Coronavirus daily update: Thursday, Dec. 17

Best of the Beat — Winston-Salem

A lot of work went into our very first Best of the Beat issue, which hit the streets this morning. This one’s all about Winston-Salem and its environs, celebrating excellence in all its forms.

Meanwhile, there’s been some news.

Some news

• There’s been a strong outbreak of COVID-19 at the Forsyth County Jail: 30 inmates and six staffers.
  Emmanuel Macron, president of France, tested positive for coronavirus, with symptoms.
• Cone Health has its first doses of the vaccine, dishing out about 250 a day to staffers.
• It’s not all coronavirus! Justin Outling is running for mayor of Greensboro.
• But yeah, a lot of it is coronavirus.

The numbers

• The state has not updated its dashboard yet today. Sorry.
• Guilford County reports 559 new cases, which is an absolute shitload; 19,227 total. Subtract 278 deaths (+0) and 15,853 recoveries and you’ve got 3,094 active cases, also a shitload.
  • 195 of them are in the hospital.
• Forsyth County adds a more reasonable 205, for 17,429. However, seven new deaths make 196. There have been 14,152 recoveries, so 3,081 active cases (shitload).

A diversion

Even in 1918 Americans had difficulty separating the art from the artist. In that vein, I’m dropping “The Bell Boy” from 1918, starring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Buster Keaton. Google up Arbuckle — who, by the way, wasn’t even all that fat — and descend into the rabbit hole of his troubled private life. But first, enjoy the vaudeville-style comedy of early cinema.

Program notes

• “Sulking,” an Edgar Degas from 1870, features the writer Edmond Duranty and model Emma Dobigny. Lots of subtext, but no backstory. Thanks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public-domain collection.
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