New York will soon require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for people to enter indoor restaurants, gyms and entertainment facilities. The new request, the first of its kind in a major U.S. city, will take effect Aug. 16, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
“The goal here is to convince everyone that this is the time,” de Blasio said. “If we’re going to stop the delta variant, the time is now.”
Also Tuesday, the White House announced that the United States had made the delivery more than 110 million doses of COVID vaccine in more than 60 countries, President Joe Biden is expected to discuss one milestone addressing the nation.
Biden is likely to talk about vaccination issues in the U.S. as concerns grow about an increase in infections partially triggered by the delta variant. According to the White House, Florida and Texas had a third of all COVID-19 cases reported last week.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida climbed to a record 11,515 patients in one day, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. And Texas now has more total deaths nationwide than New York, the early epicenter of the state pandemic.
The U.S. reported 599,334 new cases in the week ending Sunday. A week earlier, there were 364,123 cases. The country now records about 2,500 deaths a week.
Also in the news:
► Meat processor Tyson Foods said it would authorize all of its 120,000 U.S. employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, becoming one of the first large employers of front-line workers to do so. In addition, Microsoft said it would require proof of vaccination from September for all employees, vendors and visitors to its U.S. offices.
►Israel will require all people coming from the United States and 17 other countries, regardless of vaccination status, to quarantine for two weeks starting August 11th.
►McDonald’s said it would require employees and customers to continue wearing masks at some U.S. restaurants regardless of vaccination status. Home Depot, Lowes and Target have also set mandates for masks for workers.
►Japan is now publicly embarrassing people who violate COVID-19 rules. The health ministry shared the names of three people whom officials said clearly acted to avoid contact with authorities upon their return to the country.
► Sixteen destinations – Andorra, Curaçao, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Iran, Ireland, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Libya, Malta, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin and the Virgin Islands of the USA – added CDC Travel List “Level 4: Very High COVID-19”.
Today’s issues: According to U.S. data, more than 35.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 613,800 deaths Johns Hopkins University data. Globally: More than 199 million cases and 4.24 million deaths. According to the data, more than 164.9 million Americans – 49.7% of the population – have been fully vaccinated disease control and prevention centers.
What we read: After more than 18 months of pandemic, of which 1 in every 545 Americans killed by COVID-19, a significant portion of the population continues to exercise their own individual freedoms over the common good. Read the whole story.
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Florida public schools say they can’t require students to wear masks
Florida School Districts cannot legally apply the mask requirement due to executive order of Governor Ron DeSantis banning it, officials said Monday, despite calls from many parents and doctors that all students on county campuses wear face blankets when classes begin next month.
Florida hit 11,515 hospitalized patients on Tuesday, breaking last year’s record for the third day in a row.
The governor of the republic signed an order authorizing the state Board of Education to deny funding to the districts that carry out the mandate of the masks. Palm Beach County School Board attorneys have concluded that DeSantis ’executive order from last week makes it impossible to enforce a mandate for student masks, the school board president said.
Although the governor’s order does not prevent the school district from making the request, “what it does is, however, authorize parents to ignore any Board action that requires mandatory masking of their children,” school board president Frank Barbieri said in a statement.
Broward County Public Schools, which became the first school district in Florida last week to say masks would be needed on campus this month, changed course on Monday, saying they “intend to comply with the governor’s latest executive order.”
– Andrew Marra, Palm Beach Post
Biden to address the nation about vaccination
Doses of more than 110 million U.S. vaccines donated to more than 60 countries, part of efforts to stem the global spread of the coronavirus, which President Joe Biden will address on Tuesday afternoon, came from surplus U.S. vaccine stocks as domestic demand slowed down. Most of the footage was distributed through a global vaccine program called COVAX.
Biden has pledged to deliver more than 80 million doses overseas by the end of June, but has managed to share only part of it due to logistical and regulatory hurdles in the recipient countries. Earlier this month, the U.S. will begin shipping 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine promised in 100 low-income countries by June 2022, the White House said in a statement.
Domestically, the United States reports nearly 347 million doses of the vaccine administered. Of that, 468,000 were given on Monday, including 320,000 first shots, COVID-19 virus data director Cyrus Shahpar said on Twitter. The seven-day average of newly vaccinated Americans was the highest since July 4.
The Biden administration has also offered to send more federal aid to governors, including deploying “teams to increase the number of experts,” as states struggle with a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases.
Mask opponents in danger after a virus case at a meeting in Missouri
Many people did not have masks because they expressed their dissatisfaction with the mask mandate at a tumultuous, four-hour St. Louis County Council meeting. positive for COVID-19.
The delta variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in rural Missouri has entered urban areas, prompting new mandates for masks in the city and county of St. Louis last month. Louis, which began Monday in Kansas City. Mandate of St. Louis was the topic of a tumultuous meeting last Tuesday. Democratic County Executive Director Sam Page said Monday that many of those who spoke and attended ignored a mandate that requires masks in closed public places.
“Yes, it’s unfortunate that many of those ignored the law on Tuesday night, but it happened,” Page said during a live video from his home. “That’s why we’re here and wondering how many people have been exposed to the virus and how many will get sick from the virus.”
The U.S. reaches 70% of at least partially vaccinated adults
On the day the Biden administration welcomed the news that 70% of American adults are now at least partially vaccinated, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the nationwide vaccination mandate “is not on the table”, but noted that employers have the right to take the step as they see fit.
President Joe Biden said last week that federal workers and contractors will have to be vaccinated or face several restrictions that include testing and masking. His administration also counts on vaccine requests from private employers to persuade people to get vaccinated.
These efforts, along with perhaps a fear of the impact of the delta variant, seem to be paying off. While the 70% mark was reached a month later than the original July 4 target, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients noticed a recent increase in vaccine intake.
Zients said 3 million Americans received their first injection last week, the highest number in seven days since July 4.
“There’s a strong sense of progress, and you can see that by the number of shots we get in people’s arms every day,” Zients said.
The so-called breakthrough infections of fully vaccinated people have become a major concern in the fight against COVID-19, especially after the CDC revealed last week that new studies show that these people can transmit the virus.
Fauci: Reinfections are much higher with the delta variant
Perhaps worrying could be the evidence that those who already had COVID may not be as protected as they believe.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the CDC had received 6,587 reports of breakthrough infections since July 26 that resulted in the hospitalization or death of 163 million fully vaccinated Americans – or one in about 25,000 cases.
“No vaccine is 100% effective, so you can expect penetrating infections,” Fauci said at a briefing on Monday. “Most of these infections will be asymptomatic or mild.”
Fauci also said infected people should get the vaccine to add a stronger layer of protection because the delta variant produces more re-infections.
“The protection you get from the original infection still exists to some extent,” Fauci said, “but reinfections now occur with a much higher frequency among individuals than against the original (strain).”
Contributor: Associated Press.
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