Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

There are close to 200 COVID-19 vaccines in testing around the world. So far, two have shown positive results. But is competition good?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Dozens of companies in multiple countries are racing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine but it turns out, when a vaccine does become available, some healthy competition in the market is not what we need.

Global competition for a coronavirus vaccine could spark another problem: Who gets it first?

There are close to 200 vaccines in development stages around the world. So far, at least two of those vaccines have triggered an immune response in clinical trials. Here's the problem with it. One of those vaccines is being worked on by British scientists and the United Kingdom has already paid for the first 100 million doses produced.

Meanwhile, the United States has made a deal with Pfizer to get 100 million doses of its vaccine. This all works in countries with the money to handle a massive undertaking like vaccine research and development, but there are plenty of countries that don't have the resources. It's not just their problem, either.

As we've learned, coronavirus doesn't respect borders. An ongoing outbreak in one country can be a threat to the entire world if untreated. Public health experts warn that we need to come up with a plan to make sure everyone has access to a vaccine to end the COVID-19 threat to us all.

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The race is on for a COVID-19 vaccine, but is that a good thing? - WCNC.com

The worlds biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the U.S. government one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.

Theres still no guarantee that theexperimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Cambridge-based Moderna Inc., will really protect.

The needed proof: Volunteers wont know if theyre getting the real shot or a dummy version. After two doses, scientists will closely track which group experiences more infections as they go about their daily routines, especially in areas where the virus still is spreading unchecked.

Unfortunately for the United States of America, we have plenty of infections right now to get that answer, NIHs Dr. Anthony Fauci recently told The Associated Press.

Moderna said the vaccination was done in Savannah, Georgia, the first site to get underway among more than seven dozen trial sites scattered around the country.

Several other vaccines made by China and by Britains Oxford University earlier this month began smaller final-stage tests in Brazil and other hard-hit countries.

But the U.S. requires its own tests of any vaccine that might be used in the country and has set a high bar: Every month through fall, the government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network will roll out a new study of a leading candidate each one with 30,000 newly recruited volunteers.

The massive studies arent just to test if the shots work theyre needed to check each potential vaccines safety. And following the same study rules will let scientists eventually compare all the shots.

Next up in August, the final study of the Oxford shot begins, followed by plans to test a candidate from Johnson & Johnson in September and Novavax in October if all goes according to schedule. Pfizer Inc. plans its own 30,000-person study this summer.

Thats a stunning number of people needed to roll up their sleeves for science. But in recent weeks, more than 150,000 Americans filled out an onlineregistrysignaling interest, said Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, who helps oversee the study sites.

These trials need to be multigenerational, they need to be multiethnic, they need to reflect the diversity of the United States population, Corey told a vaccine meeting last week. He stressed that its especially important to ensure enough Black and Hispanic participants as those populations are hard-hit by COVID-19.

It normally takes years to create a new vaccine from scratch, but scientists are setting speed records this time around, spurred by knowledge that vaccination is the worlds best hope against the pandemic. The coronavirus wasnt even known to exist before late December, and vaccine makers sprang into action Jan. 10 when China shared the virus genetic sequence.

Just 65 days later in March, the NIH-made vaccine wastested in people. The first recipient is encouraging others to volunteer now.

We all feel so helpless right now. Theres very little that we can do to combat this virus. And being able to participate in this trial has given me a sense of, that Im doing something, Jennifer Haller of Seattle told the AP. Be prepared for a lot of questions from your friends and family about how its going, and a lot of thank-yous.

That first-stage study that included Haller and 44 others showed the shots revved up volunteers immune systems in ways scientists expect will be protective, with some minor side effects such as a brief fever, chills and pain at the injection site. Early testing of other leading candidates have had similarly encouraging results.

If everything goes right with the final studies, it still will take months for the first data to trickle in from the Moderna test, followed by the Oxford one.

Governments around the world are trying to stockpile millions of doses of those leading candidates so if and when regulators approve one or more vaccines, immunizations can begin immediately. But the first available doses will be rationed, presumably reserved for people at highest risk from the virus.

Were optimistic, cautiously optimistic that the vaccine will work and that toward the end of the year there will be data to prove it, Dr. Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, told a House subcommittee last week.

Until then, Haller, the volunteer vaccinated back in March, wears a mask in public and takes the same distancing precautions advised for everyone while hoping that one of the shots in the pipeline pans out.

I dont know what the chances are that this is the exact right vaccine. But thank goodness that there are so many others out there battling this right now, she said.

AP photographer Ted Warren in Seattle contributed to this report.

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Moderna Virus Vaccine Put To Final Test In Thousands Of Volunteers - WBUR

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on July 27,2020, there have been 263,669 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 5,999 total cases and 106 deaths.

DHHR hasconfirmed the deaths of a 60-year old female from Wyoming County, an 84-yearold female from Mineral County and a 93-year old female from Brooke County. The passing of these three West Virginiansis reported with great sadness and we extend our sympathies to their lovedones, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (28/0), Berkeley (598/20), Boone (70/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke(47/1), Cabell (278/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay (17/0), Doddridge (2/0), Fayette(117/0), Gilmer (14/0), Grant (42/1), Greenbrier (82/0), Hampshire (62/0),Hancock (81/4), Hardy (50/1), Harrison (161/1), Jackson (153/0), Jefferson(279/5), Kanawha (683/13), Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (49/2), Logan (89/0), Marion(156/4), Marshall (98/2), Mason (41/0), McDowell (14/1), Mercer (87/0), Mineral(97/2), Mingo (99/2), Monongalia (814/16), Monroe (18/1), Morgan (24/1),Nicholas (23/1), Ohio (230/0), Pendleton (27/1), Pleasants (6/1), Pocahontas(39/1), Preston (98/22), Putnam (148/1), Raleigh (131/4), Randolph (202/4),Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0), Summers (6/0), Taylor (39/1), Tucker (8/0), Tyler(11/0), Upshur (34/2), Wayne (175/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel (41/0), Wirt (6/0),Wood (214/10), Wyoming (16/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

Please visit thedashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-27-2020 - 10 AM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

The world's biggest Covid-19 vaccine study got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the U.S. government one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.

There's still no guarantee that the experimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna, will really protect.

The needed proof: Volunteers won't know if they're getting the real shot or a dummy version. After two doses, scientists will closely track which group experiences more infections as they go about their daily routines, especially in areas where the virus still is spreading unchecked.

"Unfortunately for the United States of America, we have plenty of infections right now" to get that answer, NIH's Dr. Anthony Fauci recently told The Associated Press.

Several other vaccines made by China and by Britain's Oxford University earlier this month began smaller final-stage tests in Brazil and other hard-hit countries.

But the U.S. requires its own tests of any vaccine that might be used in the country and has set a high bar: Every month through fall, the government-funded Covid-19 Prevention Network will roll out a new study of a leading candidate each one with 30,000 newly recruited volunteers.

The massive studies aren't just to test if the shots work they're needed to check each potential vaccine's safety. And following the same study rules will let scientists eventually compare all the shots.

Next up in August, the final study of the Oxford shot begins, followed by plans to test a candidate from Johnson & Johnson in September and Novavax in October if all goes according to schedule. Pfizer plans its own 30,000-person study this summer.

That's a stunning number of people needed to roll up their sleeves for science. But in recent weeks, more than 150,000 Americans filled out an online registry signalling interest, said Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, who helps oversee the study sites.

"These trials need to be multigenerational, they need to be multiethnic, they need to reflect the diversity of the United States population," Corey told a vaccine meeting last week. He stressed that it's especially important to ensure enough Black and Hispanic participants as those populations are hard-hit by COVID-19.

It normally takes years to create a new vaccine from scratch, but scientists are setting speed records this time around, spurred by the knowledge that vaccination is the world's best hope against the pandemic. The coronavirus wasn't even known to exist before late December, and vaccine makers sprang into action Jan. 10 when China shared the virus' genetic sequence.

Just 65 days later in March, the NIH-made vaccine was tested in people. The first recipient is encouraging others to volunteer now.

"We all feel so helpless right now. There's very little that we can do to combat this virus. And being able to participate in this trial has given me a sense of, that I'm doing something," Jennifer Haller of Seattle told the AP. "Be prepared for a lot of questions from your friends and family about how it's going, and a lot of thank-you's."

That first-stage study that included Haller and 44 others showed the shots revved up volunteers' immune systems in ways scientists expect will be protective, with some minor side effects such as a brief fever, chills and pain at the injection site. Early testing of other leading candidates have had similarly encouraging results.

If everything goes right with the final studies, it still will take months for the first data to trickle in from the Moderna test, followed by the Oxford one.

Governments around the world are trying to stockpile millions of doses of those leading candidates so if and when regulators approve one or more vaccines, immunizations can begin immediately. But the first available doses will be rationed, presumably reserved for people at highest risk from the virus.

"We're optimistic, cautiously optimistic" that the vaccine will work and that "toward the end of the year" there will be data to prove it, Dr. Stephen Hoge, president of Massachusetts-based Moderna, told a House subcommittee last week.

Until then, Haller, the volunteer vaccinated back in March, wears a mask in public and takes the same distancing precautions advised for everyone while hoping that one of the shots in the pipeline pans out.

"I don't know what the chances are that this is the exact right vaccine. But thank goodness that there are so many others out there battling this right now," she said.

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The world's biggest coronavirus vaccine study begins, a U.S. trial that will include 30,000 people to see if the shots really work - CNBC

The head of a Baltimore hospital's critical care unit, who "selflessly continued his work on the front lines" as the coronavirus pandemic swept through region, has died after contracting the virus.

The head of a Baltimore hospitals critical care unit, who selflessly continued his work on the front lines as the coronavirus pandemic swept through region, has died after contracting the virus.

Dr. Joseph Costa, the chief of the critical care unit at Mercy Medical Hospital in downtown Baltimore, died Saturday, the hospital said in a statement.

Costa was 56 and the cause of death was COVID-19, spokesman Daniel Collins told WTOP in an email.

Costa, who joined the hospital in 1997, had served as the hospitals critical care chief for the past 15 years.

He dedicated his life and career to caring for the sickest patients, hospital officials said in a statement shared on the hospitals Facebook page. And when the global pandemic came down upon us, Joe selflessly continued his work on the front lines deeply committed to serving our patients and our city during this time of great need. His memory will live on as an example to us all.

In addition to serving as chief of the critical care unit, Costa served as an officer on the Mercy medical staff for six years and as president of the medical staff for two years.

Costa earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and completed his residency at the University of Maryland.

Costa was known for his warm and comforting bedside manner as well as his direct and informative communication style, according to the statement.

To nurses and other staff members, he was like an older brother that all admired and revered.

Planning for a memorial service is now underway, according to the statement from Sister Helen Amos, the executive chair of the hospitals board of trustees, and Mercy president and CEO Dr. David Maine.

Baltimore City, which has recorded more than 10,500 total COVID-19 cases and more than 380 deaths, has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, the health officers of a number of Maryland jurisdictions, including Baltimore City, called on Gov. Larry Hogan to reimpose some coronavirus restrictions amid an uptick in statewide cases.

According to a recent analysis by the PolicyLab at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Baltimore City has experienced one of the highest rates of growth in new coronavirus cases among major U.S. cities over the past two weeks.

More Coronavirus News

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here:Virginia|Maryland|D.C.

Like WTOP on Facebook and follow @WTOP on Twitter to engage in conversation about this article and others.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

2020 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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Baltimore doctor who worked pandemic front lines dies of COVID-19 - WTOP

Conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus have swirled around discussion of the pandemic since it began. Such theories tend to proliferate during times of crisis, as people search for elusive explanations at a time of tremendous uncertainty. But theres also something else thats keeping them alive: Institutions in American life entrusted to inform the public have been amplifying them.

The latest example of this phenomenon was a controversial decision by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns one of Americas largest local television networks. The company planned to air a new interview with discredited researcher and conspiracy theorist Judy Mikovits, who suggests despite all evidence and research stating otherwise that one of the Trump administrations top scientists, Dr. Anthony Fauci, may have created the coronavirus.

Sinclair was fiercely criticized for its decision to give Mikovits a platform on an episode of America This Week initially set to air on its local stations this weekend, and after facing pushback from progressive watchdogs like Media Matters and influential journalists, the company announced that it would delay broadcasting the episode so it can bring together other viewpoints and provide additional context.

As things stand, Sinclair may still air a newly edited version of the episode, giving Mikovits a broadcast platform. (Sinclair did not respond to a request for comment.) Even if the company ultimately decides to kill the episode, serious damage has already been done. The episode was placed on the shows website, and the controversy alone has brought a new wave of attention to Mikovitss bizarre and widely debunked conspiracy theories about the virus, giving her fearmongering about Covid-19 a broader audience.

Ahead of the interview, Mikovits had struggled to find a platform for her fringe views; a viral video featuring an interview with her an extended trailer for a documentary called Plandemic was banned by YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo in May. In the clip, she made false claims that coronavirus is activated by protective masks, that a coronavirus vaccine will kill millions, and that Fauci was involved in a plot by elites to use the pandemic to seize political power and profit off vaccines.

In her new interview with America This Week, Mikovits alleges that Fauci has, for the past decade, manufactured and shipped coronaviruses to Wuhan, China. Her attorney Larry Klayman, a conservative lawyer with his own history of peddling bizarre conspiracy theories, also appeared on the show and claimed the origins of the coronavirus were in the US. The host of the show, Eric Bolling, did not challenge or refute the evidence-free claims, despite scientists research suggesting Covid-19 jumped from an animal to humans. Throughout the segment, an onscreen graphic reads, DID DR. FAUCI CREATE COVID-19?

After his interview with Mikovits and Klayman, Bolling interviewed Fox News medical contributor Nicole Saphier, a radiologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, in what appeared to be an attempt to balance the conspiracy theories of his earlier guests. Saphier said she did not believe that Fauci engineered the coronavirus, but she also said that there were several theories about its origins and endorsed the theory of Covid-19 possibly being man-made within a laboratory, a theory for which there is no evidence.

Sinclair is not the first media outlet to play a role in amplifying conspiracy theories. For example, in April, former Trump adviser Roger Stone shared the theory that philanthropist Bill Gates may have created the coronavirus and planned to use a vaccine to surveil the public with injected microchips on a New York radio show and the New York Post ran a story on it without questioning or refuting it.

The most influential political office in the land the presidency has lent credence to theories that the virus is part of a nefarious plan as well. President Donald Trump has said that he also believes a Chinese lab may have accidentally or deliberately released the virus. His own intelligence agencies, however, had ruled out theories of an intentional release of the virus and had not found evidence it was man-made.

But Sinclairs plan to broadcast conspiracy theories has experts uniquely worried. The broadcaster has vast national reach with its channels, and some may not realize their local news typically a domain for what is perceived as apolitical information is coming from a pro-Trump company with a questionable commitment to truth-telling and an agenda to spread right-wing ideas.

People tend to trust their local news stations, more than many other types of media, Liz Suhay, a scholar of political psychology at American University, told me. Misinformation spread via these outlets will persuade millions.

Experts say that, historically speaking, the public is more receptive to conspiracy theories during catastrophes.

Conspiracy theories flourish in times of crisis, which is obviously the case here, Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent and an expert in conspiratorial thinking, told Voxs Jane Coaston in April. They tend to surround big events that require big explanations [because] small explanations are unsatisfying.

But the specific content of conspiracy theories is also important and can provide clues about the societies where the theories take hold. As Coaston has explained, pandemics fuel conspiracy theories that grapple not only with disease but also with social and political structures:

Historically, with every plague and pandemic, there have been conspiracy theories to explain their origin and how to potentially stop their progression. Often, those conspiracy theories play on existing concerns and work within cultural contexts. For example, during the Black Death, a 14th-century outbreak of bubonic plague that killed at least 35 percent of Europes population, conspiracy theories targeted Jewish people already the subject of ire and deep concern as the source of the plague, leading to the torture and murder of thousands of Jews in response. (As anti-Semitism is itself a conspiracy theory, its not surprising to see anti-Semitic conspiracy theories arise during the coronavirus pandemic as well.)

More recent pandemics have seen the rise of their own conspiracy theories, ones that formed in response to underlying concerns as much as they did to a virus or disease. AIDS denialists, for example people who believe that HIV does not cause AIDS were responding not just to AIDS, but to the context of AIDS in the United States of the 1980s, a disease that seemed to kill the most vulnerable and most despised in society with little attention or care from mainstream authority figures. That led some people, already experienced in distrusting institutions that had only served to disadvantage and oppress them, to distrust them even more in the face of a crisis.

Were seeing some analogous dynamics play out today: Conspiracy theories discussed during the era of coronavirus also reflect certain strands of popular thought about power in America and the world today. At a time of staggering socioeconomic inequality in the US, and at a specific moment when disease is revealing the life-or-death stakes of that inequality, the emergence of conspiracy theories that suggest the virus is a plan by elites to accumulate profit and power should not be surprising.

A Pew Research Center survey from June found that about a quarter of Americans see at least some truth in the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus outbreak was intentionally planned by powerful people. (Five percent say its definitely true and 20 percent say its probably true, with a 1.6 percentage point margin of error.)

Matt Motta, a professor of political science at Oklahoma State University who studies the intersection of politics and science, said in an email that Sinclairs decision to air the interview could increase the number of true believers in the most extreme theories.

Even though many Americans accept misinformation about the origins of Covid-19 (e.g., that it was created in a lab), belief in the Plandemic conspiracy has largely been relegated to only the most ardent conspiracy theorists. Thats in part due to the relatively swift action social media companies took to remove the video from their platforms, he wrote. Sinclairs decision to air this interview without challenging its claims risks pushing some of these extreme views into the mainstream.

Experts have emphasized that local news is a particularly potent way to spread conspiracy theories because of the unique role local broadcasts play in distributing news meaning even a new version of Sinclairs Mikovits interview providing additional context may not be enough to limit the proliferation of Mikovitss conspiracy theory.

The fact that the story is ostensibly balanced is nonsense, as the view being presented [by Mikovits] has no support among experts, and balanced formats can be misleading, Brendan Nyhan, a professor at Dartmouth who researches misperceptions about politics and health care, told me.

In fact, placing Mikovits among credible experts may actually give her conspiracy theory greater credence to viewers, effectively giving her ideas the same legitimacy as the scientifically based statements those experts make.

Pew polling conducted in June found most Americans dont have much trust in national news outlets ability to deliver facts about the coronavirus, a result mirrored in a late June New York Times/Siena College poll. Americans were found to have greater trust in their local news outlets, however, with 50 percent saying their local news presents factual coverage of Covid-19 at least most of the time 6 percentage points more than national outlets (again, with a 1.6 percentage point margin of error).

Overall, studies show that the public generally has substantially more trust in local television news and newspapers than in their national counterparts.

In other words, Sinclair broadcasting conspiracy theories could influence peoples attitudes and beliefs more deeply than CNN or Fox News.

The mainstreaming of conspiracy theories about the inception and spread of Covid-19 could seriously complicate the countrys ability to manage the pandemic by corroding the publics inclination to comply with expert guidance.

Motta pointed to a study he co-authored that found that people who have been more exposed to misinformation about the origins of the coronavirus in the media through right-leaning news, in particular are more likely to accept those claims as true, and are subsequently less likely to accept warnings about the severity of the pandemic from scientific experts. The risks are very real, he warned.

Suhay noted that the pandemics end could be delayed by conspiracy theories, telling me, I think the most concerning harm in this instance is that many of the Covid conspiracy theories circulating are directly and indirectly anti-vax which means they are likely to drive down the number of people willing to be vaccinated against the disease when a vaccine eventually becomes available.

If major media outlets continue to give oxygen to ungrounded theories about the virus and trust in experts diminishes, delayed vaccination times and poor compliance with social distancing protocols could intensify the crisis. Conspiracy theories about the world will always exist, but its up to institutions tasked with telling the truth to avoid giving a platform to claims that have no demonstrable basis in reality and to rigorously refute them through careful and factual explanation.

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Covid-19 conspiracy theories are being fed to the public by institutions meant to inform them - Vox.com

Coronavirus vaccines: What looks promising and who will be the first to get one?  Vallejo Times-Herald

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Coronavirus vaccines: What looks promising and who will be the first to get one? - Vallejo Times-Herald

Washington, DC, is living on a knife's edge in anticipation of yet another Covid-19 relief package. While the $600 federal enhancement to weekly unemployment benefits and a federal eviction moratorium may lapse on July 31, leaving millions of Americans in the lurch, it's increasingly unlikely that an agreement will be reached before then.

It's hardly a surprise Senate Republicans are taking such a firm approach. They, like me, have experienced Trump's inability to constructively negotiate on behalf of the American people -- and they know they cannot afford another misfire from the White House so close to November.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Military Construction/Veterans Subcommittee from 2015 to 2018, I had an inside look at government dysfunction, which was especially pronounced after the tea party made sweeping gains in the 2010 midterm elections and a number of deficit hawks entered Congress with little to no desire to compromise.

Given this experience, it is hard for me to imagine how things could have gotten much worse. But they have. Sure, democracy can be messy and inefficient. Trump, however, has taken dysfunction to new heights with his disruptive, erratic behavior and chaotic approach to governing. While Trump can bluster his way through press briefings and make sweeping pronouncements on Twitter, he has repeatedly failed to negotiate and cobble together enough votes when it comes to legislating.

If you need proof, consider his failures on three high-profile occasions: his 2017 attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare; Trump's U-turn on spending in the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill; and the 35-day government shutdown over border wall funding in late 2018 and early 2019.

Bottom line: Trump's failed leadership, his woeful disinterest and deficient knowledge in the basics of health care policy, along with his inability to unify Republicans around one coherent bill, meant the negotiations never had a chance.

I watched as House Speaker Paul Ryan and other legislative leaders made a Herculean and ultimately successful effort to persuade Trump to sign the bill he had originally agreed to. But how does one work with a man so fickle and so willing to undermine the subordinates he empowered to negotiate on his behalf?

Either way, don't hold your breath waiting for the author of "The Art of the Deal" to swoop in and save everyone from these swamp-infested negotiations.

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Covid-19 relief bills show that Trump is a failure at negotiating - CNN

Missouri health officials are urging residents to take "aggressive actions" following nearly a week in which daily COVID-19 cases have reached four figures.

On Sunday, the state had its sixth straight day of more than 1,000 new cases, with 1,218. A four-day streak of record-breaking numbers of new cases peaked at 1,652 on Friday.

There are 41,927 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Missouri and 1,197 deaths, according to the state health department. The seven-day rolling average of positive tests is 8.8%.

Covid-19 testing site at the Walmart Supercenter in Joplin, Missouri, July 2, 2020.

"We're trending up," Dr. Randall Williams, director of the state's health department, said Wednesday at Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's coronavirus briefing. The 1,000-plus numbers likely represent community transmission, primarily among 20- and 30-year-olds, Williams said.

The average age of those contracting COVID-19 has been steadily declining, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. As of Sunday, the average age of a COVID-19 patient in the state is 43; the seven-day rolling average is 40.

Daily hospitalization data on the state's COVID-19 dashboard has not been updated since July 12, though Williams said those numbers are also "trending up." The lag in reporting is due to a change in how data is collected, after the White House switched data collection from the CDC to a private firm earlier this month. As a result, the Missouri Hospital Association said it has been left "in the dark" and unable to access state data.

Williams said he expects to have updated hospitalization figures this week.

Missouri started reopening its economy on May 4, with the governor allowing the state to fully reopen starting June 16. There is no statewide mask mandate, though several local jurisdictions, including St. Louis County and Kansas City, Missouri, have issued their own orders as COVID-19 cases have started to rise in recent weeks.

The Missouri Hospital Association is also among a coalition of eight state organizations urging residents to "mask up" amid the increase, pointing to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to wear cloth face coverings in public to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

"Missouri's stay-at-home order helped reduce transmission of the virus. However, with many regions of the state opening, Missouri's transmission rates have been rising," the association said in a statement. "Missourians can protect themselves, their families and members of the community by wearing a mask when in public and when in contact with at-risk individuals."

In a grim letter to the public released Friday, several health officials in the Kansas City region, including two in Missouri, urged residents to take steps to limit the spread of the disease due to recent data that suggests they are "losing the battle with COVID-19," the letter said.

"We are extremely concerned that hospitalizations will continue to escalate in the coming weeks and months, and that the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 will lead to increasing ventilator use and deaths," said the letter, which stressed mask-wearing indoors and when social distancing is not possible. "This is our best option right now for protecting our friends, families, neighbors and the economy."

One oft-cited example of the value of mask-wearing happened right in Missouri: After two symptomatic hairdressers potentially exposed 140 customers to COVID-19 in May, the county health department determined that no new cases were linked to the Springfield salon. Both hairstylists and all clients were wearing face coverings at the time, officials said.

The hardest-hit county in Missouri is its most populous one: St. Louis. As of Sunday, the county had about a quarter of the state's COVID-19 cases, with 10,995, based on state data. During the first two weeks of July, the average number of new COVID-19 cases more than doubled, according to a July 23 report from the St. Louis County Health Department. Hospitalizations increased by 73% during that period, it found. The overall testing positivity rate has been gradually climbing since mid-June, the report stated.

With a record numbers of new cases in recent days, county officials have warned they are considering reimposing restrictions. At a coronavirus briefing on Friday, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said that the county would start "talking about restrictions" when daily hospital admissions hit 40. That number has been hovering around there in recent days. On Sunday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported daily new hospitalizations at 36, down from 40 on Thursday. The seven-day moving average of new hospitalizations was 40 on Sunday, continuing an upward trend in the county.

"We're in a difficult place right now, and we do need to be taking some aggressive actions as a community to turn the curve around," task force head Dr. Alex Garza said Friday at a coronavirus briefing. "We have a lot of transmission in our community. It is still being driven by our younger population."

Last week, the county announced that it would be pausing youth summer league competitions, such as games and scrimmages, due to rising cases among children ages 10-19.

"While the risk of transmission during competitive youth sports games is most likely low, all of the activities surrounding the games increase the likelihood of spreading the virus. This includes teams, coaches and parents gathering before, during and after games and practices, carpooling and other activities associated with participating in sports teams, especially if proper mitigation practices are not in place," the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, the St. Louis Sports Medicine COVID-19 Task Force and the city of St. Louis said in a joint statement released Thursday. The guidelines only apply to summer sports, officials said.

Garza stressed "decisive actions," such as mask-wearing, social distancing and not congregating in large groups, to help reduce the curve and keep hospital admissions down in the region.

In a confluence of COVID-19 concerns, one recent outbreak in the state has been tied to a large gathering of young people. The Jackson County Health Department said on Friday it had traced five cases of the virus to a July 10 high school party attended by anywhere from 100 to 200 students.

The department is recommending that all those who attended get tested for the virus. Under the county's current guidelines, gatherings are limited to 100 people.

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Missouri health officials call for 'aggressive actions' as COVID-19 cases rise - ABC News

Adam McKay Photo: Jon Kopaloff/WireImage/Getty Images

Forget theorizing about which one of Logan Roys failsons will get the coveted kiss from daddy; heres a show with capital-S stakes. Succession executive producer Adam McKay is working on a scripted drama about the race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 for HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will adapt the forthcoming narrative nonfiction book The First Shot, by journalist Brendan Borrell, which the author describes as about the global coronavirus vaccine race, the companies that are risking all to win it, the fascinating and sometimes surprising science that it is based on, and the challenges playing out around access and safety. Earlier this year, HBO announced that McKay would also be developing a climate-change anthology series based on New York Magazine writer David Wallace-Wellss The Uninhabitable Earth for HBO, and a possible TV adaptation of Bong Joon Hos wealth-disparity parable Parasite. McKays really carving out a Terrible Global Crisis niche, huh.

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Adam McKay Is Developing a Coronavirus Vaccine -Themed TV Show for HBO - Vulture