Category: Corona Virus

COLUMBUS (WCMH) Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff announced the Ohio Vax-to-School program at a press conference Thursday.

The incentive program is for all vaccinated Ohioans ages 12 to 25. They can enter a drawing for one of five $100,000 scholarships. There are also 50 scholarships of $10,000 available.

The Ohio Lottery will release further details in the coming week. Funds come from existing COVID-19 relief dollars.

As of Thursday, Sept. 23, a total of 1,373,275 (+7,475) cases have been reported since the start of the pandemic, leading to 71,301 (+300) hospitalizations and 9,326 (+24) ICU admissions.A total of 6,262,492 Ohioans 53.58% of the states population has started the vaccination process. Thats an increase of 8,711 from the previous day.

The 21-day case average for Ohio is now over 6,500, as some Ohio intensive care units arerunning out of beds.

DeWine expressed concern over increasing hospitalizations among Ohioans 49 and younger, with nearly 400 the week of Sept. 5, and the vast majority of patients were unvaccinated. He said that in August, on average two people younger than 50 died of COVID-19 every day.

DeWine spoke with medical officials from around the state, who said in addition to COVID-19 patients filling hospitals that they are starting to see staffing issues, making caring for those patients difficult.

The Department of Health reported 125 deaths, Tuesday, bringing the total to 21,596. The state is updating the number only after death certificates have been processed, usually twice a week.

Ohio recorded9,019coronavirus cases Sept. 10, the most during the Delta wave. It was the highest one-day total since Jan. 8 (9,535).

Just 17 days in the entire pandemic has Ohio seen 9,000 cases, and only 10 days have seen more than 10,000. The states highest one-day total was set on Nov. 23 with 11,885 cases.

More here:

Coronavirus in Ohio Thursday update: nearly 7,500 new cases, 300 new hospitalizations - NBC4 WCMH-TV

For many fully vaccinated Americans, the Delta surge spoiled what shouldve been a glorious summer. Those who had cast their masks aside months ago were asked to dust them off. Many are still taking no chances. Some have even returned to all the same precautions they took before getting their shots, including avoiding the company of other fully vaccinated people.

Among this last group, a common refrain Ive heard to justify their renewed vigilance is that vaccinated people are just as likely to spread the coronavirus.

This misunderstanding, born out of confusing statements from public-health authorities and misleading media headlines, is a shame. It is resulting in unnecessary fear among vaccinated people, all the while undermining the publics understanding of the importanceand effectivenessof getting vaccinated.

So let me make one thing clear: Vaccinated people are not as likely to spread the coronavirus as the unvaccinated. Even in the United States, where more than half of the population is fully vaccinated, the unvaccinated are responsible for the overwhelming majority of transmission.

Read: Post-vax COVID is a new disease

I understand why people are confused. In April, after months of public-health experts cautiously promoting the merits of vaccination, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cited new real-world data of the shots effectiveness to jubilantly proclaim that vaccinated people do not carry the virus. The CDC later walked back her comment, but headlines such as Its Official: Vaccinated People Dont Transmit COVID-19 had already given many the impression that in addition to their remarkable protection against infection with the coronavirus, the shots also prevented them from passing the illness on to others.

Scientists and researchers objected, warning that there werent enough data to support such a proclamation. Their concerns were prescient. As Delta first took hold early this summer and then quickly spread, our collective relief turned into dejection.

An outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusettsin which 74 percent of the 469 cases were in the fully vaccinatedforced the CDC to update its mask guidance and issue a sad and sobering warning: Vaccinated people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant can be just as contagious as unvaccinated people.

In the aftermath of the Provincetown announcement, many who had gotten their shots were confused about what the news meant for them, especially when headlines seemed to imply that vaccinated individuals are as likely to contract and transmit COVID-19 as the unvaccinated. But this framing missed the single most important factor in spreading the coronavirus: To spread the coronavirus, you have to have the coronavirus. And vaccinated people are far less likely to have the coronavirusperiod. If this was mentioned at all, it was treated as an afterthought.

Despite concern about waning immunity, vaccines provide the best protection against infection. And if someone isnt infected, they cant spread the coronavirus. Its truly that simple. Additionally, for those instances of a vaccinated person getting a breakthrough case, yes, they can be as infectious as an unvaccinated person. But they are likely contagious for a shorter period of time when compared with the unvaccinated, and they may harbor less infectious virus overall.

Thats why getting more people their shots is crucial for controlling the spread of the coronavirus: Every vaccinated person helps limit the viruss ability to hide, replicate, and propagate.

Among the unvaccinated, the virus travels unhindered on a highway with multiple off-ramps and refueling stations. In the vaccinated, it gets lost in a maze of dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs. Every so often, it pieces together an escape route, but in most scenarios, it finds itself cut off, and its journey ends. It can go no further.

This is borne out by recent data from New York City that show that more than 96 percent of cases are among the unvaccinated. Only 0.33 percent of fully vaccinated New Yorkers have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

To highlight what this means in the real world, imagine two weddings with 100 guests, one where everyone is unvaccinated and another where all the guests are vaccinated.

In the unvaccinated wedding group, the likelihood that at least one of the guests has COVID-19 is high. Similarly, everyone present is more susceptible, and the virus will likely infect many others, given the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant.

At the wedding with exclusively vaccinated attendees, however, the likelihood that anyone present has COVID-19 is minuscule. Even if someone present is infected, the likelihood that the other guests will contract the virus is similarly low, given the protection afforded by their shots.

This is exactly why vaccine mandates are so importantand why going to events that exclude unvaccinated people is much, much safer than those that are open to all. Everyone knows that the vaccines help protect each individual who gets their shots. But when more people get vaccinated, this helps keep everyone else (including children and others ineligible for vaccination) safe as well.

Its worth acknowledging that even though the vaccines are our best protectionand still do what we need them to do very welltheyre not perfect. Vaccinated individuals can experience breakthrough infections, and when they do, they can potentially infect others. Some may also develop long COVID, although thankfully the shots dramatically lower this risk too. These reasons are exactly why, in many circumstances, mitigation measures such as masking and mandates still make sense to help limit the spread, even for the vaccinated.

As an emergency-medicine physician, Ive seen firsthand the vaccines dramatic role in reducing severe outcomes from a virus that flooded my emergency room early in the pandemic. And as a member of one of the first groups vaccinated in the rollout, I was kept safe by the shots while I cared for patients, and they prevented me from bringing the virus home to my family.

Craig Spencer: Relax, America: the vaccines are still working

But ultimately, a COVID-19 diagnosis in someone close to me is what highlighted why the assertion that the vaccinated are as likely to spread the coronavirus as the unvaccinated is so wrong.

Recently my cousin contacted me when her daughter tested positive for COVID-19. Her daughter fell ill just weeks before her 12th birthday, when she wouldve been eligible for a vaccine. My fully vaccinated cousin spent nearly every moment at her sidealways indoors and usually unmaskedyet never fell ill herself.

The vaccine seems to be working. Its magic! she texted me. Before getting her shots, she would have almost certainly been infected, and likely passed it on to others. But the vaccine broke the chain of transmission. My cousin never spread her daughters COVID-19 to anyone because she never caught it.

See the original post here:

The Vaccinated Aren't Just as Likely to Spread COVID - The Atlantic

CENTRAL FALLS Dozens of detainees and a handful of staff members at the Wyatt Detention Center have tested positive for COVID-19 thisweek, according to a statement from warden Daniel Martin.

So far, 50 detainees and seven staff members have tested positive, Martin said. Those cases were identified after one detaineetested positive at the end of last week, leading the facility to do more testing.

"We have been in contact with the RI Department of Health on our existing COVID protocols which include testing and quarantining every incoming detainee for 14 days, mandatory mask usage for staff and detainees, and thorough sanitization of common areas/surfaces," Martin wrote."We have added additional protocols based on RI DOH guidance which include ongoing, mandatory testing of detainees and staff, and not allowing detainees from different pods to come into contact with each other."

Vaccinations have been available to staff members and detainees at Wyatt since January.

Read more from the original source:

Dozens of detainees at Wyatt Detention Center infected in coronavirus outbreak - The Providence Journal

KINGSTON, N.Y. Ulster County reported another steep decline in active COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to the governments coronavirus online dashboard.

During a Facebook live stream briefing on Thursday, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said he was encouraged by the active case downward trend.

However, he also continued the push for vaccinations and mask-wearing, the two primary ways to prevent the spread of the delta variant.

Ryan said that there were 14 Ulster County residents hospitalized with the disease, with two of them in intensive care units. That number, he said, is one more than what he reported on Thursday, Sept. 16.

Ryan said that the county is awaiting word from federal officials on just how to proceed with booster shots. However, he said, the county is prepared to administer those shots at the former Best Buy store at the Hudson Valley mall where a vaccination center has been set up.

Here are the latest local COVID-19 statistics.

Ulster County: 516 reported Thursday down 60 from the previous day. (Peak was 2,622 on Jan. 30.)

Dutchess County: 659 reported Thursday, unchanged from the previous day. (Peak was 2,576 on Jan. 16.)

Ulster County: 3%.

Dutchess County:3.792%

Pandemic history

Ulster County: 17,966 confirmed cases, 17,173 recoveries, 277 deaths. (No new deaths reported Thursday.)

Dutchess County: 33,770 confirmed cases, 34 hospitalizations, 484 deaths. (No new death reported Thursday.)

Vaccination rates

Statistics are as of Thursday, according to New York states online vaccine tracker.

Ulster County: 64.1% of the population fully vaccinated, 70.9% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 81% of the 18-and-older population with at least one dose.

Dutchess County: 59% fully vaccinated, 66.1% with at least one dose of a two-dose regimen, 76.3% of the 18+ population with at least one dose.

COVID cases in school districts:

Kingston: One student at J. Watson Bailey MiddleSchool, M. Clifford Miller School and Kingston High School.

Saugerties: One student at Grant D. Morse Elementary School.

New York state did not update Thursday its COVID-19 Report Card.

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.

Excerpt from:

Active coronavirus cases take another steep decline in Ulster - The Daily Freeman

A bald eagle perches on a tree at Sunset Park in Rock Island, Ill., in March. A new study says that many species of birds increasingly moved into urban areas as human activity waned during the pandemic. Joel Lerner/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images hide caption

A bald eagle perches on a tree at Sunset Park in Rock Island, Ill., in March. A new study says that many species of birds increasingly moved into urban areas as human activity waned during the pandemic.

"Anthropause" is a word scientists have coined to describe the scaling back of human activity since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it's probably safe to say most people have found it uncomfortably restrictive, a new study published Wednesday suggests the pandemic has allowed many bird species to stretch their wings.

As people remained indoors, stopped commuting to work or hopping on passenger jets, the birds increasingly flew into urban areas they had previously shunned, according to findings published in Science Advances.

Michael Schrimpf, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manitoba's Natural Resources Institute, and his colleagues used information gathered on eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's online database of detailed bird sightings reported by citizen scientists. They compared records of sightings of 82 bird species, a total of 4.3 million individual birds, in Canada and the United States from March through May 2020 when many cities were in full coronavirus lockdown with the same period for 2017 through 2019.

"Everything from birds like hawks and eagles all the way down to small songbirds and even hummingbirds," Schrimpf tells NPR.

They found bird sightings increased near roads and airports during the pandemic. Overall, 80% of the bird species studied showed changes in their counts in urban areas in the 2020 time frame with most of them increasing on the order of 10% to 20%.

"The actual physical environment didn't change," Schrimpf notes. "There were still buildings, there were still roads. You know, there weren't vast tracts of new forest in these urban areas."

He says, "What did change was the activity of people in those spaces."

Schrimpf explains that the results don't suggest greater numbers of actual birds, but that "the birds that people were seeing were basically birds that would have been in other places instead showed up in places that are more regularly trafficked by people."

In fact, an estimate published in 2019 concluded that North America has lost about 3 billion birds since the 1970s, or nearly a third of all breeding birds.

In the latest research, just over a quarter of the bird species studied showed mixed trends, with a few, such as house sparrows and the type of pigeon typically seen around cities, spotted less often in urban areas during the pandemic.

Another caveat: It's possible that birds moved into some areas during the pandemic because they were relatively quiet and free from human activity. But as Schrimpf explains, "if a bird shows up there, but it didn't come along with, say, the right kind of food ... or if a predator like a coyote or a raccoon was also attracted to those areas because of lack of activity, what looks like a haven for a bird might wind up being a dangerous place."

The trend noted in the latest study is not just for the birds, either. A paper published last year in Nature noted: "Anecdotal observations indicate that many animal species are enjoying the newly afforded peace and quiet, while others, surprisingly, seem to have come under increased pressure."

It's difficult to say what will happen once the pandemic and the lockdowns are finally over, but Schrimpf says he is optimistic.

"We hope that it might be a lesson for us that we can take away in a post-pandemic world," he says, suggesting that people who prefer to continue working remotely might even use "helping the birds" as a rationale.

"I think that there is an opportunity to adjust how we live, to slow down," he says. "For example, if people that could work from home, maybe not all the time, but you know, a couple of days a week, that could reduce our human activity."

See the original post here:

Birds Thrived In Urban Settings During Pandemic Lockdowns, New Research Finds : Coronavirus Updates - NPR

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Longer commutes on public transit were linked to higher rates of coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission during New York Citys first wave of the pandemic, a potentially concerning revelation for the thousands of Staten Islanders who spend hours commuting to and from other boroughs on a daily basis.

A recent study from Cornell University found that during the initial coronavirus outbreak in New York City, neighborhoods where residents spent more time commuting on public transportation saw higher infection rates than those where bus and subway usage was less frequent.

The latest research shows that for closed environments, such as public transportation (PT) vehicles, adherence to physical distancing, high-frequency cleaning and proper use of face masks can successfully reduce the probability of contagion, but the total viral load and the risk of inhaling infectious aerosols both increase with time spent in a confined space, according to the study.

Researchers analyzed the correlation between average time commuting on public transportation and infection rates in various neighborhoods throughout the city during the initial coronavirus lockdown.

Data showed that from April 6, 2020, through June 7, 2020, every additional minute added onto a neighborhoods average commute by public transportation resulted in a 0.8 in the daily new case rate per 100,000 residents.

While this may not seem significant at first glance, this means that every additional 30 minutes spent commuting on public transportation correlated to an increase of 24 new cases per 100,000, and every additional hour resulted in 48 new cases per 100,000.

These findings are particularly concerning for Staten Islanders, who consistently deal with the longest public transportation commutes of any borough.

Staten Islanders who commute to work by public transit spend an average of 59.9 minutes on their daily commute, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data cited in the study.

That was the highest average public transit commute time of any borough, followed by Queens (54.6 minutes), the Bronx (53.1 minutes), Brooklyn (49.2 minutes) and Manhattan (40.2 minutes).

Read more:

Longer mass transit commutes in NYC linked to higher coronavirus rates, study says - SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City public schools have been open for nearly two weeks, and some students have already experienced a disruption to their in-person instruction as positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases are being reported and shuttering classrooms across the five boroughs.

According to the city Department of Educations (DOE) Daily COVID Case Map, there has been a total of 1,689 confirmed positive coronavirus cases in schools across New York City since the first day of school on Sept. 13. This data was last updated on Wednesday evening.

Last week during the first week of school in New York City at least 30 Staten Island public schools had at least one classroom closed or partially closed. As of last Wednesday, there were already 403 confirmed positive coronavirus cases in schools citywide since the first day of school. This resulted in 178 classroom closures across New York City. Another 165 classrooms were partially closed, as those classrooms had a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated students, according to the data.

Currently, there are 687 full classroom closures in effect across New York City, the data shows. Another 521 classrooms are currently partially closed, as those classrooms have a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated students, according to the data.

There is one school, located in Manhattan, that has shuttered its entire campus due to multiple coronavirus cases.

However, a new quarantine policy going into effect in New York City on Monday will likely lead to fewer classroom closures across the five boroughs. The policy will align with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vaccinated and unvaccinated students who are wearing a face covering and have maintained at least three feet of distance from a student who tests positive for COVID-19 will not be considered close contacts and wont have to quarantine, according to the DOEs website.

On Staten Island, 39 schools have at least one classroom closed, or partially closed, due to exposure to COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening. Those schools are listed below.

The DOEs Daily COVID Case Map shows all known active interventions and cases of coronavirus in New York City public schools. It is updated Sunday through Friday at 6 p.m.

It includes the daily and cumulative numbers for coronavirus cases, broken down by students and staff. It also includes the actions taken at schools daily and cumulative, and the closures currently in effect including classroom closures, partial classroom closures, non-classroom quarantines and full school closures.

Heres a closer look at what the protocol terms mean.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.

Here is the original post:

NYC continues classroom closures due to coronavirus: These S.I. schools are on the list - SILive.com

"We are bracing ourselves for an awfully busy winter ahead," Associate Dean of Public Health at Brown University Dr. Megan Ranney told CNN Tuesday.

And hospitals are straining to keep up with the number of patients coming in. Staff shortages and employee fatigue in Pennsylvania hospitals have reached a point where some health systems are offering signing bonuses, loan forgiveness and other incentives to staff. And in Wyoming, nearly 100 members of the state's national guard were activated Tuesday to assist hospitals dealing with the surge.

And though it isn't clear yet what this year's flu season has in store, it could add additional stress to an already pressed health care system.

"Flu is still a killer, not as much as Covid-19, but between 12,000 and 50,000 Americans lose their lives every year from flu," vaccinologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Dr. Peter Hotez said.

Flu numbers were actually relatively low last year, but experts said that doesn't necessarily foreshadow how this year will turn out.

"Let's be clear on why flu cases were so low last year, it's because we were all masked and we were all distancing," Ranney said. "Those things are not being done anymore in the vast majority of the country."

Now, health officials are asking the public to get both their Covid vaccine and their flu shot.

Pediatricians recommend that both adults and children 6 months and older receive their flu vaccinations by Halloween, Dr. Flor Munoz, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Texas Children's Hospital, told CNN.

Some vaccine clinics around the country are offering both shots -- and encouraging people who come in for one to make sure they have the other.

"If somebody comes in wanting the flu vaccine and they haven't had a Covid vaccine then we can encourage them to get both, or vice-versa," said Dr. Robert Hopkins, chief of general internal medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee.

If health care providers can encourage people to do both, "We potentially are going to have a greater impact on both disease prevention efforts," Hopkins said.

Two-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine 94% effective, company says

Pfizer has suggested a third dose of its vaccine will boost protection for those already vaccinated, and now Johnson & Johnson has announced an extra dose of its vaccine is helpful as well.

Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine was given emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration on February 27. It has been given to about 14.8 million Americans, according to the CDC.

The company released some details of three studies looking at various aspects of its Janssen vaccine, and said that, taken together, they showed the vaccine provided long-lasting protection that could be boosted with an extra shot.

"Our single-shot vaccine generates strong immune responses and long-lasting immune memory. And, when a booster of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is given, the strength of protection against COVID-19 further increases," Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of Janssen Research & Development, said in a statement.

The company's ongoing Phase 2 trial of a two-dose regimen showed giving two doses 56 days apart provided 100% protection against severe Covid-19 and 94% protection against moderate to severe Covid-19 in the US.

A second study showed people given a booster shot six months or longer after their first dose had a 12-fold increase in antibodies -- compared to a four-fold increase for people who got a second dose at two months. So, protection should be stronger if people get boosters later, Dr. Dan Barouch, head of Beth Israel Deaconess' Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, told CNN.

Death rate four times higher in least vaccinated states

The average rate of Covid-19 deaths in the 10 least vaccinated states was more than four times higher over the past week than the rate in the 10 most vaccinated states, according to a CNN analysis.

In the least vaccinated states, roughly eight people out of every 100,000 residents died of Covid-19 over the past week, compared with only about two out of every 100,000 people in the 10 most vaccinated states.

CNN used data from Johns Hopkins University and the CDC for the analysis.

Less vaccinated states tend to have higher hospitalization rates, too.

The latest data from the US Department of Health and Human Services shows an average of 39 Covid-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people in the 10 least vaccinated states, nearly three times higher than the average rate of 14 per 100,000 people in the 10 most vaccinated states.

The states with the lowest vaccination rates have fully vaccinated less than 45% of their residents. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The 10 states with the highest vaccination rates have fully vaccinated more than 62% of their residents. They are Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

CNN's Kiely Westhoff, Andy Rose, Deidre McPhillips, Jacqueline Howard and Maggie Fox contributed to this report.

Read the rest here:

Between Covid-19 and the flu, health care professionals are bracing themselves for the winter ahead, expert says - CNN

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 229 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4.7 million. More than 5.95 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Pfizer/BioNTech announced yesterday that their COVID-19 vaccine induces a strong immune response in 5 to 11-year-olds. They plan to seek regulatory approval as soon as possible.

Doctors in Thailand have been given the go-ahead to give COVID-19 booster shots under the skin, rather than injecting into muscles, in an effort to strengthen immunity and stretch supplies.

Austria will require protective face masks and COVID-19 passes for the use of its ski lifts this winter.

A certificate showing proof of immunity from COVID-19 will be required to enter the Vatican as of 1 October, the city state has announced.

The German government is not giving a target date for lifting COVID-19 restrictions, as it's unclear how the pandemic will develop over the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Indonesia has reported its smallest daily increase in confirmed new COVID-19 cases since August last year - 1,932.

Australia's New South Wales state has reported its lowest daily rise in COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

Shortages of masks and gloves have spread to other medical items in the United States, from exam tables and defibrillators to crutches and IV poles.

It can now take up to five months to get some types of exam tables, for instance, compared to three to six weeks before the pandemic, according to CME Corp, a distributor of medical equipment that handles over 2 million products.

Right now, because of the supply chain stress thats being caused by COVID, almost everything is delayed, said Cindy Juhas, CMEs chief strategy officer. A lot of the stuff we sell is not sitting in a warehouse where you just call and say, 'Send it over'. It needs to be built.

Many of the items in short supply aren't related to COVID-19. For example, heart defibrillators that used to take two weeks to deliver now require three months.

It's part of wider supply chain disruption. The Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach announced last week that a record 60 container vessels were waiting offshore to unload.

Each of our Top 50 social enterprise last mile responders and multi-stakeholder initiatives is working across four priority areas of need: Prevention and protection; COVID-19 treatment and relief; inclusive vaccine access; and securing livelihoods. The list was curated jointly with regional hosts Catalyst 2030s NASE and Aavishkaar Group. Their profiles can be found on http://www.wef.ch/lastmiletop50india.

Top Last Mile Partnership Initiatives to collaborate with:

The World Health Organization has called on leaders at the United Nations General Assembly to guarantee equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, ensure the world is better prepared to respond to future pandemics and renew efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Nearly three-quarters of all COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in just 10 countries. The WHO warns that the longer this inequity persists, the more the virus will circulate and the longer disruption will continue.

The organization also urged countries to break the cycle of 'panic and neglect' that's been seen after previous health emergencies. The WHO called on nations to prepare better for future such emergencies.

Written by

Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

More here:

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 21 September - World Economic Forum

California officially has the lowest coronavirus case rate of any state, federal figures show, underscoring the progress made in the ongoing battle against the highly infectious Delta variant.

The state has been among the national leaders in that metric for the last week, as the number of newly confirmed coronavirus infections continues to tumble from a peak earlier this summer.

Californias new case rate per 100,000 people is less than half of neighboring states, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some hard-hit states have more than quadruple Californias numbers.

Statewide

As of Monday, Californias seven-day case rate was 95.3 per 100,000 people. The next-closest state was Connecticut, at 126.5.

The comparable rates over the same period were 385.1 cases per 100,000 people in Texas; 287.2 in Florida; 250.1 in Arizona; 234.7 in Oregon; and 202.5 in Nevada, federal data show.

The CDC categorizes states coronavirus transmission levels in one of four tiers: the worst high is color-coded as red, followed by substantial (orange), moderate (yellow) and low (blue).

With the latest update, Californias coronavirus transmission level has once again fallen to substantial. Every other state currently remains in the high transmission category.

The federal figures illustrate the recent success California has had in turning the tide of the Delta variant-fueled coronavirus wave.

Over the last week, the state has reported an average of 8,849 new cases per day down about 33% from two weeks ago, according to data compiled by The Times.

COVID-19 hospitalizations, too, have plummeted lately. At the height of the current surge, more than 8,300 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized at one time statewide. Now, that daily census has fallen to just about 6,000, state data show.

But the progress has been uneven. While the Bay Area, in general, experienced the least-severe summer surge and Los Angeles has had success with new measures to slow the Delta variant, the Central Valley and parts of rural Northern California have been harder hit.

L.A. County

Los Angeles County continues to report improvement in weekly COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

About a month ago, the county was averaging more than 3,400 new coronavirus infections a day over a one-week period, according to a Times analysis of state data. But over the last week, L.A. County averaged nearly 2,200 new cases a day.

And as of Sunday, 1,034 coronavirus-positive patients were hospitalized countywide down roughly 42% from the month prior.

Nonetheless, coronavirus transmission levels remain at an elevated level.

We cant afford to be complacent with an average of 2,000 new cases and dozens of deaths each day, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said over the weekend. In order to be better prepared for the fall and winter, typically seasons when many viruses thrive, we need to immediately reduce COVID transmission. Given the powerful tools at our disposal that we didnt have last fall rapid antigen tests and highly effective vaccinations the high number of cases is troubling and reflects the unevenness of vaccination coverage and screenings.

Central Valley

But the situation remains grim elsewhere.

Hospitals throughout the San Joaquin Valley which the state defines as Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties have reported having less than 10% of their cumulative staffed adult ICU beds available for 19 straight days.

Some healthcare facilities in the region are still so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients that some critically ill people are waiting days to be transferred into the intensive care unit from the emergency room, officials said.

One Fresno area hospital had nine critically ill patients who were unable to get into the intensive care unit for more than three days, interim health officer Dr. Rais Vohra said at a news conference last week. This forces emergency room staff to treat patients needing ICU care, disrupting the healthcare of other patients with less severe illness.

Were basically really straining what the emergency department has to do, Vohra said. We still anticipate at least a few more weeks of thoroughly impacted operations in ICUs and emergency rooms.

Hospitals in Fresno County are teetering on the need to ration healthcare and implement crisis standards of care, Vohra said. In these situations, hospitals conclude that they no longer can provide the same standard of healthcare to everyone and must choose whose lives to prioritize to keep as many patients alive as possible.

In Fresno County and the greater San Joaquin Valley, hospitals remain extremely busy, said Dan Lynch, director of the Central California Emergency Medical Services Agency. Most of Fresno Countys hospitals are running at 108% to 110% of standard capacity, while Clovis Community Medical Center near Fresno has been running at 130% of capacity.

Vaccines

Officials say unvaccinated Californians continue to be infected at higher rates than their vaccinated counterparts.

During the week of Aug. 29 through Sept. 4, the average case rate among unvaccinated individuals was roughly eight times higher than for those who had been inoculated, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The vaccines continue to be our best tool to put an end to this deadly pandemic, Dr. Toms Aragn, the departments director and state public health officer, said in a statement last week.

Almost 66% of Californians have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. But the rates vary widely by community.

Eleven of the states 58 counties have seen more than 70% of their residents receive at least one shot to date, according to data compiled by The Times. However, 14 others have yet to partially inoculate even half of their population.

Unvaccinated people are also at far greater risk of being hospitalized. Of the hundreds admitted to L.A. Countys public hospital system since June 15 for a diagnosis primarily linked to COVID-19, 93% have been unvaccinated.

Most of the vaccinated people who have been hospitalized have compromised immune systems, and thus are not able to mount a sufficient immune response after vaccination, according to county Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly.

View original post here:

California has the lowest coronavirus rate in the U.S. - Los Angeles Times