The BulleTin • Sunday, May 23, 2021 A7
COVID-19 in the U.S.
New cases plummet
to lowest levels in a year
Pick up Thursday’s Bulletin for
weekly event coverage
and calendars
ATTENTION:
BY STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press
New coronavirus cases
across the United States have
tumbled to rates not seen in
more than 11 months, spark-
ing optimism that vaccination
campaigns are stemming both
severe COVID-19 cases and
the spread of the virus.
As cases, hospitalizations
and deaths steadily dropped
over the past week, pre-pan-
demic life in America has
largely resumed. Hugs and un-
masked crowds returned to the
White House, a Mardi Gras-
style parade marched through
Alabama’s port city of Mobile,
and even states that have stuck
to pandemic-related restric-
tions readied to drop them.
However, health experts also
cautioned that not enough
Americans have been vacci-
nated to completely extinguish
the virus, leaving the potential
for new variants that could ex-
tend the pandemic.
As the seven-day average
for new cases dropped below
30,000 per day over the week,
Rochelle Walensky, the director
of the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, pointed
out cases have not been this
low since June 18. The average
number of deaths over the last
seven days also dropped to 552
— a rate not seen since July last
year. It’s a dramatic drop since
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the pandemic hit a devastating
crescendo in January.
“As each week passes and as
we continue to see progress,
these data give me hope,” Wal-
ensky said Friday at a news
conference.
Health experts credit an effi-
cient rollout of vaccines for the
turnaround. More than 60% of
people over 18 have received at
least one shot, and almost half
are fully vaccinated, according
to the CDC. But demand for
vaccines has dropped across
much of the country. Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s administra-
tion is trying to convince other
Americans to sign up for shots,
using an upbeat message that
vaccines offer a return to nor-
mal life.
White House health officials
on Friday even waded into of-
fering dating advice. They are
teaming up with dating apps
to offer a new reason to “swipe
right” by featuring vaccination
badges on profiles and in-app
bonuses for people who have
gotten their shots.
Ohio, New York, Oregon
and other states are entic-
ing people to get vaccinated
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Virgin Galactic rocket ship
ascends from New Mexico
BY MORGAN LEE
Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. — Vir-
gin Galactic on Saturday made
its first rocket-powered flight
from New Mexico to the fringe
of space in a manned shuttle,
as the company forges toward
offering tourist flights to the
edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.
High above the desert in a
cloudless sky, VSS Unity ignited
its rocket to hurtle the ship and
two pilots toward space. A live
feed by NASASpaceFlight.com
showed the ship accelerating
upward and confirmed a land-
ing later via radar.
Virgin Galactic announced
that its VSS Unity shuttle
achieved a speed equal to three
times the speed of sound and
an altitude of just over 55 miles
above sea level before making
its gliding return through the
atmosphere.
British billionaire and Vir-
gin Galactic founder Sir Rich-
ard Branson says the flight
and landing bring the roughly
15-year-old venture tanta-
lizingly close to commercial
flights for tourists. Virgin Ga-
lactic says those flights could
begin next year.
Virgin Galactic’s
VSS Unity departs
Mojave Air & Space
Port in California
in February for the
final time as Virgin
Galactic shifts
its SpaceFlight
operations to New
Mexico.
Live Life Outdoors
Matt Hartman/AP file
“Today was just an incredi-
ble step in the right direction,”
Branson told The Associated
Press shortly after the flight
landings. “It tested a lot of new
systems that the teams have
been building and they all
worked.”
Virgin Galactic CEO Mi-
chael Colglazier said at least
two more undated test flights
lie ahead — the next with four
mission specialist passengers
in the cabin. Pending trials also
includes a flight that will take
Branson to the edge of space.
“The flight today was ele-
gant, beautiful,” Colglazier said.
Virgin Galactic said the
flight provided an assessment
of upgrades to a horizontal sta-
bilizer, other flight controls and
a suite of cabin cameras de-
signed to provide live images of
flight to people on the ground.
The shuttle also carried a sci-
entific payload in cooperation
with NASA’s Flight Opportuni-
ties Program.
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