A mask may provide better protection against Covid-19 than a vaccine, CDC director says
From CNN’s Andrea Diaz
Wearing a face mask might provide better protection against Covid-19 than a vaccine, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during Wednesday’s Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
“I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70% and if I don’t get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. This face mask will,” Redfield explained, adding that the American public has not yet embraced the use of face masks to a level that could effectively control the outbreak.
“So I do want to keep asking the American public to take the responsibility, particularly the 18 to 25 year olds where we’re seeing the outbreak in America continue to go like this,” Redfield said.
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CDC director says Covid-19 vaccine for general public likely to be available in 2021
From CNN’s Naomi Thomas
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that he thinks it will be the late second quarter or third quarter of 2021 before a Covid-19 vaccine is generally available to the American public.
When asked when he thought there would be a vaccine ready to administer to the American public, Redfield said he thought that there would be vaccine initially available sometime between November and December, but “very limited supply and will have to be prioritized.”
“If you’re asking me when is it going to be generally available to the American public, so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, I think we’re probably looking at third, late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”
Redfield said that he thought the vaccination would begin in November and December “and then will pick up, and it will be in a prioritized way. It will be those first responders and those at greatest risk for death, and then eventually that will expand.”
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Pac-12 commissioner says conference is still not ready for football to return
From CNN’s David Close
On the day the Big Ten conference announced a return plan for a fall football season, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott released a statement noting the conference still has significant issues to solve before considering its own return to play.
Scott sites health restrictions currently in place in California and Oregon that prevent football teams from practicing. There are six Pac-12 universities in those states. Scott also hints to concerns regarding the poor air quality created from the wildfires raging in the western United States.
The Pac-12 remains the lone Power 5 conference that does not have a plan in place to play football this fall.
Here’s the statement from the commissioner:
“At this time, our universities in California and Oregon do not have approval from state or local public health officials to start contact practice. We are hopeful that our new daily testing capability can help satisfy public health official approvals in California and Oregon to begin contact practice and competition. We are equally closely monitoring the devastating fires and air quality in our region at this time. We are eager for our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play this season, as soon as it can be done safely and in accordance with public health authority approvals.”
N95 mask makers are still struggling to meet the demand, 3M CEO says
From CNN’s Aditi Sangal
3M is a company known for scotch tapes and post-it notes but during the coronavirus pandemic, it has become the largest producer of N95 masks. However, even as the company ramped up production and is on its way to produce 95 million masks a month this fall and 2 billion by the end of 2020, it’s still facing a challenge to meet the demand for the masks, CEO Mike Roman says.
“Even today, the demand for N95s is greater than not only our production capacity, but the entire industry. So we’re still facing a challenge to meet that demand,” he told CNN Wednesday.
“We are working in partnership with other companies to look at ways that you can reuse N95s. We’re also exploring ways to bring other kinds of respiratory solutions. We have reusable respirators, which are another solution. They can’t meet all of the demand either but there are other things we’re doing to fight them at every angle,” he added.
A lesson already being learned from this pandemic and production process is that investing in inventory and capacity is key.
“It’s public-private partnerships that are doing that. Part of the investment with the DoD is to be able to have capacity to build an inventory of N95s. It’s also true that we’re doing that in partnership with health care providers, making sure that they have sufficient inventory.”
“Broadly, we were not ready for the demand,” he told CNN about pandemic preparedness at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
Supreme Court will hear oral arguments by phone in new term beginning in October
From CNN’s Ariane De Vogue
The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that when the new term begins in October, the justices will hear oral arguments by phone, continuing the format it used for arguments last May due to the pandemic.
“In keeping with public health guidance in response to COVID-19, the Justices and counsel will all participate remotely,” Kathy Arberg, the court’s public information officer, said in a statement. She noted that the court would also provide live audio feed for the October arguments as it did last term.
When does the new SCOTUS term start: The new term will launch the first Monday of October with the backdrop of possibly the most litigious presidential election in recent years playing out on the public scene. Emergency election related petitions are likely to come to the high court before the election and possibly after the vote.
The court has not yet determined plans for the November and December argument sessions.
Last spring marked the first time the justices heard their cases over the phone and the experiment significantly changed how arguments played out.
Instead of a free for all with the justices interrupting each other and peppering advocates with a barrage of questions, the court proceeded in order of seniority with each justice having time to ask a series of questions.
For the most part, the experiment won good reviews with advocates expressing satisfaction that they were able to get their answers out without interruption. In addition, the new system attracted Justice Clarence Thomas who rarely asks questions in open court, but spoke up frequently by telephone. The session marked the first time, the public could listen in to a live audio feed.
Retail sales growth slowed down in August
From CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn
Retail sales ticked up in August from the previous month but at a slower pace after the enhanced unemployment benefits provided by the federal government ended.
US retail sales rose 0.6% in August, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That’s below the 1% predicted by economists surveyed by Refinitv. In July, retail sales grew 0.9%, the Commerce Department said. That gain already was significantly slower than the 8.4% gain in June.
A supplemental $600 weekly unemployment insurance, which had been part of the government’s first stimulus bill, ran out at the end of July. Since then, Congress has been unable to agree another boost to jobless benefits. President Trump signed an executive order to bolster benefits again, although by less money, by diverting funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Consumer spending is the biggest engine of US economic growth, and retail sales are an important component of that. The report from the Commerce Department, however, does not include spending on services — things like hair-cuts, medical care and financial services.
Some economists say continued growth in retail sales depends on future government stimulus funds and relief to people who have lost their jobs.
“A partial relapse [in retail sales] is likely over the next couple of months as people who have been receiving enhanced unemployment benefits…cut their spending,” Ian Shepherdson, economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a research report Tuesday. “The income hit from the benefit cut-off is too big for people to ignore.”
Some background: Retail sales slumped to a seven-year low in April as the coronavirus prompted stores across the country to shut their doors. Sales bounced back to pre-pandemic levels in July.
Although retail sales have bounced back, the spending has not gone to all retailers equally.
So far in 2020, nearly 8,000 stores have said they will permanently close, according to Coresight Research, a retail research and advisory firm. It anticipates closures will set a new annual record this year with as many as 25,000, breaking last year’s record 9,302 closures tracked by the firm.
Nine English soccer games will pilot allowing fans to attend this weekend
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London
Nine clubs in England’s Football League will be allowed to admit up to 1,000 fans in this weekend’s games as part of a pilot scheme to test the return of supporters, the English Football League (EFL) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The games will be spread out across English football’s second tier Championship (hosting two games), third tier League One (hosting four games) and fourth tier League Two (hosting three games).
EFL Chair, Rick Parry said: “It’s encouraging that we are in a position to move forward with the next phase of the pilot programme and give a small number of our Clubs the opportunity to welcome back up to a 1,000 fans this week.”
“By extending across more EFL Clubs we hope to further demonstrate that the measures developed can allow fans to return in greater numbers from as early as next month,” he continued.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that plans for stadiums to be up to a third full starting Thursday, Oct. 1 would be reviewed.
New York’s Covid-19 infection rate is back under 1%
From CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia
New York State is back under 1% Covid-19 infection rate after breaking its nearly 40-day streak.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that of the 75,087 tests reported yesterday, 652 were positive, which is .87% of the total.
The state hit a 1% positivity rate Tuesday after being under the 1% threshold for 39 days.
Wales locks down one of its biggest regions after a spike in Covid-19 cases
From CNN’s Samantha Tapfumaneyi
The Welsh government has locked down one of the nation’s biggest regions — barring people from entering or leaving — following a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.
Rhondda Cynon Taf, in the south of Wales, is the second county to be locked down. It has a population of nearly 240,000 people.
In a statement on Wednesday, Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:
“We now have evidence of wider community transmission in the borough, which means we need to take urgent action to control and, ultimately, reduce the spread of the virus and protect people’s health.”
The new measures will be imposed on Thursday from 1 p.m. ET. The rules apply to everyone living within the Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The government said people will not be allowed to enter or leave the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council area without a reasonable excuse.
Enforcement of the new restrictions will be undertaken by the local authority and by the police.
