alcohol-related deaths spiked during the pandemic, study shows
Almost 1 million people in the United States have died of COVID-19 in the past two years, but the effect of the pandemic’s collateral damage is still being tallied. Now a new study reports that the number of Americans who died of alcohol-related causes increased precipitously during the first year of the pandemic. Numerous reports have suggested that Americans drank more to cope with the stress of the pandemic. But the new report found that the number of alcohol-related deaths soared to 99,017 in 2020 from 78,927 in 2019 — an increase of 25%. That compares with an average annual increase of 3.6% in alcohol-related deaths between 1999 and 2019.
Utah governor vetoes transgender-athlete bill
Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have barred young transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports, becoming the second Republican governor in two days to reject such legislation. Republican legislators, however, plan to override the veto Friday, state Sen. J. Stuart Adams, a Republican, said in a statement. Eleven other states have enacted similar laws in recent years as sports participation by transgender girls and women becomes an increasingly divisive topic among political leaders and athletic organizations. Three state legislatures — in Kansas, Louisiana and North Dakota — passed similar bills last year that were ultimately vetoed by their governors.
Tornado touches down in New Orleans as storms threaten the Deep South
A tornado touched down in New Orleans on Tuesday night, heavily damaging homes, knocking out power and prompting a search for residents who may be trapped, according to local authorities. It came as a spring storm system that was blamed for at least one death and left a path of destruction in Texas continued to move over portions of the Deep South on Tuesday, bringing unsettled weather. About 3.2 million people in southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and the western edge of Alabama were under a moderate risk of severe weather Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
6 Oklahoma high school students killed in crash
Six high school students were killed in a crash Tuesday when the vehicle they were in collided with a semitruck in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, a rural city about 120 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, authorities said. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol did not immediately release the names of the students, but they were all girls and in the “small passenger vehicle,” Sarah Stewart, a spokesperson for the agency, said in an email. The condition of the driver of the truck was not immediately known. The crash, which is under investigation, occurred at the intersection of U.S. 377 and Oklahoma 22 around 12:30 p.m., Stewart said.
Biden heads to Europe seeking to maintain unity and bolster sanctions on Russia
President Joe Biden will press allies this week for even more aggressive economic sanctions against Russia during a series of global summits in Europe, White House officials said Tuesday, seeking to maintain unity of purpose as the forces of President Vladimir Putin continue to rain destruction on cities in Ukraine. And Biden is set to impose sanctions on hundreds of members of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, according to a person familiar with the planned announcement. “This war will not end easily or rapidly,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told reporters on the eve of Biden’s departure for Europe.
No survivors found in China Eastern crash, officials say
Emergency workers have found no survivors more than 24 hours after a Boeing 737 plane carrying 132 people crashed in southern China, officials said Tuesday. Hundreds of firefighters, police officers and paramilitary troops have been scouring the hillsides for survivors, using flashlights into the night Tuesday. But the likelihood that anyone made it out alive appeared increasingly slim. The China Eastern Airlines plane, Flight MU5735, had plunged from 29,000 feet in the air to earth Monday in Teng County in the region of Guangxi, scattering burning debris across the remote countryside. Emergency workers were also focused on locating the plane’s so-called black boxes.
Cases rising because restrictions were eased too soon, WHO official says
Daily reports of new coronavirus cases are increasing in 18 European countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, because authorities are relaxing pandemic restrictions too quickly, a senior World Health Organization official in the region said Tuesday. The official — Dr. Hans Kluge, the organization’s regional director for Europe — said the increase in new cases was linked to the recent spread of the highly transmissible omicron subvariant known as BA.2. He said he saw reasons for optimism, because of the large proportion of people in most of the countries who may have some level of immunity either from a past infection or from being vaccinated.
Pfizer will send 4 million courses of its COVID pill treatment to poorer countries
Pfizer said on Tuesday that it has agreed to sell up to 4 million treatment courses of its COVID-19 pills for use in 95 lower-income countries that are home to about 4 billion people, with the first supplies expected to become available next month. The company’s supply agreement with UNICEF, the arm of the United Nations, covers all countries classified as low- or lower-middle-income, as well as some upper-middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world. Pfizer has said it can make 120 million treatment courses of Paxlovid this year. Wealthy countries have locked up much of Pfizer’s early supplies.
By wire sources
