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Senate passes $1.1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in big win for Democrats

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After weeks of wrangling, the Senate on Tuesday passed a $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill with Republican support, in a big win for Democrats and President Joe Biden.

The measure passed by a vote of 69-30, with 19 Republicans joining all Senate Democrats to advance the bill out of the Senate chamber.

In a sign of its political significance, Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the final vote.

Republicans Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelley Moore Capito, Susan Collins, Deb Fischer, Lindsey Graham, Rob Portman, Thom Tillis, Chuck Grassley, Mitt Romney, Dan Sullivan, Mike Crapo, Lisa Murkowski, James Risch, Bill Cassidy, Kevin Cramer, Roger Wicker, John Hoeven and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in voting yes.

The package, with $550 billion in new spending, will address core infrastructure needs. It includes $110 billion in new funds for roads and bridges, $66 billion for rail, $7.5 billion to build out electric vehicle charging stations, $17 billion for ports, $25 billion for airports, $55 billion for clean drinking water, a $65 billion investment in high-speed internet and more.

Passage represents a major victory for senators from both parties who said they were committed to showing Congress could work in a bipartisan way, as well as for President Joe Biden, who campaigned on a promise to work across the aisle.

Biden’s first reaction to the passage came via Twitter and sent a strong signal to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he does not want the House to delay a vote.

“Big news, folks: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal has officially passed the Senate. I hope Congress will send it to my desk as soon as possible so we can continue our work of building back better,” Biden tweeted.

The package took months to forge, with bipartisan negotiators Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Portman of Ohio, a Republican, leading a group of ten colleagues in discussions that led to the final package.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the package in remarks just before the final vote, saying, “We have persisted and now we have arrived. There were many logs in our path, detours along the way, but the American people will now see the most robust injection of funds into infrastructure in decades.”

“When the Senate is run with an open hand rather than a closed fist senators can accomplish big things,” he added.

The bill now heads to the House, where it faces a precarious path to Biden’s desk.

Pelosi, who leads a razor-thin majority of Democrats in the House, has made clear she has no intention of bringing the bipartisan bill to a vote until the Senate sends over a second, larger budget bill containing the rest of President Biden’s “American Families Plan” priorities.

The debate of the budget will be far different from the bipartisanship in the debate over infrastructure.

Democrats unveiled their $3.5 trillion budget that includes universal pre-K, free 2-year community college, paid family leave, climate initiatives and a smattering of other social priorities, on Monday morning.

With the bipartisan bill off their plate, Senate Democrats are turning their attention immediately to passing the budget bill, and they’re expected to try to force the massive package through the Senate as early as tomorrow, without a single GOP vote. Budget bills are not subject to the regular 60-vote threshold generally necessary to move legislation forward.

Republicans have vowed to fight the budget resolution at every step, including through what is expected to be a marathon of votes this week on partisan amendments designed to score political points and make centrist Democrats squirm.

McConnell conceded Tuesday morning there will be little Republicans can do to stop the budget from advancing if Democrats keep a united front, but he promised a fight on the Senate floor.

“Republicans do not currently have the vote to spare American families this nightmare,” McConnell said of the $3.5 trillion bill. “But we will debate and we will vote and we will stand up and we will be counted and the people of this country will know exactly which senators fought for them.”

Senate action on the budget this week is just the first in a series of steps before the bill comes to a final vote in the Senate and moves to the House, likely in the fall.

Pelosi said only then, after the full budget process is completed, will she bring both the budget bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill up for a final vote in the House.

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns after sexual harassment allegations, investigation

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced he will resign from office following accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct from a number of women, including former staffers and one current staffer.

His resignation will be effective in 14 days, Cuomo said.

After a four-month investigation, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced in a 168-page report last week that “the governor engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment under federal and New York State law.”

“Specifically, we find that the Governor sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women,” the report said.

In announcing his resignation, Cuomo said his instinct was to fight through the controversy, which he said is politically motivated.

“This is about politics, and our political system today is too often driven by extremes,” Cuomo said.

However, Cuomo said, the situation on its current trajectory would create months of controversy, consume government, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

As a result, he said, “the best way I can help now is if I step aside.”

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will assume the governor’s seat, becoming the first woman to lead New York state.

Cuomo, the son of legendary former Gov. Mario Cuomo and the heir to his deep political legacy, gained renewed national attention during the pandemic with his daily COVID-19 briefings.

But his image took a hit with the drumbeat of allegations from women surfacing as well as questions about his administration failing to fully disclose the nursing home deaths caused by the virus.

The governor admitted that the state miscategorized the nursing home data but said it was because it had not been verified.

Cuomo, however, has vehemently denied the allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct, including a reported sexual assault. In a March 12 press conference he told reporters, “I did not do what has been alleged,” but defended the right of his accusers to come forward and tell their stories.

At Tuesday’s press conference, employment discrimination attorney Anne Clark, one of the investigators assigned to lead the probe, presented findings from the report, including specific examples of the governor making suggestive comments and engaging in unwanted touching that 11 women found “deeply humiliating and offensive.”

In at least one instance, the investigation determined that the governor sought to retaliate against a woman who leveled accusations against him, identified in a report released by the AG’s office as Lindsey Boylan.

In February, Boylan, a former special adviser to the governor, and Charlotte Bennett, a former health policy adviser, both detailed examples where Cuomo allegedly spoke inappropriately while they were both employed by the governor’s office. Boylan initially made the allegations in a series of tweets in December, and Cuomo denied the accusations.

In an instance involving one of Cuomo’s unnamed executive assistants, the governor was found to have “reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast,” according to the report.

The same woman also recounted a circumstance in which “the governor moved his hand to grab her butt cheek and began to rub it. The rubbing lasted at least five seconds,” the report said.

After allegations were first made against Cuomo, other women began accusing the governor of various forms of inappropriate conduct.

Anna Ruch claimed Cuomo touched her and asked if he could kiss her during a wedding reception in September 2019.

Karen Hinton, a former press aide to Cuomo when he was the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, told The Washington Post that while later working as a consultant, Cuomo had summoned her to his hotel room.

Hinton said she pulled away from Cuomo, but he pulled her back toward his body, holding her before she backed away and left the room.

Another former staffer, Ana Liss, also came forward on March 6 with allegations of inappropriate comments and touching.

Another woman alleged the governor groped her during a visit to the executive mansion in 2020, the Albany Times Union reported March 10.

Sherry Vill, came forward with allegations that the governor inappropriately touched and kissed her in 2017.

Cuomo met with her during a tour of flood damage near her town in Greece, New York, she said. The governor took her by the hand, pulled her in and kissed her on both cheeks, Vill said.

“That’s what Italians do, kiss both cheeks,” the governor allegedly told Vill.

Vill said at the time she was not pressing charges or filing suit for this incident but was planning to meet with the state attorney general to discuss the matter.

“During times of crisis, the governor has frequently sought to comfort New Yorkers with hugs and kisses,” Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, said. “As I have said before, the governor has greeted both men and women with hugs, a kiss on the cheek, forehead or hand for the past 40 years.”

After a back and forth on Feb. 28 between the governor’s office and the New York attorney general’s office over who would oversee an investigation into the allegations, Cuomo gave James the approval to look at the case.

James deputized two private lawyers to conduct the investigation.

As the number of allegations grew, elected officials on both sides of the aisle called for Cuomo to step down including New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and state Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

State Assembly Leader Carl Heastie announced on March 11 that he authorized the Assembly Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation. On Tuesday, in the wake of the attorney general’s report, he said the Democratic majority had lost confidence in the governor.

“After our conference this afternoon to discuss the Attorney General’s report concerning sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo, it is abundantly clear to me that the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office,” Heastie said in a statement. “Once we receive all relevant documents and evidence from the Attorney General, we will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible.”

Cuomo initially denied the allegations from the first two victims but acknowledged on March 3 that he “acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.”

“It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about it and, frankly, I am embarrassed. And that’s not easy to say,” he said.

After more women came forward, he made similar statements and insisted he was not going to resign during news conferences in March.

Cuomo was elected governor in 2010 after serving as New York’s attorney general for three years. He won re-election in 2014 and 2018 and served the state during many major moments, including Superstorm Sandy.

The governor began his political career working as a campaign manager for his father and also worked under New York City Mayor David Dinkins as the chair of the New York City Homeless Commission.

Cuomo served as the assistant secretary for Community Planning and Development under the Clinton administration and was later appointed as the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during former President Bill Clinton’s second term.

He first attempted to run for New York governor in 2002 but dropped out before the Democratic primary. Four years later, he won the election for the state’s attorney general.

Fires continue to rip through Greek island as residents, other countries jump in to help

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Wassilios Aswestopoulos/NurPhoto via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Greek residents waited out the wildfires through the night on Sunday, after being evacuated on a ferry off the coast of Pefki, a town in the north of Evia.

In a televised address, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that 586 fires broke out in the last few days after temperatures reached 113 degrees in one of the worst heat waves the country has seen in more than three decades.

Firefighters were still struggling to extinguish the blazes Monday on Evia island, one of the hardest-hit areas. Twenty countries, including the U.S., have been sending in firetrucks, reconnaissance support and manpower to Greece, according to Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Greece.

“In response to a request for support from the government of Greece, I am grateful that the U.S. European Command’s Navy component, part of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe, is providing a P-8 aerial reconnaissance aircraft to support firefighting efforts,” Pyatt said in a statement.

Mitsotakis apologized for the “weaknesses” of the fire response, saying the wildfires made “obvious that the climate crisis is knocking on the door of the whole planet.”

“It’s a shame,” one volunteer firefighter told ABC News. “This morning, there was nothing. Now there are two helicopters since 5 p.m.,” the volunteer said, deploring the lack of resources to fight the fires.

On Monday evening, five firefighting trucks and water tankers from Slovakia arrived on the island of Evia to support the local fire brigades.

Hundreds of volunteers are organizing rescue and support for stranded villagers and evacuees.

“If it weren’t for them, the young men … we would have burned,” Gianna Anastasiou, a restaurant owner on Evia island told ABC News. Her village has been cut off for days, without electricity and running water.

A volunteer firefighter and her family saved 12 pets from the fires that tore through Evia, as some were left behind during evacuations.

“This one is a survivor,” 27 year-old Eva Karakassi told ABC News, pointing to one kitten that was rescued from a burning house by a firefighter on Sunday morning.

The pets and their saviors spent the night on the beach, as villages around the island are still in danger from the flames. Over 2,700 residents have been evacuated from the island of Evia, according to the Hellenic coast guard, and the island is under a constant cloud of smoke.

Greek authorities announced that 500 million euros would be spent on these areas.

“It’s not over yet,” Anastasiou said, fighting through tears and thanking the residents from all over Greece for sending supplies to the affected villages.

What we know and don’t know about the COVID vaccine timeline for children under 12

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — As the delta variant spreads, posing a heightened risk to everyone who isn’t vaccinated, demand has skyrocketed for a vaccine that will protect young children who are not yet eligible — a group facing more cases than ever before during the pandemic.

And while experts still consider it uncommon for children to get severely sick from the virus, being unvaccinated leaves them more vulnerable. Over 94,000 children were diagnosed with COVID last week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and hospitals nationwide are reporting more and more children in their pediatric COVID units.

Here’s what we know so far about when a safe and effective vaccine for children under 12 will be authorized by the Federal Drug Administration:

First shots for young kids expected in late fall, early winter

Pfizer has said it will submit vaccine safety data on 5- to 11-year-olds by the end of September. Moderna has said it will do so in the middle of the fall. It will then be up to the FDA on how quickly it grants the authorization.

In general, federal and industry officials said they expect the first vaccine shots for children ages 5-11 could happen by the end of this year or early 2022. Timing on a vaccine for children younger than 5 is less certain, but officials have said they hope a greenlight for toddlers and infants will follow soon after.

But the precise timing is fluid. Clinical trials are still ongoing, and the FDA has signaled it wants to expand the pool of children signed up as volunteers. A larger pool of volunteers makes it more likely that even the rarest of side effects could be detected before it rolls out nationwide.

The vaccine for children ages 5 through 11 would be the same composition, but a smaller dose. For Pfizer, children under 12 would receive 10 micrograms, while everyone 12 and older receives a 30-microgram dose.

FDA is under extraordinary pressure to move fast.

Some have urged the FDA to move more quickly to authorize the shot because of the toll the delta variant is taking on children. In a recent letter to the head of the FDA, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that last week showed the “largest week-over-week percentage increase in pediatric COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic,” at 72,000 pediatric COVID cases in a week, up from around 39,000 reported in the previous week.

“Simply stated, the Delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country, as it has also done for unvaccinated adults,” AAP President Lee Savio Beers wrote in a letter to the acting FDA Administrator Janet Woodcock.

In an effort to speed up the authorization, Beers suggested the FDA authorize the vaccines with the data from the children already enrolled, and then continue to monitor an expanded, second group of children.

In an interview with ABC News Live on Monday, Beers said the AAP was worried that the recent FDA decision to double the children participating in the vaccine trials would delay the timing for a vaccine at a critical time and that “the data is there” with the current cohort for the FDA to act very soon.

“We really think that we need to be approaching the trials in the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children with the same urgency that we did with adults,” Beers said in the interview.

FDA insists it won’t cut any corners

While the FDA insists it won’t cut any corners, according to a government official, requesting more children to participate in the trials isn’t expected to hold up the vaccine authorization process. That’s because parents have been eager to enroll their children to receive the vaccine.

The FDA also isn’t likely to require an extended period of safety data collection for the younger age group, a consideration that the FDA ultimately decided wasn’t necessary so long as more children were enrolled in the trial.

The FDA’s vaccine chief, Peter Marks, has repeatedly defended the FDA’s timeline and decision-making process, saying the agency is going to be thorough.

“Just so everyone understands, we are going to be very careful as we get down to smaller children,” he said in a May event with the group BlackDoctor.org, a health resource that focuses on outreach to African Americans.

“We have to reduce the dose of the vaccine, we’re more cautious about side effects, it takes longer to do the development,” Marks said.

Unvaccinated COVID-19 patients share why they changed their minds about the shot

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Unvaccinated COVID-19 patients are sharing their stories of battling the dangerous virus and why the experience changed their minds about the shot.

‘This isn’t fun’

Curtis Cannon, a 75-year-old COVID-19 patient at Willis-Knighton Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, spoke to ABC News from his hospital bed on Aug. 5.

Cannon said he was at first skeptical about the vaccine. But now, struggling to breathe and suffering severe chest pains, he realizes how “real” COVID-19 is.

Cannon said he’d tell others who are skeptical: “They need to get vaccinated, because this isn’t fun.”

Cannon said he’ll get vaccinated once he is released from the hospital.

‘I was wrong’

Travis Campbell, an unvaccinated COVID-19 patient, spoke to ABC News from his hospital bed at the Bristol Regional Medical Center Hospital in Tennessee.

“When you feel like you have to fight for your life, you don’t realize that you’re fighting for every single breath all day long,” he said.

The 43-year-old husband and dad said he regrets not getting vaccinated.

“We thought it wasn’t an urgent matter to get the vaccine and I was wrong,” Campbell said.

“I would rather be covered and protected and if something does happen and I have to worry about repercussions of the vaccine versus being buried in seven days,” he said. “I beg you, please see your doctor and make an evaluated decision and protect your family or prepare yourself for your next life.”

‘Have a fighting chance’

Marquis Davis, a 28-year-old husband and father from Florida, died from COVID-19 on July 26, 2021. He wasn’t vaccinated.

Davis had been hesitant to take the vaccine. He told his wife in the hospital that he wanted to get the shot after he recovered.

To honor his memory, his family turned his funeral into a vaccine and testing event.

“This could have been prevented, so let’s get vaccinated so it doesn’t happen to you,” his wife, Charnese Davis, told ABC News.

“At least have a fighting chance. Protect yourself. Protect your family. This is nothing to be to be playing around with,” she said.

‘I never expected to be a widow at the age of 25’

Braderick Wright, a 28-year-old Georgia man who was hesitant to get the vaccine, died of COVID-19 on Aug. 7, 2021, reported ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB.

“He was deep into TikTok conspiracy theories and, for him, he just didn’t want to get [vaccinated],” his wife Brittany Wright told WSB.

“I never expected to be a widow at the age of 25,” she told WSB.

Brittany Wright said her husband’s dying wish was for more people to get vaccinated.

‘Please just get vaccinated’

Lateasa McLean, a 51-year-old in Lincoln County, North Carolina, was hospitalized twice after testing positive for COVD-19.

“My grandson and my granddaughter, they’re wheeling me out and I’m thinking, ‘Is this going to be the last time that I see them?'” she told ABC Charlotte affiliate WSOC.

While in the hospital, McLean said she realized, “I should have gotten vaccinated. And now I’m putting my family through this, for something I could have prevented.”

McLean, who works as a patient representative/patient safety sitter at a hospital, said she plans to get vaccinated.

“I just want everybody to listen to my story and please just get vaccinated,” she told WSOC.

Norwegian Cruise Line CEO says requiring vaccines is ‘safest way to travel’

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Norwegian Cruise Line can now require guests sailing out of Florida to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a federal judge ruled after the line sued the Sunshine State over its vaccine passport ban.

“We want to do everything we can to keep COVID off our ships,” Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio said in an interview on Good Morning America Tuesday. “It’s the best thing to do, the safest way to travel.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said cruise lines would face a $5,000 fine per passenger if they defied the state’s law that prohibits companies from requiring customers and employees to provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination status.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said Sunday that Norwegian would “suffer significant financial and reputational harms” if it was forced to abide by Florida’s law.

DeSantis’ office responded in a statement to the ruling, saying, “A prohibition on vaccine passports does not even implicate, let alone violate, anyone’s speech rights, and it furthers the substantial, local interest of preventing discrimination among customers based on private health information.”

Florida will now move to appeal the judge’s ruling. Del Rio called the response “disappointing.”

“Here’s a state that depends on tourism and apparently it’s not in their best interests to keep not only our residents safe but our visitors safe so it is very disappointing,” Del Rio said.

Norwegian’s win means it can set sail from Florida on Sunday with a fully vaccinated ship.

Norwegian is requiring all guests and crew to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure. Each passenger will also be tested prior to boarding. Unlike other cruise lines that have made exceptions for children, Norwegian is not allowing any unvaccinated child under the age of 12 to board.

Richard Stieff, a travel agent and cruise enthusiast, praised the decision.

“The cruise lines have to do whatever they can to make sure we’re safe and they can’t go through another episode like they did last year when we had ships stuck out at sea with people with COVID on them,” he told ABC News.

Del Rio previously threatened to move the company’s ships out of Florida if it was not allowed to mandate vaccinations by guests.

“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida,” Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.

Other major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival told ABC News they are still trying to figure out how the Norwegian ruling affects them.

Last week, some lines announced they will now require pre-boarding testing and masks to be worn in certain indoor areas — even for vaccinated guests.

“We have seen a number of ships report some isolated cases of COVID,” Colleen McDaniel, the editor-in-chief of the website Cruise Critic, told ABC News. “And what we’ve seen is these have been mostly among vaccinated passengers, and certainly the delta variant seems to be having an effect on that.”

Despite at least 95% of guests and crew being vaccinated, Carnival Vista, which departed out of Galveston, Texas, reported a “small number of positive cases” last week — prompting the cruise line to change its policy.

Masks will now be required for sailings Aug. 7 through Oct. 31.

“These new requirements are being implemented to protect our guests and crew while on board, and to continue to provide confidence to our homeports and destinations that we are doing our part to support their efforts to protect public health and safety,” Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said in a statement. “We expect these requirements will be temporary and appreciate the cooperation of our guests.”

Holland America and Princess Cruises, which are both owned by Carnival Corporation, announced the same new cruising requirements.

COVID-19 live updates: 72% of counties reporting high community transmission

August 10, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 617,000 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 58.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how the news is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:

Aug 10, 8:59 am
Dallas, Austin school districts to require masks

The Dallas Independent School District, the second largest in Texas, said it’s temporarily requiring face masks for all students, staff and visitors as of Tuesday.

It’s not clear how long the mask mandate will last.

In the Austin Independent School District, students, staff and visitors must wear face masks beginning Wednesday.

This comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott imposed a ban on mask mandates.

In Houston, Texas’ biggest school district, the board of education will vote this week on a proposed mask requirement, according to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA.

Aug 10, 8:29 am
Pediatrician warns parents and governors: Don’t ‘underestimate’ the virus

Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the CDC, said parents should not get to choose if their kids wear masks in school.

“Allowing it to be an issue of personal choice is fine if it only affected your child, but it doesn’t. It affects everyone around your child as well,” Besser told “Good Morning America” Tuesday.

“There’s a lot we don’t know about this virus,” Besser said. “I urge parents, I urge schools, I urge governors, not to underestimate what we’re dealing with.”

Aug 09, 7:27 pm
No ICU beds available at top Mississippi hospitals: Official

Mississippi’s top health official warned Monday that the state’s top-level hospitals have no ICU beds left, and things are going to get worse.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs cited the latest stats on the growing number of COVID-19 cases, stating there were 6,912 new cases and 28 deaths recorded.

“Keep in mind – this will translate into around 500 new hospitalization in coming days, and we have ZERO ICU beds at Level 1-3 hospitals, and we have

Aug 09, 7:06 pm
Abbott seeks out of state health care personnel to help Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced several measures Monday to curb the state’s growing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Health care personnel from other states will be coming to Texas to assist the Texas Department of State Health Services with their recent wave of cases, Abbott said.

The governor sent a letter to the Texas Hospital Association urging them to suspend elective surgeries.

He also announced the health department will open more antibody fusion centers and vaccine sites for residents.

Aug 09, 5:38 pm
Arkansas hospitalizations reach record high, 8 ICU beds left

Arkansas saw its highest number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus since the pandemic began, according to state health data.

The number of hospitalizations rose by 103, its biggest one-day increase, to 1,376, which is five hospitalizations higher than the previous record set in January, the state health data showed.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted that only eight ICU beds remained in the entire state. He encouraged more people to get a vaccine.

As of Monday, 49.3% of eligible residents in Arkansas have received one vaccine shot, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Aug 09, 4:43 pm
Washington governor issues vaccine mandate for state employees

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that he has ordered that all state employees must be vaccinated or face termination.

Inslee cited increased hospitalizations and cases throughout the state, which have mostly affected the unvaccinated, as the factor for his executive order.

“We do so to protect our vulnerable communities, to prevent further calamity to our state and to be further on the path to recovery,” he said at a news conference.

The deadline for the vaccine mandate is Oct. 18. Inslee’s executive order does provide medical and religious exemptions.

As of Aug. 2, 69.6% of Washingtonians 12 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the state’s health department.

“We need more people to roll up their sleeves,” Inslee said.

COVID-19 live updates: Pediatrician warns parents, governors: Don’t ‘underestimate’ the virus