The World Health Organization says the number of coronavirus deaths globally jumped by 21% in the last week.Most of the 69,000 deaths were reported in the Americas and Southeast Asia. The UN health agency also noted that COVID-19 cases rose by 8% worldwide and that there are now nearly 194 million infections.
WHO said that “if these trends continue, the cumulative number of cases reported globally could exceed 200 million in the next two weeks.” It added that the number of COVID-19 deaths increased in all regions except for Europe. The biggest numbers of cases were reported in the US, Brazil, Indonesia, the UK and India.
Canada
British Columbia is reporting 150 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the number of active infections to 783 – with the majority diagnosed in the Interior Health region.
As of Wednesday, 80.7 percent of eligible BC residents have had their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 62.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The province has kicked off a new vaccination campaign called Vax for BC, aimed at getting as many people immunized as possible over the next two weeks. The approach is shifting from appointments at mass vaccination clinics to more convenient locations including beaches and summer camps.
Ontario’s top doctor is urging parents to get their eligible children vaccinated this week as time runs out to have them fully immunized by Labour Day. Dr. Kieran Moore says students aged 12 to 17 who don’t have two doses will face stricter isolation rules if there’s an outbreak this fall.
Public-health measures are still being finalized for Ontario’s back-to-school plan.
The United States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new recommendations that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the US where the coronavirus is surging. Scientists cited new information about the ability of the delta variant to spread among vaccinated people. The CDC also recommended indoor masks for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.
The country is averaging more than 57,000 cases a day and 24,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Most new infections and hospitalizations in the US are among unvaccinated people. But “breakthrough” infections, which generally cause milder illness, can occur in vaccinated people.
New York will require all state employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus by Labor Day or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the policy Wednesday in a Zoom call with the nonprofit Association for a Better New York. In mandating either the shots, or frequent testing for government workers, he is following on the heels of California and New York City.
New York, like other states, has seen a rising number of coronavirus cases linked to the delta variant. New infections have climbed more than 400% since the end of June. Cuomo also says vaccines would be mandatory for “front-line” workers at state-owned hospitals.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that New York City will offer $100 to any city resident who gets a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine at a city-run site.
Nevada officials are re-imposing a mask mandate for indoor public spaces in the state’s cities in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus amid a rise in cases and hospitalizations not seen since before the arrival of vaccines.
Authorities officials said Tuesday the order will align Nevada with a new recommendation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calling for people to use masks even if they are vaccinated.
The increase in cases and the mask requirement could hamper tourism industry efforts to entice visitors and trade shows that power the state’s economy to return following closures last year.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says a special session to revisit the state’s ban on mask mandates in schools is an option as the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state has surpassed 1,000.
The governor met with legislative leaders Tuesday to discuss the possibility of a holding a session on the ban enacted in April that bans local and state government entities, including schools, from requiring the use of masks. Facing growing calls to lift the ban, at least for schools. Hutchinson says he is evaluating options for changes. Legislative leaders say they’re talking with lawmakers about what action they would support.
Arkansas’ COVID-19 hospitalizations grew by 45 to 1,025, its highest number since late January. The state’s virus cases grew by 2,052.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf says he is not considering a statewide mask mandate as coronavirus cases increase in the state, and his administration says it will not require masks in schools. The comments came as the CDC issued a new recommendation that even vaccinated people wear masks in areas where infections are rising.
Wolf said his strategy for fighting the spread of the coronavirus is to get more people vaccinated. The governor says Pennsylvania had a mask mandate when there was no vaccine.
In Wolf’s words: “People have the ability, each individual to make the decision to get a vaccine. If they do, that’s the protection.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves does not plan to issue a mask mandate for schools even as coronavirus cases are increasing in the state, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation.
A spokesperson said, “Governor Reeves has no intention of requiring students and staff to wear masks when they’re in school this fall.”
A few Mississippi school districts have already started classes, and others are starting by mid-August. Some parents have raised concerns about the virus spreading among children too young to be vaccinated, and many school districts have said they will not require students or employees to wear masks because the governor has not set a mask mandate.
Remember …the CDC issued a new recommendation Tuesday saying that even vaccinated people should wear face covering if they live in areas where infections are rising.
South Carolina education officials say recently enacted legislation will prevent them from requiring students and employees to wear masks inside schools as a result of a new recommendation from the CDC that even vaccinated people should use face coverings in regions with increasing numbers of coronavirus cases.
A budget proviso that went into effect July 1 prohibits the state’s school districts from using any appropriated funds “to require that its students and/or employees wear a face mask at any of its education facilities.”
The measure was backed by Gov. Henry McMaster, who earlier this year called it “the height of ridiculosity”(sic) for a school district to require a mask over any parent’s wishes.
The state Department of Education says on its official Facebook page that it can only encourage the use of face coverings and other COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is rejecting new federal government recommendations about wearing masks to help slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus delta variant.
In a statement Tuesday, the governor said that “the Biden Administration’s new COVID-19 guidance telling fully vaccinated Iowans to now wear masks is not only counterproductive to our vaccination efforts, but also not grounded in reality or common sense.”
She was reacting to a recommendation from the CDC advising people in regions with increasing infections to wear masks in public indoor settings. Reynolds adds that she is concerned the federal guidance could result in mask mandates for schools.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t commented on the new CDC guidance recommending masks in schools and other indoors places in areas with rising coronavirus infections. But already this week he opposed the idea of mandating their use in schools and expressed fear the federal government might try to force their use.
DeSantis also predicted Florida lawmakers will hold a special session “to be able to provide protections for parents and kids who just want to breathe freely and don’t want to be suffering under these masks during the school year.”
A spokeswoman released a statement Tuesday saying that “Governor DeSantis believes that parents know what’s best for their children” and thinks the decision should be left to them. It adds that “fortunately, the data indicate that COVID is not a serious risk to healthy children.”
In South Florida, the Broward County school board postponed a meeting Tuesday about whether students should wear masks in the classroom this fall when about 20 anti-mask protestors refused to don them. Board spokeswoman Kathy Koch told the South Florida SunSentinel that everyone who visits the district’s headquarters is required to wear a mask.
“Most of them said they had a medical waiver, but you cannot prove it nor can you ask for it,” Koch said. For the safety of everyone, the discussion was rescheduled for Wednesday.
The delay angered the protestors, who called on Gov. Ron DeSantis, a strong mask mandate opponent, and the state government to override any mask mandate imposed by Broward or others school districts.
“We need a special session of the state Legislature to ban this kind of crap right now,” said Chris Nelson, founder of the anti-mask group Reopen South Florida. He threatened to go to the board members’ homes and neighborhoods to confront them directly.
Georgia’s largest school district has joined the growing ranks of those that will require students and employees to wear masks regardless of vaccination status as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the state. The 177,000-student Gwinnett County school district became the latest to reverse a mask-optional policy, citing new guidance from the CDC on Tuesday recommending mask use in area where infections are increasing.
The Savannah-Chatham and Clarke County school systems also said everyone must wear a mask, while Emory University said all employees must get vaccinated.
The state Department of Public Health reported more than 3,700 new cases. That was more than double Monday’s total and the highest number since late February. The number of confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized statewide rose above 1,500 for the first time since early March.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has resumed wearing a mask at indoor events, citing revised guidance from the CDC and a recommendation from Michigan’s chief doctor. However, Whitmer added Tuesday that she does not anticipate reinstating a mandate requiring the use of face coverings – “not in the near future and maybe not ever.” The governor is vaccinated.
While daily COVID-19 cases have been rising in Michigan, the state’s two-week rate is lower than in all but three states. Whitmer says that “I wear it not because I’m worried about me but because I worry about those who aren’t vaccinated yet.”
Officials in two major Kansas health care systems are urging people to resume wearing masks indoors even if they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus because of the faster spreading delta variant.
The comments from administrator-doctors at Stormont Vail Health in northeast Kansas and the University of Kansas Health System came just before the CDC recommended that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in places where the coronavirus is surging.
The comments came a day after the board of education in one of Kansas’ largest public school districts approved a mandate for elementary students to wear masks when classes resume in mid-August. Kansas has seen its average number of new COVID-19 cases a day increase for nearly five weeks because of the delta variant, to numbers last seen in mid-February.
President Joe Biden says that requiring all federal workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus is “under consideration,” as the more infectious Delta variant surges across the United States and a significant chunk of Americans still refuse the shot.
Speaking Tuesday after delivering remarks at the office of the Director of National Intelligence, Biden affirmed that his administration was considering the possibility in response to a reporter’s question.
His comments come the day after the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency to require its healthcare workers receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki left the door open to more agencies implementing similar requirements, saying that the administration would “continue to look at ways to protect our workforce and save more lives.
Louisiana’s health department is reporting 6,797 new COVID-19 cases and 20 new deaths. Tuesday’s figures show hospitalizations up to 1,390. That’s the highest hospitalization count since early February.
The new figures come as state officials increasingly urge the public to get vaccinated as medical staffs again are stretched thin by the state’s fourth surge since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, Mayor Ronny Walker of the north Louisiana city of Ruston has been hospitalized with pneumonia related to a “breakthrough” case of COVID-19 after being vaccinated. Walker tells the Ruston Daily Leader that he believes his illness would have been worse had he not been vaccinated.
As COVID-19 hospitalizations climb, St. Louis is offering incentives for some city employees to get immunized, while thousands are registering for a statewide vaccine lottery. St. Louis said in a news release Tuesday that nearly 6,000 of its workers will be eligible to receive US $100 in gift cards and can use paid time off to get vaccinated. The announcement comes one day after a mask mandate took effect in the city and St. Louis County.
Missouri has the nation’s fourth-worst COVID-19 diagnosis rate over the past week, with one in every 360 people diagnosed with COVID-19. To help, the state rolled out a vaccine incentive program last week that includes US $10,000 prizes for 900 lottery winners. About 250,000 people have registered so far, said health department spokeswoman Lisa Cox.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says he’s pulled two of his children out of a summer day camp that didn’t require kids to wear masks. The camp’s decision is a violation of state policy that requires masks for everyone in youth settings because children under 12 can’t be vaccinated. Newsom spokeswoman Erin Mellon says the Newsoms missed a communication from the camp saying it wouldn’t enforce mask wearing.
The statement comes after an organization called Reopen California Schools tweeted about Newsom’s son attending the camp, casting it as example of Newsom saying one thing and doing another. Newsom faces a Sept. 14 recall election.
In California, Google is postponing a return to the office for most workers until mid-October. It’s rolling out a policy that will eventually require everyone to be vaccinated once its sprawling campuses are fully reopened in an attempt to fight the spreading delta variant.
In a Wednesday email sent to Google’s more than 130,000 employees, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is aiming to have most of its workforce back to its offices beginning Oct. 18 instead of its previous target date of Sept. 1. Exceptions for vaccines will be made for medical and other “protected” reasons, Pichai wrote.
The requirement will be first imposed at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and other US offices before being extended to the more than 40 other countries where the Google operates. The decision to extend its remote work follows a similar move by another Apple, which recently moved its return-to-office plans from September to October
Mexico
Health officials say infected youth are a driving factor in Mexico’s third wave of COVID-19 cases. The number of new infections has been rising since mid-June and is up more than 40%, according to government figures. But unlike the last spike in cases in December and January, hospitalizations, and especially deaths, have been rising much more slowly.
Experts say the young are at greater risk because most are unvaccinated and they’ve become increasingly active. The government has expanded its vaccination campaign to anyone over age 18 in an attempt to lower the rising case numbers.
So far, about 42.4 million people have been vaccinated, according to the health ministry. That’s about 47% of the adult population, but only about 30% of the total population. Mexico has registered 2.75 million confirmed cases and more than 238,000 deaths, both figures the government concedes are significant undercounts. The death total places it behind only the United States, Brazil and India.
Europe
Fully vaccinated travellers from the United States (though not yet Canada) and much of Europe can enter Britain without quarantining starting next week.
The British government says people who have received both doses of a vaccine approved by the FDA in the US or the European Medicines Agency, can take pre- and post-arrival coronavirus tests instead of self-isolating. There is one exception: France, which Britain has dubbed a higher risk because of the presence of the beta variant of the coronavirus. Visitors from France will continue to face a British quarantine.
Currently only people who have been vaccinated in Britain can skip 10 days of quarantine when arriving from most of Europe or North America. The move to boost Britain’s ailing travel industry comes despite rising coronavirus cases.
The rule change takes effect Monday.
Britain is donating 9 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to countries, including Indonesia, Jamaica and Kenya, the first shots the UK has sent to developing nations during the pandemic. Britain has one of the world’s highest inoculation rates against the virus, with more than 70% of adults fully vaccinated, and has faced calls to donate doses to the many countries that lack vaccines.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says shipments will begin this week of 5 million doses to the UN-backed COVAX vaccine distribution program and 4 million more directly to countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and several Caribbean nations.
Some 817,000 doses are going to Kenya, whose President Uhuru Kenyatta is in Britain and will meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The shipments are the first batch of Britain’s commitment to donate 100 million doses by June 2022.
Germany says that half of its population has now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a milestone in a campaign that has slowed markedly in recent weeks. Official figures released Wednesday showed that the number reached nearly 41.8 million, or 50.2%, of the population on Tuesday. And more than 50.8 million, or 61.1% of the population, had received at least one vaccine dose.
But the numbers are moving higher at a much more leisurely pace than they were several weeks ago. Nearly 436,000 shots have been administered per day on average over the past week. That figure was over 800,000 in mid-June.
That is worrying officials at a time when infections are creeping up from a very low level as the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus has become dominant. Chancellor Angela Merkel last week appealed to reluctant citizens to get vaccinated.
According to data released this week by the nationwide registry offices, there have been 60,000 more deaths in Poland so far this year compared to the same period the year before. Health experts say many deaths were caused by the coronavirus but also from the overload and inefficiency of the health care system. That led to many other health issues diagnosed or treated too late.
Registry statistics indicate there were 285,000 deaths until mid-July, compared to 224,000 deaths by mid-July last year.
In March and April, there were more than 35,000 daily coronavirus cases and over 700 deaths from COVID-19. There were 15,000 more deaths in March than the year before, and 20,000 deaths more in April. Poland currently reports about 100 daily cases and less than 10 daily deaths.
Some 17.1 million people are fully immunized and another 18.1 million have received the first shot in this nation of some 38 million. More than 75,000 people have died since the start of the pandemic.
North and South East Asia
Doctors in several regions in Sumatra island in Indonesia reported the increasing COVID-19 cases in their areas.
Indonesia recorded 47,791 new cases and 1,824 confirmed in the last 24 hours. The Health Ministry recorded 558,392 active cases in Indonesia, with more than 81,000 cases from Sumatra regions.
Doctors from the associations in Jambi, South Sumatra and Riau Islands regions also say the bed occupancy rate at the hospitals in those areas have increased, along with oxygen distribution. Doctors and other health care workers are also among those infected by the virus.
Adib Khumadi, Head of The Risk Mitigation Team of Indonesian Medical Association, says some regions outside Java, such as Jambi, South Sumatra and South Kalimantan provinces show spikes of the new infections.
Indonesia has registered 3.2 million cases and 88,659 total confirmed deaths.
Tokyo has reported 3,177 new coronavirus cases, setting an all-time high and exceeding 3,000 for the first time, just days after the start of the Olympics. The new cases Wednesday exceeded the record of 2,848 set the previous day and bring the total for the Japanese capital to more than 200,000.
Tokyo has been under a fourth state of emergency since July 12 ahead of the Olympics, which began last Friday despite widespread public opposition and concern that they could further worsen the outbreak. Health experts say Tokyo’s surge is being propelled by the new, more contagious delta variant of the virus.
South Korea is reporting a new daily high for coronavirus cases a day after authorities enforced stringent restrictions in areas outside the Seoul capital region seeking to slow a nationwide spread of infections.
The 1,896 cases announced Wednesday took the country’s total for the pandemic to 193,427, with 2,083 deaths from COVID-19. It was the highest daily jump since the pandemic began and surpassed a previous record of 1,842 announced last Thursday.
The Seoul area has been at the center of the outbreak. The government on Tuesday put much of the non-Seoul regions under the second highest distancing guidelines to guard against a nationwide viral spread.
Drivers seeking to leave eastern China’s Jiangsu province will have to show a negative coronavirus test taken in the last 48 hours or be forced to turn around as infections in the province continue to rise.
The provincial transport department said Wednesday that 93 checkpoints have been set up on highways in the province whose capital of Nanjing is the epicenter of China’s latest outbreak. Drivers must remain in their vehicles and wear masks while health workers carry out the checks.
The National Health Commission reported 48 new cases in Jiangsu over the previous 24 hours. That brings its total to 154 over recent days. Authorities say the illnesses are being caused by the highly contagious delta variant. The coronavirus continues to spread despite China having administered more than 1.5 billion doses of vaccine.
Sri Lankan authorities have reopened 16 wildlife parks and zoos to visitors after nearly two months, in the latest move to return to normalcy following a coronavirus lockdown. The government has been gradually reopening the country after the month-long lockdown imposed in May. Earlier this month, the government allowed the reopening of hotels, restaurants, religious places, cinemas, museums and libraries. Weddings are also permitted, but no more than 150 guests can attend. Schools and universities remain closed. Sri Lanka has confirmed 298,181 cases, including 4,147 deaths.
Pakistani authorities reported a surge in confirmed cases of coronavirus in the southern port city of Karachi in the past 24 hours amid widespread violation of social distancing rules.
It has put a pressure on the health care system in the largest city of Pakistan, where hospitals are flooded by COVID-19 patients. The latest development comes two days after federal authorities confirmed the positivity rate in Karachi was about 27%. The nationwide positivity rate from coronavirus in Pakistan is about 7%.
According to local media, the COVID-19 positivity rate in Karachi has increased about 30 percent in the past 24 hours. Of the 44 deaths in the past 24 hours, most were reported in Karachi.
Pakistan has reported 101,5827 confirmed cases and 231,33 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Africa and the Middle East
Tanzania’s president has kicked off her nation’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign by publicly receiving a dose and urging others to do the same.
The Johnson & Johnson shot that President Samia Suluhu Hassan received Wednesday represented a major breakthrough for one of the world’s last countries to embrace coronavirus vaccines. The country received more than 1 million Johnson & Johnson doses over the weekend.
Her predecessor denied the seriousness of pandemic. Tanzania went well over a year without updating its number of confirmed virus cases. Since Hassan took over the presidency, she has changed course.
Saudi Arabia’s aviation authorities say only citizens vaccinated against the coronavirus can travel abroad starting Aug. 9, aiming to ramp up its inoculation campaign and counter vaccine hesitancy. The country’s General Authority for Civil Aviation on Wednesday issued a notice to all airlines that only fully vaccinated citizens can board international flights. The rule exempts children under 12 and those who have recovered from the coronavirus over six months ago.
On Tuesday, the Saudi Ministry of Interior delivered a warning to the public against travelling to destinations on its “red list”, or countries with a high risk of COVID-19 infection, including the United Arab Emirates, India, South Africa and Turkey. Authorities say they’ll impose a three-year travel ban on anyone found to have violated the rules.
The kingdom has previously announced nationwide restrictions on the unvaccinated. Next week, all residents must show proof that they’ve received at least one vaccine dose to enter non-essential businesses, public transportation and schools.
Saudi Arabia, with a population of 34 million, has reported half a million cases of the coronavirus, including more than 8,100 confirmed deaths. It has administered 25.5 million doses of the vaccine, according to online scientific publication Our World in Data.
Australia
Australia’s largest city Sydney will remain in lockdown for another month. The New South Wales state government said the lockdown of the city of 5 million would last at least until Aug. 28 after reporting on Wednesday 177 new infections in the latest 24-hour period. It was the largest daily tally since the cluster was discovered in mid-June.
State Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters that “I am as upset and frustrated as all of you that we were not able to get the case numbers we would have liked at this point in time but that is the reality,”
More than 2,500 people have been infected in a cluster that began when a limousine driver tested positive on June 16 for the contagious delta variant. The driver had been infected by a US aircrew he transported from Sydney airport. The death toll from the cluster reached 11 on Wednesday with a woman in her 90s dying in a Sydney hospital.