Skip to main content

New top story from Time: The CDC’s Masking Reversal Marks a Difficult New Phase of Joe Biden’s Pandemic Fight

https://ift.tt/2WtrXas

Two months ago, COVID-19 cases were down in 49 of 50 states. The number of Americans hospitalized by the virus was a quarter of the levels seen at the beginning of the year. Vaccinations were climbing steadily, and President Joe Biden announced on May 13 that vaccinated Americans didn’t need to wear masks. “Today is a great day for America in our long battle with coronavirus,” Biden said with a smile.

That battle is dragging out longer than Biden expected. Driven by a large segment of the country’s reluctance to get the vaccine shot and the virus’s delta variant spreading through the unvaccinated population, cases are now rising in every state. Hospitalizations from the virus—having fallen by half in June—are back up to the levels seen in May. That’s why on Tuesday, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had to walk back its earlier guidance and tell those who are vaccinated and living in states with high rates of infection to put their masks back on while indoors.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the CDC, said new science has shown that on “rare occasions” some vaccinated people may contract the delta variant and be contagious to others, even if their symptoms are mild. In “areas of substantial and high transmission,” people who have been vaccinated should wear their masks indoors at public events, Walensky said. The CDC recommends that K-12 schools in areas of high transmission rates should return to full-time, in-person learning in the fall and have teachers, staff and students wear masks indoors. Being vaccinated continues to be the best way to prevent dying or being hospitalized with severe disease when exposed to the virus, the CDC says.

The uptick in cases and the new medical guidance on mask wearing has put Biden into a tough spot. Biden and White House officials had wanted July to be a moment of reopening for the U.S. and a time for the economy to show signs it was moving past the pandemic. The virus hasn’t cooperated, and there are signs its resurgence comes with a political cost for Biden. Biden’s approval rating dropped to 50% in Gallup polling released on July 23, a dip from 56% in June. Biden is facing pressure from multiple sides. Americans of all political leanings are struggling to make sense of more than a year of morphing guidelines and rules. In the first weeks of the pandemic in the U.S., the CDC didn’t recommend face masks among the general public out of fear of a debilitating run on medical masks. Republican politicians have often chafed at wearing masks and sent mixed messages on how they should be used. (When Trump announced the CDC’s initial recommendation in April 2020 that all Americans should then wear masks in public, Trump himself said he wouldn’t be wearing one.) And just over two months ago, Biden said vaccinated individuals could stop wearing them.

Experts acknowledge the challenge of keeping up with what’s required to contain the virus. “It’s just a constant course correction,” says Andy Slavitt, who stepped down in June as Biden’s former senior advisor on the COVID response. “If you’re indoors with people whose vaccination status you don’t know, masking is going to continue to make sense as a good layer of protection.”

When asked Tuesday if the White House has a message to Americans feeling “whiplash” from the CDC’s updated guidance, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki replied, “Our goal is to save their lives.”

Contributing to the spread of the new virus mutation, the vaccine rollout in the U.S. has started to plateau, with about 56% of Americans over the age of 12 fully vaccinated. The hesitation among the remainder has been fueled by months of skepticism amplified by right-wing media personalities and Republican politicians, some of whom have only recently begun to recommend others get vaccinated. Studies show the vaccines have dramatically reduced severe and deadly COVID-19 cases among those vaccinated, but federal scientists are concerned that the increasing practice of not wearing masks inside has allowed the virus to spread, contributing to its mutation into new strains, including the delta variant that now makes up over 80% of new cases in the U.S. The delta variant of the virus continues to show “its willingness to outsmart us and be an opportunist,” Walensky said.

To address the slowing pace of vaccinations, the Biden Administration has rolled out expansive community outreach programs. It’s also turning to new requirements for the federal workforce. The Biden Administration decided Monday to require all health care workers in Veterans Administration facilities be vaccinated, and officials are looking at other vaccine requirements for federal workers and facilities. Other agencies are looking closely at whether to require federal workers to be vaccinated, White House officials said. Slavitt suggests that every employer, school and city should be thinking about requiring people to show they are vaccinated or have recently tested negative for COVID before opening up events. “The idea that there’s going to be a little bit of friction in your life if you are not willing to get vaccinated I think is part of what will help people think it through,” Slavitt says.

Federal scientists are concerned that if the virus continues to spread among unvaccinated Americans, a new mutation could emerge that could be deadly even to those already vaccinated. Wearing masks could help prevent that, they argue. “The big concern is that the next variant that might emerge, just a few mutations potentially away, could potentially invade our vaccine,” Walensky said.

On Friday, White House officials convened a meeting that included national security officials, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security, to discuss whether to reopen the U.S. to European travelers. Given the increase in infections, officials decided to keep COVID-19 travel barriers for Europe in place, a blow to American tourism and airline businesses. In addition, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is still in the process of giving full approval to the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, a step that some hope would help allay concerns among those still hesitant to get the shots. Those vaccines are currently being administered under the FDA’s emergency use authorizations.

Without more Americans being vaccinated or continuing to wear masks, there could be more tough times ahead for Biden and for the country. “All the smug pronouncements have come smack dab into reality,” says Joe Grogan, who served as former President Donald Trump’s domestic policy advisor when the pandemic began spreading rapidly on U.S. shores last year. “The Biden Administration is finding out this is not easy.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

L Taraval Improvement Project Update

L Taraval Improvement Project Update By Sevilla Mann Roundtable at the Community Parklet Shares Project Updates  This past week, the SFMTA hosted a media roundtable discussing updates about the L Taraval Improvement Project at the community parklet located in front of the The Rolling Out Café  on Taraval St.   Segment B construction began in February 2022 and is scheduled to be completed Fall 2024. Sewer and water infrastructure work is currently taking place. Future work includes track work, overhead line work, the construction of new boarding islands and streetscape improvements.    On hand to answer questions and provide updates was District Four Supervisor Gordon Mar, SFMTA Board Director Sharon Lai and Director of Transportation Jefferey Tumlin.   The Roundtable  Supervisor Mar opened the discussion by highlighting the many benefits that the local community will receive with the planned infrastructure upgrades along the corridor. These benefits include:   Replacing sew

FOX NEWS: Cincinnati zoo renames sloth habitat after late 1-year-old who loved sloths The sloth habitat at Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo will be named after a toddler who recently passed away.

Cincinnati zoo renames sloth habitat after late 1-year-old who loved sloths The sloth habitat at Ohio's Cincinnati Zoo will be named after a toddler who recently passed away. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3DLAshi

IPL 2020 | KKR, SRH search for first win to get off the mark https://ift.tt/333a9nc

Having suffered defeats in their opening games, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will lock horns on Saturday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. While Kolkata faced a tough 49-run loss to defending champions Mumbai Indians, the Sunrisers suffered a monumental batting collapse against Royal Challengers Bangalore, losing the game by 10 runs.

FOX NEWS: Decadent double chocolate mint cookies for National Chocolate Day National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28th calls for a serious dose of chocolate.

Decadent double chocolate mint cookies for National Chocolate Day National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28th calls for a serious dose of chocolate. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3nEJxSB

Muni’s Equity Toolkit Helps Essential Employees Get to Work

Muni’s Equity Toolkit Helps Essential Employees Get to Work By Mariana Maguire The latest data from SFMTA’s new  Equity Toolkit  shows that Muni service changes are helping people in neighborhoods identified by our  Muni Service Equity Strategy  access more jobs and support the city’s recovery.   In winter 2020, we launched the  SFMTA Equity Toolkit  to understand how service decisions are affecting neighborhoods where there is likely a high prevalence of essential workers who rely predominantly on Muni to get to their essential jobs. Our goal is to make better service decisions based on the trends and impacts we see in the Equity Toolkit.   Recently, the greatest increases in access to jobs via Muni have been in Hunters Point and Western Addition. The Hunters Point neighborhood saw the largest gains from the addition of the  15 Bayview-Hunters Point Express , as demonstrated in the table below. Thanks to the return of key Muni lines and increased frequencies on connector routes, I

Powered Scooters Charge City’s Transportation Recovery

Powered Scooters Charge City’s Transportation Recovery By Jason Hyde The SFMTA is releasing its next round of Powered Scooter Share permits on July 1. Scooters remain a sustainable mode of travel and a complement to Muni and public transit service as the city recovers from the pandemic and San Franciscans begin to travel more. The SFMTA’s Powered Scooter Share Program is essential in ensuring that shared scooter operations support the city’s economic recovery in a safe, sustainable, and equitable way.  The SFMTA received four submittals for the permit program and will issue permits to two operators : Spin and Lime. Permits will be in effect for a one-year term, with the option to extend for another year at the discretion of the SFMTA based on compliance with various program metrics. While the new permit program does not set a limit on the number of scooters each operator may deploy, it does limit the overall citywide fleet size at 10,000. Starting at a base of 2,000 scooters per

New top story from Time: 3 Killed in Northern California as Wildfires Force Thousands to Evacuate

https://ift.tt/34at2Uy (SAN FRANCISCO) — Northern California’s wine country was on fire again Monday as strong winds fanned flames in the already scorched region, destroying homes and prompting orders for nearly 70,000 people to evacuated. Meanwhile, three people died in a separate fire further north in the state. In Sonoma County, residents of the Oakmont Gardens senior living facility in Santa Rosa boarded brightly lit city buses in the darkness overnight, some wearing bathrobes and using walkers. They wore masks to protect against the coronavirus as orange flames marked the dark sky. The fire threat forced Adventist Health St. Helena hospital to suspend care and transfer all patients elsewhere. The fires that began Sunday in the famed Napa-Sonoma wine country about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of San Francisco came as the region nears the third anniversary of deadly wildfires that erupted in 2017, including one that killed 22 people. Just a month ago, many of those

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets By Julia Malmo   As a whole, Slow Streets are safer than they were before being designated Slow Streets  Streets that are part of the SFMTA’s  Slow Streets Program have become measurably safer since the program began in 2020, with the number of traffic crashes falling by almost half. On average, these corridors have seen a 48% drop in collisions following their designation as Slow Streets, compared with a 14% drop in collisions citywide over the same period. Slow Streets also are more welcoming for people who walk, bike and roll. Fewer than 1,000 vehicles per day use all but four of the current Slow Streets (20th Street, Minnesota Street, Noe Street, and Page Street).  The goal of the program is to create safe, shared streets that are comfortable and enjoyable for people of all ages and abilities, using any mode of transportation. We now can see how it’s doing in a new evaluation report . When the SFMTA Board appr

New top story from Time: How History Is Repeating Itself for Haitian Migrants Trying to Enter the U.S.

https://ift.tt/3upRk9U In the past 11 years alone, Haitians have suffered natural disasters, rising gang violence, outbreaks of cholera and COVID-19, and political instability, including the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse . The crises left many in the hemisphere’s poorest nation feeling they had no option but to leave—despite the difficulties they face in fleeing to other countries. In late September, Americans were confronted with the reality of those difficulties too. An estimated 15,000 people arrived in Del Rio, Texas, during the month, below a bridge connecting the city to Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña. A majority were Haitian nationals, migrants and asylum seekers who ended up living in tents or under tarps, in conditions similar to those in other camps that have formed along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Read more: Caught Between U.S. Policies and Instability at Home, Haitian Migrants in Tijuana Are in a State of L

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J कोरोना सकंट में TV सीरियल की शूटिंग शूरू, मास्क लगाकर पहुंचे स्टार्स- निया, पार्थ से लेकर रश्मि-PICS

कोरोना वायरस के चलते जारी लॉकडाउन में टीवी व फिल्मों की शूटिंग बंद थी। कोरोना के खतरे को देखते हुए तमाम सीरियल की शूटिंग रोक दी गई तो वहीं फिल्मों को रिलीज अटक गई। एंटरटेंमेंट इंडस्ट्री को कोरोना के चलते करोड़ों from टेलीविजन की खबरें | Television News in Hindi | TV Serials Update in Hindi – FilmiBeat Hindi http:/hindi.filmibeat.com/television/tv-shooting-starts-kasauti-zindagi-kay-naagin-nia-sharma-parth-samthaan-rashmi-desai-pics-090604.html?utm_source=/rss/filmibeat-hindi-television-fb.xml&utm_medium=23.11.231.156&utm_campaign=client-rss