This archive report was first published on 26 August 2021.
Florida Grapples with Record Covid-19 Deaths and Hospitalizations ¶
Florida is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, with 227 virus deaths reported daily on average, a record for the state. The average number of new known cases has reached 23,314 a day, 30 percent higher than the state's previous peak in January.
As the Delta variant spreads, hospitalizations in Florida have almost tripled in the past month, with over 17,200 people hospitalized with the virus across the state. The surge has prompted the mayor of Orlando to ask residents to conserve water to limit the strain on the city's supply of liquid oxygen.
Despite the surge, Governor Ron DeSantis has held firm on banning vaccine and mask mandates. Several school districts have gone ahead with mask mandates anyway, with 52 percent of Floridians fully vaccinated, but the figure is less than 30 percent in some of the state's hardest-hit counties.
Japan Halts Moderna Vaccine Doses Due to Contamination ¶
Japan has announced that it will halt the use of over 1.6 million doses of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine after some vaccination sites reported finding tainted vials. The problem comes as Japan confronts its worst wave of Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began, raising concerns that medical systems in some parts of the country could be overwhelmed.
Unspecified contaminants were discovered in nearly 40 doses of the vaccine at eight locations across Japan, prompting the decision to pull the lot that included them, as well as two other lots produced at the same location. Takeda Pharmaceutical, the company that distributes the shots in Japan, has asked Moderna to carry out an urgent investigation into the cause of the problem.
Despite the rising numbers, Tokyo has carried on more or less as usual, hosting the Paralympics, which opened on Tuesday. The city is currently administering over a million vaccine doses each day, with about 43 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
