Early in the pandemic, I was shocked and horrified when I heard a friend had tested positive for COVID-19. Nowadays, people in my young and urban social circle are shocked that I haven’t tested positive yet. Every time I endure another sweaty, masked-up workout at the gym, I feel a little tempted to rip the mask off and risk infection. What’s the worst that can happen, anyway?
Yet I always keep my mask on. My odds of getting sick enough to be hospitalized are very low—especially given that I’m vaccinated and boosted—but I’ve read enough of my colleague Jamie Ducharme’s reporting on Long COVID to be dissuaded from taking any chances.
Plus, a new story by TIME contributor Jenn Morson serves as a reminder that doing my part to prevent the virus from spreading isn’t just about my own health and safety.
As Morson writes, plenty of people are tired of pandemic precautions—but not everyone has the option to simply move on. Morson, for example, has two children who are too young to be vaccinated, and she needs to keep testing negative for COVID-19 to be treated for cancer. Although Morson acknowledges that she’ll survive her stage 0, non-invasive disease, she points out that others are facing even greater risk than she is. One of her friends, who has stage 4 cancer, missed a month of chemotherapy after testing positive for COVID-19.
Naturally, Morson regrets all the things her young children are missing out on, and she’d like to “torch all of our masks in a sacred ceremony in the backyard.” However, she doesn’t have that luxury, and she encourages the rest of us not to give up our own safety precautions yet either. “For those who just want to close their eyes and make it all go away, I know. I do, too,” she writes. “More than anything. I just can’t. I hope you’ll try to stick it out with me a bit longer.”
Nearly 413.5 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and over 5.8 million people have died. On Feb. 14, there were 1.76 million new cases and 10,417 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 77.9 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 922,000 people have died. On Feb. 14, there were 179,172 new cases and 2,777 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Feb. 15, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday invoked emergency powers to address illegal blockades by truckers and others protesting COVID-19 restrictions, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Canadian government may now tow vehicles that are blocking parliament and downtown streets, and anti-money laundering rules will be broadened to monitor crowd-funding sites supporting the blockades. “It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law,” Trudeau said during a news conference. “We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue.”
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, Hong Kong will enforce new restrictions, including limiting in-person gatherings to two households at a time, the AP reports. Other protective measures include locking down residential buildings that are home to people who have tested positive, and extending a pause on in-classroom teaching until March 6. Plus, officials announced Sunday that the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine, which had previously been offered to those over age 5, will now be available to kids as young as 3. More than 4,500 positive COVID-19 cases are expected to be confirmed today, which would be a single-day record for Hong Kong.
COVID-19 cases in the Beijing Winter Olympics “loop” have dropped to almost zero—a sign that organizers’ restrictions on athletes leaving the bubble, as well as a strict testing regimen, have been effective, the New York Times reports. More than 60,000 tests are conducted inside the closed loop every day. Only four people tested positive between Saturday and yesterday, down from a peak on Feb. 2, when 55 tests were positive inside the loop or upon athletes’ arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Angela Haupt.
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