As the pandemic situation continues to evolve in the U.S., the White House’s COVID-19 response is changing, too. President Joe Biden introduced a new approach to COVID-19 in his State of the Union address last night; today, his administration released a 96-page National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan fleshing out next steps. The update comes amid plummeting case numbers and hospitalization rates in the U.S.: good news that Biden is keen to underscore. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance to no longer recommend mask wearing for most people. “Let’s use this moment to reset,” Biden said in his address last night. “Because of the progress we’ve made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines.”
The new preparedness plan has four main goals:
Protecting against and treating COVID-19
Preparing for new variants
Preventing school and business shutdowns
Helping to save lives and vaccinate people abroad
It outlined the implementation of a “test to treat” program, which will enable people who test positive for COVID-19 to get free antiviral pills at pharmacies. The plan also includes provisions to expand access to testing; in last night's address, Biden announced that Americans who have already gotten four free at-home COVID-19 tests through COVIDtests.gov can order another four. Additionally, the plan outlines initiatives to address the virus in the long term, including building a stockpile of at-home tests and establishing a “COVID variant playbook” to determine how the changing virus will affect vaccines, treatments, and tests.
However, funding these ambitions remains a significant obstacle, as much of Biden's spending to fight COVID-19 must be approved through Congress. The president said last night that he will soon submit a request for funding to legislators. “The vast majority of Americans have used these tools and may want to again, so I expect Congress to pass it quickly,” he said.
More than 438 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.9 million people have died. On Mar. 1, there were more than 1.5 million new cases and 7,879 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 6 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 79 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 952,000 people have died. On Mar. 1, there were 47,031 new cases and 1,691 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 Mar. 2, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
The CDC updated its COVID-19 guidance on Monday to no longer recommend universal contact tracing and case investigation. Instead, it advises investigators to “prioritize specific settings and groups at increased risk,” such as long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, and homeless shelters. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many experts have criticized contact-tracing efforts in the U.S. for failing to keep pace with the virus’ spread and to provide exposure information that the public can actually use to guide decisions.
Violence erupted today in New Zealand's capital city of Wellington as police tried to disband camps of anti-vaccine protesters who had been demonstrating there for weeks, the New York Times reports. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the press today that she hopes the country’s response to the pandemic will be remembered not for the protests, but for the number of lives saved. New Zealand has implemented some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the world and has maintained tight control over outbreaks; only 56 people have died from COVID-19 in the country since the start of the pandemic.
On March 26, Hawaii will lift a five-day quarantine requirement for U.S. travelers who don’t provide vaccination proof or a negative test result, bringing an end to the only mandate of its kind in the U.S., Governor David Ige said at a press conference yesterday, the Associated Press reports. Hawaii has one of the lowest numbers of confirmed cases of any state; about 236,000 people have tested positive, and 76% of the population is fully vaccinated. In his speech, Ige told Hawaiians that he was proud of their response to the pandemic. “It is about the people, place and culture of all of us here, coming from diverse backgrounds but always understanding that there is a bigger reason to be willing to sacrifice individual needs to benefit the community,” he said.
At least six U.S. legislators—all Democrats—announced that they had tested positive for COVID-19 before the State of the Union address yesterday, NPR reports: Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, Rep. Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, and Sen. Alex Padilla of California. All attendees were required to test negative in order to attend the event, but they did not have to prove they had been vaccinated.
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 Mandy Oaklander.
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