Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Sunday that the United States likely won’t see the shutdowns that plagued the country last year despite a spike in infections, but that “things are only going to get worse.”
Fauci, who has been making the rounds on morning news programs, noted that half of Americans have been vaccinated. He said this should be enough people to avoid the crackdown. But this is not enough to crush fascism.
“We’re looking forward, I don’t think, to closures, but rather some pain and suffering ahead,” Fauci said. ABC’s “This Week”.
The United States reported more than 1.3 million new infections in July, more than triple the number in June. Fauci admitted that some supernatural injuries occur among vaccinators. He noted that no vaccine is 100% effective. But he stressed that a recurring theme of the Biden administration is that vaccinated people are less likely to develop serious illness than unvaccinated people who do.
“From the standpoint of illness, hospitalization, suffering and death, the unvaccinated are most at risk,” Fauci said. “The unvaccinated, by not vaccinating them, they allow the outbreak to spread and spread.”
The CDC has restored guidelines recommending the use of masks for vaccinated individuals in areas of high prevalence of the virus.
“This is much more about transmission,” Fauci said of the new guidelines. “You want them to wear a mask, so that if they do in fact become infected, they won’t spread that to people at risk, perhaps in their homes or children or people with underlying conditions.”
The director of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday that federal guidance urging vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in communities with high COVID-19 prevalence is mostly intended to protect the unvaccinated and those with compromised immunity.
Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, urged Americans to wear masks but stressed that they are not a substitute for vaccination.
Collins said the virus is “having a really big party downtown.”
The return of some local mask mandates in schools and elsewhere is sparking similar resistance to what vaccine mandates have drawn up. In Texas, where new daily infections have tripled in the past two weeks, Governor Greg Abbott has banned local governments and state agencies from mandating vaccines or masks. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, despite suffering from record-breaking infection numbers in his state, has also imposed restrictions on local mask rules.
Both governors say protecting against the virus should be a matter of personal responsibility rather than government interference.
“We have a lot of pressure from the CDC and others to make everyone, children, (school) staff have to wear masks all day,” DeSantis said. “That would be a huge mistake.”
The Biden administration’s new policy requiring federal workers to wear masks has led to some backlash from unions, including those encouraging their rank and file to wear masks.
“Our union plans to negotiate the details before implementing any new policy,” tweeted the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 700,000 government workers.
Also in the news:
► Hospitals and health officials across Texas Asking residents to get vaccinated Amid a massive increase in the number of COVID patients straining an already decimated healthcare system. “Almost every patient with Covid is preventable from entering,” said Dr. Brian Seeb, chief medical officer of the University Health System in San Antonio. “Employees witness this every day and it is very frustrating.”
► Chicago area health care facilities serving 80,000 low-income patients Require employees to be vaccinated By September 1 Included: Esperanza Health Centers, Alvio Medical Center, AHS Family Health Center and Community Health.
The Italian region of Lazio that includes Rome says its website has been hacked, making it temporarily impossible for residents to register for a vaccination. About 70% of Lazio’s population 12 years of age or older who are eligible for the vaccine have been vaccinated.
► Nevada employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 must take weekly virus tests starting August 15.
► Although every other American swimmer wears a mask during interviews with reporters, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee allowed Unvaccinated swimmer Michael Andrew on not wearing a mask. Citing the Tokyo COVID-19 Protocols Playbook released in June, USOPC said athletes can remove their masks for interviews.
📈Today’s numbers: According to The New York Times, the United States has recorded more than 34.9 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 613,100 deaths. Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: more than 198.1 million cases and 4.2 million deaths. More than 164.4 million Americans — 49.5% of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we read: Evidence is mounting about the dangers of variable delta and how mask wearing is necessary to control it, according to a government slideshow dated Thursday. The delta variant is much more contagious than the other variants of the virus. Read more.
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Another day, another dark record as the virus spreads in Florida
A day after Florida recorded its largest number of new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, the state on Sunday broke its record for current hospitalizations. The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The previous record was 10,170 hospitalizations from July 23, 2020 – more than half a year before vaccinations began to spread – according to the Florida Hospital Association.
However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has resisted orders to hide and impose restrictions on local officials’ ability to order masks. He also signed an executive order Friday to issue emergency rules to “protect parents’ rights,” make face masks optional across the state in schools and leave it up to parents.
Gun sales boom, but where’s the ammunition?
The boom in gun sales during the pandemic has led to a shortage of ammunition for law enforcement agencies, people seeking personal protection, recreational shooters, and hunters. Manufacturers say they produce as much ammunition as possible, but many gun store shelves are empty and prices continue to rise. Experts say the pandemic, social unrest and an increase in violent crime have prompted millions to buy guns for protection or practice shooting for sports.
Officer Larry Hadfield, a spokesman for the Las Vegas City Police Department, said his department was also affected by the shortage. “We have made efforts to conserve ammunition when possible,” he said.
Tenants prepare to end federal eviction moratorium
Tenants burdened with months of late rent are no longer protected stop the federal eviction. The Biden administration allowed the deferral to expire Saturday night, saying that Congress should take legislative action to protect renters while urging billions of dollars in relief to help those facing the loss of their homes. The administration confirmed it wanted to extend the freeze, but was constrained after the US Supreme Court indicated in June that it could not be extended beyond the end of July without congressional action.
On Friday, House lawmakers tried, but failed, to pass a bill to extend the freeze even by a few months. Some Democratic lawmakers wanted it extended until the end of the year.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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