Two days before Thanksgiving, Utah and the nation were focused on the coronavirus. It was the middle of a week that would end with a rolling seven-day average of 2,575 COVID-19 cases in the state with an average positive test rate of 21.4%.
On that day the governor and health officials continued to talk about the need not to gather different households around the Thanksgiving table. And for those who would come together, masks and social distancing were the order of the day.
Meanwhile on that Tuesday, a decision was announced in a federal court in New Jersey. Here’s how the New York Times reported it:
“Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty on Tuesday to criminal charges that it misled the federal government about sales of its blockbuster painkiller OxyContin, the prescription opioid that helped fuel a national addiction crisis.”
This crisis is ongoing and claiming thousands of lives. The coronavirus dominates the headlines as the yearlong pandemic pushes toward 2021 and the state, nation and world is hopeful that positive news about vaccines will bring change in the new year.