On the same day as hosting Super Bowl LV, Florida on Sunday became the first state to report 200 COVID-19 cases, according to a U.S. TODAY analysis.
The news comes in the wake of public health officials across the country for a possible increase in coronavirus cases if Americans do not heed warnings not to gather for Super Bowl parties.
The game itself was played in front of 22,000 masked fans, many of whom were vaccinated by health workers, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Stadium, but videos on social media after the game showed revelers in Tampa, there were many people who were maskless and took the social distance and celebrated them on the street.
The country now has 699 known cases of virus variants, up from 618 on Thursday. Cases of the highly contagious variants have more than doubled since January 27th.
Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were among many health officials who warned Americans to meet with friends over Zoom, not over bowls of guacamole in their lounges, otherwise the parties would become a super-distributor across the country.
“I’m very worried about Super Bowl Sunday, honestly. People come together, they watch games together. We’ve already seen outbreaks of football parties,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said earlier. “So I think we need to look at this and be careful.”
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In the headings:
► On Sunday, the United States reported less than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases, one of the lowest records in three months, according to a US TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Sunday’s score of 88,044 is still averaging more than one case per second, but the country has reported no fewer than 100,000 cases a day since November 2, except on Christmas Day, when some states did not report numbers.
►Pfizer expects to reduce the amount of time it takes to produce a quantity of COVID-19 vaccine by almost half from 110 days to an average of 60, as this will make the process more efficient and build up production, the company said. USA TODAY said.
► South Korea’s daily version of newly confirmed cases of coronavirus fell below 300 for the first time in more than two months on Monday as authorities removed the country’s difficult physical distance rules.
► Researchers in Britain believe that a new study among 2,000 people indicates that the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine offers minimal protection against mild or moderate diseases against the South African variant of the coronavirus. The study, which did not assess the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing serious diseases, raises serious concerns about efforts to stop the pandemic mostly through vaccinations. South African officials have said they will postpone the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country while studying the findings.
📈 Today’s numbers: According to Johns Hopkins University data, the U.S. has more than 27 million cases of coronavirus and 463,400 deaths. The world total: more than 106 million cases and 2.31 million deaths. According to the CDC, more than 59.2 million doses of vaccine have been distributed in the US and approximately 41 million have been administered.
📘 What we read: Fatigue, fever and loss of taste or smell are common symptoms of COVID-19. A British researcher has documented other diseases linked to the coronavirus and is not pleasant.
Chicago schools reopen this week; San Francisco schools reach agreement
Chicago schools will reopen this week after a preliminary agreement was reached with the teachers’ union on COVID-19 safety protocols, which could possibly avert a strike in the third largest school district in the country.
Under the possible agreement, which still requires approval by the Chicago Teachers Union, pre-K and special education programs will return Thursday and other groups will be stunned. Kindergartens through fifth grade students would return on March 1 and a week of high school. No return date has been set for high school students.
The San Francisco Chronicle told the unions, which represent the San Francisco union representatives, Sunday that they have also tentatively agreed on an agreement that will reopen public schools.
And some churches in California have opened their doors to worshipers after the state revised its guidelines following a Supreme Court ruling that lifted the ban on indoor services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pfizer expects increase in efficacy to ease bottlenecks in vaccine deployment
Pfizer expects to halve the amount of time it takes to reduce a group of COVID-19 vaccine from 110 days to an average of 60, as this makes the process more efficient and production is built up, the company told USA TODAY said.
As the country revises its vaccination programs, the increase could help alleviate bottlenecks caused by vaccine shortages.
“We call it ‘Project Light Speed,’ and it’s called that for a reason,” said Chaz Calitri, Pfizer’s vice president of sterile injectable surgery operations, who runs the company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. “Just last month, we doubled production.”
The increased speed and capacity is not unexpected, says Robert Van Exan, president of immunization policy and knowledge translation, a vaccine production consulting firm.
– Elizabeth Weise
Dr. Fauci: not enough time to study the impact of the second dose delay
The country’s leading expert in infectious diseases said on Sunday that it would not be wise to delay second-dose COVID vaccines, as it would take too long to study the impact.
From a “theoretical point of view” it would be good to know the durability of one dose, he said. But the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been thoroughly tested for a second dose in three weeks and four weeks, respectively, he said.
“The amount of time it will take, the amount of people you will have to spend on the study – by that time we will already be in the arena to have enough vaccines to go around,” Fauci told NBC News said. Meet the press. “What we have now, and what we have to go with, is the scientific data we have collected, and that is very good.”
Contributing Contributions: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared TODAY on the US: COVID updates: Super Bowl maskless parties; 200 variant cases Florida