NEW YORK – Amid a surge driven by the highly contagious mutant version of the virus, COVID-19 cases in the US have increased six-fold in the past month.
New York City, Microsoft, Tyson Foods and the U.S. auto industry joined a cascading number of state and local governments and major employers Tuesday that are taking a hard line against the rising delta variant and holdouts. who have not yet been vaccinated.
“The goal here is to convince everyone that this is the moment. If we are going to stop the delta variant, now is the time. And that means getting vaccinated right now, ”said Mayor Bill de Blasio, announcing that New York will require that people show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in restaurants, shows and indoor gyms.
The hardline measure, the first such step taken by a major US city, takes effect in mid-August. Immunization cards or state and city applications will be accepted as proof of vaccination.
Meanwhile, meat and poultry processing giant Tyson Foods said it will require all of its roughly 120,000 American employees to be vaccinated over the next three months. Microsoft will require its roughly 100,000 US employees, as well as visitors and others, to show proof of vaccination starting in September.
And an estimated 150,000 unionized workers at the big three US automakers will have to wear masks again starting Wednesday, while non-unionized Toyota, with a US workforce of around 36,000, said it will do the same at the most of their sites across the country.
In a surge fueled by the highly contagious mutant version of the virus, COVID-19 cases in the US have increased six-fold in the past month to an average of more than 85,000 per day, a level not seen since mid-February. Deaths have risen in the past two weeks from an average of 254 per day to 386.
Florida now has more people in the hospital with COVID-19 than at any other time during the outbreak: more than 11,500. Louisiana reported a historic record of more than 2,100 hospital patients with the virus, most of them unvaccinated. Vaccination rates for both states are below the national average.
“You’re talking and laughing with the patient and then you can walk out of the room, and then maybe an hour or two later you walk into that room with an emergency cart because their condition is deteriorating so fast,” said Penny Ceasar, who handles admissions at Westside Regional Medical Center near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Amid growing alarm about the way the virus is making a comeback, vaccines across the country have started to rise slightly in recent weeks, reaching more than half a million a day on average, but are still well below the peak. 3.4 million per day. April day.
Seventy percent of the nation’s adults have received at least one vaccine and nearly 61% are fully vaccinated, well below what President Joe Biden wanted the United States to be at this time.
Experts say the vaccine is still very effective in preventing serious illness and death from the delta variant.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is running for reelection next year while contemplating a presidential bid in 2024, doubled on Tuesday when the state again broke its record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, insisting that the increase it will ease soon and it won’t. impose trade restrictions or mask mandates. He encouraged people to get vaccinated.
“We are not closing,” DeSantis said. “We are going to have open schools. We are protecting the work of all Floridians in this state. We are protecting people’s small businesses. “
President Joe Biden backed New York City’s move while criticizing policies in states like Florida and Texas, both led by Republicans, blocking mask or vaccine requirements.
“If you’re not going to help, at least stay away from the people who are trying to do the right thing,” Biden said.
The auto industry’s decision to re-mask was made by representatives of General Motors, Ford, Chrysler’s parent company and the United Auto Workers union, and applies even to employees who have been vaccinated. The move comes just under a month after vaccinated auto workers were allowed to remove their masks.
As for Tyson, Donnie King, CEO of the Springdale, Arkansas company, said in a memo to employees that the vaccine requirement is necessary to overcome persistent hesitancy to receive injections.
“We do not make this decision lightly. We have spent months encouraging our team members to get vaccinated; today less than half of our team members are, ”King wrote.
In New York, Sean Ogs, manager of the Woodside Cafe in Queens, said he was “stunned” when he heard the news about mandatory vaccinations for customers.
“We have already been in a fight. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with it, “said Ogs.” It’s going to be an extra job. It’ll make things impossible. “
Debbie McCarthy, a Woodside Cafe regular who is not vaccinated, said she was rejected over the weekend at several establishments that had already begun to require testing.
“I’m a little surprised they did that,” said McCarthy, who said she recovered from COVID-19 months ago and believes her antibodies will protect her from another infection. “Why are they so afraid of people who haven’t been vaccinated? I think we should have a choice. “
Associated Press writers Bobby Caina Calvan in New York; Alexandra Olson in Arlington, Virginia; Tom Krisher in Detroit; and Freida Frisaro and Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
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