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July 13, 2022 - Brief Issue 347
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
BA.5 Obliterates Hope of Virus Fading Away (Health & Science)
EU Calls for Second Booster for People Over 60 (Health & Science)
Pandemic Fueled Surge in Superbug Infections (Health & Science)
WHO: Covid is Still a Global Health Emergency (Around the World)
Boris Johnson to Step Down on September 6 (Around the World)
Heathrow to Limit Passengers Due to High Demand, Staffing Shortage (Around the World)
White House: Covid is Not Over (U.S. Government & Politics)
Covid-Related Senate Absences Disrupt Democrats’ Plans (U.S. Government & Politics)
Poll Finds Nearly Half of Republicans Ready to Dump Trump; DeSantis Convenes Donors Amid Presidential Speculation (U.S. Government & Politics)
Unionization Efforts Rose in First Half of 2022 (U.S. Economy)
Hiring Robust Among White Collar Employees, More Tepid Among Others (U.S. Economy)
Peloton to Outsource Making Its Bikes (U.S. Society)
Health & Science
There have been 88,947,827 coronavirus cases in the United States, and 1,021,853 people have died (Johns Hopkins). The United States has administered 597,655,035 vaccine doses, with 78.4% of all Americans having received at least one vaccine dose and 67% fully vaccinated. Among adults aged 18 or older 89.7% have received at least one dose, and 76.9% are fully vaccinated (U.S. CDC). 47.9% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a first booster shot. 27.7% of Americans aged 50 or older have received a second booster shot. Worldwide, there have been 557,829,108 cases of coronavirus, with 6,356,121 deaths.
BA.5 Obliterates Hope of Virus Fading Away
The Omicron subvariant known as BA.5 is ruining any hope of a reprieve from the virus over the summer months as reinfections rise across much of the U.S. In one-fifth of U.S. counties. Covid-19 levels are high, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data based on case and hospital counts. But the true number of infections could be about six times as high, according to some experts. Wastewater data that has been used to track the prevalence of Covid-19 through July 6 has been trending up, providing some clues about the pandemic’s trajectory (WSJ). As we’ve covered in previous briefs, BA.5 is particularly adept at evading immunity based on prior infections and vaccination.
But it’s unclear whether the spike in cases will bring about a spike in hospitalizations and deaths. The Wall Street Journal notes mixed results, writing that “Portugal, where vaccine and booster coverage is robust, experienced a sizable wave of serious illness and death after BA.5 hit there recently, Dr. Jha said over the weekend. South Africa, on the other hand, recorded a low rate of deaths after BA.5 surged there this spring.”
EU Calls for Second Booster for People Over 60
European Union health agencies recommended on Monday that people over the age of 60 and those with medical conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid should get another booster shot. Just a few days ago, the World Health Organization said Europe was at the center of a new virus wave and warned that infections, hospitalizations, and deaths were all going to rise across Europe (NYT). Those trends in several countries are “mainly driven by the BA.5 sublineage of Omicron,” said Dr. Andrea Ammon, the ECDC’s director, adding, “This signals the start of a new, widespread Covid-19 wave across the European Union.”
Pandemic Fueled Surge in Superbug Infections
Across the U.S. the pandemic caused a surge in superbug infections and deaths, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the U.S. CDC that analyzed antimicrobial resistance in the U.S., focusing on superbug infections that began in hospitals. Superbugs are bacteria, fungi, and viruses that have become drug-resistant, often a result of overprescription of antibiotics. According to the Washington Post, “In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, infections and deaths among several serious pathogens increased about 15 percent overall from 2019, the report said. Infections of one especially dangerous drug-resistant bacteria that causes bloodstream and urinary tract infections skyrocketed 78 percent in one year.”
It’s one of the gravest health challenges in recent years and public health efforts had driven down these resistant infections by almost 30% between 2012 and 2017. But the pandemic drove health departments and communities close to their breaking points, and sicker patients needed more frequent and longer use of medical devices that frequently lead to superbugs, like catheters and ventilators. At the beginning of the pandemic, from March 2020 to October 2020, almost 80% of hospitalized patients with Covid-19 received antibiotics.
Around the World
WHO: Covid is Still a Global Health Emergency
On Tuesday the World Health Organization said that the coronavirus pandemic remains a public health emergency. The agency first declared the coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30, 2020 (NYT). The decision to continue the global emergency status was based on the fact that “surveillance has reduced significantly — including testing and sequencing — making it increasingly difficult to assess the impact of variants on transmission, disease characteristics and the effectiveness of countermeasures,” according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO. “The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity, in terms of both hospitalization for acute cases and the expanding number of people with post-Covid-19 condition — often referred to as long Covid,” he said at a news conference in Geneva. More than 930,000 newly confirmed virus cases are being reported globally each day as of Monday–a 37% rise over the last two weeks—and that number is considered a vast undercount as testing has decreased significantly.
Boris Johnson to Step Down on September 6
On Monday evening Conservative Party leaders decided that Boris Johnson’s premiership will end on September 6. A new Tory leader will be elected in a ballot of party members ending on September 5, with the winning candidate likely to take over as both Tory leader and U.K. prime minister the following day. Johnson was forced to resign last week following a series of scandals over his personal and professional conduct, including attending parties at Downing Street during nationwide coronavirus lockdowns (Politico).
Heathrow to Limit Passengers Due to High Demand, Staffing Shortage
International hub Heathrow Airport said it would begin capping the number of passengers that depart from its facility to 100,000 people per day amid staff shortages and a surge in demand for travel. London Gatwick Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol also limited passengers recently for the same reason. With the high rates of vaccinations and travel restrictions being dropped all over the globe, it’s the first summer since the pandemic began that many travelers have felt comfortable venturing out. Heathrow handled between 110,000 and 125,000 passengers each day over the summer before the pandemic (WSJ).
U.S. Government & Politics
White House: Covid is Not Over
On Tuesday, the White House warned that the Covid pandemic is not over (NYT). Speaking at a White House news conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated, “Variants will continue to emerge if the virus circulates globally and in this country.” He added, “We should not let it disrupt our lives. But we cannot deny that it is a reality that we need to deal with.” On Monday, Dr. Ashish K. Jha, White House coronavirus response coordinator, stated, “The key feature of BA.5, that we know about, is its immune evasiveness — you can be fully vaccinated and boosted and still have a risk of a breakthrough infection.” The New York Times writes, “The warning from the White House comes as many Americans have turned their attention away from the pandemic. Mask mandates have dropped in many states and cities, and most travelers no longer wear them now that a federal judge has barred the Biden administration from requiring masking in airports and on public transit.”
Covid-Related Senate Absences Disrupt Democrats’ Plans
As we covered in a prior brief, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) isolated after testing positive for Covid. With two other Democratic Senators absent, Democratic plans to quickly move forward legislative business have been disrupted (NYT). The New York Times reports, “Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, announced on Monday that he, too, had tested positive and would be working remotely for the week.” Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is also currently absent though not due to Covid. Senator Leahy is instead recovering from surgery after breaking his hip last month. The Times writes, “the three absences threatened to upend Democrats’ plans for a productive July in the evenly divided Senate, and were the latest reminders that the party’s bare-minimum majority is exceedingly precarious. Democratic leaders had expected this week to finally confirm Steven M. Dettelbach, President Biden’s nominee to head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Ashish Vazirani as a deputy under secretary of defense. They had also planned to vote on the confirmation of Michael S. Barr to serve as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision. On Monday, Democrats were in wait-and-see mode all day, assessing whether they would be able to move forward on the confirmations, aides said. With the Senate evenly divided, assuming Republicans are fully in attendance and unanimously opposed, the absences among Democrats would mean they could not muster a majority to confirm any nominee along party lines.”
Poll Finds Nearly Half of Republicans Ready to Dump Trump; DeSantis Convenes Donors Amid Presidential Speculation
A New York Times/Siena College poll finds that just short of half of Republicans polled said that if the nomination race was held today, they would support someone other than Trump (NYT). Among the other candidates named, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis led with 25% followed by Ted Cruz, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pompeo - each with less than 10 percent support. Despite the signs of weakened support, Trump still led the pack with 49% saying they’d support him.
Meanwhile Politico reports that DeSantis has convened major donors and fellow GOP governors amid escalating rumors of a potential presidential run (Politico). Politico writes, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently held a confab of dozens of his top national donors as well as a handful of fellow Republican governors and prominent candidates he’s close to as he runs for reelection and eyes a presidential run in 2024, according to two sources familiar with the event. Attendees at the event in Fort Lauderdale — which sources described as the most significant assembly of Republican governors outside of the RGA so far this year — included Govs. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma and Bill Lee of Tennessee, Arkansas gubernatorial candidate and former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former Maine Gov. and current gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage and Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt.” In prior briefs, we have closely followed DeSantis’ political moves and potential to challenge Trump and how they relate to his public stance against various Covid restrictions. Bonus Read: “A Culture Warrior Goes Quiet: DeSantis Dodges Questions on Abortion Plans,” (NYT).
U.S. Economy
Bonus Read: “Housing Could Provide More Fuel for Inflation,” (WSJ).
Unionization Efforts Rose in First Half of 2022
Efforts to unionize grew across the country in the first half of 2022 (WSJ). The Wall Street Journal reports, “The number of U.S. workplaces where employees have started trying to organize unions jumped this year to the highest level in half a dozen years, a rise that reflects warming public attitudes toward unions amid a strong labor market. In the first half of the year, workers at 1,411 U.S. workplaces filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board, the first step in joining a union, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data. That represents a 69% increase from the same period in 2021 and the most of any year since 2015.” Meanwhile the Journal notes that public support for unions is at its highest point since 1965, according to Gallup polling showing 68% of Americans expressing approval of unions. However, the Journal notes, “Still, the share of American workers who belong to unions has fallen steeply over past decades and remains low by historical standards. About 10.3% of American workers were union members last year, down from 29.3% in 1964, according to researchers from Georgia State University, Trinity University and the Urban Institute.”
Hiring Robust Among White Collar Employees, More Tepid Among Others
The Wall Street Journal reports that job gains have been greatest among white collar workers with other sectors seeing more tepid growth (WSJ). The Journal writes, “The continued strength in the labor market was led by employers in the category of professional and business services, a broad group of white-collar industries that added 74,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Those gains were concentrated in management roles, software development and office administrative services. Such white-collar employers had 880,000 more jobs on their payrolls in June than in February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. economy, despite a series of recent high-profile layoffs at companies such as Redfin Corp. and Robinhood Markets Inc.” The Journal notes, “Employers in leisure and hospitality, healthcare and retail are also adding jobs at a steady clip, but still had fewer last month than before the pandemic. Government employers were the only category to report a decline in payrolls, with a seasonally adjusted loss of 9,000 jobs in June.”
U.S. Society
Bonus Read: “As Sixth Covid Wave Hits, Many New Yorkers Shrug It Off,” (NYT).
Peloton to Outsource Making Its Bikes
The Wall Street Journal reports that Peloton will no longer manufacture its bikes, instead outsourcing manufacturing (WSJ). The move is related to the company’s misjudgment of how long pandemic-era demand would persist for. The Journal writes, “Peloton spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the past couple of years to build in-house U.S. production capacity, believing that pandemic-driven demand for its products would remain elevated for years and that it could avoid ocean-shipping logjams by operating U.S. sites. But sales of equipment have fallen more than 40% from a year ago as people return to gyms and pre-Covid-19 routines.”
Analysis & Arguments
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