| Greetings, Quicktake readers! This week, Tokyo 2020 officials may be on high alert for the coronavirus, but organizers in Japan are warning of other potential threats, including intense heat and natural disasters. Stream now for free.  The tides are turning in the fight against the coronavirus as the delta variant drives a worrying uptick in cases around the world. In the U.S., where vaccinations, testing and the use of masks are on the decline, delta accounts for roughly 83% of positive Covid cases — and the surge shows no signs of abating. Nationally, weekly cases are expected to jump nearly 40% by mid-August, according to CDC projections, and other models predict daily deaths could more than triple by October. The U.S. is "at another pivotal moment in this pandemic," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing Thursday, calling delta "one of the most infectious respiratory viruses I have seen in my 20-year career." At the same briefing, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that 99.5% of Covid deaths and 97% of hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated, calling nearly every death from Covid-19 a "preventable tragedy." ...you're DVRing the opening ceremony. The Summer Olympics officially kicks off Friday in Tokyo where for the first time in history, events will be held without spectators. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at this year's games. ...you need some uplifting news. Argentina has become the first Latin American country to introduce gender-neutral IDs, allowing non-binary citizens to mark 'X' instead of 'M' or 'F' on documents and passports. ...you want a good deep dive. The guy who spent $30 million building Trump's border fence along a 3-mile stretch of the Rio Grande is looking for someone to buy it now that the U.S. government won't.  What's up with the weather? Deadly conditions from China to Germany to the U.S. have been intensified by climate change. But the link between extremes lies in jet streams, fast-moving belts of wind above the Earth, that can steer unusual weather events as they meander around the planet.  Would cash get you back to the office? Forty-three percent of London office workers say an average pay rise of 5,100 pounds ($6,950)—about the cost of some annual railway season tickets—would entice them to return to their desks full-time after the pandemic, according to a survey.  Want the week's top stories on diversity and equality delivered to your inbox? Sign up for our Bloomberg's Equality newsletter here.
We launched a 24/7 streaming network to reinvent news with live global coverage and original shows on business, tech, politics and culture. Make sense of the biggest stories changing your business and your world. Stream now for free. | 
Post a Comment