March 9 coronavirus news

By Ben Westcott, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Kara Fox, and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 3:03 AM ET, Wed March 10, 2021

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3:31 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

CDC director to US business leaders: “Now is certainly not the time to relax restrictions”

From CNN’s Christopher Rios

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged business leaders to continue key public health measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. She spoke Tuesday during the Health Action Alliance National Business Summit.

“Now is certainly not the time to relax restrictions on these measures. March and April are going to be pivotal times,” Walensky said. “Where the pandemic goes from here is really dependent on our collective behaviors and continued commitment to follow the public health measures we know work to stop the spread of the virus: wearing well-fitted masks, avoiding traveling in crowds, social distancing and washing hands.”

She encouraged business to provide employees with face masks and also address vaccine hesitancy in the workplace.

“We are encouraged by the remarkable progress to date, but we continue to face challenges, including constrained vaccines supply, ongoing vaccine hesitancy and increasing myths and disinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines,” she said.

Walensky called on businesses to address misinformation by highlighting the unprecedented scale of the vaccine trials, which included over 100,000 participants, and the intensive vaccine safety monitoring program.

“The government alone, the CDC alone, cannot achieve the monumental task of stopping this pandemic,” she said. “The monumental task of vaccinating 300 million Americans. We need partners like you to share in the collective actions to restore health and economic prosperity.”

3:09 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

ICUs in half of Brazil's states are at more than 90% occupancy, according to regional health authorities

From CNN's Marcia Reverdosa and Shasta Darlington in Sao Paulo

A health worker cares for a COVID-19 patient at an Intensive Care Unit of the Ronaldo Gazolla Public Municipal Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 5, a year after the first coronavirus case was registered in the city. Andre Coelho/AFP/Getty Images

The latest figures on intensive care unit capacity in Brazil, where the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse amid a surging second wave, are grim.

Here is a breakdown of the figures:

Out of Brazil’s 26 states plus the Federal District, 22 states now have ICU occupancy rates at over 80%. Of those, 13 are near or at the breaking point with ICU occupancy over 90%, according to data from each state’s health authorities.
Rio Grande do Sul is the most critical as of Tuesday, with ICU capacity at 103%, which means patients are lining up for ICU beds.
Although the state of Rio de Janeiro is at 72.7% capacity, its capital has already reached 93% of its total occupancy.

According to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a health ministry institution, the accelerated occupancy rates at ICUs seen in the last month are the result of the lack of restrictive measures imposed by the federal and state governments, the spread of the new P.1 variant first identified in Brazil, and the slow pace of vaccination. Brazil has vaccinated only 4% of its population, according to the health ministry.

2:50 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

Vermont will allow people age 16 and older with high risk conditions to get Covid-19 vaccine

From CNN’s Will Brown

Vermont will allow anyone 16 years old or older with high risk conditions to schedule a vaccine appointment beginning this Thursday, Gov. Phil Scott announced Tuesday morning.

Vermont originally planned to open vaccinations to this population next week, but moved the timeline forward due to the state’s supply of vaccine and ability to accommodate more appointments.

“The goal here is to get all Vermonters vaccinated as quickly as possible, so anything we can do to push that along is going to be a benefit,” said Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health.

Vermont expanded vaccinations to include teachers, school staff, and child care workers yesterday.

3:05 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

Disneyland expects to reopen by late April

From CNN's Cheri Mossburg

An aerial view of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park, Wednesday, February 10, in Anaheim, California. Kirby Lee/AP

Disneyland expects to reopen by late April, after recalling and retraining furloughed employees, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced Tuesday.

California announced plans that will allow amusement parks, concert and sports venues to begin reopening starting April 1 if they are located in eligible counties. Orange County, home to Disneyland, is expected to progress out of the state’s most restrictive tier within the next week or two.

It will take a bit longer for Disney to get its more than 10,000 employees, or as Disney calls them, Cast Members, back to work and retrained on the state’s newly implemented rules surrounding Covid-19 precautions.

“I am pleased to say the response has been great thus far, our Cast Members are excited to get back to work,” Chapek said in a statement.

Attendance at the so-called Happiest Place on Earth will be limited to 15% of capacity until Orange County moves to a less restrictive tier.

The reopening of theme parks and sports venues “will mean so much to our working families and small businesses which have suffered so much while our large businesses have been closed for the past year,” Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu said Friday.

Disneyland’s official reopening date will be announced in the coming weeks.

2:42 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

Louisiana expands vaccine eligibility to people 16 and older with certain health conditions

From CNN's Gisela Crespo

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Tuesday announced that effective immediately, people 16 and older with certain health conditions will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Speaking during a briefing, Edwards said the conditions are those listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that place an individual at a higher risk of suffering serious complications from contracting the virus.

"We came to this decision after hearing from our providers over the weekend that there's a little slack in the appointments, and that they were able to accommodate and ready to accommodate more people," Edwards said. "We also have had a very stable supply [of vaccine], especially of the Moderna and the Pfizer, so we feel comfortable about what's coming ahead."

The governor noted that at the moment, only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for 16 and 17-year-olds. Individuals would need to complete a form for vaccine providers that certifies they have one or more health conditions that make them eligible to get vaccinated.

Edwards said the state is also expanding eligibility for any staff working in congregate facilities such as prisons "because of the especially high-level exposure they have."

2:27 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

White House isn't focused on vaccine passports, press secretary says

From CNN's Betsy Klein

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about a concept being floated by the private sector, a “vaccine passport” that would allow Americans to demonstrate that they have been vaccinated ahead of traveling.

She suggested the effort will be driven outside of government as the administration’s focus is currently on vaccinating.

“We recognize that as many Americans get vaccinated questions will come up and they're already starting to come up as to how people will be able to demonstrate they are vaccinated... And right now, our focus as the US government is on getting more people vaccinated, and we'll think about how people can demonstrate they are vaccinated as we get more people vaccinated, but that's where we're putting our energy and resources toward,” Psaki said Tuesday, adding that the private sector and non-profits “will be driving this initiative in all likelihood moving forward.”

Pressed on whether the administration would want to be involved in setting standards, she said, “There are lots of ideas that will come from the private sector, nonprofits. We welcome those, but our focus from the federal government is on getting more people vaccinated, and that's where we feel we can use our resources best.”

2:20 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

White House announces supply increase of 600,000 additional doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine

From CNN's Jason Hoffman

White House press secretary Jen Psaki outlined another increase in vaccine doses being shipped to states, tribes, and territories.

She said today that the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccine supply will be 15.8 million doses this week, up from 15.2 million doses announced last week. Psaki also said 2.7 million first doses are being shipped directly to pharmacies.

She did not mention how many doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines would be shipped this week.

Psaki said the increase was first announced on a call White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients had with governors earlier on Tuesday.

The White House also said that the seven-day average for shots administered is now 2.17 million shots per day, up from 890,000 shots per day on January 20th when Biden took office.

2:10 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

Here's when Americans can expect to receive new stimulus checks, according to the White House

From CNN's Maegan Vazquez

White House press secretary Jen Psaki gave an update on when Americans should expect another stimulus payment, telling reporters on Tuesday that the payments are expected to go out starting this month.

“As the President said last week, once the rescue plan is signed, we’ll be able to start getting payments out this month. Treasury and IRS are working tirelessly to make that happen,” Psaki said, adding that agencies are “building on lessons learned from previous rounds to increase the households that will get electronic payments, which are substantially faster than checks.”

Here are specifics from the White House on how Americans will be able to access their upcoming stimulus payment following its expected passage in the House and then President Biden’s anticipated signing of the American Rescue Plan into law:

“For households who have already filed their income tax for 2020, the IRS will use that information to determine eligibility and size of payments. For households that haven’t filed for 2020, the IRS will review records from 2019 to determine eligibility and the size of payment. That includes the use of the non-filer portal for previous rounds of payment,” Psaki said.
“For tax returns with direct deposit or bank account information, the IRS will be able to send money electronically, and for those households for which Treasury cannot determine a bank account, paper checks or debit cards will be sent,” she added.

Psaki said the White House is “not taking anything for granted” as the legislative process plays out but said they’re “pushing through the finish line.”

In the example of a typical family of four with parents making under $150,000 annually, she said that because of the rescue plan, the family should expect $5,600 in direct payments and $2,600 as part of the expanded childcare tax credit.

Read more about the stimulus checks here

2:41 p.m. ET, March 9, 2021

Nearly 1 in 10 people in US are fully vaccinated against Covid-19

From CNN's Deidre McPhillips

A nurse administers a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a clinic for Catholic school education workers including elementary school teachers and staff at a vaccination site at Loyola Marymount University on March 8, in Los Angeles, California. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

About 93.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States, according to data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reported that 93,692,598 total doses have been administered – about 76% of the 123,232,775 doses delivered.

That’s about 1.6 million more administered doses reported since yesterday, for a seven-day average of nearly 2.2 million doses per day.

About 18% of US residents – more than 61 million people – have now received at least one dose of vaccine, and about 10% of US residents – about 32 million people – have been fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.

Note on the data: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the percentage of US residents that have received at least one dose of the vaccine and those who have been fully vaccinated.