On board the Celebrity Summit, where hopefully all are vaccinated
Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 819th day of the pandemic.
On December 14, 2020, Sandra Lindsay, the director of critical care nursing at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, became the first person in the United States to be inoculated against Covid.
The photo of her seated at the hospital receiving the first dose of vaccine became a symbol, an indication of light at the end of the tunnel after the first year of the pandemic had wrought such death and destruction in its wake.
She became a tireless advocate for inoculation against the novel coronavirus and will be one of 17 recipients to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom this week by President Joseph Biden.
In other news we cover, Beijing introduced a vaccine passport, Hong Kong to loosen travel restrictions, and Norwegian Cruise Lines will drop the requirement to show proof of vaccination, but not in the United States.
Here’s a look at what has taken place over the past 24 hours.
GLOBAL
Officials in Beijing introduced new vaccine requirements and a vaccine passport required to enter public venues including libraries and museums. The move comes as the government there is encouraging older people to get vaccinated against Covid.
On the heels of placing the Grand Lisboa, one of the city’s renowned hotels, under lockdown, authorities in Macau shuttered a popular shopping mall adjacent to MGM China’s casino resort on the city’s main peninsula after several coronavirus infections were found there.
Cyprus reinstated an indoor mask mandate. The move goes into effect on Friday and is for all public indoor settings.
The country’s 7-day incidence rose from 253 at the end of May to its current figure, 1554. The current positivity rate in Covid tests is now 13%.
Finally, health officials in Bangladesh reported a significant jump in new Covid cases. The news comes just ahead of Eid celebrations.
TRAVEL
Hong Kong, now under its new CEO, John Lee, announced it would suspend its flight ban policy to ease travel. Other pandemic restrictions including the long quarantine period will, however, remain in effect.
The virus is spreading rapidly in what is considered the world’s biggest gambling hub, officials there said, after months of almost no new reported infections.
Norwegian Cruise Line ended its requirement for passengers to show proof of a negative coronavirus vaccine before boarding, except in countries that require it. The list of countries that continue to require such proof include the United States, Canada, Greece, and Bermuda.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Thursday, July 7.
As of Thursday morning, the world has recorded 557.8 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 1.2 million new cases in the preceding 24 hour period, and 6.37 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 531.7 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.8million.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Thursday is 19,790,475, an increase of 506,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 19,752,867, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 37,608, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical is unchanged over the pat 24 hours.
The United States reported 234,228 new coronavirus infections on Thursday for the previous day, compared to 180,870 on Wednesday, 35,662 on Tuesday, 10,402 on Monday, 8,516 on Sunday, and 151,929 on Saturday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 7-day incidence rate continues to be over 100,000 and is now 106,477. Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.
The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 107,879, an 11% increase, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources. The average daily death toll over the same period is 323, an increase of 8% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 34,731, a 13% increase.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Thursday, recorded 89.9 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.04 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 43.6 million, and a reported death toll of 525,305.
New data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed at the end of May that the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 812,890, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, after the United States. Rosstat reported that 11,583 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in April, down from 35,584 in March and from 43,543 in February.
Meanwhile, Brazil now has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 672,829, and has recorded 32.7 million cases.
France continues to occupy the number four position in total cases with 31.8 million cases, and Germany is in the number five slot with 28.8 million. The United Kingdom, with over 22.9 million cases, is now number six and is the only other country in the world with a total number of cases over the 20 million mark.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Thursday, over 259.9 million people in the United States – or 78.3% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 66.9%, or 222.9million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 596.2 million. Breaking this down further, 89.6% of the population over the age of 18 – or 231.5 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 76.8% of the same group – or 198.5 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 51.1% of that population, or 101.5 million people, has already received a third, or booster, dose of vaccine.
Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish it on Thursdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Over 66.7% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Thursday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 12.13 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 5.51 million doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 20.2% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain in the single digits, if not lower.
In addition, North Korea and Eritrea are now the only two countries in the world that have not administered vaccines.
Anna Breuer contributed to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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