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“It is dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant, or that we are in the endgame,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at an executive board meeting. “On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”
The remarks come as some countries have relaxed their restrictions and after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said last week that the omicron variant has yet to peak in the nation. About 62 percent of the world has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to a New York Times data tracker.
The World Health Organization’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, has also expressed optimism for Europe, telling Agence France-Presse that “it’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame.”
Here’s what to know
How to use Biden’s free coronavirus tests on your next trip
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Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Postal Service began the Biden administration’s program to distribute 500 million rapid coronavirus tests free of charge. While the initiative is intended to curb the spread of the omicron variant and alleviate test shortages, travelers may be wondering how useful the at-home kits will be for upcoming trips.
Self-tests that can be bought over the counter (OTC) and taken without a proctor are not accepted by most governments that require travelers to present a negative result. But, even if the federally funded antigen tests don’t meet that standard, they can still prove useful before, during or after a trip.
A vaccine scientist’s discredited claims have bolstered a movement of misinformation
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As Robert Malone stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before thousands of anti-vaccine and anti-mandate demonstrators Sunday, the medical doctor and infectious-disease researcher repeated the falsities that have garnered him legions of followers.
“Regarding the genetic covid vaccines, the science is settled,” he said in a 15-minute speech that referenced the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. “They are not working.”
The misinformation came two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its first studies based on real-world data showing that coronavirus vaccines provide strong protection against hospitalization from the rapidly spreading omicron variant.
Malone, who said the coronavirus “should never have been politicized,” was met with roaring applause.
New York judge says state’s mask mandate for public spaces is unconstitutional
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A New York State Supreme Court judge on Monday ruled that the state’s mask mandate, implemented in December, is unconstitutional.
The mandate, which required masks in public spaces, violates the state Administrative Procedure Act, rendering it unlawful and void, Nassau County Justice Thomas Rademacher wrote.
It was enacted by New York Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett at the behest of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), but such decisions should be taken to the state’s legislature for consideration, according to the ruling, obtained by News10ABC.
“While the intentions of Commissioner Bassett and Gov. Hochul appear to be well aimed squarely at doing what they believe is right to protect the citizens of New York State, they must take their case to the State Legislature,” the judge wrote.
Hochul said she disagreed with the ruling in a statement.
“My responsibility as Governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of covid-19 and save lives,” she said. “We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.”
Covid patient dies at a hospital weeks after his wife sued another to keep him on a ventilator
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Scott Quiner, a Minnesota man whose wife sued over a hospital’s plan to take him off a ventilator months after he was diagnosed with covid-19, died Saturday. He was 55.
Quiner died at the Houston hospital where he was flown for care during the legal battle, according to Marjorie Holsten, an attorney for the family. He remained on a ventilator at the time, Holsten said, but she declined to identify the facility or provide additional details on the circumstances of his death.
The family’s ordeal drew national attention this month as surging coronavirus cases overwhelmed hospitals across the United States. A GoFundMe in support of Quiner garnered tens of thousands of dollars in donations, and his wife told their story in media appearances.
Cases in D.C. fall sharply as Fauci says U.S. outbreak ‘going in the right direction’
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The rate of new coronavirus cases in the United States is “going in the right direction," Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, said on Sunday, as cases along the East Coast fall sharply.
Pointing to other countries that have already experienced sharp drops in cases after facing a flood of infections due to the omicron variant, Fauci, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” said “things are looking good." Still, he cautioned that the virus “has certainly surprised us in the past,” and that the South and West will lag in declines, as their outbreaks started later than in the East.
New coronavirus cases have fallen 12 percent in the United States in the past week, based on a 7-day average, according to a Washington Post tracker. Declines have been even sharper in Washington, D.C. — where the decline is the steepest in the country with new cases falling by 55 percent on a weekly average — New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Covid-19 hospitalizations, which lag slightly behind increases in cases, are also starting to fall, while covid-19 deaths, which lag days to weeks behind outbreaks, are still increasing nationally.
Fauci said he was hopeful that in “the next weeks to month or so" the country would see a low enough level of contagion that the coronavirus would be “essentially integrated into the general respiratory infections that we have learned to live with,” allowing society to carry on somewhat normally. The World Health Organization’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, has expressed similar optimism for Europe, telling the Agence France-Presse that “it’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame.”
Maui changes definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ to include booster shot
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The island of Maui now requires those who are eligible to get a booster shot to be considered fully vaccinated.
Under the new public health emergency rules, which went into effect Monday, proof of full vaccination or a negative coronavirus test must be shown for admission to indoor restaurants, bars and gyms. To qualify as fully vaccinated, a patron has to have gotten a booster upon eligibility. The rule does not apply to those under 18.
“Science says that after the second shot of Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations or the single Johnson and Johnson shot vaccinations weaken after about six months,” Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino said in a news release announcing the measure. “This rule change recognizes that.”
Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending booster shots, some have questioned whether the meaning of fully vaccinated would expand to include an additional dose. The CDC has not changed its guidance and still considers a person fully vaccinated two weeks after a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or two weeks after a Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
But booster requirements have popped up in certain settings in the United States, including workplaces and higher education institutions. The NFL said last month it would require coaches and some staff to receive the additional dose. And those eligible for booster shots are required to get them for entry to the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Maui’s booster rule was initially set to take effect Jan. 8. Victorino postponed implementation to allow adolescents time to get the shot after the CDC recommended it for 12-to-17 year olds.
About 40 percent of vaccinated Americans have received a booster shot, according to Washington Post tracking.
Trudeau defends vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers as protest convoy heads to Ottawa
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TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers on Monday, saying the best way to assure the “resilience” of Canada’s economy is vaccination, and accused Conservative lawmakers of needlessly raising fears about a possible supply chain crisis.
Canada and the United States announced in November that they would require truck drivers to be fully vaccinated to enter their respective countries. The vast majority of goods traded by the neighbors travel by road. The U.S. measures went into effect on Saturday, while Canada’s kicked in Jan. 15.
Business groups and some lawmakers in both countries have complained that the mandates could stress an already short-staffed trucking industry and weigh on strained supply chains, leading to food shortages and increasing inflation, which is already at levels not seen in decades. Some drivers were en route to Ottawa to protest the measures.
“I regret that the Conservative Party and Conservative politicians are in the process of stoking Canadians’ fears about the supply chain,” Trudeau said in French at a news conference. “The reality is that vaccination is how we’ll get through this.”
He added that about 90 percent of truck drivers in Canada are fully vaccinated.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said on Twitter that he and several U.S. governors planned to write a letter to President Biden and Trudeau “urging them to use common sense” and to end a policy “that has taken thousands of trucks off the road.” He posted photos of empty supermarket shelves.
Boris Johnson ‘birthday bash’ added to list of alleged lockdown parties
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LONDON — A British broadcaster on Monday reported that yet another alleged “bash” occurred at 10 Downing Street during strict lockdown, this one to celebrate Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s birthday in June 2020, at a time when rules designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus forbid indoor social gatherings.
ITV News also said that on the evening of the same day, June 19, 2020, Johnson hosted family and friends upstairs in the prime minister’s residence, another breach of the government’s own orders.
The allegations come as Johnson awaits an investigative report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into a string of allegations about garden parties, “bring your own booze” fetes and basement “blowouts” at 10 Downing Street, which like the White House, serves as both office and residence for the country’s leader.
Supreme Court declines to hear McCarthy’s challenge to House proxy voting during pandemic
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The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s challenge to House proxy voting rules, which were proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The rules allow absentee voting procedures, meaning House members can cast votes remotely because of the ongoing pandemic.
The Supreme Court, as is typical, did not comment on why it declined to hear McCarthy’s case.
Key update
Key coronavirus updates from around the world
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Here’s what to know about the top coronavirus stories around the globe from news service reports.
- Norway will replace its mandatory quarantines for all unvaccinated travelers and close contacts of infected people with daily testing.
- Coronavirus restrictions will remain in Germany amid daily infection records. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the country’s 16 state governors said they would strategize on the use of the strained PCR test capacities.
- Travelers to Kosovo will face tighter coronavirus restrictions until Feb. 4. Two doses of the vaccine and a booster, or two doses and a negative coronavirus PCR test no older than 48 hours will be required to avoid a mandatory quarantine.
- Croatia’s conservative Most party is demanding a referendum on abolishing covid-19 certificates and submitted signatures of 410,533 people.
General in charge of Special Operations Command tests positive for the coronavirus
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Gen. Richard Clarke, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, has tested positive for the coronavirus, his command announced Monday.
The general “is working remotely and isolating himself from others after a positive coronavirus test yesterday,” Col. Curt Kellogg, U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman, said in a statement.
Clarke has been fully vaccinated and has received a booster shot, Kellogg said.
His symptoms are mild, and he is able to perform all of his duties remotely, Kellogg reported.
Clarke can be counted among several senior military officials who have tested positive for the virus.
Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tested positive for the coronavirus, along with commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. David Berger, last week.
This month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tested positive and performed many of his duties virtually.
Intel puts vaccine mandate on hold after court ruling
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Intel has put its vaccine mandate on hold after the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited the federal government from implementing rules that would have required companies with 100 or more employees to ensure their staffs were either immunized or subject to weekly testing for the coronavirus.
The Silicon Valley-based computer chip manufacturer had signaled its intent to put unvaccinated employees on leave starting in April. But it is reversing course following the high court’s decision Jan. 13.
“Due to recent court decisions, Intel recently shared with its employees that it currently is not subject to a vaccine mandate or weekly testing requirements for unvaccinated employees — and it is not requiring either for its employees at the moment,” an Intel spokeswoman said in an email. “We will continue to monitor federal and state mandates as the legal environment evolves, and we continue to encourage all employees to get vaccinated and boosted.”
Intel is the latest large corporation to cancel or delay a previously announced mandate. In late December, Boeing suspended its mandate for U.S.-based employees, according to Reuters. Starbucks backtracked on its mandate last week.
Intel, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., has large factories in Arizona and Oregon, as well as a substantial international presence touching Ireland and Israel. It recently announced plans to set up another hub in Ohio through a $20 billion investment there.
White House calls anti-vaccine activists a ‘loud’ and ‘dangerous’ minority
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday called anti-vaccine activists part of a “loud” and “still dangerous” minority, a day after thousands of them gathered in Washington to protest coronavirus vaccine mandates.
Using violent rhetoric, some of the marchers said prominent doctors and public health experts should be arrested and put on trial, and they blamed the news media for spreading “lies” about the pandemic, which has killed more than 800,000 people in the United States since early 2020.
“Our view is that it’s a loud and vocal minority, but still dangerous, still problematic,” Psaki said, noting that 87 percent, or the “vast majority,” of American adults — not all supporters of President Biden — have had at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine.
Psaki said social media and media platforms that carry disinformation about vaccines, as well as “politicians who espouse conspiracy theories and fundraise off of opposition to public health,” are harmful.
“It’s difficult and challenging, of course, to get more people vaccinated. We know that,” she said. “And, of course, efforts that are dangerous and wrong by groups like this are problematic.”
L.A. school district, the nation’s second-largest, requires students to upgrade from cloth masks
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Students in the nation’s second-largest school district will no longer be allowed to wear cloth masks, according to new guidance posted ahead of the school week.
Los Angeles Unified School District students are required to wear “well-fitting, non-cloth masks with a nose wire,” according to guidelines posted Friday on the district website. The site also notes that masks are required at all times — indoors and outdoors — and that all students and employees will be required to wear surgical-type or higher-quality masks.
The updated rules come as the latest wave of the pandemic, fueled by the omicron variant, has prompted renewed recommendations from public health experts and federal officials that people should wear more-protective face coverings, including N95 or KN95 masks.
Key update
Key update