(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 905,000 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 is developing Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Feb 08, 6:54 am
Oregon to lift mask mandates for indoor public spaces, schools by March 31
Oregon will lift general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31, state health officials announced Monday.
According to the Oregon Health Authority, scientists expect that about 400 or fewer people would be hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide by late March, which is the level of hospitalizations Oregon experienced before the highly contagious omicron variant began to spread. Mask mandates for Oregon schools will be lifted on March 31 to give school districts time to prepare.
However, the Oregon Health Authority said the state needs to keep mask requirements in place for now as COVID-19 hospitalizations crest and the health care system struggles to treat high numbers of severely ill patients.
The Oregon Health Authority has filed a new rule with the Oregon Secretary of State to require people to wear masks while indoors in public places. The new rule replaces a temporary one that expired Monday.
State health officials will consider lifting the general indoor mask requirement earlier than March 31 if hospitalizations decline to the levels projected by the end of March sooner than expected. Once the mandates are lifted, employers and businesses may continue to establish their own mask requirements to protect employees and customers, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Navy continues to investigate the death of 24-year-old SEAL candidate Kyle Mullen and the illness of a fellow SEAL candidate last Friday after both sailors successfully completed the arduous “Hell Week.”
Mullen is the fourth SEAL candidate to die during SEAL selection since 2001. The death of seaman Derek Lovelace in 2016 during a swimming exercise led to changes that aimed to increase instructor awareness of sailors who might be in physical distress. That included reducing the number of candidates who could be in a pool during swimming exercises.
“One such accident is one too many,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. “We just don’t know what happened.”
Mullen, a New Jersey native, was hailed Monday by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as “a living legend” because of his athletic prowess in high school and collegiate football. Murphy ordered flags in the state to be flown at half-staff to honor Mullen, who joined the Navy 10 months ago on an enlistment contract to specifically pursue becoming an elite Navy SEAL.
Kirby urged patience as the Navy conducts its investigation and said it was premature to criticize the SEAL selection process.
“The training has to be demanding, given the work that our Navy SEALs do on behalf of this country every single day,” Kirby said. “So you would expect the standards to be very, very high for their readiness.”
Conducted during the third week of the course, “Hell Week” pushes SEAL candidates to their physical and mental limits with a series of constant physical tests during a 120-hour stretch when they only receive between two to four hours of sleep.
“Hell Week really is one week of a simulated combat environment,” said Cpt. Duncan Smith, a retired SEAL who served 32 years in the Navy and is now the executive director of the SEAL Family Foundation.
“It’s physical. It’s also mental and it’s also our early look at how people operate as a member of a team,” he added.
“It’s the thing that a lot of people decide, makes them choose to not be a SEAL anymore,” Smith said.
More than half of the SEAL candidates who enter “Hell Week” drop out at some point as they carry out long-distance swims in the ocean in uniform, carry heavy inflatable boats and run a combined 200 miles throughout the week.
“There’s nothing about Hell Week that’s meant to be abusive,” said Smith. “It’s demanding but there is a tremendous amount of science that goes into it.”
“There are medical professionals there every step of the way,” he added. “These are some of the most studied individuals medically with a goal of keeping them alive and healthy and strong.”
During the few hours of sleep that the SEAL candidates are allowed during the week, they are monitored individually by medical professionals, according to Eric Oehlerich, a retired SEAL and ABC News contributor.
“SEAL training takes you beyond your personal limits,” Oehlerich said. “It’s designed to push you beyond your perception of what’s possible, breaking glass ceilings of what you’re capable of both mentally and physically.”
“Adhering to the training curriculum keeps SEALs alive in combat,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — The drug overdose epidemic in the United States, now primarily driven by synthetic opioids like ultra-deadly fentanyl, costs the nation roughly $1 trillion a year, according to a new bipartisan congressional report released Tuesday.
“Whether measured in lives or in dollars, the United States’ drug overdose epidemic should shock everyone,” the report reads. “It is unacceptable.”
The report provides a unique level of comprehensive review into the opioid crisis, with particular emphasis on the need to improve mental health services and expand health care access for those suffering from addiction.
A White House Council of Economic Advisers assessment pegged the cost of the opioid crisis at $700 billion three years ago.
The new report derives the new $1 trillion estimate based on the increase in overdose deaths seen since 2018.
Drug overdose deaths have more than doubled in recent years, from about 44,000 in 2013, to more than 100,000 between May 2020 and April 2021. Overdose incidents are responsible for more deaths in the U.S. each year than firearms, suicide, homicide or car crashes, according to the report.
When it comes to understanding the demand for synthetic opioids, the report’s authors wrote: “Authorities are largely flying blind.”
“The United States does not have the data infrastructure to adequately measure the amount of illegally manufactured synthetic opioids consumed in the United States or the number of people who use them,” the report reads.
Tracking fentanyl is difficult, especially when it comes mixed with other substances, including counterfeit pills, which users might not know are fake.
A series of target raids done across the U.S. last year as part of a new crackdown on counterfeit prescription medication resulted in the seizure of 1.8 million fake pills, and authorities saw increases in the number that contained fentanyl, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The number of fentanyl-laced pills seized during the enforcement push at the time was enough to kill 700,000 people.
“The United States has never experienced such a rapid and unprecedented shift in illegal drug markets, especially a shift that is causing so much death,” the report reads.
Rep. David Trone, D-Md., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chair the bipartisan commission that produced the over 500-page report.
Combating the opioid crisis is personal for Trone, as his 24-year-old nephew died from a fentanyl overdose in 2016. That family tragedy has fueled his continued work on the issue.
“We’ve got to put names behind these statistics, because we’re numbed,” Trone said. “We just hear these big numbers.”
Transnational criminal organizations rely on raw materials sourced from China and trafficking routes through Mexico to maintain an expansive supply chain which has funneled fake versions of Oxycontin, Vicodin and Xanax, or stimulants like Adderall.
“The cartels are entrepreneurs and are phenomenally powerful with $100 billion-plus business and they have really shaped their drug to fit the American market,” Trone said.
A significantly greater level of potency, about 50 times that of heroin, combined with being relatively easy to manufacture, makes fentanyl an attractive product for drug traffickers.
Counterfeit versions of real prescription drugs also create challenges in identifying the scope of the demand and marshaling resources for treatment, according to the congressional report.
“It’s incomprehensible that our government’s reaction has been so inadequate,” Trone said.
The report recommends elevating the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to a cabinet level position and empowering the office to analyze trends and respond to threats more quickly.
This week, the DEA announced the launch of a new enforcement initiative aimed at dismantling illicit drug trafficking networks in communities across the country. A majority of the networks already identified by the DEA are known for distributing fentanyl or methamphetamines.
“DEA will bring all it has to bear to make our communities safer and healthier, and to reverse the devastating trends of drug-related violence and overdoses plaguing our Nation,” the agency’s chief administrator, Anne Milgram, said Monday.
But the new congressional report is clear to emphasize the need for a public health solution as well. Methadone and buprenorphine, two treatment medications designed to reduce opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms, are identified as two of the most effective intervention methods.
(CHICAGO) — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago is investigating the deaths of London Marquez and Irene Chavez — two women who died while in police custody over the past two months.
Marquez, 31, died on Jan. 27 while in the custody of 11th District police, COPA said, while Chavez died after an “attempted suicide” on Dec. 18 at the 3rd District Police Station.
The cause and manner of death in both cases are still unknown, pending autopsy results.
Members of Marquez’s family gathered on Sunday outside Area 4 Police Headquarters, where she died, and urged the police for answers.
“She was someone who was loved. She has many siblings. She has a mom. She has a dad. You know, we need answers,” her sister, Tatoyia Marquez, told reporters.
“People saw her that same day being active, nothing wrong with her, walking around,” she added.
They also said that Marquez was seven months pregnant with her first child at the time of her death.
“It’s a cold city and it’s even colder what happened to my litter sister,” her brother, Marquez Marquez, told reporters.
It’s unclear why Marquez was put in custody.
A spokesperson for COPA confirmed to ABC News on Monday that the civilian oversight agency is investigating the case, including “why she was arrested.”
The Chicago Police Department referred all questions regarding the case to COPA.
COPA announced on Jan. 29 that the agency is investigating an “incident” in which a civilian died while in police custody.
The person was later identified as Marquez.
The cause and manner of her death remain unknown at this time.
A spokesperson for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Officer said that an autopsy was performed on Jan. 28 and COPA was present, but the results are “pending at this time.”
COPA is also investigating the death of Chavez, who died in the early hours of Dec. 18, 2021, following a medical emergency related to an attempted suicide.
According to COPA, Chavez was in “critical condition” when she was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital, where she died hours later.
Chavez was arrested after being involved in “an incident” at the Jeffery Pub Tavern, hours before her death, COPA said, but the cause of death is still unknown.
Iris Chavez, Irene’s sister, told reporters that police have not provided details surrounding her sister’s death and the family is demanding answers.
Iris Chavez started a GoFundMe account to support the family in covering costs related to her sister’s death and said that Irene was her only sister.
“When I say my heart is what one would call broken glass in a bag…MY absolute FAVORITE PERSON IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD and ONLY SISTER HAS PASSED AWAY,” she wrote.
“Irene taught me all things are possible and things aren’t always what they seem. To always do deep research and open my mind to ALL sides before I make a blind decision,” she added. “I just always have to remember what I find may not be what I want or am even ready for. BUT for MY SISTER I AM GOING THE DISTANCE to find out absolutely every piece of answer I could get Even if it just is what it is! TRUTH…TRUTH AND ANSWERS IS ALL I SEEK.”
A spokesperson for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Officer told ABC News that an autopsy was performed on Dec. 18, 2021 and COPA was present, but the cause and manner of death are “pending at this time.”
Last month, COPA announced that it obtained video and other materials related to Chavez’s death and said that the civilian oversight agency plans on releasing the materials within 60 days of the incident “as part of COPA’s continued commitment to transparency.”
COPA told ABC News on Monday that the agency will “work in coordination with the family and their representative” in releasing the materials, but did not provide a date.
“This is the second incident in Chicago in regards to our Black and brown community — are arrested and brought in custody one way, but leave in a body bag,” Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef of the Chicago Activist Coalition For Justice told reporters on Sunday.
The Chicago Police Department has referred questions regarding both cases to COPA.
(WASHINGTON) — The chairman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol said Monday it was “too early” to know if the probe has been impacted by the discovery that Donald Trump took boxes of presidential records with him when he left the White House last year.
National Archives officials confirmed Monday that the agency recently retrieved 15 boxes of presidential records from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida that were “improperly” removed after the end of his time in the White House.
According to National Archivist David Ferriero, representatives for Trump are “continuing to search” for more records that may have been improperly taken from the White House.
Sources tell ABC News that the documents, which were retrieved last month, included communications between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, as well as a letter from former President Barack Obama to Trump that was left as per custom ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
Officials say the records should have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from the White House at the conclusion of the Trump administration in January 2021, as required by the Presidential Records Act.
“NARA pursues the return of records whenever we learn that records have been improperly removed or have not been appropriately transferred to official accounts,” Ferriero said.
The Washington Post first reported the news of the records being retrieved from Mar-a-Lago.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Last month the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for the House committee investigating Jan. 6 to access hundreds of National Archives records as part of its probe.
Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told ABC News that it was “too early” to know how Trump’s handling of White House records has impacted the committee’s work to date — and whether it has prevented investigators from obtaining key documents and records.
Thompson on Monday said the committee “would not hesitate” to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department if lawmakers determine that Trump willfully violated the Presidential Records Act.
“We will continue to review, and if the review shows that a referral is warranted, we won’t hesitate to do it,” Thompson said.
As previously reported by ABC News, House investigators have discovered that Trump had a habit of shredding documents, notes and other White House records into little pieces that at times left aides scrambling to pick them up off the floor of the Oval Office, sources said.
“The destruction of documents, the reports of large quantities of documents in Mar-a-Lago, all point to a violation of the record-keeping requirements, and the tearing up certainly seems like a willful violation of the law,” committee member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told ABC News.
“We’re going to look at how we can have a more effective mechanism of ensuring compliance,” Schiff said. “There is substantive concern about it, and it’s not a concern that began in the last administration, but it certainly has reached a new height.”
(WASHINGTON) — Following a day of heavy criticism, President Joe Biden’s top science adviser, Dr. Eric Lander, has resigned after an investigation into his mistreatment of staff.
“The President accepted Dr. Eric Lander’s resignation letter this evening with gratitude for his work at OSTP on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other key priorities,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Monday night. “He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead.”
In his letter to the president, Lander said that his resignation “is my fault and my responsiblity.”
“I am devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues by the way in which I have spoken to them,” he wrote.
He cited “ambitious goals” as the driving force behind his demanding behavior.
“I have sought to push myself and my colleagues to reach our shared goals — including at times challenging and criticizing. But it is clear that things I said, and the way I said them, crossed the line at times into being disrespectful and demeaning, to both men and women,” he wrote. “That was never my intention. Nonetheless, it is my fault and my responsibility. I will take this lesson forward.”
Psaki was asked about Lander several times during Monday’s briefing.
She condemned his behavior and said an investigation had taken place. Senior White House officials told him his behavior was inappropriate and “corrective actions needed to be taken,” she said.
“Nothing about his behavior is acceptable to anyone here — at all,” Psaki said at one point.
But the fact that Lander still had a job garnered special scrutiny because of a pledge Biden made on his first day in office.
“If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot — on the spot,” he said. “No ifs, ands, or buts — everybody, everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity. That’s been missing, in a big way, the last four years.”
Lander said his resignation would be effective “no later than” Feb. 18 “in order to permit an orderly transfer.”
(AUSTIN, Texas) — All residents and businesses of Texas’ capital city are still being advised to boil tap water before consuming it after a staff error caused the temporary shutdown of the city’s largest treatment plant.
The precautionary citywide boil notice was issued Saturday by the utility Austin Waters due to high turbidity, or cloudiness, detected in the water at its Ullrich Water Treatment Plant.
“We all need to do our part when something like this happens, and we will. We can also be frustrated, as I am, that there’s yet another situation to deal with,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in a statement.
The boil notice will be over once water samples show no quality issues and The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lifts the notice. Sampling began Monday and it takes 24 hours to receive the results, according to Austin Water.
“We can be thankful, too, that the situation was noticed quickly and steps taken, any public health risk is very, very small, and we’re much better prepared right now with equipment and supplies as we open water distribution stations. It appears this will be over in a couple of days, and the city will keep everyone informed along the way,” Adler said.
Turbidity, according to Austin Water, can create an area where disease-causing organisms can live; the symptoms of which can include nausea, diarrhea and headaches.
“These symptoms can be particularly severe in people who are not as resistant to infections as most of the population,” the utility said in a release.
If you experience symptoms, the city said you should consult your doctor.
Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said the turbidity spike was low and that no water contamination was reported, according to ABC News Austin affiliate KVUE-TV.
“We have no indication that there’s a contamination,” Meszaros said Saturday at a press conference. “This was a very short-term event, internal process water, very low risk, but regulations are regulations and we have to do this boil water notice.”
Water distribution sites are available at various sites throughout the city, including at the Glen Bell Service Center and North Service Center. Customers must bring an empty water container.
Lynyrd Skynyrd will headline the first day of of the Let’s Go! Music Festival, scheduled for June 3-5 in the Annapolis, Maryland, suburb of Crownsville.
Joining Skynyrd on the event’s June 3 bill is another veteran Southern rock band that emerged during the 1970s — The Outlaws.
The festival’s other headliners include country star Billy Currington and pop-rockers the Goo Goo Dolls, who will perform on June 4 and 5, respectively.
Single-day and three-day passes for the festival are available now at Etix.com. Visit LetsGoFest.com for more information.
Lynyrd Skynyrd currently only has a few other confirmed 2022 performances on their schedule. On April 9, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will be performing in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the RockYard venue as part of the 25th anniversary Arizona Bike Week event. On May 13, the band will headline a concert at the LA County Fair in Pomona, California. Lastly, on September 23, Skynyrd will be playing a show at the Nugget Resort Casino in Sparks, Nevada.
For some lucky stars, they might be receiving a wake-up call today that they won’t mind getting: The Oscar nominations will be announced at 8:18 a.m. Eastern time/5:18 a.m. Pacific.
Emmy-nominated black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross and Emmy-winning The Help veteran Leslie Jordan will do the honors later this morning, presenting nominations for all 23 categories live via a livestream on Oscars.org and the Academy’s social media sites.
This year, the western The Power of the Dog has racked up various wins, including Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, and the Best Film trophy at this year’s mostly ignored Golden Globes. Its lead Benedict Cumberbatch is a likely candidate for a Best Actor nomination, but the Oscars have been known for its surprises, too.
Tick, Tick…Boom!‘s Andrew Garfield could also be recognized, after a year in which the Hacksaw Ridge Best Actor nominee logged three lauded performances: One in the acclaimed Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed musical Tick, Tick…Boom!, as well as his performance as televangelist Jim Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and as one of three Peter Parkers in 2021’s biggest movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Similarly, could Will Smith pick up another nomination, this time for King Richard? Could critic favorite Licorice Pizza get a ticket to the Big Dance, or will Oscar shower more La La Land-type love on the musicalsTick, Tick…Boom! and West Side Story? And could House of Gucci be nominated for a Razzie AND an Oscar?
Stay tuned.
The 94th Annual Academy Awards will air live on March 27 on ABC.
The Shanae show continued on Monday’s episode of The Bachelor, leading to a two-on-one date between her and one of the other ladies to determine who stays and who goes home.
But first, Clayton needed to get to the bottom of a confrontation between Shanae and some of the other ladies during last week’s group date. Shanae, after hearing the others plotting to get her sent home, found herself on the losing side of a football game — resulting in her team going home and the winners spending time with Clayton. Worried the others would talk about her without the chance to respond, she crashed the afterparty, angering the others.
Before the rose ceremony, Clayton heard both sides of the story — first from the winning team, then from Shanae — in an effort to sort things out. Shanae delivered an award-winning apology that afterwards, in a reveal, she’d admit was an act.
When the roses were handed out, Shanae would stay, while Jill and Lindsay W. were sent home, along with Siera, whose parting words to Clayton were to choose “the right girl” and not “be stupid.”
The international journey continued in Toronto, with a group date featuring some of the ladies roasting each other, although Shanae — who wasn’t even on the date — took most of the heat. The date rose went to Rachel.
A pair of one-on-one dates went to Serene and Gabby, who each walked away with roses as well.
The episode ended with a one-on-one date at Niagara Falls featuring bitter rivals Shanae and Genevieve, delivered with the ominous message: “Into the falls your journey goes…only one comes out with a rose.”
However, the date may also carry consequences for Clayton, whose decision could change their feelings about him.
The Bachelor continues Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
