Coronavirus Special Report
Year Three: March 5-11, 2022
Year Three: March 5-11, 2022
Read all about Covid! U.S. Coronavirus deaths pass 965,000 and the global death toll has passed six million. The national vaccination rate is stalled below 66%. Hawaii and Ontario drop their indoor mask mandates. Ireland, Belgium, Romania and Hungary drop their entry restrictions, but Luxembourg says leisure travelers are still not welcome. Taiwan and Saudi Arabia loosen Covid restrictions. Malaysia reopens to vaccinated tourists on April 1. United Airlines says its unvaccinated employees may return to work. And more.
Coronavirus Update: Friday, March 11, 2022
The Justice Department has appointed a lead prosecutor to investigate fraud in Covid relief funds. Politico.com has details of the appointment while TheHill.com says Covid fraud may be as high as $8 billion. Here are today's other developments:
Busy Thursday The TSA says 2,184,044 people passed through checkpoints at U.S. airports yesterday, the highest one-day total so far in March. It's also 87.2% of 2019 volume. Ontario is unmasked Ontario, Canada's most populous province, will drop its indoor mask mandate on March 21. The New York Times has details. Das Ende Austria was the first country in Europe to mandate a Coronavirus vaccine by law and more than 80% of the population is protected. But Austrian authorities have suspended the mandate as the rate of new Covid cases has declined. SchengenVisaInfo.com has details. Romania reopens The Romanian Interior Ministry has lifted all of the country's Covid-related restrictions. Visitors are no longer required to present Covid-19 documents for entry, border crossings have reopened and all mask mandates have been lifted. The China Syndrome Changchun, a Chinese city of nine million, was ordered into lockdown on Friday (local time) and Shanghai has shut its schools. China is fighting its largest Covid outbreak in two years. Agence France-Presse has details. More room at the inn Nationwide hotel occupancy fell to 61.2% for the week ended March 5, according to lodging statisticians STR. No Top 25 hotel markets showed an occupancy increase over 2019, STR added.Coronavirus Update: Thursday, March 10, 2022
I know it seems like the pandemic is over and we can take heart that Johns Hopkins recorded just 40,000 new cases in the last 24 hours. That is down nearly 80% from the daily highs recorded earlier this year. But here's a very distressing counterpoint: There were nearly 2,000 Covid deaths in the last day. So your call on where we stand. Here are today's other developments: Close to normal? The TSA says 1,844,208 people passed through checkpoints at U.S. airports yesterday. That's 84.3% of 2019 volume. Welcome back United Airlines says unvaccinated workers who received medical or religious exemptions from the carrier's vaccine mandate will be permitted to return to work. They have been on unpaid leave. The Wall Street Journals has details. Maybe call him Novax Djerkovic? The tennis star Novak Djokovic, who couldn't defend his Australian Open title when he was tossed out of the country because he wasn't vaccinated, apparently never learns. He's had to withdraw from two upcoming U.S. tournaments because he cannot enter the United States as an unvaccinated visitor. ESPN has details. This is your brain on Covid What affect does Covid-19 have on the brain? The experts aren't sure of the exact impact, but they know it's not good. Bloomberg News has details. Never mind ... Just days ago, Hong Kong officials insisted they were prepared to repeatedly test the entire population of the city-state. Now? Not so much. Agence France-Presse has details.Coronavirus Update: Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Global airline capacity is around 82 million seats this week, according to OAG. That's 23% below pre-pandemic capacity during a similar week in 2019. Here are today's other developments: Dividing day The TSA says that 1,644,052 people passed through checkpoints at U.S. airports yesterday. It's the first time this year that volume passed passenger counts on a similar day in 2020, no surprise since traffic began to lag in March as Americans grappled with the start of the pandemic. The volume on Tuesday was only 77.5% of 2019 traffic, however. Masks off Hawaii is dropping its statewide indoor mask mandate at 11:59pm March 25 (local time). Governor David Ige also reaffirmed that the state's Covid-oriented entry requirements will end at the same time. KHON2 Honolulu television has details. Hungary for tourists Hungary has dropped all Covid-related entry rules. Proof-of-vaccination rules and the need for testing on entry has ended. Canada calls it Air Canada’s largest flight attendant union was not obligated to file a grievance on behalf of some members who opposed the airline’s enforcement of Canada's vaccine mandate. The National Post has details. Stupid is as stupid does So what happens to the anti-vax/anti-mask crazies after the vaccine and mask mandates expire? They turn their "attention" to pumping out ludicrous disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Global News has details. Sunwing sanctions The notorious "party flight" hosted by Sunwing Airlines that featured travelers breaking just about every rule of in-flight Covid travel is having repercussions. At least six flyers on the run from Montreal to Cancun have now been fined. CBC News has details.Coronavirus Update: Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Nearly 60% of Americans have not contracted Covid-19. What are the odds that they never will? The San Francisco Chronicle has details and informed speculation. Here are today's other developments: Two million served The TSA says that 2,017,973 people passed through checkpoints at U.S. airports yesterday. It's the fourth day in March with more than 2 million passengers. Belgian brief Starting March 11, visitors will no longer be required to complete and submit a passenger locator form. No April Fools Malaysia will re-open to vaccinated tourists on April 1. This country's many islands have been closed since March, 2020. Agence France-Presse has details. Puerto Rico unmasked The governor of Puerto Rico on Monday lifted the territory’s mask mandate for most places on the island. The New York Times has details. Brain drain II There was a "brain drain" of Hong Kong elites in the years just before the city-state was handed over to China by Britain in 1987. Now Chinese repression and the raging pandemic are apparently leading to still another brain drain. Agence France-Presse has details. Florida doctor Florida's controversial surgeon general, who has constantly questioned the science of masks, vaccines and even the Coronavirus itself, has a new thought: Despite CDC guidance and evidence to the contrary, Dr. Joseph Ladapo says healthy children should not be vaccinated. The Miami Herald has details.Coronavirus Update: Monday, March 7, 2022
The global death rate from Coronavirus has passed 6 million. The global number of cases, according to Johns Hopkins, has reached 450 million. Politico.com has details. Here are today's other developments: On the treadmill More than 6.1 million people passed through TSA security checkpoints at U.S. airports over the weekend (Friday-Sunday). It's almost the same number as the last weekend in February, but represents a slightly smaller slice (85.5%) of pre-pandemic in 2019. Still dropping There were 323,820 new Coronavirus cases in the United States during the last week, according to Johns Hopkins. That's down about a third from the previous week. The death toll fell sharply to 9,986, down almost 20% from the previous week. But keep it in perspective. That is still an average of more than 1,400 deaths a day. What if they gave a protest ... The so-called People's Convoy of anti-vax/anti-mask trucker did a loop of The Beltway around Washington today--and almost nobody noticed. The Washington Post has details. Ireland's open Visitors to Ireland can now party like it's 2019. Effective immediately, you are no longer required to show proof of vaccine to enter the country and no longer must fill in a passenger locator form. Luxembourg's not open Luxembourg has extended travel restrictions until June 30. That means no leisure travel into the Grand Duchy until at least that date. This is where we started China on Monday (local time) reported its highest number of Covid cases in two years as clusters emerged in more than a dozen cities. Agence France-Presse has details.Coronavirus Update: Weekend, March 5-6, 2022
The so-called People's Convoy of anti-vaccine/anti-mask/anti-everything protesters did not exactly strangle Washington. They had hoped to gridlock the Beltway road network surrounding the District of Columbia, but didn't realize that the Beltway is always gridlocked. The small protest was separated by Sunday traffic. The Washington Post has details. Here are this weekend's other developments. Saudi settles Saudi Arabia has lifted almost all Coronavirus restrictions including masking and social distancing rules. The exception: Masks will still be required in mosques located in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Island way People in Taiwan are no longer required to wear masks in outdoor and indoor settings where they were previously mandatory. Incredibly long Covid A New Mexico man has left the hospital after being treated for Covid-19 for more than 550 days. Albuquerque TV station KOB4 has details. Train troubles Commuter rail systems around the country continue to suffer as passenger volume remains low. The reason? As employees continue to work remotely, there's no need to shuttle into the office. The Washington Post has details.