A pandemic-driven toy frenzy continues to push up sales at Mattel, as parents buy Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and WWE action figures to entertain their children at home. Mattel booked more than $1bn in sales during the second quarter, a 40 per cent increase year on year, surpassing the $879m that most analysts predicted.
The top US public health agency revised its guidance for vaccinated people on wearing masks indoors, in a significant turnaround from a decision it made just two months ago. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in areas with “substantial and high transmission” of the virus, Rochelle Walensky, its director, announced on Tuesday.
Chicago has added nine more states, including Kansas, Tennessee and Wyoming, to its travel advisory list due to their high rates of new coronavirus infections. The advisory urges unvaccinated travellers from so-called “orange list” states to obtain a negative Covid-19 test result no more than 72 hours prior to arrival in Chicago or undertake a 10-day quarantine.
Canada has enough Covid-19 vaccine doses to inoculate everyone who is eligible for the shot two months ahead of schedule, Justin Trudeau revealed. That represents a milestone for the country, which had a rocky start to its vaccine programme and struggled to secure sufficient supply of doses during the early stages of the rollout.
More than a quarter of the UK population would have had to be effectively shielded during the pandemic to prevent about 80 per cent of total Covid-related deaths, a study conducted in Scotland has found. Researchers at the University of Glasgow examined the likelihood of vulnerable individuals contracting or dying from coronavirus, with the findings suggesting the government’s strategy to protect the most vulnerable groups may not have gone far enough.
City officials in São Paulo have moved to crack down on “vaccine sommeliers” with a new law aimed at stopping residents from choosing which jab they receive. Latin America’s most populous city is using multiple vaccines, including BioNTech/Pfizer, Oxford/AstraZeneca and the CoronaVac jab from China’s Sinovac.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday warned the public against complacency after falling numbers of daily coronavirus infections raised hopes that Britain may have passed the peak of its latest wave. Speaking during a visit to Surrey Police HQ in Guildford, Johnson was cautious, after the UK recorded 24,950 new infections on Monday, marking the sixth consecutive day of falling infections.
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