President Joe Biden will unveil a fresh push Tuesday to persuade Americans to get an updated COVID booster ahead of the holiday season, and will stress that boosters are free and offer protection against newer variants that are spreading fast. Biden will receive his own jab and will call on state, local, education and business leaders to do their part. “While COVID-19 is not the disruptive force it was when the President took office, the virus continues to evolve,” the White House said in a statement. U.S. known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where the data are not being collected. The daily average for new cases stood at 37,548 on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 3% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was down 1% at 26,630, while the daily average for deaths is down 7% to 354. Globally, the confirmed case tally rose above 628.1 million on Tuesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins, while the death toll is above 6.57 million with the U.S. leading the world with 97.2 million cases and 1,067,882 deaths.
US 500 forecast: the index may enter a downtrend
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, the US 500 has resumed its decline. The US 500 forecast for today is negative. US 500 forecast: