How many times can you get COVID? | Morning Newsletter
And a South Philly vegan cheesemaker is expanding.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
We’re in for a sunny day today, with a high temperature near 91 and a low tonight around 71.
First, we look at the questions that still remain about our future with COVID. For instance, how many times can you get the virus?
Plus, we have a cheesy story: A local vegan cheesemaker is growing.
If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Felicia Gans Sobey (@FeliciaGans, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
It’s our third summer with COVID-19, and for some unlucky people, this season’s COVID infection is their second or third (or more!) run-in with the virus.
So how often can you get reinfected with COVID? And if you do get reinfected, what does it do to your health? The short answer: Scientists are still trying to figure it out.
The results of one nationwide sample found an average time of around nine months between infections, though it’s not clear if that interval will hold true for the broader population. Now, researchers are looking toward the common cold to find clues about what our future could hold.
One thing that’s fairly certain: COVID isn’t going away completely any time soon. “There are people in this hurricane mind-set — that COVID is like a hurricane and some day it’s going to pass — and we’re going to go back to 2019,” said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Health Security.
His guess of when we’ll have “zero COVID risk”? “I’d say never.” Read more from my colleagues Jason Laughlin and Tom Avril.
What you should know today
New regulations are coming on Friday on minimum wage for tipped workers in Pennsylvania.
ESS Northeast, a company hired by the Philadelphia School District, is offering bonuses in an effort to hire hundreds of substitute teachers and other school staff.
Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health have named cardiologist Joseph G. Cacchione as CEO.
With rising fixed interest rates, more home buyers are considering adjustable rate mortgages.
Philadelphia is set to get more than $25 million in federal funding for sewer-system improvements and other flood-prevention measures.
Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is 6 p.m. today. Here’s a look at where things stand heading into the day.
Local coronavirus numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
Bandit, a vegan cheesemaker in South Philly, has received a massive investment from Wyoming-based Prime Movers Lab that will allow it to expand production of its cashew-based cheeses.
A look at this story, by the numbers:
$1.5 million: The size of the investment from Prime Movers Lab.
1,000 pounds: How much cashew-based cheese the company currently produces each week.
5,000 pounds: How much cashew-based cheese company founder and CEO Bo Babaki hopes they’ll be making each week within a year.
A new Swedish machine is going to help the company significantly increase its product. And if that’s not enough, they’re also getting a new cheese cave — a modified walk-in refrigerator.
Read more about Bandit’s delicious next steps.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
The Philadelphia Fire Marshal’s Office said on Monday that electrical wiring caused the fire at Jim’s South Street Steaks last week. Today’s Question: When did the legendary cheesesteak storefront open?
A) 1965
B) 1976
C) 1983
D) 1990
Take a guess, and find the answer here.
What we’re ...
📣 Cheering: For the Philly Roller Derby Juniors All-Stars team, who won the national championships last weekend.
🎶 Listening: To my colleague Dan DeLuca’s top five picks of the week.
📚 Reading: This tale about Matt Rossi, who saved Philly’s largest food truck commissary from lawsuits and debt. 🔑
🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩
This Temple University president just wrote a new book called The College Devaluation Crisis.
IGOR JANWANDS
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shout-out goes to Marcia Ruberg, of Northern Liberties, who correctly guessed Tierra Whack as Monday’s answer.
Photo of the day
That’s all for today. 👋 Happy Tuesday!