Current Events in July 2021

As the auto industry struggles to overcome the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there’s a shortage of new cars and the prices of used cars are through the roof. That means you may need to drive your current vehicle a while longer.

Stepping up the maintenance -- and spending a little money to do so -- may help you get some extra miles out of your current ride. Our friends at Kelley Blue Book (KBB) offered us some advice to keep cars running longer.

It starts with how you think about your current car or truck. If it’s dirty inside and out, it’s no fun to drive and that may affect how you drive it. The experts at KBB suggest getting the vehicle detailed, restoring it to like-new showroom condition.

If you have the patience, you can do most of it yourself. It includes an exterior wash and polishing, vacuuming and steam-cleaning the interior and trim, conditioning the seating surfaces, scrubbing and brushing crumbs from crevices, and wheel cleaning/tire dressing.

If there are some dents, spend a little money to have them repaired. Also consider cleaning, polishing, or replacing oxidized, cloudy headlight lenses.

Regular oil changes

Next, keep track of your mileage and get regular oil changes. Traditional oil should be changed every 6,000  to 7,500 miles, while synthetic oil can go up to 10,000 miles or once a year. 

If you have a lot of miles on the vehicle, check the owner’s manual to see if it’s due for a tune up or significant servicing. It won’t be cheap, but it’ll be a lot less expensive than buying a new vehicle.

Don’t overlook a coolant flush. The fluid prevents engine overheating from the combustion process. Failure to flush and replace it can result in it breaking down, causing the engine to run hotter than it should, reducing the life of the engine. KBB suggests a flush every 30,000 miles.

Brake and tire inspections are part of annual safety inspections in most states. If an inspector says the brake pads are beginning to show wear, consider replacing them sooner rather than later. Regular tire rotations every 10,000 miles will help prolong tire tread life.

Until new cars become more plentiful and used cars come down in price, spending a little money on your present vehicle may prove to be a useful strategy that will save money in the long run.

General Motors is recalling 135,400 model year 2020-2022 Buick Encore GXs and model year 2021-2022 Chevrolet Trailblazers.

The emergency jack, if not positioned as directed in the owner's manual, can fracture while in use.

A fractured jack can cause the vehicle to collapse, increasing the risk of injury.

What to do

Dealers will replace the jack free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 26, 2021.

Owners may contact Buick customer service at (800) 521-7300 or Chevrolet customer service at (800) 222-1020. GM's number for this recall is A212335470.

Coronavirus‌ ‌(COVID-19)‌ ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌ 

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 33,752,627 (33,724,923)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 606,015 (605,582)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 184,803,266 (184,285,579)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 3,996,325 (3,987,062)‌

Scientists pinpoint cause of vaccine-induced blood clots

Canadian scientists investigating rare but serious blood clotting as the result of two vaccines believe they have an answer. They believe antibodies unleashed by the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines target amino acids in the blood that can result in clots.

The findings, published today in the journal Nature, could help doctors perform tests that predict which people might be vulnerable to the formation of blood clots. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and AstraZeneca’s vaccine are similar, but blood clotting side effects have been more widespread for those inoculated by the latter.

The researchers reached their conclusions by analyzing blood samples taken from  AstraZeneca vaccine recipients. 

Studies show vaccines are effective against the Delta variant

More scientific evidence is accumulating that the three U.S.-approved vaccines are able to protect people from the emerging Delta variant, at least to some degree. But the studies show that not all of the treatments are equal. 

The Pfizer/BioNTech shot was found to be only 64% effective against the Delta variant. Moderna, which developed a vaccine based on the same technology, has reported a higher efficacy. Both are said to be effective at preventing hospitalization and death.

Preliminary research done on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine also shows that it is effective at blocking the Delta variant. However, scientists say the studies performed so far have only used a small number of samples.

Americans increased retirement savings during the pandemic

Despite the economic hardships caused by the pandemic, a new study shows that Americans did a great job of socking away money for retirement. According to Northwestern Mutual’s latest 2021 Planning & Progress Study, retirement savings over the last 12 months grew by 13% to more than $98,000.

The study also found that more than half of Americans in the survey said they are in “financial recovery mode,” with personal savings also increasing. There were many credit effects of the pandemic, including a significant decline in travel and entertainment spending.

"COVID-19 has dealt financial setbacks to so many Americans, but people are changing their behaviors and financial choices to meet those head-on," said Christian Mitchell, executive vice president & chief customer officer at Northwestern Mutual. "While we don't know what post-COVID life will look like, we're encouraged to see that people intend to hold on to the better financial habits they've developed during this challenging time."

Around the nation

• Arizona: The state’s death toll from the virus hit 18,000 this week after health officials reported 21 additional deaths Tuesday along with 900 more confirmed COVID-19 cases. Arizona ranks 12th among states with the highest total of COVID-19 deaths.

• Michigan: State health officials say they are stepping up efforts to increase the number of vaccinations. Michigan has administered more than 9 million doses of the vaccine, with 61.9% of people aged 16 and older having received at least one dose. Around 54.1% of 16+ residents are fully vaccinated.

• Illinois: While the state has made impressive progress in containing the coronavirus, health officials say there are worrisome pockets where outbreaks are occurring, particularly along the border with Missouri. They say Region 4, which borders St. Louis, has seen a massive jump in positivity rates in recent weeks.

• New Hampshire: Business leaders are complaining that restaurants around the state have missed out on federal grants to help them reopen. They report that 591 restaurants that applied for help didn’t receive anything at all, giving the state a grant approval rate of 41.4%.

• Virginia: Weeks after dropping its COVID-19 restrictions, state health officials are suggesting that Virginians wear masks in indoor public spaces. They’re concerned because of the rapid spread of the Delta variant, which now accounts for 13% of new cases. Also, only 51% of the state’s residents are fully vaccinated.

A group of hackers with ties to the Russian government breached the computer systems of the Republican National Committee (RNC) last week, Bloomberg reported. The hackers are allegedly affiliated with the group Cozy Bear and carried out an attack on Synnex, a company that provides IT services for the RNC.

"Over the weekend, we were informed that Synnex, a third party provider, had been breached. We immediately blocked all access from Synnex accounts to our cloud environment,” RNC chief of staff Richard Walters said in a statement. "Our team worked with Microsoft to conduct a review of our systems and after a thorough investigation, no RNC data was accessed.”

Synnex put out a statement of its own on July 6 saying that it is “aware of a few instances where outside actors have attempted to gain access, through Synnex, to customer applications within the Microsoft cloud environment.” The company also said it’s continuing to review the attack in collaboration with Microsoft and a security firm. 

Cyberattack efforts ‘almost certainly’ ongoing

This isn’t the first time that members of Cozy Bear have been accused of working with Russian foreign intelligence to target U.S. government organizations. In 2016, the hacker group was accused of breaching the Democratic National Committee. It has also been accused of carrying out a cyberattack against SolarWinds -- a breach that affected nine government agencies. 

The latest breach comes on the heels of a series of ransomware attacks in the U.S. In the last year, Colonial Pipeline, insurance provider CNA, and IT software provider Kaseya have been targeted by these attacks. 

In a report published Thursday, intelligence agencies from the U.S. and U.K. said Russian military hackers have attempted to access the computer networks of "hundreds of government and private sector targets worldwide" between mid-2019 and early 2021. The agencies warned that those "efforts are almost certainly still ongoing."

Microsoft has issued a security patch for the so-called PrintNightmare flaw, which affects the Print Spooler feature that runs by default on Windows. 

The tech giant confirmed the vulnerability last week after security researchers at Sangfor accidentally sent out the proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code. In doing so, the researchers effectively enabled bad actors to engage in remote execution code attacks to gain system-level privileges. 

Microsoft has now issued out-of-band security updates to fix the flaw, which has been given the number CVE-2021-34527 and been deemed “critical” in nature.

The company is issuing updates for Windows 10, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT. In yet another indication that Microsoft sees the flaw as a major problem, a patch is also being issued for Windows 7 -- an operating system that Microsoft stopped supporting last year.

“We recommend that you install these updates immediately,” says Microsoft. “The security updates released on and after July 6, 2021 contain protections for CVE-2021-1675 and the additional remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service known as ‘PrintNightmare’, documented in CVE-2021-34527.”

Security updates for Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, and Windows 10 Version 1607 “will be released soon,” Microsoft said. 

Findings from a study published Tuesday showed that two arthritis drugs -- tocilizumab and sarilumab -- cut the risk of death and the need for ventilators among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. 

The study prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend using the arthritis medicines (known as IL-6 inhibitors) along with corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms.

“Patients severely or critically ill with COVID-19 often suffer from an overreaction of the immune system, which can be very harmful to the patient’s health. Interleukin-6 blocking drugs – tocilizumab and sarilumab – act to suppress this overreaction,” the WHO said in a statement.

The WHO said its own analysis found that patients’ risk of dying within 28 days of getting one of the arthritis drugs along with corticosteroids was 21%; that compared to a 25% risk among patients who got standard care. That means that for every 100 such patients, four more will survive, the WHO said. 

The risk of patients needing mechanical ventilation or dying was 26% compared to 33% when they received standard care. For every 100 patients that would have progressed in this manner, seven more will survive without the need for ventilators, the group said.  

"We have updated our clinical care treatment guidance to reflect this latest development," WHO Health Emergencies official Janet Diaz said.

Expanding access

Tocilizumab and sarilumab are given by infusion or injection. The World Health Organization said it recommended use of the drugs based on the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, as well as its own analysis of data from 28 countries. 

The WHO said it’s hoping that more will be done to improve access to these drugs in low income countries that are currently dealing with spikes in cases and low vaccine supplies. 

“These drugs offer hope for patients and families who are suffering from the devastating impact of severe and critical COVID-19. But IL-6 receptor blockers remain inaccessible and unaffordable for the majority of the world,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Gasoline prices have been steadily rising since the effects of the pandemic began to subside, and industry analysts say prices at the pump are poised to move even higher in the days ahead.

The catalyst for the move is the meeting of oil-producing nations this week -- a group known as OPEC Plus. The members met to agree on a plan to provide the world with more oil. Since they couldn’t agree, the meeting ended with no action and no plans for a future meeting.

OPEC Plus cut oil production last year as the coronavirus (COVID-19) shut down economies around the world, leading to a drop in gasoline demand. At one point in May 2020, the price of oil was a negative number as producers paid their customers to take the oil off their hands.

Price increases may only be beginning

Now that the U.S. economy is reopening, there is a sharp rise in demand for gasoline. Highways were jammed over the July 4th weekend as Americans packed their bags and hit the road. They didn’t seem to mind paying more for fuel.

But analysts expect consumers will pay even more if OPEC Plus doesn’t quickly shift from “pandemic production” to “growing economy” production. The national average price of gas is rising by about a penny per day, but prices are rising faster in some parts of the country.

“Los Angeles #gasprices are just a penny away from reaching the highest level in nine years.... $4.33/gal is the magic number,” GasBuddy’s Patrick DeHaan wrote in a Tweet Tuesday.

As a result of the stalemate among oil producers, crude oil prices are at a six-year high. Those prices are rising because of uncertainty about how much oil is going to be available as economies around the world reopen.

In an interview with Fox Business, PRICE Futures Group senior analyst Phil Flynn said the impasse is likely to hit consumers’ pocketbooks. Without an increase in supply, he predicts that prices at the pump could hit $4 a gallon.

"If we don't get the production from OPEC, it could mean prices are going to go sharply higher," he said.

A new study conducted by researchers from Penn State discovered a new way for parents to try to get their kids to make healthier choices. According to their findings, putting larger portions of vegetables on kids’ plates could ultimately lead to them eating more of these foods in the long run. 

“The increase we observed is equal to about one third of a serving or 12% of the daily recommended intake for young children,” said researcher Hanim Diktas. “Using this strategy may be useful to parents, caregivers, and teachers who are trying to encourage kids to eat the recommended amount of vegetables throughout the day.” 

Getting kids to eat healthier

The researchers had nearly 70 children between the ages of three and five participate in a food experiment. Over the course of four weeks, the participants were given kid-friendly lunches that had different variations of vegetables: a double serving of plain corn and broccoli, a double serving of corn and broccoli with added seasonings, a regular serving of the vegetables, and a regular serving plus the seasonings. The team then observed what the kids ate at each meal. 

The researchers learned that simply putting more vegetables on kids’ plates led them to eat more vegetables at lunchtime. They were surprised to learn that adding things like salt and butter weren’t necessary for the kids; larger portions, independent of added flavorings, were what contributed to them eating more vegetables.

“We were surprised that the butter and salt weren’t needed to improve intake, but the vegetables we served were corn and broccoli, which may have already been familiar to and well-liked by the kids,” said Diktas. “So for less familiar vegetables, it’s possible some extra flavoring might help to increase intake.” 

While the researchers don’t recommend over-serving kids and contributing to food waste, they do recommend that parents and caregivers try out this method at home. It’s also important for consumers to consider what else they’re serving with vegetables; finding the right balance in a meal is important for kids, and making sure foods are both appealing and healthy can be a tricky process. 

“It’s important to serve your kids a lot of vegetables, but it’s also important to serve them ones they like because they have to compete with the other foods on the plate,” said researcher Barbara Rolls. “Parents can ease into this by gradually exposing kids to new vegetables, cooking them in a way their child enjoys, and experimenting with different flavors and seasonings as you familiarize them.” 

A new study conducted by researchers from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology explored how women’s friendships can impact their overall well-being. 

According to the researchers, talking with friends was linked with lower stress levels; the team found that those who spent time talking with their close friends during their experiment had lower cortisol levels. 

“Women have evolved an alternative mechanism in response to stress,” said researcher Michelle Rodrigues. “In order to deal with stress, women can befriend female peers.” 

Maintaining close friendships

The researchers had 16 older women and 16 younger women participate in an experiment that focused on communication, friendship, and stress levels. The women were shown tangram puzzles and were then paired with either a stranger or a friend to discuss what images they saw on the puzzles. 

Because each of the images was so abstract, each participant had to clearly explain their perspectives, and their partners had to try to understand where they were coming from. The researchers also measured the group’s cortisol levels to determine how stress impacted the outcomes. 

Ultimately, the researchers learned that women tend to have lower stress levels when they have an opportunity to discuss things with their friends. Compared to talking with strangers about the tangram puzzles, talking through interpretations with friends was consistently linked with lower cortisol levels. 

Interestingly, the researchers found that the older women had more success talking with and understanding strangers than younger women. Older women tended to talk more than younger women, and they were more likely to try to see their partner’s perspective. 

Moving forward, the team hopes that more women understand the mental health benefits of keeping close relationships with their friends. While it’s enjoyable to make time to catch up and have meaningful conversations, it can also have long-term impacts on mental health and wellness. 

“We can see that friendship has the same effect throughout the lifespan,” said Rodrigues. “Familiar partners and friends buffer stress, and that’s preserved with age.” 

It could be a glimpse of the future. Grubhub says it will use robots this fall to deliver food orders on college campuses.

The company plans to use small rovers built by Yandex, a Russian company, at 250 college locations. The rovers have six wheels and are about the size of a suitcase. Grubhub has been testing the vehicles at the University of Michigan.

The pandemic has been profitable for food delivery services. Both Grubhub and DoorDash have seen their businesses grow as more consumers have paid extra to have meals delivered to their homes rather than driving to a restaurant for pick up. For the most part, they like the service they get.

“To avoid the cold weather and an unfamiliar city we ordered from Cheesecake Factory using Grubhub,” William, of Andover, Kan., posted on ConsumerAffairs back in February. “We were very pleased with the quick courteous service provided by Grub Hub. The hot food was still hot and the ice cream was not melted. We really enjoyed our meal in the comfort of our hotel room.”

Grubhub is hoping for the same kind of response to its delivery robots. While the robots will cut labor costs the company will have to ensure the food arrives on time and at the correct temperature.

Potential consumer benefit

Consumers may also benefit from robotic delivery. Delivery personnel is the biggest cost for food delivery companies and Grubhub has said it expects to pass some of the savings onto customers in the form of a lower service fee. And customers won’t need to tip the robot.

DoorDash is also moving into robotic delivery. It’s acquired the robotics company Chowbotics to deliver salads and poke bowls.

More companies may also begin deploying robots for all types of delivery. One industry analyst told the Wall Street Journal that the pandemic didn’t start the automated food delivery trend but it certainly accelerated it.

Banner Smoked Fish of Brooklyn, N.Y is expanding its earlier recall to include smoked fish, salads, pickled fish products listed here.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The recalled products, which come in various sizes in both air pack and vacuum packages with the lot number or sell by date on the back, were sold through retailers and distributors, and also online in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Nebraska, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Nevada, Oregon, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should not consume them, but return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at (718) 449 – 1400 Monday through Friday from 8 AM – 4 PM (EST).

The Independence Day holiday weekend saw huge spikes in travel, both on the nation’s highways and in the air. Industry experts expect the wave of travelers to continue to build, especially if vaccination rates rise and cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to fall.

For consumers planning to get away from home this summer, one of the first considerations is whether to book directly with an airline, hotel, or rental car company or use one of the growing number of third-party travel sites.

Opinions vary about using one of these sites to book travel. Consumers generally like the convenience, but they sometimes give up some flexibility if travel plans change. With some sites, it may be difficult to cancel.

Hotels, airlines, and rental car companies set aside a certain amount of inventory for these sites to sell. The rates they charge are generally no more than the business itself would charge but rarely less.“

You can save money by using a third-party site,” said David Fiorenza, associate professor of economics at the Villanova University School of Business, in an interview with ConsumerAffairs. “There are companies where you can compare many hotels within a city. Consumers have told me they search the pricing on third-party sites first and then call the hotels directly.”

Reviews show some satisfaction with booking sites

An analysis of reviews posted on ConsumerAffairs suggests consumers are generally happy with the services they receive from third-party travel sites. Of seven companies reviewed, none is rated lower than 3.6 out of 5 stars, and four are tied with an overall rating of 3.8 stars. The ratings are based on thousands of verified reviews.

Kayak: 4.0 stars

Booking.com: 3.8 stars

Hotels.com: 3.8 stars

Hotwire: 3.8 stars

Orbitz: 3.8 stars

Expedia: 3.7 stars

Priceline: 3.6 stars

When there is a complaint with one of these sites, it is often because the traveler showed up at the hotel, airline, or rental car company and did not have a reservation as expected. Last month, Laura, of Salem, Ore., said she made a hotel reservation through Booking.com and received a confirmation.

“Called the hotel and was told they did not have any rooms and the reservation was not made,” Laura wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post.

Some consumers complain that when they search for a particular hotel on Google, a travel site pops up instead. Some consumers try to book directly with a hotel so they can use rewards points. However, there are cases when a person unknowingly lands on a third-party site and can’t use those perks.

Some travel sites have their own perks

To get around that issue, some sites now offer their own rewards programs and give users points on any hotel they book. Elias, of New York City, likes the rewards program offered by Hotels.com.

“Their rewards nights program is one of the best guest loyalty programs out there,” Elias recently posted on ConsumerAffairs. “Their customer service is actually another big plus. In the sea of lousy service by travel companies, they actually stand out by answering calls right away AND taking care of any issues.”

That said, there may be advantages to dealing directly with a hotel or airline when you book travel. Some hotels may offer a lower rate if you are sure of your travel plans and take the “non-refundable” rate. There are also fewer opportunities for miscommunication that can spoil a trip.

“Check to see if you can change dates and times with a third-party site,” Fiorenza said. “It is easier to change reservations when dealing directly with a hotel. It is harder to solve issues when a middle person is involved.”

While many consumers were celebrating the Fourth of July, a ring of international hackers were celebrating for an entirely different reason. Over the holiday weekend, the cybercrooks locked up more than a million individual computer devices and were demanding $70 million in bitcoin as a ransom.

The hackers have been identified as REvil, the Russian group known for hacking meat supplier JBS earlier this year. This time around, REvil compromised Kaseya Limited, a U.S. software company that develops IT management software. 

The hack affected many of Kaseya’s customers, including the Swedish grocery store chain Coop. It forced the company to close more than half of its 800 stores and rendered the retailer’s cash registers and self-service checkouts inoperable.

Hackers upping their game

Cybersecurity analysts worry that REvil has pushed the limits of hacking further than experts are equipped to handle. Some of Kaseya's customers are firms that oversee internet services for other companies, so REvil was able to snowball the number of victims rapidly. 

While many hack attacks try to tie up a single, standalone company, REvil was able to isolate each computer in Kaseya’s list of customers and ransom it separately. Reports say that REvil’s initial ransom request was for $45,000 to unlock each individual device.

On its face, Kaseya’s situation sounds dire. However, the company said things aren’t as bad as they seem.

“While impacting approximately 50 of Kaseya’s customers, this attack was never a threat nor had any impact to critical infrastructure,” said Fred Voccola, the company’s CEO. “Many of Kaseya’s customers are managed service providers, using Kaseya’s technology to manage IT infrastructure for local and small businesses with less than 30 employees, such as dentists’ offices, small accounting offices and local restaurants.”

Added up, Voccola said only 800 to 1,500 of Kaseya’s customers were compromised by the hack out of an estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 local and small businesses it manages. Nonetheless, Voccola said his company’s global teams were working around the clock to get our customers back up and running. 

“We understand that every second they are shut down, it impacts their livelihood, which is why we’re working feverishly to get this resolved,” he said.

President Biden offers “full resources” to hacked victims

Shortly after REvil’s attack was set in motion, the U.S. government stepped in to help. Over the weekend, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) worked with Kaseya to offer some assistance to the victims of the hack. 

President Biden said he was offering the “full resources'' that he has at his disposal to assist in the response. As part of the effort, FBI and CISA officials created a detection tool for small businesses that uses Kaseya’s platform to analyze their computer systems and determine whether any indicators of a hack are present.

After 16 months of allowing seniors to have their own personal space and shopping hours, Costco is dropping that perk. Effective Monday, July 26, the 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Senior Operating Hours will end, and Costco warehouses will resume regular operating hours.

In making the announcement on its COVID-19 updates page, the company said some locations are already changing operating hours. Those include mostly California locations and the company’s Honolulu location.

Costco has undergone a couple of changes lately. It closed all of its photo centers in February but also brought back its much-loved food sampling service.

Special hours at other retailers 

At last check, many of Costco’s peers were sticking with special hours for seniors and others. Here are some bigger names that are worth mentioning:

Sam’s Club: When ConsumerAffairs checked Sam’s Club’s website for an update, early shopping hours for seniors and those with disabilities or compromised immune systems every Tuesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. were still listed.

Walmart: Reports suggest that the retailer is keeping its dedicated shopping time for seniors 60 and older and those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19. Those hours are from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Tuesdays.

Target: The company says on its website that it is still reserving the first hour of shopping each Tuesday and Wednesday to support vulnerable guests, including seniors and those with underlying health concerns. 

Aldi: The company’s latest update says some ALDI stores have adjusted their opening hours of operation to 8:30 a.m. daily and that it will continue to reserve the first hour of business on Tuesdays and Thursdays for vulnerable shoppers. 

While that information is the most up-to-date that ConsumerAffairs was able to gather, it’s always possible that local stores could change hours without notice. For consumers who depend on special shopping hours, it might be wise to use the store finder for each retailer and double-check to see if there are listed store hours. It would also be smart to call a specific store just to make sure.

Coronavirus‌ ‌(COVID-19)‌ ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌ 

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 33,724,923 (33,718,538)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 605,582 (605,526)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 184,285,579 (183,895134)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 3,987,062 (3,980,012)‌

Pandemic boosted many workers’ pay

When the COVID-19 shut down the economy in March 2020, millions of Americans lost their jobs. But many of those who kept working received bigger paychecks, especially frontline and essential workers.

An analysis by the Wall Street Journal found that the median pay at around one-third of S&P 500 companies changed by around 5%. At 184 firms, pay rose by more than 5%. It decreased by more than 5% at 125 companies.

The report says pay appears to still be rising in 2021 thanks to a reopening economy and a tight labor market. Wages are gaining the fastest in typically low-wage frontline jobs.

CDC says Delta variant poses serious threat to the unvaccinated

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stepped up its campaign to persuade Americans to get vaccinated, warning that the Delta variant of the virus poses a particular threat.

CDC data shows that the Delta variant is about 50% more contagious than the Alpha strain. Scientists now believe the Delta strain also produces more severe symptoms. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says preliminary data collected over the last six months showed that 99.5% of people who died from virus symptoms were not vaccinated.

“It is clear that communities where people remain unvaccinated are communities that remain vulnerable,” Walensky said at a White House briefing.

Study: Lottery did little to boost Ohio vaccinations

With great fanfare, the state of Ohio launched its Vax-A-Million lottery, awarding cash prizes to state residents who got a vaccination. It was designed to encourage more people to roll up their sleeves, and some other states followed its example.

According to a study by researchers at Boston University, it didn’t really work. They analyzed Ohio's vaccination data one month before and one month after the state announced the lottery. They found no significant change in Ohio's vaccination rate that could be linked to the lottery.

There was a slight increase in the number of people who were vaccinated, but that was linked to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the vaccine for adolescents.

Around the nation

• New York: Officials in New York City have begun moving the city’s homeless population out of hotels, where they have been housed for the last 16 months. The hotels had been converted into emergency shelters to help prevent the spread of the virus.

• Massachusetts: Being fully vaccinated provides a high level of protection from COVID-19, but state health officials say they’ve counted 4,000 fully vaccinated residents who have tested positive for the virus. That’s about one out of every 1,000 vaccinated people.

• Tennessee: A number of doctors across the state are speaking out and urging their fellow citizens to get vaccinated. The physicians have gone public as cases of the Delta strain have increased rapidly over the last two weeks. Dr. Jason Martin, a critical care physician in Nashville, said Tennessee ranks very low in its vaccination rate.

• Iowa: When the fall school term begins, students will either return to the classroom or be homeschooled. Under new Iowa Department of Education rules, no public or private school in Iowa will be required to offer remote learning.

• Nevada: Cases of the virus have spiked, prompting Gov. Steve Sisolak to ask for federal help in combating it. State health officials say the Delta variant has become the most common form of the virus detected in tests in recent weeks.

The Pentagon has canceled its $10 billion JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) cloud contract with Microsoft. 

The cloud contract was intended to provide the U.S. military with better access to AI processing, data storage, machine learning, and other technology when working in remote locations. Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Oracle all placed bids on the project, and Amazon and Microsoft ended up in a legal battle over it. 

Now, the Department of Defense has announced that it’s calling off the contract. The agency cited shifting needs as its main reason for canceling it. 

“With the shifting technology environment, it has become clear that the JEDI Cloud contract, which has long been delayed, no longer meets the requirements to fill the DoD’s capability gaps,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday.

Soliciting proposals for new contract 

The Pentagon said that “due to evolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy, and industry advances, the JEDI Cloud contract no longer meets its needs.”

Concurrently, federal officials announced a new multi-vendor contract known as the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability. The agency said it plans to solicit proposals from both Amazon and Microsoft for the contract since they’re currently the only companies that provide cloud services that are in line with its needs. 

The agency said whichever company it selects for the new contract will have to meet criteria including being available on a global level, having top tier cybersecurity controls, and being able to work on all three classification levels (i.e. unclassified, secret, and top secret).

Microsoft issues statement

In a blog post on Tuesday, Microsoft said it understood the rationale behind canceling the JEDI project. However, the company said the years-long legal feud that transpired under it showed the need for change.

“The 20 months since DoD selected Microsoft as its JEDI partner highlights issues that warrant the attention of policymakers: when one company can delay, for years, critical technology upgrades for those who defend our nation, the protest process needs reform,” wrote Toni Townes-Whitley, president of U.S. regulated industries at Microsoft.

The agency’s decision “doesn’t change the fact that not once, but twice, after careful review by professional procurement staff, the DoD decided that Microsoft and our technology best met their needs. It doesn’t change the DoD Inspector General’s finding that there was no evidence of interference in the procurement process. And it doesn’t change the fact that the DoD and other federal agencies – indeed, large enterprises worldwide – select Microsoft to support their cloud computing and digital transformation needs on a regular basis,” Townes-Whitley said.

The tech giant concluded that it remains ready and able to support the DoD in its mission. 

“What matters now is the way forward, as the DoD has a critical unmet need to bring the power of cloud and AI to our men and women in uniform, modernizing technology infrastructure and platform services technology,” Microsoft stated. “We stand ready to support the DoD as they work through their next steps and its new cloud computing solicitation plans.” 

Twenty states reached President Biden’s goal of getting at least one dose of the available COVID-19 vaccines into 70% of adults by the Fourth of July. 

The goal was set in early May, before the pace of vaccinations began to slow. In June, White House officials acknowledged that the nation didn’t appear to be on track to meet the goal. As of Saturday, the seven-day average of doses given per day was 1,121,064. About 685,472 people are becoming fully vaccinated daily. The nationwide vaccination rate is 67.1%.

The states that have fully vaccinated more than half of their populations are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington state. The District of Columbia also met the vaccine milestone. 

Vermont is currently the national leader in vaccination, and Mississippi has the lowest vaccination rate in the country (46%). Fourteen states have vaccinated 60% to 65% of adults, including Florida and Texas. Sixteen states have vaccination rates below 60% -- almost all of those states are in the South. 

Health officials say lower-than-ideal levels of vaccination are concerning because of rising cases of the highly contagious Delta variant. The variant has been circulating in states with lower vaccination rates. 

Delta variant a concern 

There were 14,463 new COVID-19 cases and 305 deaths last Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker. The slight increase in cases lately has been attributed to the Delta variant. Experts say it accounts for between 25% and 50% of cases in U.S. communities.

"We are concerned, because where we're seeing increases in cases is in those areas generally that have lower vaccination rates,” Jeffrey Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said on CNN's "State of the Union.” 

Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC News on Sunday that vaccination numbers vary by state, but spikes are happening at regional levels.

"There are some states where the level of vaccination of individuals is 35% or less," Fauci said. "Under those circumstances, you might expect to see spikes in certain regions, in certain states, cities or countries. I don't think you are going to be seeing anything nationwide, because fortunately we have a substantial proportion of the population vaccinated. So it's going to be regional."