Eleven workers at a Las Vegas hospital, only one of whom had not been vaccinated, tested positive for the Delta variant after going to a party in June. None of the 11 were asymptomatic, but none needed hospitalization. Driven by Delta, lagging vaccination rates, and 4th of July parties, US cases have doubled in the last three weeks. On June 23, the average number of cases per day was 11,300; on Monday, that average was 23,600.
Delta is behind the surges in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, currently the largest outbreak in the US. Chicago has started requiring unvaccinated travelers from Missouri or Arkansas to quarantine for 10 days or submit a negative test result. Springfield, Missouri is cancelling this year's Birthplace of Route 66 festival, originally scheduled for August 13-14. The festival features music, car shows, and other exhibitions. In 2019, some 65,000 people attended; it was predicted that 75,000 would be coming this year. As you might imagine, last year's festival was cancelled.
Young children are not yet eligible to be vaccinated; only those ages 12 and over are. If schools can't require vaccines or proof of vaccination status for students, efforts to control the virus and its variants may be for naught. New York City and the state of California will continue to require masks in public schools. Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, says that policy could change depending on circumstances. California originally said that students who were not exempt from masking and who refused to wear a school-provided mask would not be allowed to attend, a statement that has now been omitted from updated guidelines.
Case counts and percent positivity have both doubled in the last week in New York City. Both numbers are still low but the pace of the increases has experts concerned. The metrics to watch are hospitalizations and deaths. Both are still stable due to vaccinations.
Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida's attorney general over the state law barring companies from requiring customers and employees to provide proof of vaccination. Norwegian says that this will prevent the company from safely re-starting. I wonder if moving the starting/finishing port to somewhere in the Caribbean would get around the problem. I expect, though, that the people who have already reserved a spot on an upcoming cruise would not want to have to change their itinerary for getting to and home from the cruise.
1 comment:
I'm not leaving the country this year. It's all very well being allowed to go on holiday but I'd like the certainty of knowing what would happen on my return. We've just had another change with a week's notice, you could pack thinking that there were no restrictions on return but by the time you land there, it's ten days quarentine on return. I want to relax on a holiday, not fret about a change in regulations. Maybe I'll paint the bedroom instead.
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