COVID Outbreak Causes Steve Martin, Jimmy Kimmel to Postpone Live Shows 

COVID cases are rising. For the week concluding on Aug. 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's preliminary data indicated around 845 deaths due to the coronavirus, an increase from approximately 520 deaths the previous month. Concurrently, the U.S. has witnessed a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations for the past nine weeks. And famous people are getting sick too. At least three of the five stars of the podcast Strike Force Five—which include Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers—were going to appear live in Vegas but no luck, since Kimmel has COVID. And Steve Martin also had to cancel his live show with Martin Short. Read on to learn more about how to stay safe.

Kimmel was supposed to perform his live podcast with fellow late-night talk show hosts (the show supports "out-of-work staff from the hosts' respective shows" as long as the writers' strike lasts) but: "Well, Las Vegas, I got Covid, and sadly, we need to cancel this weekend's Strike Force Three show. I could never live with myself if I got my hometown friends sick. Thanks to all who purchased tickets, everyone will get full refunds and we will try to reschedule if possible."

Martin, 78, was supposed to perform with Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short in Las Vegas. But: "Dear fans and enemies, Unfortunately, our sold-out shows at the Wynn in Las Vegas this Friday and Saturday has to be postponed because of rampant Covid in our crew and one other essential guy. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but we are moving to mid-December, where your tickets will be honored with an added 'date-moving tax,' of nine thousand dollars," Martin wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Positivity rates were significantly higher than average in two out of 10 regions that the CDC uses to group states. In region six—consisting of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma—the positivity rate was 17.3 percent. In region seven—covering Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska—16.4 percent of tests were coming back positive," says Newsweek.

"The virus that causes COVID-19 is always changing, and protection from COVID-19 vaccines declines over time. Receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine can restore protection and provide enhanced protection against the variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States.  Last season, those who received a 2022-2023 COVID-19 vaccine saw greater protection against illness and hospitalization than those who did not receive a 2022-2023 vaccine.  To date, hundreds of millions of people have safely received a COVID-19 vaccine under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history," says the CDC.

"The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household — aiming to prevent possible shortages during a rise in coronavirus cases that has typically come during colder months," reports the AP.