Top Stories: COVID-19 Impact

The Local Impact Massachusetts:  763,859 cases (up 6,010 from Thursday)  ·  18,293 deaths (up 53 from Thursday)  ·  584 hospitalizations (down 34 from Thursday) Rhode Island:  173,603 cases (up 1,242 from Thursday)  ·  2,845 deaths (up 17 from Thursday)  ·  97 hospitalizations (down 23 from Thursday) Reported increases or decreases from the last issue of this newsletter. Sources: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Rhode Island Department of Health View all COVID-19 news and numbers on Globe.com Top Stories: COVID-19 Impact My colleague Kay Lazar reports that in crafting the state's school masking policy, the Baker administration was caught in a collision of science and politics.  The COVID-19 death toll in the US is poised to surpass 2020 figures.

 

 

Across the US and Around the World US 397,718,055 vaccinations 43,896,761 cases 704,271 deaths Sources: Johns Hopkins Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Most and Least Vaccinated US States (% of population fully vaccinated) Top Ranked Vermont (69.8%) Connecticut (69.1%) Rhode Island (68.8%) Maine (68.7%) Massachusetts (68.2%) Bottom Ranked West Virginia (40.5%) Wyoming (42%) Idaho (42%) Alabama (43,1%) Mississippi (43.9%) Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Worldwide  6,341,067,798 vaccinations 235,645,770 cases 4,813,408 deaths Source: Johns Hopkins  Top Stories: US and Worldwide AstraZeneca submitted its COVID-19 antibody cocktail for US emergency approval. Australia won’t welcome international tourists until 2022, the prime minister said.

 

 

What's Next It's been weeks since president Biden announced an expansive plan that would mandate private employers with more than 100 workers require their employees to get vaccinated or be tested weekly. Now, businesses are stuck waiting for more details.  Merck said its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the disease.