Coronavirus Special Report
April 10-April 16, 2021
April 10-April 16, 2021
Read all about it! More than 560,000 565,000 Americans have died from the virus and more than 21% of the nation has been fully vaccinated. But new-case numbers are rising quickly. U.S. flying slows from the Easter rush. Several South American and Asian countries tighten Covid restrictions. Malta will pay tourists--in cash, not falcons--to visit this summer. And more. Read from the bottom for context.
Coronavirus Update: Friday, April 16, 2021
Dr. David Kessler, chief science officer of the Biden Administration's Covid task force, told Congress yesterday that he expects vaccinated Americans to need booster shots as more information is known and more variants emerge. Here are today's other developments:
Not hopping like a bunny According to the TSA, 1,491,435 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Thursday. It represents 57% of 2019's volume on a similar day. While this is better than the traditional Tuesday-Wednesday slowdown, it is clear that the travel recovery has slowed after last week's Easter rush. Way too high There were 74,289 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Thursday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll: 887. Most concerning is that young, unvaccinated people are the bulk of the new infections. Hotel high Average nightly occupancy at U.S. hotels reached 59.7% for the week ended April 10. STR, the industry recordkeeper, says half of the nation's properties are now registering occupancy above 60%. Florida markets--Tampa (at 83.7%) and Miami (74.1%)--lead the nation. Minneapolis (40%) and Boston (40.7%) trail the Top 25 markets. Stuck in the middle with you Delta Air Lines president Glen Hauenstein claims the carrier's blocked middle seat policy cost it $100-$150 million in revenue in March. Delta ends the policy at the end of April. Back to the beach Myrtle Beach airport says it handled 74,725 arriving passengers in March. That's 84.6% of its 2019 volume. Several airlines are adding capacity at MYR in the coming month as beachgoers and golfers flock to the South Carolina destination. France has passed 100,000 Coronavirus deaths, the third European nation after the United Kingdom and Italy to reach that sad milestone.Coronavirus Update: Thursday, April 15, 2021
Canada is undergoing another serious wave of infections. For the past seven days, Johns Hopkins says there were 59,657 new cases, higher than Canada's record high of 58,956, recorded from April 4-10 this year. Fewer than 3% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated. Here are today's other developments: Glass half empty According to the TSA, 1,152,703 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Wednesday. It represents 49.7% of 2019's volume on a similar day. That's two consecutive days when comparative volume has fallen below 50% and the only two days in April when volume was below 55%. Volume had hit almost 70% of 2019 levels on April 3. Really, pay attention to this There were 75,375 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Wednesday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll: 956. Infections averaging 75,000 or more a day would have been alarming as recently as last November. New York state of mind New York State dropped its requirement that international visitors quarantine on arrival. CDC testing rules still apply, of course. American Airlines says it will fly more than 90% of its domestic schedule this summer when compared to 2019. International capacity will be at about 80% of 2019 levels. Delta Air Lines says its second-quarter capacity will be approximately 68% of 2019 levels, but international long-haul demand is just 15% of "normal." Denmark has permanently discontinued the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.Coronavirus Update: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
We've finally hoarded enough toilet paper and sales have fallen below pre-pandemic levels. The Wall Street Journal has the details. Here are today's other developments: The plunge According to the TSA, 1,085,034 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Tuesday. It represents 49.1% of 2019's volume. That's a 10-point plunge from Monday's performance, an 8-point fall from Tuesday, April 6, and the first time in a month that traffic fell below 50% of 2019 levels. Pay attention There were 77,878 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Tuesday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll: 823. Experts say young, unvaccinated people are driving this surge in new infections. Sales story As U.S. carriers prepare to release first-quarter reports, airlines are discussing sales during the first three months. American Airlines says 1Q revenue is forecast to be down 62% compared to 2019's first quarter. At United Airlines, the decline is expected to be 66%. Alaska Airlines forecasts 1Q revenue will be down 57.5%. The Philadelphia story Philadelphia International Airport says it is now operating at 66% of capacity. American Airlines, which hubs at PHL, will probably operate 270 to 285 flights this summer. The airline ran 400 daily flights during the summer of 2019.Coronavirus Update: Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Most of the Muslim world observes the first day of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. Here are today's other developments: The J&J "pause" Federal authorities today abruptly stopped administering the J&J vaccine. The halt is called a "pause" while the FDA and CDC investigate six cases of rare blood clotting. One person has died and a second is hospitalized in critical condition. All six were women between the ages of 18 and 48. To date, less than 5% of the 190 million vaccine shots administered are of the J&J version. Slowing train According to the TSA, 1,468,972 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Monday. It represents 59.1% of 2019's volume, about six points below Monday, April 5. Back to ugly highs There were 70,234 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Monday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll: 467. Experts continue to warn that such high levels of new cases are a sign of another wave of infections. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow Toronto/City-based Porter Airlines has again delayed its relaunch. The newest new restart date is now June 21. Porter has continually delayed its restart since its first shutdown on March 21, 2020. It was that bad The Department of Transportation says U.S. airlines carried 61% fewer people in February compared to February, 2020, the last full month before the nation began to shut down. The DOT says airlines carried 26.5 million flyers in February compared to 67.6 million in February, 2020. Coronavirus Update: Monday, April 12, 2021
More than 20% of the nation is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins. Here are today's other developments: Rolling thunder According to the TSA, 1,561,495 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Sunday. It represents 63.8% of 2019's volume, slightly more than April 4, which was Easter Sunday. Fragmentary and better There were 46,378 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Sunday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll was 283. That's better--but weekend numbers are always fragmentary and incomplete. Bangladesh will lock down again in a desperate attempt to control the spread of Coronavirus. Starting Wednesday (local time), international passenger flights to and from the country are suspended until April 20. A nine-day nationwide lockdown ends tomorrow, but it will be followed by a new seven-day lockdown. Broken skies During the last week, aircraft traffic in Europe skies was 35.7% of 2019 volume, according to Eurocontrol. Bad medicine In a rare admission of failure, Chinese officials say the country's Coronavirus vaccines are not particularly good. Politico.com has the details. Meanwhile, there are indications that the so-called South Africa variant of the virus may defeat any vaccine. TheHill.com has the details.Coronavirus Update: Sunday, April 11, 2021
The United States hit a daily average of 3 million vaccine doses for the week of April 2-8, according to statistics released by the White House. Today's other developments: An April apex According to the TSA, 1,378,237 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Saturday. It represents 66.9% of 2019's volume, the second best day of the month so far. Still not good There were 66,533 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Saturday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll was 709. The stuff that dreams are made of Malta will pay travelers to visit the island this summer. Under certain conditions, you'll receive nearly $240, which, you have to admit, is better than a falcon. Reuters has the details. Crapped out Profits at Atlantic City casinos fell by more than 80% last year, according to New Jersey gaming officials. The nine casinos collectively posted $117.5 million in gross operating profits in 2020, down from nearly $594 million in 2019. Russian roulette Officials from Vladimir Putin on down have insisted that Russia handled the Coronavirus outbreak with a comparatively minimal death toll. But The New York Times reports year-over-year deaths were 28% higher in 2020 than 2019. That could indicate a 2020 Coronavirus death toll of about 300,000.Coronavirus Update: Saturday, April 10, 2021
The World Travel & Tourism Council says the global travel industry lost $4.5 trillion in 2020. The segment's contribution to the global gross domestic product was 5.5% in 2020, down from 10.4% in 2019. Today's other developments: Is anyone seeing this? There were 82,698 new Coronavirus cases in the United States Friday, says Johns Hopkins. The death toll was 958. That brings us back to the numbers in early November of last year, just before the holiday spikes of new cases and deaths began. Slowing down According to the TSA, 1,549,181 people passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints Friday. It also represents 59.8% of 2019's volume, four points below the performance of the previous Friday (April 2). Capital controls The eight million residents of Bogota, the capital of Colombia, are now under stay-at-home orders. Four other cities in Columbia are under similar orders. Argentina began a nightly curfew from midnight to 6am. Bars and restaurants in the country's most-populous areas must close at 11pm. Japan's jitters Japanese authorities issued stricter Coronavirus measures in Tokyo, Kyoto and Okinawa. Restaurants and bars will have to close by 8pm. Large events will be capped at 5,000 people. The measures begin Monday and are expected to be in place until May 11 in Tokyo and May 5 in Kyoto and Okinawa.