The low population growth is attributable to both the pandemic and lower birthrates, among other factors, the Census Bureau said. Mortality grew in part due to the coronavirus, while pandemic-induced travel restrictions prevented fewer people from migrating to the United States.
Here’s what to know.
- President Biden in a speech Tuesday sought to reassure Americans that the country has the tools to fight the highly transmissible omicron variant and insisted the United States would not lock down or close schools despite surging cases.
- Omicron, first detected in November, is showing the potential in some places to overtake the delta variant as the dominant version of the coronavirus. See how fast the omicron variant is spreading around the world.
- The NHL will not send players to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. An official announcement of the decision is expected in the coming days.
Trump says he was ‘surprised’ and ‘very appreciative’ that Biden credited him on vaccines
Return to menuFormer president Donald Trump said Tuesday night that he was “surprised” and “very appreciative” that President Biden credited the Trump administration for the speed with which coronavirus vaccines were developed in the United States.
“I’m very appreciative of that — I was surprised to hear it,” Trump told Fox News. “I think it was a terrific thing, and I think it makes a lot of people happy.”
In a speech at the White House on Tuesday, Biden referenced both the vaccine development efforts during the Trump administration, known as Operation Warp Speed, and Trump’s public acknowledgment that he has received a booster shot.
“Maybe one of the few things he and I agree on,” Biden said of Trump.
“Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America is one of the first countries to get the vaccine,” Biden said in his remarks. “Thanks to my administration, the hard work of Americans, we ... made America among the world leaders in getting shots in arms.”
Asked about Biden’s comments by Fox News, Trump said: “I think he did something very good. You know, it has to be a process of healing in this country, and that will help a lot.”
During the interview, Trump urged Americans to “embrace” vaccination, while also rejecting vaccine mandates favored by the Biden administration.
“You have to embrace it,” Trump said. “You don’t have to do it, and there can’t be mandates and all those things, but you have to embrace it.”
More lawmakers, governors test positive for coronavirus amid omicron surge
Return to menuVeteran House lawmaker Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Tuesday evening that she has tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a growing list of public figures infected recently amid a nationwide surge driven by the omicron variant.
Lee said in a statement that she had been vaccinated and boosted before her infection. “Fortunately, I have only mild cold-like symptoms,” she said. “But I know it could have been much worse.” The lawmaker said she received her test results this week and is self-isolating.
Earlier Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said he and his family tested positive. “As a dad, I’m super concerned, obviously, for my family,” Walz said in a video statement. “This is what happens. The omicron variant and others are out there.”
“Certainly make sure you’re getting your boosters,” he added.
Analysis: In 32 states, 1 in 100 seniors have died of covid. Will this wave break the trend?
Return to menuWe’re used to this pattern by now. Cases drop and we wonder if, finally, the pandemic is behind us. Then they rise again and we wonder how bad it will be.
As the totals surge, we embrace a new hope: Maybe this will be the surge in which the benefits of the vaccines will finally be felt, significantly tamping down the number of people who get seriously ill or die. So far that hope hasn’t manifested.
In June, the delta variant arrived, with data from Britain suggesting that a spike in cases there wasn’t accompanied by a surge in deaths. That offered some hope, but since that surge began, nearly 200,000 people in the United States have succumbed to covid-19.
Since the pandemic began, 32 states have seen 1 percent of their population age 65 and over die of covid. These are estimates, overlaying data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, updated through the week of Dec. 11, on The Washington Post’s state-level data and then compared with Census Bureau figures on population by age. But in many states it’s not really very close. In Mississippi, for example, about 15 out of every 1,000 residents age 65 and older has died of the coronavirus — just under 1.5 percent.
New York City offers $100 to anyone who gets a booster by Dec. 31
Return to menuNew York City will offer $100 to anyone who receives a booster shot at a vaccination site in the metropolis by Dec. 31, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) told reporters Tuesday, touting it as the biggest booster incentive program in the country.
The program aims to encourage more New Yorkers to receive their extra shots. It is being rolled out amid a steep increase in fresh cases in the city, which is reporting new single-day records for infections in recent days. Hospitalizations and deaths — which tend to lag surges by days or a few weeks — have not seen proportional spikes.
The omicron variant, thought to be more transmissible, is probably driving the jump in new cases, city officials say, citing estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that suggest 90 percent of current cases in the New York area are associated with omicron.
“Over these next days, get your booster shot, get a $100 incentive. It’s going to make you feel a lot safer, a lot better,” de Blasio said. “And you’ll have some more cash in your pocket.”
Around 1.7 million people have received boosters or additional doses in New York City, municipal officials say. Eight out of 10 people in the city have gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine; seven out of 10 are fully vaccinated.
Residents can also schedule at-home vaccinations, de Blasio said. “A vaccination team comes to you,” the mayor said. “By the way, they can provide vaccination for the whole family . . . whether people need a first dose, a second dose or a booster.”
Early use of convalescent plasma reduced hospitalizations, scientists say
Return to menuConvalescent plasma may be another tool to help prevent coronavirus infections sparked by the omicron variant from turning severe if patients receive it soon after developing symptoms, according to data presented Tuesday.
The treatment, which contains a bounty of disease-fighting antibodies, could expand doctors’ repertoire for fighting the now-dominant variant that resists many treatments. Convalescent plasma — taken from blood donated by people who have recovered from covid-19 — could join the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab and soon-to-be authorized antiviral drugs as an important therapy for people who become ill.
Scientists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published findings showing that giving plasma early during the course of illness reduced hospitalization by half in a clinical trial that spanned from June 2020 to October 2021. The results, published on the preprint website MedRxiv, support the early use of antibody-rich convalescent plasma to prevent hospitalization in patients who are not yet critically ill.
Israel says it will become first nation to offer fourth coronavirus vaccine dose
Return to menuTEL AVIV — In what it’s calling a global first, Israel’s Health Ministry announced Tuesday that it will offer a fourth coronavirus vaccine shot to citizens 60 and older and other at-risk groups as concerns about the omicron variant proliferate.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he ordered the government to immediately prepare for distributing fourth doses. “As we did with the booster in the delta surge, we intend to be active and groundbreaking, and do everything to win,” he tweeted. “The world will follow us.”
Key coronavirus updates from around the world
Return to menuHere’s what to know about the top coronavirus stories around the globe from news service reports.
- France’s health minister said the omicron variant would account for 1 out of 3 infections in the country within days, becoming the dominant version of the virus by early January.
- Israel’s Health Ministry announced plans to offer a fourth coronavirus shot to people 60 and older in what it called a global first. A hospital reported the country’s first known death of a patient with omicron but also said his morbidity stemmed mainly from serious preexisting conditions.
- Japan reported its first cases of community transmission of the variant, as the prime minister said authorities would maintain tight border controls to contain the spread of the virus.
- While South Africa has recorded a decline in new cases in the country’s omicron-driven surge, factors such as uneven testing and reporting delays can make daily infection tallies unreliable.
- Cuba, which developed its own coronavirus vaccine, has immunized over 90 percent of its population with at least one dose, more than most of the world’s richest nations.
Biden seeks to recast pandemic fight, rejecting lockdowns and school closures
Return to menuPresident Biden sought to recast the fight against the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, insisting the United States would not lock down or close schools despite surging cases driven by the new, highly transmissible omicron variant.
Instead, Biden argued that Americans who are vaccinated and boosted remain largely protected from severe illness and should plan to celebrate the holidays with family and friends as normal.
“This is not March of 2020,” Biden said, referring to the early, pre-vaccine days of the pandemic as he spoke from the White House State Dining Room. “Two hundred million people are fully vaccinated. We’re prepared. We know more.”
The president still issued a grave warning to unvaccinated Americans who he said have a “patriotic duty” to get vaccinated, but he spent much of his speech reassuring Americans the country has the tools to avoid the extreme measures that typified the early months of the pandemic response.
6 warnings for travel during Christmas week
Return to menuThe rise of the omicron variant does not appear to be keeping travelers home for the holidays: More than 2 million passengers a day have passed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints since Thursday, with even busier days expected ahead.
That leaves the number of people who traveled in 2020, when many stayed home, in the dust. And it means some travelers might be heading out on their first big trip since Christmas 2019.
Here’s what those who are returning to the roads and skies — for the first time in years, or even just weeks — should be aware of.
One person caught the coronavirus. China locked down 200,000 of their neighbors.
Return to menuIn response to a single case of the coronavirus, Chinese authorities locked down a border city of more than 200,000 people this week, suspended schools and businesses and barred the entry of all goods and people.
The city of Dongxing, which borders Vietnam in China’s southern Guangxi province, on Wednesday ordered all households to quarantine at home until further notice after a resident tested positive during a routine screening, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Schools, public transportation and most businesses, except for supermarkets and pharmacies, were temporarily shuttered as authorities launched a campaign to test everyone in the city.
Customs processing in the city, the entry point for a million tons of goods annually from Vietnam, was also halted while the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi asked Chinese citizens in Vietnam not to return by land.
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