• Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

US to step up hunt for virus mutations; Ash Wednesday upended by pandemic; Biden pushes for teacher vaccinations: Latest COVID-19 updates

John Bacon and Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

America marked Ash Wednesday in alternative ways as the threat of spreading COVID-19 takes its toll on religious traditions on the first day of the Lenten season.

Catholic priests have been told by the Vatican to skip making the traditional sign-of-the cross with ashes on worshipper's foreheads. Some churches are offering drive-thru ashes and do-it-yourself, bagged ashes. The Vatican asks that priests sprinkle the ashes upon the heads of their congregants, a customary practice at the Vatican and in Italy.

"You never see the pope with ashes on his forehead," said the Rev. Steven B. Giuliano. at Our Lady of Lourdes in Wilmington, Delaware. "They are always placed atop his head."

Ash Wednesday comes one day after "Fat Tuesday" – Mardi Gras – which also saw big changes this year. Parades were canceled and the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans, usually packed for the parties, were relatively quiet. Bourbon Street was quiet. Instead, locals decorated their homes in festive colors.

"Thank you all for embracing the Carnival spirit through your creativity and innovation," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.

USA TODAY is tracking COVID-19 news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Want more? Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

In the headlines:

►Two men are accused of pretending to be federal marshals and flashing phony credentials to get out of wearing facial coverings at a resort hotel in Deerfield Beach. Florida. A real U.S. marshal arrested Walter Wayne Brown Jr., 53, and Gary Brummett, 81, on charges of impersonating a federal officer.

►The European Union announced an agreement to buy a further 300 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine. Hours earlier, Pfizer and BioNTech said they had signed a deal to deliver an additional 200 million doses of their vaccine to the bloc.

►Reparations could have public health benefits for Black individuals and the entire nation, a study led by Harvard Medical School researchers suggests. Their model for Louisiana showed that greater equity between Blacks and whites might have reduced COVID-19 infection transmission rates by up to 68% for every person in the state.

►A genomic mutation associated with protection against severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neandertals, researchers reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Neandertals evolved in western Eurasia 500,000 years ago and subsequently lived largely separated from the ancestors of modern humans in Africa.

►Doctors across the nation have been seeing a striking increase in cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children or MIS-C, an inflammatory syndrome that strikes some young people, usually several weeks after infection by the coronavirus, The New York Times reports. The surge follows the overall spike of COVID cases in the U.S.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 27.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 488,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 109.6 million cases and 2.42 million deaths. More than 71 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and about 55 million have been administered, according to the CDC.

📘 What we're reading: A next generation coronavirus vaccine is in the works. But initial funding was denied. Read the full story.

Bill would fund hunt for coronavirus mutations

U.S. scientists would gain vastly expanded capabilities to identify potentially deadlier mutations of the coronavirus under proposed legislation. A bill cleared for floor debate last week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee would provide $1.75 billion for genomic sequencing. It calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to organize a national network to use the technology to track the spread of mutations – such as the recently discovered U.K. and South African variants – and guide public health countermeasures.

“We need that data. Otherwise, in some ways, we’re flying blind,” Esther Krofah, who directs the FasterCures initiative of Milken Institute, told the Associated Press. “We don’t understand the prevalence of mutations that we should be worried about in the U.S.”

Biden promotes teacher vaccinations, in-class learning 5 days a week

President Joe Biden made clear Tuesday his goal is for the majority of K-8 public schools to be open "five days a week" by the end of his first 100 days after the White House received criticism for scaling back that goal last week.

"I think that we'll be close to that by the end of the first 100 days," Biden said during a CNN town hall in Milwaukee. "You'll have a significant percentage of them being able to be open."

Frustrating many parents and opening a new line of attack for Republicans, press secretary Jen Psaki said last week Biden's goal is for more than 50% of schools to have "some teaching" in person "at least one day a week" – not necessarily fully reopened – by Day 100 of his presidency.

But Biden said that statement was inaccurate, recommitting to a goal of having most K-8 schools fully open. Asked how he would return students to classrooms, Biden said, "We should be vaccinating teachers.

He also said that "by next Christmas I think we'll be in a very different circumstance [in terms of normalcy than we are today."

SAT testing for students ramping up for spring

The SATs will go on this spring in pandemic or in health. The College Board, which owns and oversees the exam many colleges use for admissions, has directed school hosts to "make their own decisions about the test and safety standards based on local restrictions," according to its website. Hosts can close sites up to the day of testing, but no closures were posted to the College Board closures page. SAT sites, often hosted by high schools, are working to update exam security and COVID-19 safety protocols to accommodate thousands of students. Hundreds of test sites across the nation were shuttered last spring and this fall due to the pandemic.

"While College Board can't directly control capacity and test center availability, we're working to ensure that as many students as possible are able to test safely," the not-for-profit group said in a statement.

– Carly Q. Romalino, Cherry Hill Courier-Post

Contributing: Ryan Cormier, Delaware News Journal; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID news: School reopenings; Ash Wednesday; teacher vaccinations

Latest Stories

  • Joe Biden Finally Says What A Lot Of People Are Thinking About Donald Trump

    The president said it twice -- and he's hardly alone in the sentiment.

  • Ted Cruz's Tweet About California Energy Shortages Comes Back To Haunt Him

    The Texas senator blasted California's electricity policy when that state faced blackouts last year, but now his own state is in the same boat.

  • Brent Bozell IV, Son Of Prominent Conservative Activist, Charged In Capitol Riot

    Online sleuths looked into Bozell because he wore the sweatshirt of a Christian school and he previously served as a girls' basketball coach.

  • Ghislaine Maxwell 'physically abused' by correctional officer during routine search in prison

    Ghislaine Maxwell was "physically abused" by a correctional officer during a routine search in prison, her lawyer claimed on Tuesday. Maxwell, the former partner of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, was then threatened with retaliation after saying she would report the incident, the attorney added. Bobbi Sternheim made the allegation in a letter to New York judge Alison Nathan complaining about Maxwell’s conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. "Recently, out of view of the security camera, Ms. Maxwell was placed in her isolation cell and physically abused during a pat down search," Ms Sternheim wrote. A week later the same team of guards "ordered" Maxwell into a shower "to clean, sanitize, and scrub the walls with a broom," the lawyer added in the letter. Maxwell’s lawyers have repeatedly complained about their client’s jail conditions in the hope of getting her released on bail. Ms Nathan most recently denied bail in December, deeming Maxwell a flight risk. Her attorneys say she is subjected to excessive surveillance, including a flashlight pointed at her cell every 15 minutes from 9:30 pm to 6:30 am. Maxwell is accused of recruiting underage girls for Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The daughter of late newspaper baron Robert Maxwell is due to go on trial this summer although it may be delayed due to the pandemic. Prosecutors also accuse the British socialite of lying in testimony she gave in 2016 in a defamation case filed against her by long-time Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre. Maxwell, 59, faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted in the criminal case, which covers alleged crimes from 1994 to 1997.

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for armed troops to be placed in schools on Parkland anniversary

    The National Guard was in Washington DC in response to the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters

  • Trump Fans Charged In Capitol Attack Didn't Like Antifa Getting Credit For Their Work

    Capitol attack defendants, lured to D.C. by a mass voter fraud conspiracy theory, didn't like seeing conspiracy theories steal their credit.

  • Biden Claims ‘We Didn’t Have’ a COVID Vaccine When He Took Office

    President Biden claimed at one point during a CNN town hall on Tuesday that his administration came into office with no coronavirus vaccines available. Biden received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 21, and the second dose in January. While discussing the issue of vaccine supply during the town hall, Biden initially said there were 50 million doses available when he assumed office. President Biden affirmed that Covid-19 vaccines will be widely available to the general public by the end of July. "By the end of July we'll have over 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every single American." #BidenTownHall https://t.co/K3sxmUXFdG pic.twitter.com/xTkje54Aqx — CNN (@CNN) February 17, 2021 “We came into office, there were only 50 million doses that were available. By the end of July we’ll have over 600 million doses,” Biden told host Anderson Cooper. However, Biden also said “we got into office and found out…there was nothing in the refrigerator, figuratively and literally speaking, and there were 10 million doses a day that were available.” (The Biden administration’s initial target was to administer 1 million vaccine doses per day, a pace already set by the time the president was sworn in.) “It’s one thing to have the vaccine, which we didn’t have when we came into office, but” one also needs “a vaccinator,” Biden subsequently told Cooper, when asked about the logistics of getting shots to Americans. The U.S. is currently administering coronavirus vaccine doses at a seven-day rolling average of 1.7 million per day, according to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker. The pace of vaccinations has risen steadily since December 15, when a New York nurse received the first shot outside of a clinical trial. The Biden administration has downplayed the efforts of the previous administration in aiding the development and distribution of COVID vaccines. Vice President Kamala Harris said that the Biden administration was “starting from scratch” on vaccine production in an interview with Axios over the weekend, contradicting Dr. Fauci, who said in January “we certainly are not starting from scratch because there is activity going on in the distribution.” Additionally, Biden addressed the stalled reopening of school districts across the U.S. during the town hall, calling reports that his administration planned to open schools for one day per week a miscommunication Biden contradicted White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said last week that the administration hoped to open schools for “at least one day a week in the majority of schools by day 100.” Psaki later said the administration was committed to opening schools five days a week on condition that coronavirus mitigation measures were in place. “Your administration had set a goal to open the majority of schools in your first 100 days. You’re now saying that means those schools may only be open for at least one day a week,” Cooper told Biden. “That’s not true. It was a mistake in the communication,” Biden said, adding that his administration’s goal was to open schools in grades K-8 for five days per week.

  • Dramatic Photos Show Thousands Of Stunned Sea Turtles Rescued From Texas Storm

    Turtles get cold-stunned when water temperatures fall. One group said it was taking care of more than 2,500 after the ice storm in Texas.

  • Chris Hayes Slams Fox News’ Latest ‘Painful Culture War Idiocy’

    "It’s a lie like Donald Trump won the election," said the MSNBC anchor.

  • Wake County 14-year-old handcuffed outside home. Police ‘failed our family,’ says mom.

    Officers handcuffed and detained the family’s 14-year-old son outside his home for over 30 minutes, refusing to allow him to seek his parents.

  • Lindsey Graham: GOP Doesn’t Have 'A Snowball’s Chance In Hell' Without Trump

    "I’m more worried about 2022 than I’ve ever been," the Trump sycophant told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

  • UK facing fresh diplomatic tensions with United Arab Emirates over 'kidnapped' Princess Latifa

    Dubai’s ruler is unlikely to be rattled by BBC Panorama’s explosive documentary about the alleged kidnapping of his daughter, as he insists that she was brought home as part of a “rescue mission.” But the saga of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Princess Latifa could quickly become a diplomatic nightmare for the wealthy Gulf state. UN officials have already begun poring over the latest video smuggled out of Dubai by the princesses’ allies, in which she claims she is being held against her will in a barricaded compound with no access to lawyers or medical help. They could then decide to pass the case on to the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for a high profile and potentially embarrassing investigation into the 71-year-old Dubai ruler. It may also heap unwelcome strain on the wealthy Gulf state’s relationship with Britain, which has a strong emphasis on security co-operation, investment and tourism.

  • 9 Homes For Sale With Beautiful Workout Facilities

    From an Aspen home with a palatial indoor pool to a Florida home that provides incredible views from the treadmill, AD rounds up those spaces where you’ll have no excuse to skip a workoutOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • The Texas power grid failed mostly due to natural gas. Republicans are blaming wind turbines.

    As Texas on Tuesday entered its third night with sub-freezing temperatures and 3.3 million customers without electricity, the operator of the state's unique power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), urged Texans who still have electricity to turn off lights, unplug appliances, and turn down the thermostat. People without power took shelter elsewhere, if they could, or resorted to sometimes deadly means of generating heat. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and state legislators called for investigations — and Abbott and other prominent GOP politicians wrongly blamed frozen wind turbines and other renewable energy sources for the failures of the Texas energy grid. Texas Gov. Abbott blames solar and wind for the blackouts in his state and says "this shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America" pic.twitter.com/YfVwa3YRZQ — Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) February 17, 2021 "Some turbines did in fact freeze — though Greenland and other northern outposts are able to keep theirs going through the winter," The Washington Post reports. "But wind accounts for just 10 percent of the power in Texas generated during the winter," and the losses tied to thermal plants mostly "relying on natural gas dwarfed the dent caused by frozen wind turbines by a factor of five or six." According to ERCOT, wind power generation is actually exceeding projections. One nuclear reactor and several coal-fired plants went offline, but "Texas is a gas state," Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas, told The Texas Tribune. And "gas is failing in the most spectacular fashion right now." Instruments and other components at gas-fired power plants iced over, and "by some estimates, nearly half of the state's natural gas production has screeched to a halt due to the extremely low temperatures," as electric pumps lost power and uninsulated pipelines and gas wells froze, the Tribune reports. After a 2011 winter storm knocked out power to about 3 million Texans, a federal report warned Texas the same grid debacle would happen again if it didn't adequately weatherize its power infrastructure and increase fuel reserves — and reminded Texas that "many of those same warnings were issued after similar blackouts 22 years earlier and had gone unheeded," The Associated Press reports. "Upgrades were made following the 2011 winter storm," The Texas Tribune notes, but "many Texas power generators have still not made all the investments necessary to prevent the sort of disruptions happening to the equipment." More stories from theweek.comRepublicans evidently hope to win back suburban voters by attacking school closuresMore Republicans blame Biden for Capitol riot than fault Trump7 scathingly funny cartoons about Republicans' impeachment cowardice

  • Police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters

    Protesters had gathered to demand the release of a primary school principal, who was detained after taking part in a widespread civil disobedience movement against the military takeover in Myanmar.Video obtained by Reuters showed police initially clashing with protesters, then firing tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who were blocking the road.

  • Tucker Carlson Cackles As He Concocts Bonkers New Biden Conspiracy Theory

    The Fox News host is very uncomfortable with the first couple's openly affectionate relationship.

  • North Korea ‘tried to steal’ Covid vaccine technology from Pfizer

    South Korea’s intelligence services first reported the attempted hack

  • Pennsylvania GOP Official Says Senator Wasn't At Trump Trial To 'Do The Right Thing'

    The official blasted Republican Sen. Pat Toomey for voting to convict Trump, saying he wasn't sent there to "vote his conscience."

  • Why A Powerful Winter Storm Caused Blackouts In Texas

    Coal, natural gas and nuclear plants ― not wind turbines ― were the main cause. But right-wing misinformation proved more reliable than the grid itself.

  • Elderly Filipino Woman Punched in Unprovoked Attack on San Diego Trolley

    An elderly Filipino woman was assaulted in an unprovoked attack on a San Diego trolley. The suspect, an unidentified man, allegedly punched the woman for no apparent reason, according to ABC 10News. JoAnn Fields, a community advocate and director of the Filipino Resource Center, told ABC 10News that she was upset about the incident.