This live coverage has ended.For Tuesday’s live updates, click here .The White House on Monday said it would revoke its travel ban on visitors from 33 countries, which was implemented to quell the spread of covid-19.Foreign nationals flying to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus when the policy takes effect in early November, said White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients.Vaccinated travelers will also have to test negative for the virus within three days of departure, and unvaccinated Americans returning to the United States will be required to test negative within one day of leaving and again after arriving.Here’s what to know TOKYO — More than 1 million people tuned in to what felt like the hottest event on the Internet on Monday: A speech at the United Nations General Assembly meeting — that is, a speech by the K-pop superstar boy band BTS.The U.N.General Assembly meeting is typically attended by policymakers and politicians and is not generally known for attracting widespread interest.
While high-profile celebrities often appear to give speeches, the attention driven by BTS was uniquely intense.Legions of BTS fans, a hyper-organized online community that can mobilize in an instant, flooded the United Nations’ official YouTube channel Monday with their signature purple heart emoji, along with tons of crying emoji, thumbs-up emoji and every other heart emoji available — as the band promoted their generation and encouraged the use of vaccines.More than 980,000 viewers were tuned in there, and tens of thousands of others viewed on other YouTube channels and platforms.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Doubters’ push for religious exemptions from coronavirus vaccination may not work By Kira Kieffer 10:59 p.m.Link copied Link
Compulsory coronavirus vaccination has been a specter hovering over vaccine skeptics throughout the pandemic, but the issue is coming to a head, after President Biden announced federal mandates affecting up to 100 million Americans and such enormous institutions as the Los Angeles Unified School District mandated vaccinations, too.Opponents of vaccination mandates are ready to fight and are aiming to use religious, philosophical and personal-belief exemptions to abstain from required vaccinations.
The history behind the process for gaining such an exemption suggests that those seeking religious exemptions to the coronavirus vaccination mandates will not be widely successful.In recent years, many states, including California, Connecticut, New York, Maine and Vermont, rolled back personal-belief exemptions from mandatory vaccination, making it nearly impossible to claim that individual convictions prevent you from being vaccinated.Part of the issue lies in what constitutes a religious reason (and who gets to determine its sincerity).
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement An Alabama nurse, her football-loving dad and a plea to stay home on game day By Kent Babb 10:11 p.m.Link copied Link
The family has cheered on Alabama for decades, collecting memories to go with their degrees, but until four years ago Akeba Vester-Bell had never gone to a game with her dad.She can’t be certain of the Crimson Tide’s opponent that day or whether the team won.But the memory of her elderly father’s excitement is forever preserved.In this family, and in their hometown of Tuscaloosa, missing a game is something you just don’t do.
Three generations of Vesters have attended Alabama, lost themselves in a crowd of 101,000 fans, shouted “Roll Tide!” during lean years and title runs.They parade around with a stuffed elephant that plays the school’s fight song, and shortly after Akeba returned from a deployment to Afghanistan as an Army nurse, she surprised her parents with two season tickets.But then, weeks before Alabama’s first home football game against Mercer on Sept.11, Akeba knew she had to ask her father to do the unthinkable: stay home.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Child-care workers are quitting rapidly, a red flag for the economy By Heather Long 9:00 p.m.Link copied Link
South Shore Stars’ early-childhood program in Weymouth, Mass., received zero applicants this summer for its preschool teacher positions.
It was a big change from when Director Jennifer Curtis was superintendent of a local school district and routinely had 200 people apply for elementary school jobs.The problem, Curtis said, is that day care workers typically make about $12 an hour for a demanding job year-round.Public schools and other employers, which are also scrambling to hire workers, are poaching child-care staffers by offering thousands of dollars more a year and better benefits.A nearby Dunkin’ starts pay at $14 an hour.People tell Curtis they’ll come to South Shore Stars as a “last resort” if they can’t find anything else.Hiring and retaining good workers has been tough in the child-care industry for years, but it is escalating into a crisis.Pandemic-fueled staffing challenges threaten to hold back the recovery, as the staffing problems at day cares have a ripple effect across the economy.
Without enough employees, day cares are turning away children, leaving parents — especially mothers — unable to return to work.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Australian Olympic swimmer, hospitalized with covid, says virus hits ‘very hard’ By Cindy Boren 7:28 p.m.Link copied Link
An Olympic swimmer for Australia says she has been hospitalized in Italy with covid-19, adding that “when it comes, it hits very hard.”Madi Wilson, a member of Australia’s gold medal-winning 4×100 freestyle relay team at the Tokyo Olympics, shared images from her hospital bed, writing on Instagram that she is “double vaccinated” and had followed protocols while in Italy to compete in an International Swimming League competition.“I feel extremely unlucky,” she wrote , “but I do believe this is a huge wake up call.Covid is a serious thing and when it comes, it hits very hard.
I’d be stupid not to say I wasn’t scared.I’m so lucky for all my family, friends and support people.I can’t believe how much love I have been shown and I’m forever in debt to these people.”
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement One lawyer’s rise shows how vaccine misinformation can fuel fundraising and far-right celebrity By Shawn Boburg and Jon Swaine 6:25 p.m.Link copied Link
In one of dozens of recent media appearances, Ohio attorney Thomas Renz was claiming that coronavirus vaccines were more harmful than the virus itself.“The people that are dying are vaccinated,” he said on a conservative online talk show in July.As Renz spoke, a message flashed across the screen with his website address.“Donate to his cause,” it urged.Renz, who became a licensed attorney only months before the pandemic began, has rapidly gained prominence among covid-19 skeptics for leading federal lawsuits in six states that challenge shutdowns, mask mandates and the safety of vaccines while alleging that the danger of the virus has been overblown.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement U.S.coronavirus death toll equals estimated American lives lost in 1918 flu pandemic By Aaron Blake 5:46 p.m.Link copied Link
On Monday, the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States equaled estimates of American lives lost during the 1918 influenza pandemic.A Washington Post analysis found that more than 675,000 deaths have been tied to covid-19 in the United States, reaching the country’s flu death toll from a century ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .The U.S.
population in 1918 was just over 100 million, compared with nearly 330 million today.While the 1918 death toll accounted for about 1 in 150 Americans, we’re currently at 1 in 500 .The Associated Press noted that “incomplete records of the era and the poor scientific understanding of what caused the illness” mean that the count of total deaths for the previous pandemic is “a rough guess.”As The Post previously reported , one of the big differences is in the staying power of the coronavirus.By the time 1 in 500 people had died of the flu pandemic in 1918, the pandemic was already on a downward trajectory.
There would never be another wave.The country today is reaching 2,000 daily deaths for the third time.
The Southern Baptist Convention’s organization that sends thousands of missionaries overseas announced last week that it will require missionaries and their children ages 16 and older to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.The SBC’s International Mission Board said in its announcement that it has been requiring various vaccines since the 1980s, but the new mandate came on Sept.8, a day before President Biden issued his mandate that businesses with 100 or more employees are required to have them vaccinated or tested weekly.Southern Baptist leaders quickly condemned Biden, with some calling it an overreach and divisive in statements to the Baptist Press .Leaders said they are evaluating the new mandate through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to see if it applies to religious ministries.
Advertisement Updates continue below advertisement Bullet
Key update Key coronavirus updates from around the world By Annabelle Timsit 4:39 p.m.Link copied Link
Here’s what to know about the top coronavirus stories around the globe from news service reports.
U.S.
markets tumbled in wild trading Monday as investors worried that one of China’s biggest property developers could default on hundreds of billions of debt, a scenario that would have ripple effects across the economy.Investors also grappled with the threat of a government shutdown and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, which has helped to fortify the economy since the initial shocks of the pandemic.The rise of the delta variant also has cast a pall over the economic recovery.Though coronavirus-related hospitalizations fell about 9 percent over the past week, reported deaths rose by 22 percent and the number of new cases held steady, maintaining nearly 150,000 infections every seven days, matching levels from last November.
As cases have increased over the past few months more employers have mandated vaccines for workers and President Biden has embraced broad vaccine requirements as a tool to curb the spread of the highly infectious delta variant.The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 900 points in afternoon trading before cutting its losses.It closed at 33,970.47, down 614.41, or 1.8 percent.The S&P 500 index has notched back-to-back losses for the past two weeks, and the trend continued Monday: The broad gauge was down 1.7 percent at the closing bell.The tech-heavy Nasdaq pulled back even further, falling nearly 2.2 percent.“While history has shown that over the past 40 years the stock market has experienced an intra year pullback often in excess of 5-10%, we have not seen any real consolidation of this magnitude since last October,” Wayne Wicker, chief investment officer at MissionSquare Retirement, said in an email to The Post.“As a result, the market is anticipating a number of worries to result in a normal pullback in the coming months.”
Rep.Tim Ryan, who is vaccinated, tests positive for coronavirus By Eugene Scott 3:47 p.m.Link copied Link
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) tested positive for the coronavirus Monday and is isolating at his home in Howland.“While I’m currently experiencing mild symptoms, I’m grateful to have the protection of a safe and effective vaccine — and I know without it, this illness could be much, much worse,” he said in a statement.
“What we have learned over the last year and a half is that we are in this together, and I urge all Ohioans to help us crush this pandemic by wearing a mask and getting vaccinated so that we can get back to normal.”Ryan had tested negative for the coronavirus three times in the previous 10 days before his positive test.He is following the safety and medical precautions advised by his doctor, his spokesman said.The lawmaker plans to fulfill his congressional duties by voting remotely until he can safely return to Capitol Hill.In April, Ryan became the first Democrat to officially enter Ohio’s 2022 U.S.Senate race after Sen.Rob Portman (R) decided not to seek reelection.Ryan has been in Congress since 2003 and has entertained running for higher office regularly, including launching a failed 2020 bid for the White House.Since then, Ryan has been vocal in his frustration with how GOP leaders have responded to the coronavirus pandemic.He previously accused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) of having a disregard for safety after the conservative lawmaker criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated mask recommendations.“I just find it absolutely immature and appalling to somehow diminish [the coronavirus] to try to score cheap political points,” he said in July.“That is beneath a minority leader of one of the major political parties in the United States of America.”
MONTREAL — Canadians headed to the polls on Monday to cast their ballots in a hotly contested snap federal election that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sought to frame as a referendum on his management of the economic and public health crises wrought by the pandemic.Trudeau called the election last month, betting that soaring vaccination rates and generally positive appraisals of his covid-19 response would turn his minority government into a majority.But polls show his Liberals and Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives are locked in a tight race, with another Liberal-led minority government the likeliest outcome.Trudeau characterized the vote as taking place at the most “consequential” moment in Canada’s history since the end of World War II and has said that he needs a mandate to chart the country’s path out of the pandemic.
But opposition leaders have cast the election as a power grab and criticized him for plunging the country into an election during another pandemic wave.From the early days of the campaign, Trudeau has tried to use his support for mandatory vaccinations for federal civil servants and plane and train passengers as a wedge issue.His chief rival, O’Toole, supports vaccinations and filmed a video with the other main party leaders urging Canadians to get their shots, but says he would not mandate them.“Unfortunately, Mr.O’Toole who says he wants to get all of Canada vaccinated to 90 percent in the coming two months can’t even convince his own candidates to get vaccinated to 90 percent,” Trudeau said during an English-language leaders debate this month.Opposition to pandemic restrictions might help boost the fortunes of the insurgent populist People’s Party of Canada.The right-wing party, led by former Conservative cabinet minister Maxime Bernier, has campaigned against vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions, and could siphon away some of the conservative vote.Some polling stations in the Toronto area reported long lines Monday.
Elections Canada has said that the pandemic has complicated securing suitable polling locations and the hiring of workers.A record number of Canadians voted by special ballots, a category that includes mail-in ballots.They won’t be counted until the day after the election, which could delay results.
New York City public elementary, middle and high schools will start conducting weekly coronavirus testing starting next Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.The mayor also said the quarantine strategy in schools would be adjusted.When there is a positive test in a classroom, unvaccinated students in that classroom will not have to quarantine if they are masked and kept at a three-foot distance.“That will allow more kids to safely remain in the classroom,” he said during a Monday update.The announcement comes one day after the president of the teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers, urged the mayor to resume weekly testing.“While so far our public schools have successfully reopened, I am concerned that this year’s reduced frequency of COVID testing means that thousands of children will spend days in classrooms without the early warning system that last year made our schools among the safest places in the community,” Michael Mulgrew wrote in a letter to de Blasio.
“…We must do all we can to keep our schools open and our students and staff safe.Weekly testing of students under age 12, along with those in District 75, must be reinstated if we are to meet that goal.”In his Monday remarks, de Blasio said officials have been “looking at these two issues over the last few weeks.We looked at it in light of the data from the first week of school.
We decided to make both of these changes simultaneously, and they do complement each other.”
Key update Biden will get a booster shot on camera, Psaki says By John Wagner 1:34 p.m.Link copied Link
President Biden will get a booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine in the coming weeks and do so in public view, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.“ He will do so, and he will do so on camera,” Psaki said at a White House briefing when asked about the issue.She added that she doesn’t yet have a date to share.Expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Friday to recommend that the agency authorize a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine six months after vaccination for people 65 and older and for anyone at risk for severe illness.Biden is 78.Psaki also disclosed that Biden is continuing to be tested for the coronavirus “regularly.” She said that his last test was last week and that it was negative..
