HomeCorona UpdatesCoronavirus daily news updates, June 17: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world – The Seattle Times
Coronavirus daily news updates, June 17: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world – The Seattle Times
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see previous days’ live updates and all our other coronavirus coverage, and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington and the world.
Gov. Jay Inslee has set a press conference today at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the state’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
US locks down embassy in Afghanistan amid COVID-19 surge
The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan ordered a near-complete lockdown Thursday because of a massive spike in coronavirus cases among employees.
Already on uncertain footing due to the imminent withdrawal of American forces from the country, the embassy in Kabul ordered remaining staffers into virtual isolation to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has already killed at least one person, sent 114 into quarantine and forced several people to be medically evacuated.
The embassy said restrictions would remain in place until the chain of transmission is broken and violators will be removed from the country on the next available flight. The notice said 95% of the cases involved people who have not been vaccinated or fully vaccinated against the virus and urged all staff to take advantage of available vaccines at the embassy.
UK records over 10,000 virus cases for first time since Feb
A woman takes a phone picture of her drink in Soho, London, on the day some of England’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased by the British government in April. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
The U.K.’s latest surge in coronavirus infections gathered pace Thursday with new confirmed cases rising above 10,000 for the first time in nearly four months as a result of the spread of the more contagious delta variant.
Government figures showed another 11,007 cases were reported. That’s the highest daily number since Feb. 19, when 12,027 cases were recorded, and cements talk that the country with Europe’s highest virus-related death toll is in the midst of a third wave of the pandemic.
The delta variant, first identified in India and considered by scientists to be between 40% to 80% more transmissible than the previous dominant strain, accounts for around 95% of all new cases in the U.K.
Black community has new option for health care: The church
In this May 9, 2021, photo, Rev. Joseph Jackson Jr. talks to his congregation at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Milwaukee during a service. He is president of the board of directors for Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope, which along with Pastors United, Souls to the Polls and the local health clinic Health Connections, is working to get vaccination clinics into churches to help vaccinate the Black community. He’s also been urging his congregation during Sunday services to get vaccinated. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
Every Sunday at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev. Joseph Jackson Jr. praises the Lord before his congregation. But since last fall he’s been praising something else his Black community needs: the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We want to continue to encourage our people to get out, get your shots. I got both of mine,” Jackson said to applause at the church in Milwaukee on a recent Sunday.
Members of Black communities across the U.S. have disproportionately fallen sick or died from the virus, so some church leaders are using their influence and trusted reputations to fight back by preaching from the pulpit, phoning people to encourage vaccinations, and hosting testing clinics and vaccination events in church buildings.
Some want to extend their efforts beyond the fight against COVID-19 and give their flocks a place to seek health care for other ailments at a place they trust — the church.
Choose Healthy Life, a national initiative involving Black clergy, United Way of New York City and others, has been awarded a $9.9 million U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant to expand vaccinations and and make permanent the “health navigators” who are already doing coronavirus testing and vaccinations in churches.
Washington military members and veterans get own COVID lottery, Gov. Inslee announces
Washington’s military members and veterans are getting a COVID-19 vaccine lottery of their own, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday.
That lottery will begin July 20 and include two weekly drawings for $100,000, and then a drawing in the third week for $250,000. Other prizes will include Amazon gift cards for $250 and $100 state parks gift cards.
The incentive applies to members of the military and family members who got vaccinated through the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or the National Guard.
But vaccination records for service members and veterans have been maintained through the federal government, so they weren’t included in that lottery — an obstacle that state officials acknowledged even as they rolled out the virus lottery.
Russian regions make vaccines mandatory for many workers
Authorities in four Russian regions made coronavirus vaccines mandatory this week for people working in retail, education and other service sectors, part of an effort to boost the country’s low immunization rates as COVID-19 cases continue to soar.
Moscow first announced the requirement Wednesday, and the surrounding Moscow region, the Siberian region of Kemerovo and the Far East region of Sakhalin promptly followed.
Officials in the four regions ordered businesses and institutions involved in retail, education, health care, public transportation, beauty, entertainment and other industries that serve a large number of people to ensure that at least 60% of their staffs are fully vaccinated.
In Moscow, the Moscow region and Kemerovo, officials set a mid-August deadline for the threshold to be reached. Sakhalin authorities did not set a deadline but said that individuals who refuse to get vaccinated without a valid medical reason would be suspended from work until they got their shots.
French tourism seeks new boost with Disneyland reopening
A float rides in Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, east of Paris, Thursday. France’s tourism sector takes a further step toward post-pandemic recovery with the reopening of Disneyland Paris, two weeks after the country formally welcomed back vaccinated foreign visitors. (AP Photo/Catherine Gaschka)
France’s tourism sector is taking a further step toward normality with the reopening of Disneyland Paris, two weeks after the country reopened its borders to vaccinated visitors from across the world.
Europe’s most frequented theme park in Marne-la-Vallee, east of the French capital, opened its doors on Thursday after nearly eight months of closure.
“Amazing,” said Debbie Tater. The Delaware resident travelled from the United States to visit her family, including her daughter and two granddaughters, who live in France and whom she hadn’t seen for a year and a half.
“Happiest place on earth,” she said, with tears in her eyes.
CureVac: Vaccine data are ‘sobering,’ full results in weeks
FILE- This Jan. 7, 2021, file photo, shows the Curevac company headquarters in Tuebingen, Germany. German vaccine maker CureVac said Wednesday, June 16, 2021, that interim data from late-stage testing of its coronavirus shot show a comparatively low effectiveness in protecting people against COVID-19. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP, File)
CureVac announced late Wednesday that its vaccine had shown an efficacy of 47% against COVID-19 of any severity, according to a partial review of data from its trial involving 40,000 participants in Latin America and Europe.
This is below the World Health Organization threshold of 50% and the chief executive of the German company said Thursday that the results are “sobering,” but the company will finish its final analysis within weeks and determine whether it will still seek regulatory approval.
The biotechnology company said more than two dozen variants of the coronavirus were found in its trial across 10 countries, a fact that may have affected the outcome.
US jobless claims tick up to 412,000 from a pandemic low
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since April despite widespread evidence that the economy and the job market are rebounding steadily from the pandemic recession.
The Labor Department said Thursday that jobless claims rose 37,000 from the week before to 412,000. As the job market has strengthened, the number of weekly applications for unemployment aid had fallen for most of the year. Weekly applications for unemployment aid had dropped for six straight weeks, and economists had expected another dip last week.
A year ago, nearly 1.5 million people had applied for unemployment benefits in one week.
WHO warns of fresh Indonesia surge fed by virus variants
Indonesia’s president ordered authorities to speed up the country’s vaccination campaign as the World Health Organization warned Thursday of the need to increase social restrictions in the country amid a fresh surge of coronavirus infections caused by worrisome variants.
Motorcyclists pass a mural in Jakarta, Indonesia. The country is battling a fresh surge of COVID-19 cases fed by virus variants. (Bloomberg)
Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, aims to inoculate more than 181 million of its 270 million people by March 2022, but authorities have only fully vaccinated 11.8 million people and partially vaccinated another 9.6 million others.
Indonesia saw its number of confirmed new cases climb to more than 12,600 on Thursday, an increase blamed on travel during last month’s Eid al-Fitr holiday as well as the arrival of new virus variants, such as the the delta version first found in India.
“With increased transmission due to variants of concern, urgent action is needed to contain the situation in many provinces,” the WHO report said.
A big worry is keeping Washington state’s epidemiologist up at night:the gamma variant, which is rising faster than any other in the state. It’s highly infectious and linked to increased breakthrough infections in vaccinated people. That’s on top of concerns about the delta variant, which is increasing its grip locally and nationally. You can track the spread of the virus in these graphics.
Colds and common viruses are roaring back,especially among children — and sometimes with an uncommon punch. “It’s very unusual to see this volume of sick kids during the summer,” one pediatrics expert explains.
Tired of “hygiene theater”? Many showy precautions don’t provide meaningful protection against the coronavirus, safety experts say, from touchless mustard to power-washing the outside of subway cars as if people “were going around licking the exterior.” But defenders say these measures serve a purpose, even if it’s an unintended one.
No comments:
Post a Comment