June 15 coronavirus news

Andy Slavitt, former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said on CNN’s New Day Tuesday that the Delta variant is a reason to encourage unvaccinated people to “strongly consider” getting a Covid-19 vaccine, as communities with low rates will be subject to potential outbreaks. 

Slavitt said there’s a lot of concerns with the variant globally, where vaccinations aren’t as accessible.

The Delta variant was first identified in India. Scientists say they believe it is more transmissible and almost double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant, first identified in the UK.

Slavitt said vaccinated and unvaccinated populations each “clump together.” 

“If you have more than roughly half the population vaccinated, it’s not as if half the people you know are vaccinated and half aren’t,” he said. “Either just about everybody you know is vaccinated or everybody you know isn’t.” 

Communities with lower vaccination rates are at risk of potential outbreaks, Slavitt said.

“Those outbreaks are not going to hopefully have quite the wildfire spread as we saw in 2020, but they’re still going to impact those communities pretty strongly,” he said. 

In the 11 states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents, new Covid-19 case rates are lower than average and dropping, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some states that have vaccinated less than half of their residents, however, have seen cases increase over the past week and higher average case rates. 

Over the past week, the US recorded about 3.6 cases per 100,000 residents. But the average case rate in the 11 states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents was about 24% lower, at about 2.8 cases per 100,000 people. With Washington as the one exception, each of those 11 states recorded fewer than 4 cases per 100,000 people.

Each of those 11 states – Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington – also recorded fewer cases in the past seven days than the week prior, dropping by an average of 25%. 

All of the states that saw an increase in cases over the past seven days compared to the week before have fully vaccinated less than half of their residents. 

In fact, the nine states that have fully vaccinated less than 35% of their residents recorded an average of about 5.9 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week. That’s about 1.6 times higher than the US rate and more than double the average rate among states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their residents. 

Wyoming recorded the highest case rate over the past week — more than 11 new cases per 100,000 people – and only a third of residents are fully vaccinated in that state. Vermont recorded the lowest case rate – about 1 case per 100,000 people — and about 62% of residents are fully vaccinated there.

Athletes who fail to comply with Covid-19 rules at this summer’s Tokyo Games face the prospect of disqualification, organizers announced on Tuesday as they published their third and final version of the Tokyo 2020 "Playbook."

The range of potential sanctions that organizers could impose on athletes and/or officials for Covid-19 violations ranges from warnings, temporary or permanent exclusion from the Games, withdrawal of accreditation through to disqualification and financial sanctions.

The latest version of the "Playbook," put together by officials, provided further new information concerning the lengthy Covid-19 countermeasures that will be put in place to safely hold this summer’s showpiece sporting event.

Here are some of the procedures:

The decision on applicable measures for close contacts will be made on a case-by-case basis and will take into consideration the likelihood of the potential for spreading the virus.

Tokyo 2020 Playbook (Version III) for Athletes and Officials can be found HERE

As the United States is on the cusp of hitting 600,000 coronavirus deaths, Andy Slavitt, the former White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, said “we as a country could have put the lives of people higher on the list versus our own individual liberties” throughout the pandemic. 

Slavitt said that the US could’ve protected essential workers much more. 

Slavitt also said that former President Donald Trump “never proposed a solution” to mental health issues as a result of the pandemic. 

“It was all rhetoric. … All it was was a reason not to attack the problem at its core,” Slavitt said. 

Slavitt also encouraged Americans to get vaccinated now, as those who have not been inoculated risk being exposed to the worrisome Delta variant. Unvaccinated populations in the US “clump together,” he said, and communities with low vaccination rates will be subject to outbreaks. 

“Those outbreaks are not going to hopefully have quite the wildfire spread as we saw in 2020, but they're still going to impact those communities very strongly,” he said. 

California residents remained in at least some version of a stay-at-home order for 453 days.

Today, the state is fully reopening it's economy, with some restrictions to mega-events like concerts, conventions, and sports.

Here's a look at some key Covid-19-related numbers for that state:

California is fully reopening its economy today after becoming the first state in the nation to implement a stay-at-home order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you're planning to visit California, here's what you need to need to know before you go:

More than 15 months after becoming the first state in the nation to implement a stay-at-home order due to the Covid-19 pandemic, California fully reopened its economy today after more than 70% of eligible residents received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and new case rates have remained steadily below 1%.

What restrictions are going away? For all business sectors, Covid-19 restrictions including capacity limitations and social distancing requirements will be lifted. 

What restrictions will remain? Mega-events like concerts, conventions, and sports will still have some restrictions. Vaccine verification will be required for those attending indoor events with 5,000 people or more, and recommended for outdoor events with more than 10,000 attendees.

Will people still need to wear masks? A new health order will go into effect today, allowing for vaccinated individuals to go without a face covering in most situations, in accordance with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Unvaccinated people will still need to wear a face covering in public indoor settings.

What’s the vaccination situation in California? California has administered nearly 40 million vaccines, and about 72% of the state’s population is at least partially vaccinated, Newsom said Monday. Approximately 47% of residents are fully vaccinated.

There will be no vaccine requirement or so-called vaccine passport, but Newsom plans to announce an electronic version of their vaccine cards later this week.

The state has invested a whopping $116.5 million in incentives, offering gift cards and cash prizes. Today, state officials will hold a drawing where 10 people who have been vaccinated will each win a $1.5 million grand prize.

On Monday, California added six “dream vacations” to the prize pool, which include popular destinations like San Francisco, San Diego, Palm Springs, and Anaheim. Each package will focus on a specific area and include prizes like theme park admission, Giants, Padres, or Lakers tickets, or a luxury hotel stay. Winners will be chosen on July 1.

What happens to California’s reopening tier system? California’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which assigned each of the state’s 58 counties to a four-tiered, color-coded category with easing restrictions, will be retired.

What about the state of emergency? Newsom is not ending state of emergency, saying the pandemic is not yet behind us.

All changes were implemented at midnight local time.