Category: Corona Virus

Weve done as much as we can, and its time for the next generation, new blood, Melillo, 71, said, standing next to Priam and pointing across a field. As an example, there are 12 acres over there, a beautiful, flat field. Its growing hay and weeds. It could grow more vines. It could grow marijuana.

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A farm winery in Colchester thrived during the coronavirus pandemic. But COVID-19 took its toll and the owner is selling. Asking price: $3.2 million...

HOULTON, Maine Just three months into the 2021-22 school year, most Aroostook County schools have already exceeded the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 experienced in their districts for all of last year, in one district nearly five times more.

My thoughts on the data reflect, without question, the veracity of the delta COVID-19 strain and its causation to continued spread throughout our communities, SAD 70 Superintendent Stephen Fitzpatrick said.

The use of mandatory versus optional face coverings has only slightly decreased the percentage of positive cases.

The dramatic increase in the total number of cases is something school districts throughout the state are seeing. But school officials hope that the measures put in place, including pool testing, will help keep students safe and in school.

Two school districts SAD 70 in Hodgdon and RSU 89 in Stacyville (Katahdin) are the only public schools in northern Maine that have an optional mask policy for students and staff. And while the percentage of positive cases at both of those schools is higher than neighboring districts, it is not noticeably higher as one might expect.

Hodgdon has recorded 37 positive COVID-19 cases in the district, or roughly 7.64 percent of its population, as of Wednesday. Seven of those cases are in staff, with the remaining 30 among the student population. There are 486 students in the two schools in SAD 70, with more than 100 staff.

A total of 260 students or staff (53.72 percent) have been required to be quarantined from school at various times. The district had 12 active cases Friday.

Based on the current trend, Fitzpatrick said that he hopes the numbers will eventually plateau.

I believe as more people choose to avoid quarantine through pool testing and detection of the virus at an earlier stage, combined with both vaccination and natural building of immunity through contracting this virus, will result in a slowing of this specific strain in community spread, he said. My concern would be the potential next variant or strain. This pandemic has taken its toll both in our schools as well as communities, state and nation.

Katahdin has reported 26 positive cases, or roughly 9.19 percent of its population of 283 students.

In comparison, RSU 29 in Houlton, where theres a mandatorymask policy, has experienced 90 positive cases or roughly 6.7 percent of its population of 1,347 students. A total of 743 students or staff (55 percent) have been asked to quarantine at one point this school year.

That total number of cases is almost five times the number for all of the 2020-21 school year.

I do not have exact numbers for last year, but my best estimate would be 20 cases overall, said Holly Hodgkin, RSU 29 director of nursing. We did not see our first case until right before Thanksgiving last year. Our numbers are much higher this year, and we are also seeing community spread.

The number of students who have been asked to quarantine could have been much higher if the district was not doing mandatory masks and pool testing of students, Hodgkin said. But pool testing is optional, and the number of students participating is low.

Since the beginning of this school year, we have had 355 students that were able to remain in school due to that exception, Hodgdkin said. We have already surpassed our total cases from last year. I spoke with a CDC worker yesterday and she told me that what the RSU 29 district is seeing is common among many schools throughout the state this year.

In RSU 50 (Southern Aroostook), a total of 20 cases (5.8 percent) have been reported, with 135 students having to be isolated or quarantined at some point in time. There are 343 students in the entire school district.

We have more positive cases this year than all of last year, RSU 50 Superintendent and Principal Jon Porter said. Required masking, our pooled testing program, social distancing measures and our parents cooperation with following the COVID-19 daily screener has helped keep our numbers down. We have been very fortunate to continue with in-person instruction.

Two of The Countys larger school districts SAD 1 in Presque Isle and RSU 39 in Caribou have experienced even higher numbers of COVID-19 cases, despite having mandatory mask policies.

Caribou Superintendent Tim Doak said his district has experienced 90 total COVID-19 cases (7.8 percent of its population). Of that figure, 82 cases were students, and eight were staff members.

Doak said the numbers were absolutely much worse than last year, as the district only had 28 total cases for all of 2020-21.

In neighboring SAD 1, the results are not as dramatic. The district has reported 53 positive cases (3.1 percent) so far, which is about the same number for the entire school year in 2020-21, Superintendent Ben Greenlaw said.

It seems strange to say, but we didnt even have our first case of COVID in the district during the 2020-2021 school year until Dec. 3, he said. My thoughts on the data is that the delta variant of the coronavirus has proven to be highly contagious and has impacted the students, staff and families in our district much more significantly this year as compared to last year.

He said they are not seeing the virus spread in the schools and that all but a few of their cases are from students and staff bringing COVID-19 in from the greater community.

Greenlaw said he believes this trend is due to the many mitigation strategies that are in place in SAD 1, including indoor mask wearing, pooled testing, social distancing, contact tracing and regular hand washing.

I cant project what our case numbers will be in the coming weeks and months, but I am hopeful that with students aged 5-11 now eligible for the COVID vaccination, we will see a reduction of cases in our schools due to a higher percentage of our school population being fully vaccinated, Greenlaw said.

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COVID-19 cases in Aroostook County schools have surpassed last year's total - Bangor Daily News

On a recent episode of his podcast, Rick Wiles, a pastor and self-described citizen reporter, endorsed a conspiracy theory: that Covid-19 vaccines were the product of a global coup dtat by the most evil cabal of people in the history of mankind.

Its an egg that hatches into a synthetic parasite and grows inside your body, Mr. Wiles said on his Oct. 13 episode. This is like a sci-fi nightmare, and its happening in front of us.

Mr. Wiles belongs to a group of hosts who have made false or misleading statements about Covid-19 and effective treatments for it. Like many of them, he has access to much of his listening audience because his show appears on a platform provided by a large media corporation.

Mr. Wiless podcast is available through iHeart Media, an audio company based in San Antonio that says it reaches nine out of 10 Americans each month. Spotify and Apple are other major companies that provide significant audio platforms for hosts who have shared similar views with their listeners about Covid-19 and vaccination efforts, or have had guests on their shows who promoted such notions.

Scientific studies have shown that vaccines will protect people against the coronavirus for long periods and have significantly reduced the spread of Covid-19. As the global death toll related to Covid-19 exceeds five million and at a time when more than 40 percent of Americans are not fully vaccinated iHeart, Spotify, Apple and many smaller audio companies have done little to rein in what radio hosts and podcasters say about the virus and vaccination efforts.

Theres really no curb on it, said Jason Loviglio, an associate professor of media and communication studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Theres no real mechanism to push back, other than advertisers boycotting and corporate executives saying we need a culture change.

Audio industry executives appear less likely than their counterparts in social media to try to check dangerous speech. TruNews, a conservative Christian media outlet founded by Mr. Wiles, who used the phrase Jew coup to describe efforts to impeach former President Donald J. Trump, has been banned by YouTube. His podcast remains available on iHeart.

Asked about his false statements concerning Covid-19 vaccines, Mr. Wiles described pandemic mitigation efforts as global communism. If the Needle Nazis win, freedom is over for generations, maybe forever, he said in an email.

The reach of radio shows and podcasts is great, especially among young people: A recent survey from the National Research Group, a consulting firm, found that 60 percent of listeners under 40 get their news primarily through audio, a type of media they say they trust more than print or video.

People develop really close relationships with podcasts, said Evelyn Douek, a senior research fellow at Columbia Universitys Knight First Amendment Institute. Its a parasocial medium. Theres something about voice that humans really relate to.

Marc Bernier, a talk radio host in Daytona Beach, Fla., whose show is available for download or streaming on iHearts and Apples digital platforms, was among the talk radio hosts who died of Covid-19 complications after expressing anti-vaccination views on their programs. The deaths made national news and set off a cascade of commentary on social media. What drew less attention was the industry that helped give them an audience.

On a June episode, Mr. Bernier said, after referring to unvaccinated people: Im one of them. Judge me if you want. The next month, he cited an unfounded claim that 45,000 people have died from taking the vaccine. In his final Twitter post, on July 30, Mr. Bernier accused the government of acting like Nazis for encouraging Covid-19 vaccines.

Jimmy DeYoung Sr., whose program was available on iHeart, Apple and Spotify, died of Covid-19 complications after making his show a venue for false or misleading statements about vaccines. One of his frequent guests was Sam Rohrer, a former Pennsylvania state representative who likened the promotion of Covid-19 vaccines to Nazi tactics and made a sweeping false statement. This is not a vaccine, by definition, Mr. Rohrer said on an April episode. It is a permanent altering of my immune system, which God created to handle the kinds of things that are coming that way. Mr. DeYoung thanked his guest for his insight. Mr. DeYoung died four months later.

Buck Sexton, the host of a program syndicated by Premiere Networks, an iHeart subsidiary, recently floated the theory that mass Covid-19 vaccinations could speed the viruss mutation into more dangerous strains. He made this suggestion while appearing on another Premiere Networks program, The Jesse Kelly Show.

Nov. 13, 2021, 11:22 p.m. ET

The theory appears to have its roots in a 2015 paper about vaccines for a chicken ailment called Mareks disease. Its author, Andrew Read, a professor of biology and entomology at Penn State University, has said his research has been misinterpreted by anti-vaccine activists. He added that Covid-19 vaccines have been found to reduce transmissions substantially, whereas chickens inoculated with the Mareks disease vaccine were still able to transmit the disease. Mr. Sexton did not reply to a request for comment.

Were seeing lots of public radio stations doing amazing local work to spread good health information, Mr. Loviglio, the media professor, said. On the other side, youre seeing mostly the AM radio dial and their podcast counterparts being the Wild West of the airwaves.

iHeart which owns more than 860 radio stations, publishes more than 600 podcasts and operates a vast online archive of audio programs has rules for the podcasters on its platform prohibiting them from making statements that incite hate, promote Nazi propaganda or are defamatory. It would not say whether it has a policy concerning false statements on Covid-19 or vaccination efforts.

Apples content guidelines for podcasts prohibit content that may lead to harmful or dangerous outcomes, or content that is obscene or gratuitous. Apple did not reply to requests for comment for this article.

Spotify, which says its podcast platform has 299 million monthly listeners, prohibits hate speech in its guidelines. In a response to inquiries, the company said in a written statement that it also prohibits content that promotes dangerous false or dangerous deceptive content about Covid-19, which may cause offline harm and/or pose a direct threat to public health. The company added that it had removed content that violated its policies. But the episode with Mr. DeYoungs conversation with Mr. Rohrer was still available via Spotify.

Dawn Ostroff, Spotifys content and advertising business officer, said at a conference last month that the company was making very aggressive moves to invest more in content moderation. Theres a difference between the content that we make and the content that we license and the content thats on the platform, she said, but our policies are the same no matter what type of content is on our platform. We will not allow any content that infringes or that in any way is inaccurate.

The audio industry has not drawn the same scrutiny as large social media companies, whose executives have been questioned in congressional hearings about the platforms role in spreading false or misleading information.

The social media giants have made efforts over the last year to stop the flow of false reports related to the pandemic. In September, YouTube said it was banning the accounts of several prominent anti-vaccine activists. It also removes or de-emphasizes content it deems to be misinformation or close to it. Late last year, Twitter announced that it would remove posts and ads with false claims about coronavirus vaccines. Facebook followed suit in February, saying it would remove false claims about vaccines generally.

Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, a media professor at the University of Florida, said that podcasts may be more effective in spreading false information than social media. People who go to podcasts have much more active engagement, she said. Its not like, Oh, I went on Facebook and I scrolled through and saw this misinformation. Its more likely that youre engaged, youre interested in this host, you actively seek this person out and listen to what he or she has to say.

Audio media has grown more popular during the pandemic, according to the iHeart chief executive Robert W. Pittman, a former head of MTV and AOL. At a recent media industry conference, he noted a change in listening habits over the last 20 months: The consumer before the pandemic, because of social and a lot of other things, was feeling disconnected, and they value media that feels like a companion. There are two of those: radio, and now theres podcasting.

The Federal Communications Commission, which grants licenses to companies using the public airwaves, has oversight over radio operators, but not podcasts or online audio, which do not make use of the public airwaves.

The F.C.C. is barred from violating American citizens right to free speech. When it takes action against a media company over programming, it is typically in response to complaints about content considered obscene or indecent, as when it fined a Virginia television station in 2015 for a newscast that included a segment on a pornographic film star.

In a statement, an F.C.C. spokesman said the agency reviews all complaints and determines what is actionable under the Constitution and the law. It added that the main responsibility for what goes on the air lies with radio station owners, saying that broadcast licensees have a duty to act in the public interest.

The world of talk radio and podcasting is huge, and anti-vaccine sentiment is a small part of it. iHeart offers an educational podcast series about Covid-19 vaccines, and Spotify created a hub for podcasts about Covid-19 from news outlets including ABC and Bloomberg.

There has been at least one turnaround among hosts once skeptical of the pandemic and efforts to counter it. Bill Cunningham, who has a radio show in Cincinnati that is syndicated by iHearts Premiere Networks and available on Apple, spent the early part of the pandemic claiming that Covid-19 was overhyped. He revised his view on the air this year, describing his decision to get vaccinated and encouraging his listeners to do the same.

Recently, he expressed his eagerness to get a booster shot and mentioned that he had picked up a new nickname: The Vaxxinator.

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Covid-19 Misinformation Goes Unchecked on Radio and Podcasts - The New York Times

A Valley woman recently lost her mom and dad to the coronavirus.

"The doctors told me it's gotten really bad," said Vanessa Esparza.

According to Esparza, her mom, Veronica, and dad, Victor, had been married for more than 28 years when the couple was diagnosed with COVID.

She said they started showing symptoms like coughing and losing their taste. Eventually, they were hospitalized and passed away within six hours of each other.

Esparza said her dad didn't know how to live without her mom.

"They were the true definition of love and loyalty," she said.

Esparza told ABC15 her family wasn't vaccinated but she and her brother got the shot after seeing their parents get sick.

She said the family took COVID seriously but hadn't decided if they were going to get the vaccine until it was too late.

"I mean we believed in it. We always believed in it," she said.

"Especially my dad. We always took precautions -- wore masks everywhere -- but we never took action into getting vaccinated," Esparza added.

Esparza said she regretted not getting the shot sooner.

"We were so indecisive. We kept on pushing it...we'll go tomorrow, we'll go next week," she said.

In Arizona, about 60% of eligible people are vaccinated.

Meantime, the state is seeing a surge in cases and hospitalizations.

There have also been more than 100 new deaths in the past two days.

Esparza is urging people thinking about getting vaccinated to consider getting the shot.

"I wouldn't want anyone to be in the position I'm in," she said.

"You don't do anything about it until you're in that position. It shouldn't have to get to that point," she added.

The family is currently accepting donations to help pay for the funerals for Victor and Veronica. For more information, click here.

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Valley family loses both parents to COVID-19 on the same day - ABC15 Arizona

Eight large cats at the St. Louis Zoo recently tested positive for the coronavirus, the first reported outbreak among animals at the Forest Park attraction.

Zookeepers tested all animals in the Big Cat Country habitat after a few developed runny noses. Like humans, several tested positive but didnt have any symptoms. Other cats have upper respiratory infections. Caretakers are treating their symptoms, zoo officials said.

Zoo officials expect the lions, jaguars, leopards, tiger and puma to make a full recovery.

Zoo Health Director Sathya Chinnadurai attributes the cats positive prognosis to their COVID-19 vaccinations, which the cats received earlier this fall.

Very similar to people, the vaccinated cats seem to do a much better job of mounting the immune response and fighting off the infection, he said. So in this case all those cats had had at least one vaccine for the coronavirus."

Its likely the cats caught the virus from an asymptomatic human carrier. Its not unheard of for animals at the zoo to catch viruses from humans theyre in close contact with, Chinnadurai said.

Zoo employees can test animals with nasal swabs similar to those used in humans, he said. But that requires animal handlers to first tranquilize the cats. Instead, caretakers test the animals feces to figure out if theyve caught the coronavirus.

If the cats hadnt been vaccinated, they would have been much sicker or could have died, Chinnadurai said. Nationwide, several animals that caught the coronavirus before animal vaccinations became available became seriously sick with respiratory symptoms.

The first cases seen in zoos were actually in tigers and since then, tigers, snow leopards, lions have all been reported, Chinnadurai said. Big cats seem to be more susceptible to the disease than other species.

Thats why big cats, along with other carnivorous mammals including hyenas and apes, were the first in line to get the vaccine in October, he said. Vets and scientists talk to other zoos around the country to keep track of what animals are catching the coronavirus and use the information to guide which animals could benefit from the shot.

Scientists have tested other animals at the zoo, but it appears the outbreak has not spread beyond the cats.

At the zoo were incredibly fortunate that theyve been able to work with the animal health team to get so many of our animals vaccinated," Chinnadurai said. Thats helped us immensely.

Follow Sarah on Twitter: @petit_smudge

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Lions, jaguars and other cats at the St. Louis Zoo test positive for coronavirus - St. Louis Public Radio

Pittsburgh-based Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases expert and critical care and emergency medicine physician, wrote in a opinion piece this week that it is impossible to eliminate or eradicate covid-19.

This is not possible with an efficiently spreading respiratory virus that has an animal reservoir and can spread from person to person with mild or no symptoms, Adalja wrote in the New York Daily News piece. The goal, which has not often been articulated forcefully or clearly enough, has always been to tame the virus, rendering it unable to threaten us and critically, our hospitals, in the manner it once could in 2020 and early 2021.

Adalja wrote that he believes it is time to break away from an abstinence only approach.

We must break away from that and develop ways for communities and institutions to provide off-ramps from masking, physical distancing and aggressive testing of asymptomatic fully vaccinated people, he wrote. Even though we have better tools to continue to decouple most cases from hospitalization, there will always be a baseline number of covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and death. I anticipate that COVID-19 may ebb and flow with local outbreaks and seasonality. We will be living with this virus there is no covid zero but we will be able to alter the outcomes of these cases with the new tools available to us.

Adalja, a Butler native and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, has emerged as one of the most recognizable national experts on the pandemic. Since Americans first began hearing about coronavirus a year ago, Adalja has become a go-to guy for much of the national media, appearing regularly on CNN, MSNBC and Fox as well as showing up on CBS, NPR and in The New York Times among many other outlets, including the Tribune-Review.

Now, hes calling on the country and world to rethink mitigation measures.

Covid-19 will always be an illness that one wants to avoid through reasonable steps, but it will eventually become something that cannot kill at the rate it once did, cannot inundate a hospital the way it once did and cannot scare us the way it once did. Rather than clinging to our fear, we should welcome the arrival of that day.

Read the entire piece here.

Paul Guggenheimer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-226-7706 or pguggenheimer@triblive.com.

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Pittsburgh doctor on pandemic: 'We will be living with this virus, there is no covid zero' - TribLIVE

The variant is spreading in parts of Europe, leaving few clues as to what it will do next.

Experts are watching and waiting. Could it gain a foothold in New Jersey and the rest of the country?

Delta plus is the descendant of the highly contagious delta strain, which emerged in India in late 2020 and arrived in the U.S. in March. It has since become the predominant variant in the Garden State and across the globe.

Experts emphasize that delta plus poses only a low risk to New Jersey, as the strain has been found in just eight states so far (the Garden State is not among them). But the variant has been gaining traction in the United Kingdom, as COVID-19 cases once again surge in Europe.

Anything that happens in the U.K., we want to watch really closely, said Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Europe, after all, has reliably been the canary in the coal mine for the U.S. since the start of the pandemic. What has happened there has typically followed here.

But much about delta plus remains a mystery, with limited data coming from the U.K. Experts are unsure what to expect in the coming months.

Whether or not this is going to be one of the more common variants, whether its going to lead in transmission and in (the) number of cases we really arent there yet to know, said Stephanie Silvera, an infectious disease expert and professor at Montclair State University. But the health agencies, again, both the U.S. and internationally, are trying to look at whats happening and how it behaves.

Delta plus is causing a rise in cases in the U.K. It could be more transmissible than the original delta strain which is already highly contagious but there is still some debate. Experts say it doesnt seem to be causing a higher rate of hospitalization or death, and that COVID-19 vaccines appear to be effective against it.

In New Jersey, daily COVID-19 case statistics continue to drop. People are gathering, shedding masks. Life is starting to return to normal, thanks to high vaccination rates. The fear among health officials is a variant will come along and render vaccines less effective. The impact would be severe, likely causing a spike in infections, breakthrough cases, and in a near-worst case scenario, another lockdown.

Whats going to be really interesting coming out of England: Are they seeing more and more reinfections or breakthrough infections? Cennimo said. That is something that I would want to closely monitor. Because at that point, now were concerned.

In the U.K., delta plus accounts for 11% of new COVID-19 infections, according to health officials. And again, coronavirus activity in the U.K. has proven to be an early warning system for the U.S. The alpha variant (B.1.1.7 aka the U.K. variant) emerged in Southeast England in September 2020 and quickly took the country by storm. It wasnt long before it gained a foothold in the U.S., becoming the dominant strain by spring. That is, until the original delta variant emerged and supplanted it.

For the U.S. and New Jersey, delta plus remains only a concern, but with the potential to develop into a major threat. State health officials recently reassured the public that the Garden State is currently at little risk.

We havent really seen (delta plus) at all in New Jersey, much less in the United States, state epidemiologist Christina Tan said Monday at Gov. Phil Murphys weekly coronavirus briefing.

Obviously, the CDC continues to monitor the variant activity, she added. But for now, (it) does not seem to be an issue quite yet, but it is being monitored.

Just because the variant is spreading in the U.K. doesnt guarantee that itll end up gaining traction here. But as society continues to open up including Americas borders it could present a vulnerability, especially as the nation heads into the winter and the holiday season.

The other aspect thats playing against us is the opening of the borders, said Dr. Reynold Panettieri, vice chancellor for translational medicine and science at Rutgers University. As Canada opens, and as were seeing more of an influx from Europe because international flights are going to be picking up, especially around the holidays, a vaccine card may not tell the whole tale.

But its possible delta plus turns out to be a dud, like other variants. It happened with eta, iota and kappa all strains of concern that never gained traction.

We thought that they might have the potential to become the dominant strain, Silvera said, and then they never reached more than 3% of the population. And so they petered out.

Will the same hold for delta plus? Experts will be watching England closely.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com.

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Delta plus is escalating a COVID spike in the U.K. Could it spell trouble for N.J.? - NJ.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (StudyFinds.org) Long COVID or the lingering side-effects from a coronavirus infection often leaves patients with dozens of symptoms, including extreme fatigue. Now, a new study finds women who become COVID long haulers may never be able to exercise at the same pace again.

Some women have reported developing heart rate irregularities after their COVID-19 infection, impacting exertion and recovery from physical activity, according to a team from Indiana University Bloomington.

Persistent heart and lung problems in women with long COVID-19 can result in shortness of breath or joint and muscle aches. Researchers say men with COVID-19 appear to experiencemore severe symptomsand larger mortality rates, but this is the first time that scientists have found evidence women are struggling moreafterinfection.

Previous studies have shown that women are outnumbering men 3-to-1 in seeking treatment forpersistent symptomsfollowing a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

In the new study, the team compared women walking for six minutes, tracking how long it took for their hearts to return to baseline. Prior to the walk test, researchers measured each participantsresting heart rate, blood pressure, the amount of oxygen in the blood, and ratings-of-perceived shortness of breath following at least 10 minutes of rest sitting down.

The women then had to walk as far as possible during the test, without any other encouragement. Immediately following the test, the team again assessed post-exercise heart rate, oxygen in the blood, ratings-of-perceived shortness of breath, and ratings-of-perceived exertion.

Women who had a history of major lung disease, heart disease, or smoking tobacco products within the last six months did not take part in the experiment.

As a result of these findings, study authors believe womenexperiencing long COVIDshould receive a targeted rehabilitation program from their doctors, which focuses on building back lung performance. This is especially important forpost-menopausal patients, as the researchers say these women have a higher rate of restrictive lung abnormalities as they age.

Given the greater prevalence of age-related physical disability in women, as compared to men, our findings show that a targeted rehab program might be especially useful to women and other groups affected by persistent COVID-19 symptoms thus promoting recovery and minimizing susceptibility for deteriorating physical condition, study author Dr. Stephen Carter says in amedia release.

The research is published in the journalExperimental Physiology.

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Women with long COVID may never be able to exercise like they did before illness - KELOLAND.com

DENVER (KDVR) Colorado has become one of the biggest hotspots for COVID-19 in the country, despite a high vaccination rate. Transmission is so high, the Denver Broncos are now asking fans to wear masks inside Empower Field at Mile High.

As Gov. Jared Polis pushes for boosters for every Colorado adult through executive action, hes also asking the federal government to fortify hospital staff to help with a shortage of beds.

As of Thursday, 1,466 Coloradans are in the hospital with COVID-19, a record-high in 2021. Bed capacity continues to be a concern, with only 570 acute care beds and 72 intensive care unit beds available as of Thursday.

Eight out of 10 Coloradans in the hospital with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, according to state data. One in 48 Coloradans are contagious with the virus.

The governor has a five-point plan to increase hospital capacity, as available beds are at a pandemic low:

Staffing shortages continue to drive the lack of hospital beds in Colorado.

Weve seen national estimates that as many as one in five in health care has left over the course of the pandemic, said Cara Welch with the Colorado Hospital Association.

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 1.69% of employees in the states healthcare system have been fired or have quit due to vaccine mandates.

Polis and State Epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy gave a briefing on the latest COVID-19 challenges Colorado is facing. You can watch the briefing on FOX31 NOW in the player above.

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If youre unvaccinated, you will get COVID: Gov. Polis provides update on pandemic - FOX 31 Denver

Elderly and vulnerable people must get their booster jabs if a rise in Covid cases in the UK is to be prevented, the prime minister has said, as he warned of storm clouds forming over parts of Europe.

Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Croatia are among countries that have recently seen a surge in Covid cases, with the former recording its highest coronavirus case numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Speaking in a broadcast clip, Boris Johnson said the situation was of concern. Im seeing the storm clouds gathering over parts of the European continent. And Ive got to be absolutely frank with people: weve been here before. We remember what happens when the wave starts rolling in, he said.

The World Health Organizations Europe head, Hans Kluge, has said a lack of uptake of Covid vaccines is behind the increase.

While Johnson noted that cases in the UK had been drifting down for a while, he said it was unclear if the trend was set to continue. Im looking at whats happening overseas, and Im simply saying to the British people ... This is the moment to get your booster, he said.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics an estimated one in 60 people in the community in England had Covid in the week ending 6 November about 925,400 people.

That is a decline since late October, when one in 50 people in England were thought to have a Covid infection. A drop has also been recorded in Wales, although in Scotland the rate of people testing positive has remained level and the trend is unclear in Northern Ireland.

While the decline in England was seen in all age groups and in most regions of the country, it appears the trend is strongest among older children.

However, the question remains whether infection levels will rise once more now schools have returned from recent half-terms, or whether as some have argued growing levels of immunity in children could mean a peak has been reached.

With a marked decrease in infections among secondary school children in England, the half-term break may have played a part, though infections were decreasing prior to this time, said Sarah Crofts, the head of analytical outputs for the Covid-19 infection survey. Over the next few weeks we will see if this decline continues.

The situation is far from clearcut. The ONS survey records existing and new infections, whether symptomatic or not. However, people can test positive for some time, meaning changes in the ONS data lag behind the daily reported cases which are based on those who have come forward for testing by about two weeks. The latter suggests cases may be showing signs of rebounding, at least to some degree.

While daily reported cases in the UK showed a decline during the second half of October and early November, they had risen for four consecutive days, reaching 42,408 on Thursday. On Friday 40,375 new Covid cases were reported in the UK.

Prof Rowland Kao, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, said the recent rise in cases tied in well with a return to schools. But, he said, the situation remained in the balance.

Whether or not the [rise] represents a sustained increase, is of course difficult to tell. Vaccinations and boosters continue to be rolled out and with ever-increasing levels of natural immunity as well, it could still go either way, he said.

Prof John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who sits on Sage, said half-term was always going to have a big effect, adding that cases were now at roughly the same level, or a little lower, in most regions and nations of the UK than two weeks or so ago before the recent half-terms. However, there are exceptions, such as Scotland, where cases still appear to be climbing.

Edmunds said such a pattern would be expected if the epidemic was left to peak naturally as has largely been the case. It should be stressed, though, that a natural peak will be much more drawn-out than a lockdown-induced peak, so I would expect to see high rates of infection, hospitalisations and deaths for many weeks or even months yet, he said.

Dr Vishal Sharma, the British Medical Associations consultants committee chair, said the NHS was already overwhelmed.

Theres no doubt that patients are not receiving the standard of care they should be from a fully functioning health service and if more isnt done to protect the NHS, we risk taking an already fragile recovery backwards, he said.

The government says it will only act when the NHS is at risk of being overwhelmed. Our members doctors working on the frontline are clear that this is not just a risk, but it is happening right now

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Covid cases in England may remain high for months, says expert - The Guardian