Broadway is back after a year of going dark. The first play to officially open the curtains is called Pass over. New York’s Broadway scene will start rolling with shows in September, such as Hadestown, Hamilton, Wicked, The Lion King, and Chicago.
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Warm up the stage lights, because Broadway is back
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US may require foreign visitors to get vaccine as worldwide cases total 200M
The Biden administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. be vaccinated for the coronavirus, a White House official said Wednesday. The same day COVID-19 cases topped 200 million worldwide.
“That’s not a decision at this point. That’s one of the paths that’s being looked at,” White House Coronavirus Coordinator Jeff Zients said.
The raw video above shows more from Thursday’s White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.
The requirement would come as part of the administration’s approach to ease restrictions for foreign travelers to the U.S. No timeline for that has been determined.
The Biden administration has kept tight travel restrictions in place citing the spread of the Delta variant as at least part of the reason why. Under U.S. rules, non-U.S. residents who have been to China, much or the European Union, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa and India in the last two weeks are not allowed to enter the U.S.
All travelers to the U.S., regardless of vaccination status, are required to show proof of a negative test taken within three days of flying to the U.S.
There have been more than 200 million cases of COVID-19 recorded worldwide with more than 4.2 million deaths. According to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University more than 35 million Americans have tested positive and more than 615,000 Americans have died.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky, cases continue to rise. “Yesterday, CDC reported 103,445 new cases of COVID-19. Our seven-day average is about 89,463 cases per day. This represents an increase of 43% from the prior seven-day average,” Dr. Walensky said. “The seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 7,348 per day, an increase of about 41% from the prior seven-day period. And seven-day average daily deaths have also increased to 381 per day, an increase of more than 39% from the previous seven-day period.”
At the briefing, Zients also talked about businesses and institutions starting to put vaccine requirements in place. “Small businesses across the country are stepping up. A recent study shows that half of America’s small businesses are likely to require their employees to be vaccinated,” Zients said. “Our message is quite simple, we support these vaccination requirements to protect workers, communities and the country.”
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Straight To It: Gwen’s Wednesday, August 4 recap
Gwen’s picks for Wednesday include:
- South Korea detects two cases of COVID’s delta plus variant.
- Full interview with Dr. Payal Kohli: Deciphering the Delta Variant. Click here.
- Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson says he regrets mask mandate ban.
- WHO tells rich countries to hold off on vaccine boosters.
- Today’s birthdays: Barack Obama, Meghan Markle, Jeff Gordon.
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Arkansas governor says he regrets mask mandate ban, calls special session to re-address
A special session is underway in Arkansas as its governor says he regrets signing a ban on mask mandates.
At a news conference Tuesday, Republican Asa Hutchinson said, “Everything has changed now. And yes, in hindsight I wish that had not become law, but it is the law and the only chance we have is either to amend it or for the courts to say it has an unconstitutional foundation.”
Hutchinson says he wants the state legislature to make a carve out so school boards can decide on their own if they want to require masks for kids under 12.
As the law stands, no county, city, or school board can make a mask mandate.
As of August 1, Arkansas reports that almost 19 percent of all coronavirus cases are in kids. Of that, more than half are in kids under 12. Currently, the coronavirus vaccines are only for people over 12.
The state reports there has been almost a 690 percent increase from April to July in the number of cases in kids under 12.
While the governor is able to call a special session, the state legislature gets to decide if this is something it wants to change.
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Mass testing underway as China experiences worst COVID-19 outbreak in more than a year
Mass testing is underway as China experiences its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic started according to the Associated Press. The outbreak led to one Chinese city being sealed. The raw video above shows mass testing sites in Wuhan where the virus was first detected and in Zhengzou.
The outbreak is spreading across 17 Chinese provinces. More than half of the new cases reported Wednesday are in Jiangsu province. Its capital city is Nanjing which is where the airport is located.
Mass testing in Wuhan found some of its recent cases are very similar to cases discovered in Jiangsu province, which have been identified as Delta variant cases.
While it is the worst outbreak in more than a year, the overall number of cases is underwhelming with only 71 new cases of local transmission reported Wednesday. In addition, 25 travelers from overseas have COVID-19 and have entered quarantine. That makes Wednesday’s total 96 new cases. The National Health Commission said 15 of those people were asymptomatic.
Far higher numbers were reported in Yangzhou, a city next to Nanjing. The city had recorded 126 cases as of Tuesday.
China’s people had lived virtually free of the virus over the last year. Strict border controls, distancing, and quarantine measures, stamped out any small flareups when the happened.
Last week, China’s National Immigration Administration announced they were suspending issuance of passports to all travelers except for those with an urgent need.
Another COVID-19 hotspot has emerged in the city of Zhangjiajie. The city itself has only recorded 19 cases since last week. However, Shanghai government-owned newspaper reported individual cases linked to Zhangjiajie’s outbreak have spread to at least five provinces.
The city of about 1.5 million ordered residential communities to seal Sunday. The order prevented people from leaving their homes. On Tuesday, officials said no one, whether tourist or resident, could leave the city.
In addition, the city government’s Communist Party disciplinary committee issued a list of local officials who “had a negative impact” on pandemic prevention and control Wednesday. Those officials would be punished.
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WHO tells rich countries to hold off on giving out vaccine boosters
The head of the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on vaccine boosters Wednesday. The video above shows Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus talking about a moratorium in Geneva, as well as the White House’s response from Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
“We call on vaccine producers to prioritize COVAX and we call on everyone with influence – Olympic athletes, investors, business leaders, faith leaders and every individual in their own family and community to support our call for a moratorium on booster shots until at least the end of September,” Ghebreyesus said.
Back in May, Ghebreyesus set a goal to make sure 10 percent of people in every country is vaccinated by the end of September. “We are now more than halfway to that target date, but we are not on track,” Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO has argued no one is safe until everyone is safe, saying the longer and more widely the coronavirus circulates, the greater the chance that new variants could emerge. That could prolong the global pandemic.
Ghebreyesus noted the disparity between vaccinations in richer countries and poorer countries has only gotten worse since May. “When I issued that challenge in May, high-income countries had administered around 50 doses for every 100 people. Since then, that number has doubled,” Ghebreyesus said. “High-income countries have now administered almost 100 doses for every 100 people. Meanwhile, low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people due to lack of supply.”
He made a direct appeal to those wealthier countries, saying “It’s no understatement to say that the course of the pandemic depends on the leadership of the G-20.”
The WHO has no power to require countries to act. In the past, many countries have ignored the WHO’s appeals on things like donating vaccines, limiting cross-border travel and taking steps to boost production of vaccines in developing countries.
When asked about the moratorium, Press Secretary Psaki called it “a false choice”. “We’ve taken action on the global level far more than any country around the world,” Psaki said. “We also in this country have enough supply to ensure that every American has access to a vaccine. We will have enough supply to ensure if the FDA decides that boosters are recommended for a portion of the population to provide those as well. We believe we can do both and we don’t need to make that choice.”
WHO officials say the science is unproven about whether giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
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Pfizer vaccine may get full approval by Labor Day
According to the New York Times, the Food and Drug Administration is looking to give full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by Labor Day.
Pfizer had filed for full approval back in May. Since then, pressure has built on the FDA to grant full approval, especially once the Delta variant started becoming the dominant variant across much of the country.
“I just have not sensed a sense of urgency from the F.D.A. on full approval,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said Tuesday. “And I find it baffling, given where we are as a country in terms of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.”
In a statement, the FDA said it has taken “taken an all-hands-on-deck approach” to the work.
Full approval is expected to have multiple different impacts. First and foremost, it could help increase vaccination rates.
Recent polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation have found three of every 10 unvaccinated people said that they would be more likely to get a shot with a fully approved vaccine. However, Kaiser said many of the people who responded didn’t understand the regulatory process. Kaiser speculated those respondents might be using a lack of full approval as an excuse to not get the vaccine.
In addition to potentially increasing vaccination rates, full approval would lead to vaccination mandates across the country. For example, civilians working for the Defense Department must be vaccinated or face regular testing. However, the military has held off on ordering shots for 1.3 million active-duty service members until full approval is granted.
Mandates could be issued by many universities and hospitals, as well as at least one major city, San Francisco.
Moderna filed for full approval of its vaccine back in June. The company is still submitting data, and has not said when that process will be complete. Johnson & Johnson has not yet applied but plans to do so later this year.
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CDC issues another eviction ban days after the last one ran out
Just three days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction ban expired, the CDC issued another one Tuesday. The video above shows President Joe Biden answering reporter questions about the ban.
The new moratorium is set to last until Oct. 3. It’s seen as a reversal for the Biden administration, who said a Supreme Court ruling was the reason the previous moratorium had to expire.
“The courts made it clear that the existing moratorium was not constitutional,” President Biden said. “It wouldn’t stand. And I made that clear back in July 15th, on July 18th.”
Biden went on to say, “Any call for a moratorium based on the Supreme Court recent decision is likely to face obstacles.”
The President said he sought input from legal scholars about whether there were other options available to him.
According to Biden, the advice was mixed, although some of them said, “It’s worth the effort.”
The CDC has identified a legal authority for a new and different moratorium for areas with high and substantial increases in COVID-19 infections. It would protect 90 percent of Americans.
In addition to talking about the moratorium, Biden urged states and cities to disburse the nearly $47 billion in relief for renters facing eviction in the next 60 days.
“We’re urging them to distribute those funds to the landlords. I believe that would take care of the vast majority of what needs to be done to keep people in their, in their apartments now,” Biden said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen briefed House Democrats over the phone Tuesday about the work underway to make sure the $47 billion gets in the hands of renters and landlords. She gave them data on how their districts and states are performing with distributing the relief, according to a person on the call.
According to this person, Yellen agrees “we need to bring every resource to bear” and she wants “to leave no stone unturned.”
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Spreading the wealth: US sends more than 110M vaccine doses around the world
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the United States has donated more than 110 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 65 countries around the world. The video above includes clips from President Biden’s announcement.
“According to the United Nations, this is more than the donations of all 24 countries that have donated any vaccine to other countries, including China and Russia, all those nations combined,” Biden said. “These vaccine donations from America are free. We’re not selling them. There are no demands, no conditions, no coercion attached, and there’s no favoritism and no strings attached.”
That last part appears to be in reference to allegations saying China has used access to its domestically produced vaccines as a tool of geopolitical leverage.
The donated doses came from U.S. surplus vaccine stock. That stock has grown due to a slowing of domestic vaccinations, with widespread vaccine hesitancy in the country. Even though more doses are leaving the U.S., Biden said there will still be plenty available for Americans.
“We’re always going to have enough doses for every American who wants one,” Biden said. “Our work in donating vaccines around the world is about America following through on our promises and delivering what we say will deliver.”
While notable, the 110 million doses represent a fraction of what is needed worldwide. Under Biden’s sharing plan, about 75 percent of U.S. doses are shared through COVAX, which sends the doses to lower- and middle-income nations. The rest of the doses are going to U.S. partners and allies.
“Just as the American economy is recovering, it’s in all of our interests to have global the global economy begin to recover as well,” Biden said. “This is about our values. We value inherent dignity of all people, the inherent dignity of everyone. In times of trouble, Americans reach out to offer a helping hand. That’s who we are.”
In a statement, The White House said the U.S. will begin shipping the 500,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine that it has pledged to 100 low-income countries by June 2022 by the end of August.
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Mayors take action to stop spread: NYC to require proof of vaxx, Maui wants to continue virtual learning
Two mayors are trying to curb the spread of COVID-19 in their cities. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday the city will soon require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for indoor activities, and Maui Mayor Michael Victorino asked Hawaii state officials to postpone the return of in-person learning and continue virtual learning as classes begin Tuesday.
New York City’s proof of vaccine requirement, which Mayor de Blasio calls “the Key to NYC Pass”, applies to indoor dining, gyms and indoor entertainment venues. “If you’re vaccinated, all that’s going to open up to you. You’ll have the key. You can open the door,” de Blasio said. “But if you’re unvaccinated, unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in many things. That’s the point we’re trying to get across.”
The Key to NYC pass will take effect Aug. 16. “We’ve been working with the business community, getting input, we’re going to do more over the next few weeks,” de Blasio said. “We’ll then spend most of a month educating people, going out to businesses, receiving calls from businesses, answering questions and concerns, making sure everyone understands the new approach. And then on September 13th, during that week, we’ll begin inspections and enforcement.”
With this announcement, New York City becomes the first city in the United States to impose such restrictions.
While thousands of mile away, Mayor Victorino’s request to state officials comes as cases are on the rise in Hawaii. According to a Maui county news release, the state’s COVID positivity rate has climbed 163 percent over the past two weeks.
“Even though our vaccination rate in Hawaii is fairly good compared to other states, the Neighbor Islands have limited hospitals and critical care facilities,” Victorino said. “Our health care facilities are already being challenged by the recent surge of infections, so I believe it is wiser to err on the side of caution.”
Victorino said for now, he only wants in-person learning to be paused for a few weeks “so we can have a better indication of how this variant will impact our medical facilities.”
“Distance learning is not new for Hawaii’s students and teachers, and while it’s not ideal, it’s preferable to a potential surge in Delta pediatric cases,” Victorino said.