on top of those state benefits, another 110,000 people filed for special pandemic relief programs, that brings the total to 529,000 people filing for benefits in just one week. economists note that the delta variant could threaten the recovery in the labor market if businesses are forced to limit operations and force to layoff workers once again. but a research firm says that while the delta variant will likely slow the pace of economic growth for a while, the national picture probably won t suffer much. delta variant is taking aim at countries everywhere, in some places there is a growing effort to make sure that the vaccinated aren t being punished for the choices of the unvaccinated. cnn is covering this pandemic around the world. reporter: the government here in london is taking emergency steps to address the labor shortage. this as it emerges that the
choice. the run governor of alabama, the state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country these folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. what is it going to take people to get shots? i don t know. you tell me. folks supposed to have common sense. but it is time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks, it is the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down. so the white house now acknowledging the pandemic that appeared to be entering a new troubling phase. some members of president biden s covid team are considering whether new mask recommendations are necessary as the delta variant spreads. in the last few days philadelphia, austin, houston and new orleans are all taking steps back towards masking in public. just three states, three, account for 40% of all new cases
a small but growing number of athletes are testing positive. even inside the olympic village. so excited to go to tokyo, but also like terrified. to fly all the way there and then test positive. reporter: athletes tested for covid daily, asked to arrive five days early and leave two days after. you can see how packed its. some 18,000 athletes and officials will be staying in those buildings. you can see a lot of their national flags on the sides. most of the venues are in tokyo, japan invested billions only to have fake crowd noise echoing through all those empty stands. this is going to be an olympics like none over and the world is watching. they want to see if japan can pull this off in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a state of emergency without the olympics turning in to a superspreader event. will ripley, cnn, flying above
in italy, the government has just approved a green pass that will reward the vaccinated and inspire the hesitant. cases have been steadily rising, but the green pass should allow the economy to stay open and keep the virus in check. from august 6 the fully vaccinated or those with a negative test or recovered from covid will be able to dine inside restaurants, go to xwims, night clubs, sporting ents even concerts. the message is clear, vaccinations are the only way out of the pandemic. reporter: and in hong kong, the travel bubble between new zealand and australia has been suspended for two months following an youtbreak of the delta variant. some are in lockdown and the prime minister apologized for the woeful rollout of the vaccine program. only 11% of the australian
so-called ping demodemic as it called as people are in isolation because they have been in contact with those who tested positive. and so now they will have to do daily testing instead of not being able to go to work. reporter: and in hong kong, indonesia is moving to clamp down on covid-19, it has tightened his borders. and also converting buildings into covid-19 hospitals and cities across java and bali. at least 16 buildings including an apartment complex are being turned into emergency hospitals. indonesia has become asia s new epicenter of the pandemic reporting tens of thousands of new infections every day. on thursday it reported its highest number of single day deaths on record. reporter: and in rome, here