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| Hospitalizations and deaths should decline sharply by Independence Day if the nationwide vaccination program remains strong and community mitigation efforts are followed, according to a federal report released Wednesday. |
| Still, ignoring mitigation efforts such as masks and social distancing in some situations could lead to substantial increases in "severe COVID-19 outcomes," even with improved vaccination coverage, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. |
| "Models once projecting really grim news now offer reasons to be quite hopeful for what the summer may bring," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, said at a White House briefing. "The sooner we get more and more people vaccinated, the sooner we will all get back to normal." |
| It's Wednesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know: |
| • | A Massachusetts pizza parlor owner lied about the number of employees he had to fraudulently obtain more than $660,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds, then bought stock an alpaca farm in Vermont, federal prosecutors say. Dana McIntyre, 57, is charged with wire fraud and money laundering. | | • | The chairman of one of South Korea's biggest dairy companies, Namyang Dairy Products, has resigned after his company was accused of deliberately spreading misinformation that its yogurt helps prevent coronavirus infections. | | • | India's Supreme Court declined to press contempt charges against government officials for defying an order to meet oxygen requirements of more than 40 New Delhi hospitals overwhelmed by COVID patients. | | • | New York lawmakers sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo legislation that would set minimum staffing levels at hospitals and nursing homes, asserting understaffing practices at some facilities contributed to COVID-19 infections and deaths. | |
| Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 32.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 578,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: more than 154 million cases and 3.2 million deaths. More than 318 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and over 247 million have been administered, according to the CDC. |
| See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here. |
| – John Bacon, USA TODAY rewrite chief, @realjohnbacon |
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