Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 821st day of the pandemic.
In news we cover today, New York City tells residents to wear face masks indoors and out, Beijing drops plans for vaccine passport, and some Big Apple residents don’t like the city’s outdoor dining program if it’s in front of their building.
Here’s a look at what has taken place over the past 24 hours.
UNITED STATES
New York City is telling its residents to mask up indoors as well as when outside in crowded areas.
“We’re currently seeing high levels of COVID-19 in NYC. To help slow the spread, all New Yorkers should wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94 in all public indoor settings and around crowds outside,” the city’s Department of Health said in a tweet.
Also in New York, the Open Streets program that has allowed most restaurants to operate extensions of their establishments in what were once parking spots is coming under scrutiny as residents of the Osborne, an 11-story apartment building on Billionaires Row in Midtown Manhattan, are taking issue with the seating setup of at least two restaurants as well as signage used by other retail tenants.
The Big Apple’s Open Streets program allowed restaurants to offer sidewalk and on-street seating, the latter in sidewalk sheds, in order to help restaurants, survive in the earliest days of the pandemic starting in mid-2020. But the building’s management says that the diner’s as well as P.J. Carney’s outdoor seating have turned the building into an eyesore. Ultimately, the case will likely be decided in court.
GLOBAL
Hong Kong officials proposed a closed-loop arrangement to China that would permit the reopening of the border between the two. The closed-loop plan would permit residents to complete their mandatory quarantine period locally before traveling north according to Secretary for Health Lo Chung-man. The news comes as the special administrative region formally governed by Great Britain logged over 2,945 new daily cases.
Meanwhile, officials in China changed the number of days that a mandatory mobile travel app would display to seven from 14. The app is used to scrutinize citizens’ travel histories and is likely to give a boost to tourism.
Finally, Chinese officials appear to have backed away from a plan to enact a coronavirus vaccine mandate and require proof of vaccination in order to enter most public venues including museums and theaters. The change in heart comes after pushback from local residents.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Saturday, July 9.
As of Saturday morning, the world has recorded 560 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 1.1 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, 532.9 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.6 million.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Saturday is 20,662,502, an increase of 477,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 20,624,703, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 37,799, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical is unchanged over the pat 24 hours.
The United States reported 167,904 new coronavirus infections on Saturday for the previous day, compared to 124,631 on Friday, 234,228 on Thursday, 180,870 on Wednesday, and 35,662 on Tuesday, 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 109,872. 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 108,414, an 3% 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 322, a decrease of 8% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 36,300, a 17% increase.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Saturday, recorded 90.3 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.05 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 43.6 million, and a reported death toll of 525,386.
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, 673,400, and has recorded over 32.8 million cases.
France continues to occupy the number four position in total cases with 32.1 million cases, and Germany is in the number five slot with 29 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 Saturday, over 260.3 million people in the United States – or 78.4% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 67%, or 222.5 million 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, 89.7% of the population over the age of 18 – or 231.7 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 76.7% of the same group – or 198.6 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 51.2% of that population, or 101.7 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 Saturdays 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 Saturday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 12.14 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 5.54 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.
Paul Riegler contributed to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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