People scan a QR health code as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus, before entering a shopping mall in Beijing on November 2, 2021.
Jade Gao | AFP | Getty Images
BEIJING About halftheflights to and fromBeijing's two airportswere cancelled Tuesday as the capital tightened travel restrictionsafter a trickle of new cases in the city and other parts of the country in the last few days.
That's according to aviation industry data site VariFlight, which tracks about 800 to 1,000 flights each for Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport.
China has a strict "zero tolerance" policy for controlling the coronavirus.
Local authorities, especially in the capital city, are on high alert after a handful of locally transmitted coronavirus cases over the weekend indicated the latest spike in cases might be spreading beyond just a few regions. To be clear, the numbers pale in comparison to most major cities in the world.
Beijing's health commission announced Monday that residents who left the city for business trips or leisure trips to areas with confirmed cases should postpone returning and stay where they are, according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese text. Residents should avoid leaving the city unless necessary, the commission said.
Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3 stands far emptier than usual on the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.
Iris Wang | CNBC
The official announcement followed anecdotes on Chinese social media over the weekend of people who weren't able to book travel back into the capital city. It was not clear how many people were affected.
Shanghai Disneyland abruptly closed entry to new visitors on Sunday, Halloween, and more than 33,000 people who had been to the park since Saturday were tested for the virus. None tested positive, according to the city.
Critically for Beijing, the city is set to hold a high-level political gathering next week, and is gearing up to host the Winter Olympics in February.
Airport personnel contacted by CNBC said people coming from a city or county where a confirmed coronavirus case has been found cannot enter Beijing. Those coming from areas with no Covid cases need to present Covid test results from the last 48 hours and monitor their health for 14 days after entering the city.
China's "zero tolerance" policy for Covid-19 means all travelers from overseas are required to undergo quarantines in designated hotels upon arrival in the country. For those wanting to enter Beijing, they must first complete a 21-day quarantine in other cities, the airport personnel said.
Mainland China reported 54 new locally transmitted cases for Monday, bringing the total number of current cases to just over 900, according to the National Health Commission. Beijing city reported 4 additional Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday morning.
Those figures are far smaller than those reported in other countries such as the U.S., with a daily coronavirus case count of over 80,000.
The highly contagious virus first emerged in China in late 2019. The country managed to contain the nationwide spread of the virus by the start of the second quarter last year, and has seen almost no deaths from the virus since the initial outbreak.
In the meantime, the virus has spread overseas in a global pandemic that has killed at least 5 million people as of Monday.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko fully reveals Red Bull ace Max Verstappens illness during the United States Grand Prix at Austin.
Both Red Bull drivers had a difficult race in Austin, yet they managed to grab the desirable results. Several reports revealed that Verstappen was suffering from an illness.
Now he reveals the exact extent of the illness, which slightly caught the Dutchman off-guard. According to him, it was a cold virus, which is still present in the COVID-19 era.
He had a normal cold virus, which still exists during the corona[virus] era, which made him falter a little, Marko explained to GermanysSport1.
Only at the beginning of the race did he not feel really fit. But he drank a lot in the cockpit [and] that made it better.
Also read:Nico Rosberg predicts this F1 driver will be future world champion
Though Marko is impressed that despite suffering beneath the helmet, the 24-year-old hardly lost his focus. And eventually won the race at Austin,
There was never any danger to him, Marko said. On the contrary, the speed he showed in the race was unique. But not only that, the overview he had at every phase of the Grand Prix was also astonishing.
For example, he still had the capacity to point out during the race that now would be the right time to tactically deploy Sergio. This is actually the job of the engineers in the box.
Red Bull will be vying against Mercedes in Mexico in the next round of the 2021 season. Marko believes that they have a reasonable edge over the Silver Arrows over there.
Actually, the next two races in Mexico and Sao Paulo should traditionally suit us more thanMercedes because of the altitude, Marko explained. But we dont want to rely on it, but [we will] try, as in Austin, to get the best out of our package.
Also read: Toto Wolff says Christian Horner is like little actor in Hollywood pantomime
by: Dr. Mary Gillis, D.Ed.
Posted: Nov 1, 2021 / 07:09 PM EST / Updated: Nov 2, 2021 / 02:01 AM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) Scientists say they may have discovered a fourth pathway by which the coronavirus can enter the body, according to a new paper published in the journal Communications Medicine.
Study authors say this can lead to side effects such as ringing in the ears as well as loss of balance and hearing.
We believe the coronavirus infects the nose and the mouth via the respiratory tract and we get it into our lungs, Dr. Rick Nelson, ear, nose and throat specialist at Indiana University School of Medicine, told News 8. It can also get in through the nose. But if it gets into the Eustachian tube, which connects the back of the nose to the ear, that could be a way we get COVID-19 into the middle ear.
While just 10 participants were assessed, Nelson says, a strength of the study was that scientists obtained real human tissue, which is very difficult. If not done properly, it can result in a disrupted eardrum.
One author of the study says the work opens up a new path for working with not only COVID-19 but with other viruses that affect hearing.
The meter started running in March 2020, fueled by the passage of Americas largest economic stimulus package ever: the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.
It spun right through December, when Donald Trump signed a booster bill that lacked a catchy name, but poured another $900 billion into the pot.
And it rolled into March with Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan, which pledged $1.9 trillion more in grants, checks and relief.
Approximate price tag on these and other pandemic packages: $5 trillion. About the gross domestic product of Japan.
For 19 months, that money has flowed to workers and businesses, schools and hospitals, cities and counties and states every cent meant, in some way, to alleviate the staggering cost of a pandemic thats killed 730,000 Americans.
Every number tied to COVID-19 jobs lost, businesses shuttered, cases, hospitalizations, deaths is hard to fathom. But the cost of the pandemic is as mind-boggling as any of them.
What did the coronavirus cost Tampa Bay? Can you put a financial price on what we lost?
We decided to try.
Tampa Bay Times reporters surveyed the eight counties of the Tampa Bay region: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota, home to 5 million people, about 23 percent of Floridas population. We combed through budgets, audits, disclosures and studies. We consulted more than 30 economists, policy advisers, public officials and affected residents. When possible, we tracked spending down to the address and penny.
Its rough math. No formula is capable of calculating economic impact on a scale this severe, largely because the numbers are still changing. But crunching the bigger numbers using that $5 trillion in aid as a guidestar got us in the ballpark.
And what a ballpark it is. Even with all that aid, untold Floridians still suffered. Those hit hardest included people who could least afford it, including minorities and those living paycheck to paycheck. But even those who fared well as relief rolled in, revenue models evolved and the housing and stock markets skyrocketed still felt the sting of a society shut down and that has a cost, too, even if it doesnt show up on a balance sheet. Even the rosiest estimates of this pandemics cost blow the mind.
Has the Tampa Bay area lost $10 billion? Absolutely.
$40 billion? Its entirely possible.
$150 billion? A total far greater than the state of Floridas annual budget?
The closer you break it all down, the higher the cost soars.
In a good year, Andresia Moseley might make $35,000. Shes an actress who performs on stage locally but earns most of her money on the road, about $800 to $1,200 per week
When the pandemic hit, Moseley had a role in Doubt, which was about to premiere at Tampas Jobsite Theatre. That would have paid about a third of Moseleys usual earnings, but she had higher-paying jobs lined up throughout 2020.
By April, Floridas freaking devastated, said Moseley, of Oldsmar. I realize that I dont have a way to earn any money.
She got stuck with a $2,000 car repair bill. She ate more. She became depressed. She contemplated leaving the arts.
Over the first year of the pandemic, between a few months of unemployment, three stimulus checks and eight weeks of actual work, Moseley estimates she brought in $12,000.
I dont know what all its cost me, to be honest, said Moseley, who resumed working this summer. I know the difference between $300 a week and $1,200. We can start there.
Moseleys story is not unique. Signs that local people and businesses got hammered by COVID-19 are all around us.
Restaurants closed. Friends lost jobs. Events got canceled. The Super Bowl wasnt quite as super, even with Tom Brady and the Bucs hosting and winning at home.
Its absolutely fair to say weve lost billions of dollars, said Rick Homans, former president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of business leaders. Our economy virtually shut down for months, many parts of it. You could head out on the streets and see it.
And thats on a macro scale. Zoom in, and the impact is more acute.
Take Crystal Foster, 38, who operates a one-woman hairdresser business in Wesley Chapel. Her husband co-owned a Zephyrhills used car lot, and together, the couple had built a sense of financial stability, including a rainy day fund.
When coronavirus cases started skyrocketing, she couldnt see clients. He closed the lot permanently after business dried up overnight.
The company that owns their house struggled, so it listed their rental on the market and raised the rent from $1,545 to $2,150. With everyone home more, their electric bill shot up. Fosters husband got less than $1,000 in unemployment; she got about $140 every two weeks. They got one months worth of financial assistance for rent and utilities from Pasco County, and additional aid for her husband to take classes at a truck-driving school. The family went on food stamps.
You lose a lot of confidence in yourself, because you get to a point like, is enough enough? Foster said.
When people lose income, they spend less. And many, many people lost income. In August 2021, the number of unemployed people in Tampa Bay remained up nearly 29 percent over August 2019.
How does that translate into loss?
A traditional measure of economic health is gross domestic product, or the combined worth of all goods and services produced in an area. About 70 percent of the U.S. GDP is tied to consumer spending.
Lets assume that without the pandemic, Tampa Bays consumer spending in 2020 would have at least equaled that of 2019, when it hit $221.7 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. From just March to August 2020, the region lost out on approximately $7 billion in sales, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
But that estimate is likely low, based on historical trends.
From 2015 to 2019, consumer spending in the Tampa Bay area grew about 3 percent each year. Applying those growth rates to each Tampa Bay county, its a reasonable estimate that local businesses actually lost around $10.8 billion worth of spending from March to August 2020.
With reduced spending comes reduced taxation.
Local government taxes in each county, such as fuel and tourist taxes, fell by $136.8 million from March 2020 to February 2021, compared to the same period a year earlier. From March through August 2020, sales tax revenue in the area was down $226 million from the same period in 2019. Had consumer spending grown in 2020 like it did in years prior, that gap would be even larger: $341 million.
Tampa Bay had been set up for what looked like a banner 2020. During the pandemics first months, the region lost major events that would have brought thousands of visitors to town, including a full slate of spring training, the PGAs Valspar Championship and WrestleMania. Those events alone might have brought $300 million in out-of-town spending, according to pre-pandemic estimates.
Despite those early losses, the region didnt take long to rebound. Consumer spending in Tampa Bay largely returned to normal in September 2020, and by July of this year had more than made up for the losses during the first wave of infections. Applying historical growth rates, Tampa Bay consumers spent $14 billion more than expected during that span, more than making up for the $10.8 billion lost from March to December 2020.
Sports, as it turns out, also played a role in the regions recovery. While spring training was canceled, the Tampa Bay area gained two temporary sports franchises in Torontos Raptors and Blue Jays, who decamped in Tampa and Dunedin, respectively, due to travel restrictions between the United States and Canada. Pro wrestling returned for residencies at Tropicana Field and the Yuengling Center, then to Raymond James for a two-night WrestleMania this year. Combined, the WWE events recouped at least 65 percent of the expected hotel stays from last years canceled WrestleMania, according to the Tampa Bay Sports Commission.
Still, between that initial, immediate drop in consumer spending and lost state and local tax revenue, Tampa Bay likely saw at least a $10 billion shortfall from what might otherwise have been expected. Homans called that estimate very conservative, given the size of our economy here.
Lets go back to the Super Bowl. Estimates of the Super Bowls economic benefits vary widely, with civic boosters claiming it can hit $500 million, but some economists saying its more like $30 million. Local tourism leaders havent analyzed this years windfall in depth but as it turns out, $30 million is about how much local hotels brought in during Super Bowl week, according to the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. Total spending was certainly higher thanks to food, travel and other expenses, but $30 million is a solid starting point.
Ten billion dollars equals 333 Super Bowls.
Now zoom closer.
Before the pandemic, LaTasha Manns calendar was packed for the year. Mann and her mother run Classy Chics Event Planning & Catering in Brandon.
As the virus spread during 2020, Mann had to cancel events and refund customers. An April wedding: $5,146.35. Another in May: $9,298.52. Two graduation parties in June: $3,302.50 and $2,358.98. A birthday in October: $3,786.65. Another wedding in November: $7,598.60.
It was just God and our credit that allowed us to stay afloat, Mann said.
Mann eventually scored a job that paid well at a Fort Myers golf course, so she relocated. Shes since resumed booking a few local events, including a Tampa wedding in December, but is still behind where she thought shed be at this point in 2021.
In all, Mann estimated the pandemic directly cost her $40,000 worth of business all of it in Hillsborough County.
Ten billion dollars is 250,000 LaTasha Manns. Nearly the population of St. Petersburg.
Tracking every cent of pandemic relief and stimulus money flowing from Washington, D.C., is a Sisyphean task. The government hasnt done it yet, and neither can you. Thats because much of the money has not been allocated, spent or tabulated, and may not be for some time.
The governments official spending tracker, USAspending.gov, pegs appropriations thus far in the eight-county Tampa Bay region at $14.5 billion. Its far from complete. Reporting lags mean some awards arent fully tallied, and some massive expenditures arent listed.
The discrepancy between the tracker and reality is evident when you pull data straight from the awarding agencies. Tampa Bays three top federal pandemic relief sources, for instance, brought $29 billion into the region, which is twice the amount listed at USAspending.gov. They are:
Small business loans: The U.S. Small Business Administrations forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans shepherded at least $10.1 billion into Tampa Bay businesses. (The Tampa Bay Times and related companies received a loan worth $8.5 million.) Another $3.4 billion came in through Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Unemployment relief: Floridians have received nearly $24.5 billion in federal pandemic relief. While the state hasnt publicly separated that money by county, its official unemployment dashboard says the region accounts for more than a fifth of the states claims just like it accounts for more than a fifth of Floridas population. That makes a fifth of that federal haul, or $4.9 billion, a reasonable estimate.
Stimulus checks: Floridians have received 33 million economic impact payments worth $54.5 billion. Those payments, designed both as financial relief and to spur spending, arent publicly broken down past the state level, either. But a fifth of that Tampa Bays approximate share would be $10.9 billion.
The government also has doled out billions for Tampa Bays cities and counties ($2.2 billion), school and university systems ($3 billion) and health care providers and facilities ($1.4 billion). Add in federal contracts, transportation grants, housing relief programs, child tax credits and aid for restaurants and entertainment venues, and youre up to $38.7 billion. And that still may be conservative, given all the relief provisions yet to be parceled or tallied myriad tax benefits, mortgage relief programs, infrastructure, capital spending and so on.
The government hasnt tracked or even allocated every cent of pandemic relief and stimulus funding authorized by Congress. But the biggest sources of federal aid will deposit at least $38.7 billion into the Tampa Bay region.
Some of this money might not be spent for years. And because its non-recurring, sectors that are recovering but still have a ways to go like Floridas lifeblood of tourism and hospitality may feel pinched for some time.
Which begs the question: Is $38.7 billion enough to recoup all our losses?
Donna Maine Smith, 58, of Brooksville lost her job as a graphic designer days into the pandemic. She went from making $65,000 a year to $275 per week in state unemployment, cutting costs to keep her budget stable. Shes since applied for hundreds and hundreds of jobs, to no avail.
There hasnt been a day that has gone by since I was laid off and were talking weekends, too where I dont get up in the morning and go to work, either building a website, applying to jobs, working on artwork, whatever that may be, she said.
Federal unemployment aid helped with unexpected expenses like air conditioning and plumbing repairs. So did leaning on her fine arts background to earn income painting pet portraits. But when Gov. Ron DeSantis pulled the state out of a $300-per-week federal supplement this summer, arguing that it would spur more Floridians to get back to work, it was such a kick in the gut, Smith said.
The minute you say youve received unemployment, youre immediately labeled lazy, she said. It is so demoralizing. It is so humiliating. The entire process makes you feel like youre worthless.
John and Walinda Greens Brandon business, Kingdom Transportation Services, caters to corporate clients and tourists. When the economy shut down, so did Kingdom. Because they live with an older relative who has health issues, John, 57, played it safe and didnt resume taking passengers until this May.
The Greens got about $20,000 in loans and grants to cover costs like insurance, which John said gets me across the line for 2021. But thats a fraction of the $100,000-plus he estimates theyve lost throughout the pandemic. Hes gone from driving 20 to 30 clients per week to about two to four, and sometimes, none at all.
I still havent fully recovered, he said. If we just can maintain that (business) and reduce the activities that we do, then well be okay.
Much larger companies also took huge hits not only through losses but unrealized earnings.
Prior to the pandemic, Tampa-based restaurant chain Metro Diner had nearly 4,500 employees at 69 locations. It had revenues of $145 million in 2019, with new openings planned and a projected growth rate of about 20 percent per year. Within a few years, said chairperson Hugh Connerty, the company would have explored going public.
Almost immediately in March 2020, the company laid off 4,000 workers, pivoting to takeout and shrinking its menu to maximize cost efficiency. Eleven locations closed. The company lost more than $1 million a month, much of it getting out of leases for restaurants that had yet to open.
Over the next year, corporations tied to Metro Diners around the country received at least 37 Paycheck Protection Program loans worth $25.5 million. That helped the company survive, Connerty said, but it barely dented the overall picture. Metro Diner basically broke even in 2020, a far cry from the exponential growth it had expected. Last year, the difference between the companys projected and actual revenues was about $63 million. This year, that gap projects to be even wider.
Metro Diner is now a much healthier company, financially, Connerty said, with 2,400 employees and plans to open new restaurants by late next year. Individual diners are back to operating at 2019 margins, thanks largely to reduced expenses.
But when you consider the growth that Metro Diner missed out on and the years it will take the company to get that growth back that $25.5 million in federal aid looks a lot smaller.
In terms of revenue losses, people unemployed and things like that in our industry and the country, Ive never seen anything like it, said Metro Diner partner Chris Sullivan.
So if the aid pumped into Tampa Bay thus far stands at $38.7 billion with some saying that doesnt come close to capturing the full loss it makes you wonder what the real upper limit might be. Especially for those losses that can never be recovered.
Theres a statistic used by the U.S. government that isnt mentioned in any COVID-19 relief bill. Its called value of a statistical life, or VSL.
The idea, popularized by Nobel-winning economist Thomas Schelling, is not to calculate what a human life is literally worth, or how much one person would pay to save a life, including their own. Its a tool to help calculate the relationship between money and risk.
We all the time, as individuals and as a society, make trade-offs between income and health, said Harvard economist David Cutler. We decide whether to buy a slightly safer car, or a slightly less safe car, given that it involves more money. We decide whether to take jobs that are safer, over riskier jobs that pay more money.
Governments and corporations do this, too. A practical example comes from the movie Fight Club. Edward Norton plays a recall coordinator for an auto manufacturer; its his job to determine whether recalling unsafe cars makes financial sense for the company. Heres how his character describes it:
Take the number of vehicles in the field, A. Multiply it by the probable rate of failure, B. Then multiply the result by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we dont do one.
In other words, the company must determine if paying more to save drivers lives is better or worse (for shareholders, anyway) than doing nothing. And value of a statistical life represented here by C is central to the formula.
This math, slightly tweaked, is at the heart of the debate over COVID-19 and the economy.
Nobody, least of all elected officials, likes admitting theres a trade-off between preventing harm and saving money. But its a calculation governments must make all the time in deciding how much to invest in public goods and services, from law enforcement to disaster mitigation to in the case of legislation now working its way through Congress our nations aging infrastructure. Governments must determine when the amount spent saving a few lives outweighs pain inflicted on everyone else, whether it be economic hardship or the loss of public services.
During the pandemic, governments weighed the health benefits of shutdowns and social distancing against the economic hit of job losses and lost revenue. Some states, like New York and California, prioritized public safety over business, slow-rolling re-openings until cases subsided. Others, like Florida, reopened more quickly to help spur spending, which stabilized the economic crash, even as COVID-19s delta variant led to record case spikes.
So while you can measure COVID-19s damage through lost consumer spending or emergency grants and loans, none of that gets at the human cost.
Some things are denominated in dollars, like GDP loss, Cutler said. And some things are denominated in lives, like how many people died, how many people will be saved. And you need some way to combine those two.
Thats where value of a statistical life comes in.
Agencies use values per statistical life when budgeting public safety investments and policies. Some have standard valuations, including the Environmental Protection Agency ($7.4 million), the Department of Transportation ($11.6 million) and the Department of Health and Human Services (a range of $5.3 million to $17.4 million). These numbers are based on things like auto fatality or cancer rates, and the higher prices consumers have traditionally paid to avoid them hence the word statistical.
In a study last October, Cutler and former U.S. Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers projected the economic impact of COVID-19 in the United States to be $16 trillion. This factored in losses to date and losses to come, such as anticipated drops in economic output over the next decade. More than half of that figure was tied directly to the viruss human cost not just each life lost, but each life disrupted by long-term health problems or mental health issues like depression or anxiety.
Cutler and Summer started with what they called a conservative value of $7 million per life, based on statistical values from the Department of Health and Human Services and other studies. (Similar studies have placed the value anywhere from $2 million to $11 million, noting the virus didnt strike everyone equally the elderly and those with health problems were most vulnerable. Cutler and Summers essentially split the range of estimates down the middle: One coronavirus death, no matter who it was, meant a $7 million blow to society).
For severe but nonfatal cases, the value dropped to $2.45 million. And it came down even further when calculating the pandemics mental health toll, which they pegged at $20,000 per adult sufferer. (These figures are not meant to reflect specific treatment costs but rather the collective value we place on long, healthy, happy lives.)
Applying their formula to Tampa Bay, we get these results:
Add it up, and the pandemics human cost in Tampa Bay equals $161.4 billion.
Thats 5,380 Super Bowls. Its more than four times the amount of pandemic relief money that rolled in from Washington. Its $32,280 for every man, woman and child in Tampa Bay.
What a number like $161.4 billion tells us is not how much cash those healthy lives would have added to the regional economy. Rather, economists say, it can give those who manage the worlds money an idea of the local implications of national spending decisions. That $5 trillion spent by the U.S. government wont bring back everything Tampa Bay and the nation lost. But it could guide decisions about how much to spend down the line, in whatever public health, safety or climate crisis comes next.
How many people have died from this, 700,000? said Casey Mulligan, an economics professor at the University of Chicago. If we were to make our highways a little safer, make our consumer products a little safer, so that we could add 700,000 to our population over the next several years, thats kind of what it would cost. That massive number.
Is $161.4 billion too high? It depends on whom you ask, and how much value you or your government might place on your well-being. Maybe you think $38.7 billion is too high, or even $10 billion.
But consider everything Tampa Bay has lost due to COVID-19 the lives, the livelihoods, the experiences and memories and plans. Consider the things it cost you and those you know. And then ask yourself:
How much would you pay to get it back?
Times staff writers Malena Carollo, Romy Ellenbogen, Emily L. Mahoney, Eli Murray, Jeffrey S. Solochek, Langston Taylor and Natalie Weber contributed to this project.
New York Police Department officers in masks stand during a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, last October. Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption
New York Police Department officers in masks stand during a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, last October.
Thousands of New York municipal workers, including police officers and firefighters, have chosen unpaid leave rather than getting inoculated against COVID-19, as the city's vaccine mandate went into effect.
Speaking on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said he expected no disruptions as a result of some 9,000 city employees, out of a 378,000-strong workforce, getting put on unpaid leave for failing to get a shot. Those workers must show proof of at least one dose of a vaccination to return to work, according to the Oct. 20 order.
However, last-minute compliance with the order substantially reduced the number of employees who might have been affected, city officials said. De Blasio tweeted on Saturday that 2,300 city workers were immunized on that day alone.
"More than half of the workers who haven't been vaccinated yet have submitted exemption requests and those requests are being processed," he wrote on Twitter.
The eleventh-hour surge brought to 91% the percentage of those vaccinated, up from 86% late last week, de Blasio said.
By Sunday, the mayor's office said the rate of vaccination of Emergency Medical Services workers had risen to 87% from 74% on Thursday, while the fire department went to 77% on Friday from 64% the previous day, according to Reuters.
The city's fire and police unions have challenged the mandate in court, but the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York said last week that courts had rejected its requests for an emergency order to halt the mandate.
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro said the mandate would force dozens of fire companies to shut down. He urged city officials to give the union's members more time to comply with the mandate.
Meanwhile, city fire commissioner Daniel Nigro lashed out at some firefighters he said were using "bogus" sick time in response to the mandate deadline on Monday.
"Irresponsible bogus sick leave by some of our members is creating a danger for New Yorkers and their fellow firefighters," Nigro said in a statement. "They need to return to work or risk the consequences of their actions."
The mayor added on Monday, "People get really troubled really quick when people don't show up to do their job if they're not really sick, and we have every reason to believe there's a lot of people out there claiming to be sick when they're not. It's not acceptable."
More than 2,000 of the city's 11,000 uniformed firefighters have taken sick days in the week leading up to the mandate going into effect, the fire department's deputy commissioner for public information, Frank Dwyer, has said.
The vaccination rate on Monday for the New York Police Department, which was reported by de Blasio at 74% on Thursday, was not immediately available, according to Reuters.
COLUMBUS, Ohio The number of patients in Ohio hospitals with the coronavirus was 2,361 on Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Thats down by 1,381 patients compared to Monday, Sept. 27, which was a high in hospitalizations during the delta spike.
While Ohio hospitals are reporting some day-over-day increases in the number of COVID-19 patients, the overall trend has pointed downward when looking each Monday in the past month.
Monday, Oct. 25: the number of inpatients with COVID-19 was 2,573
Oct. 18: it was 3,023
Oct. 11: 3,421
Oct. 4: 3,522
Sept. 27: 3,742
The trend shows that hospitalizations are decreasing, as the delta spike wanes. Going into the delta wave, hospital officials said that they likely had enough beds, but they didnt have enough staff to care for patients who were expected to occupy the beds.
In other news, the Department of Health tracked 2,461 more coronavirus cases Monday since the previous day. Thats below the 21-day average of 3,691. A total of 1.5 million cases have been logged in Ohio since the beginning of the pandemic.
The were no new coronavirus deaths reported. The federal government tracks COVID-19 deaths and releases them usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. As of Friday, a total of 24,572 Ohio have died with the virus.
Just 2,200 people received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot between Sunday and Monday mornings. A total of 55.4% of the states population has at least started the vaccine.
Yet, another 13,900 people received a booster dose between Sunday and Monday, bringing the total number of Ohioans who have received a booster to 741,678 Ohioans since Aug. 13, when the federal government first authorized the additional doses.
Read more:
Ohio averages 359.1 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents, a drop from last weeks 419.2
Ohio unveils new coronavirus quarantine recommendations for students, called Masks to Stay and Tests to Play
Coronavirus vaccine boosters available for eligible Ohioans age 18 and up, Ohio Department of Health says
DURHAM EmitBio, a Durham-based biotechnology company operating as a subsidiary of KNOW Bio, has been issued a new U.S. patent that protects the companys novel COVID-19 treatment: light.
In my opinion, we have the best treatment option versus any other available today, saidNeal Hunter, CEO of KNOW Bio and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at EmitBio Inc. This is supported by over 10,000 invitro experiments and multiple human trials including safety and efficacy.
The company announced results earlier this year from an in vitro neutralization study of the Delta variant of the SARS-VoV-2 virus in human airway tissue. That study found that the light technology eliminated 99.99% of the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and that there was no damage to healthy tissue following three days of twice-daily dosage.
The EmitBio patent will grant the company exclusive rights through the year 2040, Hunter confirmed to WRAL TechWire. This is significant because it protects our existing device and future devices in the pipeline, Hunter said. This helps validate our extensive proprietary platform to fight respiratory disease.
EmitBios technology focuses on delivery of light to stimulate, heal, and protect the human body. The company reported in February 2021 that it hadpositiveclinical trial resultsfor an initial test of its investigational handheld rechargeable-battery-operated device in treating 31 patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
Durham firm says its light technology can inactivate COVID-19 variants
WRAL TechWire previously reported that the device works like a flashlight for the throat. EmitBio developed the device use at home, with a doctors prescription. It works by shining targeted wavelengths of safe, visible LED light whichbathes the back of the throat with a form of solid-state LED light that can get rid of most of the virus in people with mild to moderate respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The patent, U.S. Patent 11,147,984, was issued less than a year after the application was filed, according to the company, and was approved through the USPTOs COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, said John Demos, general counsel for EmitBio. The company noted that the newly granted patent broadly covers oral devices using light to limit or eliminate a vast array of pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a statement sent to WRAL TechWire.
With the patent, and the need for treating patients with COVID-19, the company may be prepared to scale quickly.
Thats because the EmitBio device is a precision opto-electronic device containing fewer components than a cell phone, of which there were 1.5 billion manufactured in 2020, said Hunter. Scale-up could be on a very fast pace, assuming there arent critical component shortages, which should be temporary if they currently exist, Hunter said.
Hunter noted that the company expects to have access to funding on par with what so many antibody companies have enjoyed from the federal government. Accessing this level of funding, said Hunter, would easily allow us to extend our product line and scale production.
I believe that when so much has been discussed about funding new therapeutics at the federal level, our home-use, variant agnostic and very safe treatment option should be at the top of the list, said Hunter. technology platform also has the ability to treat influenza and other pathogens, plus it has the potential to be a lower per-treatment cost than typical pharma solutions.
Still, said Hunter, the company is in the process of raising what will probably be our last round of local capital which will come from existing and new investors.
Can light stop COVID-19? Positive clinical trial boosts Durham firms efforts
The company also announced the publication of a manuscript,Visible blue light inhibits infection and replication of SARS-CoV-2 at doses that are well-tolerated by human respiratory tissue, in the journal Scientific Reports. The company noted in its statement that the peer-reviewed manuscript describes, in detail, the process by which safe, visible light can inhibit coronavirus replication in human tissue without damage to the tissue.
A spokesperson for the company told WRAL TechWire that everyone diagnosed with and everyone who contracts COVID-19 deserves treatment for the illness.
Theres important application of alternative, effective treatments, the spokesperson noted. For respiratory diseases like coronaviruses, the manuscript articulates a process and a pathway that may expand the current portfolio of SARS-CoV-2 intervention strategies beyond the conventional approaches of vaccine, antibody, and antiviral therapeutics, the company spokesperson said.
Representing just a fraction of EmitBios already completed development program, the new fundamental patent and seminal Scientific Reports manuscript together show how light and life science can be combined to provide powerful solutions to seemingly intractable healthcare challenges, said Dave Emerson, CEO, EmitBio, in a statement.
Our proprietary biotechnology platform enables a series of safe, personalized treatments for major disease areas such as respiratory infections and airway inflammation, Emerson added. Rapid deployment of this new treatment modality has the promise to not only change the trajectory of the current COVID-19 pandemic but also protect against future microbial threats.
EmitBios parent company, KNOW Bio, was created in 2015 as a spinoff of drug company Novan. KNOW Bio said in September 2020 thatit had demonstrated the first definitive evidence that nitric oxide can fight the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
KNOW Bio raised $2.6 million from 49 investors in 2017 and added another$4.68 million in 2018, andalso closed$30 million in investment capital from Reedy Creek Investments, the investment arm of SAS co-founder Jim Goodnight.
The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness climbed above 247 million on Tuesday, while the death toll edged above 5 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. continues to lead the world with a total of 46 million cases and 747,033 deaths. The U.S. is still averaging about 1,300 deaths a day, according to a New York Times tracker, although cases and hospitalizations are declining. A judge on Monday suspended a Dec. 31 deadline for Chicago police officers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 but didn't interfere with a requirement that they be regularly tested, the Associated Press reported. "The principal risk to those who are unvaccinated is to themselves and to others who choose to be unvaccinated," the judge said. The judge noted that COVID-19 has killed many officers nationwide."In light of that terrible sacrifice, the police unions' request just to have their grievances heard seems a pretty modest task," Mitchell said.India is second by cases after the U.S. at 34.3 million and has suffered 458,437 deaths. Brazil has second highest death toll at 607,922 and 21.8 million cases. In Europe, Russia has the most fatalities at 235,318 deaths, followed by the U.K. at 141,098.
The first International traveller arrives at Sydney Airport in the wake of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) border restrictions easing, with fully vaccinated Australians being allowed into Sydney from overseas without quarantine for the first time since March 2020, in Sydney, Australia, November 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest city will lift more COVID-19 curbs for vaccinated residents ahead of schedule next week, while delaying freedoms it has promised for unvaccinated Sydneysiders as officials aim to boost inoculations.
Vaccinated people in the harbour city of around 5 million will be allowed unlimited numbers of guests in their homes from Nov. 8.
Pubs and clubs will also be able to accommodate more guests and reopen dance floors, in changes that were initially planned to come into force on Dec. 1.
In contrast, unvaccinated people, who are currently barred from restaurants, non-critical retail stores, bars, gyms and other recreational facilities, will remain under the tougher restrictions until Dec. 15, or when New South Wales state's double vaccination rate reaches 95%.
"We have always wanted to open up in a measured way and incentivise vaccination rates," State Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters in Sydney.
Around 88% of the state's population aged 16 and over has been fully vaccinated, but the first dose vaccination rate has been slowing as it nears 94%.
Australia on Monday lifted a ban on its residents flying overseas after more than 18 months and allowed quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated international travellers. read more
However, the changes initially affect only Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, with other states and territories targeting differing timelines for reopening.
Australia had stayed largely virus-free for most of this year until a third wave in late June, spurred by the Delta variant, triggering further extended lockdowns.
The country has recorded about 173,000 cases and 1,756 deaths, with about 82% of infections attributed to the Delta wave.
New South Wales reported 173 cases on Tuesday, up from 135 a day earlier, while Victoria logged 989 cases, the lowest rise in more than a month. The Australian Capital Territory logged eight new cases. Other states and territories are COVID-free or have very few cases.
Reporting by Renju Jose; editing by Jane Wardell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
ENCINITAS, Calif. The celebratory chords of a mariachi band filled the community center. On seemingly every surface fresh marigold blossoms glowed a bright orange.
And, in this town just north of San Diego, two types of masks were present at its recent Da de Muertos event: faces painted white and black to resemble skulls as well as the more familiar kind cloth coverings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The virus weve been living alongside for nearly two years has left us grappling with a staggering, unfathomable level of loss. On Monday, the official worldwide death toll from Covid-19 hit five million.
In California, the pandemic has imbued Da de Muertos, the annual tradition also known as Day of the Dead, with particular, painful significance.
Covid-19 has killed more than 32,000 Latinos in California, giving the group the highest death rate of any race or ethnicity in the state.
Naimeh Woodward, president of Encinitas Friends of the Arts, which hosted this weekends Da de Muertos celebration, told me, This year, its really relevant more than ever.
Da de Muertos ceremonies remember and honor the dead, typically around Nov. 1 and 2 All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the Catholic calendar. The holiday, widely celebrated in Mexico, has been gaining popularity across the world and the United States in recent decades, with an extra boost from the 2017 Pixar movie Coco.
At the event in Encinitas, colorful candles, painted skulls, fresh and paper flowers, and framed photographs of smiling faces lined tables. These altars, or ofrendas, are meant to entice departed loved ones to briefly return to the land of the living.
I saw ofrendas adorned with mangos, sweetbreads, cans of Tecate and glass bottles of Coca-Cola. Garlands and bouquets of brilliant marigolds further help attract the spirits.
If you dont put that picture there that means you forget about them, so thats why every year you have to remember them so they can come and bless you, said Beatriz Villarreal, who grew up in Mexico City and M.C.s the Encinitas event. My father loved whiskey and chocolate, so I put a little bottle of whiskey and chocolate.
Latinos make up the largest ethnic group in California (they are 39 percent of the population) but their share of Covid-19 deaths (45 percent) is even higher, particularly among younger age groups. The same is true nationwide.
Sixty-six percent of 18- to 34-year-olds who have died from Covid-19 in California were Latino, though Latinos account for just 45 percent of the population in that age group, according to The Los Angeles Times. By contrast, white Californians make up 30 percent of that age group but 12 percent of its deaths.
There are several reasons: Latinos are more likely to have poor access to medical care, work essential jobs that cant be done remotely and live in crowded, multigenerational homes where the virus can easily spread.
The mortality gap is likely to persist as long as the pandemic does, and may even widen. In recent months, a lower rate of Covid-19 vaccination has emerged among Latinos.
For all communities in California, the toll of the pandemic has been extraordinary, and far more than we could have imagined back in March 2020. Last month, California surpassed 70,000 deaths from Covid-19.
This is a scale of devastation typical in wars and the most horrific of natural disasters. The pandemic has left us with a grief so enormous we will process it for years to come, perhaps on Da de Muertos.
Covered California opens: Open enrollment for the nations largest state-run health insurance marketplace began on Monday, The Associated Press reports.
American Airlines attack: A flight attendant on a plane bound for California was struck by a passenger, leaving her with a concussion and a facial injury.
Transgender rights lawsuit: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into a case involving a transgender man and Mercy San Juan Medical Center near Sacramento, The Associated Press reports.
Vaccine harassment law: A federal judge has thrown out Californias new 30-foot buffer zone designed to restrict protests at coronavirus vaccination sites, The Associated Press reports.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Garcetti aide returns: Ana Guerrero returned to Los Angeles City Hall after being placed on leave for comments she made in a Facebook group, The Los Angeles Times reports.
New Chargers headquarters: The Los Angeles Chargers are planning to construct a headquarters and training facility in El Segundo, The Los Angeles Times reports.
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Catalytic converter theft: The number of catalytic converters stolen from cars in Fresno County has spiked this year, The Fresno Bee reports.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
When a California pit stop became permanent, they scrambled for a place to buy. Which home would you choose?
Todays tip is from Vicki Rae, a reader who lives in Sonoma. Vicki recommends nearby Sebastopol and Bodega Bay:
In Sebastopol, stock up on handcrafted chocolate truffles at Sonoma Chocolatiers, then meander down Florence Avenue, where whimsical metal sculptures by the artist Patrick Amiot line the street. On to Walker Apples in Graton, a family-owned apple orchard that gives a glimpse of Sonoma County 50 or 100 years ago. Continue over a forested hill to Occidental and then take Coleman Valley Road to Bodega for breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. Quickly stop at Spud Point Crab Company for crab cocktail to go and catch the sunset at Bodega Head. Perfect day.
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. Well be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.
These 12 titles before they leave Netflix in November.
When Gabi Conti went on a date with Daren Johnson at a bar in West Hollywood, she did something pretty unusual for Angelenos: said exactly what she was thinking.
I excused myself to the bathroom and said, If you dont start asking me things to let me know youre interested in me, Im leaving, Conti told The Times.
Johnson found the directness attractive, and upped his game. Later that night, in September 2019, they shared a kiss.
This month, they got married.
Thanks for reading. Ill be back tomorrow. Soumya
P.S. Heres todays Mini Crossword, and a clue: ___ Mahal (3 letters).
Mariel Wamsley and Shelby Knowles contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.
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