The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) and its allies are expected to increase oil production. The move will help stabilize gas prices and spending at the pump.
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Spending more on gas? Why OPEC may be to blame.
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COVID-19 Updates: Mask discrimination in schools, EU recommends travel ban, cases on the rise
The Education Department announced it’s investigating whether bans on mask mandates in schools discriminate.
According to the department Monday, its Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to chief state school officers in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. The office is looking into whether their ban on mask mandates “discriminate against students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness from COVID-19 by preventing them from safely accessing in-person education”.
“It’s simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “The Department will fight to protect every student’s right to access in-person learning safely and the rights of local educators to put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time in-person safely this fall.”
The department said it is not currently investigating mask mandate bans in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, or Arizona because those bans are not currently being enforced.
Meanwhile the European Council decided Monday to remove the U.S. from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel. The video above shows White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki discussing the decision at her daily briefing. The EU also removed Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia from the list.
The council said in a statement “this is without prejudice to the possibility for member states to lift the temporary restriction on nonessential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated travelers.”
The EU’s decision is based on a rise in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Last week, new cases averaged over 152,000 a day. That’s the most the country has seen since the end of January.
Hospitalizations were around 85,000, which hasn’t been seen since early February. Deaths have been over 1,200 a day for several days. That’s seven times higher than they were in early July.
It’s important to note the EU’s safe travel list is just a recommendation. Americans can expect travel rules to vary by individual country.
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It’s working! Economic recovery on the horizon as Fed dials back pandemic-era adjustments
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed will begin to dial back some of the pandemic-era adjustments made to keep the economy going during the height of COVID. His announcement came during his keynote speech at an annual gathering of central bankers and academics.
The Fed will taper off its $120 billion a month bond-buying program designed to hold down longer-term rates and spur borrowing and spending. Powell’s comments indicate it will happen sometime in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Even with this move, interest rate hikes are likely a good deal off in the future.
On Wall Street, investors appeared to welcome the tapering of the Fed’s economic support. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 225 points soon after Powell spoke.
Also encouraging for investors, Powell said Friday surging inflation pressures will likely prove temporary.
According to the Fed’s preferred gauge, inflation rose 3.6 percent in July compared to a year earlier. That’s the biggest increase in three decades. The month-to-month increase slowed from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent.
The recent jump in inflation has put the Fed’s policies under growing scrutiny, both in Congress and among ordinary households.
In his speech, Powell underscored his longstanding belief that the price surge should slow down once the economy further normalizes and supply shortages die down. He said history suggests the Fed should not overreact to temporary price spikes by undoing its support for the economy too aggressively.
According to Powell, inflation has risen enough to meet its test of “substantial further progress” toward the Fed’s goal of 2% annual inflation over time, which was necessary to begin tapering.
He also said the central bank is monitoring any possible economic impact of the highly contagious delta variant. The ongoing rise in cases could slow spending in such areas as air travel, restaurant meals and entertainment.
“While the delta variant presents a near-term risk, the prospects are good for continued progress toward maximum employment,” Powell said.
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Delta Air Lines is making unvaccinated workers pay up. Will your company be next?
Companies are going to great lengths to get their employees vaccinated against COVID-19. While employers like McDonalds, Trader Joes, and Target are using incentives, such as paid time off and gift cards to get their employees vaxxed, Delta Air Lines is taking a different approach. The company announced it will start charging unvaccinated employees $200 per month, beginning in November.
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Gov. Abbott uses executive order to ban vaccine requirements in Texas
(AP) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday banning any state or local vaccine requirements, and he called on Texas legislators to vote it into law during their current special session.
The move came as Texas reported the most COVID-19 patients in its hospitals since the pandemic began.
Abbott issued his ban in an executive order to fill a loophole left by the full authorization of the Pfizer vaccine. He had previously banned the requirement of vaccinations under emergency use authorizations. He also has banned state and local government mandates for wearing masks.
“Vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the Legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of vaccine mandates across Texas,” Abbott said on the governor’s office website.
Nine counties, dozens of school districts and the city of El Paso have defied the Abbott mask mandate ban, and some of the state’s most populous counties have asked for court orders to overturn or block enforcement of the ban. On Wednesday, Dallas County became the latest to obtain a court order blocking enforcement.
“Although this is an important victory, it’s really not a victory against a person or an entity,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s leading elected official, said at a news conference. “It’s a victory for humans who live in Dallas County against the virus.”
A new wave of COVID-19 cases has been sweeping the state, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, prompting the wave of defiance of the Abbott order.
The Texas Supreme Court has declined to block restraining orders against Abbott’s mask mandate ban. Also, the Texas Education Agency has, for now, suspended enforcement of the mask mandate ban in the state’s public school systems.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 79% of the 85,874 Texas intensive-care unit beds are full, about 30% of them with COVID-19 cases. Overall COVID-19 hospitalizations were a record 14,255 Wednesday, beating the Jan. 11 record of 14,218 reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
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Not quite over: Model predicts US could see 100K more COVID-19 deaths
(AP) — The U.S. is projected to see nearly 100,000 more COVID-19 deaths between now and December 1, according to the nation’s most closely watched forecasting model. But health experts say that toll could be cut in half if nearly everyone wore a mask in public spaces.
In other words, what the coronavirus has in store this fall depends on human behavior.
“Behavior is really going to determine if, when and how sustainably the current wave subsides,” said Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. “We cannot stop delta in its tracks, but we can change our behavior overnight.”
That means doubling down again on masks, limiting social gatherings, staying home when sick and getting vaccinated. “Those things are within our control,” Meyers said.
The U.S. is in the grip of a fourth wave of infection this summer, powered by the highly contagious delta variant, which has sent cases, hospitalizations and deaths soaring again, swamped medical centers, burned out nurses and erased months of progress against the virus.
COVID-19 Deaths are running at over 1,100 a day on average, turning the clock back to mid-March. One influential model, from the University of Washington, projects an additional 98,000 Americans will die by the start of December, for an overall toll of nearly 730,000.
The projection says deaths will rise to nearly 1,400 a day by mid-September, then decline slowly.
But the model also says many of those COVID-19 deaths can be averted if Americans change their ways.
“We can save 50,000 lives simply by wearing masks. That’s how important behaviors are,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle who is involved in the making of the projections.
Already there are signs that Americans are taking the threat more seriously.
Amid the alarm over the delta variant in the past several weeks, the slump in demand for COVID-19 shots reversed course. The number of vaccinations dispensed per day has climbed around 80% over the past month to an average of about 900,000.
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Battle between US, China, WHO over COVID origins research intensifies
World Health Organization scientists in China said Wednesday their investigation into the COVID-19 origins has stalled, and they’re running out of time to come to a conclusion.
The news should only escalate the ongoing feud between the WHO, China and the United States over the origins of the virus. The video above includes the clips from news conferences in Geneva, China, and the U.S.
“The window of opportunity for conducting this crucial inquiry is closing fast: any delay will render some of the studies biologically impossible,” the scientists said.
Back in March, they published an analysis saying the virus probably jumped to humans from animals. At that point, they described the possibility of a laboratory leak as “extremely unlikely.” However, the scientists said their report was intended only as a first step.
In a commentary published in the journal Nature, they noted among other things that Chinese officials are still reluctant to share some raw data, citing concerns over patient confidentiality.
“We’ve heard statements from our Chinese colleagues that there are studies that are underway in China,” WHO COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said at the WHO news conference. “We would have to ask them specifically what those studies are. And we look forward to the results of those, as has been outlined in the international report.”
Meanwhile in Beijing, a Foreign Ministry director general took aim at both the WHO and the U.S.
“We will continue to cooperate with international organizations like WHO in their research and in their search for the origin, but we do not accept baseless and unfounded accusations that are politically motivated,” Director General Fu Cong said. “If they want to baselessly accuse China, so they’d better be prepared to accept the counter-attack from China.”
As for the U.S., Cong said “Their purpose is not really to go to the bottom of the origin. Their purpose is to shift the blame onto China, and that is a game we are not prepared to play. It’s a pity that this scientific study has been slowed, but it is not the fault of China.”
Cong’s comments come ahead of the expected release of a U.S. intelligence report on the origins. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden received a briefing Tuesday on the report.
“The intelligence community has been simultaneously working on an unclassified version of summary, a summary version to provide publicly,” Psaki said. “I don’t have a timeline for you on when that will be provided, but they’ve been working expeditiously to prepare that.”
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COVID NUMBERS: New York adds more deaths, billions in rent relief still held up
Recently released numbers have led to two shocking revelations: More people in New York have died of COVID-19 than previously reported, and there are still billions of dollars in rent relief being held up by states and cities.
In her first daily COVID briefing since taking over the New York governorship, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office reported Tuesday nearly 55,400 people have died of COVID-19 in New York. That’s up from the roughly 43,400 deaths Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported to the public on his last day in office Monday.
By Wednesday, the state’s website included the higher tally.
“The public deserves a clear, honest picture of what’s happening. And that’s whether it’s good or bad, they need to know the truth. And that’s how we restore confidence,” Gov. Hochul said.
The count used by Former Gov. Cuomo in his news media briefings and on the state’s COVID-19 fatality tracker included only laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported from hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities. These numbers exclude people who died at home, in hospice, in prisons or at homes for people with disabilities. It also excluded people who probably died of COVID-19 but never got a positive test to confirm the diagnosis.
A day after Hochul’s announcement, the Treasury Department reported states and cities have only given out 11 percent of the tens of billions of dollars set aside for federal rental assistance.
Earlier this year, lawmakers approved $46.5 billion for rent help. Most states are still working on getting out the first chunk of $25 billion.
Wednesday’s Treasury Department numbers show states and cities have given out $5.1 billion through July. That’s up from $3 billion at the end of June and $1.5 billion at the end of May.
In an encouraging note for those who are looking for rent relief, the latest data shows the pace of distribution increased in July over June. Nearly 1 million households have been helped.
However, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey said as of Aug. 16 about 3.5 million people said they face eviction in the next two months. That timeframe lines up with when the new eviction moratorium is set to run out.
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J&J touts booster as Pentagon and others rush to set vaccine requirements
Johnson & Johnson announced their booster vaccine’s effectiveness increasing antibodies by nine times. The announcement comes as institutions and businesses across the country rush to establish vaccine requirements following the Food and Drug Administration’s full approval to the Pfizer vaccine.
According to the company, new data showed people who received a booster six to eight months after their first shot saw antibodies increase nine-fold compared to 28 days after getting their first shot. Johnson & Johnson reported significant increases in antibody responses in people 18 to 55, as well as seniors who received a lower booster dose.
“We have established that a single shot of our COVID-19 vaccine generates strong and robust immune responses that are durable and persistent through eight months,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, Global Head of R&D for the Janssen Pharmaceuticals of Johnson & Johnson. “With these new data, we also see that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine.”
Johnson & Johnson said it is working with the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, European Medicines Agency and other health authorities regarding vaccine boosters.
Not to be outdone, Pfizer announced Wednesday it has started applying for FDA approval for its booster shot. The news comes after U.S. health officials announced plans last week to give COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans.
These new booster developments comes as the Pentagon released a memo Wednesday ramping up its urgency in requiring military troops to get vaccinated. The video above shows Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby previewing the memo on Monday.
In the memo, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered service leaders to “impose ambitious timelines for implementation.”
More than 800,000 service members have yet to get their shots, according to Pentagon data. Because the Pfizer vaccine got full approval, the Defense Department will now add the vaccine to the list of required shots troops must get as part of their military service.
The Pentagon isn’t the only one to push vaccine requirements in the wake of Pfizer’s full approval. Shortly after the FDA acted, Walt Disney World required all workers at its theme park in to be vaccinated. Goldman Sachs told employees Tuesday it will require anyone who enters the bank’s U.S. offices to be fully vaccinated starting Sept. 7. CVS said pharmacists, nurses and other workers who have contact with patients will have to get the vaccine. And Chevron Corp. said it will require some of its workers to get their COVID-19 shots.
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Is Brain Fog real? One expert clears it up.
Suffering from memory loss, depression, and fatigue? You may be suffering from ‘Brain Fog’. Researchers are now looking into the connection between COVID-19 and cognitive issues, particularly Brain Fog. Straight Arrow medical expert Dr. Payal Kohli explains what Brain Fog is, if it’s real, and what it could mean for those who had COVID-19.