Governors At Canadian Border Pressure Biden On Continued Closure
Nine governors have demanded explanations from the Biden administration about the ongoing closure of the U.S. border to most Canadians. Separately, two passengers on a recent U.S.-to-Toronto flight have been fined for presenting fake vaccine cards and negative test documents.
Politico:
Governors Want Biden To Explain Why The U.S. Border Is Shuttered To Canadians
Nine governors want the Biden administration to explain why it is keeping the U.S. border closed to most Canadians. "It is our strongly held view as Governors that the public health data, science and advice of our own experts support a responsible, timely reopening plan,” the border state governors wrote in a joint letter, dated Friday, to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Blatchford, 7/30)
The Washington Post:
Two Airline Passengers Fined After Using Fake Covid-19 Vaccination Cards To Fly To Toronto, Canada
Before two passengers flew from the U.S. to Toronto last month, they submitted required copies of their vaccination cards and negative coronavirus test results to a portal reviewed by Canadian authorities. But it wasn’t until they arrived in Canada the week of July 18 that officials discovered the documents the pair presented were fraudulent, the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a news release Friday. (Salcedo, 8/1)
In other global developments —
NPR:
Tokyo's New COVID-19 Infections Hit A Record Again, Topping 4,000 For The First Time
Records have been set nearly every day lately in Tokyo, but not all of them have been by athletes competing in the Olympics. Japan's capital has exceeded 4,000 coronavirus infections for the first time — 4,058 cases, to be exact. That's a record high and nearly four times as many cases were reported just a week ago. Tokyo set new case records every day from Monday to Wednesday, experiencing just a slight dip on Thursday, when they totaled 3,300 — still one of the city's highest daily counts on record. (Fischels, 7/31)
Bloomberg:
Forecaster Who Saw India’s Covid Peak Sees New Wave Coming
India is likely to see a rise in Covid-19 infections building into a new -- though smaller -- virus wave that may peak in October, according to a mathematical model by researchers who accurately predicted the tapering of a brutal surge of cases earlier this year. The country may see a worsening of its outbreak as soon as this month, with the next wave peaking in the best-case scenario with less than 100,000 infections a day, or nearly 150,000 in the worst scenario, according to estimates by researchers led by Mathukumalli Vidyasagar and Manindra Agrawal at Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad and Kanpur respectively. (Shrivastava and Kaur Makol, 8/1)
AP:
2 Rare Sumatran Tigers Recovering After Catching COVID-19
Two rare Sumatran tigers at the zoo in the Indonesian capital are recovering after being infected with COVID-19.Nine-year-old Tino became ill with shortness of breath, sneezing, and a runny nose on July 9. He also lost his appetite. Two days later, 12-year-old Hari was showing the same symptoms. Swabs were taken and results came back positive for COVID-19, Suzi Marsitawati from the Jakarta Parks and Forestry Agency said in a statement on Sunday. (Tarigan, 8/1)
CNBC:
Ireland Turns To Vaccine Passes To Reopen Its Hospitality Industry
Despite the spread of the highly-contagious delta coronavirus variant, Ireland is betting on “vaccine passes” to fully reopen its bars and restaurants. Ireland’s tourism and hospitality trade has been dealing with stop-and-starts on reopening throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Indoor service resumed on July 26 in something of a photo finish with the government and the hospitality industry finalizing guidelines for the reopening on that very morning. This included final tweaks to restaurants’ contact-tracing requirements. (Keane, 8/2)
Axios:
French Police, Anti-Health Pass Protesters Clash In Paris
Police in Paris deployed tear gas Saturday during clashes with thousands of demonstrators protesting a new law mandating universal vaccinations for health workers and pandemic passes for all restaurants and domestic travel. While thousands of people protested across France, the Washington Post notes that polls show most people in the country back the pandemic measures, introduced to curb spiking COVID-19 cases driven largely by the Delta variant. (Falconer, 8/1)
CNBC:
Health Experts Fear England May Become Incubator For Covid Variants
England’s relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions is risking the emergence of new, potentially more dangerous variants of the virus, scientists have warned. England lifted most of it last remaining restrictions on July 19, including mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still have some restrictions in place. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously described the easing of restrictions as “irreversible.” (Taylor, 8/2)
Also —
Fox News:
Canadian Doctor Accused Of Using Own Sperm To Inseminate Patients To Pay $10.7M In Tentative Settlement
Hundreds of victims of a former Canadian fertility doctor, who allegedly used the wrong sperm and sometimes his own while artificially inseminating patients, will be awarded $10.7 million in a tentative agreement reached this week, according to reports. The class-action lawsuit was brought in 2016 by Dan and Davina Dixon and later joined by more than 200 others who found through DNA tests that their child’s biological father was not who they thought, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Dr. Norman Barwin, 82, was allegedly found to be the father of at least 17 children conceived at his office, including the Dixons’ daughter Rebecca. (Stimson, 7/31)
