A federal appeals court has sided with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its lawsuit with Florida over COVID-19 cruise ship guidelines.
The 2: 1 ruling, made just before midnight on Saturday by the judges of the U.S. 11th Court of Appeal, remains the decision of a U.S. district judge – minutes before it goes into effect – that the CDC will not enforce its cruise return rules could enforce.
The CDC suspended cruises in March 2020 and has since established a four-phase, conditional framework that allows cruise lines to resume operations under certain conditions. Florida filed a lawsuit championed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis alleging the process of approving Florida cruises was too arduous and hurting the multi-billion dollar industry and state revenue.
Norwegian Cruise Lines had filed court documents in support of the CDC rules. The cruise line has also sued Florida for the right to request that all of its passengers be vaccinated when their cruises return to Florida next month.
Also on the news:
►More than 25,000 U.S. patients likely to have COVID-19 were in hospitals as of Saturday, 24.1% more than a week earlier. Over the week, hospitals admitted 51,378 likely COVID patients, up 15%. And 6,198 adults with COVID-19 were in intensive care units, 25.7% more than a week earlier. In all 50 states, new infections rose for the third day in a row.
►Three Texas state Democratic lawmakers who fled to Washington, DC to prevent the passage of a restrictive GOP-backed electoral law tested positive for COVID-19, according to the leadership of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, despite them have been vaccinated.
►Over 100,000 people across France protested the latest government measures on Saturday to get people to get vaccinated and contain the rising infections from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
►Arizona reported over 1,000 additional COVID-19 cases on Saturday for the fourth straight day as virus-related hospital admissions continued to rise.
The UK government is still planning to lift any remaining legal restrictions on social contact and other public health measures on Monday, despite the UK registering more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time in six months and a terrible warning from the UK Government’s Chief Medical Advisor.
►The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma announced on Facebook that all tribal health facility visitors must wear a mask and have limited the number of visitors a patient will allow.
📈Today’s numbers: There have been more than 34 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 608,000 deaths in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The global total: more than 190 million cases and more than 4 million deaths. Nearly 159 million Americans – 47.9% of the population – are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we read:
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Mecca only sees a small crowd doing Hajj
Tens of thousands of vaccinated, socially distant and masked Muslim pilgrims circled Islam’s holiest site in Mecca on Sunday, a small fraction of the usual crowd drawn to the Saudi Arabian city for the Hajj. Around 60,000 vaccinated citizens or residents of Saudi Arabia are allowed to take part in this year’s Hajj, during which the number has been drastically reduced for the second time in a row. Over the past few years, the event has attracted millions of Muslims from all over the world. Hajj is a religious duty that is required at least once for all adult Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the trip.
The rule changes brought about by COVD are making it impossible for people outside of Saudi Arabia to meet the Islamic obligation and costing the country billions of dollars. The Islamic pilgrimage lasts about five days, but traditionally Muslims start arriving in Mecca weeks earlier. The Hajj ends with the celebration of Eid al-Adha, during which meat is distributed to the poor around the world.
Alabama Hospital sends COVID-19 vaccination team to Peru
A hospital in southern Alabama that has vaccinated thousands of people against COVID-19 is planning to send a vaccination team to Peru, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. More than 20 volunteers will travel to the Cusco area of the country, according to USA Health. CerviCusco, a non-governmental organization in Peru, asked for help, the health system said in a statement. USA Health has provided more than 75,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines on the US Gulf Coast, including in mass hospitals that injected more than 2,200 people daily.
“Our plan is to travel to Peru in mid-August to establish processes and protocols for the safe and efficient distribution of vaccines in the region, with the aim of bringing 5,000 doses to the people of Peru,” said Natalie Fox, Assistant Administrator and Chief Nursing Officer for the United States Health Medical Group.
In Los Angeles and Las Vegas, vaccinated people also have to mask themselves indoors
Health officials from popular tourist destinations like Los Angeles and Las Vegas are urging more people to mask themselves indoors. The Southern Nevada Health District now recommends that people wear masks in crowded indoor public places – including casinos in Las Vegas – regardless of vaccination status. The Los Angeles district has also announced that it will reintroduce an indoor masking policy due to the recent surge in new COVID-19 cases, and more California counties are joining the list.
The mask guidelines are designed to help contain the spread of COVID and the highly contagious Delta variant, which has been increasing on a daily basis in some regions of the United States
– Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY
Tokyo 2020 organizers report the first COVID-19 case in the Olympic Village
The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee reported the first positive case of COVID-19 in the Olympic Village on Saturday. The unidentified person, who is only listed by the organizers as “Personnel affected by games”, was in quarantine in a hotel. Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the organizing committee, said at a press conference that he had no information on whether the person was vaccinated. And Seiko Hashimoto, the committee’s president, said the organizers are doing everything in their power to ensure that the Olympic Village – like all venues and facilities – is as safe as possible.
The unnamed resident of the Olympic Village is one of 44 people associated with the Games, according to the organizers, who have tested positive for COVID-19 since July 1. Fourteen of these cases were reported on Saturday. 28 of the 44 positive results were for Tokyo 2020 contractors. Continue reading.
– Tom Schad, USA TODAY
The Associated Press contributed to this blog.
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