(NEW YORK) — Losing weight can be hard and confusing, but a new study has found an easy way to help.
Adding just one hour or more of sleep a night can help boost weight loss, according to the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Participants in the study who underwent a “sleep extension” program for two weeks, sleeping about one hour longer per night, took in about 150 fewer calories per day, which, over the course of the two weeks, averaged a weight loss of nearly two pounds.
Prior to the “sleep extension” program, the participants slept less than 6.5 hours per night, according to the study, which was led by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Over a three-year period, adding at least one hour of sleep per night could result in a 26-pound weight loss, the study’s authors noted.
“Along with a healthy diet and regular physical activity, healthy sleep habits should be integrated into public messages to help reduce the risk of obesity and related comorbidities,” the study’s authors wrote, noting their study is a first of its kind because it monitored participants in their home environments instead of in a sleep lab, for example.
“The theory here is that sleep can really affect our brain hormones, which trigger hunger, satiety, as well as our behavior,” said ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who was not involved with the study. “We know that when we’re sleep-deprived, we tend to make poor food choices.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults ages 18 and over should get a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night.
Infants and toddlers should get between 11 and 16 hours of sleep per night, depending on age, while elementary school children should get between nine and 12 hours of sleep per night, according to the CDC.
Teenagers should get eight to 10 hours of sleep per night, the CDC advises.
Speaking of the importance of sleep, Ashton said, “This is not a luxury. This is a medical necessity.”
“We know that sleep has been linked with everything from thinking ability, mood and mental health, hormone levels,” she said. “It can decrease high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease if we get adequate sleep.”
A study released last year found that sleeping less than six hours a night in midlife can raise the risk of dementia — the loss of cognitive functioning, like thinking, remembering and reasoning — by 30%.
“This is so important,” Ashton said of getting adequate sleep. “This is on par with our nutrition and our fitness in terms of our health.”
Here are four tips from Ashton to get better, more restful sleep:
1. “Keep a consistent bedtime routine during the week and on the weekends.”
2. “Make your bedroom cold, dark and quiet. That’s the most relaxing sleep environment you can have.”
3. “Limit screen time, which includes the phone, about an hour before you go to bed.”
4. “Avoid caffeine, alcohol and large meals in the one to two hours before you go to sleep. What we’re eating and drinking really matters.”
Read more here for tips on how to get a good night’s sleep.
(LONDON) — More than two dozen people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second to batter the island nation since the start of the year.
With wind gusts of up to about 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts on Sunday. The storm departed Madagascar on Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall is forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.
The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.
According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 72,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as dangerous. Over 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 27 have died.
At least three children under the age of 12 were among the dead, according to United Kingdom-based international charity Save the Children, which cited Madagascar’s risk and disaster management office.
Hundreds schools were affected by the storm, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. The cyclone also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 17 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, the country’s risk and disaster management office said.
The World Food Program, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”
“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”
Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”
“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”
Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.
One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.
Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.
The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of a former Kentucky police officer who was involved in the botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor.
Brett Hankison’s trial was initially scheduled to begin on Aug. 31, 2021, but was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. The trial was later delayed due to an unscheduled surgery and inclement weather.
Hankison is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into a neighboring apartment while serving a “no-knock” warrant on Taylor’s apartment on March 13, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
“Our hope is that we can pick an impartial jury,” Hankison’s lawyer Stew Mathews told ABC News. “We’re going to both defend [against] the charges in the courtroom.”
No officer has been charged with Taylor’s killing and the decision to charge Hankison with endangering others sparked outrage. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron called Taylor’s death a “tragedy” but said the officers were justified in deciding to shoot.
“Our investigation found that Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by Kenneth Walker, [Taylor’s boyfriend],” Cameron said. “This justification bars us from pursuing charges in Ms. Breonna Taylor’s death.”
Hankison and Louisville Metro Police Department officers Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly fired 32 shots into Taylor’s apartment.
Hankison fired 10 of the shots into Taylor’s apartment. Errant bullets penetrated a wall of the residence and entered a neighboring apartment that was occupied by a child, a man, and a pregnant woman, according to Cameron.
Taylor, a Black 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was fatally shot multiple times during the raid. No drugs were found in her apartment.
Hankison and Cosgrove have both been fired from the force.
Cameron said that none of his shots struck Taylor.
The fatal shooting sparked protests nationwide, as demonstrators demanded action against police brutality and racism in policing.
No-knock warrants, which allow law enforcement officials to enter a private residence without knocking, have since come under scrutiny and have prompted policy changes in states across the country.
The Louisville, Kentucky, Metro Council unanimously passed Breonna’s Law on June 11, 2020, which outlawed “no-knock” warrants and required body cameras be turned on before and after every search.”
(NEW YORK) — The recent tensions between Russia and Ukraine are affecting Americans at the pump.
Prices for oil are now at their highest level in eight years.
“Russia still supplies some of the oil to the United States, and prices for oil are now above $90 a barrel for the first time since 2014,” ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis explains. “And you’re seeing that at the pump — prices up overnight another penny, $3.45 a gallon.”
In the past week, prices for gas have shot up an average of 8 cents a gallon across the country, with some states seeing even bigger increases.
“Nowhere in the country, at this point, is paying less than $3 a gallon for gas, on average, according to Gas Buddy’s Patrick Dehaan,” Jarvis says.
She adds that Dehaan forecasts that in the coming days and weeks, “we will continue to see this price pressure rise” and that prices for gas could climb to $4 a gallon as tensions between both countries escalate.
(KYIV, Ukraine) — French officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed to not launching any new “military initiatives” near Ukraine, a sign they said suggests Putin is moving towards de-escalating the crisis around the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Putin made the commitment during more than five hours of talks between the two leaders on Monday night in Moscow. The French officials said Putin had also promised that thousands of Russian troops massed in neighboring Belarus to the north of Ukraine would leave after exercises end there this month.
It “makes it possible to consider de-escalation,” the officials said in a briefing note sent to journalists.
If true, the promise could be an important sign Putin may be closer to taking Western diplomatic offers as a road out of the crisis, where the massing of tens of thousands of Russian troops near Ukraine has sparked fears of invasion.
The Kremlin on Tuesday downplayed the French officials comments, denying that any deal had been reached.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Financial Times, which first reported the French claims, had “simply written incorrectly.”
Peskov said it was not possible for Putin and Macron to reach a deal since France was not the leader of NATO, which would need to accept any agreements.
But in reality the French officials had not said a deal was reached, just that Putin had promised not to undertake new military initiatives and to initiate a “broader dialogue” that would need to include the rest of NATO countries.
Peskov also confirmed the promise Russian troops will leave Belarus once the joint exercises there end on Feb. 20.
“No one has ever said that Russian troops will remain on the territory of Belarus, that has never been a question,” Peskov told reporters. “On the conclusion of these exercises the troops will return to their place of permanent deployment.”
Russia has been pouring trainloads of troops into Belarus amid its broader build up near Ukraine, alarming Western countries which fear they could be used as a cover for an attack. But Moscow and Minsk both insist the troops are there just for war games.
Putin and Macron’s marathon talks in the Kremlin Monday had ended with a glimmer of hope the Russian leader is ready to accept diplomacy. Putin afterwards told a press conference that Macron had brought “a range of ideas,” which he said it was too early to talk about publicly, but that Putin said he considered “possible as the basis for our next steps.”
It was not clear what those ideas were. But French officials afterwards said Putin and Macron had agreed to “the initiation of a broader dialogue” on three key points: First, Russia’s military posture; second, the long-running ‘Normandy Format’ negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine between government and Russian-backed separatists in the east; and third, the “opening of a dialogue on strategic issues,” a phrase that refers to troop and weapon deployments, and wider questions of NATO’s relationship with Moscow.
Macron flew to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, where he is expected to bring some of the ideas to which Putin referred. Putin on Monday night told Macron, “Let’s see” how that meeting goes, saying he and Macron had agreed to speak again after.
While massing troops near Ukraine, the Kremlin has demanded the United States and NATO give binding guarantees that Ukraine will never join the alliance and that NATO will pull back its infrastructure from eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War.
The U.S. and NATO countries, including France, have rejected those as non-starters, but have offered to engage with the Kremlin on more modest security issues, including limits on missile deployments and troop exercises.
Macron in front of Putin again affirmed NATO’s so-called “Open Doors” policy, calling it “existential.” Any diplomatic breakthrough would either have to find a creative way of reassuring the Kremlin on its main demands or for Putin to move back from them.
Putin with Macron had said there were “some thing possible to talk about” in written responses the U.S. and NATO have sent to Russia’s demands, referring to the more modest offers on missile deployments and other military issues. But he referred to them as “secondary.”
The Kremlin on Tuesday lowered hopes around Macron’s efforts, saying “for now, of course we can’t say we sense any real path to a resolution.”
Peskov said Russia didn’t see “readiness for now” from Western countries to pay attention to its main concerns on NATO.
“The president emphasised this yesterday that, to our regret, in the answers that we received from Washington and NATO there are grains of rationality, but they unfortunately have a secondary character,” Peskov said Tuesday. “And on the fundamental issues we, unfortunately haven’t received an answer. And so this issue remains open in the full sense of that word and remains for us the most important.”
(JERUSALEM) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden by phone this weekend just as the nuclear talks in Vienna enter a critical final stage.
During the phone call Sunday, which Israeli media says Bennett has been trying to arrange for weeks, the two leaders discussed the U.S. raid that killed the leader of ISIS, regional security issues, ties with the Palestinians and the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine.
But when it came to Iran, there was no hint of their clashing views on the nuclear talks taking place in Vienna.
Biden believes saving the 2015 deal will curb Iran’s nuclear activities, while Bennett, just hours before talking to the U.S. president, slammed the deal as ineffective.
During the call, Biden also accepted an invitation to visit Israel later this year.
(LONDON) — More than a dozen people are dead and thousands are homeless after a tropical storm struck Madagascar over the weekend, the second storm to batter the island nation since the start of the year.
With wind gusts of up to about 143 miles per hour, Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coast late Saturday before sweeping across the central and southern parts on Sunday. The storm departed Madagascar on Monday morning and returned to sea, but heavy rainfall is forecast for southern Madagascar through Tuesday, according to the country’s meteorology department, fueling fears of more flooding.
The cyclone’s powerful winds and torrential rains flooded roads and farmland, ripped roofs from homes and buildings and knocked down trees and utility poles. The hardest-hit areas were on the eastern side of the country, though the full scope of the damage was still being assessed.
According to Madagascar’s National Office for Risk and Disaster Management, more than 70,000 people have been impacted by Batsirai, which was classified by the country’s meteorology department as dangerous. Over 62,000 people have been displaced from their homes and at least 21 have died.
Some 211 schools were affected by the storm, leaving an estimated 9,271 children out of school. The cyclone also damaged various infrastructure, including at least 17 roads and 17 bridges, leaving some of the worst-affected areas inaccessible by road. Some towns suffered disruptions to power and water supplies, the risk and disaster management office said.
The World Food Program, the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, has started distributing hot meals to 4,000 evacuated and displaced people in shelters in coordination with Madagascan authorities. Pasqualina DiSirio, the World Food Program’s director for Madagascar, warned that the number of storm victims could “easily rise.”
“We have right now, still waters increasing in the canals, in the rivers, and people are still in danger,” DiSirio said in a statement Monday. “We know for sure that rice fields, that rice crops will be damaged. This is the main crop for Malagasy people and they will be seriously affected in food security in the next three to six months if we don’t do something immediately and we don’t help them recover.”
Humanity & Inclusion, a France-based independent charity that has worked in Madagascar for over 30 years, has a 163-person team on the ground helping Madagascan authorities evaluate and respond to the disaster. Vincent Dalonneau, Humanity & Inclusion’s director for Madagascar, said the effects of Batsirai “are devastating.”
“The amount of destruction is significant and for many this is only the beginning. The storm may have passed, but now the affected communities must restart from scratch — rebuilding their homes, schools and hospitals,” Dalonneau told ABC News on Monday night. “Right now, we only have initial estimates of the damage caused. What remains a great challenge is that more isolated areas have yet to be assessed. So, we expect to see the extent of destruction rising in the coming days as we get a clearer image of the situation.”
Dalonneau said some isolated villages are more than a two-day walk away, which make damage assessments and aid deliveries even more difficult.
One of the affected residents was a 32-year-old single mother named Josephine. She said she and her young daughter evacuated their home near the eastern city of Mahanoro on Friday night amid heavy rain. When they returned, Josephine said their house was “completely destroyed,” according to Humanity & Inclusion.
Batsirai, which means help in Shona, an official language in Zimbabwe, arrived less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Ana barreled through southeastern Africa, killing scores of people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.
The Madagascan government declared a state of emergency on Jan. 27 due to Ana.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House Monday at a critical time for the leaders as tensions with Russia persist over Ukraine.
During brief remarks in the Oval Office ahead of a joint press conference, Biden said the two countries are “working in lockstep to further deter Russian aggression in Europe and address the challenges opposed by China and promote stability in the Western Balkans,” as military forces buildup along the Ukraine border.
Monday marks Scholz’s first visit to the White House, and Biden said it provided a good chance to “get to know you more personally.”
While the Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia will face “severe” consequences if it invades Ukraine, Germany had often opted for a softer response, refusing to send military equipment to Ukraine or deploy more troops to the eastern flank. Germany had also shown reluctance to shut down Nord Stream 2, a Russian natural gas pipeline, not yet operational, that would carry gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Biden has been rallying European allies to respond to Russia’s threats in lockstep with his more aggressive plan. But meeting with Scholz Monday, the two world leaders expressed unity with their posture towards Russia.
After both leaders appeared to avoid mentioning the pipeline, under repeated questions from reporters at an afternoon press conference, Biden, standing next to the German chancellor said Nord Stream 2 would not move forward if Russia invades Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin of potential economic consequences.
“If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the — the border of Ukraine again, then there will be — there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said during the press conference with Scholz, who did not go as far as Biden, but insisted the U.S. and Germany remain “absolutely united.”
Pressed on how he can commit to that given that Nord Stream 2 is under German control, Biden doubled down, saying, “We will — I promise you — we will be able to do it.”
Scholz, in turn, expressed unity with the U.S. and said that Germany was preparing sanctions in case Putin decides to invade.
“As I already said, we are acting together,” Scholz said at the press conference. “We are absolutely united and we will not take different steps. We will do the same steps and they will be very, very hard to Russia, and they should understand.”
Biden added that all diplomatic lanes should be taken to de-escalate the situation on the Ukraine border where at least 100,000 Russian troops have gathered and that Russia needs to understand NATO nations stand together.
Asked by another reporter if Americans who are still in Ukraine should leave, Biden said would be “wise” for Americans to leave the country.
“I’m not talking about our diplomatic core. I’m talking about Americans who are there. I hate to see them get caught in a crossfire if, in fact, they did invade. And there’s no need for that,” Biden said.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega asked Biden as he was exiting the press conference, “Is de-escalation possible?”
“The answer is yes,” Biden replied.
While an administration official earlier acknowledged “the narrative that’s been out there” that Germany’s response to Russia has been lacking, they were not outright critical of Scholz’s hesitation thus far. But they declined to say whether U.S. officials have already convinced the Germans to get on board with the plan to block Nord Stream 2 entirely if Putin decides to move.
“We’re confident that the Germans share our concerns with Russian aggression, that they’re very involved in our ongoing efforts on both deterrence and diplomacy,” the official said. “What I can say is that we will continue to work very closely with Germany to ensure the pipeline does not move forward.”
When asked if the administration is working on ways to prevent the Nord Stream pipeline from becoming operational regardless of if Russia invades, the official underscored the U.S. opposition to the project overall, ahead of Biden’s joint remarks.
“There is not currently any gas flowing through the pipeline. And there won’t be any gas for months, in part because of the diplomacy that the United States has been able to do on this issue with Germany,” the official noted.
ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of the troops necessary to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in place along the Ukrainian border. With U.S. intelligence indicating Putin is preparing for a large-scale invasion, the senior administration official said key allies like Germany are being kept aware of the situation.
“I absolutely think that our countries are unified in terms of awareness of the risk of further Russian aggression to Ukraine. We have been for a long time sharing intelligence with Germany with the rest of our allies,” the official said. “And I think there is absolutely absolute agreement, that if there is further Russian aggression, that there’s a number of things that need to be done in terms of deployment of additional troops to the eastern flank, and to the imposition of a large package of economic sanctions.”
Scholz’s visit comes almost two months to the day since he took office, highlighting the importance of the U.S.-German relationship.
Biden first met with Scholz in October at the G-20 summit, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited the then-finance minister to accompany her to her meeting with Biden, giving the leaders a chance to meet ahead of Scholz taking the helm.
As Biden and Scholz participated in their first joint press conference from the East Room, in-person talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin wrapped after five hours, according to Russian media.
Biden told reporters Monday that he has been “very straightforward and blunt” in his discussions with Putin when warning of sanctions Russia could face but said he still he does not know what Putin will ultimately do.
“I know he’s in a position now to be able to invade, almost assuming that the ground is frozen above Kiev. He has the capacity to do that,” Biden said. “What he’s going to do, I don’t know.”
(SEATTLE) — One person was killed and at least one was injured during a shooting at a Washington state grocery store at about 11 a.m. Monday, authorities said.
Police said a suspect, Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, was taken into custody late Monday in connection with the shooting at a Fred Meyer store in Richland, Washington.
Kelly was being transported to Benton County Jail on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder, Richland police said in a statement.
Kelly was taken into custody on Interstate 90, between Sprague and Spokane, more than 100 miles from Richland, police said. He was arrested “without incident,” police said.
“We thank the numerous law enforcement partners that quickly collaborated to apprehend this subject,” police said in a statement.
Police earlier said a warrant for first-degree murder had been issued for Kelly. He was said to be driving a silver 2005 Honda Civic.
“Kelly should be considered armed and dangerous. Please do not approach him,” officials said.
Police identified the victim as Justin Krumbah, 38. Another injured victim has been hospitalized, police said.
“The surviving victim is currently in critical condition and receiving continuing treatment at an area hospital,” police said late Monday.
Richland is located about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. ATF agents were headed to the scene earlier Monday, the agency said.
“This investigation remains an active, around-the-clock effort by our investigators,” Police said. “The Richland Police Department continues to hold the victims and their families in our thoughts during this difficult time.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 904,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 64.1% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news developed Monday. All times Eastern:
Feb 07, 10:29 pm
California governor says indoor mask mandate will expire Feb. 15
California’s indoor mask mandate will expire Feb. 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Twitter Monday.
He said the state’s COVID-19 case rate has decreased by 65% since their omicron peak, and hospitalizations have stabilized.
“Our statewide indoor mask requirement will expire on 2/15. Unvaccinated people will still need to wear masks indoors. Get vaccinated. Get boosted,” he wrote.
Feb 07, 4:56 pm
Cases among kids continue to drop but are still ‘extremely high’
After the U.S. reported an unprecedented number of new pediatric COVID-19 infections last month, updated data released on Monday shows new cases among children have dropped for the second week in a row.
Nearly 632,000 kids tested positive for COVID-19 last week, a huge drop from the peak level of 1,150,000 reported the week ending Jan. 20, according to a new report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
However, the organizations warn that pediatric cases remain “extremely high” and are still double the level seen in the summer delta surge.
AAP and CHA noted there is an “urgent” need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Feb 07, 4:34 pm
Connecticut to end statewide school mask mandate
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that he recommends ending the statewide mask mandate as of Feb. 28.
Beginning in March, the decision on masks in schools will go to superintendents and mayors based on the individual needs of towns, he said.
This comes hours after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his requirement to wear face masks in schools will end on March 7.
The CDC said it continues to recommend masks for all students 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status.
Feb 07, 2:50 pm
White House has contracted 569 million free tests so far
President Joe Biden’s administration has so far contracted for about 569 million at-home rapid tests as it works to fulfill Biden’s pledge for 1 billion free tests nationwide, a White House official told ABC News.
According to an ABC News analysis, the testing company iHealth is supplying the government with the most tests toward this goal, with a contract to deliver 354 million tests. Other companies supplying tests include Roche, Abbott and Siemens.
White House officials said about 60 million households have placed orders for tests so far through, amounting to a total of 240 million tests (each household can order four).
The U.S. Postal Service said Friday that it has shipped out tests to “tens of millions” of those households.
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett, Ben Gittleson, Lucien Bruggeman
Feb 07, 11:54 am
New Jersey governor to end mask mandate for schools
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that the state’s requirement to wear face masks in schools will end on March 7.
“Balancing public health with getting back to some semblance of normalcy is not easy. But we can responsibly take this step due to declining COVID numbers and growth in vaccinations,” Murphy tweeted.
Murphy, a Democrat, has imposed some of the strictest pandemic-related mandates in the country. New Jersey, an early hot spot for COVID-19 cases, has lost more than 31,000 residents to the virus.
This move follows a decision last month by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, to rescind his state’s mask mandate for schools.
Meanwhile, the Democratic governors of New York and Connecticut have said that they are reevaluating school mask mandates set to expire later this month.
Feb 07, 11:47 am
All states reporting declining or stable new case rates
After months of rising cases due to the omicron surge, every state in the U.S. is now reporting declining or stable new case rates, according to federal data.
Less than one month ago, the U.S. was averaging more than 800,000 new cases per day. Now that average has plummeted to just over 313,000 new cases per day — a 61% drop since the nation’s peak in mid-January and a 56% drop in the last two weeks.
Even so, the U.S. still reported nearly 2.2 million new COVID-19 cases last week; the nation’s daily case average remains higher than during any other wave of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations are also falling. About 14,000 Americans are being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 each day — down by more than 23% in the last week, according to federal data.
Deaths, however, remain very high, with 16,800 Americans dying from COVID-19 over the last week. Deaths are a lagging indicator and usually take a few weeks to dip after the country sees a decline in cases and hospitalizations.
Feb 07, 9:42 am
Delaware to end universal indoor mask mandate
Delaware will lift its universal mask mandate on Friday morning after an improvement in cases and hospitalizations, Gov. John Carney said.
“We’re in a much better place than we were several weeks ago,” Carney said in a statement Monday. “I want to be clear about this point – COVID is still circulating in our communities. And the virus still poses a risk of serious illness, particularly among those who are not up to date on their vaccinations. But we have the tools to keep ourselves and each other safe.”
The mask requirement for Delaware schools was extended and is now set to expire on March 31.
Feb 07, 5:48 am
Ottawa declares state of emergency over trucker-led protests
Canada’s capital declared a state of emergency on Sunday because of trucker-led protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions.
The move by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson “reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” according to a statement from the city.
“It also provides greater flexibility within the municipal administration to enable the City of Ottawa to manage business continuity for essential services for its residents and enables a more flexible procurement process, which could help purchase equipment required by frontline workers and first responders,” the city said.
Seven people were arrested in Ottawa on Sunday due to enforcement measures around the demonstration, according to a press release from the Ottawa Police Service.
“There are over 60 criminal investigations so far related to the demonstration,” police said. “They are primarily for mischief, thefts, hate crimes and property damage.”
Sunday marked the 10th straight day of the so-called “freedom convoy” protests, which began with truckers critical of a new rule that they must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross the United States-Canada border. The demonstrations have since grown into broader challenges to pandemic-related public health measures and opposition to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Thousands of protesters have occupied the streets of Ottawa and other cities across Canada in support of the movement, paralyzing the capital’s city center with traffic jams, nonstop noise and complaints of harassment. Protesters have said they won’t leave until all COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions are lifted nationwide. They are also calling for the removal of Trudeau’s government, even though most of the public health measures were put in place by provincial governments.
