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DC District Court of Appeals | YouTube screenshot
WASHINGTON The National Nurses United and the AFL-CIO are disappointed by another federal appellate court ruling bouncing their demand the government permanently force firms to protect workers against the coronavirus.
On August 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C., said it lacked the jurisdiction to force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to move.
And Judge Neomi Rao, a 2019 Trump appointee with a Republican and right-wing pedigree, said NNU and its allies wanted a preordained resulta permanent OSHA standard forcing health care firms to protect workers against the viruswithin 30 days.
NNU also wanted OSHA to reinstate its emergency temporary standard, suspended last December after another D.C. Circuit panel tossed it. OSHA said then it would work on creating and announcing a permanent standard. Judge Rao sneeringly slammed both requests.
We cant force that, Rao wrote for herself and two panel colleagues. One of them, the courts chief judge, David Sentelle, was a Republican appointee, like her.
NNU sought a writ of mandamusLatin for a mandateto get OSHA to act. Rao said such mandates are reserved only for transparent violations of a clear duty to act. OSHAs not doing that, Rao declared. Instead, she opined, OSHAs following its usual rulemaking drill. She ducked the point that such formal procedures often take years, due to corporate opposition.
Besides, OSHA can still come to the conclusion that it doesnt need a permanent standard to protect workers against the virus, the judge said. And enforcement of the healthcare ETS is squarely within OSHAs prosecutorial discretion, she added.
Raos ruling upset both NNU, the lead union in both cases, and the AFL-CIO.
This wasnt the result we were hoping forand we arent giving up, NNU Assistant Director Of Nursing Michelle Mahon, RN, wrote in an e-mailed request for petition signatures demanding OSHA issue a permanent anti-virus standard.
The pandemic is still ongoing, with nurses and other health care workers on the frontlines. As of today, nearly 500 registered nurses and more than 4,800 other health care workers have died due to Covid-19, and many more are suffering from long Covid.
Without the protections provided by a permanent standard, nurses and other health care workers are in grave danger. We have to increase the pressure on OSHA to act now:will you add your name to our urgent petition demanding OSHA pass a permanent standard? she asked. Its at act.nnu.org.
To safely care for us and our loved ones, nurses need to have personal protective equipment, proper testing and isolation practices, and infection control protocols in place. OSHAs permanent standard would guarantee these protections, sowe have to make them hear us, Mahon said.
Leaving discretion with the agency to issue an anti-virus standard at a time when U.S. health care worker deaths from Covid-19 are at the highest point since early 2021 disappointed AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. OSHA should swiftly complete and issue the permanent rule it announced in December when OSHA stopped enforcing emergency protections, and return to enforcing emergency protections, she added.
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Court bounces another union try for permanent federal coronavirus protection - People's World
Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK| The Gaston Gazette
North Carolina reported 21,899 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, down 8.6% from the previous week. The previous week had 23,959 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
North Carolina ranked 10th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 17.1% from the week before, with 543,317 cases reported. With 3.15% of the country's population, North Carolina had 4.03% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.
Gaston County reported 593 cases and 20 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 548 cases and two deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 74,538 cases and 910 deaths.
Across North Carolina, cases fell in 68 counties, with the best declines in Mecklenburg County, with 2,122 cases from 2,402 a week earlier; in Wake County, with 2,094 cases from 2,358; and in New Hanover County, with 304 cases from 444.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Within North Carolina, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Surry County with 457 cases per 100,000 per week; Yadkin County with 430; and Graham County with 426. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Mecklenburg County, with 2,122 cases; Wake County, with 2,094 cases; and Guilford County, with 1,165. Weekly case counts rose in 29 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Alamance, Sampson and Gaston counties.
In North Carolina, 492 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 83 people were reported dead.
A total of 3,120,822 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 26,335 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,748,404 people have tested positive and 1,047,498 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 4. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Hospitals in 10 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 15 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 21 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
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Gaston County reported 593 additional COVID-19 cases this week - Gaston Gazette
Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK| Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
New coronavirus cases increased 7.9% in Ohio in the week ending Sunday as the state added 25,280 cases. The previous week had 23,436 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Ohio ranked ninth among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 17.1% from the week before, with 543,317 cases reported. With 3.51% of the country's population, Ohio had 4.65% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.
Fairfield County reported 324 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 278 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 43,566 cases and 438 deaths.
Within Ohio, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Lawrence County with 629 cases per 100,000 per week; Pike County with 605; and Gallia County with 592. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Cuyahoga County, with 2,411 cases; Franklin County, with 2,065 cases; and Hamilton County, with 1,620. Weekly case counts rose in 57 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Butler, Hamilton and Lawrence counties.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Across Ohio, cases fell in 29 counties, with the best declines in Darke County, with 54 cases from 102 a week earlier; in Montgomery County, with 1,058 cases from 1,106; and in Seneca County, with 115 cases from 151.
In Ohio, zero people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, three people were reported dead.
A total of 3,074,826 people in Ohio have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 39,490 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,748,404 people have tested positive and 1,047,498 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 4. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Hospitals in 10 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 15 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 21 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
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Fairfield County reported 324 additional COVID-19 cases this week - Lancaster Eagle Gazette
NEW YORK CITY -- Americans may need to get a single COVID-19 vaccination every year, federal health officials said Tuesday, making clear that the country will be living with the coronavirus for the foreseeable future.
"This week marks an important shift in our fight against the virus," said Dr. Ashish Jha, who is leading the White House COVID-19 Response Team. "It marks our ability to make COVID vaccines a more routine part of our lives as we continue to drive down serious illness and deaths and protect Americans heading into the fall and winter."
Though Tuesday's announcement isn't a surprise -- the Biden administration has been hinting at such a shift since the spring -- it is a significant moment as the government continues to de-escalate its pandemic response.
Jha said the newly authorized updated COVID-19 boosters would be free of charge to all who qualify and want them, but future vaccines and treatments may not be, as funding for the pandemic response dwindles and the government begins to shift therapeutics to the commercial market.
Vaccine experts said the shift to yearly shots signals that COVID-19 isn't going away.
"Our great-great-grandchildren will be getting coronavirus vaccines," said Dr. Gregory Poland, who directs the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "Just like you and I, when we get our flu vaccine this fall, one of the components we'll get is derived from the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, and 100-plus years later, we're still immunizing against it."
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said on Twitter that it could be the right time to move to annual boosters if we could answer some key questions, like how well do the updated shots work?
"What do you put in next year's shots?" Hotez tweeted. "What global surveillance mechanisms need to be implemented to identify early strains?"
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday that although he expects this fall to be the beginning of annual shots for COVID-19, those who have weakened immune systems might need more frequent protection.
"In the absence of a dramatically different variant, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated COVID-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population," he said.
Fauci said the latest boosters should continue to protect Americans as long as the coronavirus changes incrementally, drifting away from the currently circulating BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
He acknowledged that the plan to give annual shots might need to be revised if the coronavirus makes a significant evolutionary leap, as it did when the Omicron variant surfaced around Thanksgiving. He likened this to an "out-of-left-field curveball."
"There's nothing we can do about that except know that we have vaccine platforms that will allow us to quickly move to address that," Fauci said.
But he stressed that barring any big changes to the virus, the updated boosters should continue to protect in the year ahead and could be updated annually.
Tuesday's announcement marked a shift in how COVID-19 prevention is messaged, too.
"The biggest problem with the vaccines today is that people aren't getting them," said Dr. Robert Wachter, who chairs the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco.
Only about 1 in 3 Americans ages 5 and up have had a booster, according to CDC data.
In planning the announcement, Wachter said, the White House and CDC were hoping to get more people boosted by taking away some of the uncertainty about when they might need their next shots.
The overall goal, he said, was to make boosters feel more manageable by casting them as something you do every year, like getting a flu vaccine.
"I think it's a really smart way of rebranding and rethinking it," Wachter said.
At Tuesday's briefing, Jha urged Americans 12 and older to take advantage of the updated boosters, stressing that it was the first time the country has had vaccines that match the currently circulating variants.
He also said people should get their flu shots at the same time as their COVID-19 vaccines.
"I really believe this is why God gave us two arms, one for the flu shot and one for the COVID shot," Jha quipped.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "the benefits of being up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines are clear."
BA.5 and BA.4 are the dominant circulating variants of COVID, she said. Although hospitalizations are down 14% since last week, there are more deaths now than in the spring.
"The seven-day average daily deaths are still too high: about 375 per day, well above the around 200 deaths a day we saw earlier this spring and, in my mind, far too high for a vaccine-preventable disease," Walensky said.
Fauci said his message to Americans "is simple: Get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you are eligible in order to protect yourself, your family and your community against COVID-19 this fall and winter."
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COVID-19 News: Americans may need yearly shots to protect against coronavirus - KFSN-TV
Human Rights CouncilFifty-first session12 September7 October 2022Agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,political, economic, social and cultural rights,including the right to development
Summary
In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolutions 33/14 and 42/23, the Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Saad Alfarargi, examines response to and recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID19) pandemic from the perspective of the right to development at the national level, highlights good practices and reviews challenges in ensuring the meaningful participation of rights holders. The Special Rapporteur concludes the report with recommendations on integrating the right to development into such plans.
I. Activities of the Special Rapporteur
The present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolutions 33/14 and 42/23, outlines the activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on the right to development since September 2021.
In October 2021, the Special Rapporteur presented a thematic report to the General Assembly, in which he examined the relationship between the right to development and climate change from an international perspective. In the report, he noted the challenges that developing countries continue to face due to limited participation, access to information, accountability and remedies, funding and technology. In his view there must be a just transition away from a carbon-based economy towards one that is based on sustainable development, the protection of human rights and the principle that no one will be left behind. This future can only be achieved by understanding the Paris Agreement in the context of the right to development and equity between the global North and South, in which the global North assists the global South in building a climate-resilient economy. Such an economy will require significant funding for developing countries so that they can adapt to climate change and become equal partners in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. In his report, the Special Rapporteur also provided practical recommendations geared to meeting climate change challenges in four key areas: international cooperation; participation and access to information; accountability and remedies; and financial obligations for assistance to address climate change.
In October 2021, the Special Rapporteur also issued a policy brief on climate action and the right to development, presenting a summary of his recommendations and encouraging all countries participating in the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate in Glasgow, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from 31 October to 12 November 2021, to integrate those recommendations into their decision-making.
On 14 October 2021, the Special Rapporteur, together with five other mandate holders, sent a total of 44 letters to member States of the Group of Seven and the Group of 20, the European Union and the World Trade Organization, including to representatives of pharmaceutical companies that were either already producing or were preparing to produce coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines and to their home States. The letters called for urgent collective action to achieve equal and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines.
On 3 November 2021, the Special Rapporteur participated in the fourth session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development.
On 4 December 2021, the Special Rapporteur issued a public statement on the occasion of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, joined by 27 members of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development and special procedures mandate holders, calling for rapid implementation of the commitments made by countries at the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention.
In its resolutions 33/14 establishing and 42/23 extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, the Human Rights Council requested that he contribute to and provide his views on the work of the Working Group on the Right to Development. The Special Rapporteur held interactive dialogues with the members of the Working Group during its twenty-second session, on 22 November 2021, and its twenty-third session, on 16 May 2022, providing an update on his planned work and engaging in a discussion regarding the implementation of the right to development. In the course of those dialogues, he also stressed the challenges and opportunities faced by the Working Group during the negotiations on the draft legally binding instrument on the right to development, encouraged Member States to engage in constructive dialogue and noted the numerous positive aspects of the draft.
The Special Rapporteur participated in several online events related to the right to development, notably in two informal discussions organized by the Movement of NonAligned Countries in October 2021 and April 2022. He also participated in the first Global Citizens Assembly, held in October 2021 on the occasion of the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and in a conference organized by the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico in December 2021 on the challenges to and prospects of the human right to development. In April 2022, the Special Rapporteur delivered a statement to the World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Civil Society Policy Forum at a session devoted to the IMF gender strategy; participated in an online side event of the Economic and Social Council Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up, entitled Filling the private finance regulatory gap: moving beyond the de-risking State; and took part in the meeting on the human right to science, organized within the framework of the Geneva Human Rights Dialogues organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In July 2022, the Special Rapporteur will participate in the high-level political forum on sustainable development, the United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Continued here:
Leszek Szymaski/PAP
Poland recorded 21,337 confirmed coronavirus cases and 101 deaths between September 1 and 7, 2022, data released by the Health Ministry on Wednesday shows.
In total, 6,198,213 cases have been confirmed and 117,194 people have died since March 4, 2020, when the first SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected in Poland, the country's health ministry reported.
To date, Poland has already distributed 56,264,006 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, with 22,549,299 people having been fully vaccinated, of whom 13,562,040 have also had a booster jab, according to data posted on the official government website, gov.pl.
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Poland reports 21,337 coronavirus cases, 101 deaths between Sept 1-7 The First News - The First News
Oregon will no longer publish daily COVID-19 updates, scaling back reporting of some data to once a week and other information to once a month.
The Oregon Health Authority said the new reporting schedule reflects a new era in the states pandemic response as cases and deaths decline, severity wanes and as recently approved boosters are expected to enhance immunity.
These factors have prompted a scaling back of staff dedicated to the response, and as a result, fewer staff available to collect, analyze and publish the data, spokesperson Jonathan Modie said in an emailed statement. Shifting staffing at this stage of the pandemic allows us to dedicate resources to other public health responses.
A variety of metrics show the virus is receding. Hospitalizations fell to 269 occupied beds Sept. 7, down from 464 in mid-July, and reported cases as of Tuesday fell to a weekly average of less than 500 per day.
Starting Sept. 14, the states public data dashboard will no longer include daily updates of new reported cases and deaths or the percent of tests that came back positive for COVID-19. It will now publish that information weekly, along with hospitalization numbers, on Wednesdays. Vaccination numbers, currently published once a week, will be published once a month.
Here's a full list of changes the Oregon Health Authority is making to its publication schedule.
The policy shift comes despite a new forecast from Oregon Health & Science University that predicts a fall surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. According to the latest model, published Sept. 2, hospitalizations could start climbing again in November, though 60% or more could be incidental, meaning that people were hospitalized for a different condition and happened to test positive for COVID-19.
The state would go back to daily reporting if hospitalizations rise to the point that the information would be useful, health authority director Patrick Allen said at a news conference Wednesday. But Allen said he doesnt anticipate needing to go back to daily reporting.
Thats a pretty modest surge compared to where weve been earlier in the pandemic, he said.
The OHSU forecast does not include the impact of new bivalent vaccines that train the immune system to recognize both the original strain of COVID-19 and the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, preventing infection, transmission, serious illness and death.
The booster has been approved for use in Oregon and nearly 70,000 doses have already been delivered to the state, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state epidemiologist, said during a news conference Wednesday. Another 75,500 doses are slated to arrive, and Sidelinger said the combined total should be enough to meet initial demand.
Modernas version is available for people 18 and older and Pfizers for those 12 and older. For both boosters, individuals are eligible if they completed their vaccine series at least two months ago or got their booster two months ago, regardless of the version they got previously. About 2.7 million Oregonians are eligible, Sidelinger said.
People looking for a place to get a shot can search for locations and appointments on getvaccinated.oregon.gov.
There is also also good news about the other infectious disease outbreak Oregon is currently facing: monkeypox. Nationally, cases have started to decline as people get vaccinated and change their behaviors to prevent spread of the disease, Sidelinger said, and he expects Oregons outbreak will follow a similar path. As of Wednesday, Oregon has reported 179 confirmed and presumptive monkeypox cases.
Hopefully, were nearing the worst of this and well start to see a decline soon, Sidelinger said.
Fedor Zarkhin
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A cough is one of the hallmark symptoms of COVID-19. But a cough is also a typical symptom of many other conditions, including the flu, the common cold, or seasonal allergies.
If youre coughing, you may wonder how or if you can tell whether its due to COVID-19 or a different condition. This article will look at some ways you may be able to tell the difference.
Researchers in 2021 tried to study the sounds a person makes to determine if they can detect COVID-19 via cough.
They have been able to tell the difference between a person who coughs to, say, clear their throat versus someone who coughs because they have an illness. But there isnt a way to definitively diagnose COVID-19 by cough sound detection, according to a 2022 study.
About two-thirds of coughs related to COVID-19 are dry coughs that dont produce mucus, according to the same 2022 study. This means that most coughs are going to be dry and hacking. With dry cough, its often hard to stop coughing once you start.
Still, you may sometimes cough up mucus when you have COVID-19.
These characteristics differ from a normal cough, where your body is trying to get rid of some kind of irritant. Such coughs are usually self-limiting and wont continue throughout the day.
Its difficult to tell by listening to your cough whether you have COVID-19 or something else. But COVID-19 is often accompanied by other hallmark symptoms.
The following chart breaks down some common symptoms of conditions that may cause you to cough. This chart may help you if you are trying to determine whether your cough is due to COVID-19.
The most definitive way youll be able to tell is through testing. You can use tests that determine whether you have COVID-19, the flu, or both and yes, you can get both COVID-19 and the flu at the same time.
While no specific tests exist for the common cold, they can sometimes help you rule out other conditions. If a healthcare professional rules out COVID-19 and flu, a cold could be a likely cause of your cough. Colds also tend not to last as long as the flu or COVID-19.
If you have a cough related to COVID-19, you may experience chest discomfort and interrupted sleep a concern when youre trying to rest and recover.
Some methods you can use to specifically address your cough include:
Using cough medication can be controversial if you have a wet cough that brings up mucus. If you suppress your cough, you may not get all the mucus up. Instead, you may wish to take a cough expectorant, which helps you cough the mucus up.
If you have a dry cough, which is typical with COVID-19, taking cough suppressants can help.
The following are some frequently asked questions about COVID-19 and coughing.
An estimated 2.5% of people reported a cough that lasted 11.2 months after hospitalization for COVID-19. While most peoples coughs dont last quite this long, an estimated 19% of people experience a cough after theyve gotten over most of the symptoms of COVID-19.
Coughing is a reflex that helps clear the airways of mucus, dust, and other irritants. A cough can also be a symptom of irritated airways. Even after recovering from COVID-19, your airways could take a little longer to heal.
Coughs tend to get worse at night for a few reasons.
If you have a runny nose, lying flat can worsen postnasal drip. This means the mucus runs down the back of your throat, irritating it and causing you to cough.
You may also notice your dry cough is worse at night because youre usually indoors, where the air tends to be drier and more irritating to your airways. Using a cool mist humidifier may help reduce this occurrence. (But be sure to keep the humidifier clean and dry when not in use).
An estimated 67% of people with COVID-19 experience a dry cough, according to 2021 research. A dry cough doesnt bring up mucus. The other 33% report coughing up mucus or phlegm.
Coughing up blood (hemoptysis) is a very rare symptom of COVID-19. About 1% to 5% of people with COVID-19 experience this symptom. Its most common if your infection leads to pneumonia or if you have a pulmonary embolism at the same time, per 2020 research.
Hemoptysis can be a medical emergency. If you cough up more than a teaspoon of blood, consider connecting with a healthcare professional as soon as possible.
A COVID-19 cough is usually a dry cough. Other symptoms, such as fever and fatigue, tend to accompany it. Treating the cough with OTC methods can help you rest more easily as you recover.
Some signs may suggest that your COVID-19 cough could be serious. If youre coughing up blood or if your cough makes you feel very short of breath, seem immediate medical attention.
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COVID Cough vs. Normal Cough: How to Tell the Difference - Healthline
On Wednesday morning, a new study was released that analyzed COVID-19 transmission at an Orlando conference during the peak of the omicron surge in February.Dr. Callisia Clarke from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee is the lead author. She and a group of six doctors compared how COVID-19 spread among in-person and virtual attendees at the Academic Surgical Congress held in Orlando from Feb. 1 to 3. Clarke said it is one of the largest annual surgical meetings. "The risk is inherent in our job. What we didnt want to do was increase that risk by gathering in a large group and then further contribute to the problem by essentially wiping out a major proportion of the physician workforce," Clarke said.Registrants could participate in person or virtually. For in-person attendees, there were measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus like encouraging self-testing, mandatory vaccination and masking and outdoor serving of food and beverages."That really negated people eating maskless. It also encouraged people to talk outside, remove their masks, be able to really communicate and interact in a more natural way but in a safe space," said Clarke. "It really decreased the rates of transmission I think because people were outdoors for a significant portion of the meeting."681 attendees chose to participate in the study. Within seven days of the meeting, people reported their COVID-19 test results. The study found a similar positivity rate among in-person and virtual attendees, with 1.8% positivity among in-person attendees and 1.5% positivity among virtual attendees. The doctors found cautious strategies to mitigate COVID-19 transmission during a surge were effective, and in-person meeting attendance posed no greater risk than professional hazards.""As we get back to normal, we can really continue to implement these strategies and continue to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe," said Clarke.The study concluded that "societies should continue to modify preventative strategies and evaluate safety measures so that meetings may be conducted as safely as possible to prevent viral transmission."
On Wednesday morning, a new study was released that analyzed COVID-19 transmission at an Orlando conference during the peak of the omicron surge in February.
Dr. Callisia Clarke from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee is the lead author. She and a group of six doctors compared how COVID-19 spread among in-person and virtual attendees at the Academic Surgical Congress held in Orlando from Feb. 1 to 3. Clarke said it is one of the largest annual surgical meetings.
"The risk is inherent in our job. What we didnt want to do was increase that risk by gathering in a large group and then further contribute to the problem by essentially wiping out a major proportion of the physician workforce," Clarke said.
Registrants could participate in person or virtually. For in-person attendees, there were measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus like encouraging self-testing, mandatory vaccination and masking and outdoor serving of food and beverages.
"That really negated people eating maskless. It also encouraged people to talk outside, remove their masks, be able to really communicate and interact in a more natural way but in a safe space," said Clarke. "It really decreased the rates of transmission I think because people were outdoors for a significant portion of the meeting."
681 attendees chose to participate in the study. Within seven days of the meeting, people reported their COVID-19 test results. The study found a similar positivity rate among in-person and virtual attendees, with 1.8% positivity among in-person attendees and 1.5% positivity among virtual attendees.
The doctors found cautious strategies to mitigate COVID-19 transmission during a surge were effective, and in-person meeting attendance posed no greater risk than professional hazards."
"As we get back to normal, we can really continue to implement these strategies and continue to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe," said Clarke.
The study concluded that "societies should continue to modify preventative strategies and evaluate safety measures so that meetings may be conducted as safely as possible to prevent viral transmission."
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