Category: Corona Virus

As nations severed air links from southern Africa amid fears of another global surge of the coronavirus, scientists scrambled on Sunday to gather data on the new Omicron variant, its capabilities and perhaps most important how effectively the current vaccines will protect against it.

The early findings are a mixed picture. The variant may be more transmissible and better able to evade the bodys immune responses, both to vaccination and to natural infection, than prior versions of the virus, experts said in interviews.

The vaccines may well continue to ward off severe illness and death, although booster doses may be needed to protect most people. Still, the makers of the two most effective vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are preparing to reformulate their shots if necessary.

We really need to be vigilant about this new variant and preparing for it, said Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Probably in a few weeks, well have a better sense of how much this variant is spreading and how necessary it might be to push forward with a variant vaccine, Dr. Bloom said.

Even as scientists began vigorous scrutiny of the new variant, countries around the world curtailed travel to and from nations in southern Africa, where Omicron was first identified. Despite the restrictions, the virus has been found in a half-dozen European countries, including the United Kingdom, as well as Australia, Israel and Hong Kong.

Already, Omicron accounts for most of the 2,300 new daily cases in the province of Gauteng, South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday. Nationally, new infections have more than tripled in the past week, and test positivity has increased to 9 percent from 2 percent.

Scientists have reacted more quickly to Omicron than to any other variant. In just 36 hours from the first signs of trouble in South Africa on Tuesday, researchers analyzed samples from 100 infected patients, collated the data and alerted the world, said Tulio de Oliveira, a geneticist at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine in Durban.

Within an hour of the first alarm, scientists in South Africa also rushed to test coronavirus vaccines against the new variant. Now, dozens of teams worldwide including researchers at Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have joined the chase.

They wont know the results for two weeks, at the earliest. But the mutations that Omicron carries suggest that the vaccines most likely will be less effective, to some unknown degree, than they were against any previous variant.

Based on lots of work people have done on other variants and other mutations, we can be pretty confident these mutations are going to cause an appreciable drop in antibody neutralization, Dr. Bloom said, referring to the bodys ability to attack an invading virus.

South African doctors are seeing an increase in reinfections in people who already had a bout of Covid-19, suggesting that the variant can overcome natural immunity, said Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases physician at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Omicron has about 50 mutations, including more than 30 in the spike, a viral protein on its surface that the vaccines train the body to recognize and attack.

Some of these mutations have been seen before. Some were thought to have powered the Beta variants ability to sidestep vaccines, while others most likely turbocharged Deltas extreme contagiousness.

My best guess is that this combines both of those elements, Penny Moore, a virologist at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa, said of the new variant.

But Omicron also has 26 unique spike mutations, compared with 10 in Delta and six in Beta. Many of them seem likely to render the variant more difficult for the immune system to recognize and thwart.

There are many weve never studied before, but just looking at the location on the spike, they are in regions that we know are immuno-dominant, Dr. Moore said, referring to parts of the spike protein that interact with the bodys immune defenses.

Dr. Moores team is perhaps the furthest along in testing how well the vaccines hold up against Omicron. She and her colleagues are preparing to test blood from fully immunized people against a synthetic version of the Omicron variant.

Creating such a pseudovirus a viral stand-in that contains all of the mutations takes time, but results may be available in about 10 days.

To more closely mimic what people are likely to encounter, another team led by Alex Sigal, a virologist at the Africa Health Research Institute, is growing live Omicron, which will be tested against the blood of fully immunized people, as well as those who were previously infected.

Nov. 29, 2021, 9:49 a.m. ET

Those results may take longer but should provide a fuller picture of the vaccines performance, Dr. Sigal said.

If the vaccines prove to be much less potent against Omicron, they may need to be tweaked to enhance their effectiveness. Preparing for the worst, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson are planning to test an artificial version of Omicron against their vaccines.

The mRNA vaccines in particular Modernas and Pfizer-BioNTechs were built with technology that should permit rapid modification. Pfizers scientists can adapt the current vaccine within six weeks and ship initial batches within 100 days in the event of an escape variant that eludes the immune system, said Jerica Pitts, a spokeswoman for Pfizer.

Modernas work began on Tuesday, immediately after its scientists learned of Omicron the fastest the company has ever responded to a variant, said Dr. Stephen Hoge, Modernas president.

Even without data on Omicrons spread, it was obvious the variant would be a formidable threat to vaccines, he said.

This thing is a Frankenstein mix of all of the greatest hits, Dr. Hoge said, referring to the variants many concerning mutations. It just triggered every one of our alarm bells.

Moderna could update its current vaccine in about two months and have clinical results in about three months if necessary, he said.

Both companies also plan to test whether booster shots will bolster the immune system enough to fend off the new variant. Boosters of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been shown to raise antibody levels significantly.

But those antibodies may not be broadly effective against every iteration of the virus, and may not be enough to neutralize Omicron entirely, said Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University in New York.

People who recover from Covid and then receive even one dose of a vaccine tend to produce a broader range of antibodies, capable of recognizing more versions of the virus, than do people who are only vaccinated.

Its clear that hybrid immunity, the kind that people get when they are both infected and vaccinated, is superior, and that is very, very likely to take care of this thing, too, Dr. Nussenzweig said.

Understand the Omicron Variant

Scientists are racingto learn more about the Covid variant. Heres the latest.

After two doses of vaccine, we did not see that. But were hoping that after three doses, maybe therell be some catching up, he said.

Dr. Nussenzweig and his colleagues are preparing to test Omicron against the mRNA vaccines, as well as the vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. They hope to have results within a month.

Omicron-specific vaccines created in just weeks would be a miraculous feat. But the prospect of producing and distributing them raises daunting questions.

If new versions are required to protect people everywhere, companies should make them available to the African countries that most need them and can least afford them, Dr. de Oliveira said.

South Africa at least has managed to procure their own vaccines, he said. But poorer countries like Sudan, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho will need low-cost options.

Pfizer did not respond to a question about low-cost vaccines for African nations. Dr. Hoge, of Moderna, said the company already had an agreement with the African Union to deliver 110 million doses at $3.50 per half dose of vaccine.

Dr. Hoge said he recognized that 110 million was less than 10 percent of Africas population. But, he noted, were also the smallest of all manufacturers out there, and so 10 percent hopefully is useful.

Despite the frustration that South African scientists have expressed about vaccine inequity and punishing travel restrictions, they have been inundated with requests for genetic sequences of Omicron from Italy, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, as well as labs in North America.

The more teams involved, the better, said Dr. Moore, who received about 50 requests just on Saturday. As the virus moves across the globe, it is likely to keep changing. Getting the right combination of mutations in itself is a moving target, she said.

Researchers everywhere want to avoid drawing conclusions prematurely, a mistake they made when the Beta variant surfaced. Preliminary tests of that variant took only one known mutation into account and underestimated its ability to evade the immune system, Dr. Moore recalled. (Fortunately, the variant also turned out to be less contagious.)

To get a full picture of the effectiveness of the vaccines against Omicron, scientists must look not just at antibody levels but also at immune cells that can recognize and destroy infected cells. Immune cells called T cells are crucial for preventing an infection from progressing to serious illness and death.

Some of Omicrons mutations occur in parts of the virus targeted by T cells, meaning the variant may be more difficult for T cells to recognize.

Already, a computer simulation has predicted that those mutations may alter about six of the hundreds of regions that T cells can recognize, said Wendy Burgers, an immunologist at the University of Cape Town.

That may not seem like much. But people make varying sets of T cells, so depending on which targets the mutations knock out, some people may barely be affected by Omicron and others may be left vulnerable.

Dr. Burgers is hoping to obtain blood from 50 people infected with the variant to gauge how the mutations will play out across a population. Once the samples are in hand, results will be available after probably a week of very late nights and analysis, she said.

Even if the vaccines hold up against Omicron, new versions will probably be needed at some point, and perhaps soon. The virus is acquiring mutations much faster than expected, Dr. Bloom said.

Seasonal influenza is the often cited example of a virus that mutates quickly, requiring regular updates to vaccines. But the coronavirus is at least comparable and possibly even faster than that, Dr. Bloom said. Theres always going to be new variants arising.

Lynsey Chutel contributed reporting from South Africa.

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Will the Covid Vaccines Stop Omicron? Scientists Are Racing to Find Out. - The New York Times

Gov. Phil Murphy received his coronavirus vaccine booster shot Sunday at the Monmouth Medical Center and encouraged other adult residents to get their shots as concerns mount over a new coronavirus variant and rising case numbers.

Murphy, 63, now joins more than 1.23 million people in New Jersey who have received third doses or boosters.

The governor, who recently returned from a three-night Thanksgiving trip to Orlando with his family, also posted photos on social media of his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, getting her booster shot and his family holding up their vaccine cards.

Murphy and his wife received their first coronavirus vaccine doses in April as they toured one of the states six vaccine mega-sites in Atlantic City. The couple both received the Pfizer vaccination.

On Sunday, they each received a third dose of the Pfizer vaccination.

Officials are encouraging everyone 18 and older in New Jersey who has received their second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines six months ago or longer to get a booster shot. Thats after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this month that it opened booster shot eligibility to all adults.

Anyone 18 and older who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was already eligible for a booster two months after the single shot.

More than 6.17 million people who live, work or study in New Jersey a state of about 9.2 million residents have now been fully vaccinated. More than 8 million people in the state have received at least one dose, and more than 1.23 million people have received third doses or boosters.

As of Monday, at least 87,500 children between the ages of 5 and 11 in New Jersey have received vaccine doses since federal authorities approved the Pfizer shots for that age group two weeks ago, according to the state.

Officials are urging all eligible residents receive a vaccine if they have not already, aiming to ward off a winter surge as coronavirus cases rise and holiday travel picks up.

On Sunday, New Jersey reported another 1,599 cases and an additional four deaths. The states seven-day average for new positive tests increased to 1,809, up 10% from a week ago and up 58% from a month ago.

In all, New Jersey, has reported 1,082,586 total confirmed cases out of more than 16 million PCR tests conducted since it announced its first case March 4, 2020. There have also been more than 164,627 positive antigen or rapid tests, which are considered probable cases.

The state of 9.2 million people has reported 28,250 have died from complications related to COVID-19 25,516 confirmed and 2,823 considered probable.

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com or on Twitter @JacqueRoman.

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Gov. Murphy got his COVID booster shot and says you should too - nj.com

As of Friday, the variant was found in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Friday there was a "high to very high" risk the new variant would spread in Europe.

By Saturday afternoon, two cases were confirmed in the United Kingdom, two others in Germany and one in Italy. Dozens more are suspected in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The top infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also said it was possible the new variant was already in his country but was yet to be detected.

UK's Secretary of State for Health Sajid Javid said the two cases detected in the UK were linked to travel to southern Africa, the region where the Omicron variant was first detected. "These individuals are self-isolating with their households while further testing and contact tracing is underway," he added.

The German cases, identified in Munich, are two passengers who arrived from Cape Town on November 24, the Bavarian Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday.

"The individuals have been in domestic isolation since Nov. 25 following a positive PCR test. Following reports of the new variant, the two individuals had the foresight to arrange for themselves to be tested for the variant," authorities said.

The Italian case is in the southwestern region of Campania, a passenger who arrived from Mozambique, Italy's health ministry said in a statement. It didn't disclose the date of the passenger's arrival or nationality.

Earlier on Saturday, German authorities had identified a "suspected" case of the Omicron variant in Frankfurt from another passenger who returned from South Africa. The local health department said it should be able to confirm the full sequencing of the virus in this patient on Monday.

Similarly, health authorities in the Czech Republic are investigating a suspected case of the Omicron variant in a traveller who has recently arrived from Namibia, the Czech National Institute of Public Healthsaid in a statement emailed to CNN.

The institute said that that a PCR test indicated the infection could have been caused by the Omicron variant, but added that a full sequencing of the sample needs to be completed in order to confirm this. It said the sequencing work is underway.

Dutch health authorities are investigating whether 61 people traveling from South Africa who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday were infected with the new variant.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that to date no known Omicron cases have been identified in the United States, and that if the variant emerges, the agency expects that cases would be quickly identified through the nation's variant surveillance system.

Fauci, the CDC Director, told NBC Saturday, "I would not be surprised if it is [in the US], we have not detected it yet, but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility and you're having travel-related cases they've noted in other places already, when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is going to go all over."

GGD Kennemerland, the municipal health service responsible for the Amsterdam Schiphol airport, said the positive test results would be examined as soon as possible. Those who tested positive were sent into isolation at a nearby hotel, the Dutch authorities added.

But while WHO designated the Omicron a "variant of concern" on Friday, it stressed that more research is needed to determine whether the variant is more contagious, whether it causes more severe disease, and whether it could evade vaccines.

"This variant has a large number of mutations and some of these mutations have some worrying characteristics," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, said in a statement on Friday.

"Right now there are many studies that are underway ... so far there's little information but those studies are underway so we need researchers to have the time to carry those out and WHO will inform the public and our partners and our member states as soon as we have more information," she added.

Lawrence Young, a virologist and a professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom, said the Omicron variant was "very worrying."

"It is the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen to date. This variant carries some changes we've seen previously in other variants but never all together in one virus. It also has novel mutations," Young said in a statement.

South Africa cut off

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, the Philippines, Thailand and a number of other countries already announced or proposed bans on flights from the region.

Most, including the US, have restricted travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

The South African government has taken an issue with the travel bans, pointing out in a statement that the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention "strongly discourages" travel bans for people originating from countries that have reported the variant.

"Over the duration of this pandemic, we have observed that imposing bans on travelers from countries where a new variant is reported has not yielded a meaningful outcome," the statement said.

Scientists have praised South African health authorities for their quick reaction to a Covid-19 outbreak in the country's Gauteng province, which led to the discovery of the new variant.

When cases in the province started to rise at a higher rate than elsewhere, health experts focused on sequencing samples from those who tested positive, which allowed them to quickly identify the B.1.1.529 variant.

Peacock said the South African health ministry and its scientists "are to be applauded in their response, their science, and in sounding the alarm to the world."

She added the development shows how important it is to have excellent sequencing capabilities and to share expertise with others. That message was reinforced by WHO, which has on Friday called on countries to enhance their surveillance and sequencing efforts to better understand coronavirus variants.

But Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban said South Africa was being "punished" for its transparency and ability to pick up the variant quickly and flag the issue to the international health authorities.

"What I found disgusting and really distressing ... was not just the travel ban being implemented by the UK and Europe but that that was the only reaction or the strongest reaction. There was no word of support that they're going to offer to African countries to help us control the pandemic," he told CNN.

CNN's Martin Goillandeau, David McKenzie, Ghazi Balkiz, Laura Smith-Spark, Sharon Braithwaite, Antonia Mortensen, Tim Lister and Lauren Lau contributed reporting.

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World is put on high alert over the Omicron coronavirus variant - CNN

Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Black Friday. Stocks dropped after a coronavirus variant appears to be spreading across the globe. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Black Friday. Stocks dropped after a coronavirus variant appears to be spreading across the globe.

Stock markets around the world tumbled on Friday after scientists in South Africa identified a new, fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording its biggest single-day drop of the year.

At one point, the Dow fell more than 1,000 points before recovering slightly to close down 905 points, or about 2.5%, for the session. Oil prices dropped more than 10%, their steepest one-day decline since early in the pandemic.

Virologists are rushing to learn more about the variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 that was first identified in Botswana, and which is rapidly outcompeting other versions of the virus in the region of South Africa that includes Johannesburg.

The United States said it will restrict travelers from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday. It joined at least 10 other countries restricting travel from the region, including Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Singapore, The New York Times reported.

The variant, currently denominated B.1.1.529, reportedly could have far more mutations than those displayed by the delta variant, which became the dominant variant in most of the world over the summer.

It's not clear yet whether the mutations make this variant more infectious or whether it causes more severe illness, but researchers say the high number of mutations to the "spike proteins" the focus of a body's immune response may make it more able to get past the body's defenses.

Despite the spread of this variant, the number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa is still well below the delta surge earlier this year. But numbers are beginning to tick up again.

The European Commission recommended its members block travel from countries where the variant has been found, as Belgium reported a case, according to the BBC. The broadcaster said in addition to Botswana and South Africa, cases have also shown up in Hong Kong and Israel.

The World Health Organization called an emergency meeting on Friday, where it named the new variant omicron, after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, and designated it a "Variant of Concern."

"This news is putting the handbrake on markets," Peter Rutter, the head of equities at Royal London Asset Management, told Reuters.

"There is a huge range of outcomes that can happen. We could have serious lockdowns or we get no lockdowns and a booming economy," Rutter said. "The very fact we don't know, is what's concerning the market."

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were also down more than 2% on Friday, as U.S. markets closed early for the holiday.

Even after the global selloff, U.S. stock markets remain in positive territory for the year. The Dow is up more than 15% since the beginning of 2021, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both up more than 20%.

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Stocks and oil prices drop as the world reacts to new coronavirus variant omicron - NPR

Active coronavirus cases jumped by 163 in two days in Ulster County and Dutchess County on Friday reported one new COVID-related death.

Here are the latest local COVID-19 statistics.

Ulster County: 944 reported Friday, up 48 from the previous day and up and up 115 the day before that. (Peak was 2,622 on Jan. 30.)

Dutchess County: 715 reported Friday for Nov. 24, up 30 from the previous day and down 9 the day before that. (Peak was 2,576 on Jan. 16.)

Ulster County: 3.8%.

Dutchess County: 3.66%

Ulster County: 20,810 confirmed cases, 19,571 recoveries, 295 deaths. (No new deaths reported Friday.)

Dutchess County: 37,627 confirmed cases, 507 deaths. (One new death reported Friday.)

Data as of Thursday from New York states online vaccine tracker.

Ulster County: 67.74% fully vaccinated, 75.7% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 84.8% of 18+ population with at least one dose.

Dutchess County: 62.65% fully vaccinated, 70.6% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 80.2% of 18+ population with at least one dose.

Appointments: vaccinateulster.com, bit.ly/dut-vax, bit.ly/ny-vaxme.

For online local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to dailyfreeman.com/tag/coronavirus.

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Active coronavirus cases surge in Ulster; Dutchess reports one new death - The Daily Freeman

Despite its remote location, the Peruvian city of Iquitos on the Amazon River was one of the first parts of the country to be hard hit by COVID-19. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Despite its remote location, the Peruvian city of Iquitos on the Amazon River was one of the first parts of the country to be hard hit by COVID-19.

People in Iquitos, Peru, refer to their city as "una isla," an island, even though it's not an island. Iquitos is a port city of roughly 400,000 people on the Amazon River in northeastern Peru. Residents proudly note that it's the largest city in the world that's unreachable by road. You can only get there by boat or by plane.

In the early days of the COVID pandemic being isolated seemed like an advantage. It might delay the arrival of the virus. It might make it easier to contain. But that didn't turn out to be the case for Iquitos.

The first COVID cases appeared in Iquitos in March of 2020 at a time when cases were starting to pop up in many parts of the world.

Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, in his office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. In the early days of the pandemic, he says he wasn't too worried about this new coronavirus. But his early optimism would quickly evaporate. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, in his office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. In the early days of the pandemic, he says he wasn't too worried about this new coronavirus. But his early optimism would quickly evaporate.

"We were hearing news about the pandemic in other countries," says Catholic priest Raymond Portelli, who is also a physician. "But sincerely, we thought it wasn't going to be that disastrous and it wasn't going to come to Iquitos."

The disaster unfolding in Iquitos would quickly play out across the South American nation. Peru's death toll from COVID is now the worst in the world, far higher than any of its neighbors and twice the rate of the United States. In Peru COVID officially caused nearly 6,000 deaths for every 1 million Peruvians. In neighboring Ecuador the mortality rate is just over 1,800 per million. In the U.S. the COVID death rate is roughly 2,400 per million.

Mariana Leguia, an infectious disease expert in Lima, says a combination of factors made COVID so deadly in Peru. "It was sort of a perfect storm," says Leguia, who directs the genomics laboratory at the Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per.

Padre Raymundo, as he's known, runs a medical clinic in Iquitos on the ground floor of his church 6 days a week.

"In the morning, I'm a doctor. And in the evening I'm a priest," he says with a laugh.

In July 2020, priest and physician Raymond Portelli held a mass paying homage to local educators who died of COVID-19. Cesar Von Bancels/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

In July 2020, priest and physician Raymond Portelli held a mass paying homage to local educators who died of COVID-19.

Portelli, who's originally from Malta, has been in Iquitos for the last 25 years.

He says that in those early days of the pandemic, he wasn't too worried about this new coronavirus that was causing such a ruckus elsewhere in the world.

But that early optimism would quickly evaporate. On March 15, 2020, just as the first coronavirus cases started appearing in Iquitos, Peru went into a strict nationwide lockdown.

Flights linking Iquitos back to the capital were cancelled. Boat navigation on the Amazon River, the main source of traffic in and out of Iquitos, was also officially banned although some boats still moved surreptitiously on the massive murky brown waterway.

Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, treats a patient in his clinic inside the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, treats a patient in his clinic inside the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru.

Portelli says part of the problem at that point was that the region was also being hit with a spike in dengue cases.

"We were kind of like, 'Is it dengue or is it something else?'" the doctor-priest says. "Then the whole thing erupted."

Like much of the rest of Peru, Iquitos was ill-equipped to deal with an eruption of COVID cases. Doctors had no way to test for the virus. There was no known treatment.

Juan Carlos Celis Salinas, a doctor at the Loreto Regional Hospital, stands by a memorial to the medical staff who died from COVID-19 during the first wave in Iquitos, Peru. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Juan Carlos Celis Salinas, a doctor at the Loreto Regional Hospital, stands by a memorial to the medical staff who died from COVID-19 during the first wave in Iquitos, Peru.

And at the time there were only 12 ICU beds in the vast Loreto Province, where Iquitos is the capital an astonishingly low number for a region that stretches across 500 miles of rainforest, pushing up against Ecuador, Colombia and the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

Seven of those beds were at the Loreto Regional Hospital in Iquitos, which was designated as the hospital for treating COVID.

By mid-May of 2020 that hospital was on the verge of collapse. The hallways were filled with patients on Army cots.

Dr. Juan Carlos Celis Salinas inside a now empty COVID ward at the Iquitos Regional Hospital. In the early days of the pandemic, he says, that hospital was on the verge of collapse. Hallways were filled with patients on cots. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Dr. Juan Carlos Celis Salinas inside a now empty COVID ward at the Iquitos Regional Hospital. In the early days of the pandemic, he says, that hospital was on the verge of collapse. Hallways were filled with patients on cots.

Dr. Juan Carlos Celis Salinas, the head of infectious diseases at the hospital, says the facility was completely full. "Beds, beds, beds, beds," Celis says, pointing out where cots had been set up in the main lobby of the hospital. Some people were even lying on cardboard on the floor.

Mariana Leguia, the infectious disease expert at the Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per, says part of the perfect storm that made COVID so bad in Peru was its dependence on imports. Like many middle-income countries, Peru doesn't produce much of its own medical supplies.

"That means that all the PPE, all the tests, all the molecular tests, all the antibody tests, absolutely everything comes from someplace else," she says. "At the beginning of the pandemic, it was basically impossible to compete for these things because everybody wanted them."

Every country in the world was scrambling to buy up masks, protective gear, ventilators. Peru was not only competing against neighboring South American nations for pandemic supplies but against wealthy nations like Germany, the United States, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Peru didn't have the cash or the clout to compete in that frantic market.

Other factors in Peru's COVID storm were an underfunded public health-care system, overcrowded living conditions and a huge informal economy. An estimated 70% of Peruvians survive off informal jobs, making it nearly impossible for them to adhere to the nationwide lockdown. Nearly a quarter of Peru's 33 million citizens live below the poverty line.

Boats anchored in the port of Indiana down the Amazon river from Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is only accessible by air or water. Residents thought that that isolation might slow the arrival of COVID-19, but that didn't prove to be the case. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Boats anchored in the port of Indiana down the Amazon river from Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is only accessible by air or water. Residents thought that that isolation might slow the arrival of COVID-19, but that didn't prove to be the case.

"So when the shutdown came, these people are completely out of a job," notes Leguia. "In a situation like that, your priority becomes having something to eat for the day, not staying at home and trying not to get the virus."

During the pandemic Peru also lacked the stable political leadership needed to address the crisis at home and negotiate for medical supplies from abroad.

"Last year, I think we had four presidents, five presidents. I lose count," Leguia says. The correct number was four. But whether it was four or five, she says the political situation made it nearly impossible for the government to effectively respond to this huge medical, economic and social crisis. "Because there's massive turnover of the authorities happening every three months," she says.

The coup de grce for Peru was a lack of oxygen. Peru not only didn't have sufficient supplies of medical oxygen to treat patients, it had restrictive, cumbersome regulations on bottling oxygen that had limited the market to just a few local companies.

A shortage of oxygen contributed to Peru's high death rate. Above: empty oxygen tanks in the medical office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

A shortage of oxygen contributed to Peru's high death rate. Above: empty oxygen tanks in the medical office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos.

"In the context of the pandemic, the main driver of deaths was actually lack of oxygen," says Leguia.

And that's also what led to the avalanche of deaths in Iquitos, she says.

In Iquitos in early May of 2020, the sole oxygen plant at the regional hospital broke down.

Dr. Celis says it was the darkest moment of the pandemic.

"When a patient is without oxygen," he says. "They don't scream. They die as if a candle were being blown out."

Patients who probably could have been saved just with supplemental oxygen instead slipped away, says Celis.

The surge in deaths led to chaos. The hospital's morgue was full. The city's crematorium also couldn't keep up and eventually shut down. Mortuaries had been taking in bodies but then in the midst of the lockdown couldn't schedule funerals. In addition, several funeral directors got infected and died.

A relative of a COVID-19 patient waits to try to refill a medical oxygen tank in Iquitos in mid-May of 2020. The main oxygen plant in the city broke down days earlier leading to a surge in COVID deaths. Cesar Von Bancels/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A relative of a COVID-19 patient waits to try to refill a medical oxygen tank in Iquitos in mid-May of 2020. The main oxygen plant in the city broke down days earlier leading to a surge in COVID deaths.

Meanwhile, staff at the hospital were working long shifts, sweating in the tropical heat with only a single mask. Doctors and nurses, including Celis, started getting infected. Sixteen staff members including 6 doctors from the hospital didn't survive.

As oxygen tanks drained with no way to refill them, Celis says all his staff could do was try to make patients comfortable.

"You weren't doing something heroic," he says. "You were just resisting because you had to do your job. You felt responsible to be there but with this immense fear for your children, your wife, your family."

In Iquitos, the story of an isolation center captures the mounting tragedy and a possible path forward.

At that same time that the main hospital in Iquitos was overrun with COVID patients, Padre Raymundo Portelli was overseeing a church-run isolation center for what were supposed to be mild to moderate COVID cases.

"I was attending nearly 70 to 80 patients hospitalized there," the doctor-priest says.

But more and more people kept testing positive. And many the patients in the isolation center were getting progressively sicker. Given that services at the main hospital had collapsed Portelli had nowhere to transfer them.

People wait outside the medical clinic of the priest and doctor, Raymond Portelli, located in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. Portelli sees 30 patients a day and says he now rarely sees COVID cases. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

People wait outside the medical clinic of the priest and doctor, Raymond Portelli, located in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. Portelli sees 30 patients a day and says he now rarely sees COVID cases.

"Patients were dying for lack of oxygen," he says. "And I was sitting here, I remember I'd said mass for them. But I didn't know what to do."

Then a friend in Lima suggested that Portelli should take up a collection to buy a new oxygen plant and bring it to Iquitos. Portelli laughs as he recalls the conversation. He was skeptical. He didn't know how much an oxygen bottling plant would cost, or even if he could get hold of the industrial compressors and other materials needed for one as it was becoming clear around the world that oxygen was a key treatment for COVID. Nonetheless, he posted a request for donations on his Facebook page.

"And in one day, one day! there was a million soles in my accounts." Portelli was amazed.

Volunteers sort medicines that are distributed free of charge at a medical clinic in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. The pastor of the church was instrumental in bringing in a desperately-needed oxygen plant to the city in the worst days of the COVID pandemic. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

Volunteers sort medicines that are distributed free of charge at a medical clinic in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. The pastor of the church was instrumental in bringing in a desperately-needed oxygen plant to the city in the worst days of the COVID pandemic.

A million Peruvian soles is about $250,000. Within two weeks Padre Raymundo along with the local health department had bought the equipment in Lima for a new bottling plant, arranged to fly it to Iquitos and assembled it at the regional hospital. At first the demand for oxygen was so great from health workers and citizens lining up with cannisters for a sick family member that the city had to station police officers at the plant to keep a semblance of order.

Padre Raymundo's fundraiser continued, and he eventually raised enough money for four more plants for Iquitos.

Health authorities also built a temporary 150-bed COVID ward on what used to be a soccer field behind the regional hospital. It wasn't finished until after the first wave of the pandemic had subsided over several months, hitting a low in November. But Dr. Celis says it was literally a lifesaver during the second wave that swept in to the Amazon region in January 2021.

Peru's second wave of cases peaked in April of this year. Cases and deaths have now plateaued at relatively levels. Health officials say they've been bracing for a third wave that so far hasn't arrived. The problem now, Dr. Celis says, is that the regional hospital is once again packed ... but not with COVID patients. People with cancer, HIV, TB and other medical issues who'd put off seeking care for months are streaming in for care.

Yet the hospital has far fewer staff to treat them.

"Medical staff is not something that's increased," Celis says. "It's decreased. Doctors have died. Nurses have died. And people are exhausted. Some don't want to be in high risk areas anymore. So instead of more health personnel, you have less."

The problem isn't just in Iquitos. The first two waves of COVID were incredibly lethal in Peru. Despite having a population that's less than half the size of the United Kingdom, Peru's registered 50,000 more deaths than the U.K. The pandemic so far has killed more than 200,000 people in the South American nation.

The Violeta Carrera neighborhood in Iquitos, Peru. Crowded living conditions contributed to the rapid spread of the coronavirus across Peru. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption

The Violeta Carrera neighborhood in Iquitos, Peru. Crowded living conditions contributed to the rapid spread of the coronavirus across Peru.

The impact of the pandemic on families who lost loved ones and on Peru as a whole will likely be felt for years. The novel coronavirus exposed and exploited the vulnerabilities in the emerging South American country.

Despite this, Padre Raymundo says people are eager to move on.

"They want to forget," he says. Forget the wave of death that arrived just a matter of weeks after many people in the city first heard about a disease called COVID-19 that was spreading thousands of miles away in Asia.

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The highest COVID death rate in the world is in Peru. How did that happen? : Goats and Soda - NPR

Daily coronavirus data for Colorado, BVSD and the University of Colorado Boulder, reported Nov. 26, 2021  The Daily Camera

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Daily coronavirus data for Colorado, BVSD and the University of Colorado Boulder, reported Nov. 26, 2021 - The Daily Camera

MYRTLE CREEK Howard Breidenbach thought it was all a big conspiracy.

The government using a so-called coronavirus to control the people. Feeding drama. Making up numbers.

It was all a lie, he thought.

Until he forgot his own name.

The 47-year-old independent trucker from Myrtle Creek thumbed his nose at COVID-19. On July 14, something was wrong.

We thought for sure it was pneumonia, Breidenbachs wife of 29 years, Tonja, said Monday. I didnt feel very good either. When he got sick, I started feeling sick, too.

Howards condition took a drastic turn. After spending a few days at CHI Mercy Medical Center, he was transferred to the intensive care unit, but there was only so much hospital staff could do for him. He needed specialized help, and he needed it fast.

One doctor called every hospital in the Pacific Northwest trying to find an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine better known as ECMO to help serve as an artificial lung for the 47-year-old, whose condition was continuing to deteriorate.

That was very traumatic, very upsetting, Tonja said of the phone call she received in late July. He might actually die.

No such machines were available in Oregon, but the doctor at Mercy was able to locate one in Seattle at the University of Washington Medical Centers Montlake facility. Howard, in a medically induced coma, was transported to Roseburg Regional Airport and flown to Seattle.

I had no idea, Howard said of the transfer. I went to sleep in Roseburg and woke up in Seattle.

For nearly 100 days, Howard was receiving a medical treatment that temporarily draws blood from the body, provides artificial oxygenation of the blood and returns it to the cardiovascular system.

On average, the survival rate of patients on such a treatment is estimated at 30%.

Quite simply, it was Howards last chance.

Meanwhile, his wife was in quarantine in Myrtle Creek until Aug. 16, at which time she could travel to Seattle to try and see her husband.

It was horrible to see him like that, Tonja said. His chest wasnt moving, he had a tube down his throat. They said it was very important to talk to him and he was trying to communicate back, but it was awful.

They could wake him up, but it was more of a surface awakening to make sure he still had brain activity, she said.

In a coma, you can hear voices but you cant make out voices, Howard said. All I could hear was babbling. I honestly couldnt remember my name. I knew who I was, but I couldnt remember my name.

Howard and Tonja Breidenbach had big plans. They were in the process of launching their own trucking company with the goal of retiring within the next five to seven years. They had already bought the truck to get their dream off the ground and were eyeing more equipment. Now, the couple who had met in Heppner in 1990 was praying for the simple gift of another day together.

I spent a lot of time on my knees praying, Tonja said. You sure find out whats important.

Hooty B LLC, the Breidenbachs trucking company, is on permanent hold. The truck has been sold, as well as the couples home, a sale which was finalized by a thumbs-up from Howard via video call.

Howard Breidenbach is now recuperating at his Myrtle Creek home with help from his wife Tonja Breidenbach.

During his 102 days in the hospital, Howard missed his 29th wedding anniversary. He was discharged from the hospital on Oct. 27 and had his 48th birthday on Nov. 11.

He credits pulmonary specialist Dr. Luana Petre Nedita for helping save his life.

I owe her everything, and I want her to know it, Howard said.

Following Howards ordeal, he and Tonja both agreed to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

My idea was that we all get the shot and all die of cancer 10 years later, Howard said. I was wrong, and now Ive got myself to blame and am reaping my rewards.

Im 48 years old and have to have somebody take care of me. Every mental image you hold of yourself is lost.

I kept having this dream we were at the coast, and it was so real. The picture we took, it wasnt there. I just kept waking up in the same nightmare, he said.

Today, both Howard and Tonja are encouraging those who are on the fence to vaccinate or not vaccinate to get the shot.

I thought it was a scam until I got (COVID-19), Howard said. Its serious, and its real.

COVID is no joke.

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COVID-19 skeptic barely survives 102 days in hospital: Oregon man thought it was all a lie - oregonlive.com

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CPW keeping eye on research documenting coronavirus in deer - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

With coronavirus infection rates back on the rise, many Americans are wondering why the U.S. is, once again, experiencing surge in cases and hospitalizations, despite widespread vaccinations.

The U.S. is now reporting more than 94,000 new COVID-19 cases each day -- up by 47% since late October. And 35 states -- nearly all of them in the north or mountain region -- have seen an uptick in daily cases of 10% or more in the last two weeks.

Just under 53,000 COVID-19 positive patients are currently receiving care in hospitals across the country -- up by more than 7,000 patients from earlier this month.

Several states -- including Michigan, Maine and New Hampshire -- are experiencing record-breaking surges.

Experts say a confluence of factors is likely driving the country's recent increases in infections, including the more than 100 million Americans who remain completely unvaccinated, cold weather and relaxed restrictions, the highly transmissible delta variant, and waning vaccine immunity.

According to health officials, the vast majority of infections and severe hospitalizations continue to be among the unvaccinated.

This September, federal data showed that unvaccinated individuals have a 5.8 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19, and a 14 times greater risk of dying from it, as compared to those fully vaccinated.

"The thing we are concerned about is the people who are not vaccinated, because what they're doing is they're the major source of the dynamics of the infection in the community," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's chief medical adviser, said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "The higher the level of dynamics of infection, the more everyone is at risk."

People wait in the line to clear through the TSA checkpoint at Miami International Airport on Nov. 24, 2021, in Miami.

Across the country, more than 100 million Americans remain completely unvaccinated -- 81 million of whom are currently over the age of 5, and thus are eligible to be vaccinated.

The significant number of unvaccinated individuals -- about 30.5% of the total population -- leaves millions at-risk and completely unprotected against the virus.

With winter arriving, and the holiday season on the horizon, many Americans are spending more time indoors, as the weather gets colder. COVID-19, as well as other respiratory illnesses, has been shown to spread more in indoor settings, and when people are forced to be in close proximity to one another.

Millions of Americans are also once again traveling, taking to the air, the railways and the highways. A total of 53.4 million people are expected to travel for Thanksgiving, up 13% from 2020, according to estimates from AAA.

Although masking is required in all forms of public transportation, across the country, COVID-19 restrictions are sparse, with few jurisdictions now requiring face coverings or social distancing.

Passengers wait in line inside the terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Nov. 24, 2021.

"We're seeing cases trickle up, this is probably likely due to waning immunity, but also because of the colder temperatures people are gathering indoors and adhering less to social distancing and masking," John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor, told "World News Tonight." "Unfortunately, that is a recipe for an increase in transmission this holiday season."

Masking has been shown to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and is still recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in crowded outdoor settings and for activities with close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated.

In the U.S., federal data shows that the delta variant accounts for 99.9% of new coronavirus cases. According to the CDC, delta is far more transmissible than prior variants.

Many of the country's northern states were not as hard hit by the delta surge over the summer. Those states are just now feeling the impacts of the delta variant. Comparatively, states like Florida, which bore the brunt of the summer delta surge, are reporting very low COVID-19 infection numbers.

"We're seeing is pockets of surges across this country, the Midwest being one but also in the Northeast," Brownstein said

Travellers with their luggage arrive at Covid-19 Testing location at the airport in Los Angeles on Nov. 23, 2021, where up to two million people are expected to travel over the Thanksgiving Day holidays.

The delta variant spreads more easily among vaccinated people than prior versions of the virus, though vaccinated people are still far less likely to spread the virus compared to unvaccinated people.

Although the vast majority of infections and severe hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated, breakthrough positive COVID-19 cases among the vaccinated do appear to be on the rise, due to waning immunity, according to health officials.

"There's no doubt that immunity wanes. It wanes in everyone. It's more dangerous in the elderly, but it's across all age groups," Fauci said earlier this month, citing data from Israel and the U.K., where more people were vaccinated sooner and began to first document waning immunity.

Experts stress that the vaccines remain highly effective against severe COVID-19 illness.

Boosters are now recommended for everyone 18 and older, at least six months after an initial Pfizer or Moderna vaccination, or two months after a Johnson & Johnson shot.

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Why are coronavirus cases and hospitalizations on the rise in the US? - ABC News