Welcome to the 71st issue of the California Coronavirus Weekly Recap newsletter. Before we get started with this week’s news, we want to make sure you’re aware of the COVID REALTOR® Relief Wrap Up webinar that C.A.R. Legal is holding tomorrow, July 22, at 10 a.m.
In This Issue:
- The Economy & Your Finances: Financial markets dip due to COVID worries
- The Market & Industry: California home sales dip for second straight month
- Around the State: Cases surging across the state
- Health Check-Up: Delta variant leads to breakthrough infections in the fully vaccinated
The Economy & Your Finances: Financial markets dip due to COVID worriesThe financial markets dipped on Monday, attributed to investors worrying about the virus’s potential to upend life once again. The S&P 500 stock-market index had its worst decline since May, sliding more than 2 percent during the day before closing down 1.6 percent. The Dow fell 2.1 percent, its biggest one-day loss this year. Europe’s Stoxx 600 fell 2.3 percent.
California gained 73,500 jobs in June, a slowdown from the month prior. The unemployment rate stayed the same at 7.9 percent. Last week, Californians filed slightly fewer initial claims for unemployment benefits at 58,400, but claims remain significantly elevated. California small businesses in particular are struggling, with revenue plunging 43.4 percent from January 2020.
Meanwhile, national weekly jobless claims fell to a new pandemic low of 360,000 last week. The U.S. recovery from the recession is proceeding so quickly that many forecasters have predicted that the economy will expand this year by roughly 7%.
The Federal Reserve’s latest nationwide business survey found that the economy strengthened further in late May and early June, despite supply-chain and hiring bottlenecks that led to price hikes.
Sources: The New York Times, AP News, The Mercury News, ABC News
The Market & Industry: California home sales dip for second straight month
The market momentum appears to be moderating, with existing home sales dipping for the second month in a row in June. June home sales dipped 2.2 percent on a monthly basis to 436,020 from 445,660 in May but were up 28.3 percent from a year ago, when 339,910 homes were sold on an annualized basis. California’s median home price set a new record high for the fourth straight month in June at $819,630.
Across the nation, bidding wars fell slightly in June after months of relentless competition. Meanwhile, interest rates continue to slide, and mortgage rates dipped last week to 2.88 percent.
Sources: C.A.R., HousingWire
Around the State: Cases surging across the state
Cases are surging across California one month after the state lifted most pandemic restrictions. Last week, California’s positivity rate jumped from 0.08 percent to 3 percent, and new cases increased 90 percent from July 9 to July 16.
In response to the surge, more California communities are recommending a return to indoor mask wearing for everyone, not just the unvaccinated. Los Angeles — which has been recording more than 1,000 new cases a day for over a week — reinstituted its indoor mask policy, and counties such as and Sacramento and San Francisco are recommending everyone mask up inside public buildings.
Health experts attribute the surges in California and nationwide to the spread of the Delta variant, and the vast majority of cases are occurring in the unvaccinated. Of the 10 California counties reporting the highest new daily case rates, only one — Sonoma County — has a vaccination rate over 50 percent.
Sources: Santa Ynez Valley News, The Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, CA Public Radio, NPR, KTLA, SF Gate
Health Check-Up: Delta variant leads to breakthrough infections in the fully vaccinated
CDC Director Dr. Rachelle Walensky referred to the spread of the Delta variant as “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” The Delta variant is around 225 percent more transmissible than the original strain, and those who are infected with the Delta variant are infectious earlier in the course of their illness.
If you are fully vaccinated, you are still able to contract the Delta variant. Breakthrough infections, while rare, are making headlines. As of July 12, there have been 5,492 patients with Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough infections who have been hospitalized or died, according to the CDC. This is a small number among the more than 159 million people that have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The CDC warned last Friday that the COVID-19 vaccine may not be effective for people who are immunocompromised. The CDC is looking into ongoing research exploring the possibility that immunocompromised people could benefit from an additional dose of the vaccine.
Sources: NPR, CNN