Category: Corona Virus

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WFLA) Officials are requiring that all fans and staff members be fullyvaccinated against COVID-19in order to attend Buffalo Bills games this fall.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announcedduring a press conference Tuesdaythat officials want fans to return to Highmark Stadium. However, he says in order to do that there must be a vaccination requirement.

I want to see that stadium full. I know the Bills want to see that stadium full. We want to return fans back to the stadium, said Poloncarz. Our plan is that unless you are vaccinated you will not have entry to the stadium. It is easy. It is safe.

Poloncarz says that county leaders want to see 70,000+ people attending games and that you can be one of those people by getting vaccinated.

He adds that there is no need to do masscoronavirustesting to buy tickets for games.

Poloncarz says attendees can download theNew York State Excelsior Pass appwhich allows residents to show that they have been fully vaccinated. The app reportedly features a QR code that will be scanned and used to allow access to the venue.

We want to ensure that if you want to go to a Bills game you can buy and ticket and you can enter by showing that you are vaccinated, he said.

Erie County officials say the same policy will be required for entry into KeyBank Center for Buffalo Sabres games.

Our goal is to have a 100% full house for the Bills and the Sabres starting in the fall and thats ensuring everybody who enters that facility the fans, the staff are fully vaccinated, Poloncarz said.

Those with questions about the vaccination policies are encouraged to reach out to the teams or Erie County officials for more information.

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Coronavirus vaccination required to attend Buffalo Bills games, officials say - WFLA

(April 14, 2021) Six new coronavirus cases were reported on Nantucket Wednesday morning, increasing to 1,453 the total number of positive tests on the island since the pandemic began.

The results also included 90 negatives. Thirty-eight COVID-19 cases have been reported on the island in the past seven days, a 6.7 percent weekly positivity rate.

There have been five COVID-19 Nantucket deaths since the start of the pandemic, the most recent April 7 a woman in her mid-50s.

Health director Roberto Santamaria attributed the recent spike in cases to the probable presence on the island of more contagious coronavirus variants, and community spread.

More powerful variants of the COVID-19 virus have been recently confirmed in Massachusetts, and evidence of the U.K. variant has turned up in island sewage tested for coronavirus (Click herefor story).

We have to assume this spread is being caused by variants, Santamaria said. And now we are seeing with the nice weather and coming into the shoulder season people are getting lax in their safety measures like mask-wearing and distancing.

"We're seeing more people sicker, and more people in our emergency room now presenting with symptoms more severe than just what we'd been seeing at the drive-through testing," Nantucket Cottage Hospital president and CEO Gary Shaw said last week.

Click hereto read Shaw's full statement on the recent surge.

Shaw also attributed the recent spike in part to new arrivals on the island.

"We're seeing a greater number of people coming from other parts of the country for seasonal work, not knowing they are infected, getting tested and testing positive," he said.

"We are not out of the woods by any means. A good part of the country and the world are not vaccinated at a time when people really want to travel. Levels of decline have plateaued within the state. Thats a bad sign. A ramp-up in caseload is going to be coming," he continued..

"We all need to be vigilant to cross this hurdle. Its a race to get vaccines into arms. We are havinganother surge, and we need to be careful."

"Our biggest line of defense is you working together with us to help prevent the spread of this heinous virus. We are in the 24th mile of a full marathon. The end is near, but we cant quit now," Santamaria said in a recent Twitter message.

The second round of Phase 2 vaccinations began in early March, and vaccination of the general public is scheduled to begin April 19. (Click here for story). The vaccination site was closed Monday and Tuesday, however, because the town did not receive as many doses of vaccine as it had requested from the state (Click here for story).

As of Monday, 6,346 first doses and 3,934 second doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered on Nantucket.

All COVID-19 testing is now being conducted at the hospital's 57 Prospect St. drive-through portico to free up additional vaccination space at the New South Road VFW. Testing hours for those with symptoms and close contacts will be held from 7 a.m.-10 a.m. Monday-Friday.

COVID-19 elective testing for asymptomatic patients (those with no symptoms) will be held from 10 a.m.-noon Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-10 a.m. Saturdays.Click hereto read more.

Hospital staff have collected 30,511 nasal swabs for testing since the start of the pandemic last March. In addition to the 1,453 positive tests 4.76 percent of the total number returned 29,053 have come back negative, and five are awaiting results.

The Nantucket Board of Health on Dec. 11, 2020 established a COVID-19 task force to better enforce and raise awareness of coronavirus regulations (Click herefor story).

Gov. Charlie Baker in late Februry lifted the 9:30 p.m. statewide restaurant closing time, and in early March increased capcacity limits for restaurants, theaters, museums and other indoor locations. Additional capacity increases took effect March 22 (Click herefor story).

Part-time in-class learning for Nantucket public-school students resumed Jan. 14 after being remote only since before Christmas. Full in-class learning for elementary-school students began April 5, with middle- and high-school students scheduled to return full-time later this month.

"I ask everyone on Nantucket to take personal responsibility and do all you can to reduce the potential for transmission in our community. That means wearing masks, staying physically distant, washing your hands, and not hosting or attending gatherings with people outside your immediate households," Shaw said recently.

"Most of all, we want our community to stay healthy, we want our economy to remain open, we want our public schools to be able to return to in-person learning. To that end, we must work together and apply the simple preventive measures that will keep this situation from spiraling out of control."

There have been 1,387 coronavirus cases confirmed on Nantucket in the past seven months, beginning Sept. 9, 2020 with a spike linked to workers in the trades, followed by a second surge in late September tied to a church function in which a communal meal was shared.

A third spike in early November was again tied to workers in the trades, followed by significant surges related to holiday gatherings and travel at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. A moderate surge in early March was tied to school-break-related travel.

Prior to Sept. 9, Nantucket had one of the lowest COVID-19 rates in the state per 100,000 population, and the fewest confirmed cases of any county in Massachusetts.

The Board of Health on Oct. 6, 2020 voted to require all people on publicly-accessible property across the island to wear a mask, not just downtown and in Sconset, as was previously mandated.

It decided in mid-November against tightening restrictions to limit the total number of workers on a job site to six in an attempt to stop the spread (Click herefor story).

Nantucket Cottage Hospital does not have an intensive-care unit and only five ventilators. Shaw has said patients in need of acute respiratory care would be transferred to mainland hospitals if at all possible.

The criteria for symptomatic drive-up testing at the hospital includes at least one of the following signs or symptoms consistent with a viral respiratory syndrome: subjective/documented fever, new sore throat, new cough, new runny nose/nasal congestion, new shortness of breath, new muscle aches or anosmia (new loss of sense of smell). Close contacts of COVID-19 positive patients and pre-procedure patients can also be tested.

For more information about symptomatic and asymptomatic testing,click here.

Click hereto sign up for Above the Fold, The Inquirer and Mirrors twice-weekly newsletter, bringing you both the news and a slice of island life, curated with content created by Nantuckets only team of professionally-trained journalists.

For up-to-the-minute information on Nantuckets breaking news, boat and plane cancellations, weather alerts, sports and entertainment news, deals and promotions at island businesses and more, Sign up for Inquirer and Mirror text alerts.Click Here

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Six new coronavirus cases reported on Nantucket Wednesday - The Inquirer and Mirror

The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness rose above 136.7 million on Tuesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, as the death toll climbed above 2.94 million. The U.S. leads the world in cases and deaths by wide margins, with 31.3 million cases, or about 23% of the global total, while the 562,533 death toll make of about 19% of the global toll. The U.S. added at least 72,286 new cases and 476 new deaths on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker. The U.S. has averaged 69,030 cases per day in the past week, up 6% from the average two weeks ago. The rise in new cases comes despite the continued increase in vaccinations. More than 189.6 million doses have been administered and more than 120.8 million Americans -- 36.4% of the total population -- have received at least one dose, with more than 74 million people, or 22.3% of the population, being fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Outside of the U.S., India has replaced Brazil as the country with the second highest number of cases at 13.7 million, and is fourth globally by deaths at 171,058. Brazil is third by cases at 13.5 million and second with a death toll of 354,617. Mexico is third by deaths at 209,702 and 14th highest by cases at 2.3 million. The U.K. has 4.38 million cases and 127,346 deaths, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world.

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Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 136.7 million and U.S. death tally heads toward 563,000 - MarketWatch

The year 2020 will remain in memories, by and large, as a period unlike any other. The covid-19 pandemic has turned around countless lives, and continues to do so as we write these lines. State institutions worldwide, including judicial bodies, have had to drastically change their functioning and priorities. With so many activities coming to a brutal halt, have cases related to universal jurisdiction also stalled? Luckily, far from it. These are the findings of the joint report published by FIDH, TRIAL, REDRESS, ECCHR, CJA and Civitas maxima on ongoing universal jurisdiction cases in 2020.

While the pandemic has had an impact on universal jurisdiction cases, it has been more of a reorganization than a complete halt. As the 2021 Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review (UJAR) shows, many cases did move forward and new suspects were brought to justice. Put differently, even a global health crisis did not imperil the use of universal jurisdiction across the world proof, if ever it was nneeded, of the solidity of the progress made in the last years (see previous UJARs for details).

"The pandemic risked further distancing victims from ongoing proceedings,even if we must salute the adaptability of judges, prosecutors and investigators who have developed innovative methods to pursue their investigations, as revealed by the figures in this years report: the use of universal jurisdiction continues to increase in a large number of jurisdictions. We have continued to support and represent victims, in particular Syrian, Yazidi and Sudanese victims, in a number of cases that have seen significant developments over the past year."

Clmence Bectarte, lawyer and coordinator of FIDH's Litigation Action Group

Strengthening remote investigations

Unsurprisingly, field investigations were considerably limited by national lockdowns and movement restrictions. Some ongoing investigations which relied on the capacity of witnesses, victims, investigators and judges to travel abroad either slowed down or stalled. NGOs in particular, whose investigations rely on flexibility and adaptability, had to find new ways of getting in touch with victims and witnesses including remotly.

Remote meetings presented other advantages: victims and witnesses could talk from their homes, reducing risks of being overheard or followed. Being in a familiar space was also comforting for vulnerable individuals, who could share their experiences in a safe environment. In some instances, the objects or souvenirs surrounding them in their homes prompted memories that helped to establish facts.

On the investigators side, online interviews meant they could speak to witnesses spread throughout the world in a single day, speeding up their work considerably. This came with a sine qua non: additional efforts were also made to ensure understanding, consent and, of course, the utmost security for interviewees.

Reaping the efforts from previous years

Apart from investigations, 18 new cases went to trial in 2020, bringing the total to 30 ongoing trials. What is perhaps the most prominent trial in recent years opened in Germany against Syrians Anwar R. and Eyad A. It made the international headlines and was unanimously hailed as a significant step against impunity for State crimes. Other high-profile cases include Fabien Nerets in Belgium, Roger Lumbala in France and Alieu Kosiah in Switzerland.

Most of the cases opened in 2020 could move forward thanks to fact-finding and evidence-gathering missions conducted beforehand. The pandemic and its consequences have emphasized the need for investigations to be conducted as swiftly and thoroughly as possible so that the cases can move ahead when/if the context evolves. This lesson also applies to investigations in unstable zones, which may become inaccessible within a matter of days.

The year 2020 was a sobering one. Sanitary considerations have been added to the many difficulties of using universal jurisdiction. Despite all this, the cases presented in this UJAR prove that States have risen to the challenge and that justice will not keel.

Read or download the full 2021 UJAR

This publication was researched and produced by TRIAL International. It benefited from the generous support of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the Oak Foundation, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kingdom and the City of Geneva. It was researched with the contribution of REDRESS, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights, the Center for Justice and Accountability and Civitas Maxima.

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UJAR 2021: The impact of coronavirus on universal jurisdiction - FIDH - FIDH

DETROIT The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 731,131 as of Friday, including 16,426 deaths, state officials report.

Fridays update includes a total of 7,834 new cases and 26 additional deaths. On Thursday, the state reported 723,297 total cases and 16,400 deaths.

Testing has been steady around 35,000 diagnostic tests reported per day on average, with the 7-day positive rate above 16% as of Thursday, the highest weve ever recorded. The state has reported an up-tick in hospitalizations over the last several weeks, now at its highest point since mid-December.

NEW: 13 takeaways from Whitmers COVID update: Alarming trends, voluntary restrictions, vaccine timeline

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Michigans 7-day moving average for daily cases was 6,429 on Thursday -- the highest since December. The 7-day death average was 39 on Thursday, slightly higher than the last two weeks. The states fatality rate is 2.3%. The state also reports active cases, which were listed at 129,800 on Wednesday. More than 577,000 have recovered in Michigan.

Michigan has reported more than 5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered as of Wednesday, with 38% of residents having received at least one dose.

More: CDC: Restrictions needed to slow Michigan virus surge, specifically in indoor youth sports

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According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 30.9 million cases have been reported in the U.S., with more than 559,000 deaths reported from the virus.

Worldwide, more than 133 million people have been confirmed infected and more than 2.8 million have died. More than 75 million have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different ways nations count the dead and deliberate under-reporting by some governments.

Michigan COVID-19 vaccinations: How to find appointments, info on phases

Coronavirus headlines:

VIEW: Tracking Michigan COVID-19 vaccine doses

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VIEW: Tracking coronavirus cases, outbreaks in Michigan schools

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state health department are asking residents to follow certain voluntary COVID-19 restrictions, such as avoiding indoor dining, suspending sports and returning to remote learning.

On Friday, Whitmer and Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, spoke about the alarming COVID-19 trends in Michigan.

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I am quite concerned with what we are seeing in our data, Khaldun said We are on track to potentially see a surge in cases thats even greater than the one we saw in the fall.

The city of Detroit is launching eight neighborhood COVID-19 vaccination sites, adding to an expansion at TCF Center, to combat surging cases and hospitalizations in the city.

Detroits vaccination rate, 21% as of Monday, is far below neighboring areas and overall state average, which is 35%. The city is expanding options for residents with an urgent message: Get vaccinated.

Next week, the city will be offering eight additional locations throughout the week, in addition to its Community Saturdays and other outreach programs, to provide Detroiters with the opportunity to get vaccinated in a convenient and familiar location close to home.

Read here.

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All Michigan residents age 16 and up became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 5, nearly a month before the May 1 date pledged by President Joe Biden.

People age 16 to 49 with certain medical conditions or disabilities will qualify starting March 22, when 50- to 64-year-olds can begin getting shots under a previous announcement. Two days later, March 24, a federally selected regional mass vaccination site will open at Detroits Ford Field to administer an additional 6,000 doses a day for two months.

Learn more here.

MORE: Michigans updated COVID-19 vaccination schedule: Who is eligible and when

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The COVID-19 variant detected in Brazil has been identified in Bay County. That variant is known as the P1 strain and it is more contagious and more than 50% able to reinfect.

The person infected in Bay County and the people theyve been in contact with will need to quarantine for 14 days. Its unclear what effect, if any, it will have on those, including seniors, who have already been vaccinated as there isnt enough research to know exactly.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer released a statement Tuesday after White House officials announced that there will increase COVID-19 vaccine doses available for Michigan starting next week.

According to a press release, next weeks shipment will increase by 66,020 bringing the total number of doses to 620,040 -- a weekly record for the state. Officials said the allocation includes 147,800 doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

This comes after Whitmer recently requested for more vaccines as the state is seeing a rise in COVID numbers.

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The CDC said that Michigan is leading the country in new cases of COVID-19 per population.

On Tuesday, officials reported 5,177 new COVID cases and 48 additional deaths, including 20 from a Vital Records review. On Monday, the state reported 660,771 total cases and 16,034 deaths.

Local 4s Dr. Frank McGeorge said hes seen a very clear increase in COVID patients at the hospital where he works.

Many of them need to be hospitalized. I would honestly say, this feels worse to me here in Southeast Michigan than it was during the wave that started in November. Now, the most concerning trend is the number of middle-aged people with severe COVID, McGeorge said.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that the first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.351 has been identified in a child in Jackson County.

The health department did not say how the boy was infected but a case investigation is underway to determine close contacts and if there are additional cases associated.

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This new variant was originally detected in South Africa in October 2020 and shares some mutations with the B117 variant. The first case of the B117 variant -- originally detected in the United Kingdom -- was identified in Washtenaw County.

Michigan COVID-19 daily reported cases since March 15:

March 15 -- 1,572 new cases

March 16 -- 2,048 new cases

March 17 -- 3,164 new cases

March 18 -- 2,629 new cases

March 19 -- 3,730 new cases

March 20 -- 2,660 new cases

March 21 -- 2,400 new cases

March 22 -- 2,401 new cases

March 23 -- 3,579 new cases

March 24 -- 4,454 new cases

March 25 -- 5,224 new cases

March 26 -- 5,030 new cases

March 27 -- 4,670 new cases

March 28 -- 4,101 new cases

March 29 -- 4,101 new cases

March 30 -- 5,177 new cases

March 31 -- 6,311 new cases

April 1 -- 6,036 new cases

April 2 -- 5,498 new cases

April 3 -- 8,413 new cases

April 4 -- 5,146 new cases

April 5 -- 5,147 new cases

April 6 -- 4,964 new cases

April 7 -- 8,015 new cases

April 8 -- 7,819 new cases

April 9 -- 7,834 new cases

Michigan COVID-19 daily reported deaths since March 15:

March 15 -- 5 new deaths

March 16 -- 27 new deaths (6 from vital records)

March 17 -- 0 new deaths

March 18 -- 25 new deaths (24 from vital records)

March 19 -- 15 new deaths

March 20 -- 47 new deaths -- (39 from vital records)

March 21 -- 3 new deaths

March 22 -- 3 new deaths

March 23 -- 16 new deaths (8 from vital records)

March 24 -- 16 new deaths

March 25 -- 49 new deaths (30 from vital records)

March 26 -- 20 new deaths

March 27 -- 22 new deaths

March 28 -- 4 new deaths

March 29 -- 4 new deaths

March 30 -- 48 new deaths (20 from vital records)

March 31 -- 10 new deaths

April 1 -- 49 new deaths (33 from vital records)

April 2 -- 20 new deaths

April 3 -- 57 new deaths (51 from vital records)

April 4 -- 11 new deaths

April 5 -- 10 new deaths

April 6 -- 58 new deaths (16 from vital records)

April 7 -- 30 new deaths

April 8 -- 73 new deaths (43 from vital records)

April 9 -- 26 new deaths

Coronavirus resources:

Introducing WDIV Insider: A new way for loyal Local 4 fans to gain access and customize your ClickOnDetroit news experience. This new and free membership is our way of saying thank you and your way of getting in on the news action. WDIV Insiders will gain exclusive access to the Local 4 team and station, including personalized messages, offers and deals to big events, and an elevated voice in our news coverage. Learn more about WDIV Insider - and sign up here!

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Coronavirus in Michigan: Heres what to know April 10, 2021 - WDIV ClickOnDetroit

Pa. announces all adults will be eligible for a vaccine on Tuesday; Philly faces steep drop in Johnson & Johns  The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Pa. announces all adults will be eligible for a vaccine on Tuesday; Philly faces steep drop in Johnson & Johns - The Philadelphia Inquirer

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Coronavirus hospitalizations have dropped sharply among older Ohioans, the same people who most likely have been vaccinated.

Admissions for those at least 70 years old declined 70% over the last 45 days to 858, in comparison to 2,898 COVID-19 hospital admissions during the previous 45 days, cleveland.com found in an analysis of Ohio Department of Health reports through Sunday.

This is the age group most extensively vaccinated to date, with more than 75% receiving at least one vaccine and all doses complete for more than 65% of these people.

While during the last 45-day period there were fewer hospitalizations overall, regardless of age, the drop was much smaller for younger age groups - those where vaccinations are not nearly as extensive.

This ties into a point Gov. Mike DeWine has repeatedly raised as more variants of coronavirus work their way into Ohio, increasing case numbers and hospitalizations lately to some extent.

We can still turn this around if more people continue to get vaccinated, DeWine said last week. We are in a race. Its a life and death race.

The focus at first was on vaccinating older Ohioans because they accounted for the lions share of the most serious cases. Recently, vaccinations opened for anyone age 16 and up.

The hospital numbers show a clear trend. While hospital admissions are down 70% for those age 70 and up, admissions are down just:

* 14% for Ohioans in their 20s, from 185 during the first 45-day period to 160 over the last 45 days. This group is 10% fully vaccinated.

* 16% for those in their 30s, from 261 to 219. This group is 14% fully vaccinated.

* 36% for those in their 40s, from 464 to 297. This group is 17% fully vaccinated.

* 37% for those in their 50s, from 842 to 534. This group is 25% fully vaccinated.

* 53% for those in their 60s, from 1,437 to 672. About half of this group is fully vaccinated - 41% age 60 to 64, and 58% age 65 to 69.

The Ohio Department of Health reported two weeks ago that it knew of only 34 fully vaccinated people who had been infected, resulting in just five hospitalizations and zero deaths by that point.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral.

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Cases of coronavirus in Ohio nursing homes dip this week, running counter to overall increase statewide.

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Coronavirus hospitalizations plunge among Ohios most vaccinated age groups - cleveland.com

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) -Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees flocked on Monday to take a holy bath in Indias Ganges river, even as the nation racked up the worlds highest tally of new daily coronavirus infections.

With 168,912 new cases, India accounts for one in six of all new infections globally, although the figure is still well below the U.S. peak of nearly 300,000 new cases on Jan. 8.

In the northern city of Haridwar, nearly a million devotees thronged the banks of the Ganges, a river many Hindus consider holy, to participate in the months-long Kumbh Mela or pitcher festival.

The crowd here is surging...the police are continuously appealing to people to maintain social distancing, police official Sanjay Gunjyal told Reuters at the site.

By mid-morning a million people had taken a dip in the river, believed to wash away ones sins.

As Indias second wave of infections builds, with fewer than 4% estimated to have been vaccinated among a population of 1.4 billion, experts say the situation could have a long way to go before it starts getting better.

After cases declined in January-February, we were very comfortable, said a panel of high court judges in the western state of Gujarat, calling on authorities to take urgent steps to rein in the outbreak.

Almost everyone forgot that there was ever corona, added the panel, headed by Chief Justice Vikram Nath.

A full opening of the economy from last years crippling lockdown, coupled with the mass religious festivals and political rallies in states heading to elections have fuelled the crisis.

Mondays new infections carried India past Brazil for a tally of 13.53 million, data compiled by Reuters shows, ranking it the second-most infected country after the United States, with 31.2 million.

Indias tally is on course to double in two months, according to estimates based on data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Yet authorities appeared unwilling or unable to stop events that could lead to a calamitous spread of the disease.

Thousands of people are attending political rallies in four big states set for elections this month, including two events on Monday in the eastern state of West Bengal, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to speak.

With 1.2 million active cases, and the daily number reaching 200,000, its bizarre to have poll rallies and a full Kumbh Mela, political commentator Shekhar Gupta said on Twitter.

Officials and experts said authorities had underestimated the resilience of the virus, believing they had beaten it after daily cases fell below 10,000 in early February.

Officials in the worst-hit state of Maharashtra, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, said they were considering a broader lockdown this week after large closures at the weekend.

It is necessary to break the cycle (of infections), said a senior state official who sought anonymity. We are working on identifying industries and services that need to be exempted.

The rupee fell to its lowest in nearly eight months and Mumbais benchmark index tanked as much as 3.7% in the worst session in more than six weeks.

Indias economy has been limping back to recovery after last years hard lockdown caused the deepest contraction in decades.

(Global vaccination tracker: here)

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: here)

Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Saurabh Sharma, Sumit Khanna; Additional reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Rama Venkat; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Clarence Fernandez

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India's daily virus infections are world's highest but crowds gather for festival - Reuters

Dozens of Americans are rolling up their sleeves for a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine this time, shots tweaked to guard against a worrisome mutated version of the virus.

Make no mistake: The vaccines currently being rolled out across the U.S. offer strong protection. But new studies of experimental updates to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines mark a critical first step toward an alternative if the virus eventually outsmarts todays shots.

We need to be ahead of the virus, said Dr. Nadine Rouphael of Emory University, who is helping to lead a study of Modernas tweaked candidate. We know what its like when were behind.

Its not clear if or when protection would wane enough to require an update but, realistically we want to turn COVID into a sniffle, she added.

Viruses constantly evolve, and the world is in a race to vaccinate millions and tamp down the coronavirus before even more mutants emerge. More than 119 million Americans have had at least one vaccine dose, and 22% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Much of the rest of the world is far behind that pace.

Already an easier-to-spread version found in Britain just months ago has become the most common variant now circulating in the United States, one thats fortunately vaccine-preventable.

But globally, theres concern that first-generation vaccines may offer less protection against a different variant that first emerged in South Africa. All the major vaccine makers are tweaking their recipes in case an update against that so-called B.1.351 virus is needed. Now experimental doses from Moderna and Pfizer are being put to the test.

In suburban Atlanta, Emory asked people who received Modernas original vaccine a year ago in a first-stage study to also help test the updated shot. Volunteer Cole Smith said returning wasnt a tough decision.

The earlier one, it was a great success and, you know, millions of people are getting vaccinated now, Smith told The Associated Press. If were helping people with the old one, why not volunteer and help people with the new one?

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, isnt just testing Modernas experimental variant vaccine as a third-shot immune booster. Researchers at Emory and three other medical centers also are enrolling volunteers who havent yet received any kind of COVID-19 vaccination.

They want to know: Could people be vaccinated just with two doses of the variant vaccine and not the original? Or one dose of each kind? Or even get the original and the variant dose combined into the same injection?

Separately, the Food and Drug Administration has given Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech permission to start similar testing of their own tweaked vaccine. The companies called it part of a proactive strategy to enable rapid deployment of updated vaccines if theyre ever needed.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, like the majority of COVID-19 vaccines being used around the world, train the body to recognize the spike protein that is the outer coating of the coronavirus. Those spikes are how the virus latches onto human cells.

Mutations occur whenever any virus makes copies of itself. Usually those mistakes make no difference. But if a lot of changes pile up in the spike protein or those changes are in especially key locations the mutant might escape an immune system primed to watch for an intruder that looks a bit different.

The good news: Its fairly easy to update the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Theyre made with a piece of genetic code called messenger RNA that tells the body how to make some harmless spike copies that in turn train immune cells. The companies simply swapped out the original vaccines genetic code with mRNA for the mutated spike protein this time, the one from South Africa.

Studies getting underway this month include a few hundred people, very different than the massive testing needed to prove the original shots work. Scientists must make sure the mRNA substitution doesnt trigger different side effects.

On the protection side, theyre closely measuring if the updated vaccine prompts the immune system to produce antibodies which fend off infection as robustly as the original shots do. Importantly, lab tests also can show if those antibodies recognize not just the variant from South Africa but other, more common virus versions, too.

Some good news: Antibodies arent the only defense. NIH researchers recently looked at another arm of the immune system, T cells that fight back after infection sets in. Lab tests showed T cells in the blood of people who recovered from COVID-19 long before worrisome variants appeared nonetheless recognized mutations from the South African version. Vaccines trigger T cell production, too, and may be key to preventing the worst outcomes.

Still, no vaccine is 100% effective even without the mutation threat, occasionally the fully vaccinated will get COVID-19. So how would authorities know an update is needed? A red flag would be a jump in hospitalizations not just positive tests among vaccinated people who harbor a new mutant.

Thats when youve crossed the line. Thats when youre talking about a second-generation vaccine, said Dr. Paul Offit of Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, a vaccine adviser to the Food and Drug Administration. We havent crossed that line yet, but we might.

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Tweaked COVID vaccines in testing aim to fend off variants - WKBN.com

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) 187 new total COVID-19 cases were reported by theState Department of Healthas hospitalizations decreased on Monday.

KELOLAND News reached out to the South Dakota Department of Health regarding Sundays update and was told the COVID-19 dashboard will only be updated Monday-Saturday. Mondays update will now include Saturday and Sundays data.

According to the latest update, there are 96 current hospitalizations, compared to 102 on Saturday. Total hospitalizations are at 7,136.

The states total case count is now at 119,892, compared to 119,705 on Saturday.

Active cases are now at 2,425, up from Saturday (2,413).

One new death was reported by the Department of Health on Monday. The death reported was a man in the 60-69 year-old age range. The death toll is now at 1,947.

New deaths were reported in Hughes and Yankton Counties on Monday, while the death toll in Pennington County went down by one.

Total recovered cases are now at 115,520, compared to Saturday (115,346).

Total persons who tested negative is now at 333,370, from Saturday (332,792).

There were 765 new persons tested in the data reported on Monday for a new persons-tested positivity rate of 24.4%.

The latest seven-day all test positivity rate reported by the DOH is 9.5%. The latest one-day PCR test positivity rate is 9.6%.

According to the DOH, 258,285 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered with 15,574 doses of the Janssen vaccine and 227,137 of the Moderna vaccine given out to a total number of 303,040 persons.

There have been 93,756 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna and 104,183 who have received two doses of Pfizer, according to the DOH.

According to the Department of Healths latest update, 50.36% of the population has received one dose of the vaccine while 35.64% have completed both doses.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 187 total new cases; One new death; Active cases at 2,425 - KELOLAND.com