Daily coronavirus cases continue to trend lower in most states, falling an average of 26,000 over the past month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths are also down in the nation. On Jan. 13, the country reported 3,555 deaths, Andy Slavitt, lead advisor on coronavirus responses at the White House, said on Twitter. There were 358 deaths in the country on Tuesday, according to Slavitt.
The adult vaccination rate in the US was over 50% on Tuesday, according to the White House. According to the CDC, at least 25 states have fully vaccinated at least half of their adult residents.
Experts delivered a hopeful message with caution and a task for Americans ahead of Memorial Day.
“I encourage you to use this holiday weekend to protect yourself and your family by getting vaccinated,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday. “We’re on a good downward path, but we’re not quite out of the woods yet.”
Also in the news:
►US Air traffic rose to its highest level since the beginning of pandemic Sunday at 1.8 million travelers, the Transportation Security Administration reported on Tuesday.
►Gov. John Bel Edwards is scrapping almost every remaining coronavirus restriction in Louisiana, lifting the statewide requirement for students to wear a mask in the classroom and at school events.
►Hawaii no longer requires people to wear face masks outdoors as the number of coronavirus cases falls and more people are vaccinated in the state.
► Although the pandemic is subsiding in the USA, there were already more COVID-19 infections worldwide this year than in all of 2020. Here is a graphic overview of how far the coronavirus has spread worldwide.
►Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas will be the first cruise ship allowed to sail as a test in US waters after a 15-month cruise ban due to the pandemic.
📈 Today’s numbers: There are more than 33.16 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 590,900 deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University. The global total: more than 167.6 million cases and 3.48 million deaths. More than 359 million vaccine doses have been distributed and more than 287.7 million administered in the United States, according to the CDC. More than 131 million Americans have been fully vaccinated – 39.5% of the population.
📘 What we read: The federal government has given states the OK to offer cash incentives to encourage residents to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Read more about the possibilities.
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Report: In Washington, 8 out of 10 COVID cases are black, indicating differences in vaccines
Black Washington, DC residents currently account for more than 80 percent of coronavirus cases, according to new data analyzed by the Washington Post. Although black and white residents make up 46% of the total population according to the US census, whites make up less than 10% of the cases in the past few days.
The top shows the racial segregation of the nation and reflects accessibility issues in the spread of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Post’s tracker reported that 44.5% of the city’s population had received the vaccine. For about 70 percent of vaccinations using racial data, the city estimates that about 19.8 percent of black residents are fully vaccinated, compared with 28.8 percent of white residents.
“There are differences in who gets vaccinated,” Neil Sehgal, assistant professor of health policy at the University of Maryland, told the Post. “And if these cases that we are seeing focus on unvaccinated people and fewer black residents of DC are being vaccinated, it seems to justify our black neighbors being at greater risk of developing Covid today than they were at any point in time in the recent past. ”
Sehgal said the barriers that could prevent people from getting vaccinated include limited transportation, difficulty getting time off to get the vaccine, and complicated registration systems.
– Steven Vargas
COVID-19 antibodies remain 10 months after infection, study says
A majority of people infected with COVID-19 still have antibodies to the virus 10 months later. This is the result of a new study from Labcorp, a life science company specializing in diagnostics and drug development.
Almost 87% of the confirmed positive people analyzed by the study saw prolonged antibody retention, according to the study published Monday. Labcorp took samples from 39,086 patients, making the study the largest real-world COVID study since the pandemic began.
The overall results are good news not only for infected people, but potentially vaccinated people as well, said Dr. Brian Caveney, Chief Medical Officer and President of Labcorp Diagnostics.
“More research needs to be done to understand what type and levels of antibodies suggest protection against re-infection,” said Caveney. “The persistent presence of certain antibodies, however, is a promising sign as we continue to consider a safe escape from the pandemic, as well as future vaccinations and when to get booster vaccinations.”
Puerto Rico lifts curfew and opens up to vaccinated visitors
Another encouraging sign of the Americans’ pandemic: Puerto Rico, a popular travel destination that was the first U.S. state or territory to be closed, has lifted its nightly curfew.
The island has seen a 58% decrease in new infections in the past two weeks after seeing a dramatic increase in April. Puerto Rico not only ends the night curfew after more than a year, but now also allows access to vaccinated visitors without a negative coronavirus test result. The business capacity will also increase to 50%.
Unvaccinated visitors to the U.S. Commonwealth, where tourism is increasing due to pent-up demand for travel, must continue to show a negative coronavirus test or promise to show a test result within 48 hours. Failure to do so could face a $ 300 fine.
Puerto Rico has had a night curfew since March 15, 2020 when its first coronavirus case was reported – at least from midnight to 5 a.m. But daily cases have dropped from a weekly average of more than 1,000 at the height of the April surge to around 150.
According to CDC data, 40% of adults in Puerto Rico are fully vaccinated and 56% have received at least one dose.
Contributor: The Associated Press.