Category: Corona Virus

by: Talia Naquin, Jen Steer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff held a news conference on COVID-19 Thursday morning.

He was joined by Kirk Tucker, MD, Chief Clinical Officer of Adena Health System and Adam Mezoff, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Dayton Childrens Hospital.

Vanderhoff encouraged people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and the flu. He also said this is the time to get vaccinated before the holidays with Thanksgiving just seven weeks away.

Now is not the time to let up. We have to remain vigilant. We all have to continue to do our part to stay healthy and this includes, in part, choosing to be vaccinated and wearing a mask when directed, Vanderhoff said.

When asked about the possibility of a winter surge, Ohios top doctor said hes given up on trying to predict what this virus will do.

It is, by its nature, a virus that spreads more readily during the winter months. In many ways, we were very blessed to encounter delta during the summertime, Vanderhoff said. I genuinely fear that had this hit us in the winter, we would have had an even more severe experience than what we had.

Data from theOhio Hospital Associationearlier this week showed a slight decrease in new hospital admissions due toCOVID-19.

New admissions are down 3 percent over the previous week. Over the last seen days, 3,419 people were admitted to a hospital in Ohio because of COVID-19. Thats one in six patients.

According toOHA data, there were 3,678 newCOVID-19admissions and 1,014 patients in the ICU onSept. 21.

Link:

Ohios top doctor: Now is time to get vaccinated before Thanksgiving - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland

Youth COVID-19 cases continue to be a concern for Michigans health officials, as the states case rates continue to climb and children remain less protected against infection.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 425 children under the age of 12 become infected with coronavirus each day over the last week, which is 50 more per day than a week ago.

For one, children younger than 12 are not yet eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and less than 50% of teens who are eligible have gotten vaccinated. That could change later this fall, but in the meantime, the younger populations have less protection against developing COVID-19.

Another key factor is the return to in-person learning in schools, and the lack of mask requirements that were in place last year.

K-12 schools are by far the most common setting for reported COVID-19 outbreaks, with 393 active outbreaks as of Oct. 7. The next highest setting was long-term care facilities with 138 active outbreaks, and childcare programs with 42.

Throughout the state, 222 school districts have mask policies in K-12 settings. Another 36 began the year with mask requirements but rescinded them, and 275 districts never had a requirement.

According to an analysis by the University of Michigans School of Public Health, schools with few mask rules have reported significantly more cases per 100,000 students than schools with partial or full mask requirements.

While children tend to have less severe cases of COVID-19 compared to older adults, they arent invincible to serious illness. Pediatric hospitalizations have been steadily increasing since August.

With an in-patient census for patients 18 and younger at about 31 per day, hospitals are seeing the most young patients since early June. That census was around 60 at the peak of the spring surge, but was below 15 for most of the summer.

Below is a closer look at the latest state and county coronavirus data, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccinations: 63.1% of eligible residents have received at least one dose

Another 54,895 Michigan residents have gotten their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the month, pushing the rate of 12 and older residents with a shot from 62.5% to 63.1%.

Its a slow climb, but the state is now up to more than 5.4 million residents at least partially vaccinated, and more than 5 million fully vaccinated (58.7%).

Below is a breakdown by age group of Michigan residents who have gotten one or more shots and those who are fully immunized as of Tuesday, Oct. 12.

The interactive map below shows the number of who have people 12 and older who have received as least one dose of vaccine so far. The numbers are based on residence of the vaccine recipient vs. where the the vaccine was given.

You can hold your cursor over a county to see the underlying data, which includes a breakdown by four age groups: Those 65 and older; ages 64 to 50; ages 49 to 20, and under 20. It includes numbers on vaccines initiated and completed.

Cannot see the map? Click here.

Below is a chart that ranks counties from most vaccinated to least vaccinated. Cannot see it? Click here.

At least 309,943 people have now received a third dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Thats nearly a 50% increase from last weeks total.

Third doses of the Pfizer vaccine are now endorsed for people older than 65, long-term care facility residents, people 18-64 with underlying medical conditions and people whose occupations or work settings pose a risk.

Third doses of the Moderna vaccine are available to immunocompromised individuals, including those who have received an organ transplant. The FDA could soon approve a Moderna booster for more people, as its advisory committee is scheduled to consider further recommendations Thursday, Oct. 14.

New cases: The state is averaging 3,745 new confirmed cases a day

That seven-day average is up 7.3% from last week when Michigan was reporting 3,491 cases per day.

Cases have been on the rise since late July, when the health department was reporting less than 500 cases per day. While 42 state are seeing cases plateau or decline over the last two weeks, Michigan is one of the eight that continue to see an upward climb.

Below is a chart that illustrates the seven-day rate of daily reported cases throughout the pandemic. Cant see the chart below? Click here.

Case trends are highest among 5-to-18-year-olds, unlike previous surges, which had larger proportions of cases in adults.

Of Michigans 83 counties, 61 counties reported an increase in weekly cases per 1 million residents for the week of Oct. 7-13, compared to the week prior.

Osceola, Arenac, Clare, Ogemaw and Montcalm counties have the highest weekly averages per capita. Of those counties, only Ogemaw has reported a decrease in new cases week-over-week.

Counties with the lowest per capita rates included Leelanau, Chippewa, Presque Isle, Wayne and Berrien counties.

Below is an online database that allows readers to see the number of new coronavirus cases in the past seven days compared to the previous week, as well as the per capita number that adjusts for population. The arrows indicate whether the total number of new cases reported in the last seven days has gone up or down compared to the previous seven days.

Cant see the database above? Click here.

The map below is shaded by the states six risk-assessment levels. This is based on new cases reported per day per million people for the week of Oct. 7-13.

The arrows on the map indicate whether the total number of new cases reported in the last seven days has gone up or down compared to the previous week. Readers can put their cursor over a county to see the underlying data. (Hint: You can drag the map with your cursor to see the entire Upper Peninsula.)

Cannot see the map? Click here.

Positivity rate: The seven-day average is 11% and rising

Michigans daily positive test rate is the highest it has been since the last week in April 2021, and its likely to continue climbing.

Of the 71,068 diagnostic tests processed between Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 11-12, about 12.3% came back positive for coronavirus. The highest rate reported to-date was 18% and came during the peak of the spring surge.

The rate was at 2% or less for most of the month of June, before beginning to climb in July. Daily rates jumped into the double digits last month, where theyve remained, indicating a high level of coronavirus transmission within the community.

There were 31 counties that reported positive test rates of 18% or higher during the week of Oct. 6-12, which is eight more than last week. Ogemaw leads all others with a rate of 29.7%, followed by Luce (29.5)%, Keweenaw (27.8%), Osceola (27%), Antrim (24.8%), and Iosco (24.8%).

Meanwhile, Baraga County (0.79%) was the only county with a positive test rate lower than the 5% threshold set by the World Health Organization to indicate high levels of community transmission. Washtenaw and Wayne counties were the next lowest at 5.4% and 5.9%, respectively.

The chart below allows you to look up any county by name to see the seven-day average positivity rate. The chart compares the average from the past seven days to the average for the previous week.

Cant see the database? Click here.

The interactive map below shows the seven-day average testing rate by county. You can put your cursor over a county to see the underlying data.

Cant see the map above? Click here.

Hospitalizations: 2,190 in-patients

As of Wednesday, Oct. 13, hospitals statewide were treating 2,166 adult patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 and 24 children. There were 545 patients in the ICU, including 282 on ventilators.

The total COVID patient count was up 15% from one week prior, when there were 1,901 patients including 484 in the ICU. For context, the state surpassed 3,900 hospitalizations at the peak of all three prior surges, while the low points of the pandemic have been around 300 patients at a time.

COVID patients make up about 9% of adult in-patient hospital beds.

Deaths: The state is reporting 33 COVID deaths a day

Michigan was averaging 30 deaths per day a week ago, and 21 per day a month ago.

Evaluating the states COVID-19 death rate has become more challenging since the health department moved to reporting data three days per week. The average is also based on the day the deaths are reported by the state, not the date of death, so its difficult to fully illustrate the day-to-day trends.

In the 30 days ending Oct. 4, there were at least 887 deaths, of which 78% were 60 years or older. Of the deaths under 60, 109 were in their 50s, 49 in their 40s, 23 in their 30s, eight in their 20s, and six deaths between ages 0 and 19 years.

Since the start of the pandemic, Michigan has reported 21,459 confirmed COVID deaths, plus another 1,405 probable deaths, in which a physician and/or antigen test ruled it COVID-19 but no confirmatory PCR test was done.

Below is a chart illustrating the seven-day average for reported deaths throughout the pandemic. Cant see the chart below? Click here.

States overall risk assessment: All regions remain at highest risk level

In assigning the risk scores, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services looks at factors such as new cases and deaths, test positivity rates, and patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

There are six levels of risk, from low to levels A through E. For yet another week, all eight regions of the state are at risk level E.

Cant see the above map? Click here.

For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page.

To find a testing site near you, check out the states online test find send an email to COVID19@michigan.gov, or call 888-535-6136 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Read more on MLive:

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COVID-19 Q&A: Whats with natural immunity? How many deaths linked to the vaccine?

Michigan to begin changing how it funds mental health, addiction services

Original post:

Coronavirus data for Thursday, Oct. 14: Growing number of youth infections, school outbreaks - MLive.com

The latest forecast predicts 740,000 to 762,000 reported deaths by November 6. It's third consecutive week of a projected decrease in newly reported deaths.

The latest CDC forecast predicts 500 to 10,100 new confirmed Covid-19 hospitalizations likely to be reported by November 5 -- a fifth straight week of projected declines. As of October 12, there were 64,332 people hospitalized with Covid-19, according to US Health and Human Services data.

In terms of cases, there was no predicted increase or decrease.

Children represented nearly a quarter of weekly reported Covid-19 cases, the AAP said.

The infection rate still remains well above what's needed -- which Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday should be below 10,000.

And with winter threatening to send people indoors and increase spread, experts worry cases could go back up again. The risk is higher for children, many of whom are still not yet eligible for vaccination.

In the meantime, some schools have leaned on preventative measures to protect students, like masking, distancing and testing. In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker is planning to deploy 200 members of the National Guard to assist in school testing for Covid-19.

But vaccination remains the best tool to fight the pandemic, experts say.

And some regions are doing better than others.

Overall, the numbers aren't as promising. As of Tuesday night, only 56.5% of the US population was fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

"We need the overwhelming proportion of those unvaccinated people to be vaccinated and then we can be quite confident that if we can do that, you will not see a resurgence," said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

More than 104,000 people in the US died of Covid-19 between June and September 2021, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Vaccines were widely available to all US adults at the time, but an "overwhelming majority" of those who died were unvaccinated, according to the KFF analysis.

If all adults age 18 or older were vaccinated, more than 90,000 additional lives could have been saved between June and September. About half of those preventable deaths -- about 49,000 -- occurred in September alone, according to the foundation's analysis.

Hospital system 'deeply disappointed' by Texas vaccine mandate ban

While many experts and officials are encouraging institutions to enact vaccine mandates to protect employees, students and customers, some are fighting their efforts.

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting any entities from requiring individuals to get vaccinated.

"The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced," said Abbott.

"This flies in the face of public health guidance and is really not the right thing to be doing in the middle of a pandemic," CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen told CNN's John King on Tuesday.

Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist said the hospital system is reviewing Abbott's executive order and its possible implications while still expecting employees and physicians to be vaccinated.

"As the first hospital system in the country to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for employees and physicians, we are deeply disappointed in the governor's order that tries to prohibit such mandates," Boom said in a statement, noting that the system's employees and physicians are 100% compliant.

"We have fulfilled our sacred obligation to keep our patients safe, putting them first. Not only are our patients safe as a result, but we are able to remain healthy at work and be there for our community when it needs us the most."

Mandate bans have been especially relevant to health care systems, where some professionals have resigned over such measures and others have advocated for them to protect their colleagues and their vulnerable patients.

It also found that more Americans, 30%, expect it to take more than a year to get back to normal pre-Covid life, up from 9% who thought this in early June.

Fewer people are also saying they've returned to their normal life -- 22% now compared with 28% in June -- or saying it will happen in the next six months -- 13% compared with 36% in June -- according to the poll.

Moderna proposes a smaller vaccine dose

Since the US has approved booster doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for some vulnerable Americans -- and officials are weighing approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters -- Moderna on Tuesday urged the FDA to authorize a 50-microgram dose, according to documents released ahead of a key meeting.

The company said this dose increases protection against the coronavirus while helping to keep the worldwide vaccine supply higher.

That dose is half the size of the 100-microgram doses used in the primary series of the two-dose vaccine.

Moderna is requesting authorization for the smaller dose at least six months after the second dose for certain groups: people age 65 and older; people ages 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe Covid-19; and people ages 18 to 64 whose exposure to the coronavirus in their settings or jobs put them at risk for Covid-19 complications or severe illness.

On Thursday, the FDA's independent vaccine advisers are expected to discuss and vote on whether to recommend authorization of boosters for the Moderna vaccine. On Friday, the advisers are scheduled to discuss and vote on whether to recommend authorization of boosters for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. Both vaccines are already authorized for use in people age 18 and older. VRBPAC members will also hear a presentation on Friday on "mix and match" booster doses.

CNN's Naomi Thomas, Deidre McPhillips, Julian Cummings, Rosalina Nieves and Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.

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CDC predicts continued declines in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths over next 4 weeks - CNN

Oct 16th 2021

ALL PANDEMICS end eventually. Covid-19 has started down that path, but it will not be eradicated. Instead, it will gradually become endemic. In that state, circulating and mutating from year to year, the coronavirus will remain a threat to the elderly and infirm. But having settled down, it is highly unlikely to kill on the monstrous scale of the past 20 months. Covid will then be a familiar, manageable enemy, like the flu.

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Although the destination is fixed, the route to endemicity is not. The difference between a well-planned journey and a chaotic one could be measured in millions of lives. The end of the pandemic is therefore a last chance for governments to show they have learned from the mistakes they made at its start.

As the pandemic fades, weekly recorded cases and deaths have been falling globally, including in America, since the end of August. Britain is one country where cases are high and rising, but it has had a lot of disease and has run a successful vaccination campaign. Because 93% of Britons have antibodies, roughly 250,000 cases a week are leading to hundreds of deaths instead of thousands. That is the path to endemicity.

Nobody knows how many people around the world enjoy such protection, but you can hazard a very rough guess. About 3.8bn people have had at least one dose of the vaccine. The Economist estimates that during the pandemic excess deaths lie between 10m and 19m, with a central estimate of 16.2m. Working backwards, using assumptions about the share of fatal infections, this suggests that 1.4bn-3.6bn people have had the disease, amounting to 6-15 times the official count. There is an overlap, as many have been both vaccinated and infected.

The reservoir of people with immunity makes covid less dangerous. However, in bringing the pandemic to an end, the world is likely to face several tests.

One is the wave of winter infections in the northern hemisphere. Covid thrives when people spend their time indoors. If cases start to overwhelm hospitals, governments will need to intervene. One line of defence is treatments, including promising new antiviral drugs such as molnupiravir, which cuts rates of serious illness by half if administered early, but is still awaiting approval. Another is measures such as mask-wearing, shielding care homes and closing hotspots, including clubs and bars. The question is whether governments have learned to act promptly, but proportionately.

A second test is mutation. The genetic sampling of infections serves as an early warning if the Delta variant is displaced, yet poorer, unvaccinated parts of the world still go unmonitored. A new variant may require vaccines to be redesigned. That is far easier than starting from scratch, but it would require the production and approval of new jabs and perhaps jettisoning the stocks of old ones. It could trigger a replay of the fights over supply that marred the start of 2021.

The greatest test is how to protect the billion or more people without immunity. Chinas answer is to try to shut the virus out with harsh and costly quarantines and lockdowns. This allows time for vaccination and stockpiling medicines. The Communist Party has used the countrys tiny number of cases as proof its system is better than democracy, so abandoning its zero-covid strategy is politically awkward. However, as places including New Zealand have accepted, the coronavirus is not going away. One day China will have to relent.

Ultimately, people will gain immunity either through infection or vaccination. Because vaccination is so much safer, governments must get as many needles into arms as possible. According to Airfinity, a data firm, 11.3bn doses should have been produced before the end of the year and 25bn by June 2022. If so, global supply will soon no longer be a constrainthow soon, depends on the demand for boosters. Not all vaccines are equally effective, but all of them are far better than being infected.

This approaching vaccine glut means that exporters should already be shipping doses wholesale. Instead many are holding back supplies for boosters and to vaccinate children, who very rarely die from covid. Doses are promised for next year, but they are needed now.

The last barriers to vaccination will be hesitancy and the capacity of local health care. The World Health Organisation has set a target of 40% of every country to be jabbed by the end of the year. A global vaccine summit set a target of 70% by September 2022. But different countries have different needs for vaccines depending on their demography, their ability to administer jabs, and the threat of covid compared with other diseases like malaria and measles. Blanket targets risk turning sensible priorities into failures.

It is a daunting to-do list. Will governments rise to the challenge? Therein lies the last test. As covid fades into the background, rich countries may start to lose interest in the coronavirus. The disease it causes risks becoming a poor-country killer, like so many of the rest.

Dig deeper

All our stories relating to the pandemic can be found on our coronavirus hub. You can also find trackers showing the global roll-out of vaccines, excess deaths by country and the viruss spread across Europe.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Covid-19s rocky road"

Read more:

Millions of lives depend on how the pandemic ends - The Economist

Fivemore Mainers have died as health officials on Thursday reported another 799coronavirus cases across the state.

Thursdays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 96,632,according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats up from 95,833 on Wednesday.

Of those, 68,891have been confirmed positive, while 27,741were classified as probable cases, the Maine CDC reported.

Four women and a man have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 1,088.

Of those, three were in their 80s or older and two in their 70s. Two were from Penobscot County, while the other three came from Kennebec, Piscataquis and Somerset counties.

The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 6,643. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. Thats down from 6,769 on Wednesday.

The new case rate statewide Thursday was 5.97 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 721.99.

Maines seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 400.4, up from 382 the day before, down from 554.4 a week ago and down from 443.9 a month ago. That average peaked on Jan. 14 at 625.3.

The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases have been recorded in women and more deaths in men.

So far, 2,631 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Of those, 167 are currently hospitalized, with 57 in critical care and 29 on a ventilator. Overall, 57 out of 340 critical care beds and 207 out of 304 ventilators are available.

The total statewide hospitalization rate on Thursday was 19.66 patients per 10,000 residents.

Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (10,253), Aroostook (3,605), Cumberland (21,083), Franklin (2,065), Hancock (2,536), Kennebec (9,212), Knox (1,817), Lincoln (1,697), Oxford (4,740), Penobscot (11,465), Piscataquis (1,236), Sagadahoc (1,879), Somerset (3,925), Waldo (2,243), Washington (1,660) and York (17,216) counties.

An additional 2,022 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Thursday, 890,172 Mainers are fully vaccinated, or about 75.2 percent of eligible Mainers, according to the Maine CDC.

New Hampshire reported 544 new cases on Thursday and two deaths. Vermont reported 327 new cases and one death, while Massachusetts reported 1,763 new cases and 19 deaths.

As of Thursday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 44,694.149 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 719,760 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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5 more Mainers have died and another 799 coronavirus cases reported across the state - Bangor Daily News

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) There were 341 new total COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday, bringing the states total case count to 149,678, up from Wednesday (149,337).

While the difference in the total case count reported Thursday and Wednesday equals 341, when you add the PCR, or newly confirmed, cases (267) and antigen, or new probable, cases (75), there were 342 new cases.

The number of active cases reported on Thursday is at 5,963, down from Wednesday (6,089).

The death toll from COVID-19 is at 2,182, up from Wednesday (2,177). Five new deaths include four men and one woman in the following age groups: 1 in the 60-69 age group, 3 in the 70-79 age group and 1 in the 80+ age group.

Current hospitalizations are at 201, down from Wednesday (207). Total hospitalizations are at 7,646, up from Wednesday (7,629).

Total recovered cases are now at 141,533, up from Wednesday (141,071). The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate for the state is 13.6% for October 6 12.

The DOH currently reports total tests each day. There have been 1,548,150 total tests reports as of Thursday, up 4,666 from 1,543,484 total tests reported Wednesday.

Of South Dakotas 66 counties, 54 are listed as having high community spread. High community spread is 100 cases or greater per 100,000 or a 10% or greater PCR test positivity rate.

There have been 626 Delta variant cases (B.1.617.2, AY.1-AY.25) detected in South Dakota through sentinel monitoring.

There have been 172 cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), three cases of P.1. (Gamma variant) and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta variant).

The DOH announced changes to how it reports vaccinations on the COVID-19 dashboard. It now includes a breakout of how many people have received booster doses. Due to data clean-up efforts, the percentages of people whove received one dose or completed the series have changed. Find the DOH explanation in this story.

As of Thursday, 65.79% of the population 12-years-old and above has received at least one dose while 56.86% have completed the vaccination series.

There have been 481,026 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered, 336,569 of the Moderna vaccine and 29,451 doses of the Janssen vaccine.

There have been 158,593 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna. There have been 194,022 persons who have received two doses of Pfizer.

As for booster doses, 24,348 people have received a 3rd Pfizer shot and 2,800 have received a 3rd Moderna dose.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 341 total new cases; Death toll rises to 2,182; Active cases at 5,963 - KELOLAND.com

'An important step forward': ACT Chief MinisterABC News

The ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has just been speaking from a very dark-looking Canberra.

"This is an important step forward and after nine weeks in a lockdown that has been gradually easing through that period, today is a gentle step forward," Mr Barr says.

"The pandemic isn't over.But we are able with high first dose vaccination rates to take this step forward."

Mr Barr says that four-fifth of people surveyed are more worried about what's happening in NSW than they are about the differing levels of freedoms.

"Canberra has approached this in a very different way. Yousee that in the vaccination uptake, you see that in the adherence to public health, social measures for example and our willingness to get tested to do the tracing and isolating and quarantining that's been necessary to protect the community."

In terms of the NSW border, Mr Barr says there is an exemption for the 27 surrounding postcodes, which covers a radius of 100 to 150km from the ACT, but he would be looking to extend this further in the coming days, as long as it can be done safely.

He adds that the ACT "finally" has enough vaccine supply.

"Being acity state helps [with the high vaccination rates]," he says.

"We have had the most effective system in every single dose from the Commonwealth and getting that quickly into the arm of a Canberran.

"We have done more than our fair share supporting our region, around 12 per centof all of the doses allocated to the ACT have actually vaccinated people in NewSouth Wales in the surrounding regions, so we have taken responsibility also for our region."

He puts that down to "better education levels" in the ACT.

Read more:

Live: Get up to speed on all the coronavirus news from across Australia - ABC News

In the not-too-distant future, you may be able to walk into a doctors office, get tested for SARS-CoV-2, and walk out with pills or a prescription if you end up testing positive for the virus.

Finally, we have another potential tool, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said Oct. 6 at a White House briefing, a promising new oral drug that people could take at home soon after COVID-19 to reduce the risk of severe outcomes.

The drug is molnupiravir, which Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, -0.79% and Ridgeback Therapeutics say cuts the risk of hospitalization and death by 50%. Its currently under review at the Food and Drug Administration, and, if authorized, it will be the first oral antiviral to treat COVID-19 patients in the U.S.

At least three other oral COVID-19 pills are expected to have clinical data by the end of the year, including drugs developed by Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc. AVIR, -3.00% and Roche Holding AG ROG, +0.01%, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. JP:4901 (via a consortium of drug makers including Appili Therapeutics Inc. APLIF and Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd. RDY, +1.16% ), and Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.60%.

Shionogi & Co. Ltd. 4507, -0.26% also has an oral antiviral in a late-stage clinical trial in Japan.

Coronavirus disease is going to be with us for the foreseeable future, even if it goes endemic, said Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, director of the AIDS division at NIAID and the official running the governments $3.2 billion COVID-19 antiviral program. These pills could be incredibly valuable [in] keeping the brushfire beaten down.

It makes sense that pharmaceutical companies are trying to figure out whether antivirals can reduce the risk of someone dying or ending up with organ damage and an expensive hospital stay.

They are also evaluating whether these pills can reduce viral load or how long a person who has contracted COVID-19 is infectious or sick or even prevent people from ending up with long COVID.

If theres something that can reduce viral load effectively, it would both reduce the risk of severe symptoms and potentially long COVID symptoms in that individual themselves and then, obviously, also reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others, said Dr. Carolyn Bramante, a pediatrician with the University of Minnesota Medical School, who is leading a clinical trial of repurposed drugs like ivermectin and metformin as COVID-19 treatments.

If molnupiravir and other antivirals are authorized or approved, its going to matter how quickly they are prescribed, if its best to prescribe them after someone is exposed to the virus or once symptoms are reported, and whether patients will comply with taking multiple pills in a single day.

The oral antivirals, by virtue of how they work, need to be taken early in the course of disease, certainly within five days, said Dr. Armand Balboni, CEO of Appili, which is working with Fujifilm to develop the COVID-19 pill favipiravir. I would argue that probably three days is where we need to use it, almost exactly like we use Tamiflu.

Roches influenza drug, Tamiflu, which can be used as a treatment or for post-exposure prophylaxis, needs to be taken within 48 hours of symptoms to work effectively.

Experts often compare SARS-CoV-2 to HIV or influenza. Both are transmittable viruses that are best treated when someone who is infected gets access to care quickly. How those viruses act in response to antiviral treatments can provide insight into several factors, including when to expect the viruss resistance to therapies and how quickly treatment needs to start with COVID-19 patients.

The goal is to fundamentally get to a place where people who are diagnosed with coronavirus disease would start the medication as soon as possible after theyre diagnosed, Dieffenbach said. If its set up in a logical, systematic way, you could leave either with pills or a prescription for the medication at the time you test. In HIV, we call that test-and-treat.

But that may be difficult for the already disconnected healthcare system in the U.S. Making sure that people get tested right away, even after potential exposure to COVID-19, is one challenge. Ensuring that they follow through with getting a prescription and taking several pills per day could be another obstacle.

Patients in the Merck trial took four pills twice a day for five days, for example, while Fujifilms favipiravir is testing 90 tablets in 10 days. Pfizers experimental antiviral requires two pills per day for five days.

That said, the only treatments available for people with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 are monoclonal antibodies, which have to be administered in a doctors office and are intended only for those who are at risk of severe disease. You get an infusion, Dieffenbach said. Its not a trivial thing.

Because the monoclonal antibodies havent always been easy to get access to, that has hindered their utilization, especially among people in rural America who live dozens or even hundreds of miles from the nearest hospital or clinic.

We need this because we need a toolbox, Balboni said. The toolbox absolutely includes vaccines. But it also includes monoclonal antibodies. It includes broad-spectrum oral antivirals and probably stacking the broad-spectrum oral antivirals to ensure that we dont develop resistance.

Read more of MarketWatchs coverage about COVID-19 antivirals:

Why a pill you take at home could change the direction of the pandemic

This development may fully reopen the global economy and the stock market has mostly ignored it

Its not a magic pill: What Mercks antiviral pill could mean for vaccine hesitancy

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The success of Merck's antiviral and other COVID-19 pills in development may depend on how quickly people start taking them - MarketWatch

We need to start grappling with the fact that the pandemic may be waning, but the impact on the service system is, I think, in some ways just starting, Gates, of CHR, said. So we may see this continue for potentially another two, if not three years, given the workforce issues.

Read the original post:

Connecticut faces an overwhelming coronavirus pandemic-induced crisis in pediatric mental health care. Heres what experts say the legislature should...

RiverStone Health announced three new COVID-19-related deaths Thursday, bringing the county's total to 352 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

All the deaths occurred at a Billings hospital. They include:

On Thursday, 134 COVID-19 patients were being treated in Billings Clinic or St. Vincent Healthcare. The two Billings hospitals were caring for 119 COVID-19 patients who werent vaccinated.

Only 53% of Yellowstone County residents age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The majority of people hospitalized this year and the majority of people who died werent vaccinated. Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines that reduce the risk of infection, illness and death are available to everyone age 12 and older from local pharmacies, clinics and hospitals.

RiverStone Health will hold these free, walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinics:

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., City College, Tech Building, Room A017.

Wednesday, Oct. 20, noon to 2 p.m. Billings Public Library Community Room.

Thursday, Oct. 21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., North Park.

Friday, Oct. 22, 11 am. to 1 p.m., Terry Park.

Oct. 27, noon to 2 p.m., Billings Public Library Community Room.

Clinics listed above will offer first and second doses and booster shots of Pfizer vaccine, along with first and second doses of Moderna and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to people 18 and older. Third doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are available to immune-compromised people.

A limited number of vaccination appointments are available from the RiverStone Health Immunization Clinic, phone 406.247.3382. More vaccination information is posted at covid.riverstonehealth.org.

Read more from the original source:

3 more COVID deaths reported in Yellowstone County, increasing total to 352 - KTVQ Billings News