Random and illustrative stories about the global pandemic and how businesses and various business sectors are trying to recover from it, with brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• The United States now has had 80,270,563 total cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, resulting in 963,371 deaths and 52,199,829 reported recoveries.
Globally, there have been 428,760,419 total cases, with 5,928,528 resultant fatalities and 356,939,854 reported recoveries. (Source.)
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 76.2 percent of the total US population has received at least one dose of vaccine … 64.8 percent are fully vaccinated … and 43.4 percent have received a vaccine booster shot.
• Axios reports this morning that "the federal government plans to test new vaccines that combine multiple strains of COVID to find what offers the best potential new booster.
Axios notes that "fourth doses are already authorized for immunocompromised people. But for most people, a single booster shot appears to offer strong protection against severe disease, including from Omicron."
• From the Washington Post:
"As coronavirus cases continue to decline across the country, all states but one — Hawaii — have dropped their mask mandates or have made plans to do so in the coming weeks. This week, Target and Apple stores joined other retailers in pulling back their own mandates.
"In recent days, some cruise lines — including Norwegian and Royal Caribbean International — said they are relaxing mask requirements for vaccinated passengers after putting stricter rules in place during the omicron surge. The industry was hit hard early in the pandemic as horror stories of onboard outbreaks made international headlines."
The CDC still says that vaccinated people should wear masks in areas of "substantial or high transmission,” but reportedly is reviewing its recommendations in view of current science and transmission numbers.
