(Sturgis, S.D.) — While a series of high-profile events have been canceled this week due to the looming threat posed by the delta variant, one that last year contributed to hundreds of COVID-19 cases will not.
South Dakota’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which begins Friday and runs through Aug. 15, is expected to draw upwards of 700,000 attendees. Last year’s rally, which took place during the height of the United States’ summer surge, had more than 400,000 estimated attendees, many of whom didn’t wear masks as they patronized bars, restaurants and concerts.
The downstream effect was tangible: At least 649 COVID-19 cases were linked to Sturgis, including secondary and third-degree contacts.
“The Sturgis rally had many characteristics of a superspreading event: large crowds, high intensity of contact between people, potential for highly infectious individuals traveling from hotspots, and events in poorly ventilated indoor environments,” a 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concluded.
“Such mass events can result in the resurgence of COVID-19 in counties and states even after epidemic control has been achieved through local risk mitigation activities,” the authors wrote.
This year, the CDC has designated Meade County, where Sturgis is located, an area of “high community transmission.” The agency recommends that anyone residing in or visiting such an area wear a mask in public indoor spaces.
South Dakota’s vaccination rate also trails the national average. As of Thursday, 53% of residents had received at least one dose, and 47% were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC, compared with 58% of and 50%, respectively, of all Americans.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem supports the rally, a major economic driver in the state.
“There’s a risk associated with everything that we do in life,” Noem wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “Bikers get that better than anyone.”
“It’s been extremely busy compared to other years so far,” said Pete Gold, the owner of One-Eyed Jack’s Saloon, a Sturgis-based biker bar. He estimated that at least 100,000 people had arrived in town already.
“There’s not one single person here wearing a mask,” he added. “These people — bikers, Trump supporters, South Dakota Republicans — do not believe in it.”
Despite being unconcerned about COVID-19 or the delta variant, Gold said that he and his family got vaccinated because they want to travel internationally, including to Thailand, where he lives for part of the year.
“I suffered through two Pfizers,” he said. “I have a lot of countries I haven’t been to, so if I don’t get vaccinated, I can’t go.”
(QUEEN CREEK, Ariz.) — An Arizona mom’s worst fear came true when her 5-year-old daughter tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks after her school year started.
Heidi Kim’s 5-year-old daughter, Irene, is in kindergarten and her 8-year-old daughter, Rosalind, is in third grade at EduPrize charter school in Queens Creek, Arizona.
Kim homeschooled both of her children during the 2020 school year due to Arizona’s high COVID-19 rates and to protect close friends and family that were high risk for COVID-19. This year, Kim and her husband made the decision to send their children to school on July 21 in hopes that a vaccine would soon be available for children and allow for Kim to return to work.
“I was really nervous about sending them back there, but I had hoped maybe in September they would be eligible for the vaccine,” Kim told “Good Morning America.” “I had hoped it would just be the month and a few extra weeks depending when it comes.”
Arizona is one of eight states that has banned mask mandates in classrooms. On June 30, 2021, Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law prohibiting mask mandates in Arizona schools. Kim says EduPrize encouraged students to wear masks but due to state law cannot enforce it.
“I dropped them off at school and I just cried and not because of things that you should normally be feeling when you send your youngest kid off to kindergarten,” Kim said. “I cried because I felt like I was sending her into a petri dish.”
Kim said although masks were encouraged, there were only two other kindergartners wearing masks in her daughter’s class. In Rosalind’s third grade class there was only one other student.
“It’s incredibly frustrating because I think schools should absolutely be open. I don’t think that people should have to put their life on hold for a year and a half,” Kim said. “When we look at what public health is telling us, you look at the American Academy of Pediatrics, or the CDC, they’re all saying schools should be open. But also people who aren’t vaccinated should wear a mask.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reversed its mask guidance and recommended that schools embrace universal masks, backtracking on an earlier recommendation that vaccinated students and staff could go without masks indoors. Several Arizona districts have opted to make masks mandatory.
In addition, The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of nearly 70,000 pediatricians, has also called for schools to enforce universal masking mandates.
“AAP recommends universal masking because a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not vaccinated,” the AAP wrote in a statement.
Two weeks after her first day of school, Kim noticed Irene was acting out of character. She would fall asleep doing everyday activities and soon she was running a 103 fever. Kim brought her to get a COVID-19 test and confirmed that the 5-year-old had contracted the virus.
“I’d like to be honest, I’m angry,” Kim said. “And of course I’m sad. And I feel guilty, because I had felt so conflicted about sending her back in the first place. And I never should have had to be in that position.”
Kim says since Irene tested positive for COVID-19 her other daughter has also started showing symptoms but has not yet received her results from the PCR test she took at her doctor’s office.
Arizona Public Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman weighed in on Arizona’s mask guidelines for schools in a statement to ABC News.
“It is heartbreaking to learn of a child being infected with COVID-19. It is equally as frustrating knowing that Arizona public schools have lost the authority to fully implement proven mitigation strategies recommended by public health experts like universal and correct use of masks,” Hoffman said. “In June, Governor Ducey signed a law prohibiting schools’ ability to implement mask requirements, undercutting local school authority. This action by Governor Ducey and the Legislature was reckless and short-sighted – and will result in more children testing positive for COVID-19.”
“I want kids in their classrooms because that is where the best learning happens – and until we are fully on the other side of this pandemic, we must take every necessary precaution to protect student health and safety in those classrooms and ensure minimal disruption to learning,” Hoffman continued. “We have serious work ahead of us to help students recover from the last two disrupted school years, all while keeping them safe, and we don’t have time for political games.”
After going through this with her children, Kim said she hopes that since schools in her state cannot mandate masks, more parents will put masks on their kids before they head into classrooms..
“It’s not hard to wear a mask and it does so much to protect the people around you,” Kim said. “I would really encourage parents to put their kids in a mask. And I would really encourage parents if they haven’t, to get vaccinated.”
“The more adults that are eligible to get the vaccine, the less community spread there will be. And the sooner these kids can get back to a normal life,” Kim said. “I understand that we want kids to have a normal school year, the best way we can do that is by sending them in a mask.”
(PHOENIX) — The Justice Department is opening an investigation into the policing practices of the Phoenix Police Department and the city of Phoenix, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday afternoon.
The investigation will examine whether the Phoenix Police Department uses excessive force, whether it engages in discriminatory policing practices, whether the department violated the First Amendment by retaliating against protesters and whether the department discriminates against people with disabilities.
This is the third pattern or practice investigation the Justice Department has opened during the Biden administration. Earlier this year, the DOJ opened investigations into the Louisville Police Department and Minneapolis Police Department.
“Each time I have noted that these investigations are aimed to promote transparency and accountability,” Garland said. “This increases public trust, which in turn increases public safety.”
Garland noted in his remarks that one important aspect of the investigation will be examining whether the Phoenix Police Department violated the rights of individuals experiencing homelessness by seizing or disposing of their belongings in a manner that violates the Constitution.
“Our society is straining the policing profession by turning to law enforcement to address a wide array of social problems,” Garland said. “Too often we ask law enforcement officers to be the first and last option for addressing uses that should not be handled by our criminal justice system. This makes police officers’ jobs more difficult, increases unnecessary confrontations with law enforcement and hinders public safety.”
The DOJ’s civil rights chief Kristen Clarke said the investigation was opened after a review of court files, media reports and citizen complaints, but she declined to say whether there was any “final straw” that led to Thursday’s formal announcement.
She said local officials in the city were contacted Thursday about the probe and the mayor and chief of police “pledged their full support.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego tweeted out a statement Thursday, saying police reform has been a priority since she took office and she welcomes the review.
“The reccomendations that will result from this review will assist in our ongoing efforts to become an even safer, stronger, more equitable city,” it said.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Wildfires in the West have spread so rapidly amid continuing dry, gusty conditions that a Northern California town has been destroyed.
Firefighters had made progress on containing the Dixie Fire, the largest in California, which has been burning near Feather River Canyon for weeks. But after the fire jumped containment lines earlier this week, it exploded, consuming an additional 48,000 acres on Wednesday alone.
The blaze destroyed homes and businesses in the downtown neighborhood of Greenville, about 150 miles northeast of Sacramento, as it ripped through the region.
Dramatic images show multiple structures engulfed in flames. The historic area of Greenville has been destroyed, leaving nothing but rubble behind, according to photographers who examined the ruins.
It is unclear how many structures have been destroyed.
Almost 100 wildfires are currently burning in the West, with the majority stretching from Northern California to western Montana, and there’s potential for more to spark as existing ones spread.
Much of the West is under critical fire danger alerts, with warnings issued for nine states from California to Colorado due to dry lightning threats and gusty winds that could reach up to 40 mph. Red flag warnings remain in effect through Thursday evening for dry and windy conditions.
The Dixie Fire has now scorched through more than 322,000 acres — more than 428 square miles — since it sparked on July 13 and is 35% contained.
The River Fire near Colfax, California, which prompted evacuations for several thousand residents, had burned through 2,400 acres by and is 0% contained.
Up to 40 structures have been destroyed by the River Fire.
Evacuations also have been ordered for the Monument Fire in Big Bar, California, and McFarland Fire in Wildwood, California. Both fires were spreading on Thursday.
Temperatures in Northern California, where the fires are burning, are expected to get hotter on Thursday, with Redding forecast to approach 100 degrees over the next few days.
Thermal, California, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, reached 122 degrees on Wednesday, making it the hottest August temperature ever recorded in the region.
Record highs also were reported in Palm Springs (122 degrees) and Kingman, Arizona (107 degrees).
Excessive heat warnings are continuing for Nevada, California and Arizona, where temperatures are expected to reach 115 degrees on Thursday.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck, Melissa Griffin, Max Golembo and Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 614,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 58.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission — vaccinated or not — wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 05, 2:03 pm
Amazon pushes return to office to January 2022
Amazon said it’s pushing its return to office date from September 2021 to Jan. 3, 2022.
For those already in the office, masks are required if not fully vaccinated, Amazon said.
-ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki
Aug 05, 1:55 pm
Education secretary tells Florida, Texas govs.: ‘Politics doesn’t have a role in this’
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he’s ready to work with states like Texas and Florida when it comes to reopening schools safely, telling Governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis, who have banned mask mandates in schools, that “politics doesn’t have a role in this.”
“Don’t be the reason why schools are interrupted,” Cardona said at Thursday’s White House press briefing. “Our kids have suffered enough.”
Cardona said “educators know what to do” and that it’s “critically important” that he has direct conversations with governors and state leaders.
“We want to be an ally and make sure that we’re supporting our students,” he said.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Aug 05, 11:35 am
US records highest number of daily vaccinations since July 3
The U.S. has seen 864,000 vaccinations in the last 24 hours, the highest daily number since July 3, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Thursday.
Among those 864,000 vaccinations were 585,000 first shots — the highest since July 1.
Zients said “Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi are now vaccinating people at a pace not seen since April.”
Tennessee has seen a 90% increase in first shots over the past two weeks and Georgia has recorded a 66% increase in first shots in the last two weeks.
However, seven states — Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi – which have some of the lowest vaccination rates, “account for about half of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week, despite making up less than a quarter of the U.S. population,” Zients said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 05, 11:23 am
Yelp will show if businesses have vaccine requirements
Yelp now has a feature that will allow businesses to list if they have vaccine requirements.
The feature was mentioned at the White House’s COVID-19 briefing Thursday.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 05, 10:06 am
Arkansas governor reverses course on masks in schools
In Arkansas, one of the states hit hardest by the delta variant, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has reversed course, lifting a previously signed ban on mask mandates.
Hutchinson told “Good Morning America” Thursday that masks are not needed in schools if students are vaccinated but he’s “particularly concerned” about kids under 12 who are too young to get the shot.
In those cases, he said, schools should have the option to enforce masks.
The governor added that he’s pushing vaccine efforts with high school students and “making sure the faculty is vaccinated.”
Aug 05, 8:45 am
Moderna vaccine 93% effective against symptomatic disease after 6 months
Moderna says its vaccine is 93% effective against symptomatic illness after six months (though this data collection ended before delta emerged in the U.S.).
Moderna said its booster candidates also demonstrate robust antibody responses to variants of concern, including delta.
Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge told “Good Morning America” Thursday that the Moderna vaccine offers protection from delta right after receiving it, but it’s not known yet if that’ll hold up through the winter. He called winter “the biggest test of that vaccine which is why we need to be vigilant and careful.”
Hoge said he thinks booster shots will be needed and that the company is “preparing options,” but he added that that’ll be for public health officials, not the company, to decide.
He also noted that Moderna’s goal is to be vaccinating kids under 12 by the end of the year. Moderna isn’t authorized for kids ages 12 to 17 yet, but Hoge hopes authorization could come “any day.”
Aug 05, 8:28 am
US ‘may sooner or later get another variant’ if spread not controlled: Fauci
Without control over the community spread of the delta variant, the virus has “ample opportunity to mutate,” so “you may sooner or later get another variant,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told “Good Morning America.”
Fauci warned that it’s possible a new “variant might be in some respects worse than the already very difficult variant we’re dealing with now, which is a major reason why you want to completely suppress the circulation of the virus in the community.”
There are still about 93 million eligible Americans who have not gotten vaccinated.
Fauci added, “People who say, ‘I don’t want to get vaccinated because it’s me and I’ll worry about me, I’m not having any impact on anybody else,’ that’s just not the case.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 05, 4:33 am
Tokyo sees 5,042 positive cases — a new record
There are 5,042 new positive COVID-19 cases in Tokyo as of Thursday, according to the city’s coronavirus information website.
Of those cases, 135 are severe and one has resulted in death.
It’s a new record for Tokyo and a 178% increase since last Thursday, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe.
Aug 04, 8:32 pm
Over 15,000 new COVID cases in Texas
Texas reported 15,558 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the highest one-day count since Feb. 3, according to state health records.
The state has seen a major jump in cases in the last month, brought on by the delta variant, according to officials.
The seven-day average of new daily cases has increased from about 1,500 on July 2 to nearly 10,000 on Aug. 3, according to state health data.
As of Wednesday, 62.58% of Texas residents 12 and older have received at least one shot, according to the state health department.
Aug 04, 7:32 pm
Hundreds of students, school staff quarantined in Arkansas district
Hundreds of student and staff members from the Marion School District in Arkansas are now quarantined in only the second week of the school year, officials announced.
The state has a ban on school districts imposing a mask mandate.
On Tuesday, the district said 253 students would begin their two-week quarantine due to 15 cases that were reported in the schools. This came after 168 students were already quarantined last week.
“If all students and teachers had been wearing a mask appropriately- then today’s 15 positive cases would be isolated- but there would be no resulting quarantines for anyone else,” the district said in a statement.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters Tuesday he regretted signing the bill that banned masks in schools and urged the state legislature to amend the law to give schools the option.
Aug 04, 7:11 pm
Florida school district says 2 employees dead from virus, pushes mask mandate
A Florida school district that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on school mask mandates said Tuesday that two of its employees died from the virus last weekend.
Carlee Simon, the superintendent for the Alachua County Schools, said in a statement that the district “is experiencing this spike first-hand.”
“Over the weekend two of our employees passed away from COVID,” she said in a statement. “We’ve had 18 new cases in the last three days alone. More than 80 employees are now in quarantine, and that number is rising fast.”
The school district, which includes which includes Gainesville, voted Tuesday night to issue a mask mandate for students and staff for the next two weeks. The mandate will be reevaluated on Aug. 17, Simon said.
Aug 04, 6:30 pm
Hawaii issues vaccine mandate for middle, high school athletes
The Hawaii State Department of Education announced that all middle and high school athletes, athletic staff and volunteers will need to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 24 in order to participate in activities.
The rule affects students who are eligible for the vaccines, meaning they must be over 12.
“This decision was not made lightly because we know the important role athletics play in a well-rounded education, but we cannot jeopardize the health and safety of our students and communities,” interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a statement.
The start of the athletic season was delayed to Sept. 24 due to the state’s rising positivity rate, according to the department.
This is the first state to require vaccinations for its student athletes.
-ABC News’ Bonnie McLean
Aug 04, 5:54 pm
Illinois governor issues mask mandate for schools
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday that all pre-K through 12th grade schools and day cares must follow universal masking indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Pritzker said the state is facing a growing threat from the delta variant and noted that children under 12 aren’t yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
“Far too few school districts have chosen to follow the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescription for keeping students and staff safe,” he said at a news conference. “Given the CDC’s strong recommendation, I had hoped that a state mask requirement in schools wouldn’t be necessary, but it is.”
Aug 04, 4:27 pm
Surge pushing hospital staffing to breaking point
The latest delta surge is once again pushing hospital staffing to breaking points across the U.S.
In Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, some “facilities are experiencing substantial shortages of both clinical and support staff,” according to a Department of Health and Human Services planning document obtained by ABC News Wednesday.
In hard-hit Missouri, many hospitals “don’t have the staff to support a surge without further modification to operational strategies,” the document said.
At a Shreveport, Louisiana, hospital, where the number of COVID-19 patients are multiplying, nurse Melinda Hunt told ABC News, “To be honest, I probably cry most days at work. And I cry at home. I’m tired. I’ve been doing this a year and half. It feels like it’s never going to end.”
Aug 04, 4:08 pm US daily case average jumped 45% in the last week
The U.S. daily case average has climbed to more than 84,000, a 45.3% jump in the last week, according to federal data.
The daily case average is now more than seven times higher than it was six weeks ago.
All but three states are now reporting high (a seven-day new case rate ≥100) or substantial (a seven-day new case rate between 50-99.99) community transmission, according to federal data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 04, 3:08 pm
Delta variant now 93% of all sequenced cases in US
The delta variant now accounts for 93% of all sequenced cases in the U.S., according to the latest CDC data, which was collected over the last two weeks of July.
Delta accounted for just 3% of cases sequenced in late May.
Across the Midwest, described as HHS regions 7 and 8, delta made up 97% to 98% of cases. This includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 04, 2:55 pm
WHO chief: No booster shots until at least end of September
The World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots until more people from low-income countries have received a vaccine.
Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 shots for every 100 people due to lack of supply, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said Wednesday.
A moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September will “enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated,” he said.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in response that the U.S. doesn’t have to choose.
“We feel that it’s a false choice and that we can do both,” Psaki said Wednesday.
The U.S. has ordered enough supply for every American to get vaccinated, plus get a booster shot, according to the White House. The U.S. has already pledged to donate 580 million doses to the international community by 2022.
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky and Zoe Magee
Aug 04, 2:27 pm
Hospitalizations could more than triple this month
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasts that daily hospitalizations “will likely increase over the next four weeks.”
About 7,000 new COVID-19 patients are hospitalized each day right now. That may soar to 24,000 per day, according to the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at U Mass Amherst.
Aug 04, 2:11 pm
Fully vaccinated people susceptible to ‘long COVID’: Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that fully vaccinated people are also susceptible to “long COVID” if they have a breakthrough infection.
“We already know that people who get breakthrough infections and don’t go on to get advanced disease requiring hospitalization, they too are susceptible to long COVID,” Fauci told McClatchy. “You’re not exempt from long COVID if you get a breakthrough infection.”
As the delta variant surges, Fauci said, “there could be a variant that’s lingering out there that can push aside delta.”
“If another one comes along that has an equally high capability of transmitting but also is much more severe, then we could really be in trouble,” he said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 04, 1:40 pm
NY auto show canceled
The New York International Automobile Show, set to begin Aug. 20 in New York City, has been canceled due to the spread of the delta variant.
“All signs were positive” when planning began “but today is a different story,” show organizers said.
Aug 04, 1:30 pm
Louisiana hospitalizations reach all-time high
Louisiana now has 2,247 COVID-19 patients in hospitals — a new all-time high for the state.
This surpasses the previous record set Tuesday of 2,112 patients, the state’s Department of Health said.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has reinstated a mask mandate for the month of August.
The governor said Wednesday that he won’t mandate vaccinations for state employees until the FDA grants full approval.
He said 37.1% of the Louisiana population is fully vaccinated.
Aug 04, 11:47 am
The Offspring drummer says he’s not playing at upcoming shows because he’s unvaccinated
Pete Parada, the drummer for pop-punk band The Offspring, says he is not playing with the band at upcoming shows because he is unvaccinated.
Parada wrote on Instagram that he’s avoiding the shot on his doctor’s advice, saying he’s had a lifelong battle with the rare neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome and the vaccine’s “risks far outweigh the benefits.”
Because he’s unvaccinated, “it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour,” Parada said.
“I have no negative feelings towards my band,” he continued. “They’re doing what they believe is best for them, while I am doing the same.”
-ABC News’ Evan McMurry
Aug 04, 11:15 am
Florida hospitalizations reach highest point in pandemic
Florida has 12,408 COVID-19 patients in hospitals — the highest number to date of the entire pandemic.
Florida hospitals report that more than 95% of COVID-19 patients are not fully vaccinated, according to state data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 04, 10:01 am
WHO chief: No booster shots until at least end of September
The World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots until more people from low-income countries have received a vaccine.
Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 shots for every 100 people due to lack of supply, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said Wednesday.
A moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September will “enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated,” he said.
Aug 04, 9:20 am
Alabama hospital sees deadliest day of pandemic
Four COVID-19 patients at Regional Medical Center in Anniston, Alabama — all unvaccinated — died within 24 hours, marking the hospital’s deadliest day of the pandemic, The Anniston Star reported.
As delta surges, patients are now getting sicker faster, a doctor at the hospital told the newspaper.
Only 28% of residents in Calhoun County are fully vaccinated, according to The Anniston Star.
Aug 04, 8:24 am
Obama to ‘significantly scale back’ 60th birthday party
Former President Barack Obama has decided to “significantly scale back” his 60th birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard due to the spread of the delta variant, according to a spokesperson. Hundreds of guests were expected to attend.
“This outdoor event was planned months ago in accordance with all public health guidelines and with covid safeguards in place. Due to the new spread of the delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends,” spokesperson Hannah Hankins said in a statement.
Obama’s office did not give a new estimate of how many guests will attend.
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — A search is on for the unknown gunman or gunmen who ambushed and fatally shot a 26-year-old sheriff’s deputy near Louisville, Kentucky, authorities said.
Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy Brandon Shirley was shot at about 2:30 a.m. local time Thursday while working an off-duty security job at Rockford Lane Auto Sales in Shively, Jefferson County Sheriff John Aubrey said at a news conference. Shirley was in uniform at the time, the sheriff said.
Shirley was rushed to a hospital where he died, Aubrey said.
The Louisville Metro Police Department is investigating.
Police chief Erika Shields said Shirley was “targeted” and “ambushed.”
She called the shooting “sickening” and vowed to make an arrest.
Shirley, assigned to the court security division, joined the department in 2019.
My deepest condolences are with the family of Jefferson County Sheriff Deputy Brandon Shirley. Please pray for his loved ones and our brothers and sisters at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office as they grieve. On behalf of the Chicago Police Department, we stand with you.
— Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown (@ChiefDavidBrown) August 5, 2021
Aubrey described Shirley as courageous and well-liked.
Shirley and three other officers were recently awarded the medal of valor for assisting during a shooting at Jefferson Square Park, the sheriff said.
Forty-five law enforcement officers have been fatally wounded in the U.S. so far this year, according to FBI data.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 614,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 58.2% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission — vaccinated or not — wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Aug 05, 10:06 am
Arkansas governor reverses course on masks in schools
In Arkansas, one of the states hit hardest by the delta variant, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has reversed course, lifting a previously signed ban on mask mandates.
Hutchinson told “Good Morning America” Thursday that masks are not needed in schools if students are vaccinated but he’s “particularly concerned” about kids under 12 who are too young to get the shot.
In those cases, he said, schools should have the option to enforce masks.
The governor added that he’s pushing vaccine efforts with high school students and “making sure the faculty is vaccinated.”
Aug 05, 8:45 am
Moderna vaccine 93% effective against symptomatic disease after 6 months
Moderna says its vaccine is 93% effective against symptomatic illness after six months (though this data collection ended before delta emerged in the U.S.).
Moderna said its booster candidates also demonstrate robust antibody responses to variants of concern, including delta.
Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge told “Good Morning America” Thursday that the Moderna vaccine offers protection from delta right after receiving it, but it’s not known yet if that’ll hold up through the winter. He called winter “the biggest test of that vaccine which is why we need to be vigilant and careful.”
Hoge said he thinks booster shots will be needed and that the company is “preparing options,” but he added that that’ll be for public health officials, not the company, to decide.
He also noted that Moderna’s goal is to be vaccinating kids under 12 by the end of the year. Moderna isn’t authorized for kids ages 12 to 17 yet, but Hoge hopes authorization could come “any day.”
Aug 05, 8:28 am
US ‘may sooner or later get another variant’ if spread not controlled: Fauci
Without control over the community spread of the delta variant, the virus has “ample opportunity to mutate,” so “you may sooner or later get another variant,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told “Good Morning America.”
Fauci warned that it’s possible a new “variant might be in some respects worse than the already very difficult variant we’re dealing with now, which is a major reason why you want to completely suppress the circulation of the virus in the community.”
There are still about 93 million eligible Americans who have not gotten vaccinated.
Fauci added, “People who say, ‘I don’t want to get vaccinated because it’s me and I’ll worry about me, I’m not having any impact on anybody else,’ that’s just not the case.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 05, 4:33 am
Tokyo sees 5,042 positive cases — a new record
There are 5,042 new positive COVID-19 cases in Tokyo as of Thursday, according to the city’s coronavirus information website.
Of those cases, 135 are severe and one has resulted in death.
It’s a new record for Tokyo and a 178% increase since last Thursday, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe.
Aug 04, 8:32 pm
Over 15,000 new COVID cases in Texas
Texas reported 15,558 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the highest one-day count since Feb. 3, according to state health records.
The state has seen a major jump in cases in the last month, brought on by the delta variant, according to officials.
The seven-day average of new daily cases has increased from about 1,500 on July 2 to nearly 10,000 on Aug. 3, according to state health data.
As of Wednesday, 62.58% of Texas residents 12 and older have received at least one shot, according to the state health department.
Aug 04, 7:32 pm
Hundreds of students, school staff quarantined in Arkansas district
Hundreds of student and staff members from the Marion School District in Arkansas are now quarantined in only the second week of the school year, officials announced.
The state has a ban on school districts imposing a mask mandate.
On Tuesday, the district said 253 students would begin their two-week quarantine due to 15 cases that were reported in the schools. This came after 168 students were already quarantined last week.
“If all students and teachers had been wearing a mask appropriately- then today’s 15 positive cases would be isolated- but there would be no resulting quarantines for anyone else,” the district said in a statement.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters Tuesday he regretted signing the bill that banned masks in schools and urged the state legislature to amend the law to give schools the option.
Aug 04, 7:11 pm
Florida school district says 2 employees dead from virus, pushes mask mandate
A Florida school district that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on school mask mandates said Tuesday that two of its employees died from the virus last weekend.
Carlee Simon, the superintendent for the Alachua County Schools, said in a statement that the district “is experiencing this spike first-hand.”
“Over the weekend two of our employees passed away from COVID,” she said in a statement. “We’ve had 18 new cases in the last three days alone. More than 80 employees are now in quarantine, and that number is rising fast.”
The school district, which includes which includes Gainesville, voted Tuesday night to issue a mask mandate for students and staff for the next two weeks. The mandate will be reevaluated on Aug. 17, Simon said.
Aug 04, 6:30 pm
Hawaii issues vaccine mandate for middle, high school athletes
The Hawaii State Department of Education announced that all middle and high school athletes, athletic staff and volunteers will need to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 24 in order to participate in activities.
The rule affects students who are eligible for the vaccines, meaning they must be over 12.
“This decision was not made lightly because we know the important role athletics play in a well-rounded education, but we cannot jeopardize the health and safety of our students and communities,” interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a statement.
The start of the athletic season was delayed to Sept. 24 due to the state’s rising positivity rate, according to the department.
This is the first state to require vaccinations for its student athletes.
-ABC News’ Bonnie McLean
Aug 04, 5:54 pm
Illinois governor issues mask mandate for schools
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday that all pre-K through 12th grade schools and day cares must follow universal masking indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Pritzker said the state is facing a growing threat from the delta variant and noted that children under 12 aren’t yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
“Far too few school districts have chosen to follow the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescription for keeping students and staff safe,” he said at a news conference. “Given the CDC’s strong recommendation, I had hoped that a state mask requirement in schools wouldn’t be necessary, but it is.”
Aug 04, 4:27 pm
Surge pushing hospital staffing to breaking point
The latest delta surge is once again pushing hospital staffing to breaking points across the U.S.
In Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, some “facilities are experiencing substantial shortages of both clinical and support staff,” according to a Department of Health and Human Services planning document obtained by ABC News Wednesday.
In hard-hit Missouri, many hospitals “don’t have the staff to support a surge without further modification to operational strategies,” the document said.
At a Shreveport, Louisiana, hospital, where the number of COVID-19 patients are multiplying, nurse Melinda Hunt told ABC News, “To be honest, I probably cry most days at work. And I cry at home. I’m tired. I’ve been doing this a year and half. It feels like it’s never going to end.”
Aug 04, 4:08 pm US daily case average jumped 45% in the last week
The U.S. daily case average has climbed to more than 84,000, a 45.3% jump in the last week, according to federal data.
The daily case average is now more than seven times higher than it was six weeks ago.
All but three states are now reporting high (a seven-day new case rate ≥100) or substantial (a seven-day new case rate between 50-99.99) community transmission, according to federal data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 04, 3:08 pm
Delta variant now 93% of all sequenced cases in US
The delta variant now accounts for 93% of all sequenced cases in the U.S., according to the latest CDC data, which was collected over the last two weeks of July.
Delta accounted for just 3% of cases sequenced in late May.
Across the Midwest, described as HHS regions 7 and 8, delta made up 97% to 98% of cases. This includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 04, 2:55 pm
WHO chief: No booster shots until at least end of September
The World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots until more people from low-income countries have received a vaccine.
Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 shots for every 100 people due to lack of supply, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said Wednesday.
A moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September will “enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated,” he said.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in response that the U.S. doesn’t have to choose.
“We feel that it’s a false choice and that we can do both,” Psaki said Wednesday.
The U.S. has ordered enough supply for every American to get vaccinated, plus get a booster shot, according to the White House. The U.S. has already pledged to donate 580 million doses to the international community by 2022.
-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky and Zoe Magee
Aug 04, 2:27 pm
Hospitalizations could more than triple this month
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasts that daily hospitalizations “will likely increase over the next four weeks.”
About 7,000 new COVID-19 patients are hospitalized each day right now. That may soar to 24,000 per day, according to the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at U Mass Amherst.
Aug 04, 2:11 pm
Fully vaccinated people susceptible to ‘long COVID’: Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that fully vaccinated people are also susceptible to “long COVID” if they have a breakthrough infection.
“We already know that people who get breakthrough infections and don’t go on to get advanced disease requiring hospitalization, they too are susceptible to long COVID,” Fauci told McClatchy. “You’re not exempt from long COVID if you get a breakthrough infection.”
As the delta variant surges, Fauci said, “there could be a variant that’s lingering out there that can push aside delta.”
“If another one comes along that has an equally high capability of transmitting but also is much more severe, then we could really be in trouble,” he said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Aug 04, 1:40 pm
NY auto show canceled
The New York International Automobile Show, set to begin Aug. 20 in New York City, has been canceled due to the spread of the delta variant.
“All signs were positive” when planning began “but today is a different story,” show organizers said.
Aug 04, 1:30 pm
Louisiana hospitalizations reach all-time high
Louisiana now has 2,247 COVID-19 patients in hospitals — a new all-time high for the state.
This surpasses the previous record set Tuesday of 2,112 patients, the state’s Department of Health said.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has reinstated a mask mandate for the month of August.
The governor said Wednesday that he won’t mandate vaccinations for state employees until the FDA grants full approval.
He said 37.1% of the Louisiana population is fully vaccinated.
Aug 04, 11:47 am
The Offspring drummer says he’s not playing at upcoming shows because he’s unvaccinated
Pete Parada, the drummer for pop-punk band The Offspring, says he is not playing with the band at upcoming shows because he is unvaccinated.
Parada wrote on Instagram that he’s avoiding the shot on his doctor’s advice, saying he’s had a lifelong battle with the rare neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome and the vaccine’s “risks far outweigh the benefits.”
Because he’s unvaccinated, “it has recently been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour,” Parada said.
“I have no negative feelings towards my band,” he continued. “They’re doing what they believe is best for them, while I am doing the same.”
-ABC News’ Evan McMurry
Aug 04, 11:15 am
Florida hospitalizations reach highest point in pandemic
Florida has 12,408 COVID-19 patients in hospitals — the highest number to date of the entire pandemic.
Florida hospitals report that more than 95% of COVID-19 patients are not fully vaccinated, according to state data.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Aug 04, 10:01 am
WHO chief: No booster shots until at least end of September
The World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots until more people from low-income countries have received a vaccine.
Low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 shots for every 100 people due to lack of supply, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said Wednesday.
A moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September will “enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated,” he said.
Aug 04, 9:20 am
Alabama hospital sees deadliest day of pandemic
Four COVID-19 patients at Regional Medical Center in Anniston, Alabama — all unvaccinated — died within 24 hours, marking the hospital’s deadliest day of the pandemic, The Anniston Star reported.
As delta surges, patients are now getting sicker faster, a doctor at the hospital told the newspaper.
Only 28% of residents in Calhoun County are fully vaccinated, according to The Anniston Star.
Aug 04, 8:24 am
Obama to ‘significantly scale back’ 60th birthday party
Former President Barack Obama has decided to “significantly scale back” his 60th birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard due to the spread of the delta variant, according to a spokesperson. Hundreds of guests were expected to attend.
“This outdoor event was planned months ago in accordance with all public health guidelines and with covid safeguards in place. Due to the new spread of the delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends,” spokesperson Hannah Hankins said in a statement.
Obama’s office did not give a new estimate of how many guests will attend.
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Aviation Administration is calling on U.S. airports to help put an end to the recent spike in unruly passenger cases.
The FAA is urging airport police to arrest more people who are unruly or violent on flights and asking airport bars and restaurants to stop serving alcoholic drinks to go.
“Even though FAA regulations specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol aboard an aircraft that is not served by the airline, we have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol ‘to go,'” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson wrote to airport leaders nationwide. “And passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated.”
The agency’s investigations into the surge in aggressive behavior on-board has shown that alcohol is often a contributing factor.
“Airports can help bring awareness to this prohibition on passengers carrying open alcohol onboard their flights through signage, public service announcements, and concessionaire education,” Dickson said.
Some major U.S. airlines, including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, have prohibited purchasing alcohol on board until the mask mandate expires. It is currently in place until mid-September.
Southwest was prompted to make the change in June after an unruly passenger allegedly knocked a flight attendant’s two front teeth out.
“Certainly with the number of incidents you can tell why flight attendants would feel leery about beginning to sell alcohol onboard the aircraft again,” Lyn Montgomery, a spokesperson for the union that represents Southwest flight attendants told ABC News.
Alcohol was reported to be a factor in one of the most recent unruly passenger incidents that occurred on a Frontier Airlines flight on Saturday.
The 22-year-old had at least two drinks on the flight, according to authorities, before allegedly groping two flight attendants and punching a third flight attendant in the face. The crew resorted to duct taping the man to his seat for the duration of the flight.
He was arrested when the plane landed in Miami and is now facing three counts of battery.
But not all unruly passengers face criminal charges, the FAA said.
“While the FAA has levied civil fines against unruly passengers, it has no authority to prosecute criminal cases,” Dickson told airport executives.
The agency has received more than 3,700 reports of unruly passengers since January with more than 2,700 of them involving fliers who refuse to wear a mask.
He said they see many passengers — some who physically assaulted flight attendants — interviewed by local police and then released “without criminal charges of any kind.”
“When this occurs, we miss a key opportunity to hold unruly passengers accountable for their unacceptable and dangerous behavior,” he said.
The FAA is still enforcing its zero-tolerance policy for in-flight disruptions which could lead to fines as high as $52,500 and up to 20 years in prison. The agency has looked into more than 628 potential violations of federal law so far this year — the highest number since the agency began keeping records in 1995.
The largest flight attendant union in the U.S. doubled down on its call last week for the FAA and Department of Justice to “protect passengers and crew from disruptive and verbally and physically abusive travelers.”
A DOJ spokesperson told ABC News that “interference with flight crew members is a serious crime that deserves the attention of federal law enforcement.”
“As with any case, we exercise prosecutorial discretion in deciding which cases to charge federally,” the spokesperson continued. “Factors include egregiousness of the offense, were lives in danger, victim impact, mental health, did the plane have to make an unscheduled landing, is this a repeat offense, are there mitigating factors, etc. This is a serious crime that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.”
(NEW YORK) — Recent deadly flooding events around the world are evidence of the planet’s changing relationship with precipitation as global temperatures continue to warm, according to environmental experts.
While the link between the climate change and extreme precipitation is straightforward, quantifying the link remains a critical area of research, Frances Davenport, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University’s Earth System Science program told ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee.
“We’re seeing that climate change increases extreme precipitation and makes the most extreme events bigger,” Davenport said.
Attempts to quantify a flooding event often involves the use of the term “a one in 100-year event.” In terms of floods, it pertains to the flood flow rate that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in a given year, Robert Mason, extreme hydrologic events coordinator and Delaware River master for the U.S. Geological Survey, told ABC News.
But this term is expected to change because it is only an estimate based on data, Mason said, and it is possible for major floods to happen in back-to-back years.
“The ‘back-to-back’ phenomena is difficult to explain,” Mason said. “It happens even without any trend in the data and is likely just chance events.”
The USGS is looking at different ways of quantifying back-to-back major flooding events, Mason said.
In some incidents, the flooding comes with little warning.
The death toll from flash flooding in central China tripled to more than 300 on Wednesday with another 50 people missing, according to officials. Record rain in the Henan province on July 20 turned streets in Zhengzhou into rushing rivers strong enough to sweep vehicles away.
In western Europe, more than 100 people died last month after a catastrophic flood triggered flash floods in parts of western Germany and eastern Belgium. The region also saw record rain from a slow-moving system, causing banks at rivers and reservoirs to burst, sending raging floodwater into streets, swallowing cars, homes, businesses and even entire villages.
A ferocious storm on July 24 flooded Interstate 94 and many other roadways around the Detroit area, as well as some homes. The storm knocked out power to nearly 140,000 customers in Michigan.
While scientists have understood the link between climate change and flooding for some time, the severity of recent events is signaling an indisputable presence of climate change, Davenport said.
The increases in extreme precipitation have also had a direct economic impact, she added.
“We’ve looked at data flood damage over the past 30 years, and we have estimated that a third of the damages from that period were because of increases in precipitation,” Daveport said, citing research published earlier this year.
In a 30-year period from 1988 to 2017, the cost in additional flood damages from increased precipitation totaled about $73 billion, she said.
Climate change is arguably changing Earth’s relationship with water overall, according to scientists. For a region like the Western U.S., the snowpack that builds up during the winter is critical as a water resource.
“When storms that used to bring snow are now bringing rain, this can lead to pretty severe flooding in the winter that we didn’t see in the past,” Davenport said. “Unfortunately, it both increases flooding and can exacerbate some of our drought conditions in the spring and summer.”
ABC News’ Samara Lynn, Morgan Winsor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — With gun violence on the rise across the country, the trauma extends beyond those hit with bullets to entire neighborhoods suffering the sounds of gunshots, according to a crime prevention company executive.
“Just because someone doesn’t get hurt or killed by a bullet, just going to bed to the sound of gunfire, waking up to the sound of gunfire, assuming the risk of moving around a neighborhood that has being held captive by a few criminal serial shooters completely rewires the way, especially in young children, how their brain works,” ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas.
ShotSpotter is known for their acoustic gunshot technology, which takes “pops, booms and bangs,” from sensors posted around a neighborhood or city and triangulates timestamps, and pushes an alert out to police departments within 45 seconds of the trigger being pulled exactly where the shooting took place, Clark explained.
Ten people were shot over the weekend in the New York City borough of Queens and New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea told ABC News the city saw a 73% increase in shootings in May 2021 when compared to the same time last year.
“The real cost is, is the trauma, and the emotional trauma and the mother that lives on that block and now won’t send our kids outside because she knows every night there’s gunfire,” Shea explained in an interview last week.
Children who see gun violence or are victims of gun violence experience trauma over and over again, Dr. Eraina Schauss, director of the BRAIN Center at the University of Memphis, told ABC News.
“Kids who have been shot, their body is in such shock there’s just such fear,” Schauss explained. “They’re afraid to do anything. Some of the kids are catatonic, meaning they have a hard time speaking they have they have a hard time just doing daily tasks. They’re reliving that moment and their body is still in that trauma.”
Strauss treats children immediately after they have been shot in Memphis, not for physical wounds but for mental health. She explained that children who have witnessed shootings have a difficult time expressing their feelings in some cases and doctors at the BRAIN Center identify manageable ways they are able to cope with seeing their friend or loved one shot.
“There’s that feeling when you feel like there’s no control in your environment, and you can’t control your situation and things feel hopeless. You know that something that we perpetuate that cycle of violence, just because it’s all driven by fear, it’s a fear reaction,” she said.
As for investigating shootings in New York, Shea said ShotSpotter is an immensely helpful tool.
“Even if we don’t find the casings, we’ll have the video on the block. And we’ll see the person who were they with? What color was there? Who were they arguing with? Countless countless times it helps and puts a narrative to a story where without it, you would have literally nothing, it’s very hard to search all of New York City, but when it when when it allows you to start zeroing down, that’s where and then there’s a lot of other benefits in terms of actually recovering ballistics,” he said.
Clark said the technology is useful even if police do not make an arrest on the day the shooting occurred.
“If they’re not dealing with the perpetrator or aiding a victim, they’re much more likely to be able to recover physical forensic evidence in the form of shell casings as well as interview witnesses. Right. And that’s critically important to follow on investigation around who might have been involved in that shooting. So, although you might not put cuffs on the perpetrator at that point in time, oftentimes they link critical clues about who they were,” he explained.
“Twenty percent causing 80 percent,” Clark said, quoting Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who explained that roughly 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes. “We know at least in Oakland, there was at least 100 times where officers, through a ShotSpotter alert, were able to get to that location and find a victim and basically apply life saving measures to save a persons.”
Critics say however that ShotSpotter disproportionally targets African-Americans, especially in a city like Chicago.
“High-tech tools can create a false justification for the broken status quo of policing and can end up exacerbating existing racial disparities,” Jonathan Manes, an attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law said. “We needed to know whether this system actually does what it claims to do. It does not.”
Manes studied the ShotSpotter technology and found that 89% turned up no gun-related crime and 86% led to no report of any crime at all.
“This system puts police on high alert and sends them racing into communities; but almost nine times of our ten, the police don’t turn up evidence of gun crime or any crime at all. It creates a powderkeg situation for residents who just happen to be in the vicinity of a false alert.”
The CEO said the technology is 97% effective and in 2020, the company published 240,000 gunshot alerts to police departments around the country who purchase their technology.
Often times, Clark said it is not the first time a gun has been used in a shooting.
“Does anyone really believe that that’s the first time that that gun has been fired,” he asked. “That homicide, that gun that was used in that homicide has been fired before that homicide and is likely to continue to be fired after that homicide if, in fact, there isn’t some kind of organized intervention.”
ShotSpotter is not a one-size-fits-all approach to curbing gun violence, Clark explained, saying that the technology is another tool in their tool belt.
“What we believe is that when a police department takes a comprehensive gun violence reduction strategy, utilizing a number of tools, just not ShotSpotter, but other tools as well, we can show progress,” he said.
For Clark the issue is personal, as he grew up in Oakland, a city which has experienced 72 homicides this year alone, according to the local police department.
“I would say as a company, our original founding is really about being purposeful and having impact and making a difference,” Clark said.
