December 18, 2020

Coronavirus Growth in Western Countries: December 17 Update

Here, via the LA Times, is the current availability of ICU beds in California:

The five big counties of Southern California, which account for about half the state’s population, are responsible for 70 percent of all new COVID-19 cases over the past week and 66 percent of all ICU beds. LA County, which has about a quarter of the state’s population, is responsible for roughly a third of both new cases and ICU beds.

Here’s the coronavirus death toll through December 17. The raw data from Johns Hopkins is here.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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