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 With vaccines widely available, political leaders were combating the
latest surge in infections with shots and masks rather than ordering
businesses to close and Americans to stay home as they did last
year. (Graphic of U.S. cases) https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday
issued a new 60-day moratorium on residential evictions in areas
with high levels of COVID-19 cases, despite a Supreme Court ruling
in June suggesting that such a move would require Congress to pass
new legislation.
The U.S. government and several states, along with some hospitals
and universities, already require employees to get inoculated. Tyson
Foods on Tuesday became one of the largest private employers to
require workers to be immunized to combat the virus that has killed
over 600,000 in the country.
New York City's policy requires proof of at least one dose and will
be enforced starting Sept. 13. Like mask mandates and last year's
stay-at-home orders, the plan will likely meet stiff resistance.
In France, government imposition of a nationwide health passport
proving vaccination has touched off large protests, often dispersed
by police using tear gas.
Government vaccine passports are controversial among Americans as
well, especially conservatives.
"It is time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to
living a good and full and healthy life," de Blasio, a Democrat,
told a news conference.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is aiming to give full
approval for the Pfizer COVID vaccine by early September, the New
York Times reported on Tuesday, citing people involved in the
effort.
Roughly 60% of all New Yorkers have received at least one dose of
the COVID-19 vaccine, according to city data. But certain areas,
largely poor communities and communities of color, have much lower
vaccination rates.
The city's announcement comes as cases surge nationwide. Florida and
Louisiana have emerged as the latest hot spots, straining hospitals.
(Graphic on hospitalizations) https://tmsnrt.rs/37mnCry
Florida and Louisiana are both reporting record numbers of
hospitalized COVID patients, as one doctor warned of the "darkest
days" yet.
More than 11,300 patients were hospitalized in Florida as of
Tuesday, with COVID patients filling 22% of the state's hospital
beds, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services https://healthdata.gov/dataset/COVID-19-Reported-Patient-Impact-and-Hospital-Capa/6xf2-c3ie.
In highly vaccinated Vermont, 0.4% of its hospital beds are occupied
by coronavirus patients.
[to top of second column] |
 L.A. COUNTY SEES SURGE
Louisiana was also dealing with one of the worst
outbreaks in the nation, prompting Governor John
Bel Edwards, a Democrat, to order residents to
wear masks again indoors.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Los Angeles County have nearly
quadrupled in the last four weeks to 1,096 on Monday, the department
of public health said. The percentage of tests coming back positive
for the virus also climbed to 6.2%, up from 1.3% a month ago,
according to department data.
To fight the spread in California, political leaders in eight San
Francisco Bay Area counties this week reinstated mandatory indoor
mask orders. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, late last month
mandated all state employees to get vaccinated starting Aug. 2 or
undergo COVID-19 testing at least once a week.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has taken the opposite
stance. He issued an executive order last week barring schools from
requiring face coverings, saying parents should make that decision
for their children.
The Sunshine State claimed another grim record with the highest
number of pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations -- 138 as of Tuesday,
more than those recorded in Texas despite its larger population.
DeSantis defended the state's approach at a news conference on
Tuesday.
"We're not shutting down. We're going to have schools open. We're
protecting every Floridian's job in this state. We're protecting
people's small businesses," DeSantis said
In Arkansas, another state were hospitalizations for COVID-19 have
spiked, Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson said he will ask state
legislators on Wednesday to provide an exception to a law that
prohibits state and local governments, including school boards, from
mandating masks.
The private sector, including many large U.S. companies, have also
taken some steps in response to the Delta variant threat.
Detroit's Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers (UAW)
union said on Tuesday they will reinstate requirements to wear masks
at all U.S. plants, offices and warehouses beginning on Wednesday
but are not requiring workers to be vaccinated.
Big Tech companies like Alphabet's Google and Facebook have said all
U.S. employees must get vaccinated to step into offices.
(Reporting by Maria Caspani and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker and Stephen Coates)
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