This is the weekly edition of CNN’s coronavirus newsletter. Look out for your roundup every Wednesday. If you haven’t subscribed yet, sign up here.
Now, it’s hit a wall.
- Case rates are rising in many parts of the country, throwing reopening plans for schools and workplaces into doubt, and threatening a fourth wave of the virus that could once again overwhelm hospitals.
- On Monday, the White House said it would not lift long-running Covid-related travel restrictions that have barred much of the world from entering the US since 2020, citing concerns over the highly transmissible Delta variant, which now makes up 83% of new infections in the country. And on Tuesday, in a stunning reversal, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that some vaccinated people wear masks indoors and in public areas, following reports of breakthrough infections with Delta.
- Biden on Tuesday explicitly laid blame for the current situation on unvaccinated people – an escalation of his use of the bully pulpit as he furiously searches with his team for ways to curb the spread of the virus. “We have a pandemic because of the unvaccinated and they’re sowing enormous confusion,” Biden said. “If those other hundred million people got vaccinated, we’d be in a very different world.”
- As the virus rips through conservative communities in the US South, many Republicans have refused to push back on misinformation driving doubt in the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness. But, as the situation worsens, some are starting to speak out against skeptics.
- The Biden administration had hoped to deliver at least one shot to 70% of the adult population by Independence Day, but vaccination rates have stalled. Only half of the US population is partially vaccinated, according to CDC data, and the majority of those who are not vaccinated are not at all likely to get a shot, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll published last week.
- “It is really a pandemic among the unvaccinated … which is the reason why we’re out there, practically pleading with the unvaccinated people to go out and get vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the President’s chief medical adviser, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” over the weekend – warning that the US was “going in the wrong direction.”
- Up until now, US officials have attempted to encourage Americans to get vaccinated through an array of incentives – from lotteries to fishing licenses and college scholarships – but they are beginning to consider more coercive measures to get shots in arms. Politicians, business leaders, scientists and vaccinated Americans who are fed up with the direction the country is headed are calling for vaccine mandates – if not by the federal government, then by local officials, school systems and employers.
- Biden will announce on Thursday that all federal employees and contractors will be required to have vaccinations against Covid-19, or submit to regular testing and mitigation measures, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN. The announcement comes after the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency, California the first state and New York the first major city to announce vaccine requirements for their workers. The move reflects a dramatic shift from earlier messaging about the pandemic waning and signals the fight of Biden’s presidency is far from over.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED.
Q: I’m vaccinated but just tested positive for coronavirus. What should I do?
A: “Fully vaccinated people should not visit private or public settings if they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the prior 10 days or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms,” the CDC says.
Dr. Gabriel de Erausquin, a professor of neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, and his colleagues studied more than 200 adults age 60 and older from Argentina who were infected with Covid-19. They found that patients who had a persistent loss of smell were more likely to experience cognitive issues. Three to six months after they were infected, more than half of the patients still struggled with forgetfulness, and about a quarter experienced additional cognitive challenges.
How sick a patient was with Covid-19 was not an indicator of whether they would experience cognitive decline. Erausquin however stressed that the research does not show that Covid-19 increases a person’s risk for Alzheimer’s, and there are some big questions that can only be answered with time.
Send your questions here. Are you a health care worker fighting Covid-19? Message us on WhatsApp about the challenges you’re facing: +1 347-322-0415.
TOP 3 READS OF THE WEEK
A country of 25 million people, it has recorded just over 900 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began. Its total case numbers are around 32,000 – a figure the UK was recently exceeding daily. And its economy has bounced back. But more than a year on, Australians remain shut inside their gilded cage, relying on a series of short, sharp lockdowns to quell an outbreak of the highly-contagious Delta variant.
They didn’t have to die. This is the terrible truth of America’s new pandemic battlefront, as the malicious, highly infectious Delta variant surges, targeting millions who sadly left it too late to protect themselves with safe, free and effective vaccines, writes Stephen Collinson.
Michael Freedy, a Las Vegas father of five, could still be the light of his kids’ lives. Instead, they will be always haunted by one of his wrenching final texts before he died on Thursday: “I should have gotten the damn vaccine.”
About 99.999% of fully vaccinated Americans have not had a deadly Covid-19 breakthrough case
CDC data shows that more than 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death.
The data highlights what leading health experts across the US have highlighted for months: Vaccines are very effective at preventing serious illness and death from Covid-19 and are the country’s best shot at slowing the pandemic down and avoiding further suffering.
Hackers block Italian vaccine booking system in ‘most serious cyberattack ever’
Hackers attacked and blocked an Italian Covid-19 vaccination booking system earlier this week, in what has been called the worst cyberattack Italy’s health service has ever seen.
The IT system of the health department of Lazio, one of the most populated regions in Italy and home to capital Rome, was the target of an attack that began Sunday by unknown perpetrators. Local authorities said they had received a generic ransom request but with no further claims.
On Monday, Lazio regional health councilor Alessio D’Amato assured more than 500,000 citizens that had already booked their Covid-19 vaccines through August 13 would still be able to get their shot.
TOP TIP
Returning to the office? Here’s how to avoid miscommunication
Many companies are bringing workers back into the office. However, barring a Delta variant surge, many employers are maintaining at least a partially remote element to the job. The struggles of communicating with coworkers at a distance aren’t going anywhere, but there are ways to combat them. Read more here.