Coronavirus News Update – July 14: Supreme Court Rejects Bid to End Mask Mandate
Flags at the base of the Washington Monument.
The Supreme Court rejected an attempt to block the Biden administration’s mask mandate that is intended to stem the spread of the virus. Justice Clarence Thomas rejected a bid by a Florida man, Lucas Wall, who wanted to leave the state by airplane but refused to don a face mask.
Wall’s court filings said that, as a result of the mask mandate, he has since been “stranded” at his mother’s home in the Villages, a retirement community in central Florida. The plaintiff said that that the federal mask requirement for travel would make it impossible for him to take a planned flight to Germany later this week.
As of Wednesday morning, the world has recorded 188.8 million Covid-19 cases and over 4.08 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 172.5 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus.
In the United States, the death toll is now 623,447, an increase of 409 in the past day. Since the start of the pandemic the country has recorded 34.8 million cases, a higher figure than any other country and one that is followed by India, which now has 30.95 million officially recorded cases and 411,615 officially recorded deaths, although experts now believe that both number are in reality significantly higher.
The United States added over 25,000 new cases over the past 24 hours, a 109% 14-day increase and a trend that is fueled by the highly contagious India, or Delta, variant.
Since the start of vaccinations at the end of last year over 3.51 billion doses have been administered across the globe as of Wednesday morning, an increase of 0.03 billion and the equivalent of 46 doses for every 100 people, a one-dose increase per hundred over the previous 24 hours.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Wednesday, 184.5 million people in the United States – or 55.6% –have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 48.1%, or 159.7 million people, are now fully vaccinated, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 344.9 million. Breaking this down further, 67.7% of the population over the age of 18 – or 174.9 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 58.9% of the same group – or 152.2 million people – is fully vaccinated.
A fire that swept through an Iraqi hospital coronavirus ward left at least 92 patients dead. The scene was exacerbated by a padlocked front door that volunteers were unable to open, faulty fire extinguishers, and fire trucks that ran out of water.
Finally, the Washington Monument reopened to the public Wednesday after being closed for six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. A visit to the historic landmark will require tickets, obtainable in advance, and masks are mandatory, even for Lucas Wall. One ticket will admit a group of four.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
