Did you travel for Christmas? Traveling this week? — NJ Top News 12/28

Health officials remain concerned that holiday travel could give way to a new surge in COVID-19 cases, and continue to ask passengers to quarantine and test themselves after they touch down.

President Trump has signed a $900 billion COVID relief package after sending a scare through Congress by demanding many Americans be paid $2,000 each, not the $600 apiece the legislature had earmarked for them.

More than 16% of New Jersey's workforce remains unemployed because of the economic crisis created by the COVID pandemic, but as bona fide UI claims continue to rise, so too do fraudulent ones filed by people trying to scam the system.

Preliminary findings of a three-month study out of Essex County suggest that prevalence of the novel coronavirus in New Jersey could be twice as high as what we're seeing with daily reports of positive tests.

This morning, Gov. Murphy and state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli will be on hand for the first COVID vaccinations to be carried out at the state's long-term care facilities.

In just six days, the count kept by Johns Hopkins University estimates that the U.S. grew from 18 million confirmed coronavirus cases to 19 million, with cumulative cases doubling in less than two months.

Most of the state Motor Vehicle Commission branches that have shut down in recent weeks reopened after Christmas or are doing so today.

A 13-year-old Jersey City girl is arrested and charged, as a juvenile, with murder, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses in a shooting last week.

While many would call 2020 one of the worst years ever, and the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly not going to be over to start 2021, many New Jerseyans are still looking for a restart, and one way to do that is to make New Year's resolutions.

The carcass of a dead humpback whale, thought to be as long as 20 feet, washed ashore on the beach at Barnegat Light on Christmas.

New Jersey's State Trooper of the Year is Det. Richard Hershey, who survived being shot at by a group of assailants during an investigation in Pittsgrove in April.

"Wonder Woman 1984" claimed the opportunity of a Christmas weekend launch to have the best box-office debut of the pandemic.

Patrick Lavery is New Jersey 101.5's afternoon news anchor. Follow him on Twitter @plavery1015 or email patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com.