The governor of the U.S. state with the highest COVID deaths per capita rate said he sees President Joe Biden’s mask mandate for all federal workers as “an attack,” not a preventive measure meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday the mandate is “an attack by the president on hardworking Americans and hardworking Mississippians who he wants to choose between getting a jab in their arm and their ability to feed their families.”
According to data compiled by The New York Times, Mississippi has a COVID death rate of 306 deaths per 100,000 people.
Britain’s COVID vaccination campaign for children between the ages of 12 to 15 begins Monday at schools around the country.
Meanwhile, some private hospitals in Kolkata, bracing for a possible surge in pediatric COVID cases, have enhanced their facilities and provided additional training for their healthcare professionals.
A new study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that roughly 1 in 3 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 still reported symptoms two months later.
The study, done in Long Beach, California, found that one-third of those who tested positive for COVID-19 reported at least one symptom of the disease caused by the coronavirus four or more weeks after testing positive.
The CDC reported that rates were even higher in women, Black people, those older than 40, and those with pre-existing conditions. The CDC describes “long COVID” as experiencing symptoms four or more weeks since testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.
For the study, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services spoke to 366 people, age 18 and older, chosen at random from two test groups after receiving a positive COVID-19 test between April 1 and December 10, 2020.
The U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than any other country, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, with more than 42 million infections.
Singapore reported more than 1,000 new cases of the virus Sunday, the highest rate for the country since April 2020. Even with 80% of its population fully vaccinated against the virus, Singapore has paused further reopening.
The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has recorded more than 228 million global COVID-19 cases and 4.7 million global deaths. Almost 6 billion vaccines have been administered, according to the center.
Over the weekend, the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. revealed that some tigers and lions at the zoo tested positive for the virus.
The zoo reported that six lions and three tigers were suffering decreased appetites, lethargy, and coughing and sneezing, but said in a press release that it was committed to the health and safety of both the animals and the human staff.
Source: Voice of America