US-Canada border bridge reopens after police clear protesters
Police cleared out the protest near the massive Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit to Canada.
USA TODAY, Associated Press
Hong Kong will begin vaccinating children as young as 3 years old to combat a record surge of infections, authorities said Monday.
The decision came days after the death of a 4-year old who tested positive there. In the U.S., the minimum age for vaccination is 5.
Hong Kong confirmed a record 2,071 new coronavirus cases Monday, the most in a single day since the pandemic began. That number could more than double Tuesday as another 4,500 people tested preliminary-positive.
The city’s medical and quarantine capacity has been overloaded, forcing hospitals to reserve isolation wards for children, the elderly, and patients with serious symptoms, the Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Hong Kong has adopted mainland China’s “zero tolerance” approach that requires quarantines, mask mandates, case tracing and lockdowns of buildings, neighborhoods and entire cities when a few cases are detected.
Also in the news:
►Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has signed a $101 million supplemental budget to boost coronavirus testing across the state, provide masks in a variety of settings and allocate additional funding for a COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave program.
►Duchess Camilla has tested positive for COVID-19, the palace confirmed, just four days after her husband, Prince Charles, tested positive for the virus a second time.
►Japan is considering easing its stringent border controls amid growing criticism that the measures, which have banned most foreign entrants including students and business travelers, are hurting the country’s economy and international profile.
►Walmart will no longer require fully vaccinated workers to wear masks while working in stores unless mandated by local or state rules.
Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 77.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 919,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 412.4 million cases and over 5.8 million deaths. More than 213.8 million Americans – 64.4% – are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What we’re reading: What’s it like to be stuck in COVID isolation during the Olympics? Bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor explains how quarantine was her biggest foe in the games.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY’s free Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.
California’s mask mandate for indoor public settings will be lifted Wednesday. Several celebrities jumped the gun and ditched them Sunday at the Super Bowl.
The likes of NBA icons LeBron James and Magic Johnson and showbiz figures Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Jay-Z, Charlize Theron, Sean Penn, Chris Tucker and Matt Damon were among the well-known figures seen on camera without a mask at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area, where everyone age 2 and older was supposed to wear a mask when not eating or drinking.
Luminaries were far from the only ones eschewing the facial coverings. Even though KN95 masks were handed out to fans attending the NFL’s championship game, bare faces could be easily spotted throughout the crowd.
But celebrities naturally draw the most attention – and outrage in these instances. Social media was replete with comments about their lack of compliance with the rules, including this one from a Twitter user:
“My students all have to wear masks all day tomorrow, inside and outside of their classrooms because we are in LA County. Same place as the Super Bowl. But not a mask in sight here.”
The protest-weary Canadian province of Ontario will lift its COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination requirements in two weeks, authorities announced. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the decision was not a result of the protests that closed a key bridge from Windsor to Detroit for a week and have paralyzed parts of the Canadian capital of Ottawa. The decision was made because “it is safe to do so,” Ford said.
A trucker-led “Freedom Convoy” was finally disbanded over the weekend after a judge ordered the blockade to end Friday. About a dozen protesters who defied the order were arrested Sunday when the last vehicles blocking the bridge were towed away.
“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” said Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor.
A Missouri woman has survived a 108-day odyssey with the coronavirus that included two rounds of double pneumonia, four instances of her lungs collapsing, a bleeding ulcer, septic shock, hemorrhagic shock, an induced coma and 34 days on a life-support machine.
When Janie Pendergraft went into acute respiratory failure, conventional medical intervention had already been exhausted. At 65, she was at the top of the age range for a comeback from life support, but because she was otherwise healthy her medical team hoped for a good outcome. Today, she is quick to praise her care at Mercy Springfield, her family’s support, the cards and prayers of friends.
“I don’t know why I was spared,” she said. “There’s always hope.”
– Linda Leicht
Gov. Phil Murphy’s requirement that workers in high-risk settings get the COVID-19 vaccine – and a booster shot, when they’re eligible – survived a legal challenge Friday when a state appellate court dismissed a bid by New Jersey’s largest police union to block the mandate.
In a 34-page opinion, a panel of three judges brushed aside the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association’s claim that Murphy overstepped his bounds when he declared last month that certain workers in crowded, high-risk environments such as hospitals and prisons – including about 11,000 county and state corrections officers – must get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs.
The executive order “represents a rational and measured response to our present circumstances,” the judges wrote, adding that they found no merit in any of the PBA’s arguments.
Across the country, police unions from Chicago to Seattle have pushed back against coronavirus vaccine mandates. The New Jersey ruling follows a nationwide pattern of police unions losing their bids to block vaccine mandates, including in some of the country’s most populous areas such as Los Angeles and New York state.
– Steve Janoski, NorthJersey.com
Contributing: The Associated Press
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