Category: Corona Virus

Amid a rapidly spiking Delta-driven surge of coronavirus cases inBritain, the second season of the Netflix series Bridgerton halted filming for the second time in three days, after someone involved with the production tested positivefor the coronavirus.

A spokeswoman for Netflix declined to identify whether it was a cast or crew member who had tested positive, but said the individual was now isolating. Production on the popular Regency-era drama, which is set and filmed in the United Kingdom, has been paused indefinitely, Deadline first reported on Saturday.

Filming on the show, which is based on Julia Quinns romance novels, was halted for the first time on Thursday for 24 hours after a crew member tested positive. Everyone working on the series was tested, and no cast members were affected. Production had resumed on Friday before being paused again.

The first season of Bridgerton, the first original series for Netflix by Shonda Rhimess production company, was a hit with both fans and critics. Netflix reported that 82 million households watched the series in its first month following a Christmas Day release. The show follows the drama of a courting season in 1813 London, with social machinations, scheming and scandal galore as high-society families contrive to pair off their young eligibles.

It was also nominated for 12 Emmy Awards last week, including a nod for Reg-Jean Page, who played the Duke of Hastings Simon Bassett, in the leading actor in a drama category. There is no release date yet for the second season, but filming began in May.

A Covid-19 surge has also been shutting down Londons West End theaters after members of productions like Hairspray at the London Coliseum and Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeares Globe Theater tested positive earlier this month.

Despite a rise in cases that has driven Englands daily average to 35,388 almost double the level just two weeks ago the government has been pushing ahead in its bid to reopen. Virtually all social distancing and mask requirements will be removed in England on Monday.

More:

'Bridgerton' and Coronavirus: Positive Tests Halt Production in UK - The New York Times

His comments come as CNN has reported that senior Biden administration officials overseeing an intelligence review into the origins of the coronavirus now believe the theory that the virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan is at least as credible as the possibility that it emerged naturally in the wild -- a dramatic shift from a year ago, when Democrats publicly downplayed the so-called lab leak theory.

"The most likely explanation is a natural evolution from an animal reservoir to a human," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN's Jim Acosta.

"Once you say that, which I believe is the more likely, you've got to make sure you emphasize that you still keep an open mind for all possibilities, including a lab leak," he added.

Acosta pressed Fauci to confirm he believes the natural origins theory is still the more likely scenario.

"I do, right, and I'm not alone in that," Fauci said. "A recent paper was put out by 21 very well internationally-respected virologists and evolutionary biologists who said the same thing as I'm saying. And I rely on people like that, who have great experience in this. That's what they do every single day -- who, again, are open minded -- and are saying it's conceivable that you may have had a lab leak. So you've got to keep an open mind to all possibilities, but they feel that the more likely explanation is a natural evolution from an animal host to a human."

Dr. Paul Offit, a prominent member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee, echoed Fauci's confidence in the natural origins theory Saturday.

"I think the chance that this was created by laboratory workers -- that it was engineered -- is zero," Offit told Acosta in a separate interview.

Current intelligence reinforces the belief that the virus most likely originated naturally, from animal-human contact, and was not deliberately engineered, the sources said. But that does not preclude the possibility that the virus was accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where coronavirus research was being conducted on bats -- although many scientists familiar with the research say such a leak is unlikely.

Natasha Bertrand, Pamela Brown, Katie Bo Williams and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.

Read the original:

Fauci says natural origins theory of coronavirus is still the most likely - CNN

WASHINGTON Three of the Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas to stymie a Republican-backed effort to impose broad new voting restrictions have tested positive for COVID-19 in the nations capital.

The Texas Houses Democratic caucus says in a statement that one of the three tested positive on Friday and the others did so on Saturday. It didnt release their names or conditions. It said all three were fully vaccinated against the disease.

More than 50 Democratic Texas lawmakers left the state to deny the Republican-controlled Legislature the necessary quorum to pass a bill that would enact new voting restrictions.

Republicans and others had criticized the Democrats after a photo showed them on a charter flight to Washington without masks, though federal pandemic guidelines dont require masks on private flights.

Members of the caucus have met with Vice President Kamala Harris, but it was not immediately known whether the three who contracted COVID-19 did so. Harris office said it would issue a statement later Saturday.

___

MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

Biden grappling with pandemic of the unvaccinated

Thailand tightens measures as daily cases cross 10,000

European nations impose incentives, penalties to boost shots

Desperate for vaccines amid surge, Iranians flock to Armenia

Arkansas governors vaccination tour reveals depths of distrust.

___

Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

___

HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

LAS VEGAS Some Las Vegas resorts and casinos are again requiring employees to wear masks, a response to a recommendation by regional health officials amid rising COVID-19 case rates.

The Southern Nevada Health District on Friday recommended that all people, vaccinated or not, wear face coverings in public settings such as stores, malls, casinos and events.

The recommendation isnt a mandate, but local media outlets reported that it prompted properties such as Westgate Las Vegas, The Venetian and Las Vegas Sands to impose masking requirements for employees.

Some also offered complimentary masks to visitors.

Restrictions affecting casinos and other venues were lifted in May when the state fully returned pandemic control measures to counties.

Nevada health officials on Thursday reported 938 new cases of COVID-19 statewide the biggest one-day coronavirus case jump since February and 15 new deaths. An additional 866 cases were reported Friday.

___

PHOENIX Arizona on Saturday reported over 1,000 additional COVID-19 cases for the fourth straight day as virus-related hospitalizations continued to increase.

The state Department of Health Services coronavirus dashboard reported 1,152 additional cases and 14 deaths, increasing Arizonas pandemic totals to 907,268 cases and 18,114 deaths.

Public health experts attribute the increases to low vaccination rates, the fast-spreading delta variant and July Fourth gatherings.

The number of virus-elated hospitalizations in Arizona generally ranged between 500 and 600 during May and June but rose in the past week, with 745 COVID-19-related hospitalizations as of Friday, according the dashboard.

Virus patients occupied 9% of in-patient beds as of Friday, up from 6% a week ago but far below the pandemic peak of nearly 60% seen in mid-January during the winter surge.

___

ATHENS, Greece The island of Mykonos has become the first location in Greece to have a curfew reimposed due to a spike in coronavirus cases.

Greek authorities said Saturday that one in 10 individuals tested on the island in recent days tested positive.

The 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. curfew took effect Saturday and authorities also imposed a round-the-clock ban on music in bars, cafes and restaurants starting 6 pm Saturday. Fines for renting out properties for parties of more than 20 people can range up to 200,000 euros ($236,000).

The ban on music and the curfew will end on Monday, July 26, unless the government decides to extend it.

Police on the island, a high-end tourist destination, say that violations of social distancing norms had gotten out of hand recently.

Authorities say the single hotel assigned to people quarantining has overflowed and visitors who have tested positive have been camping on beaches.

Greece continued to report a relatively high number of new infections Saturday, with 2,562 cases reported in the 24-hour period ending 3 pm Saturday. There were also seven deaths.

___

HELSINKI Residents in the Finnish capital were able to get coronavirus jabs without advance appointment on Saturday at four dedicated walk-in vaccination points in a one-day trial meant to lure young people in particular to get vaccinated.

Health officials in Helsinki, a city of 631,000 inhabitants, urged all those aged 16 and above, and those 12 to 15 who belong to a risk group, to get vaccinated.

Now its possible to drop by and get the vaccine if you go for a walk or drive, or even in a group. Were trying this for the first time now on Saturday and depending on the result we might offer this possibility more frequently, said Leena Turpeinen, the citys director of health and substance abuse.

Finnish media reported long lines in front of the vaccination points located in four city districts.

About 65% of adult Helsinki residents have received their first coronavirus jab so far, slightly more than the respective figure in entire Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, officials said.

___

LONDON Britains health minister says he has tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid says he has tested positive with a rapid test and is self-isolating as he awaits the results of a more accurate PCR test.

Javid said Saturday, Im grateful that Ive had two jabs of the vaccine and so far my symptoms are very mild.

Cases of the virus are surging in the U.K., driven by the highly infectious delta variant, despite a high level of vaccination.

Javid took over last month from Matt Hancock, who resigned after breaching social distancing rules. Hancock was ill with COVID-19 early in the pandemic last year. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent several days in intensive care with the virus in April 2020.

___

PARIS France will allow international travelers who have had AstraZenecas Indian-manufactured vaccine into the country starting Sunday.

At the same time, France is tightening border checks to control the spread of the delta variant and protect hospitals, according to a statement from the prime minister Saturday.

The move to accept visitors vaccinated with AstraZenecas vaccine made by Indias Serum Institute came after global outcry over the fact that the European Unions COVID-19 certificate only recognizes AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in Europe. Several other EU countries already accept the Indian version. France still does not recognize vaccinations by Chinese or Russian vaccines, only those authorized by the EU medicines regulator.

Tunisia, Indonesia, Cuba and Mozambique have now been added to Frances red list of countries with high virus risk, according to Saturdays statement.

___

LONDON Tourists and the travel industry are venting frustration and anger after Britain reversed a plan to ease travel restrictions on France just two days after the change was due to start, citing concerns about a variant of the coronavirus.

The U.K. government says people arriving from France must self-isolate for 10 days on entering Britain, even if they are fully vaccinated.

The announcement came just days after the government said fully vaccinated U.K. residents will no longer face quarantine starting Monday when arriving from European Union nations and dozens of other countries.

British health authorities say France is being singled out because of cases of the beta variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines than other strains.

___

ATHENS, Greece European nations are scrambling to ramp up vaccination drives.

They are using a carrot-and-stick approach to persuade those who are reluctant to get their shots as the more transmissible delta variant drives a surge in infections.

Greece became the latest to enact new restrictions on Friday. The country is requiring proof of vaccination or recent recovery from COVID-19 for access to indoor restaurants, cafes, bars and movie theaters. Children can enter with negative tests.

Some European countries like France and Greece have also introduced mandatory vaccinations for certain professions.

___

YEREVAN, Armenia A surge of new coronavirus infections in Iran fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant has threatened to overwhelm hospitals.

Thousands of Iranians are taking matters into their own hands and flocking to neighboring Armenia as the urgency of vaccination grows.

Vaccine uptake has remained sluggish in the ex-Soviet Caucasus nation amid widespread vaccine hesitancy. Authorities have been doling out free doses to foreign visitors.

That has been a boon for Iranians afraid for their lives and sick of waiting. Iran has the highest COVID-19 death toll in the Middle East, less than 2% of the countrys 84 million people have received both doses. But the trip has become so popular for Iranians that the price of the journey is soaring.

___

BANGKOK Thailand has tightened coronavirus restrictions and warned of further measures as daily cases surpassed 10,000 and the death toll hit a record 141 despite an overnight curfew in Bangkok and several other provinces.

The surge since April has overwhelmed hospitals, strained the economy and thrown tourism recovery plans in doubt.

The vaccine rollout, hindered by supply problems, is slugging with some 5% of the population fully vaccinated and 15% only partially.

Cases have been climbing particularly in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

The government imposed additional measures overnight including a ban on any gatherings and activities that can spread the virus, including anti-government rallies that have criticized Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ochas handling of the pandemic.

Read the rest here:

The Latest: 3 lawmakers who fled Texas over vote have virus - Associated Press

BERLIN, July 16 (Reuters) - Germany has declared all of Greece a coronavirus risk area, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Friday, which means that tourists and returning German nationals need to present a negative test to avoid quarantine.

The RKI also listed all of the Netherlands, expect the overseas territories of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Aruba and Curacao, as a risk area as well.

On Monday, the Greek government ordered the mandatory vaccination of healthcare workers and nursing home staff following a steep rise in new COVID-19 infections in the middle of the vital tourism season. read more

Greece reported 2,794 new infections on Thursday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 450,512. COVID-related deaths have reached 12,819.

Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Douglas Busvine

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

More here:

Germany lists Greece and the Netherlands as coronavirus risk areas -RKI - Reuters

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 188.9 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4.06 million. More than 3.54 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

India reported 38,949 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours on Friday, health ministry data showed, taking the nationwide tally above 31 million.

Hungary will offer the option of taking a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from 1 August and will make coronavirus vaccines mandatory for all healthcare workers, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday.

Los Angeles County will reimpose its mask mandate this weekend in the latest sign that public health officials are struggling with an alarming rise in coronavirus cases tied to the highly contagious Delta variant.

The Philippines has recorded the country's first locally acquired cases of the more infectious Delta variant, prompting authorities to reimpose stricter coronavirus measures in some areas.

Many countries are experiencing a consistent rise in COVID-19 cases, caused by the spread of the Delta variant.

Image: Our World in Data

Further information is needed to discover more about the origins of COVID-19, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.

A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around the city of Wuhan, China, with Chinese researchers and said in a joint report in March 2021 that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal. It said that "introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway".

But speaking in a press conference on Thursday, Tedros said that investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in China were being hampered by the lack of raw data on the first days of spread there.

"We ask China to be transparent and open and to cooperate," he said. "We owe it to the millions who suffered and the millions who died to know what happened."

China has called the theory that the virus may have escaped from a Wuhan laboratory "absurd" and said that "politicizing" the issue will hamper investigations.

Tedros will brief the WHO's 194 member states on Friday regarding a proposed second phase of study, the WHO's top emergency expert Mike Ryan said.

"We look forward to working with our Chinese counterparts on that process and the director-general will outline measures to member states at a meeting tomorrow, on Friday," he told reporters.

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

More:

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 16 July - World Economic Forum

The vast majority of Covid-19 anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories originated from just 12 people, a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) cited by the White House this week found.

CCDH, a UK/US non-profit and non-governmental organization, found in March that these 12 online personalities they dubbed the disinformation dozen have a combined following of 59 million people across multiple social media platforms, with Facebook having the largest impact. CCDH analyzed 812,000 Facebook posts and tweets and found 65% came from the disinformation dozen. Vivek Murthy, US surgeon general, and Joe Biden focused on misinformation around vaccines this week as a driving force of the virus spreading.

On Facebook alone, the dozen are responsible for 73% of all anti-vaccine content, though the vaccines have been deemed safe and effective by the US government and its regulatory agencies. And 95% of the Covid misinformation reported on these platforms were not removed.

Among the dozen are physicians that have embraced pseudoscience, a bodybuilder, a wellness blogger, a religious zealot, and, most notably Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of John F Kennedy who has also linked vaccines to autism and 5G broadband cellular networks to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kennedy was since removed from Instagram, which Facebook owns, but not from Facebook itself.

Facebook, Google and Twitter have put policies into place to prevent the spread of vaccine misinformation; yet to date, all have failed to satisfactorily enforce those policies, wrote CCDHs CEO, Imran Ahmed, in the report. All have been particularly ineffective at removing harmful and dangerous misinformation about coronavirus vaccines.

Although platforms have since taken measures to remove many posts and even remove three of the 12 from one platform, the CCDH is calling on Facebook and Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to completely deplatform the disinformation dozen they believe are dangerous and instrumental in creating vaccine hesitancy at a crucial moment in the pandemic.

Updated policies and statements hold little value unless they are strongly and consistently enforced, the report said. With the vast majority of harmful content being spread by a select number of accounts, removing those few most dangerous individuals and groups can significantly reduce the amount of disinformation being spread across platforms.

Go here to read the rest:

Majority of Covid misinformation came from 12 people, report finds - The Guardian

During South Africas second wave of the pandemic, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and in-hospital deaths were all increased than with the first wave, a new study showed.

This came at a time when the coronavirus beta variant was predominant in the country, which suggests that the new lineage (beta) in South Africa might be associated with increased in-hospital mortality during the second wave, the authors wrote July 9 in Lancet Global Health.

However, they noted limitations to the study. Also, other factors likely contributed to the higher death rate in hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the countrys second wave.

Earlier research found that the alpha variant (B.1.1.7) was associated with higher hospitalizations and deaths in the United Kingdom. But little is known about whether the beta variant causes more severe disease.

For the new study, researchers looked at COVID-19 patient admission data from over 644 South African hospitals from March 2020 through March 2021, along with the number of coronavirus cases during that time.

The first wave in South Africa peaked in July 2020, with the second wave peaking in January 2021. A third wave began this month.

The beta variant, also known as B.1.351, was first detected in South Africa in September 2020. By the second wave, this variant was the predominant strain in the country.

Researchers found that COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and in-hospital deaths were all higher during the second wave than the first.

Many factors can affect the chance of dying from COVID-19 in the hospital, including high numbers of hospital admissions, which can lead to a hospital system becoming overwhelmed.

But when researchers took into account the weekly hospital admissions, COVID-19 patients still had a 31 percent higher chance of dying during the second wave than the first

This suggests the beta variant may cause more severe disease.

However, researchers note they did not have data on which strain patients had, so its not possible to directly link worse patient outcomes to the beta variant.

In addition, other factors contributed to the higher mortality during the second wave, such as the spike in hospital admissions.

The observed increase in mortality of patients admitted to hospital at the peaks of the first and second waves reflects in part increasing pressure on the health system, the authors wrote.

During the second wave, weeks with very high admissions were associated with a 24 percent increase in mortality, compared to weeks with low admissions.

Even the perception of a strained health system can lead to excess mortality from COVID-19 and other conditions, the authors added, because individuals might avoid seeking care until their clinical condition has deteriorated or might die at home.

In an accompanying editorial, Linda-Gail Bekker, PhD, and Dr. Ntobeko AB Ntusi, both from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, reiterated the importance of maintaining hospital capacity during COVID-19 surges.

A crucial public health measure is to find ways to mitigate overcrowding through rapid expansion of hospital facilities or through a so-called curve flattening strategy, they wrote.

Another key way to prevent deaths is to ensure all countries have equal access to COVID-19 vaccines.

South Africa, and Africa at large, has not yet had the same vaccine coverage as most of the rest of the world, wrote Bekker and Ntusi. This is largely due to vaccine supply, global vaccine availability and vaccine nationalism.

The beta variant accounts for less than 1 percent of U.S. coronavirus cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some additional cases of beta continue to pop up across the country.

But given the fast spread of the delta variant (B.1.617.2) which accounted for 57.6 percent of cases during the two weeks ending July 3 its unlikely the beta variant will spread widely in the United States.

Deltas high transmissibility is also playing out in South Africa. As the country battles its third wave of the pandemic, the delta variant is dominant, reports Reuters.

Scientists will continue to monitor the spread of beta and other variants by analyzing genetic information, or genome, of the virus samples whats known as genomic sequencing.

Dr. Nahed Ismail, professor of pathology and director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at the University of Illinois Chicago, says genomic sequencing is important for several reasons.

First is knowing which strains are circulating in the community.

We have to prevent the transmission of those [coronavirus] strains that are spreading more aggressively than the wild type strain, the initial strain, said Ismail. The only way we can determine which ones are spreading faster is by sequencing.

Genomic sequencing can also impact the care COVID-19 patients receive. Certain variants are resistant to the monoclonal antibodies that received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The physician needs to know what type of variant strains exist [in the patients sample] in order to select the appropriate monoclonal antibody, said Ismail.

Scientists also monitor which variants are causing breakthrough infections ones that occur in people fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

If a certain variant causes a high number of severe breakthrough infections, it might indicate the current vaccine is no longer highly effective against that strain.

Most breakthrough infections are not severe. Many fully vaccinated people experience only mild symptoms if they acquire the virus. Scientists are mainly concerned about breakthrough infections that lead to people being hospitalized with severe COVID-19.

Early during the pandemic, scientists looked mainly for mutations in the part of the genome that contains instructions for the coronavirus spike region. The virus uses the spike protein to enter human cells.

But mutations can occur in any part of the virus genetic information, so scientists have since focused on the entire genome.

This virus is extremely adaptable and continues to mutate, said Ismail. So, if you want to detect all the variants, you cannot sequence only one region, you have to sequence the whole virus.

See the article here:

What to Know About the Coronavirus Beta Variant - Healthline

(Washington, DC) The Districts reported data for Thursday, July 15, 2021 includes 37 new positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, bringing the Districts overall positive case total to 49,652.

The District reported that one additional resident lost his life due to COVID-19.

Tragically, 1,146 District residents have lost their lives due to COVID-19.

Visit coronavirus.dc.gov/data for interactive data dashboards or to download COVID-19 data.

Below is a summary of the Districts current ReOpening Metrics.

Below is the Districts aggregated total of positive COVID-19 cases, sorted by age and gender.

Patient Gender

Total Positive Cases

%

Female

%

Male

%

Unknown

%

All

49,652*

100

25,869

100

23,619

100

164

100

Unknown

64

<1

20

<1

39

<1

5

3

0-18

6,443

13

3,201

12

3,220

14

22

14

19-30

13,370

27

7,346

28

5,971

25

53

33

31-40

9,864

20

5,069

20

4,758

20

37

23

41-50

6,353

13

3,202

12

3,138

13

13

8

51-60

5,851

12

2,882

11

2,955

13

14

9

61-70

4,216

9

2,120

8

2,089

9

7

4

71-80

2,118

4

1,147

5

966

4

5

3

81+

See the original post here:

Coronavirus Data for July 15, 2021 | mayormb - Executive Office of the Mayor

Florida officials reported 45,604 coronavirus cases over the seven-day period from July 9 to July 15. That is nearly double the number of weekly cases from the last reporting period and more than four times the number of weekly cases seen last month.

That brings the total number of cases up to 2,406,809 since the pandemics first two cases in Florida were reported on March 1, 2020, more than 16 months ago.

The state added 231 deaths since the previous weeks report, bringing the total statewide number of pandemic deaths to 38,388. It can take officials up to two weeks to confirm and report a coronavirus-related death.

The Florida Department of Health announced last month that it would no longer release daily COVID-19 data. Instead, it is now releasing a weekly report every Friday, but withholds information that was publicly available before.

As of June 4, the state no longer reports non-resident vaccinations, coronavirus cases and fatalities. The Florida Department of Health has declined repeated requests to provide non-resident data to the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida is transitioning into the next phase of the COVID-19 response, and has shifted reporting to parallel this, the agency said in a June 18 email to the Times. Among reportable diseases monitored by the department, such as HIV and Hepatitis, it is not typical to calculate cases for non-Florida residents.

Florida is the only state that updates its coronavirus caseloads and data once a week. Although weekly reports can be more reliable than daily updates, experts warn that infrequent data updates may delay identifying emerging trends.

Vaccinations: Florida administered 224,326 doses of vaccine in the past week. The number of first doses administered dropped to 110,525, the sixth consecutive week that first-dose vaccines have fallen.

So far 59 percent of Florida residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the state. Thats the same percentage the state reported last week. Just over 51 percent of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated.

Vaccination rates are highest among Floridas older adults. More than 84 percent of Floridians over the age of 65 have been vaccinated, and 74 percent of those ages 60 to 64 have been vaccinated, according to state data. Meanwhile, vaccination rates for those under 40 remain low. Only 33 percent of those 12 to 19 are vaccinated, while 38 percent of those 20 to 29 and 46 percent of those 30 to 39 have received the vaccine.

In Hillsborough County, 54 percent of residents age 12 and up have been vaccinated; in Pinellas, 58 percent; in Pasco, 55 percent; in Manatee, 57 percent; in Polk, 50 percent; in Hernando, 49 percent; and in Citrus, 51 percent.

Positivity: Floridas positivity rate rose to 11.5 percent in the past week, up from 7.8 percent the week before, and double the rate from two weeks earlier.

Before reopening, states should maintain a positivity rate of 5 percent or less for at least two weeks, according to the World Health Organization. A positivity rate of 5 percent or less indicates testing is widespread enough to capture mild, asymptomatic and negative cases.

Positivity rates were up for the second week in a row in the Tampa Bay area, where the positivity rate was 13.7 percent in Hillsborough, 9.2 percent in Pinellas, 13.2 percent in Pasco, 12.6 percent in Manatee, 13.3 percent in Polk, 12 percent in Hernando, and 11.2 percent in Citrus.

Hospitalizations: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 3,652 confirmed COVID-19 patients were admitted to Florida hospitals from July 7 to July 14. Thats an increase of over 1,200 new hospitalizations compared the week before.

The Tampa Bay area saw 723 hospital admissions from July 7 to July 14. Hillsborough county hospitals had 257 admissions, Pinellas had 160 admissions, Pasco had 64 admissions, Manatee had 22 admissions, Polk had 169 admissions, Hernando had 30 admissions, and Citrus had 21 admissions.

Local numbers: Tampa Bay added 7,701 cases in the past week, more than doubling the weekly cases from the previous week. This brings the total number of cases in the Tampa Bay area to 420,426.

As of Thursdays count, Hillsborough added 2,918 new cases, Pinellas had 1,365 cases, Pasco had 885 cases, Manatee had 657 cases, Polk had 1,424 cases, Hernando had 294 cases, and Citrus had 158 cases.

The state no longer reports deaths by county. According to CDC data, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties each recorded fewer than 10 confirmed COVID-19 related deaths in the past week. The federal agency does not report exact deaths by county when the count is under 10.

CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: Find the latest numbers for your county, city or zip code.

NEED A VACCINE? Here's how to find one in the Tampa Bay area and Florida.

VACCINES Q&A: Have coronavirus vaccine questions? We have answers, Florida.

GET THE DAYSTARTER MORNING UPDATE: Sign up to receive the most up-to-date information.

A TRIBUTE TO FLORIDIANS TAKEN BY THE CORONAVIRUS: They were parents and retirees, police officer and doctors, imperfect but loved deeply.

HAVE A TIP?: Send us confidential news tips

Were working hard to bring you the latest news on the coronavirus in Florida. This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. If you havent already subscribed, please consider buying a print or digital subscription.

Read this article:

Florida adds 45,604 coronavirus cases, 231 deaths in the past week - Tampa Bay Times

Coronavirus: Canada set to overtake US in terms of fully vaccinated population as it happened  Financial Times

Read more from the original source:

Coronavirus: Canada set to overtake US in terms of fully vaccinated population as it happened - Financial Times