Edwards to speak: Gov. John Bel Edwards will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. on the state’s response to continued rising COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations. Edwards will likely discuss how he plans to work with the Biden administration on efforts to reduce the spread of the disease and ramp up the state’s distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, WAFB-TV reports. Watch the conference here.
Banner year: Sales of existing homes rose 0.7% in December, pushing the entirety of 2020 to a pace not seen in 14 years and providing one of the few bright spots for a U.S. economy mired in a global pandemic. Rising sales in the final month of the year lifted activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported this morning. Sales rose to 6.48 million in 2020, the highest level since 2006 at the height of the housing boom. The median sale price was $309,800 in December, up 12.9% from a year ago.
Limited attendance: The NFL announced Friday that 7,500 health care workers vaccinated for the coronavirus will be given free tickets to next month’s Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also said in a news release that attendance at the Feb. 7 game would be limited to those workers and about 14,500 other fans. Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has a capacity of just under 66,000, according to its website. Read the full story.
