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June 29, 2022 - Brief Issue 343

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

The brief will be on hiatus next week for July 4.

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Top Headlines

New Subvariants Now Dominant, Says U.S. CDC (Health & Science)

U.S. Response to Monkeypox Follows Coronavirus Missteps (Health & Science)

European Central Bank Signals Gradual Interest Rate Hikes (Around the World)

Coronavirus Causes Players to Withdraw at Wimbledon (Around the World)

Hong Kong Could Cut Quarantine, Following China’s Lead (Around the World)

GOP Opposition to More Covid Aid Sparks Democratic Infighting (U.S. Government & Politics)

Alameda County Drops Mask Mandate Three Weeks After Reinstituting It (U.S. Government & Politics)

Rural Counties See Economic Boom (U.S. Economy)

Flight Disruptions Lead Some Business Travelers to Turn to Driving, Change Travel Behavior (U.S. Society)

Retail Workers Push For Ability to Respond to Assaults (U.S. Society)

Health & Science

There have been 87,221,842 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 1,016,766 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 593,739,529 vaccine doses, with 78.1% of all Americans having received at least one vaccine dose and 66.9% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older 89.5% have received at least one dose, and 76.8% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). 47.3% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a first booster shot. 26.1% of Americans aged 50 or older have received a second booster shot. Worldwide, there have been 545,534,456 cases of coronavirus, with 6,332,800 deaths.

Bonus Read: “How America’s racial divisions have echoes in the coronavirus pandemic,” (WaPo).

New Subvariants Now Dominant, Says U.S. CDC

Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have now taken over as the dominant coronavirus strains, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BA.4 and BA.5 were responsible for 52% of new cases last week, up from 37% of cases the previous week and 24% the week before that. It’s a rapid rise: the pair only accounted for 1% of new infections at the beginning of May (USNews). Their rise is global, according to the World Health Organization, who said in a recent report that “in some countries, the rise in cases has also led to a surge in hospitalizations and ICU admissions; however, the current evidence available does not indicate a change in severity associated with any of the three omicron descendent lineages BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5.”

U.S. Response to Monkeypox Follows Coronavirus Missteps

Public health experts are voicing concerns about the U.S. federal government’s handling of the monkeypox outbreak, saying that it’s making the same mistakes it made in its early response to the coronavirus pandemic some 2 years ago. Community transmission of monkeypox is going largely undetected. More than 150 cases have been identified since May 19 in the U.S. and more than 3,300 cases were detected in 42 countries around the world (WaPo). Other nations have ramped up efforts to track and prevent the spread, but in the U.S. the government has failed to “clearly and urgently communication the symptoms and risks associated with monkeypox,” say health experts writing for the Washington Post. On Wednesday, Biden officials said that the government is acquiring more vaccine doses and distributing tests to commercial labs across the country this week. The World Health Organization is convening an emergency committee on Thursday to assess whether the outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, which is the highest-level warning and currently applies only to the coronavirus and polio. 

Around the World

European Central Bank Signals Gradual Interest Rate Hikes

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the bank would raise interest rates slowly over the next months. Lagarde said Europe’s inflation problem was getting worse and said the region faced weaker growth because of the war in Ukraine. The ECB would increase its key rate by .25 percentage points in July and possibly by a larger amount in September (WSJ). According to the Wall Street Journal, “The ECB’s caution underscores a divergence with other major central banks including the Federal Reserve, which is expected to increase its policy rate by 0.75 percentage to a range of 2.25% to 2.5% next month. Inflation has risen above 8% in both regions.” Bonus Read: “Italy’s economy enters choppy waters,” (Politico).

Coronavirus Causes Players to Withdraw at Wimbledon

Matteo Berrettini withdrew from the Wimbledon tournament Tuesday after testing positive for the coronavirus. The previous day, Marin Cilic, the No. 14 seed from Croatia, also withdrew after testing positive. The two positive cases raised the prospect of an outbreak among the rest of the players as both Berrettini and Cilic have been in contact with many players in the past few weeks (NYT). On Thursday, Berrettini trained with Farael Nadal, the No. 2 seed, and Cilic trained with Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 seed. Djokovic remains unvaccinated for the coronavirus.

Hong Kong Could Cut Quarantine, Following China’s Lead 

Professor Lo Chung-mau, who will be Hong Kong’s new secretary for health on July 1, said that Hong Kong could cut the hotel quarantine requirements for travelers to five days with another two days to be spent in home isolation (SCMP). The announcement, made on Tuesday, follows mainland China’s decision to reduce quarantine time for overseas arrivals to seven days, down from two weeks (Bloomberg). It was the biggest shift yet in the country’s Covid-19 policy and experts say it could signal a move toward relaxing the zero-Covid strategy.

U.S. Government & Politics

GOP Opposition to More Covid Aid Sparks Democratic Infighting

The New York Times reports that Congressional Republicans’ opposition to passing more Covid aid funding has led to infighting among Democrats over next steps (NYT). The Times writes, “President Biden’s request for $22.5 million in emergency coronavirus aid to bolster the nation’s supply of coronavirus tests, vaccines and treatments, which stalled for months amid objections from both parties, is now the subject of Democratic infighting and finger-pointing on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats say they are waiting for the House to take up legislation, while House Democrats say the next move is up to the Senate.” The Times adds, “Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi each say the other is responsible for pushing the bill forward.” Schumer himself told reporters, “As you know, we passed our bill. The House didn’t. So we’re still awaiting the House and seeing what they are going to do.” Meanwhile a House Democratic aide told the Times, that the Senate “put Covid talks on the back burner.”

Alameda County Drops Mask Mandate Three Weeks After Reinstituting It

On Saturday, Alameda County, California, home to Oakland, dropped its mask mandate, which it had reinstituted in early June (NYT). The New York Times writes, “Daily case rates are falling, and, while the number of residents hospitalized with the virus remains high, daily new admissions have stabilized, county health officials said in a statement. Wastewater data mirrored these trends, they said. People who contract the coronavirus shed it in their stool, and the virus level in local wastewater is a reliable, independent signal of how much coronavirus is circulating in a given community.”

U.S. Economy

Bonus Read: “Stocks Turn Lower, Losing Early Momentum,” (WSJ).

Rural Counties See Economic Boom

During the pandemic, rural counties saw an economic boom, but questions linger over whether it will last (WSJ). The Wall Street Journal reports, “Even in the face of inflation and the risk of recession, the broad economic prospects for rural America may be looking up for the first time in years. Small communities have long lagged far behind big cities in job creation and income growth. But since the pandemic, many are seeing an infusion of remote workers drawn by lower costs, laid-back lifestyles and natural beauty—and worn down by crime and other urban challenges. Their presence has helped spur hiring, income gains and home-price growth in rural towns.” The Journal adds, “The question now is whether these transplants are there to stay,” adding, “Such rural gains are in their early stages and could be vulnerable to a national economic downturn. They also depend on how far the back-to-the-office movement goes. In recent months, office reopenings and waning pandemic disruptions have drawn some workers back to urban life, a trend that is manifested in the rising rental prices of places such as New York City.” 

U.S. Society

Flight Disruptions Lead Some Business Travelers to Turn to Driving, Change Travel Behavior

As we have covered in prior briefs, air travel has surged, recovering from its pandemics low, but as it has done so, travelers face flight disruptions and high prices. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that some business travelers are now turning to driving instead of flying (WSJ). The Journal writes, “frustrated professionals are opting to drive instead of fly for work trips, booking companies and travelers say.” Meanwhile, businesses are trying to adjust for delays. The Journal writes, “Meeting and conference organizers say they’re changing schedules to account for flight delays, for example putting keynote speakers on the second or third day of events, rather than the opening sessions.” The Journal notes that some companies are taking other steps including paying for more expensive, direct flights in order to limit delays. Bonus Read: “Flight cancellations stressing weary travelers as July 4 approaches,” (WaPo).

Retail Workers Push For Ability to Respond to Assaults

The New York Times reports that a wave of assaults on retail workers during the pandemic has led some retail workers to demand better safety protections (NYT). The surge in such assaults is apparent in FBI data. The Times reports, “According to a New York Times analysis of F.B.I. assault data, the number of assaults in many retail establishments has been increasing at a faster pace than the national average. From 2018 to 2020, assaults reported to the F.B.I. by law enforcement agencies overall rose 42 percent; they increased 63 percent in grocery stores and 75 percent in convenience stores. The assault numbers can fluctuate depending on how many local police departments and other law enforcement agencies report to the F.B.I., and more departments reported in 2020 than in 2018. Of the more than two million assaults reported to the F.B.I. by law enforcement agencies across the country in 2020, more than 82,000 — about 4 percent — were at shopping malls, convenience stores and other similar locations." The Times writes, “During the early months of the pandemic, stores became tinderboxes for a society frazzled by lockdowns, protests and mask mandates. Many workers say that tension persists, even as pandemic tensions recede, and that they need more protections.” At least one union has sought greater such protections in their contract. The Times reports, “In her 37 years in the grocery industry, said Kim Cordova, a union president in Colorado, she had never experienced the level of violence that her members face today,” adding, “So when she was negotiating contracts for 21,000 grocery workers in Colorado this past winter, the usual issues of wages and scheduling were certainly on the table. But just as critical, if not more so, was safety.” She stated, “What happened with Covid?,” adding, “People have changed. Sometimes I wonder if I am living in a Netflix movie. This can’t be real.” According to the Times, the contract “ensures workers have the right to defend themselves if a customer attacks them.”

Bonus Read: “Less Takeout, More Produce Swapping: How Inflation Is Altering People’s Behavior,” (NYT).

Analysis & Arguments

Derek Thompson writes on why air travel is a disaster now (Atlantic).

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

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