Month: August 2021

The JAMA Network Open has published a study that indicates mother-to-baby COVID 19 transmission during pregnancy is a rare occurrence. In Canada only 4% of babies born to mothers infected with coronavirus during pregnancy tested positive after birth.

NYPD are looking for a man who stabbed a 49-year-old individual in the Bronx. The incident happened on Sunday around 5pm. The suspect was seen running south on Fulton Avenue. It is not clear why the attack occurred.

Editorial credit: Ian Warren / Shutterstock.com

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday setting a goal for half of all new vehicles made in the United States to be electric in some form by 2030. Biden signed the executive order after delivering a speech on the South Lawn of the White House, where staffers had parked several electric vehicles. After the signing, Biden took an electric Jeep Wrangler for a ride around the White House.

The executive order sets a target of 50% for electrifying vehicles and emphasizes the importance of “made in America.”  Biden said the new policy was key to strengthening the U.S. economy because electrification is the future of car manufacturing. The signing also follows through on Biden’s campaign promise “to reverse the previous administration’s short-sighted rollback of vehicle emissions and fuel-efficiency standards.”

Along with the 50% target for electrifying vehicles, the signed order also sets standards for car companies to gradually decrease emissions over the next five years. The effort is in line with goals set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change, which the United States rejoined this year under the Biden administration.  The White House said in a statement: “The executive order also kicks off development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice and tackle the climate crisis. The global market is shifting to electric vehicles and tapping their potential to save families money, lower pollution and make the air we breathe cleaner.”

Editorial credit: Paris Malone / Shutterstock.com

U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday that the United States is working to give additional COVID-19 booster shots to Americans with compromised immune systems as quickly as possible, as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise. The United States will join Germany, France and Israel in giving booster shots. U.S. regulators need to fully authorize the COVID-19 vaccines or amend their emergency use authorizations before officials can recommend additional shots, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to make third doses available sooner under certain circumstances.

Fauci said rising cases resulting from the spread of the contagious Delta variant in the United States can be turned around with additional vaccinations. The seven U.S. states – Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi – with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates account for half of the country’s new cases and hospitalizations in the last week, the White House said on Thursday. Of those, Florida and Texas account for about a third of new coronavirus cases and an even higher share of hospitalizations in the country.

COVID cases are up about 43% over the previous week and daily deaths are up more than 39%, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. The United States hit a six-month high for new COVID cases with over 100,000 infections reported on Wednesday alone.