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People wearing face masks walk on Hollywood Boulevard during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on March 29, 2021.

Mario Anzuoni | Reuters

From Los Angeles to Massachusetts, local officials across the country are urging Americans to wear masks again as the Delta variant rips across the US

Several California and Nevada counties are now advising all residents to wear masks in public indoor spaces, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. Local leaders in at least three other states have reintroduced mask mandates, issued face-covering recommendations, or threatened the return of strict public health limits for all residents – despite federal health guidelines that in most cases, vaccinated individuals do not use these protocols must follow the settings.

“A surge in the number of cases was not unexpected as the community began to reopen fully,” Jennifer Sizemore, spokeswoman for the southern Nevada health district, told CNBC in an email. Clark County, home of Las Vegas, tightened its mask recommendation last week after Covid-19 cases and deaths rose 50% in the previous week. A total of 4,599 new infections and 33 coronavirus-related deaths were reported last week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Covid infections are rising again in the US after months of falling cases, new cases have risen 55% since last week to an average of 37,000 new cases per day in the past seven days, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University .

The CDC relaxed its Covid guidelines on masks for fully vaccinated individuals on May 13, stating that they do not need to use them or practice social distancing in most environments. CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told lawmakers at a Senate hearing Tuesday that the agency was actively reviewing its mask and other public health guidelines as the virus and pandemic evolve, especially as scientists learn more about the Delta variant and how it is doing Keep vaccines against it.

“A lot has changed since May 13,” said Walensky. “We now have a variant in circulation in this country that was 3% (of new cases) at the time and is now 83% and much more transferable.”

The Delta variant is spreading across the country, especially in areas with low vaccination rates, she said. Nearly two-thirds of counties in the US have vaccinated less than 40% of their residents, “which is what enables the emergence and rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant,” leading to an increase in hospital admissions and deaths, she said.

This is gradually becoming apparent in Nevada, which, according to CDC data, has only fully vaccinated 43.5% of its population. Clark County recorded 641 new Covid hospital admissions last week, 23% more admissions than the previous seven days. Despite the resurgent outbreak in the Las Vegas area, Sizemore said the county’s vaccination rate has remained at just under 42% for the past two weeks.

“However, the community’s vaccination rate has slowed and unvaccinated people are not taking recommended precautions, including wearing masks and continuing to practice social distancing,” Sizemore said.

Nevada isn’t the only state that is stepping up its mask guidelines. On Friday, seven counties in California’s Bay Area recommended the use of masks indoors for a full mandate. The California city of Berkeley also called for the continued use of masks.

Further south, Los Angeles County restored its indoor public mask mandate on Saturday. The county initially lifted the mandate on Thursday when the state formally withdrew a number of executive measures to contain the spread of Covid.

In Massachusetts, Provincetown officials advised everyone on Monday to resume wearing masks indoors after the July 4 celebrations resulted in an outbreak of new cases.

In Orleans Parish, Louisiana – where the CDC reported 560 new coronavirus cases last week – New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is considering retrying a mask mandate. A decision reported by NOLA.com could come as early as Wednesday. And New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday that he wanted to avoid reinstating a mask mandate and instead press for residents to get vaccinated.

“Right now, I hope we don’t have to,” Murphy said. “If we have to, we will.”

A United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 lands at San Francisco International Airport on March 13, 2019 in Burlingame, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

United Airlines reported higher second-quarter revenue and a smaller loss on Tuesday afternoon thanks to an air travel resurgence, the newest airline to release an enlightenment outlook for one of the worst-hit sectors in the Covid pandemic.

The Chicago-based airline expects positive adjusted pre-tax earnings for the third and fourth quarters and plans to increase air traffic in response to higher travel demand. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines also announced last week that they have seen improvements in bookings and financial results.

United shares rose more than 2% in midday trading on Wednesday.

Domestic vacation travel led the recovery, but United said that even international long-haul and business travel recovered faster than expected in the second quarter.

CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday morning that he had not seen a drop in bookings due to the rapidly spreading Delta Covid-19 variant and that the travel recovery is likely to continue “unchecked.” His comments echoed similar statements made by the CEO of rival Delta last week about the variant.

United and other airlines have repeatedly urged the Biden administration to lift an entry ban on most non-US citizens traveling from the UK and the European Union, which has been in place since the pandemic began.

“We’re not going to stop the Delta variant from coming to the United States by closing these borders because it’s already here,” said Kirby.

The White House said government officials from the US, Mexico, Canada, the EU and the UK continue to meet but have not provided a timetable for a decision.

United’s revenue of $ 5.47 billion for the three months ended June 30 was down more than 50% from the same quarter of 2019, but down nearly 70% from the first quarter of the year as US Officials largely rolled out Covid vaccines this spring and the attractions reopened and more customers returned to air travel.

However, United still posted a net loss of $ 434 million, the sixth consecutive quarterly loss. United had a loss of nearly $ 1.4 billion in the first three months of 2021 and a loss of $ 1.63 billion in the second quarter of 2020. The airline reported revenue of $ 1.1 billion $ US $ 54 billion from a federal wage subsidy, part of the $ 54 billion congress reserved for US airlines since March 2020.

Here’s how United performed in the second quarter compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on Refinitiv’s average estimates:

• Adjusted earnings per share: a loss of $ 3.91 is as expected.

• Total sales: $ 5.47 billion versus expected revenue of $ 5.37 billion.

The airline said it closed the second quarter with around $ 23 billion in available cash.

Without one-time items, United posted a loss per share of $ 3.91, which is in line with analyst estimates.

United said its capacity for the current quarter will be 26% below 2019 levels. In the second quarter it flew 46% less than in 2019. The cost per seat mile, excluding fuel and other special fees, is likely to increase by 17% compared to the third quarter of 2019, partly due to shorter routes than usual and with smaller planes.

Fuel costs have also increased. United said it paid an average of $ 1.97 a gallon for jet fuel in the second quarter, nearly 67% more than a year ago.

Airlines have reported a surge in bookings since this spring as vaccines went largely up, Covid cases fell, and officials lifted pandemic-era restrictions.

In addition to increased travel demand, freight revenue increased nearly 51% year over year to $ 606 million. While air freight demand makes up a small portion of United’s total revenue, air freight demand was a ray of hope for the airline and others during the pandemic.

But United and other airlines were optimistic about the recovery in demand. United last month announced it would purchase 270 narrowbody jets from Boeing and Airbus, the largest aircraft order ever, to replace older aircraft and grow the airline over the next several years.

People enjoy the sun and warm weather on Segur de Calafell beach in Spain, where beta falls are increasing.

SOPA pictures | LightRakete | Getty Images

While the world is busy fighting more Covid-19 waves through the highly contagious Delta variant, concerns about the beta variant discovered in South Africa are growing in parts of Europe.

Last week the UK government announced that anyone traveling to the UK from France will need to be quarantined even if they are fully vaccinated as they are concerned about “the persistent presence of beta cases in France” .

France has defended its case file, finding that most of the beta variant cases occur in its overseas territories of La Réunion and Mayotte, which are in the Indian Ocean, rather than mainland France.

On Tuesday, France’s European Minister Clement Beaune described the British measures as “excessive” and on Monday, France’s ambassador to the UK, Catherine Colonna, cited data showing that beta cases are on the decline.

Previously, there were concerns that Covid vaccines developed last year may not be as effective against the beta variant and bypass antibody drugs.

So is the UK government right to be concerned? CNBC has the facts about what we know about the beta variant.

What is the beta version?

As with all viruses, the coronavirus has mutated multiple times since it appeared in China in late 2019, although some mutations were far more significant than others, with several earlier dominant strains supplanting.

The alpha variant, first discovered in Kent, England, for example, became dominant worldwide earlier this year before it was usurped by the delta variant, first discovered in India.

Unlike these other “worrying variants”, the beta variant emerged around the same time as Alpha, but did not start in the same way as it was largely confined to South Africa and the surrounding countries where it was discovered last fall.

However, cases have been found worldwide. The World Health Organization’s latest weekly report on Tuesday showed that beta was discovered in 130 countries and seven new countries in the past week.

Why is it worrisome?

The variant, also known as B.1.351, has several significant mutations in the virus’ spike protein – E484K, K417N, and N501Y – that make it easier for this variant to infect people and possibly more difficult to treat, or with Covid vaccines to prevent.

The WHO has stated that the beta variant is linked to increased transmissibility, a possible increased risk of death in the hospital and that there is evidence that it could neutralize antibodies against Covid.

In its latest weekly report, the WHO cited a Canadian study published in July but not peer-reviewed that analyzed data from over 200,000 Covid-19 cases. It found that when compared to non-worrying strains of Covid, the risks associated with variants with the N501Y mutation (i.e. the alpha, beta, and gamma variants) were significant and a much higher risk of hospitalization, admission the intensive care unit and death.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also classify beta as a worrying variant, saying it is linked to an approximately 50% increase in transmission rate. The CDC has said that laboratory studies suggest that specific monoclonal antibody treatments may be less effective in treating cases of Covid caused by variants with “certain substitutions or combinations of substitutions in the spike protein”. They include the combination of K417N, E484K, and N501Y substitutions seen in the beta variant.

Do vaccines work against this?

The Covid vaccines currently available and predominantly used in the west, such as Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and AstraZeneca-Oxford University, are all largely effective in preventing severe Covid infection caused by a handful of worrying variants, including Beta Proven in studies to reduce hospital stays and deaths.

However, the WHO stated on Tuesday that although the beta variant “maintains protection against severe illnesses”, there is “possibly reduced protection against symptomatic illnesses and infections”.

Lawrence Young, virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick’s Warwick Medical School, told CNBC on Wednesday that “we know the delta variant outperforms beta in terms of portability, but beta has been floating in the air for years Background for a while. “

“We know it can withstand the vaccine better. And all the data we have on it, especially from South Africa, is cause for concern.” [the beta variant] to be able to avoid vaccines in a population that is only partially vaccinated or not vaccinated. “

WHO noted that two recent studies in the US and Qatar had provided further evidence of the solid performance of mRNA vaccines – those from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech – against the alpha and beta variants.

The first, a US study that has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the overall vaccine effectiveness of the Moderna or Pfizer BioNTech vaccines after two doses in preventing hospitalization was 86.9% for all variants – though Note that the alpha variant was the most common type, 59.7% of the viruses sequenced, in the study data.

A second study from Qatar, published July 9 in the journal Nature Medicine, found that Moderna’s effectiveness against beta-variant infections was 61.3% after the first dose and 96.4% after the second dose. The effectiveness against any severe, critical, or fatal Covid disease due to Covid infection, mainly the alpha and beta variants, was 81.6% and 95.7% after the first and second dose, respectively.

Where is it?

The beta variant is even more common in South Africa and neighboring countries, with the increase in cases of the delta variant being much higher. According to the research institute Gisaid, an initiative that promotes the exchange of global Covid-19 data, the US has now sequenced 2,231 cases of the beta variant, but none in the last four weeks.

Gisaid’s analysis shows that cases of the beta variant have been found in some parts of Europe, but are still at a relatively low level compared to the highly transmissible delta variant that has become prevalent worldwide.

In the past four weeks, the variant accounted for 3.7% of virus samples sequenced in France (and 6.9% of samples sequenced in Spain), Gisaid data showed. For comparison, a very small handful of beta cases (less than 15 total) have been detected in Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom over the past four weeks.

WHO map showing the global prevalence of variants

World health organization

In South Africa, the mutation accounted for 5.3% of the virus samples sequenced. Gisaid noted that the data can be skewed by sample and report bias, but does not reflect the exact prevalence of Covid variants.

So is it right for Britain to quarantine newcomers from France? Young is not convinced and attributes the move to “panic” rather than reason.

“If you look at the current beta infection rates across Europe, Spain has a much higher rate. Recent data suggests that there are over 20% positive cases in Spain, while in France it is around 3.8%, ”he noted.

“There are a lot of inconsistencies and I dare say ‘knee-jerk’. I don’t understand why France was chosen that way,” he added.

A woman looks at the “Naming the Lost Memorials,” as the U.S. deaths from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are expected to surpass 600,000, at The Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., June 10, 2021.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The Covid-19 pandemic drove average life expectancies in the U.S. down by about a year and a half last year, marking the largest one-year decline since World War II, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Americans are now expected to live an average of 77.3 years, down from 78.8 years in 2019, according the report released Wednesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Hispanics saw the biggest drop in life expectancy last year, followed by Black Americans.

“The decline in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 can primarily be attributed to deaths from the pandemic,” the report reads. Covid deaths accounted for nearly 75% of the decline. More than 609,000 Americans have died in the pandemic so far, roughly 375,000 of those lives were lost last year, according to the CDC.

About 11% of the decline stems from a rise in deaths from accidents or unintentional injuries. Drug overdose deaths, which spiked 30% during the pandemic, made up about one-third of unintentional injuries last year.

Life expectancy for American males declined 1.8 years from 2019 to 2020, while life expectancy for American women dropped by 1.2 years from 2019.

“The difference in life expectancy between the sexes was 5.7 years in 2020, increasing from 5.1 in 2019,
the report read.

Hispanic Americans usually have a longer life expectancy than non-Hispanic Black or white folks, but life expectancy for Hispanics declined more than any other ethnic group last year, according to the report. Life expectancy among all Hispanics declined by three years from 81.8 years in 2019 to 78.8 years in 2020. Hispanic males suffered a drop of 3.7 years in 2020.

“Covid-19 was responsible for 90% of the decline in life expectancy for the Hispanic population,” the report reads.

The narrowing of the life expectancy gap between the white population and the Hispanic population “is a stark indicator of worsening health and mortality outcomes for a population that paradoxically has been, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, able to defy expectations consistent with its disadvantaged socioeconomic profile,” the report read.

Black Americans experienced the second-largest decline in life expectancy with a drop of almost 3 years from 74.7 years in 2019 to 71.8 years in 2020, the lowest since 2000, according to the report. Covid-19 was responsible for 59% of the drop in life expectancy among Blacks.

Among white Americans, life expectancy fell 1.2 years in 2020 from 78.8 years in 2020 to 77.6 years, the lowest since 2002. Covid-19 was responsible for 68% of the life expectancy drop among whites last year.

Covid-19 was the third-leading cause of death last year, and “overall death rates were highest among non-Hispanic Black persons and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native persons,” the CDC said in its provisional mortality report in April.

Life expectancy for Black Americans has consistently trailed behind whites, but the last time that the gap in life expectancy between Black and white people was this large was in 1999, according to the report.

Other factors that contributed to the decline in life expectancy in 2020 include homicides which accounted for at 3% of the decline, as well as diabetes and chronic liver disease at 2.5% and 2.3% respectively.