New cases per day are running at all-time highs of over 209,000 on average. The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 is setting records nearly every day.

Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced they will rapidly work to grant emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The FDA’s greenlight of the vaccine, co-developed with BioNtech, was practically assured after the positive vote by agency advisers a day earlier.

The panel of CDC advisers will vote on who should get priority for the initial shots. Federal officials plan to allocate the first 6.4 million doses of the vaccine to states based on their population.

The U.S. recorded 3,124 deaths Wednesday, the highest one-day total yet. Up until last week, the peak was 2,603 deaths on April 15.

Wednesday’s toll eclipsed the 2,500 American deaths on D-Day during World War II and topped the toll on 9/11 of 2,977.

A group of parents sued Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials Thursday, to throw out his order that put high school sports on hold to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The lawsuit asserts that Walz’s order unfairly sidelines young athletes while college and pro sports are allowed, and that there’s little evidence youth sporting events have been major spreaders of the virus.

Lawmakers meanwhile said they have agreed on $216 million in grants for businesses hurt by a governor-imposed four-week “pause” on bars, restaurants and gyms — under the same order that shut down organized youth sports.

Maggie Stout can be reached at stou4257@stthomas.edu.