Coronavirus: The Hill and the Headlines, May 24, 2021

In Washington:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, an undisclosed U.S. intelligence report says three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough to require hospitalization a month before the coronavirus outbreak in China.  Reporters at a briefing repeatedly peppered White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about a recent Wall Street Journal report on Monday. Psaki reiterated the administration’s call for “an expert-driven evaluation of the pandemic’s origins that is free from interference and politicization[.]”     

• The State Department on Monday issued an advisory warning Americans not to travel to Japan, just two months before the Summer Olympics are scheduled to begin in Tokyo. A notice on the agency's website stated that a "high level" of COVID-19 was present in the country and urged Americans to avoid non-essential travel. The Games are set to begin in Tokyo on July 23. 

• A new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll finds that President Biden’s approval rating stands at 62 percent of respondents. Meanwhile, 38 percent of survey respondents said they disapprove. Biden gets his highest marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with 70 percent saying they like the job he’s done so far to rein in the outbreak. 

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pressing the Biden administration to explain how it plans to restart the monthly payments of millions of student loan borrowers when pandemic relief is set to expire this fall.

• The Biden Administration is considering allowing more employees to work from home permanently after the pandemic.  The administration is expected to release the guidance to agencies in June about when and how many federal employees can return to the office.

In the News:

• On Sunday the U.S. recorded over about 13,000 new COVID-19 cases and 190 deaths from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University data. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 49 percent of all Americans have received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, and 39 percent are fully vaccinated. The figures are 85 and 74 percent, respectively, for Americans over 65 years old.

• States continue to loosen coronavirus public health measures as vaccination rates rise and case numbers decline. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) announced Monday that fully vaccinated employees can go maskless and forgo social distancing at workplaces statewide. Whitmer’s order also allows bars to reopen dance floors and other attractions such as pool tables. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy (D) announced Monday that the state will lift its indoor mask mandate and social distancing requirements in most places starting Friday.

• The Navajo Nation reported 12 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Saturday, according to the Navajo Department of Health. The Nation tribe had previously reported the highest per capita infection rate in the U.S. at the height of the pandemic, CNBC reported. The Nation continues to lead the U.S. in vaccination efforts, having fully vaccinated 60 percent of the Nation’s population of roughly 170,000 – according to data released last week. 

• The seven-day average of new infections dropped to about 26,000 Sunday, the lowest since June 2020.  At least 25 states plus Washington, DC have now fully vaccinated at least half of their adults, data published Sunday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

• Today, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has set a target of at least 10 percent of the population in every country being vaccinated by September.  Ghebreyesus criticized the “scandalous” vaccine gap between developed and non-developed countries.   

• Pfizer announced today it's testing the safety of giving patients a combination of a pneumonia vaccine along with their COVID-19 booster shot in adults ages 65 and older.  Moderna and Novavax, are also testing combined formulations that would simultaneously protect against the flu and COVID-19.