Random and illustrative stories about the global pandemic and how businesses and various business sectors are trying to recover from it, with brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• In the US, there now have been 46,597,003 total Covid-19 coronavirus cases, resulting in 761,856 deaths and 36,476,756 reported recoveries.
Globally, there have been 245,946,308 total cases, with 4,991,006 resultant fatalities and 222,896,245 reported recoveries. (Source.)
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 77.8 percent of the US population age 12 and older has received at least one dose of vaccine, with 67.3 percent of that group being fully vaccinated. The CDC says that 66.5 percent of the total US population has received one dose of vaccine, with 57.5 percent being fully vaccinated.
And, the CDC says, 19.2 percent of the US population age 65 and older has received a vaccine booster dose.
• From the Washington Post this morning:
"At least 59,000 workers at Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef — companies that control the lion’s share of the U.S. meat market — were infected with the coronavirus during the pandemic’s first year," according to a report from a House of Representatives select subcommittee. "At least 269 workers across these companies died of covid-19 between March 1, 2020, and Feb.1.
"The report, which stems from an investigation the subcommittee launched in February, alleges that the country’s top meatpackers failed to protect workers, allowing the virus to spread quickly in the close quarters of processing and packing plants. Workers were pushed to show up while ill, the Washington Post has reported, turning many facilities into covid hot spots. Dozens of plants were forced to close during the pandemic’s first wave, throttling production and sending ripples across the supply chain."
The story notes that all of the companies have responded to the report by pointing to changes they've made to their safety procedures in response to the pandemic.
