Click here to subscribe to the daily brief.

February 9, 2021 - Brief Issue 150

The Coronavirus Daily Brief is a daily news and analysis roundup edited by New America’s International Security Program and Arizona State University

Join our team: We’re looking for a science writing intern to help produce the Coronavirus Daily Brief. Apply here.

Please consider making a donation to support our ongoing analysis of the most important news and headlines surrounding Covid-19.​

Top Headlines

New York City to Reopen Indoor Dining, Some Schools (Health & Science)

High Demand for Covid-19 Vaccines Strains Health Providers (Health & Science)

Investigations Underway into Isolated Thrombocytopenia Cases Occurring After Covid-19 Vaccinations (Health & Science)

Los Angeles Hospital System Reveals Inequalities in American Healthcare (Health & Science)

Cases Down, Vaccinations Up: Signs of Hope in the Covid-19 Pandemic (Health & Science)

Critics Say Covid-19 Test Funded by Biden Administration Unlikely to Help Curb Pandemic (Health & Science)

South Korea PM Urges Compliance Ahead of Lunar New Year (Around the World)

In China, New Births Fall 15 Percent; Car Sales Up 25 Percent (Around the World)

Russian Statistics for Virus-linked Deaths Jump (Around the World)

Israel, Greece Sign Tourism Deal (Around the World)

U.K. Considers More Testing for Newly Arrived (Around the World)

Democrats Split Over Criteria For Receiving Direct Checks (U.S. Government)

Representative Wright Dies Following Covid-19 Infection, First Sitting Legislator to Die (U.S. Government)

CBO Study: $15 Minimum Wage Would Cut Jobs, Reduce Poverty (U.S. Economy)

Federal Executions Likely Act as Superspreader Events (U.S. Society)

Health & Science

There have been 27,097,105 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 465,072 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has conducted 321,856,938 tests and distributed 59,307,800 vaccine doses, with 42,417,617 doses administered (U.S. CDC). Worldwide, there have been 106,097,105 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 2,326,700 deaths. At least 59,455,006 people have recovered from the virus.

New York City to Reopen Indoor Dining, Some Schools

Restaurants in New York City will resume indoor dining service on Friday, two day earlier than previously announced (NYT). Restaurants were originally set to open on February 14th, typically a profitable day for the restaurant industry. However, because the Valentine’s Day holiday falls on a Sunday, generally a slower day, restaurants in the city requested an earlier opening in order to take advantage of the full weekend. After reviewing the latest available data, the city agreed to honor the request.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday that in-person learning would resume for the city’s middle schoolers starting on February 25, after more than two months of school closures (WSJ). About half of the 471 middle schools will go back to full-time, in-person learning. The other half will continue to operate remotely or adopt a hybrid learning schedule until they can fully reopen. City officials are still working on plans to reopen high schools. Several recent studies have found that, with proper safety measures, schools are relatively low-risk environments for Covid-19 spread. Indoor dining is considered a riskier activity.

High Demand for Covid-19 Vaccines Strains Health Providers

Rapid expansion of Covid-19 vaccine eligibility has put some health systems under strain as they attempt to handle the influx of people seeking vaccines (WSJ). A recommendation by the federal government – made under the Trump administration and continued in the Biden presidency – suggested that states quickly open eligibility to include people 65 and older and adults with high-risk conditions. The goal of the recommendation was to ensure speedy vaccine rollout and eliminate wasted doses. However, some states say that the new eligibility criteria are too broad and have caused demand to far outpace supply. Local providers are reporting sign-up system crashes, lengthy waiting lists and swamped phone banks. Some worry that older people are being crowded out of online sign-up platforms by younger, more tech-savvy patients. In an interview on Monday, President Biden said that his predecessor vastly overstated the number of vaccines that would be available (WaPo). Mr. Biden has asked vaccine providers to ramp up production in order to keep pace with demand and meet targets of vaccinating a majority of people in the U.S. by the end of the summer.  

Investigations Underway into Isolated Thrombocytopenia Cases Occurring After Covid-19 Vaccinations

Since the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination program in the U.S., approximately 36 cases of thrombocytopenia, a rare blood disorder, have been reported to the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Dr. Gregory Michael, a Florida obstetrician, died from thrombocytopenia shortly after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. However, officials at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that the rates of the disorder in vaccinated individuals are not higher than the rates in the general population (NYT).

So far, no definitive causal relationship has been established between Covid-19 vaccines and thrombocytopenia. However, experts say a link is plausible. Thrombocytopenia is a disorder in which too few platelets are present in the blood, causing problems with blood clotting. In some cases, the disorder may arise after illness or due to an autoimmune reaction wherein the body’s immune system attacks its own platelets. It has also occurred in people who have received other immunizations, especially the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Experts say that the cases should not deter people from seeking vaccination from Covid-19. The reaction, if caused by Covid-19 vaccines, is thought to be exceedingly rare, and the risk of developing a severe case of Covid-19 is much higher.

Los Angeles Hospital System Reveals Inequalities in American Healthcare

A New York Times story covers the deaths of two men, Emilio Virgen and Gabriel Flores, both Los Angeles residents who died of Covid-19 in Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, one of the hardest-hit hospitals in the nation. The small community hospital has treated more Covid-19 patients than hospitals three or four times its size in a city overwhelmed by cases of the virus. Eighty percent of Covid-19 deaths at M.L.K. have been in Hispanic people, who have the highest mortality rates from Covid-19 in Los Angeles. M.L.K.’s chief executive, Dr. Elaine Batchlor, said that the hospital often treats people from medically underserved areas. Many patients come from impoverished neighborhoods, which experience death from Covid-19 at four times the rate of wealthy neighborhoods.

In treating Covid-19 patients, M.L.K. faced numerous challenges. It did not have access to innovative new treatments and expensive machines available to larger hospitals. It did not have a large, expert staff to keep pace with the volume of cases. Even when the small, overwhelmed hospital tried to transfer patients to larger hospitals for treatment, many of the hospitals refused the transfers for insurance reasons. Patients at M.L.K. are often denied services at other hospitals – just four percent of patients have private insurance, which usually reimburses expenses at higher rates than public insurance. Dr. Batchlor, speaking to the New York Times, said, “We’ve created a separate and unequal hospital system and a separate and unequal funding system for low-income communities, and now with Covid, we’re seeing the disproportionate impact.”

Cases Down, Vaccinations Up: Signs of Hope in the Covid-19 Pandemic

After months of out-of-control Covid-19 cases and a slow start to the vaccine rollout, the U.S. is seeing some signs of hope in the ongoing pandemic. The seven-day average for new cases in the country is just over 110,000 – not a small number by any means, but the lowest since early November (Johns Hopkins). Hospitalizations are also down to approximately 81,000 per day from a high of more than 132,000 (CNN). Vaccinations are also picking up speed. As of Monday, more than 42 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered (CDC). According to CNN, the number of Covid-19 vaccines administered outnumbered the official U.S. Covid-19 count 10 to one this week. Experts still caution that, until a majority of the population is vaccinated, likely no earlier than summer 2021, public health measures like masking and distancing will remain highly important.

Critics Say Covid-19 Test Funded by Biden Administration Unlikely to Help Curb Pandemic

As Covid-19 cases surged around the country, testing often presented a bottleneck. In some areas, testing appointments were difficult to secure or required testers to wait in line for hours, and lab-based test results took days to process. Health experts asked the federal government to fund fast, cheap tests that could be performed regularly at home and would give people an earlier indication if they contracted the virus and needed to self-isolate.

Now, the Biden administration has announced a $231.8 million deal with the Australian company Ellume to produce a fully at-home test, but some experts say it is too expensive and too complicated to be of much practical use (STAT). The test, which was granted emergency use authorization in the U.S. in December, will only provide about 100,000 test kits per month from February to July, eventually scaling up to higher production levels. By contrast, nearly 2 million Covid-19 tests were performed every day last month in the United States. The test costs about $30, making it too expensive to be used as a regular household screening test, and it requires the use of a smartphone app that some users have described as confusing. While some experts believe home testing can still be used as a powerful strategy to help curb the Covid-19 pandemic, critics say the test needs to be much cheaper and simpler in order to have an impact.

Bonus Reads: “The Grandparents Have Gotten Their Covid-19 Vaccine. Is it Finally OK to Visit Them?,” (WSJ); “A Holistic View of Vaccine Hesitancy, (NYT); “‘What other variants might be out there?’ An expert on viral evolution on what’s happening with coronavirus mutations,” (STAT).

Around the World

Asia

South Korea PM Urges Compliance Ahead of Lunar New Year

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday called for compliance from restaurant and other business owners in the greater Seoul area ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The country has imposed social distancing measures, including a ban on indoor dining after 9 p.m., in an attempt to curb coronavirus infections. But business owners and self-employeed people in Seoul and the the port city of Incheon criticized the government for unfair treatment and some businesses opened their stores in protest of the restrictions. The government then eased the curfew for more than half a million restaurants and other businesses outside the capital. “I understand the frustration, but we have made the decision after comprehensive consideration of social acceptance and different opinions,” Chung told a government meeting (Reuters). The Lunar New Year, which begins on Feb. 11, is typically a time of celebration for South Koreans and tens of millions of people travel to see family and friends. This year, travel and gatherings are discouraged as the country is currently seeing over 300 new cases of coronavirus a day.

In China, New Births Fall 15 Percent; Car Sales Up 25 Percent

The number of new births in China fell 15% in 2020 compared to a year earlier due to the coronavirus and its affect on the economy, according to the Ministry of Public Security (Guardian). In 2020, China had 10.035 million births, compared to 11.79 million in 2019. Experts cite the economic uncertainties and the rising costs of health care, education, and housing as reasons for couples to put off having children. Last year’s statistics build on a years-long birth decline in the world’s most populous country, where about one-fifth of citizens are aged 60 or above. 

China’s care sales surged in January compared to the same time last year, with the sales of passenger cars up 25.7% to 2.16 million vehicles last month (WSJ). The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released the new numbers on Monday, saying it was the strongest growth since September 2016. Pandemic-related shutdowns of businesses last year caused sales to slump by 20% in January 2020. The CPCA previously predicted a 7% growth in 2021 and the group’s secretary general cautioned on Monday that the market could see pressure in the second half of the year.

Europe 

Russian Statistics for Virus-linked Deaths Jump

On Monday Russia issued updates for statistics on coronavirus-linked deaths, which showed that 162,429 people with Covid-19 died in 2020, a number much higher than any previously reported by government officials (AP). The number includes cases where the virus wasn’t the main cause of death and where deceased was suspected to be covid-19 positive but not confirmed. The new statistics, released by Rosstat, the state statistics agency, is much higher due to different counting methods and the fact that the agency used data from civil registry offices where registering a death is finalized. December had the highest number of deaths in the country since April--44,435 according to Rosstat. The agency’s data also showed that the number of deaths from all causes grew by nearlly 18% in 2020 compared to the previous year. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said 31% of these excess deaths in 2020 were those caused by “clearly diagnosed” COVID-19. “Counting those who died from other causes but tested positive for COVID, (deaths of people with COVID-19 constitute) 50% of excess mortality in 2020,” Golikova said.

 Israel, Greece Sign Tourism Deal

On Monday Israel and Greece agreed to clear the way for vaccinated tourists to travel between the two countries in an effort to boost the economies amid the pandemic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the deal in Jerusalem, saying that tourists with vaccination certificates would be free to move between the two countries “without any limitations, no self-isolation, nothing,” according to Netanyahu (AP). Both Israel and Greece depend on tourism, which fell sharply in 2020 due to global restrictions on travel. 

Bonus Read: “The pandemic has hastened exits from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community,” (NYT).

U.K. Considers More Testing for Newly Arrived

Britain is looking at greater testing for all people who have arrived from abroad while they complete the required quarantine in an effort to defend against new variants of the coronavirus (Reuters). All international arrivals would have to be tested for Covid-19 on the second and eight days of the self-isolation period. “We are constantly looking at refining our approach to the border simply because there is a risk from new variants coming from other countries around the world,” Environment Secretary George Eustice told Times Radio. “Until we have fully rolled out the vaccine and identified a way to be able to update the vaccine to meet new challenges we do have to exercise some caution about international travel,” he said. Currently, arrivals must have proof of a negative test in the past three days before traveling and then self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival in the country. The government is due to require travelers arriving from Covid hot spots, like South Africa, to quarantine in hotels beginning on Feb. 15 but the government is still in talks with hotels on the measures. 

Pandemic-Driven Contactless Travel Raising Privacy Concerns

The pandemic is driving the aviation industry to seek to minimize the level of contact involved in check in and security for air travel, but the steps being taken to reduce contact are raising privacy concerns (Politico). “We’ve seen a huge move to contactless travel; it’s eight years’ moves in the space of a few months” Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce told Politico. In Germany, airports are using facial recognition technology to ease check in without contact and others are turning to mobile phone-based check in processes. Yet Politico notes, “digital rights campaigners say they’re concerned the pandemic has opened the door to a cultural change that isn’t proportionate and could be detrimental, if passengers get used to handing over more personal data and that data isn’t protected.” Daniel Leufer, Europe policy analyst at Access Now, told Politico, “Airports have been hugely keen to roll this stuff out for a long time. It’s not a new thing that the industry has been pushing,” adding, “one of the most common things that has been pushed is this touchless angle. You have panels of people talking about the amazing business opportunities presented by the pandemic on the further adoption of biometrics.”

U.S. Government & Politics

Democrats Split Over Criteria For Receiving Direct Checks

Democratic senators are split amongst themselves over the details of who should and shouldn’t receive Covid relief in the form of direct checks (WaPo). The Washington Post reports, “Democrats will include payments of $1,400 per person in the stimulus proposal, fulfilling a key pledge from Biden to bring $600 payments from December to $2,000 in total. But they disagree about who should be eligible to receive them, with mixed signals from the Biden administration complicating the situation.” On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated, “There’s a discussion right now about what that threshold will look like,” adding, “It’s still being negotiated at this point.” Some lawmakers including Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) have called for the income threshold for eligibility to be lowered to $50,000 from the prior threshold of a $75,000 annual income. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Senate Finance Committee chairman, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, both oppose lowering the threshold as does the House Congressional Progressive Caucus. The effort to lower the threshold has also drawn criticism from Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who attributes his victory that secured the Democrats’ Senate majority in large part to the promise of direct aid. As we have covered in previous briefs, the White House has said it is willing to compromise on the threshold but not the amount of checks. Bonus Read: “Inside Bidenworld’s Plan to Punish the GOP for Opposing Covid Relief,” (Politico).

Representative Wright Dies Following Covid-19 Infection, First Sitting Legislator to Die

On Sunday, Representative Ron Wright (R-TX-6) died after being hospitalized with Covid according to a statement from his office on Monday (Politico, WaPo, CNN). Wright, aged 67, tested positive in January and had spent two weeks in the hospital. In 2018, he had also been diagnosed with lung cancer, a condition associated with vulnerability to Covid-19, and had been hospitalized in September in relation to the cancer. Wright’s office stated, “As friends, family, and many of his constituents will know, Ron maintained his quick wit and optimism until the very end,” adding “Despite years of painful, sometimes debilitating treatment for cancer, Ron never lacked the desire to get up and go to work, to motivate those around him, or to offer fatherly advice” In December, Representative-Elect Luke Letlow (R-LA-5) died after testing positive for Covid, but Wright is the first to die as a sitting legislator.

Bonus Read: “He’s the Only Governor Up For Reelection. The Pandemic May Haunt Him,” (Politico).

U.S. Economy

CBO Study: $15 Minimum Wage Would Cut Jobs, Reduce Poverty

On Monday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a study finding that a $15 per hour minimum wage would result in a cut in jobs but also a reduction in poverty (WSJ). The Wall Street Journal reports, “Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 from the current level of $7.25 an hour, as President Biden has called for, would cut employment by 1.4 million and reduce the number of Americans below the poverty line by 900,000, according to a study released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Monday.” The results are broadly similar to a prior CBO that found per the Journal that a “$15-an-hour increase in the federal minimum wage by 2025 could cost 1.3 million Americans their jobs, lift 1.3 million Americans out of poverty and boost the pay of about 27 million workers.” The study comes following comments from President Biden on Friday that while he included the wage hike in his proposal, he doubts that it will be included in the final bill that passes (NPR). Biden told CBS Evening News, “I don't think it's going to survive.” The comment drew criticism from progressives who emphasized the importance of passing the hike as part of the Covid relief bill (Fox). Part of the issue is that there is a legal question about whether such a hike could be passed under Congress’ reconciliation process, which would allow the Democrats to pass the bill without gaining ten Republican votes to break a filibuster or eliminating the filibuster itself, an almost certain impossibility for the relief bill itself let alone the proposed hike. The Byrd Rule prohibits the use of reconciliation to pass unrelated proposals that do not affect the overall budget. Senator Bernie Sanders told CNN, “We have a room full of lawyers working as hard as we can to make the case to the parliamentarian that, in fact, raising the minimum wage will have significant budget implications and, in fact, should be consistent with reconciliation rules.”

Bonus Read: “They Quit Rather Than Risk Covid at Work. Now They’re Hoping Biden Can Help Them Collect Unemployment,” (WaPo).

U.S. Society

Federal Executions Likely Acted as Superspreader Events

Federal executions likely acted as superspreader events, according to an analysis by the AP published on Friday (AP). The AP writes, “As the Trump administration was nearing the end of an unprecedented string of executions, 70% of death row inmates were sick with COVID-19. Guards were ill. Traveling prisons staff on the execution team had the virus. So did media witnesses, who may have unknowingly infected others when they returned home because they were never told about the spreading cases.” Based on records it obtained, the AP found that employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out “were able to refuse testing and declined to participate in contact tracing efforts and were still permitted to return to their work assignments.” Staff reportedly shared tips about how to avoid quarantine. The AP reports, “Of the 47 people on death row, 33 tested positive between Dec. 16 and Dec. 20, becoming infected soon after the executions of Alfred Bourgeois on Dec. 11 and Brandon Bernard on Dec. 10, according to Colorado-based attorney Madeline Cohen, who compiled the names of those who tested positive by reaching out to other federal death row lawyers.” The AP also notes that while it is impossible to pinpoint whether executions were the cause of spread, that inability is itself in part the result of the actions, non-compliance, and secrecy of those who worked on the executions. 

Prisons have been particularly susceptible to Covid-19 outbreaks. In Texas, a death row inmate, Jorge Villanueva, 66, died over the weekend after testing positive for Covid-19 (Houston Chronicle). According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Villanueva was battling other “significant health challenges” and his exact cause of death was not confirmed. Villanueva was convicted in 1994 in a capital murder case in Harris County, Texas. 

Bonus Read: “The Union Leader Who Says She Can Get Teachers Back in Schools,” (NYT).

Analysis & Arguments

Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, and Michael Stepner analyze who has used their stimulus checks (NYT).

Sarah Jaffe writes on how nurses have been on the frontline of pandemic response and improving American health care more broadly (Nation).

Atul Gawande looks at the worst hit county in the worst hit state in the worst hit country and how it struggles with the pandemic (New Yorker).

 Readers can send in tips, critiques, questions, and suggestions to coronavirusbrief@newamerica.org.

The Brief is edited by David Sterman and Emily Schneider with Jessica Scott and Senior Editor Peter Bergen.

Read previous briefs here and stream and subscribe to our weekly podcast here.

About New America

New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America by continuing the quest to realize our nation's highest ideals. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report. 

Help us to continue advancing policy solutions and journalism by making a donation to New America.