The United States reported 30214 coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the national total to 33,833,181, as per the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
With 659 deaths in the same period, the total number of COVID fatalities rose to 602,616.
A total of 27,358,651 people have so far recovered from coronavirus infection in the country.
President Joe Biden has signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law on Thursday. The House of Representatives passed the Bill by a 364-62 vote while the Senate passed with an overwhelming majority of 94-1 vote.
Delivering remarks after signing the Bill, Biden said the Department of Justice will work with the Department of Health and Human Services to raise public awareness of COVID-19 hate crimes that occurred during the pandemic. There will also be a devoted official at the Department of Justice to expedite the review of hate crimes reports.
The White House said it doesn’t have enough information at this point to make an assessment that COVID-19 originated in a lab.
During a routine briefing, a reporter brought to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s attention House Republicans’ claim that they have “significant circumstantial evidence” to prove that COVID-19 originated in a lab (in China).
Asked if the White House has seen any circumstantial evidence that it did not originate in a lab, Psaki replied, “there needs to be an independent, transparent investigation — and that needs to happen with the cooperation and data provided from the Chinese government”.
Replying to another question, Psaki said the Biden administration would wait for the FDA to make an official recommendation to the American public regarding Pfizer and Moderna CEOs’ statement that COVID boosters could be needed as early as September.
The U.S. Defense Department has administered more than 3.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to its personnel. 58 percent of active duty members received at least one dose and 44 percent are fully vaccinated, Dr. Terry Adirim, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said at a Pentagon press briefing.
It’s important to note that COVID-19 infection incidents for DOD personnel are lower than for the civilian population, she told reporters.
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