COVID-19 killed more than 420,000 Americans in one year and infections continued to increase, despite the introduction of a pair of vaccines in late 2020. USA TODAY is following the news. Keep updating this page for the latest updates. Subscribe to our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox, join our Facebook group or go through our detailed answers to readers’ questions.
California health officials suspended regional requests for home care across the state on Monday, citing a decline in the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 and patients in intensive care units.
The home stay application included most of the state’s counties, including the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. The move will allow restaurants to resume outdoor dining in many areas, although local authorities may choose to maintain stricter rules. The state is also suspending the curfew from 10 pm to 5 am.
The restrictions have sparked furious protests from many small business owners. California will now return to its four-tier, county-by-county color-coding system, state health officials announced. The state is also considering extending eviction protections until the end of June because of the pandemic.
“Together, we changed our activities knowing that our short-term sacrifices would lead to long-term gains,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health and state public health officer.
– Amanda Ulrich and Julie Makinen, Palm Springs Desert Sun
In the headlines:
►The first case of the highly contagious coronavirus variant initially discovered in Brazil was detected in the United States. Minnesota officials said on Monday that a state resident who recently traveled to Brazil was confirmed to have contracted this strain.
►World Health Organization officials said on Monday that they do not believe that Olympic athletes should have priority access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially if it means reducing the world’s health workers and the elderly population.
► President Joe Biden on Monday reinstated the ban on travel from South Africa to the USA for most non-American citizens, in addition to travel restrictions from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 European countries.
►With the support of eight Arizona mayors, the baseball Cactus League is pushing for the postponement of spring training to be postponed. The MLB has endorsed a one-month delay until mid-March, but the players’ union is opposed.
►Merck left the COVID-19 vaccine race, citing “inferior” immune responses. This is proof that security systems are working, experts say.
📈 Today’s numbers: The United States has more than 25.2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 420,800 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: More than 99.6 million cases and 2.1 million deaths.
📘 What we’re reading: President Joe Biden is trying to redefine the nation’s inconsistent coronavirus testing efforts with a $ 50 billion plan and more federal oversight. Read more here.
Joe Biden’s new goal: 1.5 million vaccines per day
President Joe Biden is raising expectations for his government’s vaccination program, which initially aimed to provide 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days in office. On Monday, Biden said the daily average of 1 million doses is still the minimum target, but that 50% more may be feasible.
“I hope that we can increase as we go, so that we will reach 1.5 million,” said Biden.
Biden signaled his growing optimism in the pace of vaccinations after signing an executive order to increase government purchases from American manufacturers. The original goal of 100 million doses seemed ambitious when the vaccine’s launch started off slowly in December, but the US surpassed the pace of 1 million doses per day in the past week, which led to requests for the Biden administration to fire. more, the pandemic continues to spread.
Modern: Vaccine as effective vs. UK variant, minus vs. South African strain
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine protects against two variants of the coronavirus that emerged in Britain and South Africa, although not as strongly against the second, according to a company study.
The biotechnology company said in a statement released on Monday that its vaccine produced an immune response to “all of the major emerging variants tested” and no significant reduction in neutralizing antibodies against the variant initially identified in the UK, which the CDC said it may become the dominant strain in the US in March.
The immune response to the South African variant showed a six-fold decrease in neutralizing antibodies, which Moderna said was still “above the levels expected to be protective”.
However, the company is developing a booster dose that can combat the South African variant and future emerging ones.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease specialist in the United States, called the South African variant “different and more threatening than that of the United Kingdom”.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
The COVID-19 test requirement to fly to the US goes into effect on Tuesday
As of Tuesday, travelers flying to the US from foreign countries must provide proof of a recent coronavirus test with a negative result.
The new rule has already impacted the travel industry, leading to a wave of cancellations and a drop in reservations for Mexican beach resorts.
Here are seven things you need to know about the test requirements.
– Dawn Gilbert
CDC: NFL study finds transmission without 15 minutes of close contact
A study of NFL players found that transmission of the coronavirus is still possible, even if the exposure does not exceed 15 minutes in total on six feet, according to a report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study, published on Monday in the Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, followed 20 players from October 15 to November 21 who were identified as high-risk contacts for a COVID-19 patient. The researchers determined by means of contact tracking that seven of them “had no interactions exceeding 15 cumulative minutes per day at (six feet).”
The results question the CDC’s guidelines on community exposure, which defines how to have close contact with an individual who is confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19. According to the agency, close contact is defined as within six feet for a total of 15 minutes or more. The CDC also noted that the majority of cases came from exposure from the community and not from the countryside or other work-related environments.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
Google provides vaccination locations and improves online searches
Google said it would open facilities selected for use as vaccination sites and reinforce the search results to provide better information on where to find a vaccine for COVID-19.
In a blog post on Monday, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, said the company will partner with a medical provider and public health officials to open sites in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Kirkland, Washington, near Seattle. The company plans to expand the initiative nationwide.
“Getting vaccines to billions of people will not be easy, but it is one of the most important problems that we will solve in our lives,” Pichai said in his post. “Google will continue to support in any way we can.”
Japan fighting for ‘herd immunity’ as the Tokyo Olympics approach
Japan’s vaccination effort falls short and could put the Tokyo Olympics at risk, at least one expert warns.
Japan is unlikely to achieve collective immunity from COVID-19 through mass inoculations until months after the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to start on July 23, Rasmus Bech Hansen, founder of British research firm Airfinity, told Reuters .
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to have enough vaccines for the population by mid-2021. Hansen, however, said that Japan will not achieve a 75% inoculation rate, a benchmark for herd immunity, until around October.
“Japan seems to be well behind in the game,” said Hansen. “They depend on the import of many (vaccines) from the United States and, at the moment, it does not seem very likely that they will get large quantities.”
In rural Pennsylvania, COVID-19 is leaving a tragic mark
The pandemic has not bypassed rural America and is not going away.
In the city of Beaver, Pennsylvania, 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, vaccines are almost impossible to obtain. Heritage Valley Beaver nurses had to open a second COVID-19 unit to treat all critically ill patients. The community health system recently treated 115 patients simultaneously with COVID-19.
“The struggle to just breathe. It feels like a small thing, you just keep breathing, it’s not a small thing,” said Rebecca Register, 40, of Beaver, a seven-year veteran nurse who works at the COVID-19 unit. “Watching someone struggling with it, and they are getting the most oxygen I can give at any given moment and it’s tearing your heart out.” Read more here.
– Daveen Rae Kurutz, Beaver County Times
2 out of 5 Americans live where the strains of COVID-19, hospital ICUs
Striving to deal with a record number of patients with COVID-19, hundreds of intensive care units across the country are running out of space and supplies and competing to hire temporary nurses at increasing prices. Many of the facilities are grouped in the South and West regions.
An Associated Press analysis of federal hospital data shows that since November, the proportion of US hospitals approaching the breaking point has doubled. More than 40% of Americans now live in areas that are running out of ICU space and only 15% of beds are still available.
Intensive care units are the ultimate defense for the sickest, patients who are almost suffocating or experiencing organ failure. Nurses who work in the most stressed ICUs, exchanging intravenous bags and monitoring patients on respiratory devices, are exhausted.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: COVID Update: Biden seeks 1.5 million vaccines daily; Brazil variant