The European Union will begin to ease travel restrictions to the bloc, with the EU Council agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors in.
Indian states are facing shortages of a drug used to treat black fungus, a rare and potentially fatal infection that is increasingly being detected in Covid-19 patients.
Meanwhile, the US plans to send 20 million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines overseas, on top of 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Our live coverage has ended for the day. Follow the latest on the pandemic here.
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Miami-Dade schools reinstate outdoor mask policy after backlash from teachers' union
From CNN's Yon Pomrenze
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho speaks during a news conference on Thursday, May 20.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
Miami-Dade County Public Schools paused its plans to relax outdoor masking rules for the rest of the school year after backlash from the teachers’ union, which claimed that any changes needed to be agreed upon by them first.
On Tuesday, the school district tweeted from its official account that, “Effective immediately, starting tomorrow, students engaging in outdoor activities such as physical education or recess during the school day, will not be required to wear masks.”
The decision came with just 15 school days left in the year, which ends on June 9.
The response from the teachers union was swift. In a statement a few hours after the tweet, United Teachers of Dade (UTD) Karla Hernández-Mats stressed how few days are left in the school year and that “our educators believe it would be more prudent and less disruptive to have our students continue wearing face masks on our school campuses.”
During a school board meeting on Wednesday, UTD Vice President Antonio White went further, saying he felt “blindsided” by the new policy and that the UTD agreement with the school district “clearly states that all employees, students and visitors in worksites, shall be required to wear face coverings” and that “this language is not something that can be unilaterally changed.”
In response, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the policy was “based on a lot of commentary from a lot of parents, and in some cases, a lot of students, and even in some cases teachers” and that the district’s task force of public health experts and medical experts unanimously signed off on it – but that they have paused implementation of the policy to discuss the policy with the union.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Carvalho said those conversations were still ongoing and that “we hope to move forward with a recommendation from the task force for the benefit of our students and our teachers.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon the tweets with the new policy were deleted.
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Rhode Island governor moves state's reopening to Friday
From CNN’s Rebekah Riess
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee
WJAR
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee announced the state’s Covid-19 reopening guidelines will now be effective May 21, a week earlier than originally planned, according to a release from the governor’s office.
Starting Friday, no physical distancing will be required, and restrictions will be lifted on indoor dining, bars, houses of worship, retail, gyms, offices, pools, and casinos.
According to the release, establishments will be allowed to, but are not required to, supplement the new guidelines with their own rules regarding mask wearing, proof of vaccination, testing, and other mitigations.
McKee said mask requirements will remain in place for all youth sports, indoor and outdoor, though the policy will be reassessed on July 1. Adult sports won’t have restrictions and will follow the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance.
Rhode Island is maintaining status quo regarding Covid-19 guidelines in three key sectors, including health care congregate care, and youth and school-based events, McKee said.
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Holland America restarts cruises from Seattle to Alaska in July
From CNN’s Andy Rose
The Holland America Line Inc. Noordham cruise ship passes through the Tarr Inlet in Glacier Bay, Alaska, on Friday, July 12, 2019.
Tim Rue/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Holland America Line says it will begin offering cruises from Seattle to Alaska again starting July 24. Their plans are contingent on approval from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Holland America’s plans follow passage of a federal law that temporarily suspends a requirement for Alaska-bound cruise ships to stop in Canada. That country is still banning cruise travel, effectively prohibiting US cruises to Alaska without the waiver. The measure passed both houses of Congress with bipartisan support.
Holland America says it will have 10 Alaska cruises on the Nieuw Amsterdam departing from Seattle this year, with the last on Oct. 2. Stops will include Juneau and Ketchikan.
The cruise line says it expect regular dining service and entertainment to be available in the cruises, but all passengers must be fully vaccinated, and there may be social distancing requirements.
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Washington state will close half of its mass vaccination sites next week
From CNN’s Andy Rose
Washington National Guard personnel prepare to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to patients at Town Toyota Center on January 26, in Wenatchee, Washington.
David Ryder/GettyImages/FILE
The Washington state Department of Health announced Thursday that two of its four Covid-19 mass vaccination sites will close on May 28. The state will focus instead on mobile vaccine clinics.
Closing on May 28 are vaccination sites in Ridgefield and Kennewick, while a site in Wenatchee will transition to the control of the local health district. The state’s mass vaccination site in Spokane will remain open.
“In areas where mass vaccination sites are closing, there will still be multiple vaccine providers nearby that will continue to administer the COVID-19 vaccine,” the Department of Health said in a news release.
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J&J continues to investigate the need and timing for a booster for its Covid-19 vaccine
From CNN's Jen Christensen
Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that it continues to investigate a potential booster for its Covid-19 vaccine.
“Ensuring long-term, durable protection against COVID-19 will be essential in curbing the pandemic. We have ongoing and planned trials that will aid our assessment of the need for, and timing of, booster doses of our vaccine,” according to an emailed statement J&J sent to CNN on Thursday.
The J&J Covid-19 vaccine, along with Pfizer, Moderna, and four others, are being tested as a seasonal booster in a study called Cov-Boost being conducted by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research and the University of Southhampton.
“Janssen is pleased to be contributing to the Cov-Boost clinical trial, the first study to provide vital data on the use of different vaccines as a booster to further protect against COVID-19 and the new variants of concern,” the J&J statement said.
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Here are the latest numbers on severe breakthrough Covid-19 cases from the CDC
From CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht
As of May 10, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had received reports of 1,359 hospitalized or fatal Covid-19 cases among fully vaccinated people. Such cases are rare; at that time, more than 115 million people in the United States were full vaccinated.
Among those 1,359 severe breakthrough cases, 1,136 – 84% – were hospitalized and 223 – 16% – were fatal. The CDC said 1,080 – 79% – were among people 65 and older. The reports came from 46 US states and territories.
As of mid-May, CDC is no longer publishing data on all Covid-19 breakthrough cases; only severe cases that result in hospitalization and death will be detailed on the CDC’s website. The definition of a breakthrough case – a confirmed Covid-19 case at least two weeks after a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – hasn’t changed.
The CDC says the number of Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough infections is likely an undercount and data may not be complete, but the reports can help identify patterns.
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Fauci: "We don't know" when a booster vaccine may be needed
From CNN’s Virginia Langmaid and Michael Nedelman
The timeline for needing a booster shot is currently unclear, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Despite predictions that a booster may be warranted within a year, the bottom line: “We don’t know,” Fauci told CNN Thursday.
His comments echoed ones he made earlier in the day to The Washington Post during a live event, when he said a rise in breakthrough infections may be the “trigger” for booster vaccinations, but it’s difficult to map out when that may happen.
He also told the Post that immunity from vaccines may help avoid a surge in cases later this year.
If the US reaches President Biden’s goal of 70% of adults receiving their first shot by July 4, that may prevent cases from surging, “provided we continue to get people vaccinated at the rate we have now,” he said.
“I don’t think we should be that concerned right now about how long they’re effective,” Fauci said. “I think they will be effective long enough that we will get to the point where we are not going to be necessarily worrying about a surge.”
These comments appear to contrast those made during an Axios interview Wednesday, when he said a booster could be warranted within a year’s time. Scientists at a number of companies that make Covid-19 vaccines have also predicted needing boosters within the same time frame – but the scientific community is not in widespread agreement on this.
“We’re making extrapolations” from incomplete data, Fauci explained to The Washington Post.
So far, studies have shown that mRNA vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna – maintain more than 90% efficacy six months after getting vaccinated. And scientists say it’s likely much longer; this is just as far as the data take us.
Other studies have looked at antibodies in the lab. While a decline is expected over time, Fauci told the Post “the steepness of that slope is unclear right now.”
Experts say it is also unclear how these antibody levels correlate with real-world immunity, and to what extent other parts of the immune system – such as T cells – could factor into this protection.
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Eiffel Tower will reopen on July 16
From CNN's Barbara Wojazer
Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images
The Eiffel Tower will reopen to the public on July 16, according to the official Eiffel Tower website.
Visitors will be able to book online from June 1, according to the website.
The latest: On Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex said France will make all adults eligible for Covid-19 vaccinations from starting May 31.
More than 21.5 million French people — 41% of the adult population — have gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the latest health ministry data released Wednesday.
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Vaccination rates rise in Ohio after Vax-a-Million lottery announcement, health officials say
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
Covid-19 vaccination rates in Ohio rose in one week, following the announcement of the Vax-a-Million lottery, according to a news release from the state’s Department of Health.
“The Vax-a-Million campaign has helped drive an increase in vaccination rates among Ohioans 16 and older by more than 28%” since it was announced on May 13, according to the release.
Vaccinations for that age group had “dropped by 25% the weekend of May 7 to May 10, compared to the weekend of April 30 to May 3,” the release said. Vaccination rates “increased by 28% for the same age group from May 14 to May 17,” according to the release.
“We are grateful that the drawings are helping spur Ohioans to take this important measure to protect their health, their loved ones, and their community. Vaccines are our best tool to return to the lives we remember from before the pandemic,” said McCloud.
Ohioans aged 18 or older who have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine are eligible to win one of five $1 million prizes once they opt into the program, CNN reported.
The first lottery drawing will be on May 24.
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Average daily pace of Covid-19 vaccinations down 46% from peak in April, CDC data shows
From CNN’s Deidre McPhillips
A worker from the University of Alabama at Birmingham waits for patients to arrive on Tuesday, May 18, at a mass COVID-19 immunization site in Hoover, Alabama, where declining demand prompted a shutdown.
Jay Reeves/AP
The average daily pace of coronavirus vaccinations is down almost 50% from its April peak, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.
Over the past week, about 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered each day, a 46% drop from the peak rate of nearly 3.4 million doses per day in mid-April, according to CDC data published Thursday.
About 2.1 million new doses have been reported administered since Wednesday, bringing the total to 279,397,250 doses administered. That’s about 79% of the 351,955,515 total doses delivered.
More than 160 million people – about 48% of the US population – have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and nearly 127 million people – about 38% of the US population – is fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
Maine is the first state to have vaccinated more than half of its residents.
Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been administered on the day reported.
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Maryland governor announces $2 million in lottery prize money for vaccinated residents
From CNN’s Rebekah Riess
WJZ
Starting next Tuesday, Maryland Lottery will randomly select and award a $40,000 prize to a vaccinated Marylander every single day, Gov. Larry Hogan announced today.
The state will continue the drawing for 40 straight days through July 3 and on the Fourth of July, a final drawing will be held to award one vaccinated Marylander a grand prize of $400,000.
“They’re in a little bit different situation,” Hogan said. “For them it was sort of a Hail Mary touchdown pass, to try to get their numbers up. For us, we’re sort of cleaning up and we’re getting close to the goal line and this, we think, is going to push us over the edge.”
As of today, the state of Maryland has administered more than 5.7 million Covid-19 vaccines. According to the governor, Maryland has vaccinated more than 87% of all residents over 65, and more than 67% of all Marylanders 18 and older.
“So remember Maryland – get your shot for a shot to win,” Hogan said.
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Biden: There has been a "shocking" rise in incidents of hate against Asian Americans during Covid-19 pandemic
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Pool
President Biden noted the “shocking” rise in documented incidents of hate against Asian Americans during the pandemic while delivering remarks before signing the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act into law at the White House.
Biden recalled his conversations with the Asian American community in Atlanta following the deadly spa shootings in March.
Biden said the fears him and Vice President Kamala Harris heard in Atlanta are similar to those they are hearing from across the country.
“Documented incidents of hate against Asian Americans has seen a shocking spike, as the vice president has outlined at the front of her comments. Let alone, let alone, the ones that have never been reported. Gut-wrenching attacks on some of the most vulnerable people in our nation, the elderly, low wage workers, women, brutally attacked simply by walking outside or waiting for a bus. Asian American women suffered twice as many incidents of harassment and violence as Asian American men,” he said.
Biden vowed that his administration would commit to stopping hatred and bias.
“All of this hate hides in plain sight. It hides in plain sight. And too often, it is met with silence, silence by the media, silence by our politics, and silence by our history… We are committed to stop the hatred and the bias,” the President said.
Watch Biden give the remarks:
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Biden signs bill to counter rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during Covid-19 pandemic
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez
Pool
President Biden signed a bill into law that’s aimed at countering a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden, who previously urged Congress to pass the legislation, thanked lawmakers for their support of the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
“Today, I can say that because of all of you, many of you sitting right in front of me, you’ve taken that first step, this important step,” Biden said in White House remarks. The President noted that documented incidents of hate against Asian Americans has seen “a shocking spike.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said the bill brings the country “one step closer to stopping hate, not only for Asian Americans, but for all Americans.”
“It will expedite the Justice Department’s review of hate crimes, every type of hate crime,” Harris said, adding that Biden is determine to give hate “no safe harbor.”
Harris noted, however, that “our work will not be done” following the bill signing
“Here’s the truth: racism exists in America, xenophobia exists in America, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia — it all exists. And so, the work to address injustice wherever it exists, remains the work ahead,” Harris said.
Here’s what the legislation signed by Biden will do:
It will create a new position at the Justice Department to expedite review of potential Covid-19-related hate crimes and incidents reported at the federal, state or local level.
It will direct the Justice Department and Health and Human Services to work with community-based organizations to issue guidance raising awareness of hate crimes during the pandemic, and would require the attorney general to issue guidance to work with state and local law enforcement agencies to establish online reporting of them.
Reported hate crimes against Asians in 16 of the US’ largest cities and counties are up 164% since this time last year, according to a recent study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino.
Separately, Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks reports of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans, says it has received more than 6,000 firsthand complaints since last year. The group began tracking violence and harassment on March 19 last year as more Asian Americans were verbally and physically assaulted while erroneously being blamed for the Covid-19 pandemic.
US continues to limit nonessential travel to Canada and Mexico
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
The Biden administration is extending nonessential travel restrictions along the US northern and southern borders, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.
The US has been limiting nonessential travel along both borders since the start of the pandemic and extending those restrictions on a monthly basis. The restrictions don’t apply to cross-border trade, US citizens and lawful permanent residents, as well as people traveling for medical purposes or to attend school, among others.
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EU vaccine passports expected to take effect on July 1
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio
The European Union Covid-19 vaccine certificates should take effect on July 1, the chair of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee, Juan Lopez Aguilar, said at a news conference in Brussels on Thursday.
“It’s going to be called EU Digital COVID Certificate, a unified certificate,” Lopez Aguilar said. “It’s a better alternative than the absence of this certificate, which will create a new legal safeguard, which we hope will provide an incentive to trust, not just between member states, but also in citizens over the possibility of starting to enjoy the free circulation this summer, as the vaccination process advances.”
Lopez Aguilar said the deal guaranteed that European citizens’ rights and would help enact a common travel policy within the European Union, in opposition to the current system where each state acts unilaterally.
The European Covid-19 vaccine certificate is expected to help reopen borders within the common European travel area and member states will only be allowed to reimpose travel restrictions in exceptional circumstances, where the epidemiological situation warrants it.
Those measures must be announced 48 hours before being implemented, Lopez Aguilar said.
Lopez Aguilar also said the three European bodies had agreed to mobilize an additional 35 million euros ($42 million dollars) to cut the cost of antigen tests, to make them more affordable, while the need, especially in order to travel, remains high. An additional 100 million euros ($122 million dollars) will be made available to member states to offset the costs of PCR tests, while they continue to be needed.
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EU bodies reach deal on Covid-19 vaccine passport
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio
The European Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission have reached an “informal agreement” for the implementation of Covid-19 vaccine certificates, which are expected to facilitate travel inside the bloc.
Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa, whose country currently heads the European Union presidency, said he welcomed the deal.
“The certificate will provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19, of a negative test result or of recovery from #COVID19,” Costa tweeted. “Although not a precondition for free movement, it will facilitate it and contribute to the European economic recovery.”
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White House leaves possibility open to using unused Covid-19 relief money for infrastructure
From CNN's DJ Judd
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
White House press secretary Jen Psaki left the door open to a proposal from West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito that unused Covid-19 relief funds could be used to pay for the administration’s multi-trillion dollar infrastructure proposal.
Capito told reporters on Capitol Hill “progress” was made in Tuesday afternoon’s infrastructure meeting between GOP senators and Biden officials, but they “still got a ways to go.”
“They’re digesting what we proposed and I think the plan is for them to react to that,” she said Tuesday.
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Michigan set to ease Covid-19 restrictions in June with remaining rules to end in July
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced all outdoor capacity limits across the state will be lifted effective June 1, and indoor capacity limits will increase to 50%. Nearly all Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted in July, the governor said.
“On July 1, that is when we will take our final step. We will lift the broad mask and gatherings order and will no longer impose broad mitigation measures during the pandemic, unless of course, unanticipated circumstances arise,” Whitmer said.
According to Whitmer, Michigan has administered almost 7.9 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to more than 4.6 million Michiganders ages 16 and up with 57% of [the] eligible population receiving at least one dose.
“Cases and test positivity have declined for five straight weeks [and] hospitalizations have declined for three weeks in a row,” the governor said.
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Most nursing homes had multiple Covid-19 outbreaks that lasted for weeks, analysis found
From CNN’s Deidre McPhillips
US nursing homes experienced an average of three Covid-19 outbreaks, with the longest outbreaks lasting for an average of more than nine weeks, according to a report published Wednesday by the US Government Accountability Office.
The GAO analyzed data submitted to the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from May 2020 through January 2021 for more than 13,000 nursing homes and representing about 88% of CMS-certified nursing homes. An outbreak is defined as starting the week a nursing home reports a new case in a resident or staff member and ends when there have been no new cases in two consecutive weeks.
About 85% of the nursing homes analyzed experienced at least one outbreak that lasted for more than a month and more than a quarter experienced at least one outbreak that lasted three months or longer.
Only 64 nursing homes – less than 1% – had no Covid-19 outbreak, and another 761 nursing homes – about 6% – had only one outbreak during the eight months analyzed.
The length of outbreaks varied by state, the GAO report found. Outbreaks lasting more than a month were most common in Alabama, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Carolina and Tennessee and least common in Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
The report also found that most outbreaks – about 66% – began with a staff member that tested positive, and nursing homes with more beds were more likely to have outbreaks that lasted longer than a month.
Covid-19 has disproportionately affected nursing home residents, but CMS data shows that new Covid-19 cases and deaths have decreased dramatically since vaccinations began.
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Brazil detects first case of coronavirus variant first found in India
From CNN's Rodrigo Pedroso
The first official case of the coronavirus variant first found in India (B.1.617.2) has now been detected in Brazil, Maranhao state health secretary Carlos Lula announced Thursday.
Six crew members of the Shandong da Zhi ship, which were traveling from South Africa, tested positive for the B.1.617.2 variant. One of the crew is being treated at a private hospital in Sao Luis, Maranhao state’s capital.
According to the secretary, 14 other crew members are infected with Covid-19 and remain on the ship, two with mild symptoms and 12 asymptomatic. Another nine passengers were not diagnosed with coronavirus.
“I had contact with the health security secretary of the health ministry and minister Marcelo Queiroga in the morning. The crew is isolated, and the ship is not allowed to dock,” said Lula, who is also president of Conass (National Council of Health Secretaries), in a news conference.
The secretary also informed that about one hundred people had contact with the crew who tested positive. They will be tested, monitored, and, if necessary, isolated.
