Coronavirus

Posted today to Franklin Graham’s Facebook page: Because Samaritan’s Purse has been involved in responding to the coronavirus pandemic here in the U.S. and overseas, I receive a lot of questions about the vaccine. Whether or not to take the vaccine is a personal decision. I encourage people to do their research, to pray about it, and to make the …

Yahoo News reports: President Biden doesn’t believe the U.S. will see any new lockdowns in the coming months, even as he warned about the new Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is much more transmissible than other versions of the pathogen. “Where people have gotten the two shots, the Delta variant is highly unlikely to result in anything,” the president …

Politico reports: State efforts to juice Covid-19 vaccination rates through million-dollar lotteries haven’t reversed the steep decline in adults seeking out shots when many pockets of the country remain vulnerable to the coronavirus. While Ohio did see a two-week bump in adult vaccination rates last month after becoming the first state to offer sizable cash prizes, the pace of vaccinations …

Reuters reports: The Kremlin on Friday blamed a surge in COVID-19 cases on reluctance to have vaccinations and “nihilism” after a record 9,056 new infections in Moscow, mostly with the new Delta variant, fanned fears of a third wave. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin extended restrictions he had imposed this month, which include a ban on events with more than 1,000 …

The New York Times reports: The Portuguese authorities ordered a weekend lockdown of the capital region of Lisbon starting on Friday in an attempt to blunt a recent surge of new infections, offering a powerful reminder that even as Europe seeks to reopen more fully, the virus still poses challenges. The decision came after Portugal registered this week its highest …

The New York Daily News reports: A double lung transplant later, a 43-year-old Texas man who didn’t think he needed a COVID vaccination is now hoping others like him will get inoculated so they, too, don’t learn the hard way that the pandemic that has killed 600,000 Americans is serious. “If I knew what I know now, I would have …

Fox News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s Clemency Board granted pardons today for Floridians with lingering fines issued for violating mask mandates implemented by local governments. “This action is necessary so that we can recover, have a good transition to normal operations, and also just a recognition that a lot of this stuff was way, way overboard,” …

Roll Call reports: Republican senators are expressing mounting impatience with the federal mask mandate for travelers, arguing that the lifting of restrictions in most public places should extend to airplanes, rail and transit. In a markup of rail and safety legislation today, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee rejected along party lines an amendment introduced by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., …

The New York Times reports: The U.S. government spent more than $18 billion last year funding drugmakers to make a Covid vaccine, an effort that lead to at least five highly effective shots in record time. Now it’s pouring more than $3 billion on a neglected area of research: developing pills to fight the virus early in the course of …

USA Today reports: Royal Caribbean International is postponing the inaugural sailings of its newest cruise ship after eight crew members received positive coronavirus test results during routine testing. The Odyssey of the Seas’ initial sailings, which the cruise line had laid out as six- and eight-night Southern and Western Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from July 3 to July …

The New York Daily News reports: New York reached a major pandemic milestone Tuesday as Gov. Cuomo announced that 70% of adults in the state have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine. To honor the occasion, landmarks will be lit up in blue and gold and fireworks displays will be held across the state as the majority of …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The number of confirmed U.S. deaths from Covid-19 surpassed 600,000 on Tuesday. The milestone follows a significant slowdown in all Covid-19 metrics after a winter surge that reached every corner of the country and strained healthcare systems. Since the rollout of highly effective vaccines, deaths have plummeted, recently reaching their lowest point since March 2020. …

The Honolulu Civil Beat reports: The Honolulu Police Department used $150,045 in federal funds intended to respond to the pandemic to acquire a robot dog named Spot, according to city spending data. As for its use helping Honolulu combat COVID-19, the city’s spending data says Spot was purchased to take people’s temperatures at HPD’s tent city for homeless people. In …

Reuters reports: COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca offer high protection of more than 90% against hospitalisation from the Delta coronavirus variant, a new analysis by Public Health England (PHE) showed on Monday. PHE said that the Pfizer/Biontech COVID-19 vaccine was 96% effective against hospitalisation from the Delta variant after two doses, while Oxford/AstraZeneca’s offered 92% protection against hospitalisation …

The New York Daily News reports: The men and women who saved lives and kept the city going through the darkest days of the pandemic will be honored with a parade down New York City’s “Canyon of Heroes” on July 7, Mayor de Blasio announced Monday. Healthcare workers, first responders and all kinds of essential workers will get the hero …

The Daily Beast reports: The computational biologists at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle crunched COVID-19 stats from all over the world, charted the trends and concluded that as many as 9.7 million people could die by late September. If the trend line continues, COVID-19 could kill 20 million by 2023, according to IHME’s model. The …

The Wall Street Journal reports: An experimental Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax was 90.4% effective at preventing symptomatic disease in adults in a large clinical trial, the company said, results that move the shot a step closer to global use. The 29,960-person study conducted in the U.S. and Mexico also found that the vaccine was similarly effective against newer coronavirus strains, …

The BBC reports: Most coronavirus rules will remain in place in England for another four weeks after the planned 21 June unlocking, government sources have told the BBC. Senior ministers have signed off on the decision to delay the lifting of all legal restrictions on social contact. England was due to move to stage four of the government’s roadmap out …

The Globe And Mail reports: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday he has spoken with U.S. President Joe Biden about how to lift pandemic-related border restrictions between the two countries but made clear no breakthrough has been achieved. U.S. and Canadian business leaders have voiced increasing concern about the ban on non-essential travel in light of COVID-19 that was …

The Des Moines Register reports: A man convicted of following a man to a car and assaulting him after being told to raise the mask on his face in November was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday. Shane Wayne Michael, 42, of the Saylor Township was arrested and charged after the Nov. 11 assault at the Vision 4 Less …