Wednesday, April 7th, 2021
Covid Hotspots, Promising HIV Vaccine & New Billionaires Record
All the news you need in about 10 min:
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Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want reading about the latest happenings…
New COVID-19 Outbreaks
Over the last week, nearly half of the new COVID-19 cases came from just five states: New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. In Michigan, for example, the seven-day average of daily cases is now more than double what it was two weeks ago. Hospitalizations there are three times higher than they were a month ago. Data from the lab testing company Helix show cases are going up in places where newer strains of COVID-19 are becoming dominant. In Michigan, about 70% of all new cases are the strain of COVID-19 that was first found in the UK and is more contagious.
Read More: AP, CNBC, NY Times, Johns Hopkins, Helix
White House Moves Up Vaccine Eligibility Deadline
President Biden is moving up his deadline for states to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. It used to be May 1st, but supplies are coming in even faster than expected, so the Biden administration moved it up to April 19th. That doesn’t mean everyone will be able to get their shots on that day, but it does mean more people should be able to start looking for appointments. That’s already the case in most states. Hawaii and Oregon are the only states that aren’t already planning to open up eligibility for all adults by April 19th.
Read More: CNN, AP, USA Today
Check Vaccine Eligibility in Your State: NY Times
States Banning Vaccine Passports
The idea of vaccine passports has sparked a new debate in the U.S. Texas became the second state after Florida to ban any government policies that would force people to prove they’ve been vaccinated. Vaccine passports are digital or paper documents that show people have received their COVID-19 shots. Sometimes, they can give vaccinated people special privileges, like being able to get into certain entertainment venues. However, the governors of Florida and Texas say people shouldn’t feel forced to get a vaccine or show anyone their private health information.
Read More: NY Times, NBC News, FOX News, TX Ban, FL Ban
AR Lawmakers Override Veto
Arkansas is now officially the first state to ban gender-transition treatment for minors. Even though the state’s governor vetoed the bill, lawmakers were able to override the veto. It means transgender kids and teens are not allowed to get certain treatments like hormone therapy or surgery meant to affirm their gender in the state. It also means anyone under the age of 18 who’s already getting treatment will now have to stop or go to another state. Supporters of the new ban say children aren’t able to comprehend the long-term implications of that kind of care. Critics say those decisions should be up to their parents and doctors.
Read More: WaPo, ABC News, WSJ, ACLU
IMF Economy Growth Outlook
The world economy could bounce back sooner than expected. That’s according to a new outlook from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. The global lending agency says it now expects the economy to grow by 6% this year. If that happens, it would be the fastest expansion in IMF records dating back to 1980. The IMF credits, in part, trillions of dollars in relief money given out by governments and central banks. It also cites the vaccine rollout moving faster than ever. Still, the outlook varies from country to country because of long-standing inequalities and unequal vaccine distribution.
Read More: NPR, AP, CNN, WSJ, IMF
New HIV Vaccine Being Developed
An HIV vaccine is showing promising early results in trials. Scientists have been trying to develop an HIV vaccine for more than 30 years now with no luck, but things could be changing. The new potential vaccine works by creating antibodies that could boost a person’s immune system against many kinds of HIV strains and mutations. Early data from a recent clinical trial shows this vaccine seems to be doing just that in 97% of people who got it. Still, it needs to be tested in larger studies.
Read More: ABC News, The Hill, Research Data
MLB All-Star Game Moves to Denver
Major League Baseball now says the All-Star Game in July is moving to Denver. Colorado officials say the event is expected to bring in as much as $100 million in revenue for Denver and its surrounding areas as fans gather for the big game. Denver had put in a bid to host a future All-Star Game, so city officials already had plans in place for how to handle the logistics. The MLB originally planned to hold this year’s game in Atlanta, but the league decided to move it out of Georgia to protest the state’s new voting regulations.
Read More: MLB, Denver Post, CBS News
Fallout From MLB All-Star Decision
Besides Major League Baseball, dozens of companies like Delta and Coca-Cola have released statements condemning Georgia’s new voter law. Democrats have supported them, saying Georgia’s law makes it harder for people to vote and have their voices heard. Critics include prominent Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. This week, he accused the MLB and other companies of using “economic blackmail” to influence public policy. He said corporations should stay out of politics.
Read More: WaPo, The Hill, AP, WSJ, Sen. McConnell
Starbucks Testing “Borrow a Cup” Program
Starbucks is testing out a system in which customers take their cups back to the store so they can be washed and used again. It’s being tested at five stores in the Seattle area. The idea is it might help the coffee giant reduce waste that ends up in landfills. Customers will have to ask for a reusable cup and pay a $1 deposit. Participating stores will have kiosks set up for customers to drop off their reusable cups. Once a cup is returned, customers get their dollar back and 10 rewards points. The cups get professionally sanitized, then they return to circulation in 24 hours.
Read More: Starbucks, USA Today, Restaurant Business
Forbes Releases Annual Billionaires List
There are now more millionaires in the world than ever before. Forbes released its 35th annual Billionaires List this week. The media company says the number of people on the list exploded over the past year with a new person reaching billionaire status every 17 hours. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tops the list with an estimated net worth of $177 billion. Overall, there are now nearly 2,800 billionaires in the world, including nearly 500 new billionaires. They include Whitney Wolfe Herd, who’s in charge of the dating app Bumble, as well as reality star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian.
Read More: Forbes, Reuters, WaPo, USA Today
Work Wednesday: Restaurants Struggling to Hire Enough Workers
The restaurant industry is going on a hiring spree. Last month, more than 176,000 people started new jobs at restaurants and bars. Now that more restrictions are lifted and people are starting to feel more comfortable visiting restaurants and bars again, a lot more positions are still open. As a whole, the restaurant industry still has 1.2 million fewer workers than it did at the same time last year. Now, fast-food chains McDonald’s and Taco Bell are getting creative as they look for thousands of workers, like holding drive-thru hiring events.
Read More: Reuters, Bloomberg, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics