The City of San Diego has become the latest to require its city employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, “as a condition of continued employment,” according to a letter sent to all employees Thursday. The decision comes amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic spurred on by the delta variant as well as the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine, according to NBC San Diego. All employees, current and new hires, must be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination by the end of the day on Nov. 2, according to the letter, unless an alternative date is agreed upon. An employee will be considered “fully vaccinated” when the city has documented that the they have received, at least 14 days prior, either the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, meaning city employees have until Oct. 19 to become vaccinated.
Fans were ready to rock and roll all night, but when they showed up to The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, to see KISS in concert on Thursday evening, they were turned away. At first, it was unclear why the show was canceled fueling rumors online, but at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, the venue announced that the show is being rescheduled. Later in the night, it was announced that KISS frontman Paul Stanley tested positive for COVID-19, 11 News reported. Stanley took to Twitter to say that he felt fine despite the positive test. A new date for the show has yet to be announced.
Schools in the U.S. that are now battling COVID-19 outbreaks are the ones that are not following the federal masks and vaccine guidelines, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Friday. Federal guidelines suggest that students and staff members wear masks indoors and if eligible get vaccinated against the virus. According to CNBC, Walensky is calling on schools in the country to maintain social distancing, enhanced ventilation and COVID testing in order to curb the amount of outbreaks. This week, pediatric COVID hospitalizations reached their highest levels yet in the U.S. “I want to strongly appeal to those districts who have not implemented prevention strategies and encourage them to do the right thing to protect the children under their care,” Walensky said. “In our outbreak investigations, large-scale quarantines or large number of cases are generally occurring in schools because schools are not following our guidance.”
Students of the Pantheon university wearing face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus attend a class in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Liberty University is set to enter a campus-wide quarantine on Monday as cases start to surge, The Associated Press reported. Last week, 40 students and staff tested positive for COVID-19. That number has since risen to 159 as the virus spreads throughout the campus. The Virginia-based university does not require face masks, social distancing or for students or faculty to be vaccinated, the AP said. The quarantine is currently set to last until Sept. 10 with all classes shifting to online instruction until the quarantine is lifted.
The latest turn in the saga over masking in Florida public schools ended in defeat for Gov. Ron DeSantis after a judge ruled that his executive order banning mask mandates was made "without legal authority," The Associated Press reported. The ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper came after three days of testimony during a virtual hearing and after nearly a dozen school boards voted to ignore the governor's executive order. Under DeSantis' order, the decision about whether to require children to wear face masks in schools was placed solely on individual parents. More than 16,000 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus in Florida this week, the AP reported, down slightly from last week's total.
As of Thursday, more than 100,000 patients suffering from the coronavirus were hospitalized nationwide, according to Reuters, which cited data from the Department of Health and Human Services. This is the first time that number has hit six figures since January. The country saw its highest number of hospitalized coronavirus patients on January 6 of this year, when more than 132,000 were being treated in hospitals, according to Reuters. California, Texas and Florida account for 32% of all hospitalizations, according to the HHS data.
Infections are spiking across Scotland with 6,835 new cases reported on Friday, topping the previous daily record by over 1,800, the BBC reported. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the sharp rise was a "cause for concern" as it was the third time this week that Scotland set a new record for the number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day. Despite the dramatic uptick, Scotland is not planning on introducing any new lockdowns with Sturgeon urging everyone to play a part in slowing the spread. "I hope we can get through this with all of us behaving sensibly and appropriately,” she added.
The White House announced on Thursday that around 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines would be shipped to Algeria, Ghana and Yemen in the coming days, AFP reported. This follows up shipments to Nigeria and South Africa back in July. This new shipment will be withdrawn from the U.S. stockpile and includes 756,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and 1.2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. The "administration understands that putting an end to this pandemic requires eliminating it around the world," the White House official said. With this new shipment, the number of vaccine doses shipped from the U.S. to Africa will eclipse 25 million, AFP reported.
For the second time this week, the U.S. tallied over 161,000 new infections on Thursday, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. This was more than three times the number of new cases reported in India on Thursday with the country counting nearly 45,000 new cases. However, India outpaced the US vaccination rate with over 8 million people being inoculated across India, compared to 925,000 in the U.S. Watch the video below for more information about vaccinations and the spread of the virus.
Amid a surge of severe cases, South Korea reported 20 fatalities blamed on the coronavirus on Wednesday, the country's highest daily death toll of the calendar year, Reuters reported. The country's total death toll stood at 2,257 as of Thursday. New cases have been on the rise there recently, with about 4,000 infections tallied over the last two days, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics. A lagging vaccination effort is being blamed for the rise in cases, many of which are severe, according to Reuters. Just 26.2% of South Korea's 52 million have been fully vaccinated.
People working for the city of Tampa will have until the end of September to get vaccinated, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor announced this week. City workers who do not get vaccinated can still keep their jobs, but will have to wear an N95 mask and undergo weekly coronavirus tests, Axios reported. This action is already facing pushback from Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration after the governor signed an order that invalidates any local mandates related to the pandemic, including mask requirements and vaccine mandates. Despite this order, DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw told Axios that he is still for vaccines but against any mandates.
After facing a similar outbreak last year, the Tennessee Titans are now facing another round of COVID-19 cases with quarterback Ryan Tannehill and head coach Mike Vrabel as the latest members of the team to test positive. Tannehill, who is vaccinated, is expected to miss five to 10 days, depending on when he receives two negative tests over 48 hours, according to ESPN. The news outlet added that since the team had visited Tampa, Florida, for joint practices with Buccaneers, the Titans have placed seven players on the reserve list, and coach Mike Vrabel tested positive on Sunday. Tight end Geoff Swaim and linebacker Justin March-Lillard were also placed on the reserve list alongside Tannehill on Thursday. “We’ve followed the protocols,” Titans general manager Jon Robinson said Thursday, adding that the Titans are roughly 97% or 98% vaccinated.“Our medical team has done an outstanding job with talking to the league and the players, coaches.”
The governor’s office in Massachusetts announced the final two winners of the state’s VaxMillions Giveaway coronavirus vaccination lottery on Thursday — a woman from Leominster and a high school student from Conway. Cynthia Thirath won $1 million and intends to use the prize money to invest in her future, according to The Associated Press. Gretchen Selva won the prize for 12 to 17-year-olds, which was a $300,000 college scholarship grant. More than 4.4 million residents in the state are now folly vaccinated, and 2.5 signed up to be in the lottery. According to the governors office, one of the 10 winners did not respond to collect their prize in time, and they had to select a new winner. “Over 440,000 residents became fully vaccinated during the time that the VaxMillions program was running, and we are grateful to our partners at the Treasury and the Massachusetts State Lottery in helping to launch this program,” Gov. Charlie Baker said.
The NFL has implemented new COVID-19 guidelines this season for vaccinated and unvaccinated players, and on Thursday, a player spoke out about a fine that he received for breaking the policy. Buffalo Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie faces a $14,650 fine after he failed to wear a mask on two occasions on Wednesday while at team facilities, according to The Associated Press. “For players who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, like you, your conduct is expressly prohibited by the protocols,” the NFL said in a statement to McKenzie that he posted on Twitter. Additional violations could lead to McKenzie being suspended or hit with a larger fine, the AP said.
A health worker administers COVID-19 vaccine at Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, July 31, 2021.(AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
The vaccination effort has been speeding up in India with the country surpassing 600 million inoculations, the BBC said. India is currently administering the Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V vaccines with hopes for the country’s entire population to be vaccinated by the end of 2021. India managed to administer 100 million vaccine doses in just 19 days, according to the BBC. Early in the country’s vaccine program, it took 85 days to achieve the same goal. Nearly half of the country’s adult population has already received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Despite these efforts to speed up vaccinations, health officials in India are not optimistic to achieve the country’s end-of-year vaccination goal. "This daily average is far from what is required to finish the drive off this year. I don't see the target of vaccinating all adults by this year-end materialising," Dr. John told the BBC. "The major roadblock will continue to be supply itself for the foreseeable future.”
Japan has hit a major setback in its vaccination efforts after contamination was found in unused vials of coronavirus vaccines, The Associated Press reported. After the contamination was found, the country suspended over 1.6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, enough to fully vaccinate 800,000 people. It is unclear what caused the contamination, but some people may have been inoculated with some of the contaminated doses, the AP said. Health officials have not received any reports of people experiencing adverse side effects from the contamination. Japan has been administering around 1 million vaccine doses a day, but this contamination could cause that number to temporarily drop.
Meade County, South Dakota, has experienced a dramatic uptick in cases in recent weeks following an annual motorcycle rally that welcomed around half a million people, NBC News reported. Meade County is home to Sturgis, South Dakota, the site of the early-August motorcycle rally which concluded on Aug. 15. South Dakota as a whole has also experienced an increase in cases since the large gathering. In the past two weeks, the state has confirmed nearly 3,900 new infections, compared to just 644 cases in the preceding two weeks. Hospitalizations in South Dakota are also on the rise, climbing from just three patients in June to nearly 60 patients in late August. This is about half the number of hospitalizations experienced during the peak last winter, NBC News said.
The first round of the US Open is set to start on Monday, Aug. 30 and officials have provided an update for fans hoping to attend the tournament in person. Masks will not be required and attendees will not have to show proof of vaccination, CBS New York reported. “The goal is not to prevent all cases of COVID. The goal, really, is to be certain that we don’t have an outbreak of COVID that’s going to be unusual or that we would regret,” Dr. Brian Hainline said. Hainline is a vice president and member of the medical advisory group of the U.S. Tennis Association. “We’re still relying on the goodwill of people.” Although unvaccinated people can attend the matches, anyone that is 12 or older will need to show proof that they have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine to eat indoors, CBS New York said. Participants in the US Open do not need to be vaccinated, but will be tested when they arrive in Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York.
Over 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 were tallied across Australia on Thursday, the highest single-day case count since the start of the pandemic, AFP reported. Australia’s state of New South Wales accounted for 1,029 infections alone on Thursday, which includes Sydney, the most populated city in the country. The more infectious delta variant is one of the driving factors behind the record surge despite stay-at-home orders being in effect across New South Wales. Nearly 6.5 million Australians are fully vaccinated, which is equal to about 25% of the country’s entire population, according to Johns Hopkins University.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed on Wednesday that the data on the benefits and safety of a booster shot for the coronavirus vaccine is inconclusive, and to approve of a booster shot campaign while other nations “are not even vaccinating the first and second round, it’s a moral issue.” His statement comes as the Biden Administration is expected to approve administering COVID-19 booster shots following the CDC calling for the shots. Tedros added that in addition to the moral issue, letting a large part of the population go unvaccinated would be giving the virus the opportunity to circulate, allowing new variants to emerge. “As long as this virus is circulating anywhere, it’s a threat everywhere,” he said.
Watch the media briefing here:
The Defense Department is adding the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to the list of shots required by troops with inoculations beginning "immediately," The Associated Press reported. The shots will be administered at bases and commands around the world, but service members will also have the option to get other coronavirus vaccines on their own if they prefer. “To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a memo. “After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease...is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people.” Over 800,000 service members have yet to receive the jab, the AP said. Prior to this announcement, vaccinations were strongly recommended, but not required. “Our vaccination of the Force will save lives,” Austin said in the memo. “Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.”
“I do not trust the Federal Government,” wrote Roger West, co-owner of the Westside Journal weekly newspaper. “I do not trust Dr. Fauci, I do not trust the medical profession, nor the pharmaceutical giants.” In Nassau County, Florida, West is a part of nearly half of the population who has not been vaccinated against the coronavirus.However, when two of his close friends caught COVID-19, and a third one died from the virus, West turned to prayer, The Associated Press reported. When his mother and another relative urged for him to get the vaccine, he took it as a sign from God and went out to get the first jab.
A resurgence of the coronavirus is making some “die-hard” vaccine skeptics reconsider the shots, the AP reported. Within the three-week period that ended on Aug. 12, nearly 4,400 people in Nassau County got vaccinated, according to state data. “Everybody thought it was kind of dying out or going away. … Then you had this new variant come in,” Dr. Phillips Can, a family practitioner who treats patients at a University of Florida Health clinic in Callahan, told the AP. “It was just ripe for another bad surge.”
The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 has surged to the highest level on record as the delta variant rapidly spreads throughout the country. Last week, pediatric hospitals were averaging more than 300 new admissions per day, CNBC reported, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts fear that this trend will not slow down in the short term as children all across the country return to school for in-person classes. “Yes, it’s true we don’t have a vaccine yet for children less than 12, but we do have one for the 12 -to 17-year-olds and there’s only about a 30% uptake,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Pediatric hospitalizations account for around 2% of all coronavirus-related hospitalizations, CNBC said.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, U.S. health officials are expected to approve administering COVID-19 booster shots six months after an individual's previous dose. Just last week, the CDC called for booster shots to be given to Americans 18 and older eight months after receiving a second dose. The WSJ report cited a person familiar with the plans to alter the booster shot timeline. Spokespersons from the White House, the FDA and Pfizer declined to comment, the WSJ reported. Plans to begin rolling out booster shots widely are on track for Sept. 20. The news of the reported plans to accelerate the booster shot timeline comes just days after the FDA gave full approval to Pfizer's vaccine. According to the report, the U.S. government has purchased a large sum of vaccine doses in preparation for the booster push.
FILE - In this March 9, 2021, file photo, Liana Fonseca looks away as she receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)
All Chicago city employees are required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Wednesday. Chicago is the second-largest city in the U.S. to impose such a requirement, the largest being Los Angeles. The policy will apply to more than 30,000 employees, according to The New York Times, and will include teachers, police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers. There will be the chance for employees to apply for medical or religious exemption.
“As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, we must take every step necessary and at our disposal to keep everyone in our city safe and healthy,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “Getting vaccinated has been proven to be the best way to achieve that and make it possible to recover from this devastating pandemic. And so, we have decided to join other municipalities and government agencies across the nation, including the U.S. military, who are making this decision to protect the people who are keeping our cities and country moving.”
From Aug. 30 through Sept. 5, Krispy Kreme will now be giving away not one, but two free doughnuts to every American who has received at least one vaccination shot and brings in a valid vaccination card to mark the FDA-approval of the Pfizer vaccine. “The FDA approving one of the vaccines is a meaningful step in making people a lot more comfortable with how they take vaccines,” CEO Mike Tattersfield told USA TODAY. “And if we can encourage folks, we’re giving away a second doughnut next week that will be in the shape of a heart.” While the “Show Your Heart” offer as it is called will only las for the week, the original incentive of a free doughnut each day will continue through 2021.
Johnson & Johnson announced data on Wednesday that supports the use of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for those who were previously inoculated with a dose of the company's single-shot vaccine. The company said it had anticipated the need for a booster shot, which is why it conducted multiple studies involving individuals who previously received a dose of the company's vaccine.
"New interim data from these studies demonstrate that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated a rapid and robust increase in spike-binding antibodies, nine-fold higher than 28 days after the primary single-dose vaccination," the company said in a press release. Those trial participants between ages 18 and 55 saw significant increases in binding antibody responses, as well as those 65 years and older who received a lower booster dose. Johnson & Johnson said it is in talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health authorities about authorizing the use of the booster shot once the data is reviewed. Watch the video below for more.
Fewer people are being inoculated across Afghanistan as the Taliban reestablishes its power across the country. During the second week of August, 134,600 people received a coronavirus vaccine, but that number fell sharply to a little over 30,000 people during the third week of August, according to a Reuters report. This is a drop of nearly 80%. "The drop is understandable, as in situations of chaos, conflict and emergency, people will prioritize their safety and security first," said the spokesperson for UNICEF. To date, only 1.2 million vaccines have been administered across the country of 40 million people, Reuters said.
A new study published by researchers in the United Kingdom says that protection from the two-dose Pfizer vaccine as well as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine begins to wane after six months, Reuters reported. The study found that the effectiveness of the Pfizer shot fell to 74% after five to six months, while the percentage of the AstraZeneca vaccine fell from 77% to 67%. Tim Spector, the principal investigator for the study, said that a worst-case future scenario could mean protection levels falling below 50% for older people and healthcare workers, according to Reuters. "It's bringing into focus this need for some action. We can't just sit by and see the protectiveness slowly waning whilst cases are still high and the chance of infection still high as well," Spector told the BBC, according to Reuters.
Japan extended its coronavirus state of emergency on Wednesday to include eight more prefectures, The Associated Press reported. It's the second week in a row that Japan has extended its state of emergency as cases of the delta variant continue to rise in the country. “In order to protect the people’s lives, the priority is to maintain the health care system,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said. “In order to overcome this crisis led by the delta strain, I seek further cooperation from everyone.” Under the terms of the emergency declaration, restaurants are being forced to close at 8 p.m. and not serve alcohol. However, the AP reports that many are not abiding by those restrictions. Tokyo has been under a state of emergency since July 12, but new cases have skyrocketed tenfold in the city since that date, the AP said. The Paralympic Games are currently being held in Tokyo, just over two weeks after the highly scrutinized Summer Olympics came to a close.
The daily coronavirus death toll in the U.S. on Tuesday topped 1,100 sending the national death toll since the beginning of the pandemic above 630,000, according to numbers kept by Johns Hopkins University researchers. In addition, more than 135,000 new cases were tallied across the U.S. on Tuesday and the seven-day positivity rate inched down, but still remained above 11% nationwide. Globally, the U.S. is far outpacing other countries in terms of new cases on a daily basis, recording more than three times what Iran tallied on Monday. For a more in-depth look at the virus spread and the vaccination effort, watch the video below.
The upcoming NHL season is returning to its normal format following an unusual season shaped by the coronavirus. Last season, the divisions were realigned to limit the travel of the teams, including every Canadian team bunched together in a single division. There were also no preseason games and the regular season was abridged. However, the upcoming season will feature the return of preseason games, a regular 82-game season and the divisions will return to the way that they were before the pandemic. The first preseason game is set to take place on Saturday, Sept. 25 and will run through Saturday, Oct. 9, the NHL announced on Monday. The regular season will get underway on Tuesday, Oct. 12.
Almost 5,000 COVID-19 cases have been linked to a British music festival, making it one of the largest super spreader events this year. Following the Boardmasters surf and music festival held in Newquay, England, during mid-August, roughly 4,700 people tested positive for the virus, though some experts think the number could be much higher, Forbes reported. Some 800 of the people who tested positive ice locally. While masks were encouraged at the venue, they weren’t enforced. Attendees were also required to take a lateral flow test during the event and log the results on an app, according to Forbes.
Anyone who tested positive was asked to leave the festival. To enter, the festival goers had to provide either a negative lateral flow test result within 24 hours of entrance or proof of vaccination. A third option was to bring in proof of a COVID-19 PRC positive test within 180 days of the event, but not within 10 days. Over 450 people were reportedly either refused initial entry since they didn’t provide the necessary proof, or they were asked to leave mid-festival, according to Forbes.
With cases and hospitalizations on the rise, Oregon is implementing new coronavirus guidelines similar to those earlier in the pandemic. “I’m continuing to take actions to protect Oregonians and save lives,” Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement on Tuesday. Starting on Friday, “masks will be required in public outdoors settings where physical distancing is not possible, regardless of vaccination status.” Earlier on Tuesday, hospitals across Oregon tallied 1,000 COVID-19 patients and rising. Watch Brown’s announcement about the new guidelines below:
The Dallas Cowboys held practice virtually on Sunday and Monday after revealing that they added three more players to their COVID-19 list. The team was expected to return to regular practice on Tuesday. "I think just like most things we do, we're just being cautious and want to make sure we contain this outbreak and just be smart with that," head coach Mike McCarthy said, according to ESPN. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and safeties Malik Hooker and Israel Mukuamu were the players added to the reserve/COVID-19 list. The Cowboys also announced that 93% of the players on the team were fully vaccinated, ESPN said.
FILE - Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Dr. Fauci says he’s hoping for an uptick in the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations following U.S. government approval of the Pfizer vaccine. The top infectious disease expert in the U.S. says the Food and Drug Administration’s decision Monday should encourage people who cited lack of approval as a reason for not getting vaccinated. The FDA previously had cleared the Pfizer shots for use on an emergency basis. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
The U.S. could have a handle on the coronavirus by spring of 2022 if vaccination rates rise substantially, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Monday. “If we can get through this winter and get, really the majority — overwhelming majority — of the 90 million people who have not been vaccinated, vaccinated, I hope we can start to get some good control in the spring of 2022,” he said.Only 51.5% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.While Fauci was unsure of what percentage of the population the U.S. would have to be vaccinated reach to obtain herd immunity, he brought up the measles for reference, which requires at least 90% of a community to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
However, Fauci stressed that having the coronavirus under control by next spring wasn’t a certainty. “There’s no guarantee because it’s up to us,” Fauci said. “If we keep lingering without getting those people vaccinated that should be vaccinated, this thing could linger on, leading to the development of another variant which could complicate things. So it’s within our power to get this under control and that is to get vaccinated.”
Watch the full interview here:
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on Tuesday that there are no ICU beds available anywhere in the state for people battling against COVID-19 as the virus strains the healthcare system, The Associated Press reported. The Arkansas Department of Health is working to make more beds available, but the state’s health secretary Dr. Jose Romero said, “the more beds we open up, the more they’re going to get filled.” Arkansas has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country and is currently fifth in terms of the number of cases per capita, the AP said, citing data from Johns Hopkins University. To date, 6,704 people in Arkansas have died due to the virus with that number on pace to eclipse 7,000 by the start of September.
New Zealand health officials reported 41 new COVID-19 cases in the country on Tuesday, the highest number of new infections in the country since April 10, 2020, Reuters reported. New Zealand had been without a new case of the virus since February, but that changed last week when an outbreak of the Delta variant unfolded in the nation's largest city of Auckland, Reuters said. "Delta is unlike our previous experience. It is, as we know, highly infectious and transmissible and, as we have seen, spreads rapidly,” Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said. The lockdown in effect there is expected to last through the end of the week, if not longer. For more on the story, watch the video below:
A new study released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) shows that the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 packs a viral load 300 times higher than other previously known strains of the virus. The delta variant has been fueling a summer surge of coronavirus cases both in the U.S. and around the world. According to Reuters, Lee Sang-won, an official from South Korea's health ministry, told reporters at a news conference that the increased viral load "doesn't mean Delta is 300 times more infectious." Lee said, "We think its transmission rate is 1.6 times the alpha variant, and about two times the original version of the virus." Also, the study found that the delta variant's viral load diminishes within days of a person becoming infected. According to the research, the viral load decreases 30 times over the first four days of infection. By day 10, the viral load associated with the delta variant is about equal to that of other coronavirus mutations.
As Hawaii deals with a coronavirus surge that is threatening to overwhelm hospitals, the state's governor is asking tourists to reconsider travel plans to the islands. “It is not a good time to travel to the islands. I encourage everyone to restrict and curtail travel to Hawaii,” Gov. David Ige said Monday, according to Hawaii News Now. “Is a lockdown on the table? Yes, it would be if the number of cases continues to grow exponentially as it has in the last 10 weeks ... then we will have to take action to limit and ensure that the hospitals aren’t overrun.” Like elsewhere around the world, the delta variant is being blamed for a surge in cases in the state. Many ICUs are currently nearing capacity, according to Hawaii News Now. “We are in contact with the hospitals every single day about their current situation of the number of patients they are seeing and about their capacity to continue to serve our community,” Ige said.
The United States is on the verge of 38 million cumulative coronavirus cases since Jan. 21, 2020, after nearly 230,000 new cases were tallied nationwide on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. Another 908 fatalities were reported, bringing the national death toll to 629,581. Vaccinations dropped off across the nation on Monday, with a little more than 610,000 shots administered. For a closer look at the data surrounding vaccinations and the spread of the virus, watch the video below.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration again warned against using ivermectin, a drug often used to treat parasitic worms in animals, to try and treat or prevent COVID-19.“You are not a horse. You are not a cow,” the FDA said in a tweet. “Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” It’s also important to note that ivermectin is not anti-viral. The FDA has not approved ivermectin tablets for use in treating COVID-19 in humans, though they have been approved at specific doses to treat some parasitic worms along with topical treatments for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea. However, large doses of the drug can be dangerous, and the products meant for animals such as horses and cows are different from those meant for people.
On Friday, Aug. 20, the Mississippi Department of Health reported that the state’s Poison Control Center received an increasing number of calls from individuals with potential ivermectin exposure taken to prevent COVID-19 infection. At least 70% of the calls had been related to the ingestion of ivermectin meant for livestock or other animals, purchased at livestock supply centers.
Business activity growth in the U.S. slowed for the third consecutive month in August after the delta variant, supply shortages and capacity constraints wracked the market, Reuters reported. IHS Markit, a British information provider, said Monday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell from 59.9 in July to 55.4 for the month of August. That’s the lowest since last December, according to Reuters. A number above 50 indicates growth.
Sitting before health care workers and members of the press, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen received the COVID-19 vaccine, produced by the firm Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp, Reuters reported on Monday. The vaccine is officially known as MVC-COV1901 and is the island’s first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine. The government had granted emergency-use approval of the vaccine during July.
New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton has been asked to remain away from the team until Thursday due to a “misunderstanding” surrounding COVID-19 tests “conducted away from NFL facilities,” the Patriots announced Thursday. ESPN reported that the order comes after the player traveled to a Patriots-approved medical appointment that required him to leave the New England region, according to a statement from the team. Newton’s absence will require him to miss practices Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the latter of which is the first of two joint practices with the New York Giants. Despite the fact that the tests all came back positive, NFL-NFLPA protocols state that all players are exempt from daily testing and allowed to travel if they have received the COVID-19 vaccine. During training camp, Newton had been asked if he was vaccinated. He declined to comment, stating it was a personal matter, ESPN reported.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday that he believes the surge of coronavirus infections that swept across the South, driven by the delta variant, has peaked.The former Food and Drug Administration commissioner who now serves as a board member of Pfizer commented on the news station’s show “Squawk Box” that the seven-day average of new daily coronavirus infections across the nation was up by about 13% from last week, according to a CNBC analysis of data from John Hopkins University. But now, the number of infections are beginning to decrease in areas that were among the first places in the U.S. to see a sharp rise in cases linked to the delta variant, particularly areas with lower COVID-19 vaccination rates, according to CNBC. “You look at states like Arkansas and Louisiana, you see the cases coming down,” Gottlieb said. However, he added that the hospitals aren’t out of the woods yet. “They’re still going to get maxed out as the infections start to decline.”
Following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) full approval of the Pfizer vaccine, President Joe Biden urged private businesses to require coronavirus vaccinations for their employees on Monday. “Today, I’m calling on more companies … in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,”Biden said. “If you’re a business leader, a nonprofit leader, a state or local leader who has been waiting for full FDA approval to require vaccinations, I call on you now to do that. Require it.” Biden hailed the approval as a “key milestone” in the fight against COVID-19.
Watch his speech here:
After being hospitalized due to COVID-19, civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, 79, and Jacqueline Jackson, his wife, 77, were “responding positively” to treatments, their son said in a statement on Sunday. He added that because of their ages, the physicians at the Northwestern University Memorial Hospital were carefully monitoring their condition. “Both are resting comfortably and are responding positively to their treatments,” he said.
One of the most famous traditions in England returned on Monday for the first time since the pandemic took hold. The Changing of the Guard ceremony was performed by elite 1st Battalion Coldstream Guard soldiers in the place's courtyard, AFP reported. This was the longest the ceremony had been put on hold since World War II, AFP reported, citing Forces News.
World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that COVID-19 booster shots should be delayed a greater focus should be made on improving vaccination rates elsewhere around the world, Reuters reported. In some countries, the vaccination rates are only 1% or 2%. Tedros also warned that if vaccination rates don't increase globally, then more and stronger variants of the coronavirus could continue to emerge."In addition, there is a debate about whether booster shots are effective at all," Ghebreyesus said during a news conference.
Within an hour or so of the FDA granting full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that vaccinations would be required for all teachers and staff members working in the city's public school system, The Associated Press reported. “We want our schools to be extraordinarily safe,” de Blasio said. According to the New York Times, vaccines will now be mandatory for public school teachers in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington state in addition to New York City. Roughly 148,000 school employees in the city's five boroughs will now have until Sept. 27 to receive a first dose of the vaccine.
With college football season right around the corner, the Big Ten announced its COVID-19 forfeiture policy on Monday. The conference said in a statement that it "has determined that if one of its member institutions is unable to play a conference contest due to COVID-19, that contest shall be declared a forfeit and will not be rescheduled," ESPN reported. If both teams are unable to play due to COVID-19, the conference said the matchup would be considered a "no contest." The first Big Ten game of the season is set for Aug. 28 when Nebraska takes on Illinois. The weather on Saturday in Champaign, Illinois, is currently shaping up to be partly sunny and hot, with high temperatures around 90.
In this Feb. 25, 2021, file photo, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is displayed on a tray at a clinic set up by the New Hampshire National Guard in the parking lot of Exeter, N.H., High School.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday gave full approval to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, The Associated Press reported. Until Monday, the vaccine had been approved for emergency use by the FDA and more than 200 million doses of it have been administered since last December. With Monday's decision by the FDA, the U.S. became the first nation in the world to grant the Pfizer vaccine full approval.
In a statement, acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said, “The public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product." She added, “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.” The FDA said the drug will be marketed under the name Comirnaty. Experts believe more vaccine mandates will follow this landmark decision by the FDA. Read the full statement by the FDA here.
As vaccination efforts continued worldwide, China reported having vaxxed some 11 million people on Sunday. Japan was second globally with 2.4 million vaccine doses administered and the U.S. was third with close to 1 million shots given, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In terms of new cases across the U.S., more than 36,000 were tallied on Sunday, meaning more than 400,000 new cases have been reported nationwide since Friday. For more on how the virus is spreading nationwide and worldwide, watch the video below.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced during a briefing on Friday that the state continues to report “astronomical numbers of cases,” a large percentage of which is made up of children. Over the last couple of days, 28% of all new COVID-19 cases in Louisiana were among children who are 17 years old and younger, the governor added. In June, the FDA granted the vaccine by Pfizer emergency approval for the use in children ages 12 and up. Meanwhile, the Moderna and Johnson&Johnson vaccines have only been granted emergency use for people over the age of 18. In the briefing, Edwards said that there have been “more cases reported by Louisiana schools during the first week of this school year than were reported in any week of last school year.”
Louisiana is not the only state seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases in children. The “pandemic of unvaccinated people continues,” Alabama health officer Dr. Scott Harris said Friday, CNN reported. He added that Alabama is currently seeing the highest number of cases among children than at any other time during the pandemic.
The Kentucky Supreme Court brought a landmark separation-of-powers case to a conclusion on Saturday, ruling that the state legislature holds the authority to limit the emergency powers granted to the governor by the state,The Associated Press reported. The ruling dealt a major blow to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s efforts to aggressively combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, dissolving an injunction that had blocked Republican-backed laws from curbing the governor’s executive authority for months. Crystal Staley, a spokesperson for the governor, warned on Saturday that the Supreme Court order will dissolve Kentucky’s pandemic-related state of emergency. The next step, Staley added, is to determine if lawmakers are willing to extend the state of emergency. “The governor has had the courage to make unpopular decisions in order to keep Kentuckians safe,” Staley said in a statement. “The court has removed much of his ability to do so moving forward. If called in to a special session, we hope he General Assembly would do the right thing.”
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel announced on Sunday that he had tested positive for COVID-19, ESPN reported. Vrabel is expected to take another COVID-19 test on Monday and remain in quarantine until then. The Titans had just spent several days holding joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are now waiting on contact tracing results. "What it comes down to is you have to have two negative tests within a 48-hour period," Vrabel said. "If that happens then I can get back into the building. If not, I'll have to wait 10 days."
Anthony Greer gets his first vaccination of Moderna from Bhikhari Mishra at Nashville General Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. on August 20, 2021. People are starting to sign up for vaccines. This was Greer’s first shot.
Australia just recorded its highest single-day caseload since the beginning of the pandemic, CNN reported. On Saturday, New South Wales and Victoria reported a combined total of 886 infections. “Even in very strict and harsh lockdowns the virus is spreading — and that is a fact,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a news conference. “So what we need to do is protect ourselves and our loved ones by staying at home, and also by getting vaccinated.” But Saturday brought not only the highest single-day caseload, but also a swarm of thousands of anti-lockdown protestors taking to the streets of Melbourne’s Central Business District after a lockdown was announced for the entire state of Victoria following the surge. The protestors clashed with the police, and six officers were hospitalized as a result, police said in a statement. At protests in Sydney, located in New South Wales, 47 people were arrested.
Joe Caramagna, a writer for Disney comics, is trying to make a difference one doughnut at a time.After Krispy Kreme announced vaccinated people could get one free glazed doughnut a day until the end of the year, the doughnut enthusiast saw his chance. He had already received his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. “It was kismet,” Caramagna told The New York Times. The writer decided to “dough-nate” $1 for ever free Krispy Kreme doughnut he received from the chain’s COVID-19 vaccine incentive to the Ronald McDonald House in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Krispy Kreme was founded. Beyond encouraging people to get vaccinated, Caramagna hopes others will match his donations to the charity, according to The New York Times. Caramagna has so far raised over $600 on a GoFundMe page.
More than 1 million people across the U.S. rolled up their sleeves on Saturday to get inoculated amid the delta surge, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. Approximately 52% of the entire U.S. population is now considered fully vaccinated. Nearly 60,000 tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, the highest daily total in the world, followed by 32,000 new infections in the U.K. and 31,000 more cases in India. Watch the video below for more information about vaccinations and the spread of the virus.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said at a Friday news conference that residents should stop watering their lawns and washing their cars immediate, citing a recent surge in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the area,The Associated Press reported. According to the AP, the Orlando Utility commission treats the city's water with liquid oxygen, but supplies have been diverted to hospitals for COVID-19 patients. "We acknowledge that the No. 1 priority for the liquid oxygen should be for hospitals," Dyer said at a news conference.
Earlier this year, Montana passed a new law that deems requiring vaccines as a condition for employment as “discrimination” and a violation of the state’s human rights laws. This extends to private employers, making Montana the only state in the U.S. to have a law like this, Hemi Tewarson, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, told The Associated Press.But now the law has come under fire as the state sees a rise in COVID-19 cases that are straining Montana’s health care system, the AP reported.
The Montana Hospital Association opposed the law before it took effect, and a representative for businesses in Helena, Montana, told the AP that most businesses felt “like their hands are tied right now.” Mike Rooney, operations director for Downtown Helena Incorporated, an organization that represents businesses in downtown Helena, said that some businesses “would definitely be very supportive of a vaccination requirement or a mask requirement.” Some of the loudest supporters for the controversial bill were employees of the Benefit Health System in Great Falls, which was requiring their employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus to keep their jobs, according to the AP.
Over 319,000 cases were reported Friday by John Hopkins University, making for the largest single-case day the U.S. has seen throughout the pandemic, according to CDC data.In addition, over 1,600 COVID-19 deaths were reported that day. As hotspots continue to grow in parts of California, Texas and Florida, the three states, recorded the highest number of vaccines administered across the U.S. on Friday. Roughly 170 million Americans have thus far been fully vaccinated, according to John Hopkins University.
Anxiety in the U.S. over COVID-19 is at its highest since winter, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The rise in anxiety comes as the delta variant persists, more states and school districts pick up mask and vaccine requirements and hospitals once more begin to feel the strain of the pandemic. According to the poll, the majority of American adults want vaccination mandates for those attending crowded events such as movies, sports and concerns; those traveling by airplane; and staff at hospitals, restaurants, stores and government offices. While a poll in June reported that 21% of Americans were worried about themselves or their family becoming infected with the virus, the most recent poll shows that number is up to 41% — about the same level as back during the last major surge in January, which was 43%.
Moderna is preparing to start human trials for its experimental mRNA HIV vaccine as early as Thursday, the first time a trial of its kind has ever been conducted, Axios reported. The pharmaceutical company is looking for 56 participants between the ages of 18 and 50 who have not been diagnosed with HIV to participate in the trial. “Even as we have shown that our mRNA-based vaccine can prevent COVID-19, this has encouraged us to pursue more-ambitious development programs within our prophylactic vaccines modality,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in January, when the company had first announced the vaccine.
The U.S. government announced Friday that it was extending the ban on nonessential travel, such as tourism, along the borders with Canada and Mexico to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The ban had once been set to end on July 21, but was pushed back for another 30 days last month. Now, it is set to extend until at least Sept. 21. The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension in a tweet, citing reducing the spread of COVID-19 and the delta variant. U.S. border communities that are dependent on shoppers from Canada and Mexico, along with their political representatives, have urged the Biden administration to lift the ban, The Associated Press reported.
AstraZeneca, the British pharmaceutical company, said data from a study examining the efficacy of its antibody treatment for COVID-19 showed promising results. According to Reuters, the treatment reduced the risk of developing coronavirus treatment by 77% for those in the late-stage trial who received it. The antibody treatment works differently than the company's COVID-19 vaccine, which has yet to be approved for any type of use in the U.S. AstraZeneca said three-quarters of those who participated in the trial either suffered from chronic illnesses or showed decreased immune responses after being vaccinated. One expert told Reuters a therapy like this "could potentially be game-changing for these individuals." The company is applying for approval in major markets around the world by the end of the year, Reuters reported.
Florida’s Broward and Alachua counties’ school board officials have 48 hours to comply with the state’s wishes to allow the option to opt-out of wearing masks, or else the state will withhold funds, according to copies of the orders sent by the Florida State Board of Education and shown to CNN. The news source reported that the the state is requesting a list of the annual salaries of all board members, and should the school districts not comply with the option to opt out of wearing a mask, the State Board of Education will begin withholding 1/12th of that amount from the district’s funds, according to the document.
In response, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, with the support of the White House, reiterated to school administrators in Florida that any loss of income could be covered using CARES, CRRSA or American Rescue Plan funds. “This week, the president asked me to do everything I can to help protect our nation’s students and support the local leaders who are fighting fore them,” Cardona said in a statement on Friday afternoon. “Let me reiterate: we stand ready to assist any district facing repercussions for imposing CDC-recommended COVID-19 prevention strategies that will protect the health and safety of students, educators and staff.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall issued a new order on Friday for students in K-12 schools to wear masks due to the threat of the delta variant, The Associated Press reported. “As Mayor it is my responsibility to do everything I can to keep our City, and our school district, from going down the tragic and dangerous path many others are already on,” Mendenhall said in a statement. Masks were required in Salt Lake City schools last school year, the AP said. Nearly 60% of Utah residents 12 or older are fully vaccinated.
Vaccinations are on the rise once again as the delta variant spreads from coast to coast. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that more than 200 million people have been at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus. This is 60.4% of the country’s entire population. Additionally, 170 million Americans are considered fully vaccinated, or a little over 51% of the country’s entire population.
When sports finally returned after a pandemic-induced hiatus in 2020, many, if not all leagues, did so without fans. New research has found that home teams playing without a rabid crowd behind had less of an advantage than usual. A study published Thursday by Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found that there was less "psychological pressure" on officials during what became known as "ghost games," UPI reported. This allowed there to be more objective referring and fewer winds by the home team, the study found. The researchers looked at a total of 1,286 soccer matches played across European leagues during 2018/2019 and the games played without fans in 2020. The researchers analyzed "results, fouls, bookings and reasons for bookings," according to the study. The researchers determined that more yellow cards for fouls were issued to home players in the "ghost games." "We were particularly surprised by the fact that the home teams in ghost games suddenly received so many more yellow cards for fouls," study co-author Michael Christian Leitner said in a press release, according to UPI. "We want to emphasize that our work is no general criticism of referees of any sport [as] the pressure on match officials is unbelievably high nowadays," said Leitner
Christian Pulisic, a member of the United States men's national team (USMNT) and Chelsea F.C. in England's Premier League, has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not play in Chelsea's match this weekend against Arsenal. "He had a positive test and needs to follow the protocols. He's not in training and not available for the game [against Arsenal]," Chelsea Manager Thomas Tuchel said according to ESPN. "Unfortunately I tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week," Pulisic said on Instagram. "Thankfully I'm fully vaccinated and I have no symptoms so far." Pulisic's positive test comes less than two weeks before the USMNT is scheduled to play El Salvador in a World Cup qualifying match, ESPN said.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced that COVID-19 vaccine booster shots would be distributed widely in the U.S. next month. However, that decision is being met with some criticism by scientists who say data provided by federal officials wasn't compelling enough, CNBC reported. The current booster plan is scheduled to go into effect during the week of Sept. 20 and calls for a third dose of either the Pfizer or modern vaccines eight months after people received their second dose, CNBC said. But Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher with Johns Hopkins University, told CNBC that fully vaccinated individuals are still highly protected against severe disease, hospitalization and death. "This is what vaccines are supposed to do,” said Durbin. “If we start seeing significant upticks of more severe disease and hospitalizations in vaccinated people, that would be a signal to consider boosters.” “The data are showing that yes, we are seeing breakthrough infections but, the infections are mild or moderate colds,” she said.
FILE - In this June 16, 2020 file photo, the sun is reflected on Apple's Fifth Avenue store in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Just weeks after informing employees that a return to corporate offices wouldn't occur until October, Apple is reportedly delaying its return even longer. According to Bloomberg, Apple has informed its staff in a memo that a return to the office won't occur until January at the earliest due to surging COVID-19 cases and the highly transmissible Delta variant. When employees do return to the office, they will be expected to work there at least three days a week, Bloomberg said. The company is not currently expected to close any of its retail stores around the U.S.
As the delta variant spreads across the U.S., more and more unvaccinated Americans are deciding that it is time to finally get the jab. On Thursday, more than 1 million people across the country were given a dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. is on the cusp of 200 million people getting at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that milestone will likely be achieved before the weekend. Watch the video below for more information about vaccinations and the spread of the virus across the country.
Singapore will be reopening its borders to a handful of locations and lifting quarantine restrictions for some vaccinated travelers, CNBC reported. Visitors from Hong Kong and Macao will be able to apply for entry immediately and enter the city as soon as Aug. 26, according to Transport Minister S. Iswaran. The city-state will also be opening what it calls a “vaccinated travel lane” with Germany and Brunei in September, according to the national aviation authority, meaning that visitors from those nations won’t have to quarantine after entering Singapore. “As an open and small economy, our connectivity with the rest of the world is essential, if not existential. That is why we need to start reopening,” Iswaran said. “The longer our borders remain closed, the greater the risk of lasting damage to our economy, our livelihoods and our status as an aviation hub.” The nation has unilaterally opened its borders to travelers from nations such as Taiwan, New Zealand and most visitors from mainland China, according to CNBC.
Recent research suggests that in some cases, the plastic shields that have been raised in schools, stores and even nail salons may be redirecting germs rather than simply blocking them, The New York Times reported. In well-ventilated areas, exhaled particles are able to be dispersed and carried away, but raising the plastic shields can change a room’s air flow, creating a “dead zone” where the aerosol particles could build up and become more concentrated. “If you have a forest of barriers in a classroom, it’s going to interfere with proper ventilation of that room,” Linsey Marr, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and one of the world’s leading experts on viral transmission, told The New York Times. “Everybody’s aerosols are going to be trapped ad stuck there and building up, and they will end up spreading beyond your own desk.”
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