9:55 a.m.
Amazon will begin requiring all of its 900,000 U.S. warehouse workers to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status.
The move follows steps by a slew of other retailers, including Walmart and Target, to mandate masks for their workers. In many of those cases the mandates apply to workers in locations of substantial COVID-19 transmission.
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TUESDAY MORNING HEADLINES
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged the FDA to expedite authorizing the COVID-19 vaccines for children under 12 years old.
“We need to be approaching the trials in the authorization of the COVID vaccine for children with the same urgency that we did with adults. Just as it’s a serious disease in adults, it can be a very serious disease in children,” AAP President Dr. Lee Savio Beers said.
SEE ALSO: What we know and don’t know about the COVID vaccine timeline for children under 12
In Wake County last week, 723 children under 17 tested positive for COVID-19. In Durham that number was 82 and in Cumberland that number was 118. Nationally, nearly 94,000 kids tested positive for COVID-19 last week, compared to 72,000 the week before.
Experts are still working to learn if the delta variant of COVID-19 is more dangerous for children.
According to CDC data, the rate of pediatric hospital admissions — which is children 17 and under per 100,000 people — is now 3.75 times higher than it was one month ago; the rate is also now equal to its highest point in the pandemic in January 2021.
Q&A: COVID and RSV in North Carolina children
Meanwhile, local hospitals are seeing an uptick in patients. Duke University Medical Center put up tents outside the hospital to help treat patients who do not have COVID.
The hope is to get them in and out quickly and reduce their potential exposure to COVID-19.
MONDAY
10:30 p.m.
A Durham restaurant will mandate the COVID vaccine for any potential diners.
Starting Aug. 10, Rue Cler will require proof of a COVID vaccine.
6 p.m.
We ask Duke’s Dr. Lisa Pickett: What do we know about transmission of the Delta variant outside?
5 p.m.
Durham’s mask mandate takes effect. What you need to know:
5 p.m.
Raleigh City Council member Jonathan Melton said he has tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated.
He said he has some sinus congestion, but that’s really been his only symptom.
Melton told ABC11 that he was notified last week that he had an exposure so he went and got tested and it came back positive.
He said he’s been isolating at home.
Melton said he got the Pfizer vaccine back in March.
“My symptoms have been very mild and I’m very, very fortunate and glad I got the vaccine,” he said.
3:45 p.m.
As COVID-19 infections surge again in the U.S., health officials are warning of a concerning uptick in pediatric cases and hospitalizations across the country, just as many children head back to the classroom.
After declining in the early summer, child COVID-19 cases have steadily increased again in recent weeks. In a newly released weekly report, which compiles state-by-state data on COVID-19 cases among children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) found that nearly 94,000 new child COVID-19 cases were reported last week, a continued “substantial” increase.
Since the onset of the pandemic, just under 4.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, with children representing 15.0% of all reported COVID-19 cases, in the last week.
In a similar trend, pediatric COVID-19 related hospital admissions in the U.S. have seen their steepest and most significant increase, since the onset of the pandemic.
1:05 p.m.
The Pentagon will require members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. That deadline could be pushed up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise.
“I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon” licensure by the Food and Drug Administration “whichever comes first,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says in the memo to troops, warning them to prepare for the requirement. “I will not hesitate to act sooner or recommend a different course to the President if l feel the need to do so.”
Click here for more on this story.
12:45 p.m.
Durham County Health said it is out of Summer Cash Cards at its vaccination clinic.
Health officials said there will be more Tuesday, but anyone 18 and up who receives their first dose Monday or drives someone to receive their first dose will have the option to have their summer cash emailed to them this weekend.
12:15 p.m.
North Carolina saw a large spike in COVID-19 cases over the weekend.
5,046 new cases were reported on Saturday. That number surged to 6,892 on Sunday.
3,863 cases were reported on Monday.
1,946 people are currently hospitalized in North Carolina with COVID-19.
264 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the last 24 hours.
The percent of positive tests in the state is at 11.1%. This is the first time the state has exceed 11% since Feb.1.
The state surpassed 5 million first doses with 5,001,487 partially vaccinated.
11:20 a.m.
Durham Mayor Steve Schewel was joined by Durham County Board of Commissioners Chair Brenda Howerton to announce the pending restart of an indoor mask mandate throughout the city and county.
The two leaders stood side-by-side to show unity behind the mask requirements, which go into effect at 5 p.m. Monday.
“Facemasks are a common sense, non-economically damaging way of limiting transmission (of COVID-19),” Schewel said. “If we want to keep our economy open, if we want to keep gathering together–as we are able to do now in public settings–we have got to wear facemasks to limit the spread of the virus in Durham County.”
Schewel said the mandate does include fully vaccinated individuals. He said that is because health experts have evidence that the delta variant can still be spread by fully vaccinated people who do not look or feel sick.
Duke Health System had just five COVID cases a month ago. One week ago, the system had 56 cases. Schewel said this is just one practical example that proves the virus is spreading in and around Durham.
“The pandemic that we are experiencing now is a pandemic of the unvaccinated–it’s a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Schewel said. “More than 90 percent of the cases are among the unvaccinated. This virus, this delta virus knows no political boundaries. If you are unvaccinated–I just want to make this clear–if you are unvaccinated, the chances are good that the virus will find you.”
Schewel said he and city manager Wanda Page are considering installing a vaccine mandate or weekly testing requirement for city employees.
He said many private companies in Durham and across the country have already started requiring vaccines for employees. He said he expects and encourages more companies to do the same.
10:30 a.m.
Cape Fear Valley Health announced that, due to the high spread of cases in the community, it has made modifications to the current visitation policy.
Most Cape Fear Valley Medical Center inpatients, Cape Fear Valley Rehabilitation Center patients, Bladen County Hospital and Hoke Hospital patients may have no more than two visitors from noon and 8 p.m. Visitors must be at least 12 years old, and no more than two visitors at a time are allowed in a patient’s room.
9:25 a.m.
Canada on Monday is lifting its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the United States is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians, part of a bumpy return to normalcy from COVID-19 travel bans.
U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents must be both fully vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19 within three days to get across one of the world’s longest and busiest land borders. Travelers also must fill out a detailed on application on the arriveCAN app before crossing.
Even though travelers have to register, the Canada Border Services Agency won’t say how many people they are expecting to enter Canada for the reopening. But travelers should plan for the possibility of additional processing time at the border.
Click here to read more on this story.
MONDAY MORNING HEADLINES
Masks will once again be required in all Durham buildings starting at 5 p.m. Monday.
A new state of emergency in the city and county will go into effect in response to Durham’s COVID-19 positivity rate doubling over the past month.
Leaders said they’re concerned about the rise in COVID cases and spread of the delta variant.
Durham Mayor Steve Schewel will talk about the mandate starting at 11 a.m. on ABC11.
“There’s no need to pass my germs onto someone I’m only going to see in passing, and I might do something that affects their life irrevocably,” D’Nae Henderson said. “That’s how I think about it. It’s not a big deal. I have a beautiful mask.”
Carrboro is also upping its mask regulations. All employees and visitors inside town facilities will have to wear a mask. Town employees are also required to be vaccinated by Sept. 1.
People who still need to get vaccinated will be happy to learn the state’s $100 cash cards are back in stock. The cards, which were being given at certain sites to people getting their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, ran out last week.
NCDHHS said the the cards are back in stock Monday. Click here for more on how to get yours.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci is hopeful that FDA will fully approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine by the end of August.
When that happens, Fauci said it will likely start a new wave of vaccine requirements–with schools, businesses and other organizations requiring people to be vaccinated.
Right now, Pfizer is among three vaccines given emergency use authorization by the FDA.
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