Reuters US Domestic News Summary

"We continue to process the data collected and plan to deliver a complete and accurate state population count for apportionment in early 2021, as close to the statutory deadline as possible", the Census Bureau said in a statement https://bit.ly/380TCTg. U.S. Senator Perdue quarantining after coronavirus contact days before Georgia runoff vote David Perdue, one of two Republican U.S. senators facing a runoff election next week, is quarantining after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, his campaign said in a statement on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. After a year like no other, New York's Times Square empties out on New Year's Eve

Only a handful of invited guests, including health care workers and others from the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, will gather on Thursday evening in New York's Times Square to witness the dropping of the New Year's Eve ball, marking the end of a sobering 2020 and a hopeful start to 2021. For decades, tens of thousands of merrymakers -- many of them tourists -- have filled the blocks around Times Square on New Year's Eve, standing for hours in the cold waiting to see a glittering crystal ball glide down a pole mounted atop a skyscraper in the year's final seconds. When the ball reaches the bottom, the crowds erupt in hugs, kisses and good cheer. U.S. Census Bureau to miss year-end deadline for first set of 2020 numbers

The U.S. Census Bureau will miss a year-end deadline to produce the population count used to divide seats in Congress between the states, it said on Wednesday. "We continue to process the data collected and plan to deliver a complete and accurate state population count for apportionment in early 2021, as close to the statutory deadline as possible", the Census Bureau said in a statement https://bit.ly/380TCTg. U.S. Senator Perdue quarantining after coronavirus contact days before Georgia runoff vote

David Perdue, one of two Republican U.S. senators facing a runoff election next week, is quarantining after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, his campaign said in a statement on Thursday. Perdue was notified on Thursday he was in "close contact" with someone on his campaign who was infected with the virus, the statement said, adding that Perdue and his wife tested negative. Richard Thornburgh, governor during Three Mile Island nuclear crisis, dies at 88

Richard Thornburgh, who rose to national prominence with his unruffled handling of the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear crisis as Pennsylvania governor and later battled white-collar crime as U.S. attorney general, died on Thursday at the age of 88. The Pennsylvania governor's office confirmed on Twitter that Thornburgh died on Thursday. It did not give details. Trump extends immigration bans despite opposition from U.S. business groups

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended a pair of immigration bans that block many "green card" applicants and temporary foreign workers from entering the country, measures he says are needed to protect U.S. workers amid the pandemic-battered economy. The bans, which were issued in April and June, were set to expire on Dec. 31, but will be extended until March 31, 2021, the latest in a series of last-gasp immigration moves by the outgoing Trump administration. A broad range of businesses oppose the ban on certain foreign workers. U.S. vaccinations in 2020 fall far short of target of 20 million people

Only about 2.8 million Americans had received a COVID-19 vaccine going into the last day of December, putting the United States far short of the government's target to vaccinate 20 million people this month. Shots are reaching nursing home residents at an even slower pace than others first in line even though they are most at risk of dying of the virus. 'We have to be remembered for what's been done,' Trump says on early return to Washington

After weeks of vowing to win his fight to remain in office, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a video on Thursday looking back on what he called "historic victories" and said: "We have to be remembered for what's been done." Trump, who has yet to formally concede his November election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, posted the message on Twitter after returning to Washington early from his Florida resort amid a fight with Congress over a defense bill and coronavirus aid checks. U.S. CDC reports record 3,764 coronavirus deaths in a day

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported 341,199 deaths from the new coronavirus, a record rise of 3,764 deaths from its previous count. The agency said the number of cases had risen by 230,337 to 19,663,976. Man shot dead in gunfire exchange with Minneapolis Police

Minneapolis Police shot and killed a man in an exchange of gunfire during a traffic stop in the southern part of the city late on Wednesday, in the first killing by a member of the department since the death of George Floyd, authorities said. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was called in to handle the investigation. Details about the identity, background or race of the man who was shot were not immediately known. Local funding crisis threatens U.S. vaccine rollout

Seattle public health officials have so little COVID-19 funding on hand they worry they will have to shut down some virus testing sites as they mount a campaign to dose their 2.3 million residents with Pfizer Inc's and Moderna Inc's vaccines. King County, which represents greater Seattle, has $14 million of COVID-19 funding for 2021, roughly enough to fund its operations for a single month, and a fraction of the $87 million emergency COVID-19 aid it received in 2020, said Ingrid Ulrey, the public health policy director for King County.