Coronavirus Morning News Brief – May 29: Whatever Happened to the ‘Hot Vax’ Summer, Shanghai Lockdown Causes Imaging Dye Shortage

Jones Beach on Long Island, in New York

Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 780th day of the pandemic.

It was just one year ago that an end appeared to be inside for the coronavirus pandemic.  President  Biden proclaimed that July 4 would be an Independence Day from Covid, and there was talk of a “hot vax” summer.

Cases had plummeted to their lowest levels since the spring of 2020 and many adults were already fully vaccinated.

There was much hope but, as one is wont to say, hope springs eternal.

The idea of a “hot vax” summer was short lived.

Instead, cases began to surge right after the Fourth thanks to the delta variant and the cooldown thereafter was tempered by the even more powerful omicron subvariant surge that started at the very end of November.

While the surge ended, daily case figures never dropped to the point where they were one year ago, when the 7-day incidence was under 12,000.  Instead, the 7-day incidence rate continues to remain over 100,000 and is now 107,475.

In other news we cover today, the pandemic cum supply chain crisis is causing a shortage of the dye used in diagnostic tests in hospitals, Hong Kong is relaxing flight bans, and North Korea says the situation there is continuing to improve.

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

UNITED STATES

Physicians across the country are postponing diagnostic scans conducted with contrast because of a shortage of imaging dye used in diagnostic tests conducted both in such facilities as well as at outpatient diagnostic testing centers.

The dyes, supplied by operated by GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric and one of two major suppliers of the iodinated contrast materials, are used for computerized tomography angiograms that determine if a patient has an arterial blockage, blood clot, or internal bleeding.  They are also used to spot infections, bowel blockages, or cancers.

The GE factory was shuttered during the lockdown in Shanghai.

GLOBAL

Officials in Shanghai are preparing to reopen the city, China’s financial capital, after a two-month lockdown. Businesses and factories will be allowed to resume normal working hours on Wednesday, the first of the month. Authorities there plan to introduce policies that will support the pandemic-battered economy.

Meanwhile, authorities in North Korea, which earlier in the month revealed its first major coronavirus outbreak, said that the situation there is improving to the point where health officials are considering revising pandemic restrictions.

TRAVEL

The Hong Kong government will relax its flight ban starting June 1, while at the same time tightening coronavirus testing requirements for inbound travelers.

The number of new coronavirus cases has declined dramatically from a peak of over 72,000 on March 4.  That figure was 270 on Saturday and the 7-day incidence was 243.

TODAY’S STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Sunday, May 29.

As of Sunday morning, the world has recorded 531.5 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.4 million new cases in the preceding 24 hour period, and 6.3 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 502.1 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.4 million.

Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Sunday is 23,039,229, a decrease of 41,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 23,042,692, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 37,602, are listed as critical.  The percentage of cases considered critical is unchanged over the past 24 hours.

The United States reported  13,762 new coronavirus infections on Sunday for the previous day, compared to138,749 on Saturday, 124,584 on Friday, and 187,530 on Thursday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The 7-day incidence rate continues to remain over 100,000 and is now 107,475.  Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% 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 109,942, a 22% increase, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources.  The average daily death toll over the same period is 371, an increase of 19% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 26,962, a 28% increase.

In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Sunday, recorded 85.7 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of over 1 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, over 43.2 million, and a reported death toll of 524,586.

New data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed at the end of April that the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now over 803,000, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, after the United States.  Rosstat reported that 35,584 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in the month of March, compared to 43,543 in February.

Meanwhile, Brazil now has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 666,435, and has seen over 30.9 million cases.

France continues to occupy the number four position in total cases with 29.5 million cases, and Germany is in the number five slot with 26.3 million.  The United Kingdom, with 22.3 million cases, is now number six and is the only other country in the world with a total number of cases over the 20 million mark.

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Sunday, 258.5 million people in the United States – or 77.8% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 66.6%, or 221.2 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 586.5 million. Breaking this down further, 89.2% of the population over the age of 18 – or 230.5million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 76.6% of the same group – or 197.7 million people – is fully vaccinated.  In addition, 50.2% of that population, or 99.2 million people, has already received a third, or booster, dose of vaccine.

The CDC is not updating data on over the Memorial Day bank holiday weekend. The next update will be on Tuesday, May 31.

Over 65.8% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Sunday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information.  So far, 11.82 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 6.76 million doses are now administered each day.

Meanwhile, only 16.2% 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.

Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain in the single digits, if not lower.

In addition, North Korea and Eritrea are now the only two countries in the world that have not administered vaccines.

Paul Riegler contributed to this story.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)