Monday morning news - July 19, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations continue to rise » New COVID-19 cases continue to surge as the hyper-infectious delta variant spreads.

Some areas are seeing a greater increase than others. In LA County, officials have reinstated an indoor mask order, regardless of vaccination status. Hilda Solis is chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

SOLIS: Obviously, a whole lot has changed. And at the time, almost a month ago, when all this was declared that we were opening up, the numbers weren’t that high.

The county made the call after seven straight days with infections over 1,000.

Nationally, cases are up sharply. New daily cases now stand at about 30,000. That’s up from about 12,000 in late June.

And hospitalizations have risen more than 60 percent since late June, according to the CDC.

Deaths are also up, but only marginally. About 260 Americans are dying each day from COVID-19.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on Sunday said misinformation about vaccines is stopping many people from getting the shots that could curb the spread of the virus.

MURTHY: We know that about two-thirds of people who are not vaccinated either believe common myths about COVID-19 vaccination or think those myths might be true.

About 160 million Americans are now fully vaccinated—well short of White House vaccination goals.

Biden vows to fight DACA ruling » President Biden says the federal government will appeal a judge’s ruling against the DACA program.

That’s the program that shields many so-called “dreamers” from deportation. Those are adults who were illegally brought into the country as children.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen on Friday declared the program illegal. He barred the government from approving any new applications, though the program remains in place for existing recipients.

In 2012, then-President Barack Obama used executive powers to create the program after lawmakers could not come together on Dream Act legislation. He created the program after declaring he didn’t have the constitutional authority to do so on his own.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end DACA. But it did not affirm the legality or the program or the way in which it was created.

Immigrants and advocates are now urging Democrats to try again to pass a law legitimizing the program.

Wildfires continue to burn across the West » Smoke billowed over once picturesque forests in southern Oregon on Sunday as the largest wildfire in the country reduces more forestland to ash.

CANNON: We utilized hand crews and dozers to try to control the north corner of that fire.

Bootleg Fire Zone 2 Operations Chief Kyle Cannon heard there.

The Bootleg Fire just north of the California border grew to about 500 square miles over the weekend, an area about the size of Los Angeles.

Erratic winds fed the blaze, creating dangerous conditions for firefighters.

But fire crews are making progress against a blaze in northeastern California. Corey Rose is operations section chief for the team battling the Beckwourth fire.

ROSE: Overall, the fire’s looking really, really good. Everything is holding very, very well. And that’s just all the diligent work from the air resources and the ground resources.

Dozens of major blazes continue to burn across the West as dangerous fire weather looms in the coming days.

Merkel tours flood ravaged village in Germany » German Chancellor Angela Merkel surveyed what she called a “ghostly” scene in a flood ravaged village on Sunday.

Merkel said she came away from Schuld, in western Germany with—quote—“a real picture” of the “surreal, ghostly situation.” The riverside village is still partially covered with rubble and mud after floodwaters ripped through homes and businesses.

She pledged quick financial aid as the death toll from floods in Western Europe climbed above 180.

Officials say no one was killed or injured in Schuld, but many other places weren't so fortunate.

In neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, 46 people were killed, including four firefighters. Belgium confirmed 31 deaths.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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