Coronavirus Morning News Brief – March 15: Unlock Your iPhone With a Mask On, Britain Scraps Most Pandemic Restrictions

A BA 747 waiting to operate one of its final flights to New York City

Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 74th day of 2022.

It was just two years ago when many Apple users were cursing the Cupertino company for the use of the Face ID facial recognition system to unlock their iPhones, a feature that would simply not work when the user donned a face mask.

Indeed, the start of the pandemic coincided with the point at which most Apple iPhones in the wild utilized Face ID for security versus Touch ID, an electronic fingerprint recognition system.

The pandemic then unfolded, in part, in lockstep with Apple’s attempts to make it easier for masked users to gain access to their devices.

In May 2020, Apple introduced iOS 13.5, an operating system that didn’t overcome the obstacle of the mask but did make it faster to get to the password screen.  It took Apple a while to realize that masks were here to stay and, 11 months later, in April 2021, it released iOS 14.5, an update that allowed Face ID to unlock the phone of a masked user provided he was wearing an Apple Watch at the time.

Today, perhaps realizing that not every iPhone user has an Apple Watch, Apple released iOS 15.4, ending the struggle users have had while attempting to unlock phones without removing – however briefly – their masks.  This update, which works with iPhone 12 and later models, will unlock the device, no Apple Watch required.

Of course, in many parts of the world, as the number of new cases plummets following the omicron variant-fueled surge in infections, mask mandates are being eliminated.

Indeed, just today, Heathrow Airport ended its mask mandate and British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said they would end mask requirements on some flights.

Still, masks in the United States and many other countries are required on airplane flights, on public transit such as buses, trains, and streetcars, and in medical and congregate settings.

Given that the coronavirus seemingly reinvents itself time and again, it’s not completely out of the question that another variant could rear its ugly head and cause mask mandates to be reinstated.

In other news we cover today, Britain will scrap most remaining coronavirus restrictions this week, mask mandates on some British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights are ending, and China in struggling to contain new Covid outbreaks.

Here’s a look at what has taken place over the past 24 hours.

UNITED STATES

The convoy of trucks that left the West Coast several weeks ago on a weeks-long, cross-country protest against Covid-19 mandates attempted to drive into Washington, D.C., on Monday, but was thwarted by police.  Authorities had blocked numerous bridges, highway exits, and city streets, preventing many of the vehicles from entering the heart of the nation’s capital.

GLOBAL

The British government announced on Monday that it plans to end its remaining international travel restrictions this week.  The government noted that it was one of the first major economies to do so, calling it a “landmark moment.”

“These changes are possible due to our vaccine rollout,” Grant Shapps, the British Transport Secretary, wrote on Twitter, adding that they mean “greater freedom in time for Easter.”

The Chinese government is closing businesses, halting production lines, and closing convention centers and shopping malls in moves eerily reminiscent of the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic. In some case, travel outside of several cities, including Shanghai and Shenzhen, has been restricted as well.

Hong Kong, meanwhile, is constructing new quarantine centers and shoppers are emptying supermarket shelves in panic.

TRAVEL

Heathrow Airport in London said it would eliminate its mask mandate starting Wednesday. The move affects the airport’s terminals, rail stations, and office buildings. The airport said it still would strongly encourage people to wear them, however.

British Airways said it would eliminate mask requirements except for flights to destinations that require them, a move echoed by Virgin Atlantic Airways, which said it would end mask requirements on flights to and from the Caribbean from Heathrow and Manchester airports.

Masks will still be required on flights into and out of the United States until at least April 18.

SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The National Basketball Association fined the New York Nets $50,000 for allowing an unvaccinated player, Kyrie Irving, into the team’s locker room at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

His presence was in violation of New York City mandates that require all private sector employees in the workplace to be vaccinated.

TODAY’S STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Tuesday, March 15.

As of Tuesday morning, the world has recorded 460.6 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 1.8 million new cases in the preceding 24 hour period, and almost 6.1 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 393.9 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 1.7 million.

Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Tuesday is 60,604,582.  Out of that figure, 99.9%, or 60,539,114, are considered mild, and 0.1%, or 65,468, are listed as critical.  The percentage of cases considered critical is largely unchanged over the past 24 hours.

The United States reported 55,480 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday for the previous day, compared to 6,382 on Monday, 10,902 on Sunday, 44,358 on Saturday, and 40,147 on Friday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.   Weekend figures are typically 25% to 30% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.

The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 33,854, a 47% decrease, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources.  The average daily death toll over the same period is 1,260, a decrease of 32% over the same period.

In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Tuesday, recorded over 81.2 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 991,038. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, over 42.9 million, and a reported death toll of 516,005. Finally, Brazil has recorded the second highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 655,326, and has seen 29.4 million cases.  France continues to occupy the number four position, over 23.5 million cases, and the United Kingdom is in the number five slot with 19.7 million.

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Tuesday, 254.6 million people in the United States – or 76.7% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 65.3%, or 216.7 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 557.1 million. Breaking this down further, 88.1% of the population over the age of 18 – or 227.6 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 75.2% of the same group – or 194.3 million people – is fully vaccinated.  In addition, 47.7% of that population, or 92.7 million people, has already received a third, or booster, dose of vaccine.

Over 63.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Tuesday, a figure that is largely unchanged in the past 24 hours, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information.  So far, 11 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis.

Meanwhile, only 14% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine. In countries such as Ethiopia, Haiti, Syria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda, for example, vaccination rates remain in the single digits, if not lower.

Anna Breuer contributed to this story.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)