At long last, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new Covid-19 pandemic guidance documents to help the public minimize risk while venturing out into public spaces.
The CDC released two new guidance documents Friday. One is for individuals thinking about leaving the house to engage in activities like going to restaurants, nail salons, gyms, and the bank; traveling; and hosting small gatherings like cookouts. The other lists considerations for event planners (with the disclaimer that these considerations are meant to supplementnot replaceany state, local, territorial, or tribal health and safety laws, rules, and regulations with which gatherings must comply).
These new documents come as some areas of the country notably, Arizona, Florida, and the Carolinas are starting to see indications of new Covid-19 spikes, likely due to relaxed social distancing policies that started weeks ago. Which is to say: Citizens probably could have used them a month ago.
But even now, the CDCs recommendations are still broadly helpful and useful (although they come with a few omissions). Here are the highlights.
The main way people are getting sick with SARS-CoV-2 is from respiratory droplets spreading between people in close quarters. Droplets fly from peoples mouths and noses when they breathe, talk, or sneeze. Other people can breathe them in. The dose matters: The more you breathe in, the more likely you are to get sick. Thats the main risk, and thats why face masks are an essential precaution (they help stop the droplets from spewing far from a persons mouth or nose).
The CDCs recommendations for individuals take this droplet spread into account, advocating for universal masking, enthusiastic hand-washing, keeping more than 6 feet away from other people, and limiting the amount of time you spend with others. Spending more time with people increases risks. (The CDC makes more specific recommendations for activities like dining out on its website.)
In general, the CDC writes, the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of Covid-19 spread.
This all aligns with what experts have told Vox: People should think about Covid-19 risk in four dimensions distance to other people, environment, activity, and time spent together. More distance is better, outdoors is safer than indoors, activities that involve lots of exhaling (like singing or shouting) are more dangerous than quieter ones, and a longer time spent with others is more dangerous than a shorter time.
Perhaps a helpful way to think about the risk is this: Imagine everyone is smoking, as Ed Yong suggested in the Atlantic, and youd like to avoid inhaling as much smoke as possible. In a cramped indoor space, that smoke is going to get dense and heavy fast. If the windows are open, some of that smoke will blow away. If fewer people are in the space, less smoke will accumulate, and it might not waft over to you if youre standing far enough away. But spend a lot of time in an enclosed space with those people, and the smoke grows denser.
The denser the smoke, the more likely it is to affect you. Its the same with this virus: The more of it you inhale, the more likely you are to get sick.
As always, its important to stay home if you think you might have any symptoms of Covid-19. The CDC also recommends people think about their own risk for severe illness, and the risk of people they may be seeing. Older adults still have a greater risk of severe Covid-19 cases, as do people with underlying medical conditions. You may still want to limit time with these groups.
A lot of the same principles apply in the CDCs guidance for event planners. More people, more time, more crowds, and less mask-wearing result in a more dangerous situation. Plus, the CDC advises, the higher the level of community transmission in the area that the gathering is being held, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spreading during a gathering.
For event planners, the CDC also provides guidance for the cleaning of restrooms, the need for ventilation, and modifying event space layouts with physical barriers to ensure social distancing.
There is a big thing, though, experts have pointed out, that the CDC has left out of the document. Notably: The document does not stress that indoor events are a much higher risk than outdoor events.
Speaking on a press call Friday, Jay Butler, the CDC deputy director for infectious diseases, was asked if these guidelines also apply to political rallies (like the ones President Donald Trump plans to soon hold for his supporters). Butler said only that the guidelines were not intended to endorse any particular type of event.
You could read both of the CDCs new guideline documents and still have some questions. Theres nothing about precautions to take before going to church, no guidance about dating and sex and no explicit advice on a topic that some doctors say they get asked all the time: Is it OK to take the kids to visit grandparents? the AP reports. And this is because it is difficult for the agency to lay out recommendations for every scenario.
Life is complicated, and Covid-19 complicates it further. There are endless possibilities you can think of in a risk assessment. So overall, when weighing risks, its just good to remember the mechanisms of how Covid-19 spreads (through breath and close contact), and keep them in mind no matter what situation youre in. (Though if you want some guidelines for sexual interactions, New York City has you covered.)
Scientists recognize that no activity with other people during a pandemic is perfectly safe. Even an activity with distancing, in a scenario with universal masking, thats in an outdoor space, does not drop the risk to zero. Still, we need to find a middle ground, and reduce the harm that can result from our actions whenever possible. And these guidelines can help do that.
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On Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will do something pretty unusual in the age of COVID-19 travel overseas. Mitsotakis will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel to discuss the resumption of commercial flights between their countries, as well as regional energy politics two things which have been dramatically disrupted by the pandemic. Cypriot President Nicos Anastiades is also expected to visit Israel later this month.
The discovery of offshore hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean over a decade ago has sparked intense diplomatic activity. Hoping to maximize the seas riches, many of the regions governments have proposed ambitious projects that would transport the natural gas to Europe via undersea pipelines. Encouraged by U.S. administrations that saw energy development as a vehicle for strengthening ties between its allies, the rough edges of a new regional framework for cooperation slowly took form in January 2019, when the governments of Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority established the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, a multinational body tasked with developing a regional gas market and mechanism for resource development.
COVID-19 has scuttled this momentum. The pandemics impact on the global energy market has damaged the conditions for Eastern Mediterranean states to profitably export their gas, and has caused a massive rethink amongst policymakers about how to make the most out of the circumstances. Although regional actors may no longer be bound to building pipelines, energy still has the potential to propel greater regional cooperation in the coming decade. American diplomatic support and engagement would go a long way to turning this opportunity into a reality.
Israels Stake in the Eastern Mediterranean
This is a bitter pill for all of the regions actors to swallow, but perhaps none more so than Israel. Historically bereft of fossil fuels, the discovery of the Tamar and Leviathan fields (in 2009 and 2010, respectively) were seen as a potential game-changer for the Jewish State. The Netanyahu government committed to the concept of gas exports as a strategic boon to Israel, and aggressively pursued a regional policy that embraced partnerships with Greece and Cyprus, as well as export deals with Jordan and Egypt. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz spent most of the last five years promoting the East Med pipeline a 1,900-kilometer undersea pipeline that would link Israel to Italy via Greece and Cyprus.
However, the East Med pipeline which upon completion would be the longest undersea pipeline in the world was always more of a political project than a serious commercial endeavor. Not only did the path of the proposed pipeline run through disputed waters between Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus, but also active geological fault lines and deep trenches. These geopolitical and technical challenges could theoretically be overcome, yet industry experts argue that the biggest obstacle to the East Med pipeline is its commercial feasibility. With an estimated $7 billion price tag, there are doubts that Israeli and Cypriot gas would remain competitive by the time it arrived in Europe. For several years the European Commission has been exploring the possibility of committing to the pipeline, but at this stage is unlikely to back it financially.
The collapse of global energy prices brought on by the combination of an oversupplied market, warmer-than-average winter, and the coronavirus pandemic, has buried the East Med pipeline and put Israel in a serious quandary. Committed to a contract with Tamar and Leviathans developers that no longer meshes with the current economic circumstances, Israel is paying three times the global average for its own gas. The price discrepancy is so sharp that the Israel Electric Corporation is buying imported liquid natural gas at half the price of domestic supply. It is no wonder, then, that Steinitz began his second term in office with declarations that Israel would accelerate its construction of solar energy infrastructure.
The Position of Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey
Israel is not alone in this predicament. Almost the entire Eastern Mediterranean is wrestling with similar questions.
The vanishing prospects for the East Med pipeline are as disconcerting for Greece and Cyprus as they are for Israel. Both countries are essential partners in the project. In January 2020, leaders from the three states met in a public demonstration of their commitment to the pipeline (they reportedly signed an agreement but this document has not been made public). Cyprus hoped to link its modest offshore discoveries to the East Med pipeline, and Greece was eager to function as a conduit to Europe. The important difference is that Cyprus natural gas fields are not yet operational. In early May, Italys ENI, Frances Total, and ExxonMobil announced a year-long suspension of drilling activities in Cyprus waters. There are no guarantees that the developers will return with the same interest as they once did, and the remaining export options are costly.
Even operational energy partnerships are facing tough choices. For example, Jordans energy arrangement with Israel (45 billion cubic meters over 15 years at an estimated $10 billion) is deeply unpopular because it normalizes ties with a country seen by most Jordanians as a belligerent. With a global energy market that is driving liquid natural gas prices to historic lows, the monarchy is under mounting pressure to find cheaper alternatives. If Israel continues with its plans to partially annex the West Bank, Amman may sacrifice the deal as a symbolic gesture of disapproval even if the underlying causes are economic. Jordan might hope that it could fall back on the United States, as a guarantor in the deal, to cover its debts.
Egypt hoped that offshore discoveries would transform it into a regional energy hub, converting Israeli and Cypriot gas at its liquid natural gas facilities in Idku and Damietta and then shipping them off to Europe. Today, Egypt is struggling to find buyers, has frozen activity at one of its liquid natural gas sites, and cut production at Zohr field. While the Egyptian domestic market is diverse enough to absorb some Israeli imports, this isnt the long-term arrangement the two parties envisioned some 16 months ago.
No matter where you turn, the Eastern Mediterranean energy picture is bleak. Debt-ridden Lebanon was dismayed by news in late April that initial explorations failed to uncover a meaningful gas field. Politicians in Beirut dreamed that offshore discoveries would deliver an instant economic windfall. But with energy companies announcing a suspension of activities in Cypruss waters just a week later the same companies exploring Lebanese waters the Lebanese government will have to search elsewhere for a financial bailout.
Meanwhile, Turkey appears to be taking advantage of the regional turmoil by continuing to send exploratory and drilling vessels into Eastern Mediterranean waters. However, these vessels purpose is more political than commercial. Spurned by the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum and with no resolution to the Cyprus conflict in sight, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has positioned his military on land and at sea to protect Turkish claims to the continental shelf and break what is perceived as strategic containment of Turkey by the regions actors. Turkish intervention in the Libyan civil war is at least partially driven by Ankaras desire to break the will of its neighbors and force them into direct negotiations. Not only has this strategy put Turkey at loggerheads with longtime rivals Greece and Cyprus with whom Turkey shares a long history of maritime boundary disputes but other actors as well, including the United States.
In the long run, low liquid natural gas prices could become the norm. Some forecast that the present gas glut may continue for nearly a decade as other projects come onto the market. International projects that require costly infrastructure are going to find it difficult to compete with existing liquid natural gas providers and a growing renewable energy industry. Although COVID-19 appears to have undone significant progress in the Eastern Mediterranean, it ironically may have rescued Eastern Mediterranean states from shortsighted investments. Policymakers have benefited from a rare mulligan and can now reassess their regional prospects.
Post-Pandemic Energy Strategy
The first, and most obvious, post-coronavirus strategy, is to keep the gas local. Rather than prioritizing export markets in Europe, the challenge for Eastern Mediterranean states is to diversify their domestic infrastructure and economies to be more gas friendly. This is especially relevant for Egypt, whose domestic demand is only going to increase as its population grows. Emphasizing the regional market will require intense discussions between the main developers and governments to find the appropriate contractual language that suits the involved parties.
But would organizing a regional market assume that all actors can benefit? Over the last decade, offshore hydrocarbons were as much as cause for confrontation between Eastern Mediterranean states as they were an incentive for cooperation. Now that it is clear the gas bonanza wont arrive as quickly as anticipated, perhaps the regions actors will consider a recommitment to regional diplomacy and conflict resolution. From the ongoing Libyan civil war to the maritime disputes between Greece and Turkey, there is no shortage of opportunities for those willing to decouple their energy aspirations from their interest in creating a functional regional space.
This is where the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum comes into play. Whereas the forums original purpose was to deal with matters pertaining to natural gas, post-COVID it could serve as a platform for discussion on a host of issues, from tourism to environmental protection to pandemic support to alternative energy cooperation and security. If a global pandemic instructs states about anything, it is that neighbors remain neighbors regardless of the boundaries placed between them. In short, it behooves Eastern Mediterranean states to support one another.
Americas Role in the Region
The United States should play a central role in this process. Not only is Washington the preferred mediator for many of the regions conflicts, but American support for the development of offshore hydrocarbons and regional cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean has been a rare point of bipartisan consensus during both the Obama and Trump administrations, who saw the regions gas as way to strengthen the position of its Eastern Mediterranean allies while also reducing European dependency on Russian gas. Continued engagement with Eastern Mediterranean actors will allow the United States to guide its partners towards a more cooperative future, help develop deconfliction mechanisms, and discourage interference from outside actors like Russia, Iran, and China.
This should happen in a number of different ways. First, the United States should reengage Eastern Mediterranean states in the process of maritime boundary delimitation. This issue a priority for all of the regions actors, including European heavyweights France and Italy. In particular, Turkeys signing of a maritime boundary agreement with Libyas Government of National Accord in November 2019 sparked considerable protest throughout the region and entangled the ongoing civil war in the Eastern Mediterraneans energy politics. While the Libyan civil war isnt the source of all of the regions tensions, American mediation between the aggrieved parties notably NATO member states Turkey and Greece on the issue of maritime boundaries would start rolling back tensions and create a more constructive environment for future negotiations between Turkey and Cyprus. The signing of a maritime boundary agreement between Italy and Greece on June 9 was widely seen as a maneuver to check Turkeys advance. U.S. diplomats should also encourage Israel and Lebanon to resolve their outstanding maritime issues, which would allow foreign companies to feel more comfortable exploring in Lebanese waters whenever they decide to resume activities. A semi-enclosed maritime space like the Eastern Mediterranean requires delimitation agreements in order to avoid conflict. Ideally, the United States would bring all regions actors to the negotiating table simultaneously. However, the present conditions necessitate a flexible, hands-on approach to certain disputes.
Additionally, the United States can empower the nascent Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum by investing more diplomatic resources in the organization, and incentivizing collaboration between members states. One way of doing this is by expanding the language of the 2019 Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act (also known as the Menendez-Rubio Bill) in a manner that offers potential avenues for participation by Eastern Mediterranean actors not mentioned in this legislative package, specifically Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, and Turkey. The United States-Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center described in the Menendez-Rubio Bill could be a conduit for multinational research and development in the myriad topics that are directly and indirectly impacted by offshore hydrocarbon exploration. This could open channels of communication between American and Eastern Mediterranean industries, strengthening both economic, cultural, and strategic interests.
Going Forward
For the better part of the last decade, it was expected that energy would transform the Eastern Mediterranean. However, the pandemics aftershocks have disrupted the prospects for regional cooperation. A collective pivot with American support away from the uncertain promises of energy could be a blessing in disguise. It provides regional states the opportunity to embrace a shared future that emphasizes energy diversification, multinational cooperation, and conflict resolution.
Although the United States appears committed to reducing its presence on the global stage, it should preserve and expand energy-centric multilateral diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean that enjoys bipartisan support. The region is rich with American partners a lasting foreign policy legacy would be finding a formula that would allow them to settle their own disputes and find new ways to cooperate.
Gabriel Mitchell is a Policy Fellow at the Mitvim The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies and a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech University.
Image: Turkish Navy
Covid-19 can leave the lungs of people who died from the disease completely unrecognisable, a professor of cardiovascular science has told parliament.
It created such massive damage in those who spent more than a month in hospital that it resulted in complete disruption of the lung architecture, said Prof Mauro Giacca of Kings College London.
In findings that he said showed the potential for real problems after survival, he told the Lords science and technology committee that he had studied the autopsies of patients who died in Italy after 30 to 40 days in intensive care and discovered large amounts of the virus persisting in lungs as well as highly unusual fused cells.
What you find in the lungs of people who have stayed with the disease for more than a month before dying is something completely different from normal pneumonia, influenza or the Sars virus, he said. You see massive thrombosis. There is a complete disruption of the lung architecture in some lights you cant even distinguish that it used to be a lung.
There are large numbers of very big fused cells which are virus positive with as many as 10, 15 nuclei, he said. I am convinced this explains the unique pathology of Covid-19. This is not a disease caused by a virus which kills cells, which had profound implications for therapy.
His evidence came as the Lords committee heard from medical scientists and doctors grappling with the nature of Covid-19 six months after its emergence in Europe, its behaviour, treatments, vaccines and the possibility of immunity.
Sir John Bell, a professor of medicine at Oxford University who is a member of the governments coronavirus vaccine taskforce, said attempts to understand whether people who have had the disease gather any immunity would need to be tested during a second wave of infections in the UK, which he said was now likely.
Given the lockdown has now been largely released, we are now back in action and we still have a pretty reasonable level of infections in the community, I would be very surprised if we avoided a second wave, he said. I think the real question is are we going to have a number of outbursts and then a second wave or are we just going to get a second wave.
Epidemics of infectious diseases behave in different ways but the1918 influenza pandemicthat killed more than 50 million people is regarded as a key example of a pandemic that occurred in multiple waves, with the latter more severe than the first. It has been replicated albeit more mildly in subsequent flu pandemics.
How and why multiple-wave outbreaks occur, and how subsequent waves of infection can be prevented, has become a staple of epidemiological modelling studies and pandemic preparation, which have looked at everything from social behaviour and health policy to vaccination and the buildup of community immunity, also known as herd immunity.
Is there evidence of coronavirus coming back in a second wave?
This is being watched very carefully. Without a vaccine, and with no widespread immunity to the new disease, one alarm is being sounded by the experience of Singapore, which has seen a suddenresurgence in infectionsdespite being lauded for its early handling of the outbreak.
Although Singapore instituted a strong contact tracing system for its general population, the disease re-emerged incramped dormitory accommodationused by thousands of foreign workers with inadequate hygiene facilities and shared canteens.
Singapores experience, although very specific, has demonstrated the ability of the disease to come back strongly in places where people are in close proximity and its ability to exploit any weakness in public health regimes set up to counter it.
What are experts worried about?
Conventional wisdom among scientists suggests second waves of resistant infections occur after the capacity for treatment and isolation becomes exhausted. In this case the concern is that the social and political consensus supporting lockdowns is being overtaken by public frustration and the urgent need to reopen economies.
The threat declines when susceptibility of the population to the disease falls below a certain threshold or when widespread vaccination becomes available.
In general terms the ratio of susceptible and immune individuals in a population at the end of one wave determines the potential magnitude of a subsequent wave. The worry right now is that witha vaccine still months away, and the real rate of infection only being guessed at, populations worldwide remain highly vulnerable to both resurgence and subsequent waves.
Peter Beaumont
A new peak would likely allow Public Health England to test immunity on about 100,000 healthcare workers who had tested positive and so might have antibodies, he said. Whether they get reinfected will help show how immunity works but without a new peak it will be hard to find out.
The committee also heard from Prof Adrian Hayday, the chair of the department of immunobiology at Kings College London, who supported arguments that socioeconomic factors were key to understanding why there had been high levels of infections among black and minority ethnic communities in the UK.
In studies of patients in London hospitals, black, African, Asian and minority groups show higher rates of admission to hospital, which shows they are more likely to have become infected under conditions where the virus dose is maybe high, he said.
But once they are in hospital they do just as well as anybody. The hypothesis is they are disproportionately suffering from socioeconomic factors that make them more likely to receive high-frequency, high doses of infection. That is not to say the hypothesis is correct, but it is perfectly valid until proven otherwise.
photo by: Kevin Anderson/Journal-World File Photo
The Lawrence-Douglas County health department's home at the Community Health Facility, 200 Maine St., is pictured in this file photo from July 2010.
Story updated at 1:33 p.m. Monday
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health has announced the first COVID-19 outbreak in the county.
Four individuals were infected at the same business, which the health department said it did not identify because of patient privacy restrictions. The situation met the definition of an outbreak because there were more than two cases with the same identified source of exposure, and those infected do not reside in the same household.
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health said in a Friday news release that it was confident it has communicated with everyone in the affected business and worked to identify close contacts of those who were affected. The health department said it thought the business followed proper guidelines including structuring activity to keep groups small to minimize the circles of potential close contacts.
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health was able to offer testing to symptomatic and asymptomatic people at the business who were identified as being close contacts to the affected individuals.
Spokesman George Diepenbrock said Monday that the business falls under the category of a private business, but he would not state the name or type of the organization due to privacy concerns.
In this case, we were confident in being able to identify all close contacts in working with the organization, and we did not want to risk identifying individuals by releasing the name or type of site of the outbreak, he wrote in an email to the Journal-World.
In the news release, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health said it knew the news of an outbreak could be somewhat alarming.
With our community opening up more in recent weeks as we currently are under phase 3 (through at least June 21) of the reopening plan, this is a reminder the coronavirus is still present in our community and that we all need to continue to be vigilant, smart and safe in following recommended guidelines to contain the spread of the virus and protect those who might be most vulnerable, the release stated. This includes keeping your circle of contacts small, wearing a mask in public and maintain proper social distance from others outside of your home.
Utah, we are precariously perched on a tipping point.
After two months of sacrifice and bitter economic hardship, we came together to flatten that proverbial curve and control the coronavirus spread. It was inspiring to see people pull together and it enabled us to take baby steps on the long road to normalcy.
But all you have to do is look around and see too many people have taken loosening restrictions to mean that the virus is gone, the disease vanquished and life can go back to normal.
Who can blame them? The past few months have been excruciating. Were over it and ready to live our lives.
Unfortunately, were just starting to see the fallout from that attitude in our most recent coronavirus data.
In the past 10 days, we added more than 3,500 new cases, 350 a day on average. For most of May, we averaged 150 per day. Its a troubling spike. The past two weeks have seen 13 of the 14 highest case totals since the outbreak began.
Utah experienced the sixth highest per capita increase in cases in the nation last week, according to data crunched by FiveThirtyEights Nate Silver.
Utahs transmission rate which represents how many people will be infected by someone who has the virus had been at or below 1, meaning the number of new infections would stay fairly steady. Now it is right around 1.2, which may not sound like much, but its an increase of 20% that, if it continues, will mean continued sharp growth in new cases.
There is good news. While the number of hospitalizations has been climbing, the percent of hospital beds occupied is still manageable and the rates of those infected who end up in the hospital, an intensive care unit or dead are well below the national average.
The problem, however, is where the state goes from here.
Were sort of in this in-between, Lindsay Keegan, an epidemiologist at the University of Utah who is helping the state model the outbreak, told me last week. It could explode any second or it could just be a blip from Memorial Day.
Now this is a key point: Experts like Keegan say we are still in the beginning phase, really. The virus hasnt peaked yet. Salt Lake County has identified one new case related to the recent protests, and more are likely.
Things are going to get worse before they get better and our actions play a huge role on how steep the spike becomes.
If we stay on the current course, she said, Utah hospitals should be just grazing the maximum capacity needed to handle every sick person when the virus peaks. But if people continue to get complacent if they stop distancing, if they dont wear masks, if they arent washing hands and practicing good hygiene the demand could exceed the available beds and strain the medical systems ability to respond. That means the Utah of tomorrow becomes the New York of the recent past. Do you remember the stories told by Intermountain caregivers who worked in New York? They are haunting.
So far, Keegan said, people dont seem concerned Theyve just willed it away, she said and each time she runs the numbers the curve ticks slightly higher and higher.
It may seem a little counterintuitive, but the reality is that we are all at much greater risk of contracting the coronavirus today than we were a month or two months ago.
Thats because the Utah Department of Health reports that there are currently nearly 6,000 active cases. Thats more than twice as many as there were on May 1, and these are the cases we know about. The bottom line is there are many more carriers who can expose you to the virus.
Combine that with the loosened restrictions and increased interaction and you get why your chances of getting the virus go up as we return to normal. Unfortunately, that can be lost in the states oversimplified color-coding system.
I worry that the average person, when you tell them were going from orange to yellow or yellow to green sees that as a license to take things easier, right? Because thats what it usually means, Dr. Sankar Swamanithan, the head of infectious disease at the University of Utah, explained. What it actually means is there are going to be more people out there doing more things they werent doing before and your risk of contracting the disease is going to go up.
Its a calculated trade-off between having a lockdown and having a functioning society, but there is going to be a price for it, he said. The only way to keep that price from being too high is to be vigilant.
Im not suggesting we put everything back on lockdown. While it made sense in the early stages of the outbreak, when we knew almost nothing about the virus and hospitals were scrambling to stockpile protective equipment, we have somewhat of a grasp on how we can control it.
For weeks during our lockdown, there was a steady drumbeat in conservative circles including from some of the Republican gubernatorial candidates that the restrictions imposed by the state were too draconian, too painful and that the governments job should be to give people guidance and the best information and trust that theyll make good decisions.
Now, as we teeter on this tipping point, the big question is: Will Utahns squander the sacrifices we made since March to combat COVID-19, or are we willing to do what we know needs to be done in order to save lives? Its up to us.
MADISON (WKOW) Early evidence from the pandemic suggests that people who use traditional or electronic cigarettes not only increase their likelihood of catching the coronavirus, but also put themselves at higher risk of experiencing more severe forms of COVID-19.
While few research studies have investigated the connection between smoking, vaping and COVID-19, cigarette smoke and vaping aerosol are known to cause lung inflammation and lowered immune function, which are both associated with more severe cases of COVID-19, according to a UW Health news release.
We know that smoking traditional or electronic cigarettes causes significant damage to the lungs, and there is reason to worry that people who smoke or vape will experience much worse outcomes should they be infected with the coronavirus, says Dr. Brian Williams, UW Health hospitalist and researcher at UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (CTRI). We are constantly learning new things about how this virus is attacking the lungs and given what we already know about the toxicity of nicotine and flavored vaping liquids, there is no better time to quit.
With that said, people often use smoking and vaping as a form of stress relief, and Williams and other physicians understand that quitting this habit during a pandemic can seem daunting for some.
However, there are a number of good resources available for people who need help in quitting.
Call 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669)Visit www.quitnow.netTeen.Smokefree.govText READY to 200-400
COVID-19 antibodies have not been detected in up to 8.5% of patients diagnosed with the disease, a study has found.
However researchers say the antibodies remain stable in the blood of most infected people almost two months after they are diagnosed - and possibly longer.
It comes after the government announced last month the supply of 10 million antibody tests to show if someone has had COVID-19 and potentially developed immunity to the virus.
Antibodies are produced by the immune system when it is being attacked in order to destroy substances which carry disease.
Experts from St George's, University of London; St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine analysed antibody test results from 177 people diagnosed with COVID-19.
The pre-print study, which has not been peer-reviewed, found that the levels of antibodies in patients which produced them remained stable for the duration of the study - almost two months.
But between 2% and 8.5% of patients did not develop COVID-19 antibodies at all, the researchers found.
The experts said this could be because the immune response in those patients could be through other mechanisms, such as different antigens.
The study also found that patients with the most severe infections were more likely to develop antibodies, suggesting a higher viral load could lead to greater stimulation of antibody development.
Being of non-white ethnicity was also associated with a higher antibody response, tying into the knowledge that patients from BAME backgrounds are more likely to develop severe disease, the researchers said.
Older patients or those who were overweight were also more likely to have an antibody response, they added.
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Professor Sanjeev Krishna, from St George's, University of London, said: "We need to understand how best to interpret the results from these tests to control the spread of the virus, as well as identifying those who may be immune to the disease."
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last month that research had shown at least 5% of people in the UK have now developed COVID-19 antibodies - and at least 17% of Londoners have them.
But experts are still unsure what level of immunity recovering from the disease provides and how long it lasts.
More men dying from COVID-19 than women, but as with so much about this disease, the reasons are unclear Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
SIOUX CITY For Sioux City Explorers manager Steve Montgomery, this is the first summer he won't be wearing a uniform in almost 20 years. For Explorers director of baseball and stadium operations Boyd Pitkin, it's been about 50 years.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced both of them to have a summer away from baseball.
On Friday, while the Explorers called it a postponement of their 2020 season, it essentially canceled the 2020 campaign for the American Association organization.
"It's obviously disappointing. From the ownership on down, it's disappointing," Montgomery said. "It's heartbreaking, for the owner and all the way down to the players. I am having to deliver bad news to players right now. I fully support (owner) John (Roost), (president) Matt (Adamski), Boyd, Connor (Ryan), the full-time employees. I am very proud to come up there every summer.
"It's disheartening but at the same time, I support this decision. At no time am I disappointed with my organization."
The decision comes a season after the Explorers played for the American Association championship, finishing as the runner-up to the St. Paul Saints, who will be playing this season as one of six American Association teams that will go on with a 60-game campaign.
In a press release, Roost said: Not getting together this summer at the ballpark to enjoy the game we so dearly love will be disappointing to say the least. Everyone in the organization truly looks forward to putting together a great season and making a run for a championship. We know that our baseball season isnt just a series of games; it is Americas Pastime and a passion that occupies valuable space in the hearts of all members of the Explorers family.
It was a decision the organization didn't come to lightly.
Back in April, the American Association decided to postpone the start of the season to July but with no exact start date besides sometime in early July. Since then, the owners of the 12 American Association teams have had weekly conference calls to assess the possibilities of having a season and which organizations could participate. Teams had to factor in how open their states were and their own countries, as was the case for the Winnipeg Goldeneyes in Canada.
Roost and the rest of the X's front office staff held out as long as they could. But stadiums in Iowa are not allowed to be filled to its maximum capacity yet, per a directive from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. The coronavirus is still a concern, which is what caused the American Association season to be postponed in the first place.
"With everything we've been dealing with as an organization and as a society, it was in the best interest, not just the organization, but for the fans, players and the front office, to not have a season," Pitkin said. "(The coronavirus) did play a big role. At a time right now, it's a worrisome situation. We did not come to this decision lightly. Steve, myself, pitching coach Bobby Post, John, we all wanted to play but this is in the best interest of the organization.
"There was a lot of stuff in the stadium we would need to do for our staff and our fans. Just a lot of things had to go right for us to play."
However, when things shifted in the wrong direction, it was a quick decision. Roost held out on this decision for awhile. Pitkin said the decision was at 50/50 for weeks but the decision tilted in the wrong way recently.
"Unfortunately, it went into the 50 where we are not playing. It's okay. We will be back strong and ready to go for 2021," Pitkin said. "John made the decision (Friday) during the meeting that we would not be playing. We held out as long as we could to get as much information as possible. Based on the info we have from the local government and Siouxland, that's when he made the decision to postpone the 2020 season.
"I would like to thank our fans and sponsors as they stuck with us as long as they could. They are a vital part of the organization and I hope we will be seeing them in 2021."
The press release went out at 4:25 p.m. Friday. Montgomery found out about the decision a couple of hours before that.
"I think my owner did what is in the best interest for Sioux City, the community, the host families, everything. He's been very supportive and I think it's a good decision for him," Montgomery said. "We are looking at 2021 now. I don't think the goals change and we are going to build a roster that all of us from Sioux City will be proud of."
Montgomery said he plans to be back for the 2021 season and the X's have had plenty of success under his watch. Since 2015, the Explorers have had four winning seasons with him and last season was the organization's second trip to the championship series with Montgomery at the helm.
The Cleburne Railroaders, the Gary Southshore RailCatss, the Kansas City T-Bones, the Lincoln Saltdogs and the Texas AirHogs are the other five American Association teams who also decided to suspend operations for 2020.
The Chicago Dogs, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, the Winnipeg Goldeneyes, the Milwaukee Milkmen, the Saints and the Sioux Falls Canaries will all continue with a 2020 American Association season that consists of a 60-game season starting on Friday, July 3.
The American Association will begin the season operating out of three locations with games hosted by the RedHawks, the Milkmen and the Canaries. Each team will play 42 of their 60 games in their hub to limit travel. Fans are also planned to be in attendance.
"It's just your competitive nature to get out there and want to play," Pitkin said. "You see other teams out there, you want to get out there. That's on a selfish standpoint. On a non-selfish standpoint, you look at the big picture and that's how the decision was made."
A draft of players from non-participating American Association clubs will happen to allow the best possible talent available to play this season. The Explorers had 24 players signed for the 2020 season.
"We have some very loyal players. They were all looking forward to putting that uniform on," Montgomery said. "There could be an opportunity to play in another city through the draft. Whether they want to go or not is up to them. We would retain the rights for the following season."
Montgomery will now spend the summer with his family in Tampa Bay, Florida. The 46-year-old has been married for 19 years and the couple has two kids, a son who is 16 and a daughter who is 12. It will be the first time Montgomery has gotten to spend a full summer with his family.
"I am going to take advantage of that," Montgomery said. "I've been working with my son over the last four months. He's a baseball player and is talented and I am taking advantage of this. I am probably going to coach his team. I have the chance to spend 18 months with them and I need to take advantage of that."
Care homes have been ordered to destroy a batch of faulty Covid-19 test kits after it was discovered that the swabs could break off while being used to gather samples from residents tonsils and noses.
Care home managers were told on Sunday not to use the tests because they had brittle stems at risk of snapping. The kits were manufactured by Citotest, a company based in China, and were distributed by the governments Covid-19 care home testing programme. It is tasked with providing tests for all staff and residents in care settings, not just people displaying symptoms.
The affected batch should be destroyed or kept in a safe area clearly marked with warnings not to use them, officials said, adding that the problem emerged on Saturday and they were working as quickly as possible to resolve it.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the batch could have contained tens of thousands of tests and that a complaint had been raised with the manufacturer, with whom discussions were ongoing.
We are aware of an issue with one batch of swab sticks which are being replaced where needed but this does not affect any tests, or the results of tests, previously taken, a DHSC spokesperson said. Testing is unaffected and people should still arrive for their booked tests.
But for care homes affected it means a further delay in finding out who is infected. Homes have been calling for repeat testing of staff and residents to limit an expected second peak of infections. Last week the social care minister, Helen Whately, said the government had asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) for guidance on the appropriate frequency of repeat testing.
Labour said the problem was a sign that the government must get a grip of testing in care homes, as they will not be emerging from lockdown any time soon.
There should now be routine testing of care home staff, yet there are still too many reports of delays in getting tests back, void results and now this issue of problems with swabs, said Liz Kendall, the shadow care minister. Ministers must ensure that testing is regular and reliable for the foreseeable future, to help keep all older and disabled people safe.
The DHSC said it had not received any reports of people being hurt by the tests and described the recall as a precautionary measure. It said Public Health England would provide support should care homes fall short of test kits and that some care homes had already begun receiving replacement kits. More were due to receive kits in the next 24 hours.
