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February 17, 2022 - Brief Issue 288
The Coronavirus Daily Brief is a daily news and analysis roundup edited by New America’s International Security Program and Arizona State University.
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Top Headlines
Omicron Wave Continues Decline in the U.S., Now Below Delta Peak (Health & Science)
Britain to Extend Vaccines to Children (Health & Science)
Germany, Austria, Greece Will Lift Restrictions (Around the World)
While the Rest of the World Reopens, Hong Kong Overwhelmed by Cases (Around the World)
Washington Post Analysis: Rich, Republican Communities Largest Contributors to Canadian Protests (U.S. Government & Politics)
CDC Lowers Cruise Warning to High (U.S. Government & Politics)
Retail Sales Jump 3.8% (U.S. Economy)
Investors Bought a Record Share of Homes in 2021, Raising Concerns about Racial Disparities (U.S. Economy)
Disney World to End Mask Mandate for the Fully Vaccinated (U.S. Society)
San Francisco Votes to Oust Three Board of Education Members (U.S. Society)
American Olympian Allowed to Skate Once Again After Isolating due to Covid (U.S. Society)
Health & Science
There have been 78,173,320 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 928,519 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 548,391,614 vaccine doses, with 76% of all Americans having received at least one vaccine dose and 64.5% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older 87.6% have received at least one dose, and 74.6% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). 43% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster shot. Worldwide, there have been 418,189,920 cases of coronavirus, with 5,852,887 deaths.
Omicron Wave Continues Decline in the U.S., Now Below Delta Peak
The number of coronavirus cases driven in the U.S. has now fallen below the peak of the Delta-driven wave that topped out at 164,418 on Sept. 1. Deaths still remain high at around 2,328 per day (NYT). Many businesses and event venues are loosening their mask requirements as a result of falling case counts. On Tuesday, Tyson Foods, Walt Disney World, and Disneyland joined Walmart and others to loosen their mask requirements. Organizers of the outdoor music festivals Coachella and Stagecoach said on Tuesday that attendees would not be required to wear masks, be vaccinated, or be tested for the coronavirus. Bonus Read: “Coronaviruses are ‘clever’: Evolutionary scenarios for the future of SARS-CoV-2,” (STAT).
Britain to Extend Vaccines to Children
British children aged 5 to 11 will be offered the coronavirus vaccine. England’s health secretary, Sajid Javid, said on Wednesday (NYT). Scotland and Wales, which have their own health systems, also announced plans to begin vaccinating children in the same age range on Wednesday. Mr. Javid said the intention of the broader policy was to allow parents the opportunity “to increase protection against potential future waves of Covid-19 as we learn to live with this virus.” Although medically vulnerable children in that age group are already being vaccinated in Britain, the country has been slower than other European nations to offer vaccinations for young children. In the U.S., for example, the Food and Drug Administration approved vaccinations for children from 5 years old in October.
Around the World
Germany, Austria, Greece Will Lift Restrictions
On Wednesday German officials announced that most of the country’s remaining coronavirus restrictions would be lifted by March 20. Germany has been slower than most other European countries to ease measures put in place to stop the spread of the virus, but now, “Unless some other variant of the virus comes around the corner, we will now actually experience a spring and a summer in which most of the restrictions we have will no longer affect our daily lives,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Germany’s state governors agreed on a three-step plan to drop the restrictions, the first step being that people who are fully vaccinated or recovered can gather in groups and stores will no longer need to ask customers for proof of vaccination or recovery (NYT).
In Austria, where a universal vaccine mandate was recently put in place, officials said most restrictions in the country would be lifted by March 5. As early as next week, rules barring unvaccinated people from bars, restaurants, and winter sports will be lifted. The country’s health minister, Wolfgang Mückstein, called the plan “a dignified spring awakening from an entrenched crisis mode.”
Greece will lift some restrictions on the hospitality and service sector, officials announced on Wednesday following a recommendation from an advisory committee of infectious disease experts (Reuters). The committee recommended lifting curbs barring standing customers at bars and night clubs and raising the attendance for sports venues to 50% capacity. The committee also recommended that school excursions resume and that the work-from-home requirement be lowered to 20%. Health Minister Thanos Plevris said the government accepted the recommendations and that the new measures will apply from Feb. 19.
While the Rest of the World Reopens, Hong Kong Overwhelmed by Cases
Hong Kong had successfully avoided the worst of the coronavirus pandemic for the past two years, but on Wednesday scenes akin to those from the earliest days of the pandemic permeated the city: elderly patients waited outside of hospitals for beds, some patients were placed in bathrooms until rooms opened up, and wait times increased to over eight hours in emergency rooms. There were more than 4,000 new cases recorded Wednesday in Hong Kong and that number is expected to almost double by the end of the week in a colossal failure of Hong Kong’s zero-covid policy.
According to the Washington Post, “Hong Kong follows what it describes as a ‘dynamic zero covid’ policy, which broadly aims at getting local infections down to zero. This is in contrast to a strategy of living with the virus with a vaccinated population, a policy that increasingly is being followed elsewhere. This zero-covid approach is promoted by Beijing, which exerts strong control over Hong Kong’s local officials, and the policy mirrors the one being implemented in the rest of China.” But that policy is being pressured by the lagging vaccination rate, particularly among the elderly, and the more transmissible Omicron variant.
On Thursday, the Hong Kong government said it was planning to make up to 10,000 hotel rooms available for Covid-19 patients (Reuters). Chief Executive Carrie Lam appealed to the public for support, saying "With the utmost concern and staunch support of President Xi Jinping...all in society must now join hands in riding out the fifth wave of the epidemic, displaying the Hong Kong spirit in full."
U.S. Government & Politics
Bonus Watch: “Political Views Are Influencing Economic Expectations. Here’s How,” (WSJ).
Washington Post Analysis: Rich, Republican Communities Largest Contributors to Canadian Protests
On Tuesday, the Washington Post published an analysis of which American communities sent money to the Canadian trucker protests (WaPo). The Post reports, “The richer an American community was, the more likely residents there were to donate, and the biggest number of contributions often came from communities where registered Republicans made up solid majorities, according to the review of more than 55,000 U.S.-based donations through the Christian fundraising website GiveSendGo.” The hacked data was provided to journalists by Distributed Denial of Secrets. The Post notes that while richer and Republican areas made up the bulk of the donors, “Not all contributions from the United States were made by Republicans, according to leaked data that The Post compared with public records and voter registration data. Nearly a third of the donations came from zip codes where Democrats outnumber Republicans, according to voter registration records.” The Post also reports that there was a clustering dynamic in much of the South.
CDC Lowers Cruise Warning to High
On Tuesday, the CDC lowered its warning regarding cruise ship travel from Level 4 (very high) to Level 3 (high), the Washington Post reports. The Post writes, “Under the new guidance, the CDC says travelers should make sure they are “up to date” with their coronavirus vaccines — which means the initial vaccination and a booster, when eligible — before taking a cruise. People who are not up to date with their vaccines should avoid cruise travel, the CDC says. And regardless of vaccination status, the agency says those who are at increased risk for severe illness from covid-19 should also avoid cruises.” The Cruise Lines International Association called the move “a step in the right direction.” The Post writes, “Ships reported 14,803 coronavirus cases between Dec. 30 and Jan. 12. Updated numbers were not available late Tuesday, but CDC spokeswoman Caitlin Shockey said in a statement that the agency made its decision to lower the travel health notice in response to decreasing cases on ships operating in the United States.”
U.S. Economy
Retail Sales Jump 3.8%
On Wednesday, the Department of Commerce released data showing that monthly retail sales jumped a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in January (WSJ). The Wall Street Journal writes, “That marked the strongest monthly gain since last March when pandemic-related stimulus was being distributed to households. The jump in retail spending last month also represented a rebound from December, when sales fell by a revised 2.5%.” The increase was broad-based. However, the Journal notes, “Unlike other economic-data reports produced by the U.S. government, retail sales aren’t adjusted for inflation. That means higher retail-sales figures can reflect higher prices rather than more purchases.”
Investors Bought a Record Share of Homes in 2021, Raising Concerns about Racial Disparities
The Washington Post reports that according to the realty company Redfin, investors were responsible for about one in seven home purchases in 2021, a two-decade record (WaPo). The Post notes, “Investors were even more aggressive in the final three months of the year, buying 15 percent of all homes that sold in the 40 markets.” The data raises concerns among some about its potential disparate impact. The Post writes, “Neighborhoods where a majority of residents are Black have been heavily targeted, according to a Washington Post analysis of Redfin data. Last year, 30 percent of home sales in majority Black neighborhoods were to investors, compared with 12 percent in other Zip codes, The Post’s analysis shows.” This has stoked concern that the investor interest has increased prices in some of these neighborhoods. Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown commented during a Congressional hearing, “One of the reasons housing prices have gotten so out of control, is that corporate America sensed an opportunity.” He added, “They bought up properties, they raised rents, they cut services, they priced out family home buyers, and they forced renters out of their homes.”
U.S. Society
Bonus Read: “When One Partner Goes Back to Work, the Home Office Gets Loud,” (WSJ).
Disney World to End Mask Mandate for the Fully Vaccinated
Today, Thursday, the highly frequented resort in Orlando, Walt Disney World, will abandon its mask mandate for visitors who are fully vaccinated (NYT). All those who are not vaccinated will still be required to mask, but “whether staff members will be checking vaccination status of visitors upon arrival is unclear. Disney World representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday” writes the New York Times. Disneyland in California is said to adopt similar changes beginning Thursday.
San Francisco Votes to Oust Three Board of Education Members
On Tuesday, San Francisco voted to oust three Board of Education members—Alison Collins, Gabriela López, and Faauuga Moliga. The vote came after heated debate “fueled by pandemic angst and anger” writes the New York Times (NYT). Parents were enraged that the board prioritized discussions of renaming schools instead of reopening them. The Times writes, “The recall was a victory for parents who were angered that the district spent time deciding whether to rename a third of its schools last year instead of focusing on reopening them. It also appeared to be a demonstration of Asian American electoral power, a galvanizing moment for Chinese American voters in particular who turned out in unusually large numbers for the election.”
American Olympian Allowed to Skate Once Again After Isolating due to Covid
Olympian Vincent Zhou was allowed to return to the 2022 Olympic Games after isolating for a week due to a positive Covid test (NYT).. The American figure skater, who assisted in winning his team a silver medal just a week ago, spent his isolation watching movies. Zhou had to withdraw from the men’s individual event. The New York Times writes: “The men’s event was held without controversy, and Zhou said he didn’t watch it because it was too emotionally painful.” Zhou plans to skate one more time this season on Sunday, the final day of the Olympics.
Bonus Read: “The police say a Florida woman used a pandemic-relief loan to pay a hit man,” (NYT).
Analysis & Arguments
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