantic Ocean for the two Starlink missions.

The two missions will be the 18th and 19th dedicated Falcon 9 flights for the Starlink network, which SpaceX is building out to provide broadband internet services around the world. Thursday’s mission was SpaceX’s fourth Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 107th Falcon 9 flight overall since 2010.

SpaceX says the Starlink network is providing preliminary low-latency internet service to users in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom through a beta testing program. Commercial service will begin after SpaceX has its initial network of around 1,584 satellites in orbit, including spares.

The quarter-ton Starlink satellites are built by SpaceX technicians and engineers in Redmond, Washington.

The initial block of Starlink satellites, including the 60 launched Thursday, fly in mid-inclination orbits tilted 53 degrees to the equator. The new Starlink satellites will unfurl their solar panels and activate their automated krypton ion thrusters to reach their final operating positions in the network.

Once operational, they will orbit at an altitude of 341 miles, or 550 kilometers, to provide broadband coverage over nearly all of the populated world.

SpaceX plans to launch more Starlink satellites into polar orbit to enable global coverage for maritime and aviation customers, including the U.S. military. The company has regulatory approval to launch around 12,000 Starlink satellites.



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Business

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Cl A stock rises Friday, outperforms market

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Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Cl A
AMC,
+53.65%
rocketed 53.65% to $13.26 Friday, on what proved to be an all-around dismal trading session for the stock market, with the NASDAQ Composite Index
COMP,
-2.00%
falling 2.00% to 13,070.69 and Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-2.03%
falling 2.03% to 29,982.62. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Cl A closed $7.10 short of its 52-week high ($20.36), which the company achieved on January 27th.

Trading volume (590.8 M) eclipsed its 50-day average volume of 97.8 M.


Editor’s Note: This story was auto-generated by Automated Insights using data from Dow Jones and FactSet. See our market data terms of use.

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Business

Robinhood raises $1 billion, will reopen GameStop stock purchases on Friday

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Despite denials of any arrangement with big money Wall Street backers, there’s still widespread belief that the inability to purchase these specific companies has been coordinated to disadvantage retail stock traders. Meanwhile, some explanations dug into what happened with the Wallstreetbets subreddit, and the business model of a company like Robinhood, pointing out that their moves caused marketmakers and hedge funds to also participate and potentially profit from the frenzy.

Aptly named WeBull CEO Anthony Denier spoke to Yahoo Finance and said that temporarily restricting Koss, AMC and GameStop trades was not a “political decision” and instead had to do with “settlement mechanics in the market.” As he explained, they have to fund each trade with a central clearing house for two days, and the cost of the collateral to WeBull’s clearing firm became to expensive to front the cost on their trader’s behalf.

In a blog post, Robinhood said it made “a risk-management decision” and similarly stated in interviews that “We have SEC net capital requirements and clearing house deposits…Some of these requirements fluctuate quite a bit based on volatility in the market and they can be substantial in the current environment where there’s a lot of volatility and a lot of concentrated activity in these names that have been going viral on social media.”

In response to reports that Robinhood tapped its credit lines, CEO Vlad Tenev said his company had no liquidity issue, and that “we pulled those credit lines so that we could maximize within reason the funds we have to deposit at the clearing houses.” The New York Times reports Robinhood drew on credit lines of $500 to $600 million to meet lending requirements, and separately raised $1 billion in emergency funding on Thursday night in order to avoid having to place further limits on trades.



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Sports

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, still in concussion protocol, at practice again Friday

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes was with the Kansas City Chiefs as they began Friday’s practice session, their last one before Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium.

His participation on Friday would appear to put Mahomes on a path to play Sunday. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Mahomes took all of the snaps in Wednesday’s practice and a majority of them on Thursday.

Mahomes was knocked out of last week’s divisional-round playoff win over the Browns with symptoms of a concussion after he was tackled hard on a running play. He has been in the NFL’s concussion protocol.

Three other key Chiefs players who have been fighting injuries were also present for the start of Friday’s practice: wide receiver Sammy Watkins (calf), running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (hip, ankle) and cornerback Bashaud Breeland (concussion, shoulder).

Coach Sean McDermott said the Bills were preparing for Mahomes to play.

“I guess at the beginning of the week we weren’t quite sure, and we really won’t know, I guess,” McDermott said. “It’s probably trending in that direction, so that’s what we’re anticipating.”

ESPN’s Mike Reiss contributed to this report.

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Science

SpaceX to launch dozens of satellites on Transporter-1 flight Friday and you can watch it live

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is preparing one of its veteran rockets to launch a stack of small satellites into space on Friday (Jan. 22). You can watch the fiery action live online. 

A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket flight is scheduled to take off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station here in Florida. Liftoff is expected during a one-hour window that opens at 9:24 a.m. EST (1424 GMT). 

Perched atop the 230-foot-tall (70 meters) launcher are dozens of satellites as part of a dedicated rideshare mission. This cosmic carpool, known as Transporter-1, will also be ferrying 10 of the company’s own Starlink satellites into space and depositing them in a polar orbit — a first for the growing network of broadband satellites. Other payloads include 48 Earth-observing SuperDove satellites for Planet and one small nanosatellite called “Charlie” for Aurora Insight.

You can watch the launch action live here and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, or you can watch directly from SpaceX here about 15 minutes before liftoff.

Related: See the evolution of SpaceX’s rockets in pictures

Friday’s launch marks the third mission of 2021 for SpaceX and the second in just two days from Florida’s Space Coast. The California-based rocket manufacturer launched a different Falcon 9 on a record-breaking flight on Wednesday (Jan. 20) to deliver a full stack of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. 

The booster used on that mission became the first in SpaceX’s fleet of frequent fliers to launch and land eight times. (The previous record was seven, which was held by two different first-stage boosters.) 

Following liftoff on Friday, the Transporter-1 Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage is expected to land on SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which is waiting out in the Atlantic. If successful, it will mark the 73rd recovery of a first-stage booster for SpaceX.  

It will also mark the first catch of the year for the veteran drone ship, which has sat out the past two missions while being refurbished.

SpaceX’s very big year: A 2020 of astronaut launches, Starship tests & more

The Falcon 9 rocket for the Transporter-1 launch  is a four-time flier and a record-setter as well. Known as B1058, this flight proven booster will embark on its fifth flight and, if all goes according to plan, will be able to stick its landing at sea.

B1058 made history in May when it launched two NASA astronauts — Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken — to the International Space Station on the first crewed flight to launch from U.S. soil since the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011. 

Emblazoned with NASA’s iconic worm logo, the booster also ferried a communications satellite for South Korea’s military, a batch of Starlink satellites and  a Dragon cargo capsule to the ISS for SpaceX’s 21st cargo resupply mission.  

For its next mission, the veteran will serve as a kind of space Uber, delivering a group of small satellites into orbit as part of SpaceX’s rideshare program, which aims to help smaller satellites get into space by sharing a ride much like an Uber pool. 

SpaceX announced the program in August 2020, offering rides on a Falcon for $1 million a pop. The launch slots are booked through the company’s website and are offered on regular intervals approximately four times per year. 

Rideshares missions are not exactly new for SpaceX as the company launched more than 60 satellites from its California launch pad in December 2018. That mission, dubbed SSO-A, delivered a small armada of satellites into low-Earth orbit through a carefully choreographed orbital ballet so that the satellites did not collide with one another. 

Since then, SpaceX has ferried other payloads to space on a few of its Starlink missions. Those missions included small cubesat satellites for Planet and BlackSky. 

SpaceX’s two net-equipped boats — called GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief — will be part of the recovery team deployed for this mission. They will attempt to recover the two pieces of the rocket’s nose cone, known as the payload fairing, after they fall back to Earth.

The dynamic duo supported the Starlink mission earlier this week and are currently en route to the Transporter-1 mission’s designated landing zone. (Each fairing half is equipped with parachutes and on board navigation software that steers it to a specific landing zone out in the Atlantic Ocean.)

For the Starlink mission, the boats scooped the pieces out of the water and will likely do the same thing for this mission. That determination will be made officially on launch day. 

Currently, weather forecasts predict an 80% chance of good conditions for the launch opportunity on Friday, with the only weather concerns being the potential for thick clouds over the launch site. There is a backup launch time on Saturday if need be. However, the launch conditions deteriorate a bit to just a 60% chance of good weather.

Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 



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