U.S. Economy : Delta variant spreads as Congress fails to extend eviction moratorium

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that new guidelines or restrictions would be imposed in the United States in response to a resurgence of Covid-19 cases. Asked if Americans should expect new recommendations from health authorities or new restrictive measures, the president responded, “in all probability,” before leaving the White House for the weekend.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus is as contagious as chickenpox and could cause severe illness, according to an internal report at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus, which was first reported in India, is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu, and smallpox, the report said.

The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed”. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told the media that new research showed the vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant carried tremendous amounts of the virus in the nose and throat.

A new CDC study published on Friday showed that three-quarters of individuals who became infected with COVID-19 at public events in a Massachusetts county had been fully vaccinated, suggesting the Delta variant of the virus is highly contagious.

Meanwhile, a number of government businesses, together with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, including the Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs Departments, introduced that they might lengthen their eviction moratoriums till Sept. 30 as a last-minute ditch by the Congress to extend the federal pandemic eviction moratorium failed on Friday.

The Supreme Court had previously rejected a request to lift the ban on evictions.

About 44 million households, which is nearly one-third of the US population — are renters, most of which have been protected by some form of an eviction moratorium since Congress passed the CARES Act. Many states and localities, together with New York and California, have prolonged their very own moratoriums, which ought to blunt a number of the effect.

Nonetheless, there may be the potential for a rush of eviction filings starting next week — along with the more than 450,000 eviction instances already filed in courts within the largest cities and states because the pandemic started in March 2020.

An estimated 11 million grownup renters are thought-about significantly delinquent on their lease payment, in response to a survey by the Census Bureau.

The current eviction ban which expires on July 31st required renters who’ve fallen behind on their rent to submitting a signed declaration to their landlord stating they’ve lost income due to the COVID pandemic and have made an effort to look for financial assistance, as well as a few other conditions.