Three things for November 12
1. Texas exceeds 1 million COVID-19 cases
Texas, the second-most populated state behind California, became the first state to top 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
California is not far behind Texas at over 995,000 cases and is expected to exceed 1 million cases any day now.
COVID cases are rising throughout the U.S. as the possibility of increased lockdown measures looms over the nation for the first time in months in many states.
The past several days have seen record-breaking numbers of new infections nationwide, topping 120,000 daily infections as the daily death toll from the virus nears 1,000 per day.
2. Georgia announces hand recount
Yesterday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a hand recount of ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election.
Currently, President-elect Joe Biden leads incumbent President Donald Trump by just 14,000 votes in Georgia.
The recount must be completed by Nov. 20, and it will not affect either of Georgia’s Senate races, which are set to end in twin runoff elections on Jan. 5.
The Electoral College requires that all states, including Georgia, finalize the votes of their electors by Dec. 8, with the electors casting their votes for the presidency on Dec. 14.
3. Gatlinburg SkyBridge commits to another annual light show
The Gatlinburg SkyBridge — the longest pedestrian suspension bridge on the continent — plans on hosting its annual light show this holiday season.
The light show, titled “Lights over Gatlinburg,” will involve thousands of lights covering the SkyBridge and the nearby SkyLift and SkyCenter.
The show will last from Nov. 13 to Jan. 31 and will feature double the amount of lights as last year’s show.
