12-22: Shite hits fan

✅ Orange County obliterates coronavirus record as surging infections strain state hospitals 

—LA Times 

✅ California could see 100,000 hospitalizations within a month -- California has recorded a half-million coronavirus cases in the last two weeks, overwhelming emergency rooms in urban centers and rural areas including along the Mexican border where a small hospital system warns it is fast running out of patient beds. Don Thompson Associated Press -- 12/22/20 

✅ California opens field hospitals to cope with crush of coronavirus cases -- With intensive care capacity buckling under an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, California has opened four field hospitals where dozens of patients are being treated and the state is bringing in hundreds of additional health care providers. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 12/22/20 

✅ Health care rationing on the horizon if hospital surge continues, leaders say -- They lay out in significant detail how every hospital in the state should go about deciding who lives and who dies in situations where resources can no longer meet demand. Paul Sisson in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 12/22/20

✅ This data point shows California has 4th worst COVID-19 spread in US -- Throughout much of the pandemic, California has had among the lowest case rates in the country, but as of Monday morning, it has the fourth highest rate in the country, with an average of 109.3 new daily cases reported per 100,000 residents over the past week. Amy Graff in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/22/20 

✅ Many U.S. health experts underestimated the coronavirus — until it was too late -- A year ago, while Americans were finishing their holiday shopping and finalizing travel plans, doctors in Wuhan, China, were battling a mysterious outbreak of pneumonia with no known cause. Liz Szabo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 12/22/20 

✅ CSU campuses with most COVID-19 cases have one thing in common — they like to party -- The California State University campuses with the most reported cases of COVID-19 have something else in common — they also regularly top the lists of best party schools in the state. Ashleigh Panoo in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 12/22/20

✅ Fauci: Vaccines should allow CA colleges to teach in-person next fall -- Dr. Anthony Fauci said he anticipates that COVID-19 vaccines will begin to become widely available to the general public in March and April, and that immunization combined with aggressive testing of students would bode well for an in-person school year. Maddie Beck CalMatters -- 12/22/20 

✅ Congress approves billions more in Covid relief for schools and colleges -- While the total is half as big as the bill that lawmakers passed in March, for school districts and colleges, there will be a lot more money. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 12/22/20 

✅ Retracting a Bad Take on Female Mentorship 

Authors withdraw controversial article concluding that working with a female mentor might hurt young scientists' careers. 

—Inside Higher Ed

✅ A Decline in Transfers 

Student mobility fell steeply this year as colleges dealt with other enrollment challenges. 

—Inside Higher Ed 

✅ Congress Will Give Colleges $20 Billion in Relief and — Surprise! — Some Long-Awaited Policy Reforms 

—CHE 

✅ The Year That Pushed Higher Ed to the EdgeThe pandemic exacerbated long-simmering problems confronting colleges. 

—CHE