The U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.
Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 839th day of the pandemic.
Scientists as well as much of the world have been pondering the origins of the novel coronavirus that has been at the center of the current pandemic since late 2019.
Noting the paucity of data and findings in this area, researchers from major institutions across the globe called for a much more rigorous enquiry into the pandemic’s origins.
Now we have two such studies.
Both papers, published Tuesday in the journal Science, say that the coronavirus that causes SARS-CoV-2 jumped to humans in a Wuhan wet market and, in fact, did so twice.
The virus was likely present in animals at the wet market in late 2019 and zoonosis occurred in two separate instances.
One of the researchers, Kristian Andersen, was originally convinced that the virus in humans resulted from a lab leak and had written a letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci expressing this concern earlier in the pandemic.
Another researcher, Michael Worobey, was one of 18 scientists who last year published an open letter in the same journal calling for a more rigorous investigation into whether the virus had in fact escaped from a laboratory.
The team of researchers, it should be noted, was comprised of 30 scientists from 20 institutions across the globe.
In other news we cover today, the pandemic is causing gridlock in Congress, President Biden tested negative after having had the virus, and Wuhan is in lockdown.
Here’s a look at what has taken place over the past 24 hours.
UNITED STATES
The pandemic is causing gridlock in Congress. At least five lawmakers have tested positive in recent days including Senators Lisa Murkowski of Arkansas and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Their absences will hold up key pieces of legislation including the CHIPS Act that is intended to ramp up U.S. semiconductor manufacturing as well as a bill to protect gay and inter-racial marriage.
New York-based drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have started a mid-stage study of a modified coronavirus vaccine that targets both the original version of the virus as well as the BA.2 omicron subvariant, the two companies said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, President Joseph Biden tested negative for Covid after having contracted the virus and suffering “mild symptoms.” The negative test ends his isolation period and he will wear a tight-fitting N95 mask for the next ten days when he is around other people.
GLOBAL
In a cruel twist of irony, the release of the new studies on the origins of the coronavirus at in Wuhan came just as the city locked down some one million residents, in Jiangxi, an outlying district. All public transit has been stopped and entertainment venues have been shuttered for at least three days.
Meanwhile, the average life expectancy in Germany fell during the first two years of the pandemic. It is down 0.4 years for women and 0.6 years for men. The drop is due to the high number of deaths due to the pandemic.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Wednesday, July 27.
As of Wednesday morning, the world has recorded 577.5 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 1.1 million cases, and 6.4 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 547.3 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 1.1 million.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Wednesday is 23,808,333, an increase of 55,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 23,766,584, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 41,739, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical is unchanged over the pat 24 hours.
The United States reported 163,367 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday for the previous day, compared to 167,463 on Tuesday, 21,500 on Monday, 24,251 on Sunday, and 165,180 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 128,753. 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 128,496, a 2% decrease, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources. The average daily death toll over the same period is 433, an increase of 10% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 43,333, a 12% increase.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Wednesday, recorded almost 92.5 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of over 1.05 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 43.9 million, and a reported death toll of 526,167.
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, 677,563, and has recorded almost 33.7 million cases.
France continues to occupy the number four position in total cases with over 33.5 million cases, and Germany is in the number five slot with 30.6 million.
The other two countries with total case figures over the 20,000 mark are currently United Kingdom, with 23.2 million cases, in sixth position, and Italy, with 208 million, in the number seven slot.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Wednesday, over 261.2 million people in the United States – or 78.7% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 67.2%, or 222.9 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 601.5 million. Breaking this down further, 89.9% of the population over the age of 18 – or 232.1 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 77% of the same group – or 198.9 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 51.4% of that population, or 102.3 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 Mondays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Over 66.9% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Wednesday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 12.31 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 6.17 million doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 19.7% 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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