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Your Coronavirus Update – July 1, 2021
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
The top weekly unemployment insurance payment will increase $62 to $661 per beneficiary for claims effective July 4, the Department of Labor and Training said in a news release.
Theatre by the Sea will open for performances starting on July 9th.
Vermont becomes the first state to reach 80% vaccination.
Pawtucket and Central Falls call center, the hotline that served to provide a call-in option for a test or vaccine appointment will no longer be in service as of Wednesday, June 30th, 2021.
The Columbus Theatre in Providence announced Friday that they plan to re-open in August.
Crugnale’s Bakery in RI locations will close.
PPAC will start selling tickets again for events in August – the first being Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band play the theater on Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
A small, walk-in vaccination clinic held in Waterbury on Thursday is one of the reasons Vermont was able to be the first state in the country to give at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot to 80% of the eligible population.
Alcohol to-go will extend until March of 2022.
The Community College of Rhode Island is hosting two COVID-19 vaccination clinics leading up to fall.
TF Green is flying to Nantucket again.
URI will hold an in-person graduation ceremony for class of 2020 graduates on Oct. 1 at the Ryan Center.
CCRI and RIC students must be vaccinated for fall attendance, with religious and medical exemptions.
Bryant University is the only RI college/university not to require vaccinations at this time.
Rebelle Artisan Bagels has closed and will move to a different business model making bagels.
A statewide mobile COVID-19 vaccination effort is underway in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, Yankee Line is holding mobile clinics in 23 communities across the state as part of the “Vax Bus Tour,” during which two of the company’s buses will provide community-based vaccination clinics through July 15. COVID-19 vaccines will be administered on the handicap-accessible bus by Purple Shield Medical staff. The Vax Bus will offer the two-dose Pfizer vaccine for people 12 and older and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for those 18 and up. No appointments are necessary in order to receive a vaccine. The tour kicked off Saturday in Pittsfield and Westfied and the buses will also make stops in Amherst, Attleboro, Boston, Brockton, Chicopee, Dartmouth, Fall River, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Middleborough, New Bedford, Provincetown, Revere, Springfield, Taunton, West Springfield and Worcester. Additional stops will be added on a rolling basis. The municipalities involved in the Vax Bus tour include those that are part of the state’s Vaccine Equity Initiative and those with lower-than-average vaccination rates. Those municipalities also chose to have the clinics held in central and easy-to-access locations in order to reach people who may have trouble getting vaccinated in a traditional setting. Every person who is vaccinated on the Vax Bus Tour will also be entered into a giveaway for tickets to the following concerts at TD Garden: Enrique Iglesias & Ricky Martin, The Weeknd and the Kiss 108 Jingle Ball. A second round of vaccinations on the Vax Bus will take place at the same locations from July 17 through Aug. 5. The full Vax Bus schedule and additional information can be found at mass.gov/VaxBus.
RETURN TO SCHOOL IN RI
90% teachers and staff fully vaccinated. 60% ages 16-18. 40% 12-15. Schools will be back, fully in-person this fall. No distance learning requirements. Fully vaccinated no masks indoors or outdoors. Unvaccinated, wear masks indoors. Field trips are back. Increased flexibility for school districts.
Medical issues for some students will require distancing, or quarantining, dependent on virus going forward.
Busing – no distancing on buses. Masks will be required on buses (federal mandate). Windows will be open.
Stable pods will be utilized. 3 feet of distance recommended if not in pods.
Mask policy recommended for students not vaccinated, or too young to be.
Children under 12 will be recommended to wear a mask indoors and socially distance in the classroom.
7-day testing requirement for quarantining and testing. Only close contacts of positive cases will be quarantined.
Need to remain vigilant. Key will be that everyone who can be vaccinated is vaccinated before the fall. Delta variant is more contagious.
NOW is the time to get vaccinated for a fully vaccinated fall back-to-school opportunity.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
Pfizer’s trial with children as young as 5 is showing promise and emergency approval may be in the near future.
While nationwide COVID deaths are at a low, the overwhelming majority of new deaths are occurring in unvaccinated people. Because the vaccines are nearly 100 percent effective against severe disease and death, CDC director Rochelle Walensky emphasizes that the U.S. could now prevent these deaths, if all eligible adults get vaccinated.
There are about 10 million unemployed Americans and over 9 million open positions
More than 80 teens and adult staff have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a summer camp in central Illinois that did not require masks indoors or vaccination status. Of the 85 people infected, about 70% of the cases were in those not vaccinated
Fast food franchises are offering aggressive incentives to get candidates in the door
Chipolte increased its average pay to $15 an hour (some stores as high as $20 an hour), and is offering career advancement opportunities to manager positions with potential six-figure salaries.
Wendy’s is offering $100 signing bonuses, referral bonuses and same-day pay.
Dunkin’ Donuts has posted signs on its drive-through menus offering benefits such as health care, flexible schedules and paid time off.
McDonald’s in Arlington, Virginia, touted $500 sign-on bonuses. At an Orlando Cuba Libre, candidates were offered $1,000 bonuses, with the option to be paid in bitcoin.
The CDC will issue warnings about heart inflammation of Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations – notably the inflammation that may occur are mild, self-limited and would be worse if the person had the virus, itself.
US borders with Mexico and Canada will remain restricted to travel through July 21, DHS says
Moderna Plans to Expand Production to Make Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters, Supply More Countries
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine effective against emerging variants
Delta variant worries health experts about potential fall spikes – some groups are recommending wearing masks indoors for now, in large groups. The CDC as of now says if you are vaccinated, you do not need to wear a mask, indoors or outdoors.
Tim Cook has sent Apple employees an e-mail demanding they return to the office, for at least three days a week, by early September. Some may be allowed to work remotely for up to two days a week, but only with the express permission of their managers.
The Pentagon says that more than half of all service members are vaccinated.
Vaccine-linked heart condition tends to resolve quickly
Doctors and nurses in Haiti have yet to be vaccinated
Bell’s Palsy More Likely After COVID Infection Than After Vaccine
The coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Less than half of nursing home workers in Idaho have been vaccinated against COVID-19, CMS stated.
North Korea has told the World Health Organization it tested more than 30,000 people for the coronavirus through June 10 but has yet to find a single infection.
Up to 94% of nursing homes and 81% of assisted-living communities have had a staff shortage in the past month, and many say they need more federal funding to help them attract new workers.
Hospitals again ask HHS for more time to spend relief funds
U.S. to send 3 million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses to Brazil
The Biden administration has extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month…
Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic
“We knew this was going to be bad, but I don’t think even those of us who work in this area thought it was going to be this bad,” said Harvard health policy professor David Grabowski, a nationally recognized expert on long-term care
Most poorer countries do not have enough COVAX shots to continue vaccinations: WHO
Brazil reports 38,903 new coronavirus cases, 761 deaths
US sends Taiwan 2.5 million vaccine doses, tripling pledge
The first cruise ship to leave a U.S. port since the coronavirus pandemic brought the industry to a 15-month standstill set sail Saturday with nearly all vaccinated passengers on board.
Celebrity Edge departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday evening with the number of passengers limited to about 40% capacity, and with virtually all passengers vaccinated against COVID-19.
Starting July 8th, Hawaii will take travelers from the US, with proof of vaccination card.
Australian officials introduced a strict two-week lockdown for all of greater Sydney as an outbreak of the Delta variant spreads rapidly. Most of Sydney’s residents are not yet vaccinated.
Pandemic restrictions are falling away almost everywhere — except inside many of America’s nursing homes. Rules designed to protect the nation’s most vulnerable from COVID-19 are still being enforced even though 75% of nursing home residents are now vaccinated and infections and deaths have plummeted.
Apple employees are pushing back against a new policy that would require them to return to the office three days a week starting in early September. Staff members say they want a flexible approach where those who want to work remotely can do so.
India’s COVID-19 Outbreak Is Slowing Down
Things are looking up slightly for the news industry. Certain factors suggest the media industry is rebounding quicker than it originally anticipated. Newsroom job cuts are down compared to last year around this time. There has also been advertising growth and quick returns of live events. Many media companies are also announcing new hiring plans.
South Korea began easing restrictions on large concerts and sports events on Monday after announcing last week it would loosen a series of coronavirus curbs
Christian Erikson, soccer player who collapsed and had to be resuscitated says he was not vaccinated prior to that time, as rumors started to spread that it was a reaction to a vaccine.
A new analysis of blood samples from 24,000 Americans taken early last year is the latest and largest study to suggest that the new coronavirus popped up in the U.S. in December 2019 — weeks before cases were first recognized by health officials.
Sperm count and quality did not drop in healthy young men after receiving a first or second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, according to a new study published Thursday in JAMA.
The Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said on Friday.
Martinique and Guadeloupe have reopened to Americans