Seven states report record high Covid cases

Plus: Special travel arrangements for Olympic athletes

Seven different states this week reported their highest number of Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began. All seven are also seeing increases in their seven-day average of cases, though they’re still below the highest average level from last fall and winter. Still, cases are on the upswing across the country, with the CDC reporting high levels of transmission in most counties in the U.S. Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, told Forbes “the virus hasn’t gone anywhere.” As people start spending more time indoors due to the weather and holiday travel, he adds, continued increases are to be expected. Nearly every state in the country has over 70% of their hospital beds full, with 19 states being over the 80% mark. 

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More Covid News

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All indoor public places, including businesses, in the state of New York will be required to enact a mask mandate if there's no proof of vaccination mandate in place.

Moderna shares plummeted this morning after it reported early data for its seasonal flu vaccine that failed to impress investors, intensifying a crash that's wiped out nearly 50% of the value in one of the year's best-performing stocks.

Tulane University is reinstating a mask mandate for all campus buildings as it deals with its biggest Covid outbreak yet…

...and Vermont’s Middlebury College has gone even further - an outbreak at that school prompted it to shift to remote classes.

What Else We Are Reading

• The Omicron variant can likely outcompete Delta — and that could worsen the U.S. Covid-19 epidemic (Stat)

• Covid-19 patients at this hospital are dying 'at a rate we've never seen die before' -- and it's taking a toll on health care workers (CNN)

• COVID Has Broken the Economy (The Atlantic)