Two days after the Fourth of July, the email arrived: Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Recent Increase in Covid-19 Activity.
Emails with a subject line similar to that were a near-daily occurrence during much of 2020, 2021 and 2022. First from the office of then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and later from the current governor, Kathy Hochul, the emails contained detailed and often sobering sometimes even startling information about the spread of the virus across New York.
When the state dropped the frequency of the emails to weekly in early 2023, and ultimately ended their regular distribution on May 12 of that year, the feeling was gratifying.
Maybe, just maybe, we were done with Covid-19.
We were done with the pandemic in May 2023. Thats when the World Health Organization declared it over. But much like influenza didnt leave us after the 1918 pandemic, Covid-19 is here to stay.
The governors update email last week indicated infection numbers are rising again. You should be aware, but not alarmed.
Heres a look at the situation:
What exactly did the states update email say?
Everywhere we turn, people are feeling sick. Not always terribly sick, but just stuffy, groggy, Id-rather-stay-in-bed sick.It seems inescapable. Is an extra-sniffly winter going to be our new normal?
Nothing overly nerve-racking for most people, but it was a clear reminder that Covid-19 hasnt gone away. Some new variants a series of them called FLiRT, and another called LB.1 are spreading and causing increases in hospitalizations in some parts of New York state and around the country, according to the state update.
Those rising hospitalization numbers are still relatively low compared to other years, but just enough of a blip on a chart to warrant noticing: On July 3, the statewide average of Covid-19 hospital admissions was .72 per 100,000 people. Thats higher than the number from one year ago .31 per 100,000 people but noticeably lower than the figure from this time in 2022, 1.66 per 100,000.
More telling are the charts that track hospitalizations in different parts of the state. If you click on New York City or Long Island, you will notice that the trend has been steadily upward in recent days. In Western New York, the chart has short peaks and small valleys, indicating low numbers and less of a trend.
An informal check-in by The Buffalo News with some Western New York-based hospital systems didnt reveal anything different, either. A spokesman for Kaleida Health, for example, said the numbers are low, with three inpatients apiece at Buffalo General Medical Center and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, and most of them admitted with Covid not as a primary diagnosis.
Erie County Medical Center has seen few Covid cases in recent weeks, but no sign yet of an uptick.
So the news seems positive, so far, from inside regional hospitals.
These are all good things, said Dr. John Sellick, an infectious diseases specialist with the University at Buffalo and Kaleida Health, and that doesnt mean its not going to change next week or the week after.
Dr. Thomas Russo, left, and Dr. John Sellick, two leading experts in the study of Covid-19, at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, say a new uptick in related cases is something to keep an eye on, especially if youre higher risk for a potentially challenging infection.
So we can feel OK about it?
Generally yes, in the same way you can feel OK about any other virus going around. Feel free not to worry, especially if your health is good, but do take notice.
To me, this is just the same kind of evolution that weve always seen with flu viruses or with norovirus, in that a strain that becomes fit for transmission is going to win out, Sellieck said. Theres a bunch of viruses meaning variants that are able to transmit, but theres still no evidence that the disease is getting more severe.
Its worth keeping an eye on the numbers, he said. Its also worth remembering that at multiple points throughout the pandemic, upstate New Yorks trend lagged behind New York City, so we could still see an uptick.
What if Im in a more vulnerable category?
If you are older, or have certain comorbidities that increase your risk of Covid-19 complications, or are immunocompromised, its wise to revisit some of the basic precautions: Consider avoiding crowded situations, especially indoors. Open air, or even open windows, are a good thing. Practice good hand hygiene, and have a mask with you for when you need it, or even simply want it.
If you fall in that high-risk category, depending how risk-averse you are, think about whether you want to be going out for dinner. Do you want to be going to a bar? said Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalos Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Weddings obviously could be very important, so if youre high risk, you want to weigh that, or if you do attend, can you wear a mask most of the time? If its patio dining, obviously thats safer. Theres a way to decrease risk with some modifications of those activities.
Registered nurse Colleen Danaher readies the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent Covid-19 vaccine for a patient in the Town of Tonawanda in 2022. A Buffalo infectious disease expert says those concerned about an uptick in Covid cases may want to consider a booster shot if they have not received one in the last year or so.
Lets go back to masks. Is it time to be wearing them?
Thats a purely personal choice, but given how rarely we see masks worn nowadays, it can be difficult to know when its wise to consider putting one on. For help on navigating those nuances, we reached out to one of the worlds most prominent experts on air quality and safety.
Linsey Marr is a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech and a MacArthur Fellow who is leading the development of a rapid test designed to detect the presence of airborne Covid-19 virus particles in a given space. During the pandemic, she told The Buffalo News that she was avoiding eating indoors altogether. In an email this week, we asked Marr, How do you make decisions nowadays about whether to enter a crowded restaurant, shop or other similar gathering spot?
Her response: I have been going into crowded indoor areas without a mask for a while now. If I hear someone coughing, I move away from them, put on a mask, or leave. I have been wearing an N95 respirator on airplane flights during the current uptick in cases.
Reported Covid-19 cases have climbed in recent days, raising the specter that those at higher risk may want to consider wearing a mask indoors.
What else can we do to maximize our safety?
As with all things Covid-related, this depends on your situation. Russo offered a couple of tips:
Whether you get that Covid shot now or wait till fall, when new formulations are likely to be released, is also a nuanced choice.
If youre in that highest-risk group, and particularly if you didnt get that shot in the fall, and you have an important wedding or anticipate doing some of these high-risk activities, then I think its not too late to get the formulation thats available right now, Russo said, adding that you could still get the new shots in the fall. If youre otherwise healthy, very low risk, and particularly if you might have been infected in the last six months, then I think you could probably hold off.
Follow Tim OShei on Twitter @timoshei .
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Over the past several months, Violet Affleck has earned fans among COVID-conscious people for being one offew prominent faces still wearing a mask in public. On Tuesday, Jennifer Garner and Ben Afflecks 18-year-old daughter appeared in front of a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting and revealed in an impassioned speech that she wears a mask because she has a post-viral condition. She called on the officials to protect others with the illness.
I contracted a post-viral condition in 2019, Affleck said after introducing herself by her full name, noting her age and that shes a first-time voter. Im okay now, but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief.
Affleck spoke during a portion of the meeting dedicated to community comments, which allows residents to address the board for one minute. Its unclear if she dealt with long COVID or another illness, as she didnt give any additional details about her condition. After sharing her own experience, she called on officials to do more to help those suffering from long COVID in government buildings and hospitals. I demand mask availability, air filtration, and far-UVC light in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical facilities, she said.
Affleck, who graduated from high school in May and is heading to Yale, spoke quickly to make sure her statement fit into the minute-long slot allowed. We must expand the availability of free tests and treatment and, most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason. They do not keep us safer, they make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together. We dont know what Affleck plans to major in, but public health could be a good place to start.
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COVID-19 cases are rising in several regions of the United States as summer gets underway.
For the week ending June 29, the latest date for which data is available, COVID test positivity was 9% across the U.S., an increase of 0.8% from the previous week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is higher than levels seen during early May 2024 but lower than several points during the pandemic.
Test positivity was highest in the Southwest and western U.S. with 15.7% positivity in the region comprised of Arizona, California and Nevada, CDC data showed.
MORE: What to know about the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines
Additionally, wastewater data from the CDC shows that COVID viral activity is low nationally but has been steadily rising over the last month-and-a-half. For the week ending June 22, levels were classified as "high" in the West and "moderate" in the South.
Wastewater tracking is often used as an early detection tool for monitoring potential future upticks, although it can be inconsistent.
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the country has traditionally seen increases in COVID every summer, so a "bump" at this point in the year was to be expected, as experts had predicted.
"We had anticipated that there would be something of a summer bump because we have seen that in the past ... COVID hangs around during the summer and even gets a little more active, unlike influenza, which virtually disappears during the summertime," he told ABC News. "Now this bump will go down, and then, of course, we'll get the conventional winter surge later."
Weekly hospitalizations are still near record lows but have been ticking up over the past few weeks, according to CDC data. The highest rates are among those aged 65 and older with a rate of 7.7 per 100,000 for the week ending June 15, the latest date for which data is complete.
Comparatively, adults between ages 18 to 49 and children aged 4 and under have a rate of 0.5 per 100,000, the data showed.
Schaffner said the groups making up hospitalizations are those with chronic illnesses -- such as heart disease or lung disease -- or those who are immunocompromised.
MORE: KP.2 is now the dominant COVID variant. Experts say US may see a summer increase in cases
"Particularly older people with chronic illnesses, the immune-compromised, particularly if they are not up to date in their vaccination, that's the population we see now contributing to that bump in hospitalizations," he said.
Meanwhile, deaths have been steadily dropping since January of this year and continue to remain low, CDC data indicate. For the week ending June 8 -- the latest date for which complete data is available because deaths are subject to reporting delays -- just 283 COVID deaths were reported, which is a record low.
Currently, KP.2 and KP.3, offshoots of the omicron variant, are the dominant COVID-19 variants in the U.S. making up nearly half of all cases.
CDC officials told ABC News in a statement on Monday that there is "no evidence that KP.2, KP.3, or any other recent variant, causes more severe disease."
The CDC added that it is tracking all variants and recommended vaccination as the most effective way to prevent severe illness from COVID-19.
Schaffner agreed that the best way to prevent severe illness is to be up to date on vaccinations. High-risk groups that haven't received a COVID-19 vaccine since last fall are currently eligible for another dose to carry them through the summer.
"Be sure this fall, when we have yet another updated vaccine, to get that vaccine along with your influenza vaccine," he said. "We update both of them now on an annual basis, and that should be certainly a fall routine for all of us, but especially people in high-risk groups."
He recommended those in high-risk groups, or people who will be around high-risk groups, to consider masking in indoor crowded areas, and if they test positive to receive early treatment with antiviral medication such as Paxlovid.
ABC News' Youri Bendadjaoud contributed to this report.
Where COVID cases are increasing in the US amid summer 'bump' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
AMA Update covers a range of health care topics affecting the lives of physicians, residents, medical students and patients. From private practice and health system leaders to scientists and public health officials, hear from the experts inmedicineon COVID-19, medical education, advocacy issues, burnout, vaccines and more.
Featured topic and speakers
What is the new COVID variant? How many variants are there? How long does long COVID last? How long do COVID GI symptoms last? Which states have bird flu?
Our guest is AMA's Vice President of Science, Medicine and Public Health, Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH. AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger hosts.
Unger: Hello, and welcome to the AMA Update video and podcast. Today we have our weekly look at the headlines with the AMA's Vice President of Science, Medicine, and Public Health, Andrea Garcia. I'm Todd Unger, AMA's chief experience officer. Welcome back, Andrea.
Garcia: Thanks, Todd. It's great to be here.
Unger: Well, a little bit of a surprisebut coming out of this past holiday, Fourth of July, weekend, the story seems to be about COVID. And as we talked about a couple of weeks ago, health officials are predicting a "drift upwards" after the Fourth of July. Andrea, are we seeing that?
Garcia: Well, as we've talked a little bit about before, Todd, our COVID surveillance systems certainly are not what they once were. So it's a little difficult to say if this is a bigger surge or that drift upwards. We're certainly seeing an increase in cases. We know that both test positivity and ED visits, which are early indicators, are increasing. And hospitalizations are also up by about 13%.
I think it is worth noting, though, that hospitalizations and deaths are low compared to the peaks that we saw in previous years. We did see CDC issue a bulletin last Wednesday, just prior to the holiday, which noted that there is no distinct COVID-19 season like there is for flu and RSV. That's because the emergence of new variants has been associated with COVID-19 surges. Over the past few weeks, some of those surveillance systems have shown small national increases in COVID. It was also noted in that bulletin that widespread surges, as well as local surges, are possible over the summer months.
Unger: Interesting pattern, or lack thereof. But to the point about geographic patterns, are we seeing certain parts of the country being hit harder than others right now?
Garcia: That recent data shows infections are rising or most likely rising in about 39 states, particularly in the west. We've seen a substantial rise in people being diagnosed in Hawaii and then, to a little bit of a lesser extent, Arizona, New Mexico and Washington. There was an article published over the weekend that reported that Florida is also seeing a surge in ED visits for COVID. And that's nearing what they experienced during the worst of last winter's peak. The most recent stats put Florida among the highest of states experiencing COVID right now. Key metrics from wastewater and nursing homes there have climbed steeply.
Overall, CDC says that nationwide, COVID activity remains low. And nationally, coronavirus activity in wastewater remains low but it is increasing. Experts do say that wastewater is best interpreted as a way of understanding which way the virus is trending. In this case, all indicators are pointing to up at this point.
Unger: Andrea, do we have any idea about what is driving the increase, say, in Florida and the other states that you mentioned?
Garcia: Well, in previous years, we've seen COVID activity pick up at least twice a year since the pandemic began, once during the summer or early fall after a lull during the spring and then again during the winter, driven by new variants of the virus. CDC data does show that COVID diagnoses have been ticking upwards since early May, when we were at an all-time low. I think that occurrence of extreme heat events may contribute to COVID outbreaks in the summer as people head indoors or head to cooling centers.
We also know that this uptick is tied to a handful of variants we've talked about before, known as KP.2 and KP.3 or the FLiRT variants. Those are now dominant nationwide. And they're driving nearly half of new cases in recent weeks. And behind them, there's a mix of other variants that have accelerated. So LB.1 is the next largest at about 10% of cases. And in the regions spanning New Mexico through Louisiana, CDC estimates that a new variant called KP.4.1 surged to about 17.9% of infections through June 22so certainly something to watch there.
Unger: Absolutely. And Andrea, from what I understand, there's also an overlooked symptom that's hard to believe after all these years when it comes to COVID. Tell us more about that.
Garcia: Now, that's something that The New York Times reported on late last week. And according to that article, gastrointestinal issues are a common, but often unrecognized, sign of COVID infection. I think many of us don't think of COVID when we have stomach issues. But to be clearthat this is not a new symptom of COVID. In fact, as the article pointed out, it can be traced back to that first patient documented with COVID in the U.S. That patient experienced a cough and fever, but also had two days of nausea and vomiting. People can also experience GI issues in isolation without any of the telltale signs we've come to associate with COVID.
Unger: So Andrea, if this has been around since the very first case in the U.S., why are we just talking about it now?
Garcia: Well, as the article points out, as COVID cases rise, it's important for us to be aware of those lesser known symptoms and how to spot and address them. According to a physician quoted in the article, those GI symptoms can hit during the first few days of an infection as a precursor to other symptoms or on their own. Diarrhea is common. People can also lose their appetite, experience nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting.
And I think it's also important for people to remember that COVID doesn't look the same every time. For example, you may have experienced respiratory symptoms one time and GI symptoms the next. And I think it's also important to remember that Paxlovid, which is the oral antiviral pill for treating COVID, can also cause some symptoms like diarrhea.
Unger: So Andrea, what should we take away from all of this information?
Garcia: Well, if you're experiencing GI symptoms or other symptoms of COVID, it's certainly important to stay hydrated. It's also really important to test so you know whether you're experiencing COVID or something else and that you can take proper precautions.
As we talked about back when we started to see the hints of a summer wave, anyone can get COVID. Most cases will be relatively mild. But older people, people who are immunocompromised, do remain at heightened risk for more severe outcomes from COVID-19. That's why we're seeing CDC recommend everyone six months and older receive that 2024-2025 COVID vaccine once it becomes available later this fall. And that's, of course, to both protect themselves and the people around them.
Unger: All great information. Andrea, one thing we haven't talked about in a while is long COVID. Any updates there?
Garcia: There was a recent article in the Washington Post. And it noted that with most people being spared from experiencing hospitalization and death from COVID at this point, long COVID has become one of the larger threats from the virus to the general public. As we know, long COVID encompasses symptoms that last weeks to years. They may include debilitating fatigue or brain fog, persistent cough and chest pain.
As the article notes, anyone who gets COVID can develop long COVID, even people who are otherwise healthy who have mild cases. But that risk does increase for people who experience severe illness, who've never been vaccinated, or who have underlying conditions or are 65 years of age and older. And I think while long COVID has become lessa less common outcome of infection than earlier in the pandemic, long COVID patients are calling for a more aggressive response to COVID to minimize transmission because of the lasting impacts of long COVID.
Unger: And I know that research is continuing in this area, as well, which is something we're going to continue to track as it progresses. Andrea, let's turn now to another virus that we've been talking about for the past few months. And that's bird flu. Any news there?
Garcia:So we did see a fourth person test positive for A(H5) bird flu, this time in Colorado. That case was reported on July 3. Like the previous three cases, one from Texas and two in Michigan, this person is also a dairy worker who had exposure to sick cows. That patient reported eye symptoms only. They received antiviral treatment and have since recovered.
I think based on that information, the CDC's current human health risk assessment for the general public does remain low. On the animal health side, the USDA is reporting 139 dairy cow herds, up from 132 herds the prior week, who have been infected. Those herds are still in the same 12 states. Of those 12 states, Colorado currently does have the worst outbreak of bird flu among dairy cattle in the country. I think that's somewhat surprising, given that Colorado's dairy production is lower than many of the other states involved in the outbreak. About a quarter of Colorado's herds are now infected, most of which were identified in the last month. Of course, that increase there could also be a reflection of increased monitoring and testing in that state.
Unger: Andrea, have there been any updates on a potential bird flu vaccine?
Garcia: We did hear last week that the U.S. government announced that it would be providing $176 million in funding to Moderna to accelerate development of a pandemic influenza vaccine that could be used to prevent bird flu in people. According to coverage by the Associated Press, Moderna already does have a bird flu vaccine that is in the early stages of testing. That vaccine would use the same mRNA technology that is used to create COVID vaccines.
The development of this vaccine would, of course, help bolster the nation's pandemic flu capacity, which currently relies on the older, more traditional vaccine platforms. The new funds from HHS include continued development of the vaccine as well as a late-stage trial next year if those early study results are positive. HHS stressed that the project could be quickly redirected to target another form of influenza if a different threat were to emerge.
Meanwhile, we know that the fill and finish activity does continue on vaccine from bulk stocks of that traditional vaccine. And those first 4.8 million doses will be available in the middle of July, with production continuing through August, which is faster than the government anticipated. But if, when, and how those doses will be distributed remains to be seen.
Unger: Well, that's something we'll obviously continue to track. And that's it for today's episode. Thanks so much, Andrea, for being here and sharing all this information and updates.
If you found this discussion valuable, you can support more programming like it by becoming an AMA member at ama.assn.org/join. You can always find all our videos and podcasts at ama.assn.org/podcasts. Thanks for joining us today. Please take care.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this video are those of the participants and/or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.
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Even with the benefit of hindsight, it can still be difficult to fathom what the historical fulcrum February and March 2020 represented. A paradoxical time when normal life continued largely unbothered while mutterings of a new disease called coronavirus gradually crescendoed before turning into an overnight roar. When our biggest concerns were delayed NBA games and Tom Hanks inability to finish Elvis, it was unthinkable that humanity was on the brink of a pandemic that took seven million lives and shattered many of the social norms upholding the polite society that we had long taken for granted. Most of us had no idea what was coming, so we wore our masks on half-empty flights while the world quietly prepared to shut down around us.
Its against this backdrop of uncertainty that Kristofer (Egill lafsson), an aging Icelandic widower in Baltasar Kormkurs Touch, gets the news that nobody ever wants. While his dementia is still in the early stages, a doctor makes it abundantly clear that hes down to the last few grains of sand in his hourglass. With his mental faculties set to plummet in the coming months, hes advised to settle any unfinished business or looming presidential campaigns and find a way to make peace with the life that hes lived. Sensing that his world is about to shut down in more ways than one, Kristofer ignores his stepdaughters pleas to shelter in place and heads to London for a final trip down memory lane.
The rest of the film unfolds in a bifurcated fashion, cutting between the elderly Kristofers journey and flashbacks to his youth. The young Kristofer (Plmi Kormkur) was once a student at the London School of Economics, but gradually found that his radical Marxist views were incompatible with attending an elite business institution. While his leftist friends were content to complain about worker exploitation from the comfort of pubs and libraries ahead of lucrative careers, Kristofer makes the spontaneous decision to drop out of school and take a job as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant. He gradually immerses himself in Japanese culture and falls in love with the owners daughter, Miko (Kki Kimura), finding a kinship with his new chosen family that his old social circles never offered him. But when the family closes the restaurant and abandons him without warning, hes devastated beyond recovery.
The lack of closure leaves a void in Kristofers heart that his subsequent marriage in Iceland never quite fills, leading him to retrace his steps in a scavenger hunt to find the love of his life one last time. The Japanese restaurant has since turned into a tattoo parlor, but a search through the citys records eventually produces a forwarding address for Miko in Japan. As global society continues to constrict, he hops one of the last flights to Tokyo with the hope of scoring a final glance at the life that slipped through his fingers.
It isnt hard to see why there wasnt an immediate influx of great movies about the COVID-19 pandemic. An era defined by inactivity and staring at screens hardly lends itself to the art of moving images, and neither artists nor audiences are far enough removed to truly study it with detachment. But Kormkur beautifully uses the era to his advantage in Touch. Watching Kristofer wander through a rapidly emptying world adds to the sensation that his memories are disappearing in real time. The vacant streets of London and Tokyo could just as easily be the corners of his own mind that hes avoided visiting for decades. The dramatic irony that naturally comes from having lived through the pandemic makes it impossible not to root for this man to end his story on his own terms.
Much of the films beauty lies in the wholesomeness of Kristofer as a character. Even as a dying man whose life didnt go according to plan, hes driven not by bitterness or regret, but a simple desire to find the woman he never stopped loving. The cruelty of nature might have turned him into the ultimate unreliable narrator, but lafsson embodies the character with so much empathy and curiosity that its easy to get wrapped up in the narrative tapestry he weaves from the fragments of his own memories. The result is a film whose elegance is all the more staggering because it came from the man who directed 2 Guns and Beast.
Spanning 50 years and multiple continents without ever shifting its focus from the universal human urge to ponder what could have been, Touch is an ode to accepting your life story without losing sleep over the things you couldnt change. Even if Kristofer and Miko were victims of circumstances beyond their control, sometimes its all you can do to pick up a pen and write the last sentence yourself.
A Focus Features release, Touch opens in theaters on Friday, July
There has been a summer COVID-19 wave ever since the pandemic began and this season is no exception. Emergency room visits due to the coronavirus are up more than 18% compared to the previous week and hospitalizations are up more than 13%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Before the summer surge, activity around the virus had been fairly quiet for months, and many Americans nearly 60%, according to one Gallup poll view the pandemic as over. So where does that leave you in terms of COVID-19 prevention? For the record, masks are still recommended to help lower your risk of getting COVID. And given the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, masking questions are surfacing right now. Heres what doctors recommend keeping in mind.
Doctors agree that its tough to make blanket statements about this, given that everyones personal health situation and risk tolerance is different. But for most people, masking up in crowded indoor situations when COVID-19 levels are high in your area and youre concerned about getting sick is recommended, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life.
Its also a good idea to wear a mask if youre having upper respiratory symptoms like a cough, congestion and runny nose and need to be around others, Dr. Barbara Bawer, a family medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. Whenever youre feeling unwell, just from an abundance of caution, you should mask, she says.
But if youre feeling OK, you may just want to mask up in places like your local grocery store or retail shops if COVID cases are high in your area and you want to stay healthy, Schaffner says. Its also a good idea to wear a face mask at the doctors office.
That said, Schaffner says masking outside usually isnt necessary. Even I, who am very cautious, dont put on a mask when Im outdoors, he says.
People who are at greater risk of a more serious outcome from COVID-19 infection the elderly, people who are pregnant, patients with a compromised immune system, or those with other underlying health conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes should consider masking, says Dr. Alan Lesse, associate professor of medicine and vice chair for education at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. The advantage of masking is that it will decrease the risk of transmission of many respiratory viruses and bacteria in addition to COVID-19, he tells Yahoo Life.
In general, if you want to wear a mask, doctors say you should do just that. I currently recommend a mask for anyone who feels more comfortable wearing one, says Lesse.
Its easy to toss a mask in your bag and then forget all about it, only to rediscover it months later. But in general, doctors arent fans of putting that mask over your face. Masks that have been sitting around are likely to be ragged and not performing optimally, Schaffner says.
Bawer points out that the mask has likely picked up all kinds of allergens and dirt from the bag. If youve already worn the mask, it may also have viruses and bacteria attached to it from when you wore it the first time, she says.
Something else to consider, per Lesse: If something in your bag has been damp or wet, like a water bottle, and has come into contact with your mask, you should replace the mask. Masks that are stored in moist environments will lose their protective capacity, he says.
If the mask is in an unopened package, hasnt been used and seems to be in good condition, Bawer says youre likely fine to go ahead and use it.
Masks are usually good for about three to five years after theyre manufactured, Bawer says. But even after this time, they are still more effective than no mask at all or a mask that is being reused, she says. Most masks that come in a package will have the expiration date on the label, she adds.
Lesse notes that N95 and KN95 masks used to be considered one-time-use devices when they were used by health care staff. But with the pandemic and mask shortages, people started reusing them. In the hospital, their use has returned to single-use, he says. But, he points out, most people outside medical settings use the masks more than once.
If you want to use masks the way medical staff do, technically you should get a new mask after every use. But even doctors say that really isnt necessary if your mask still fits well and looks like its in good condition.
If the mask becomes moist or damaged, or the fit becomes loose, the mask should be replaced, Lesse says. But if youve used a mask and it still looks OK, he says reusing it should be just fine.
The story states:
A variety of scientific evidence has also found that the pandemic seems to have affected some young children's early development. Boys were more affected than girls, studies have found.
I definitely think children born then have had developmental challenges compared to prior years," said Dr. Jaime Peterson, a pediatrician at Oregon Health and Science University, whose research is on kindergarten readiness. We asked them to wear masks, not see adults, not play with kids. We really severed those interactions, and you don't get that time back for kids."
Data from schools underscores what early childhood professionals have noticed.
Children who just finished second grade, who were as young as 3 or 4 when the pandemic began, remain behind children the same age prepandemic, particularly in math, according to the new Curriculum Associates data. Of particular concern, the students who are the furthest behind are making the least progress catching up.
The story is interesting and sparked a vigorous debate among the hundreds of comments, most of which address three themes. The first: If young children are arriving in pre-K not toilet trained, as some teachers told the Times, or unable to hold a pencil, parents failed at their job.
A commenter said: Is COVID-19 another better excuse for parents who dont engage with their children? A big statement I know but I heard a lot of excuses and the bottom line is that you signed on to be a parent. If a child isnt even having a conversation at a meal with you because they are staring at a screen, thats on you. Parents need to engage and try to solve problems instead of making excuses.
A Pennsylvania reader offered: There were lots of factors to consider, but not having trained an otherwise healthy 5-year-old to use the toilet is a massive parenting issue. It is an abdication of responsibility and refusal to assert any parental authority. It is an astounding weakness in our culture the adults arent leading.
The second point that many readers felt is significant: Many parents working at home resorted to screens to occupy their toddlers. These youngest students are arriving at school with many more hours of video watching than their older sisters and brothers.
A commenter noted: As the parent of youngish children (ages 7, 9 and 11), its not the pandemic. Its parents and childrens obsessions with screens. I see very young children every day in supermarkets, at parks, pushed in strollers on iPhones. I know a person who allows their child to stay home from school due to anxiety and what does the kid do all day? Play on the iPad. Enough with screens.
A New York teacher said: Im a high school teacher and its the screens. Even some parents in meetings about their child failing multiple classes are distracted by their smartphone screen. For little kids its also the screens. I go to a restaurant, three young kids and mom and dad are all on screens. We fight hard to keep our toddler off screens all the time. But she sees them everywhere and always wants to be on one. We have yet to relent but its hard and heartbreaking to see humanity so lost with this technology.
But others wondered if childrens brains were affected.
A reader said: Im sure there are many causes for this isolation, screen time, etc. But why no mention of what has been substantially demonstrated, the effect of repeated (or even one) COVID-19 infections on the brain? All you have to do is Google this and there are multiple articles from the National Institutes of Health, Harvard, Nature, etc. Are we really supposed to believe this has had no effect on children? Why are we ignoring what is so obviously a major health issue? And the result will be in the next pandemic kids being sent to school and perhaps dying.
Another said: Good article but not a word about the effects of COVID infections on brain development and health. How many of those children had COVID? Did they have repeated infections? Are some of the symptoms mentioned here due to Long COVID?
The preparation for a good and holy death the reunion with the Almighty requires our hard work. Divine providence also counts on it, he added.
The Catholic doctor then referred to the defunct Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care) of which he himself was a member which was later integrated into the current Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
Unfortunately very little has been done for health or health care in this department. The [Pontifical] Council for Health Care Workers has not even been established, as was required according to the statutes signed by Pope Francis. This void, on such an important issue, also spreads to episcopal conferences and other ecclesiastical organizations, the doctor noted.
Castellv pointed out that when another global event happens that forces us to take drastic preventive measures, as was the case with the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot be caught off guard. Everything must be done to keep the churches open and operational.
The Catholic doctor conceded that hesitation during the first days is understandable but then you must be clear about the protection measures and you must act in science and in conscience, formed, informed, and refined by grace.
The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns harmed the mental health of Canadian and US youth, exacerbating depression, anxiety, and eating disorders among certain groups, according to a trio of new studies published in JAMA journals.
One of two studies from thePediatric Outcome Improvement through Coordination of Research Networks (POPCORN)published today found that the rate of hospitalizations for mood disorders and substance use declined among male and females aged 6 to 20 years from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But admissions for eating disorders rose for both sexes, and admissions for anxiety, personality disorders, suicide, and self-harm increased significantly among females.
For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, the researchers analyzed public health administrative data on all Canadians aged 6 to 20 years and from April 2016 to March 2023.
Of 6.3 million Canadian youths, there were 218,101 hospitalizations for mental illness (ages 6 to 11 years, 5.8%; 12 to 17, 66.9%; and 18 to 20, 27.3%; 66.0% female). Overall, hospitalizations for mental disorders fell from 51.6 to 47.9 per 10,000 person-years from before the pandemic to the pandemic among both males and females.
But hospitalizations rose among both sexes for anxiety (11%), personality disorders (21%), suicide or self-harm (10%), and eating disorders in females (66%) and males (47%). For both sexes, hospitalizations declined for mood disorders (-16%), substance use (-17%), and other mental disorders (-22%).
The proportion of hospitalizations for mental conditions climbed in the 12- to 17-years-old age-group, from 65.8% before the pandemic to 68.4% during the pandemic. During the same periods, hospitalizations decreased from 6.2% to 5.3% for participants aged 6 to 11 years and 18 to 20 (28.0% to 26.3%).
These findings suggest that services geared to females, specifically screening for eating disorders, anxiety, personality disorders, and suicidality, will be important to maintain in future pandemics.
Females made up 63.8% of hospitalizations for mental disorders before COVID-19, increasing to 69.0% during the pandemic. Prepandemic, hospitalizations of patients in the most materially deprived quintile accounted for a larger share of hospitalizations (24.4%) than the least deprived (16.9%). During the pandemic, this difference narrowed to 21.9% and 18.6%, respectively.
Residence in a rural area was linked to a higher rate of mental disorder hospitalizations for all conditions but eating disorders.
There were 881,765 emergency department (ED) visits for mental health conditions during the study period. Females made up a greater proportion of available ED visits during the pandemic (65.8%) than before (60.0%), along with participants aged 12 to 17 (52.7% vs 46.0%).
"Understanding how the pandemic affected children, adolescents, and young adults in Canada is crucial to inform public health policy, and these findings suggest that services geared to females, specifically screening for eating disorders, anxiety, personality disorders, and suicidality, will be important to maintain in future pandemics," the authors wrote.
In JAMA Pediatrics, POPCORN researchers conducting a separate study of 8,726 hospitalizations for eating disorders among Canadian youths of the same age over the same period found that, among girls 12 to 17 years old, a 10% jump in pandemic-lockdown stringency was tied to significant rises in hospitalizations for eating disorders that varied by region.
To measure lockdown stringency, the researchers used 12 indicators, such as office and school closures, public-event cancellations, travel restrictions, and stay-at-home orders.
During the study period, there were 11,289 eating-disorder hospitalizations in Canada, 90.4% of them among girls, of which 77% were for 12- to 17-year-olds. A 10% increase in lockdown stringency was linked to a significant climb in hospitalization rates in Quebec and Ontario (5%), the Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba; 8%), and British Columbia (11%).
Excess hospitalizations were highest at the 1-year pandemic mark, with increases in Quebec (117%), Ontario (144%), the Prairies (139%), and British Columbia (102%).
A total of 58.6% of hospitalizations before and during the pandemic were for youths without a history of an eating-disorder hospitalizations.
The increase in such hospitalizations likely had multiple causes, including more social isolation, loss of routines and extracurricular activities, more disordered eating, and increased compensatory physical exercise, the researchers said.
The importance of social connectedness for youths (including support networks and parental education) should be promoted to help ensure that children, when experiencing restrictions, such as school closures, are as minimally socially isolated as possible.
"Given that most patients with eating disorders are treated as outpatients, the lack of outpatient services during the pandemic may have led to disease progression that, when left untreated or unacknowledged, was associated with a higher likelihood of hospital admission compared with other mental health disorders given the immediate medical health risk," they wrote.
In future pandemics, they said pediatric healthcare providers should find ways to stay connected with patients for ongoing clinical assessment and psychosocial support at the hospital visits or via telehealth.
"Health care practitioners should also be screening youths for new eating disorders regardless of weight, gender, or socioeconomic status," the authors wrote. "The importance of social connectedness for youths (including support networks and parental education) should be promoted to help ensure that children, when experiencing restrictions, such as school closures, are as minimally socially isolated as possible."
Late last week in JAMA Network Open,researchers from Children's Hospital Los Angeles who hypothesized that COVID-19 lockdown-related mental health would be worse among US youth living in lower-income households instead found that children from wealthier families reported more depression and anxiety.
The research team used the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Family Environmental Scale (FES), and the income-to-needs ratio (INR) to assess mental health before and during the pandemic among 10,399 children aged 10 to 12 years participating in the multisite, 10-year Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.
The prepandemic group had a 2-year follow-up visit before COVID-19 lockdowns (before March 2020), and the pandemic group had a 2-year follow-up visit after that date. The final sample was made up of 10,171 youths with 1-year-follow-up data (prepandemic, 7,343 youth; pandemic, 2,828) and 10,399 with 2-year follow-up data (prepandemic, 7,493; pandemic, 2,906.
A total of 52.3% of participants were boys, 66.0% were White, 20.3% were Hispanic, 14.5% were Black, 12.2% were multiracial, 44.2% reported caregiver education levels below a 4-year college degree, and 26.2% had INR either below 100% (poverty) or 100% to less than 200% (near poverty).
There were no significant differences in average number of total problems on the CBCL between participants in the prepandemic and pandemic groups over time, and an increase of one unit in the INR corresponded to a reduction in the average rate of change in total problems.
Our research group previously published data demonstrating that families with more socioeconomic disadvantage may have taken more action to alleviate emotional distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of youth who differed by one unit in INR between the prepandemic and pandemic cohorts from 1- to 2-year follow-up, the expected difference in total problems was 0.79, with sex, age, caregiver education, and interstudy interval held constant, which the researchers said suggests that total problems tend to be lower among youths with lower INR in the pandemic group than those in the prepandemic group who had a follow-up visit before COVID-19.
For every one-unit difference in INR, the expected differences between the pandemic and prepandemic groups from 1- to 2-year follow-up were 0.19 for anxiety or depression, 0.17 for aggression, 0.09 for inattention; 0.08 for social problems; 0.06 for rule breaking, 0.12 for cognition problems, 0.27 for internalization issues, and 0.23 for externalization difficulties.
The researchers noted that a previous study's findings suggested that children in lower-income families may have better adapted to pandemic stressors. "Indeed, our research group previously published data demonstrating that families with more socioeconomic disadvantage may have taken more action to alleviate emotional distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic," they said.
"These results suggest that socioeconomic status may matter when considering the youth mental health outcomes of the COVID-19 lockdown, which may be important for targeted treatment approaches," they concluded.
They cautioned, however, that the study didn't provide insight into what drove the differences between the pandemic and prepandemic groups.
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A new meta-analysis of 48 observational studies that included8,664,026 people reveals that pre-existing sleep disturbances are tied to an increased risk of COVID-19 infection and worse outcomes if infected. The study is published in eClinicalMedicine.
Previous studies have shown that up to 50% of COVID-19 patients experience sleep disturbances, and sleep disturbances are linked to "daytime drowsiness, work burnout, and low spirits but also induce immune deficiency and systematic inflammation," the authors note.
For the purposes of this study, sleep disturbances included obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), insomnia, abnormal sleep duration (less than 6 hours or more than 9), night-shift work, and restless legs syndrome already documented before infection with COVID-19
The studies analyzed had sample sizes ranging from 118 to 4.9 million and were conducted in 15 countries, including 19 studies based on US patients.
Pre-existing sleep disturbances were tied to an increased risk of COVID-19 infection of 12% (odds ratio [OR],1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07 to 1.18), hospitalization of 25% (OR,1.25; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.36), death of 45% (OR,1.45; 95% CI, 1.19 to 1.78), and long COVID of 36% (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.17 to 1.57).
Age and gender played a role in the findings, with men with sleep disturbances more likely to die from COVID than women with sleep disturbances.
Young individuals with pre-existing sleep disturbances had a higher susceptibility and hospitalization for COVID-19 than those without.
"Young individuals with pre-existing sleep disturbances had a higher susceptibility and hospitalization for COVID-19 than those without. This finding further confirmed the compromised immune function induced by sleep disturbances," the authors wrote. "In old individuals, those with pre-existing sleep disturbances elevated the hospitalization and mortality of COVID-19 but did not increase the susceptibility compared with those without."
