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The total number of known coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 50 million on Monday, according to a New York Times database. Fifty million can be a difficult number to grasp. It is more than the combined populations of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio. More than the entire population of Spain. Nearly 18 times the number of dollars an American college graduate can expect to earn in a lifetime. (Astor, 12/14)

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said in an interview the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines spell "the end of the medical emergency" as it relates to the virus, and he will not implement a statewide mask mandate in response to the Omicron variant. Polis told Colorado Public Radio he prefers pushing vaccinations versus mask mandates, and that the latter should be left to localities. He added that public health officials "don’t get to tell people what to wear." (Reyes, 12/13)

Congressional leaders plan to hold a moment of silence outside the Capitol on Tuesday to honor the more than 800,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will attend the moment of silence on the East Front Steps of the Capitol building, according to a statement from Pelosi’s office late Monday. (Schnell, 12/13)

In related news about the spread of covid —

Even as hospitalizations among vaccinated residents rise, recent increases in Massachusetts’s COVID hospitalization rates continue to be driven by those who are unvaccinated, Governor Charlie Baker said Monday, while urging those who haven’t yet been vaccinated to get the shots. During a news conference Monday, Baker was asked about state data that show the number of so-called “breakthrough” COVID-19 infections has been increasing, and he argued that more widespread vaccination would blunt the rising hospitalization rates. (Kaufman and Andersen, 12/13)

Keith Smith, whose wife had gone to court to have his COVID-19 infection treated with ivermectin, died Sunday evening, a week after he received his first dose of the controversial drug. He was 52. Smith was in a hospital in Pennsylvania for nearly three weeks and had been in the hospital’s intensive care unit in a medically induced coma on a ventilator since Nov. 21. He had been diagnosed with the virus on Nov. 10. His wife of 24 years, Darla, had gone to court to compel the hospital, UPMC Memorial, to treat her husband with ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that has not been approved for treatment of COVID-19. (Argento, 12/13)

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept into Maryland, health departments scrambled to set up testing centers where people could go to get swabbed for the viral infection. The sites often had long lines but were open most days. After vaccines for the coronavirus became available, many of those sites transitioned into inoculation centers that also offered testing, but many of those sites scaled back or closed as more and more Marylanders got vaccinated. The need for testing, considered critical to managing the pandemic by public health experts, didn’t go away. As Maryland experiences the first signs of another winter surge, COVID-19 tests are now more difficult to come by. (Miller and Cohn, 12/14)

It's peak company holiday party season, and there are more variables to consider this year compared to last, when most events were either cancelled outright or relegated to virtual schmoozing. Now, some employers are eager to reprise the annual tradition in person, emboldened by COVID-19 vaccine requirements and other safety protocols that can make smaller gatherings seem relatively low-risk. So with virus rates seeing a winter spike and the Omicron variant making an appearance, what will holiday parties circa 2021 look like, and is it safe to attend? Although holiday parties are back, they'll differ markedly from pre-pandemic celebrations. If not, they aren't safe, health experts told CBS MoneyWatch. (Cerullo, 12/13)

Also —

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing nearly $46 million to 143 rural medical providers and suppliers in Vermont to help them weather the financial and operational challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural health care providers serving Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries, as well as the Children's Health Insurance Program have been struggling to keep up with demand. Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Congressman Peter Welch have been pushing for federal help since the beginning of the pandemic, and called the distribution of these funds a "major step forward." (D'Ambrosio, 12/14)

A former wide receiver for the New York Jets who fraudulently obtained more than $1.2 million in Covid-19 relief money and spent tens of thousands of dollars of that on luxury items has been sentenced to more than three years in prison, federal prosecutors said. The former N.F.L. player, Joshua J. Bellamy, 32, of St. Petersburg, Fla., pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. (Patel, 12/13)