Category: Corona Virus

This new stage comes at a time when the public seems to be worn out by the virus and is less likely to want mandatory restrictions or want to take voluntary precautions that could help to stop the spread of the virus.

Likewise, a majority of Americans say they have gone out to eat, visited with friends or relatives, or visited a non-grocery retail store in the last week. Last winter, these were all minority positions.

Not only are more people going outside of their home, but they're far less likely to wear a mask when doing so. Only 38% of Americans report wearing a mask at all times in the last week in the Ipsos poll. This isn't much different than it was in other polls taken since this past summer. Last December, about double the percentage of Americans (74% on average) said they always wore a mask when outside of their home.

And when it comes to the willingness to vaccinate themselves, Americans really haven't budged. In the Ipsos poll, the percentage of adults with at least one dose or likely to get one has bounced between 78% and 83% in every poll taken since September. The Monmouth poll has the percentage who have already received or are likely to get one as soon as possible at 78%, which is the range (77% to 81%) it's been within since September.

As for booster shots, there continues to be a major dropoff compared to getting a first shot. Only 51% of adults say they have gotten one or will very likely get one in the Monmouth poll. This is the same as it was last month, even with omicron now on the table. CNN's poll found that only 46% of Americans say they've been boosted or have tried to schedule a booster.

Beyond just voluntary measures, the public seems no more likely to want too much government intervention either to control the spread. A majority (55%) in the Monmouth poll want the government to instituting mask and social distancing guidelines. This is not statistically significantly higher than it was this summer and actually lower than the 63% who wanted it back in September.

CNN's poll put support for mask mandates in public indoor spaces at just 49%.

When it comes to vaccine mandates, we've seen a gradual decline in support across a lot of polling. In the Monmouth poll, for example, 46% support a mandate for people to go to a job in which they're around other people. This was 51% in November and 53% in September. Now, 50% oppose it.

Even in the CNN poll, which showed a slight increase in the percentage of Americans who favored requiring vaccines for everyday to take part in everyday activities outside the home, support was just 54%.

The truth is that a lot of people seem to want to move on from the fights of the coronavirus that have consumed our society for nearly two years. There are other issues (mainly the economy) that the public deems to be bigger problems.

The question now is whether these numbers shift in the coming weeks as we fully enter winter. It's plausible, if things get really bad. So far, though, it hasn't happened.

Link:

Americans are less willing to take precautions as the coronavirus wears on - CNN

Britain's Prime Minster Boris Johnson is seen here during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre ... [+] at Hillingdon Hospital on December 17, 2021 in Uxbridge, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Well, so much for those Omicold claims about the Omicron variant. The Omicron variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is certainly not the same as the common cold. While the jurys still out on how virulent the Omicron variant may be, this new variant is proving that it can hospitalize and kill people, which is not what the common cold does. Today, the U.K. Health Security Agency reported that there have already been seven deaths and 85 hospitalizations related to the Omicron variant in the U.K. as of December 16.

Seven deaths is six more than what had been reported by the U.K. Health Security Agency the day prior and what Robert Hart had reported on for Forbes five days ago on December 13. So the chances of this number staying at seven are pretty darn low. Seven deaths may also be seven more than what you might expect with just the common cold.

According to the same report, the U.K. has had 24,968 confirmed Omicron variant cases as of 6 pm on December 17. Thats a 10,059 case change from the tally in the previous days report, which is a Dogecoin-esque rise. Before you start calculating any case fatality rates from these numbers, though, keep in mind that confirmed hospitalizations and deaths will lag case counts in time. This aint like the video game Minecraft where everyones head resembles a carboard box and deaths and other outcomes are immediately registered. Instead, it will take time for various Covid-19 outcomes to evolve and be reported.

Now its still not clear whether the Omicron variant may be less or equally likely to cause severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death compared to the Delta variant. Its been less than a month since the Omicron was first detected in South Africa, as I reported for Forbes. More time, studies, and data are needed. So take any declaration that you hear about how strong or weak this variant may be with a fanny pack and 10 Ugg boots full of salt.

A large queue forms for Covid-19 vaccinations and booster jabs at The Abbey Centre in Westminster on ... [+] December 14, 2021 in London, United Kingdom. The government announced it was accelerating its Covid-19 booster programme due to concerns about the Omicron variant. The UK now intends to offer every adult a booster jab before the end of the year. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

But lack of data and scientific information hasnt prevented some from making premature declarations, claiming that the Omicron variant is milder and weaker. And as with other things that are premature, this can leave a mess and people disappointed and confused.

For example, Marty Makary, MD, MPH, a Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who specializes in pancreatic surgery, said the following on Thursdays episode of the Brian Kilmeade Show, a FOX News Radio show:We're seeing this massive new wave of fear that is fueling our second pandemic after Covid-19, which is a pandemic of lunacy, which is omicron. Now I call it omi-cold.

OK, time out. Why was Makary calling the current pandemic our second pandemic after Covid-19? Does one need to consult the Count von Count from Sesame Street on this matter? If you count the number of Covid-19 pandemics since early 2020, you can start with the one where everyone began hoarding toilet paper. Then there was that pandemic where political leaders kept saying that the pandemic was rounding the corner, which was the basically the same pandemic as the first pandemic. And, oh, if you throw in the pandemic thats happening right now, you have a grand total of, lets see, one plus zero plus zero is one: one pandemic.

When exactly did that first original Covid-19 pandemic ever end? Did scientists, public health officials, medical doctors, and countries around the world somehow miss the memo? Was the memo perhaps written on toilet paper and then hoarded by someone? At no point since March 2020 has anyone with any real knowledge in the field declared the Covid-19 pandemic over.

Nevertheless, Makary went on to insist that the Omicron variant, stays superficial in the nose and bronchus. So that's why we're seeing a common cold-like illness. He added, This new scientific data from the lab explains the epidemiological data and the bedside observation of doctors that this is far more mild and that's why I call it omi-cold.

The following tweet includes a video of Makary using the same term omi-cold or omicold on a FOX News segment:

Calling the Omicron variant omicold may sound cute and all, a bit like rearranging the letters to spell moronic. But it is still too early to make such definitive statements about the Omicron variant. Eric Topol, MD, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, tweeted out preliminary findings from researchers at Imperial College London that found no evidence that the Omicron variant is less severe than the Delta variant:

And Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, warned against prematurely claiming that the Omicron variant is milder:

One things for sure. The SARS-CoV-2 is not just like the common cold. The common cold typically does not land people in the hospital and kill them, unless youve somehow shoved way too many tissues up your nose. You dont hear that many people complaining about having long cold, suffering persistent symptoms for months.

Being concerned about the Omicro variant and taking proper precautions are not the same thing creating panic or fear, as Makary seemed to suggest. Real public health experts have never said, OK, time for everyone to panic. Raise your hands above your head, wave your arms like you are doing jazz arms, start running, and scream. The emergence of the Omicron variant is not an unexpected disaster such as the cancellation of the TV series NCIS: New Orleans. No, its a reminder that everyone should be doing what they should have done before the Omicron emergence: get vaccinated, wear face masks when in public close to others, practice social distancing, keep the air in public areas well-ventilated, and maintain other established Covid-19 precautions.

One of the biggest tragedies of this pandemic has been politicians, TV personalities and others continuing to downplay the threat of the pandemic and urging everything to just return to normal. For example, back in September 2020, I covered for Forbes how some were still trying to minimize the Covid-19-related death count. That was when deaths in the U.S. had just topped 200,000. Well, about 600,000 deaths in the U.S. later, nothings really changed in that regards. Some still are pushing for the do nothing approach, which in the end will do exactly that: nothing.

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7 Deaths From Omicron Covid-19 Coronavirus Variant In UK, Showing Its Not The Omicold - Forbes

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins holds up a model of the coronavirus as he testifies before the Senate in May. Collins is retiring as director of the NIH. Sarah Silbiger/AP hide caption

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins holds up a model of the coronavirus as he testifies before the Senate in May. Collins is retiring as director of the NIH.

On his last day as director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins' frustration was evident.

"I get upset because people point to anecdotes of somebody who got sick even though they had been vaccinated and say, 'There, you see, it doesn't work,' " Collins told Fox News Sunday guest host Bret Baier. "That's way too simplistic."

As the omicron variant of COVID-19 is set to wend its way through the American population wreaking particular havoc on the unvaccinated 50 million vaccine-eligible Americans still haven't gotten even one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. "How did that happen?" Collins asked. "How did we get all of this so mixed up with social media, misinformation, and political insertion into the discussion? This is the thing for me on my last day as NIH director that I find particularly frustrating."

Collins' last day comes as the virus is ravaging the unvaccinated who often tend to be Fox News viewers. An NPR investigation this month found that vaccination rates are far lower in counties that strongly supported Donald Trump during the last presidential election. People in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump have been almost three times as likely to die from COVID-19. Studies have found that Fox News viewers are more likely to believe COVID-19 misinformation.

"We've got to remember, this is the enemy," Collins said, holding up a model of the virus. "It's not the other people in the other political party. It's not the people on Facebook who are posting all sorts of crazy conspiracies. This is the enemy. We in this country have somehow gotten all fractured into a hyper-polarized, politicized view that never should have been mixed with public health. It's been ruinous and history will judge harshly those people who have continued to defocus the effort and focus on conspiracies and things that are demonstrably false."

On CBS' Face the Nation Sunday, Collins warned that with its dozens of mutations, the omicron variant "has the properties to potentially be evasive of the vaccines." Collins urged the 60% of Americans who are eligible for a booster shot but haven't gotten one to take action.

Collins also noted that only one available monoclonal antibody treatment made by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology seems to be effective against the omicron variant. Regeneron's cocktail known as REGEN-COV has "diminished potency" against omicron, the company acknowledged last week.

GSK-Vir's treatment "still sticks to the spike protein that omicron has," Collins said key to protecting people against the virus. There is a push to produce more of that treatment, Collins said, adding that health officials will have to save that treatment for people who are at higher risk.

Collins also acknowledged the news from Pfizer that two doses of its vaccine are likely not enough to protect children under 5. That delays plans to introduce vaccinations for kids aged 2-4, as Pfizer now studies the effectiveness of a three-dose regimen. "Really we ought to think about surrounding them with vaccinated people to keep them from getting infected," Collins said.

Omicron is particularly concerning because of its "extraordinary" transmissibility, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on ABC News' This Week. Omicron has a "doubling time" of just 2-3 days, he said. That's the time it takes for the number of coronavirus cases to double and it's faster than delta, the current dominant strain in the U.S.

Based on data out of South Africa, where omicron has already been running through the population, it appears that the omicron variant leads to less severe symptoms and requires less hospitalization. But that might be due to other factors, Fauci said, like "the fact that their population has so much experience with prior infections that it might be underlying immunity that's making it look like it's less severe."

And even if omicron does turn out to be less severe than delta, the sheer number of expected omicron infections is likely to overcome the "slight-to-moderate diminution in severity," Fauci said, warning that U.S. hospitals "are going to be very stressed with people."

Read this article:

COVID is the real "enemy," outgoing NIH director tells Fox News : Coronavirus Updates - NPR

The NBA on Sunday postponed a total of five games involving nine teams in response to rising coronavirus numbers, raising the number of contests that have been pushed back this season to seven.

Called off were three Sunday games: Cleveland at Atlanta, Denver at Brooklyn and New Orleans at Philadelphia. Also shelved were Orlandos game at Toronto on Monday and Washingtons game at Brooklyn on Tuesday.

The postponements came on the same day that Atlanta announced star guard Trae Young entered the leagues health and safety protocols and the Los Angeles Lakers said coach Frank Vogel also was added to the list.

Leaguewide, through Sunday afternoon, there were at least 68 players who have either been ruled out to play or in the case of the postponed games, would have been ruled out because they are in the protocols. That number has soared in recent days, with the NBA just one of many sports leagues worldwide dealing with a rapidly worsening issue.

US officials are expecting a wave of breakthrough infections among the vaccinated given the surge of holiday travelers and gatherings expected in the coming days. The NBA has said 97% of players are fully vaccinated and somewhere around 60% had received boosters as of last week. It was not clear how many of the current positive cases involve those who are ineligible for a booster shot or those who have chosen not to receive one.

Also not clear is how many of the NBA cases involve asymptomatic players. The NFL has revised its protocols so that only unvaccinated players and those experiencing possible symptoms of Covid-19 will be tested. The NHL has five teams shut down through Christmas because of outbreaks, and numerous college games at all levels have been canceled in recent days.

It is what it is. Just trying to stay safe as possible and thats all you can do, Lakers guard Russell Westbrook said of the NBAs rising numbers. Westbrook was briefly in the protocols late last week, before returning at least three negative coronavirus tests and being cleared to return to play without missing a game.

The league and the National Basketball Players Association have been discussing a plan in which teams in desperate need of players would be able to sign reinforcements to 10-day contracts but without those deals impacting salary cap and luxury tax figures. That deal has not yet been finalized, though talks are continuing.

The Cavaliers had five players enter the protocols on Sunday, the team said. All five center Jarrett Allen, forwards Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler and guards Denzel Valentine and RJ Nembhard tested positive for Covid-19, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release that specific detail.

They joined Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley, who entered the protocols previously.

Vogel wont be on the bench when his Lakers play Sunday at Chicago. David Fizdale will coach in Vogels place, the Lakers said. The Bulls are returning to the court after having two games postponed last week.

Chicago still doesnt have all of its players back yet, either. Among those listed as out Sunday and still in protocols is Olympic gold medalist Zach LaVine.

Through Saturdays games, those were the only games the NBA had pushed back during this outbreak. But on Sunday, the league added significantly to the list of postponements, with teams simply not having enough players to compete.

Brooklyn alone has 10 players, plus some staff, in the protocols.

Its just crazy, Nets forward Blake Griffin said.

Brooklyns list of players in protocols includes Kevin Durant, James Harden and even though hes still not yet able to play Kyrie Irving, who has sat out all season for not complying with New York Citys vaccine mandate. The team reversed course Friday and said Irving would be welcomed back for games and practices in which he is eligible to participate, knowing hed still miss two games at the Knicks and trips to Toronto and Golden State.

The Nets had eight available players for Saturday nights game against Orlando. The Magic had nine, including four players Aleem Ford, Hassani Gravett, BJ Johnson and Admiral Schofield who were signed late last week to hardship contracts because of virus issues and injuries decimating Orlandos roster.

Heres how necessary they were: Magic coach Jamahl Mosley had all four on the court together in two separate stretches of Orlandos win.

Link:

NBA postpones five more games with coronavirus numbers on rise - The Guardian

December 19, 2021

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September 25, 2021

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September 23, 2021

The delta surge continues to pound the unvaccinated, who account for almost all coronavirus patients in critical care.

September 22, 2021

The 2-year-old was found Tuesday afternoon in a small farm pond off James Road and airlifted to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, according to officials.

September 16, 2021

The delta variant is pounding unvaccinated people, who account for almost all coronavirus patients in intensive care.

August 12, 2021

The statewide tally of inpatients confirmed with the disease has hit the highest level since early June, with Bangors Eastern Maine Medical Center seeing the sharpest spike.

August 10, 2021

Some nurses around the U.S. are leaving from pandemic burnout while others are getting better offers elsewhere.

Read the original:

How Maine lost control of coronavirus and became a national hot spot - Press Herald

Dec 20 (Reuters) - The upcoming New Year's Eve will mark the second anniversary of the first reported COVID-19 case in Wuhan, China. Since then, more than 272 million cases of the disease have been reported worldwide and over 5 million people have died of COVID-19.

To combat the health crisis, countries around the globe have administered more than 8.5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine and drugmakers have developed new treatments.

Here are some of the key moments of the COVID-19 pandemic from the past two years:

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DEC. 31 2019

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, the capital city of the Hubei Province. (https://bit.ly/3dUsKqv)

JANUARY 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Chinese authorities have determined the outbreak was caused by a novel coronavirus. Soon after, Thailand reported the first confirmed case of the coronavirus outside China.

China on Jan. 23 announced a lockdown in Wuhan, and at month-end the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern."

FEBRUARY 2020

The WHO named the novel coronavirus SARS-COV2, an acronym for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. It named the disease caused by the virus as COVID-19, an abbreviation for Coronavirus Disease 2019.

MARCH 2020

The WHO described the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic for the first time.

Italy's Lombardy region became the single deadliest coronavirus hotspot on the planet, with more than 3,000 deaths that eclipsed those in China's Hubei.

"The whole of Italy is closed now," read a headline in the Corriere della Sera newspaper after Rome imposed the most severe controls on a Western nation since World War II.

Several other countries, including Spain, France, Thailand, South Korea, Australia and Malaysia, also imposed lockdowns.

On March 13, the United States declared the pandemic a national emergency to free up $50 billion in federal aid. Later that month, California became the first U.S. state to issue a "stay-at-home order", while New York closed non-essential businesses.

India announced a nationwide lockdown on March 24, the same day when the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan were postponed.

On March 27, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for the coronavirus.

APRIL 2020

COVID-19 infections crossed 1 million and the WHO reported evidence that transmission from an infected person could occur before symptoms showed.

JULY 2020

On July 7, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive.

Later that month, Moderna and Pfizer launched large clinical trials of their respective COVID-19 shots.

SEPTEMBER 2020

Death toll from COVID-19 crossed 1 million, less than a year after the virus was discovered in China.

OCTOBER 2020

On Oct. 1, then-U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, a little more than a month before the presidential election.

NOVEMBER 2020

Pfizer (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech said their experimental COVID-19 shot was more than 90% effective in preventing the disease, the first successful interim data on a COVID-19 vaccine from a large-scale clinical test.

Moderna Inc (MRNA.O)became the second U.S. company to demonstrate success of its COVID-19 vaccine, reporting that its shot was 94.5% effective in preventing the disease.

DECEMBER 2020

Britain approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first country in the world to begin mass inoculations against the coronavirus.

On Dec. 11, the United States authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for emergency use for people aged 16 and older as deaths from COVID-19 in the country neared 300,000.

New variants of the coronavirus were detected in Britain, South Africa and India. The WHO classified the variants from the UK and South Africa as variants of concern. It later named the strains Alpha and Beta.

JANUARY 2021

The WHO classified the P.1 variant, first found in Brazil in November 2020, as "variant of concern" following a surge in cases and deaths in the country. It was later named the Gamma variant.

March 2021

Brazil's most-populous state Sao Paulo announced a partial lockdown to combat surging infections, driven in part by a patchy vaccine rollouts.

MAY 2021

The WHO declared the B.1.617.2 variant, first detected in India, as "variant of concern" at a global level. The variant fuelled a second wave of infections in the country, driving daily cases above 300,000 and crippling India's healthcare infrastructure.

The WHO later named the variant as Delta.

JUNE 2021

Global COVID-19 related deaths crossed 4 million as the Delta variant became the dominant strain across the world.

JULY 2021

Israel the became first in the world to step up efforts against the Delta variant by rolling out booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those aged over 60.

AUGUST 2021

The U.S. FDA authorized a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for immunocompromised individuals.

SEPTEMBER 2021

U.S. regulators cleared booster shots of Pfizer's vaccine for those 65 and older, all people at high risk of severe disease and others who are regularly exposed to the virus.

OCTOBER 2021

The United States authorized Moderna vaccine boosters for some sections of its population and boosters from Johnson & Johnson for individuals 18 years and above. It also backed the use of a different shot from the original inoculation as a booster.

Worldwide COVID-19 deaths surpassed 5 million.

NOVEMBER 2021

On Nov.4, Britain became the first country in the world to approve an oral COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

The United States expanded eligibility for booster shots to all adults, even as the WHO voiced concerns about equitable supply of shots globally.

A new COVID-19 variant, later termed Omicron, was detected in Hong Kong and southern Africa.

DECEMBER 2021

On Dec. 12, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive for COVID-19.

As of Dec. 17, the death toll from COVID-19 stood at 5.6 million.

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Reporting by Leroy Leo and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ankur Banerjee and Aditya Soni

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Key moments of COVID-19 pandemic - Reuters

Los Angeles County health officials reported 3,512 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, more than double the number of cases recorded just a few days before.

That tally follows 3,730 new cases reported in LA. County on Saturday the highest single-day total in months sparking concerns of another winter surge stoked by holiday festivities. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise in California as the Omicron variant spreads.

There were 3,557 COVID-19 patients in the states hospitals as of Saturday, an increase of roughly 13% from two weeks before, according to The Times hospitalization tracker. On Sunday, L.A. County reported that 742 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, and nine people died from the virus.

Businesses in L.A. County are reporting notable outbreaks among workers, including 132 staff members who recently tested positive at SpaceX corporate headquarters in Hawthorne; 85 workers at the FedEx shipping center near Los Angeles International Airport; and 28 staff at Gjelina, a popular Venice restaurant.

California recorded 49 cases of the Omicron variant as of Wednesday, with 38 of those in L.A. County. Thats much lower than the 184,700 identified cases of the Delta variant, which remains the states dominant strain.

Health officials expect the number of Omicron cases to rise, as the variant is believed to be more contagious than Delta and better at evading immunity generated by vaccines or previous infections. Experts say vaccines still offer protection against severe illness and death caused by Omicron.

Although there are early indications that Omicron might cause less severe illness than other variants, hospitals could be overwhelmed if enough people are infected, health officials say. That comes as the system already faces multiple challenges, including significant staffing shortages and increased demand for other healthcare services such as flu treatment and procedures that were put on hold earlier in the pandemic.

Orange and Riverside counties on Friday reported their first documented cases of the Omicron variant. In Orange County, the variant was found to have infected a fully vaccinated man who had recently traveled domestically outside California and experienced mild illness, public health authorities said.

In Riverside County, the variant infected a 41-year-old fully vaccinated man who was tested in L.A. County on Dec. 8, public health officials said.

Outbreaks have forced the postponement of sporting events, including the Los Angeles Rams home game against the Seattle Seahawks scheduled for Sunday, which was moved to Tuesday, and the Anaheim Ducks road game against the Calgary Flames slated for Tuesday, which has not yet been rescheduled.

Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecasts that there could be more than 1 million new coronavirus cases recorded the week of Christmas. By contrast, around Halloween, there were 500,000 new weekly cases.

More here:

COVID-19 cases continue to rise in L.A. County as Californians brace for winter surge - Los Angeles Times

Manfredi, 5, receives his first dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at Nuovo Regina Margherita Hospital, as Italy begins vaccinating 5-11 year-olds, in Rome, Italy December 15, 2021. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

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ROME, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading quickly in Italy, with new cases identified in the country's north and south, the national health institute (ISS) said on Saturday.

The ISS reported that its network of regional laboratories had so far identified 84 Omicron cases, "a strong acceleration" from 55 early on Friday.

Thirty-three of the cases were found in the northern region of Lombardy, around Milan, and a further 20 in the southern region of Campania, centred on Naples.

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ISS President Silvio Brusaferro said the spread of Omicron was "widely expected, in line with what we have seen in other countries, and we will probably see an increase in cases in coming days".

Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the COVID-19 pandemic early last year, has seen new infections and deaths rising in recent weeks, but daily caseloads remain well below some other European countries such as Britain and Germany.

Italy reported 120 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 123 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 28,632 from 26,109.

Register

Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The rest is here:

Omicron coronavirus variant spreading fast in Italy - health body - Reuters

Facing an alarming increase in pro athletes testing positive for the coronavirus, along with the rest of the country, the N.B.A. announced Sunday that it would postpone five games, bringing to seven the total number of coronavirus-related postponements in the N.B.A. this season.

Also on Sunday, the N.H.L. announced that due to the concern about cross-border travel and given the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions, it would postpone 21 games slated for Monday through Dec. 23 and which pitted Canadian against U.S.-based teams. Those games are scheduled to resume on Dec. 27.

And the N.F.L. and N.F.L. Players Association on Saturday made a change to its testing protocols, the fourth such adjustment in a week.

They were the latest amendments to schedules and health rules pro leagues have made in lieu of stopping their seasons. With high vaccination rates among players and staff members, both the N.F.L. and N.B.A. have generally scaled back Covid-19 testing, which aligns with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the C.D.C., vaccinated individuals do not need to be tested unless they are exposed or show symptoms, advice that pro leagues seem to be embracing after previously testing with more frequency.

In a memo to all 32 teams sent Saturday, Commissioner Roger Goodell said players would be given test kits that they could use at home to help them identify and self-report a possible infection before entering the facility.

Vaccinated N.F.L. players who are asymptomatic will be subject to strategic and targeted tests, while players who report symptoms of a coronavirus infection will be tested promptly.

The N.F.L.s testing strategy mirrors other pro leagues, though the N.BA. and the N.H.L. temporarily instituted daily testing measures for players, regardless of vaccination status, amid the current surge fueled by the Omicron variant: N.B.A. players will be tested daily for two weeks starting Dec. 26, and N.H.L. players began testing on Saturday and will continue until at least Jan. 1.

I would not describe it as, were stopping testing for vaccinated players, Dr. Allen Sills, the N.F.L.s chief medical officer, said Saturday on a call with reporters. Were trying to test smarter and in a more strategic fashion.

Those decisions to rely on the self-reporting of symptoms raised fresh questions about whether players will do so and face the prospect of missing a start if they test positive. It has worked in other sectors of society, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Hospitals, for instance, have relied on the honor code and most do not test vaccinated employees weekly, in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adalja said sports leagues could also introduce other measures, like spot testing or symptom screening, to augment other testing.

I think that the N.F.L. players and the coaches have to be professional and know that they dont want to be putting other people at risk, Adalja said. They shouldnt be playing sick, but thats obviously going to be as good as the honesty of the people there.

The players union has pushed for daily testing for all players, as the league required in 2020, with the N.F.L.P.A. president, J.C. Tretter, writing in a September 2021 post to the unions website that merely testing vaccinated players weekly could allow virus transmission inside team facilities for a dangerously long window.

Goodells memo Saturday came on the heels of a bevy of Covid-19 protocol changes the N.F.L. made in a week in which it was forced to postpone three of this weekends games, the first such delays this season.

Dec. 19, 2021, 9:00 p.m. ET

Facing a single-day high in players positive tests last Monday, the league mandated booster shots for team staff members who work most closely with players. On Thursday, after more than 100 players tested positive during the week, the league reinstituted mandatory mask-wearing inside team facilities and restrictions on in-person gatherings. More than 130 players were placed on N.F.L. teams Covid-19 reserve lists last week, including at least 10 from the Los Angeles Rams, the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Football Team.

With the spike in positive cases threatening the weekends slate of games, the N.F.L. also changed its policies to allow options for fully vaccinated players who tested positive to become active more quickly, provided they are asymptomatic for at least 24 hours. Now those players may return from quarantine as soon as the day after their initial positive test.

On Saturday, the N.H.L. announced strengthened protocols that include daily testing for all members of a clubs traveling party. Players and coaches are prohibited from eating indoors at restaurants and bars, and are encouraged to wear masks indoors.

A joint statement from the league and the N.H.L.P.A. released Sunday said that after meetings with medical experts, the season would continue amid the postponements; so far 39 N.H.L. games will be rescheduled. The need to temporarily shut down individual teams would continue to be made on a case-by-case basis.

The statement also said that the league and players union were actively discussing the matter of the N.H.L.s participation in the coming Olympics in Beijing and expected to announce a final determination in the coming days.

Pfizer vaccine in younger children. The company said that a low dose of its coronavirus vaccine did not produce an adequate immune responsein 2- to 5-year-olds in ongoing clinical trials. The setback threatens to keep the vaccine from younger children for longer than many had hoped.

In England, the Premier League canceled nearly all of their soccer matches over the weekend because teams were overrun with positive cases.

Coronavirus cases have risen despite the high vaccination rates among players in pro sports. About 95 percent of N.F.L. players are vaccinated, according to the league. That far exceeds the rest of the country, where 72 percent of people ages 18 and up have been vaccinated. But it slightly trails other sports leagues only one N.H.L. player is unvaccinated, and 97 percent of N.B.A. players have been inoculated. Because of the high vaccination rates, Adalja said, daily testing for the inoculated is not necessary. That type of surveillance picks up cases that are not very clinically significant, because the infected are mostly asymptomatic or show mild symptoms.

Were going to have Covid cases in the N.F.L. 20 years from now theyre going to still be occurring, Adalja said. I think we have to think about what were trying to achieve.

Adalja expects the virus to become endemic and recommends that health officials in every arena put their efforts into navigating a reality in which the virus is a part of daily life. He added that, in that situation, everyday testing would not be valuable.

The N.F.L. did not mandate that its players be vaccinated, but relaxed its Covid-19 protocols and restrictions ahead of this season for those who did get inoculated, lifting mitigation guidelines like mask-wearing and decreasing the frequency of testing.

But with the uptick in positive cases, pro football has reinstated many of the 2020 policies that helped the league complete its entire regular season and postseason according to schedule, with only daily testing remaining the difference.

The relaxation of protocols highlights the choice sports leagues and other companies must make at this stage of the pandemic. Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and a professor at the University of Washington who has advised the Seattle Seahawks on Covid-19 issues, said he had sensed a desire among organizations to scale back mitigation measures to return to some sense of normalcy. Gupta said each entity would have to evaluate its tolerance for positive tests in an era in which vaccines offer strong protection against severe illness.

Were coming up at this at a pivot point, and I think Omicrons going to accelerate this, where we have to accept a new normal and a new risk paradigm, Gupta said in an interview last week.

For the last 22 months, its been a positive test, test, trace, isolate, Gupta added. I think were going to start normalizing toward what we can actually scale from a solution standpoint that is going to keep people out of the hospital. I bet that is what the N.F.L. is going to shoot for.

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Postponed Games and Increased Testing as Covid Continues to Impact Athletes and Teams - The New York Times

The news Friday did nothing to help.

The coronavirus and school shootings aren't related, but it seems the way we gather in public as a society -- to work, to learn, to travel and to live -- is evolving in uncomfortable ways.

A feedback loop of worry persists

That a vague rumor on TikTok could disrupt so many people for a day showed the power of social media and the fear of danger in the classroom, created by school shooting after school shooting.

As CNN reported, school districts in states ranging from Minnesota to Texas shut down schools on Friday "in response to a wave of videos, some mentioning specific schools, suggesting that students avoid coming to class on Dec. 17." Districts in other states, including Georgia, beefed up security and let parents know they were on top of things.

Why did this happen? What's befuddling is that no one seems to know exactly how the rumor began.

TikTok blamed local media reports for amplifying a trend it said was not actually on its platform.

There's a valid debate over how journalists should approach this type of story. Amplifying a joke or a rumor about school shootings is bad. If schools are shutting their doors and putting parents and students on edge, it is news.

One federal law enforcement source told CNN's Brian Fung and Geneva Sands the fear is that the news coverage of the hoax inspires an actual school shooter.

Students today are growing up with shooting drills to protect themselves against the unlikely but possible event of shootings, and masks to ward off the deadly virus.

"Every day it feels like I'm wading through this quicksand that keeps trying to pull me under," said Angela, a teacher at a small, alternative high school in Washington state. "I'm trying to reach the edge, but I can't quite grab it," she said.

Reality is setting in

On the pandemic front, Americans who have done everything right -- vaccinations, boosters and masks -- face the predicament of realizing the advice from the government may well change in a month or two as the virus changes.

Public health officials may have always said fighting the disease would require a layered approach, but their guidance has evolved in confusing ways as the virus has evolved. Masks were not recommended for the public. Then they were recommended. Then they were required in some places. Then it was OK for the vaccinated to drop them. Now they're recommended again and required in some places.

Vaccines were pushed as the main way to address the virus. They still are. But boosters have been added into the equation.

What should now be abundantly clear is that two-dose vaccines alone won't stop Covid-19, new variants may still emerge and masks are not going anywhere. It feels like we are still very far removed from a post-pandemic reality.

Vigilance and vaccines are still required. It's a matter of how many people die and whether hospitals are overwhelmed as we get there.

The answer, as always: it depends.

"Think about your vaccine as a very good raincoat," said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. "If you are going out into a drizzle, you're probably going to be well protected and not get wet.

"But if you're going into a thunderstorm, there's a higher chance of you getting wet, despite that very good raincoat."

I'm honestly not sure how much it's raining right now, but outbreaks of Covid-19 in hypervaccinated professional sports leagues, shuttered Broadway shows and reports of filling hospitals make for a cloudy forecast.

Just when it feels like something approaching a pre-pandemic level of ease is on the horizon, there's a new spike.

People are worried and worn out

General unease might not be a quantifiable thing, but there's evidence of frustration in public opinion polling.

In January 2020, less than half said things were going "pretty / very badly." Now, it's almost two-thirds.

Nearly half of people said they were angry about how Covid-19 has affected their daily lives. Both Republicans and Democrats felt worn out, but Republicans were much more likely to report anger.

To say Americans are "on edge" is just about the most hackneyed turn of phrase in the news business, but this holiday season it might actually be true.

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The reality of the pandemic is settling in. So is America's anxiety - CNN