The BMW i4 Electric Vehicle
Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 1,154th day of the pandemic as well as Lost Sock Day. My research uncovered only that Lost Sock Day in the multi-player game Vintage Penguin, but the holiday’s actual origin remains a mystery. .
To celebrate, the Snow Forts in Vintage Penguin had their flags replaced with socks for the occasion. Meanwhile, it might pay to listen to the á capella group The Bobs 1988 song, “Where Does the Wayward Footwear Go?” The song’s lyrics ask what happens to lost socks, making the suppositions that they go “To the bottom of the ocean? Or to China? Or to Cuba? Or Aruba?”
TUESDAY OP-ED
If you were working in the U.S. government on the novel coronavirus response team in early 2020, it’s possible you are one of the lucky ones who did really well in the market. Such officials made multiple seemingly well-timed trades before it was even termed a pandemic.
The Wall Street Journal reported that multiple officials including a deputy to Anthony Fauci, a physician-scientist and immunologist, and recently retired head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did so with exquisite timing.
The deputy at the NIAID reported 10 sales of mutual funds and stocks totaling between $157,000 and $480,000 that month, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Collectively, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services reported 60% more sales of stocks and funds in January 2020 than the average over the previous 12 months, the paper said. The trades were undertaken by just a handful of particularly active traders.
Despite the fact that government workers are forbidden to work on matters in which they have a significant financial stake. They are also forbidden – as are employees of public companies – from acting on non-public information and they are not supposed to take any official action that could create the appearance of a conflict of interest.
A conflict of interest occurs when an entity or individual could cloud or compromise his or its judgment and actions in the workplace. The U.S. federal government takes conflicts of interest so seriously that agencies that are branches of the government have strict regulations that prohibit employees and contractors from taking action or even assuming an official position where it would appear that the individual has a conflict of interest.
Since many agencies don’t have a complete picture of the scope of what every employee is working on at a given point in time, it’s up to that individual employee to ensure compliance. It’s worthy of note that most – but not all – federal agencies’ rules speak to what kinds of stocks their employees can trade, but are silent about when they can trade. In addition, there are no restrictions on investing in mutual funds, where the funds’ managers – not the investors – make the stock selections.
The paper said that ethics officials in the government certified that the employees identified in its report were in compliance with current rules, however the report shows where current rules fail to anticipate potential conflicts of interest such as those opportunities created by the start of what became the coronavirus pandemic.
In other news we cover today, Novavax reported a strong response in clinical trials to its combination SARS-CoV-2 and flu vaccine, the number of people coming to offices in New York City has stalled, and
UNITED STATES
New York City’s return-to-office, sometimes referred to as RTO, has effectively not only stalled but lost momentum. While more people went to an office on the island of Manhattan, which lies between two rivers, in the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period one year earlier, according to data released by the Real Estate Board of New York. There was as ten-point increase but RTO peaked in Q2 and Q3 of 2022 at 65% and fell to to 64% in the final quarter of the year. The figure for the first quarter of 2023 was just 61%.
Meanwhile, Title 42, the section of the Public Health Service Act of 1944 that allows the government to halt the entry of individuals and goods into the country in order to prevent the introduction of a communicable disease and whose use the Trump administration authorized in early 2020 under the public health emergency, thereby allowing the government to quickly deport illegal immigrants.
Finally, shares of drugmaker Novavax soared after the company unveiled promising new coronavirus vaccine data and a set of broad cost-cutting measures that includes making redundant 25% of its workforce.
The Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company said on Tuesday that its combination vaccine that targets both SARS-CoV-2 and the flu produced a strong immune response against both and was well-tolerated in a phase two trial. Novavax reported similar trial results on its stand-alone flu vaccine and new high-dose coronavirus jab.
The coronavirus vaccine is the pharmaceutical house’s sole product after 35 years in business.
ENTERTAINMENT
Walt Disney World in Orlando said it is ending with some of its coronavirus pandemic ticketing policies. Visitors who purchase a ticket to one of its four theme parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios – a will no longer have to make a reservation and select one of them. The change in police goes into effect on January 9, 2024.
OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS
The world’s first vaccine for RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Dubbed Arexvy – and presumably pronounced “R X V,” the vaccine was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and was approved to prevent lower respiratory disease from RSV in those over the age of 60.
Meanwhile, clean, pollution-free air reduces the development of asthma and it appears that electric vehicles are in fact resulting in cleaner air in some parts of California. A new study published in PLOS Climate analyzed the state’s EV rebate program and confirmed the reduction in air pollution, but noted that the benefits are only being seen in more affluent neighborhoods, not in poorer ones.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Tuesday, May 9.
As of Tuesday morning, the world has recorded over just under 688 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of over 0.2 million from the previous day, and 6.87 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 660.3 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of under 0.1 million from the previous day.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Tuesday at press time is 20,711,561, an increase of 26,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 20,672,551, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 39,010, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past five months.
The United States reported 77,212630 new cases in the period April 27 through May 3, a figure that is down 22% over the same period one week earlier, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll for the same period is 1,109, a figure that is down 11%. The average number of hospital admissions from Covid was 4,535 on May 8, a figure that is up 1% over the preceding 14 days. Finally, the test positivity rate is 5.4%, up 3% over the 14 days preceding April 28.
Starting on March 25, 2023, the Morning News Brief began to update case data as well as death tolls on a weekly basis.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Tuesday, recorded just under 106.8 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.16 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, just under 45 million, and a reported death toll of 531,707.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.4 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 701,833, has recorded 37.5 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are Japan, with 33.8 million cases, South Korea, with just under 31.3 million cases, placing it in the number seven slot, and Italy, with 25.8 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with over 24.5 million, and Russia, with 22.9 million.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of the past Thursday, 270.1 million people in the United States – or 81.4% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 69.5%, or 230.6 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 676 million. Breaking this down further, 92.2% of the population over the age of 18 – or 238.2 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 79.1% of the same group – or 204.3 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 20.3% of the same population, or 52.6 million people, has already received an updated or bivalent booster dose of vaccine, while 23.5 million people over the age of 65, or 42.9% of that population have also received the bivalent booster.
Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish the updated information on Thursdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Some 70% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Tuesday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.38 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 120,088 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 29.8% 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 at or below 10%.
In addition, with the start of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines.
Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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