Trending this week: Senate passes $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and more on new items from Starbucks, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-InTrending this week: Senate passes $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and more on new items from Starbucks, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-In

Here are some of the news stories trending this week on NRN.com.

The U.S. Senate passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package Saturday afternoon after more than 24 hours of debate, including $28.6 billion in relief for small restaurants (increased from $25 billion in the original bill), state funds for vaccine distribution, and $1,400 stimulus checks for Americans making less $80,000 (or $160,000 per household).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study on Friday that found a strong correlation between allowing on-premise dining and the rise in coronavirus cases and deaths. The report was issued as more states and cities begin to loosen COVID-19 restrictions nationwide.

According to the study — which analyzed pandemic patterns between March and December 2020 — allowing on-premises dining was linked to a 0.9, 1.2, and 1.1 percentage point increase in the growth rate of daily cases 41-100 days after implementation, and daily death rates rose 2.2 and 3.0 percentage points 61-100 days after implementation.

Also Buffalo Wild Wings introduced Truffalo sauce to its menu. The Spicy Buffalo sauce is made with white truffles, $1 extra on any chicken wing order. New to Starbucks' menu is an Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso: Blonde (lighter roast) espresso shaken with brown sugar and cinnamon topped with oat milk and ice, $5.45-$5.95 for a Grande size. 

To check out what else happened this past week, click through the gallery to see what was trending on Nation's Restaurant News.