Although mask mandates are falling by the wayside across most of the United States following a dramatic drop in coronavirus cases, some states are seeing a different trend.
New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have seen COVID-19 cases jump by more than 40% over the last 14-day period as of Saturday, according to The New York Times.
The culprit behind the uptick is omicron subvariant BA.2. Florida, at 25%, and Delaware, at 17%, have also seen a notable rise in cases.
Senate bargainers also reached an agreement on a smaller $10 billion package for countering COVID-19 with treatments, vaccines and other steps. The compromise ended up dropping all funding to help nations abroad combat the pandemic.
The measure drew support on Monday from President Joe Biden, who initially pushed for a $22.5 billion package. He ended up settling for much less despite administration warnings that the government was running out of money to keep pace with the disease’s continued — though diminished — spread in the U.S.
Questions remain about whether objections by some Republicans might prevent the Senate from considering the bill this week, as Biden wants.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Newsy is the nation’s only free 24/7 national news network. You can find Newsy using your TV’s digital antenna or stream for free. See all the ways you can watch Newsy here.
