Category: Corona Virus

After weeks of pressure from public health and elected officials, Governor Charlie Baker has announced that Massachusetts is putting new restrictions into place to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The restrictions come as the city of Framingham continues to see a rapid rise in coronavirus cases, which has prompted Framingham Public Schools to go fully remote starting on Monday. GBH Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu spoke with Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer about the latest state rollbacks and how she's encouraging residents to slow the spread of the virus in the community. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.

Joe Mathieu: So you've said that each city cannot do this alone, and based on the caseloads that we're seeing, that rings true. Are you encouraged by this latest move by the governor?

Mayor Yvonne Spicer: I'm encouraged, but I also say we need to evaluate it and look to see is there more that we can be doing? Can we identify particular clusters? And so I'm encouraged by the move, but it may not be enough.

Mathieu: But you have said it's not just about rolling back reopening plans, that we need to get creative and we could use some creative solutions right now. Have you been talking about new ideas in Framingham?

Spicer: Well, here in Framingham, not only are we doing more testing, we're contact tracing, the messaging is constant with our residents about wearing face covering, hand washing, social distancing and also limiting gatherings. If people don't live in your households, don't be gathering with them. Those are the messages that we're consistently putting out, and we're just hoping people will take heed to them.

Mathieu: Well, let's get to that because we keep hearing that a lot of the spread is, in fact, coming from small gatherings, house parties, of course, Thanksgiving, and now we're walking up on another set of holidays imminently. How do you get to that? This isn't restaurants and theaters we're talking about.

Spicer: You have to get to a place where people really value each other. It's really about being respectful of each other, and that's some of the messaging I've been sharing with my community. We may not be able to gather for Thanksgiving or other holidays like we normally would, but next year, if we're doing the right thing, we probably will be able to gather. And I need everybody to cooperate. We need everyone in this working together.

Watch: Mayor Spicer on the $18,000 in fines administered by the city for those found violating social gathering restrictions

Mathieu: Well, Mayor, you're in charge of one of the biggest cities in the state in New England, for that matter and I know you just opened another Stop the Spread testing site in Framingham. Is that helping to ease the difficulty of getting a test? Some of these lines have been epic lately.

Spicer: Yes. That is one of our hopes [for] the new site, which opened on Monday. They're ramping up and gearing up, and the goal is to eventually do roughly about 1,000 tests per day by appointment only. So we're grateful to have that site. And for the rest of this week, we have the other two sites and we're still working out how those will continue or will we just end up with the appointment-only site. But that's a work in progress.

Mathieu: I'd like to ask you about schools, Mayor. I know Monday your schools move to a full remote schedule it was one of our top stories with a goal of returning to expanded in-person learning by the middle of January. How many students were getting into classrooms before this was put in place, and what are the metrics you'll use to go back?

Spicer: I have to give our superintendent and the entire school committee credit for really working hard to create a phasing process that is in collaboration with our teachers and our teachers union. And we've been testing it, and it's been tested by having a community infection rate coming into the school, we have a small number of students in the schools. Also our community data; we are evaluating that [and] working very closely with the health department. And based on this surge that we're going through right now, the superintendent made the decision to roll back to remote learning, which I think was a smart move in order to maintain safety of our students, our staff, our teachers and really keep an eye on what is happening in the community in terms of modulating coronavirus in the community.

Mathieu: Mayor, I'd love to ask you about about Christmas and Hanukkah, New Year's, the holidays that are all coming up. What do you tell people when they say they want to be with their families? They want to see their mom and dad, their aunts and uncles. We just went through this with Thanksgiving, and I feel like we aren't talking about this enough as we head into these year-end holidays.

Spicer: The holidays are my favorite time of the year. It's about family, it's about reaffirming those connections with your family, and your community and friends. And this year, I'm asking people to do things differently. Have a video conference with your family members. But if folks don't live in your home, you shouldn't be gathering with them. And I know that's really, really hard for a lot of families, but I think if we're doing the preventive things now, next year we'll be able to all gather together and everybody will be at the table. So it's really about being respectful and keeping everyone safe.

Mathieu: Can I at least drop gifts off on the front step at Mom's house? Is that possible?

Spicer: Oh, most definitely.

Mathieu: I'm trying to figure out how to do this, Mayor. I don't know. It's very kind of you to join us. I know these are confusing times, but also hopeful times as we look down the road a couple of months, Mayor, and consider a very different world when we're all rolling up our sleeves for a vaccine.

Spicer: Absolutely. I'm extremely hopeful that we will get through this pandemic. I'm also optimistic about the vaccine. But once again, keeping an eye on the data, the science of the vaccine, and really looking to see how do we encourage people to, when available, take the vaccine. But even with that, we need to keep a keen eye on maintaining cautious behavior, wearing face coverings, washing hands and socially distance. The vaccine is a part of the process, but not the only thing.

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Framingham Mayor: To Slow Spread Of Coronavirus In The Community, 'We Need Everyone In This Working Together' - wgbh.org

A nurse puts on personal protective equipment as she prepares to treat a COVID-19 patient last month at a rural Missouri hospital. Jeff Roberson/AP hide caption

A nurse puts on personal protective equipment as she prepares to treat a COVID-19 patient last month at a rural Missouri hospital.

In a recent roundtable with Joe Biden, nurse Mary Turner told the president-elect something he found surprising:

"Do you know that I have not been tested yet?" said Turner, who is president of the Minnesota Nurses Association. "And I have been on the front lines of the ICU since February."

"You're kidding me!" Biden replied.

She wasn't kidding.

Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that health care personnel be tested if they are symptomatic or have a known exposure to the coronavirus. But treating COVID-19 patients while wearing personal protective equipment doesn't count as exposure that warrants testing.

A recent survey by National Nurses United, the nation's largest union of registered nurses, found just 42% of RNs in hospitals said they had ever been tested for the virus.

"It continues to amaze me that we are not doing this," said Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. While personal protective equipment goes a long way toward protecting health care workers, he said, there have been outbreaks at hospitals.

At Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where Mina runs the virology lab, an outbreak this fall infected 42 employees and 15 patients. The hospital said factors in the outbreak included patients not wearing masks, staff not wearing eye protection and employees failing to social distance while eating.

But Mina believes that with more testing, the virus would not have spread so widely.

"That is an outbreak that shouldn't have happened. I believe pretty firmly that we would not have seen an outbreak grow so, so quickly and it wouldn't have even been able to get started if we were doing frequent testing."

Defining the risk

Mina said to imagine physicians at a hospital who have the virus but are asymptomatic. The doctors don't realize they have been exposed and are now working when they are most infectious.

"They pose a very serious risk," Mina said. "At some point in the day, you're taking off your mask to eat lunch. If you're eating lunch in a cafeteria, you might expose 10 people without knowing it especially in a hospital setting where you could have vulnerable people all around you."

Ideally, he said, people are wearing masks and social distancing. But especially with the arrival of winter, more things will be happening indoors. "People are going to have to eat. Whether it's in a break room or a cafeteria, you really do run a risk of getting other people exposed."

Nancy Foster, the American Hospital Association's vice president of quality and patient safety policy, said hospitals are following the CDC's scientific guidance.

"These strategies were put into effect in the early days of the pandemic, when there were persistent concerns about shortages of testing kits and supplies. Hospital staff and the CDC did not want to divert available testing supplies away from patients and the general population," Foster said in a statement to NPR, adding that the AHA continues to urge the federal government to increase the supply of personal protective equipment and testing supplies.

Maggie McGillick, a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians, said masks and PPE offer strong protection.

Nurses assist a COVID-19 patient last month at a Los Angeles hospital. The California Department of Public Health now strongly recommends hospitals test all of their health care personnel for the coronavirus each week. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption

Nurses assist a COVID-19 patient last month at a Los Angeles hospital. The California Department of Public Health now strongly recommends hospitals test all of their health care personnel for the coronavirus each week.

"It is nearly impossible to transmit virus through an N95 mask, [powered air purifying respirators], or other devices," she wrote in an email to NPR. "Those who do not have close contact routinely wear masks. Handwashing and the use of gloves is part of their routine, so it is very rare for an infected health care professional to transmit the disease to anyone at work."

"The precautions and personal protective equipment are working"

Many health care workers are contracting the virus via community spread, just like other Americans. Last month, the Mayo Clinic said that more than 900 employees in Minnesota and Wisconsin had gotten COVID-19 in the previous two weeks, out of its 55,000 staff members there.

The Mayo Clinic's medical director for occupational health, Laura Breeher, said the primary source of exposure for infected staff members is a known exposure to someone at home.

How does the clinic know the virus isn't spreading among staff?

"We track the source for infections very carefully," Breeher said and she said the infection rate of the clinic's health care workers working on campus in patient care roles is similar to that of on-campus staff not working with patients and those who are working from home.

"So that's very, very reassuring to us that the precautions and personal protective equipment are working," Breeher said.

Many hospitals now require patients to test negative for the coronavirus in the few days before an inpatient procedure. Physicians and nurses themselves, meanwhile, are unlikely to have been tested before conducting the procedure.

Why the different standards?

Breeher said it's because for many procedures, patients can't be masked.

She said many patients "are needing procedures that increase risk, such as being on CPAP machines at night or things like that. So we want to make sure that we keep our health care campuses as safe as possible."

Screening health care workers at scale

Mina, the Harvard epidemiologist, said there are methods that hospitals could be using to do regular testing of large numbers of health care workers either by using rapid antigen tests or pooling PCR tests.

"They could have everyone swab and put 50 swabs at a time into one tube and run that one tube and pool the tests for very, very cheap. You could do whole hospital departments with one test for 50 bucks a day," he said. If the pool tests positive, the hospital can then go back and test the people in it individually to see who has the virus.

And rapid antigen tests could work even better: "They only detect people when they're infectious."

Mina said that could make antigen tests an ideal choice for screening purposes, because some people continue to test positive on PCR tests for many weeks after they've stopped being infectious. That could help hospitals already stretched thin on staffing.

"Many people are only infectious, say, for four days. So maybe [with antigen testing] you come back to work after two days of being negative. Maybe it's only a five- or six-day isolation," Mina said.

In California, new guidance strongly recommends weekly testing

A nurse holds a candle during a vigil last month in Los Angeles for health care workers who have died from COVID-19. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A nurse holds a candle during a vigil last month in Los Angeles for health care workers who have died from COVID-19.

California's state health department announced new guidance two weeks ago that strongly recommends hospitals do weekly testing of health care personnel and suggested pooled testing might be a way to do it.

But Susan Butler-Wu, associate professor of clinical pathology at the University of Southern California and director of the clinical microbiology lab at a large hospital in Los Angeles, said the state's new recommendations are going to be hard for most hospital labs to implement.

At her own hospital, she estimated that 10,000 people would need to be tested weekly. Without operational support from the state, she predicted the new protocols are going to cause problems including further delays in testing.

"When you get some big mandate that, 'Hey, test all the health care workers in your hospital,' I don't have a bunch of pixies with magic swabs and magic reagents that will just magically run this," Butler-Wu said.

The guidelines could also create staffing shortages, Butler-Wu said, if employees who recently had COVID-19 asymptomatically suddenly get positive PCR tests.

They may no longer be infectious, "but now what do we do? We tell them to isolate. Now we lose a whole bunch of staff as a result of that," she said. "We're asking people to stay home and not work when they're truly essential and may not even be an infectious risk to anybody."

The larger problem is a systemic one, Butler-Wu said.

"As a country, because we don't have a national plan or a national strategy, this is the situation we find ourselves: Football players can get tests," she said. "People choosing to socialize and wanting to feel safer doing so, even though it's a pandemic, can get tests."

But a national program to test the country's health care workers regularly? There isn't one.

Anne Jackson is a nurse at the University of Michigan health system. She said it's frustrating to read about how the university's football players and coaches are tested daily, while hospital staff are only tested if they're symptomatic or have a CDC-defined exposure. (The university also has a surveillance testing program that is open to staff who want to be tested.)

"Football makes them money," Jackson said. "The health system employees do as well, but not to the extent that the football players do, and the football players are more valuable to them than we are."

For Mina, the Harvard epidemiologist, the lack of regular testing of health care workers raises other questions.

"There's a clear problem when we're saying that the greatest-risk people, the people who are at the greatest risk to themselves and to their patients are the health care workers," Mina said. "And so that's why we're going to give them vaccines before anyone else. But then when we don't have a vaccine, and it's just testing, we say, 'Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal, you don't need to be tested.' "

It's an approach, he said, that doesn't make sense.

Will Stone contributed to this report.

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Think Health Care Workers Are Tested Often For The Coronavirus? Think Again - NPR

By Spencer Custodio | 16 hours ago

Orange County is facing record-setting coronavirus case increases and hospitalizations as intensive care units keep seeing more virus patients, which could potentially jeopardize non virus treatments.

Editors Note: As Orange Countys only nonprofit & nonpartisan newsroom, Voice of OC brings you the best, most comprehensive local Coronavirus news absolutely free. No ads, no paywalls. We need your help. Please, make a tax-deductible donation todayto support your local news.

As of Monday, 877 OC residents were hospitalized, including 218 people in intensive care units.

During the July peak, 722 people were hospitalized, including 237 in ICUs.

Unlike the July spike, OCs new peak comes as daily cases are increasing, not decreasing.

For the past week, OC is averaging over 1,400 new cases a day. Throughout the first half of October, the average was less than 200 new cases a day.

Over 2,000 new cases were reported Sunday and roughly 1,960 cases were reported Monday.

State public health officials estimate 12 to 13% of new cases will end up in hospitals two to three weeks down the road.

OC has 18% of its ICU beds left to handle virus patients, according to the county Health Care Agency.

Skyrocketing hospitalizations and case increases are worrying critical care doctors.

Dr. Michael Katz, a critical care doctor who treats virus patients in the ICU at St. Judes Medical Center, said ICU patients are usually discharged in a few days.

Typically, were used to getting patients in and out. The flow of the hospital depends on that. We always have to have ICU beds available for patients coming in from the ER, heart attacks strokes, etc. We also have to have some open for patients coming out of the operating room, Katz said in a Monday phone interview.

But the pandemic has turned that on its head.

The COVID patients, on average, are staying for many days to weeks. Some of them for months. Their care is too complicated and their condition is too unstable to move them to lower intensity care environments, Katz said.

He said typically hospital staff plans for ICU staffing include an estimated number of people coming in from the emergency room, like heart attack patients, and some from the operating room.

But the pandemic has pushed planning to the limits because all the medical workers are already working, he said.

Were running into limitations for staffing. There might be a couple more physical beds at a facility, but theres just no more nurses, Katz said. As our capacity diminishes, we have trigger points that will lead us to start pulling back on some of the procedures that arent absolutely necessary hopefully for a shortest amount of time as possible.

Dr. Paul Yost, an anesthesiologist at St. Josephs Hospital in Orange, said the average stay of an ICU patient is normally a couple days.

Yost also said virus patients can stay for weeks, up to months.

The increased stays create a backlog, which eventually jams up the system and could jeopardize non-COVID care like heart surgeries.

Secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency, Dr. Mark Ghaly, said its critical to keep intensive care units from overflowing with virus patients.

The peak of the summer, some of the regions dealing with COVID had roughly 35% of their ICU capacity filled up with COVID positive patients. Weve seen that figure eclipsed so even if you were running at 50 or 60% capacity before COVID, you might be running close to 90, 95%, Ghaly said.

He warned that as ICUs max out, it could shut down other vital procedures.

You can wait only so long to put in a heart valve, or a catheter theyre elective for a day or two, not months, Ghaly said. We want that capacity to be there for you when a car accident happens or a heart attack or stroke.

Since the pandemic began, the virus has killed 1,633 county residents out of 88,842 confirmed cases.

Ive been practicing 20 years now. Certainly, during my career Ive never seen anything like this. Ive seen several bad flu seasons that doesnt compare to this in any way shape or form, Katz said.

The virus has already killed nearly three times as many people in Orange County as the flu does on an average yearly basis.

For context, Orange County has averaged around 20,000 deaths a year since 2016, including 543 annual flu deaths, according to state health data.

According to those state death statistics, cancer kills over 4,600 people, heart disease kills over 2,800, more than 1,400 die from Alzheimers disease and strokes kill over 1,300 people.

The county is on track to surpass its average yearly deaths with over 19,000 people dead as of October, the latest available state health data.

And doctors have seen people battling lingering effects from the virus after theyre discharged from hospitals.

That led to the creation of a post COVID recovery program at St. Judes Medical Center in Fullerton.

Were seeing people in the ICU fighting for their lives. Really what goes untold in the story is the suffering that happens due to the severe illness. So were seeing people with blood clots, strokes and heart attacks related to COVID, said Dr. Jim Keany, who treats ICU patients at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, in a phone interview last week.

Keany said many of the virus patients suffering from heart problems and other conditions are otherwise healthy people.

He said the hospital has seen a big spike in cryptic strokes during the pandemic meaning doctors cant pinpoint what caused the stroke.

Cryptic strokes account for 17% of strokes on average. Since COVID started, this cryptic stroke entity accounts for 60% of strokes, Keany said, noting that its an association and not a direct link.

The virus impacts organs throughout the body, Keany said.

In autopsies, theyre showing theres micro blood clots in organs all throughout the body, he said.

Katz encourages people to continue treating their chronic health problems, like high blood pressure or diabetes, through their primary doctors to avoid using hospital resources.

It will help the system maintain capacity for treating coronavirus patients.

Heres the latest on the virus numbers across Orange County from county data:

Infections | Hospitalizations & Deaths | City-by-City Data | Demographics

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Orange County Continues to See Record-Setting Coronavirus Cases and Hospitalizations - Voice of OC

Marlon Reis, the partner of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, remains hospitalized Monday with the coronavirus after being admitted over the weekend.

Reis, 39, was taken to a hospital by Polis on Sunday after suffering from shortness of breath and a worsening cough, symptoms that developed eight days after testing positive for COVID-19. The governor, who also has coronavirus, has had only minor symptoms and is doing well, according to his office.

Just 48 hours before Reis was taken to a hospital, the governors office said Reis and Polis were experiencing mild symptoms, recovering and planning to resume in-person activities on Wednesday.

The latest from the coronavirus outbreak in Colorado:

>> FULL COVERAGE

The abrupt shift came as a surprise, but it highlights how little is known about the condition of Polis and Reis, the first gentleman, since they tested positive on Nov. 28. It also shows how quickly the condition of people who have the disease can deteriorate.

The lack of in-depth disclosure comes as elected officials across the nation face increased scrutiny about coronavirus-related public mandates and whether they are abiding by their own rules. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock faced questions about whether he should resign after traveling at Thanksgiving despite asking residents to not do the same.

Polis is one of at least six governors to test positive for the coronavirus. More than a dozen have taken additional precautions after members of their staff or relatives have caught the disease.

The governors office has cited federal health privacy laws, which protect patients personal health information and medical records as the reason for the lack of detail. But the office hasnt explained why they wont release additional details that arent protected under the law, such as how Polis and individuals within the office might have contracted the coronavirus.

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Health privacy laws generally apply to companies that retain information about patients such as health providers, government agencies and insurance companies and dont impede individuals from volunteering information about their medical condition.

We want to be respectful of their privacy and also due to (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) laws, we cant discuss more details, Conor Cahill, Polis spokesman, said of the staffers around Polis who have tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to the disease. Of the course of this pandemic, members of the governors office and the governors cabinet have had COVID, just as an estimated 1 in 6 Coloradans have. The governor and first gentleman will continue to provide transparency and updates on their own health and respect the privacy of others.

Polis announced Nov. 25 that he was exposed to an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The governors office told The Colorado Sun that Polis was likely exposed to the coronavirus by a state employee who tested positive. A second staff member was said to be quarantining.

Polis said he received a negative test result after the Nov. 25 exposure but began to quarantine at home per federal and state guidelines.

Three days later, Polis and Reis tested positive for COVID-19. The governor announced the news shortly after he learned of the results the evening of Nov. 28. He reported that he and Reis were asymptomatic and feeling well.

On Dec. 1, Polis said he and Reis were experiencing very mild symptoms.

The governors office issued a statement just before 6 p.m. Friday that said the two men remained in good spirits and suffered only mild symptoms in the form of lack of sleep and minor headaches. The statement said Polis and Reis expected to resume in-person activities on or around Wednesday.

But just before 6 p.m. Sunday, the governors office announced Reis worsening condition. The governor wrote on Twitter that he drove Reis to a hospital because Reis experienced a slightly worsening cough and shortness of breath over the prior 24 hours.

Saturday night into Sunday (Reis) experienced shortness of breath and worsening cough and the family doctor advised that he should be monitored and treated at a hospital, Cahill said Monday, providing more details to The Sun.

Reis has received dexamethasone, a steroid, and remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug. He has not required oxygen, according to a statement from Cahill on Monday. The first gentlemans oxygen saturation numbers are normal, Cahill added.

Cahill called Reis hospitalization a precautionary move. In a statement Monday night, the governors office said Reis is in good spirits and looks forward to returning home.

Cahill said that Polis, as of Monday, does not have any symptoms. Polis has only been taking baby aspirin on the advice of his doctors.

He will continue to work remotely until he is no longer contagious and is cleared by doctors to be around others, Cahill said of Polis.

The details about how the governor first became infected remain unclear.

The governors office declined to provide information about the employee who is believed to have exposed the governor, such as their proximity to the governor, citing federal health privacy laws.

Polis has advocated for strict adherence to public health guidelines including remote working, physical distancing and mask wearing which the governor has said his office adheres to as much as possible. But its not known whether he or his staff broke their own protocols.

The governors office did not respond to a question about whether Polis was wearing a mask when he was around the employee who tested positive.

Under state guidelines, an outbreak is defined as two or people at a workplace or event who dont live in the same household and who test positive for COVID-19 within a two-week period. Cahill has dismissed the suggestion that an outbreak exists in Polis office, but did not provide an explanation though there have been two cases tied to the governors office.

The governors office has not said whether the second staff member who was quarantining has tested positive for COVID-19.

Its also not known if there are others in the governors office who may have been exposed to the virus either by the governor or the employee who tested positive.

As for Reis, the governors office has not said at which hospital he is being treated.

The governors office also did not say whether the Polis and Reis two young children have tested positive for coronavirus.

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What we know and don't know about the coronavirus infections of Colorado's governor and his partner - The Colorado Sun

The state already has the information it needs to start the payment process for most, and Pettersen said the government would also reach out in English and Spanish to get the money to businesses.

About $37 million will go to small businesses facing capacity restrictions, such as bars and restaurants. County and local governments will apply to the state for the money early in 2021, and then they will open grant programs of their own. The money will be paid out by February 12.

A lot of its going to be dependent upon the counties getting a process to get the money out. Some counties will take less time, said state Sen. Faith Winter, part of the bipartisan group behind the bill.

Counties that are defying public health orders like Weld County wont be allowed to apply, but cities within them like Greeley can still process the money as long as they are in compliance with the state. The money is for businesses with less than $2.5 million of revenue.

About $7.5 million will go to arts organizations, including performance venues, and individual artists and entertainment industry professionals. The money will be managed by the nonprofit Redline Center for Contemporary Art in Denver a decision made to help distribute money efficiently, Winter said. Applications could open in December and the money could follow in January, Colorado Politics reported.

About $4 million will go to the Minority Business Office of Colorado, which helps minority-, woman- and veteran-owned businesses. It will fund direct relief payments, grants, loans, and assistance programs.

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Where Will The Latest Round Of Colorado Coronavirus Relief Money Go? - Colorado Public Radio

National Guard members have been practicing dry-run drills of quickly processing shipments of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in Ohio. USA TODAY

Britain becamethe first western nation to start vaccinating its population against the coronavirus on Tuesday, and the U.S. could begin its own mass vaccinations within days.

It can't come soon enough. The U.S. death toll over the last week was 15,658, according to data from Johns Hopkins University's dashboard. That's the second largest seven-day total since the pandemic began and the most deaths in a week since April.The COVID Tracking Project reports that at least 41 states are seeing a rise in the percentage of tests coming back positive.

Russia is beginning mass vaccinations as well. But there is a hitch: Recipients aren't supposed to drink alcohol for almost two months. That's a tough ask in a country where some polls indicate only about 25% of the population was willing to get vaccinated.

Putin has heralded the Russian vaccine as the world's first, but distrust of the medical establishment has tamped down the public appetite for it. Tens of thousands of Russians have been vaccinated, including many health care workers and members of the military.

What you should know today:

What we're reading:The second person in the world to receivePfizer/BioNTech's vaccine shares the same name as the U.K.'s most famous poet and playwright.William Shakespeare,81,is known to friends and familyas "Bill," and he said he was "pleased" to get the shot. Read more about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine here.

Today's numbers:The U.S. has reported more than 14.9 millioncases and over 283,700 deaths,according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 67.5 millioncases and 1.5milliondeaths.

This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe toThe Daily Briefingnewsletter.

Russia has begun mass immunizations but is warning recipients they must abstain from drinking alcohol for eight weeks for the inoculations to be effective. The head of Russias consumer safety agency,Anna Popova, said recipients should not drink for two weeks prior to getting the first of two doses required for the vaccine. Alcohol also should be avoided for the three weeks between the first and second dose, then for three weeks after the second dose, Popova said.

Its a strain on the body. Ifwe want to stay healthy and have a strong immune response, don't drink alcohol, she told the Moscow Times.

Alexander Gintsburg, the head of thestate-run Gamaleya research center that developed Sputnik V, was a bit less rigid. Gintsburg said that while alcohol should not alcohol abused before or after vaccination, "a single glass of champagne never hurt anyone."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a 53-page report Tuesday supporting earlier findings that the vaccine candidate from Pfizer and BioNTech is safe and effective. The earlier findings found the vaccine is safe and will prevent 95% of people from becoming sick with COVID-19.

The companies are asking the FDA for authorization to use the vaccine in people ages 16 and up. They have also begun testing the vaccine in ages 12-15, but have not yet accumulated enough data to request authorization in that age group.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University School ofMedicine in Nashville, said he received a briefing on the material in recent days.

"The group I was with who heard the data arrived interested and left the presentation enthusiastic," Schaffner said. "The extraordinary thing is that there were no major areas of concern."

Karen Weintraub

The White House is dismissing reports that the administration passed on buying additional doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine before other countries cut theirdeals. The New York Times was first to report that beforePfizers coronavirus vaccinewas proved highly successful in clinical trials last month, the company offered the Trump administration the chance to lock in supplies beyond the 100 million doses already committed.

The Times, citing people familiar with the talks, said the White House never made the deal "a choice that now raises questions about whether the United States allowed other countries to take its place in line."Senior administration officials, however, told reporters the story was "false" and that negotiations were ongoing.

"We feel absolutely confident that we will get the vaccine doses, for which we've contracted, and we'll have sufficient number of doses to vaccinate all Americans who desire one before the end of the second quarter2021," a senior administration official said.

David Jackson and Courtney Subramanian

State police brandishing firearms raided the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health data scientist who built the state's much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to "manipulate data."

"They pointed a gun in my face. They pointedguns at my kids,"Jonestweeted after Monday's raid. Later that night she was able to tweet a bit of humor: "So... how was everyone else's day?"

Jones said thewarrant based on a complaint filed bythe Florida Department of Health.State police spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger confirmed the seizure, citing possible unauthorized access to a department messaging system. Video from the scene appears to show an agent entering the house with his gun drawn, calling for Jones's husband to come down the stairs.

"Ms. Jones refused to come to the door for 20 minutes and hung up on agents," Plessinger said in a statement. "After several attempts and verbal notifications that law enforcement officers were there to serve a legal search warrant, Ms. Jones eventually came to the door and allowed agents to enter."

Jeffrey Schweers

Publichealthexperts warnedfor some timethat a winter surge would come. But four who spoke with USA TODAY said they have been stunnedby the dismal trajectory of thevirus over nine grueling months,andthey never expected the nationto be in as bad of a position as it is right now. November broke records that December is already pursuing.

"Idon't think there's a single person anywhere who thought that we would still be facing this in December, let alone that this would be at such a peak at this particular time," saidDr. Robert Amler, dean of New York Medical College'sSchool of Health Sciences and Practice and a former chief medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ryan W. Miller

England on Tuesdaybecamethe first western country to start vaccinating its population against a virusthat has killed more than 1.5 million people worldwide and sickened tens of millions more.Margaret Keenan, a grandmother who turns 91 next week, received the first shot at University Hospital Coventry.

"Its the best early birthday present I could wish for,"Keenan said. Second in line: a man named William Shakespeare. Billy to his friends.

Fifty hospitals in the U.K.'s state-run National Health Service started administering the COVID-19 inoculation topeople over 80 who are either hospitalized orhave outpatient appointments scheduled. Some nursing home workers also received the vaccine.

Kim Hjelmgaard

Days before the first COVID-19 vaccine could be cleared for use in the U.S., an exclusive USA TODAY Network survey of health officialsin all 50 states revealed a patchwork of preparations and different distribution plans that may mean wide variations in what the rollout looks like as it expands across the nation.Many states are struggling to preparebecause informationabout what, when and how much vaccine is coming constantly changes, andextra funding tomake the undertakingpossibledepends on Congress. Preparedness varies widely depending on how well a state's health department is funded, how hard the pandemic has hitand how robust its immunization system was pre-pandemic. Read more here.

Elizabeth Weise

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' longtime partner, first gentleman Marlon Reis, has been hospitalized as a precaution after experiencing shortness of breath and a worsening cough eight days after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.Polis' office said in a statement late Sunday that the governor, who also was diagnosed with COVID-19, drove Reis to a hospital for review and treatment. Polis was not experiencing severe symptoms, his office said.

Reis has normal oxygen saturation, is in good spirits, and looks forward to returning home soon, said a statement released by the governors office Monday evening. The first gentlemen has not required supplemental oxygen.Polis and Reis tested positive Nov. 28 and both had been quarantining at home.

President Donald Trumpis set tokick off a summitat the White House on Tuesday to highlight the rapiddevelopment ofaCOVID-19 vaccinehe is eager to take credit for despite criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.The summit will provide an update on the status of the administration's ambitious planto vaccinate all Americans against the coronavirus. Trump has repeatedly creditedOperation Warp Speed, his administration'spublic-private coronavirus response initiative,for the record development of vaccinesbut has provided little leadership to curb thedeadly surge in COVID-19 cases that's led to more than 282,000 deaths in the U.S.

The White House was initially in talks to include two drug companies leading the vaccine charge but determined their participation was not required after the decision to include Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation.

"It was more appropriate not to have one or more vaccine companies with pending applications before the FDA also participating," a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters.

David Jackson, Courtney Subramanian

Wyoming will require people to wear masks in indoor public spaces across the state starting Wednesday and heading into the New Year, Gov. Mark Gordon announcedMonday.Previously, Gordon had left decisions on mask mandates to county governments. Sixteen of the state's 23 counties had local orders.But as the state topped 32,000 cases on Sunday, and Gordon tested positive Nov. 25, he said face coverings "will make a big difference, but it will take time."

"These new orders are meant to support local leadership and we should all know that in Wyoming these mandates are not about citations, but about caring for others, Gordon said.

Also announced: indoor and outdoor gatherings without distancing will be limited to 10 or fewer, downfrom the 25 or fewer allowed on Nov. 24.Bars, restaurants and cafes will be prohibited from serving in house between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, a three-time All-Star and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and rookie center James Wiseman have tested positive for the coronavirus,the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Both players missed Monday's first group practice of training camp and will have to quarantine for 10-12 days. Theabsence from the team could be especially detrimental for Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in last month's draft, as he begins his NBA career after playing only three games in college.

Jorge Ortiz

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Contributing: Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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Coronavirus updates: Russians asked to abstain from drinking for 8 weeks; William Shakespeare gets vaccine - USA TODAY

Coronavirus exploded in November

The coronavirus pandemic exploded in November, with more than 4 million new cases across the country, 200,000 of which were in Ohio. Public health officials said why this is happening, including an expected flare-up due to the winter months, reopening of schools and infections spreading among families and friend groups through small gatherings.

The Clark County Emergency Management Agency will host two free mask distribution events this week. The first will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the parking lot of the Upper Valley Mall in Springfield. The second will be from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the former Kroger parking lot at 1822 S. Limestone Street in Springfield.

Read more here:

5 things to know about the coronavirus today: Coronavirus cases and mask giveaways - Dayton Daily News

By Sarah Mulholland, CPR News

It will likely take several years for Colorado to fully regain the jobs lost during the recession brought on by the pandemic, according to a report from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The state is forecast to add 40,500 workers in 2021, for a growth rate of 1.5%, CU economists wrote in the report. In 2020, the workforce declined by 5.3% equating to 148,800 jobs lost.

The latest from the coronavirus outbreak in Colorado:

>> FULL COVERAGE

Promising news on several vaccines is boosting optimism that economic activity can return to some semblance of normalcy in 2021. But its unclear how effective the vaccines will be, or how long it will take to distribute them, said Brian Lewandowski, an executive director at the Leeds Business Research Division.

Moreover, its difficult to predict how people will respond.

How long does it take for human behavior to recover, and people start to travel to our resort communities again; get on planes, go to concerts, start commuting to the office again, riding public transit again, Lewandowski said during a conference call. Roughly one-third of Coloradans polled are not sure theyre willing to take the vaccine when it becomes available.

Even with a coronavirus vaccine on the horizon, many businesses wont survive.

Even as businesses and consumers hold out hope for a vaccine, the U.S. economy is reeling with COVID-19 cases surging across the country and new lockdowns. Employers added just 245,000 jobs in November, down from 610,000 in October.

Lewandowski predicts it could be 2023 before the economy is back to where it was at the start of 2020. Many businesses will never come back, said Richard Wobbekind, Lewandowskis counterpart at CU.

The amount of destruction youre going to see in terms of bankruptcies and restaurants closing and the amount of retail I think youre going to see closing is going to be significant, he said.

The toll on restaurants has been especially brutal. In April, restaurants in Colorado suffered $1 billion in lost revenue when dining was shut down, according to the report. Nationally, 1 in 6 restaurants could close in 2020, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Some structural changes to the business landscape may be permanent, Wobbekind said. The pandemic accelerated a shift to online shopping, hurting retailers that were already struggling to compete with the internet. Office landlords will take a hit to the bottom line if companies dont see a need to lease as much office space, he said. That will have a domino effect on downtown businesses that rely on office workers.

Some businesses are feeling the effects of the pandemic more than others.

While few sectors of the economy dodged the pandemic entirely, small businesses and low-wage employees have borne the brunt of the damage, the report found. Additionally, women have been disproportionately impacted. The labor participation rate for women was 55.9% as of October, the lowest in 34 years.

The leisure and hospitality industry will be one of the fastest-growing segments of the economy when gains do take hold, primarily because those businesses were hit hardest by the pandemic, the report found. Job losses in the sector are expected to total 71,200 this year, according to the report.

Colorados mountain communities were crushed early on. In April, counties with a large share of resort areas such as Pitkin, Eagle and San Miguel reported unemployment rates over 20%. Travel spending in Colorado was down 50% as of October, the report found.

Support local journalism around the state.Become a member of The Colorado Sun today!

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It'll be years before Colorado jobs bounce back from the coronavirus - The Colorado Sun

In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the state of California has launched two separate shutdowns in recent weeks: a curfew that restricts activities after 10 p.m. every day in counties where coronavirus cases continue to rise, and a new, stay-at-home order for larger regions that will kick in when the intensive care units available in an areas hospital system drop below 15 percent. With those two sets of restrictions in play, theres a lot of confusion about whats allowed and what isnt for businesses and residents in the state especially for restaurants, which arguably face some of the tightest restrictions of the orders.

This guide that seeks to untangle those rules, and offer clarity on what services are available in regions under both of those orders. If you have additional questions, drop us a line and well add them (with answers) to this FAQ.

In the most general sense, people in different households are no longer allowed to mix, in private or in public. That means outdoor dining is closed, and a panoply of other venues must shutter, including zoos and aquariums, wineries, bars, breweries, distilleries, and family entertainment centers.

Yes, you may but be prepared for longer lines, as the order also reduces capacity inside stores from 50 to 20 percent. Farmers markets will also remain open, and restaurants may still serve meals for takeout and delivery.

Think about it this way: running errands and doing things to stay healthy is okay, but meeting up with people you dont live with as you do those things isnt. Or, in the words of Berkeley Public Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez, until we get through this wave, you should not meet in person with anyone you do not live with, even in a small group, and even outdoors with precautions. If you have a social bubble, it is now popped.

Its all about mask use. When youre in a store (or exercising outside, or engaging in any of these other activities that are still allowed) everyone is expected to remain fully masked at all times. But sit-down dining, by its very nature, means that people are unmasked an in proximity with one another for extended periods of time, which health officials say increases risks.

Heres what Contra Costa Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano said during a press conference to announce the Bay Areas stay-at-home order: Any kind of activity that involves taking off your mask to eat or drink even though outdoors is safer, even outdoors poses a risk for COVID spread. With the high risk of transmission in our communities, outdoor dining is more risky than it was two months ago.

Like the COVID-19 curfew, the stay-at-home plan comes from Californias Department of Public Health, not your local leaders. That said, places like Los Angeles, where cases are rising most swiftly, closed outdoor dining and rolled back other reopenings weeks before Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state-level order on November 3.

In some regions, but not all. Heres how it works: the plan groups California into five regions: far Northern California, the greater Sacramento area, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California. When the ICU capacity in a region drops below 15 percent, the stay-at-home order will kick in for at least three weeks. After that period, the order will be lifted only when a regions projected ICU capacity meets or exceeds 15%, the state says on its website.

As of publication time, in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. According to numbers presented on Monday, December 7, SoCals bed availability is at 10.9 percent, and the San Joaquin Valley is down to 6.3 percent.

But theres more. Though the Bay Area is still at 25.7 percent availability, on Friday, December 4, health officers in part but not all of the Bay Area region announced theyd enter into the stay-at-home early. The full region under the state plan is Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma counties. Alameda County and and the city of Berkeley officials say that theyll enact the stay-at-home as of 10 p.m. on Monday, December 7. In Marin County, the order will take effect on Tuesday, December 8. Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and San Francisco entered into the stay-at-home at 10 p.m. on Sunday, December 6. For that group of Bay Area counties, the order will remain until January 4.

According to San Francisco Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, the current increase in cases means San Francisco will run out of ICU beds within three weeks, and on December 6, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and Santa Clara registered the most cases of coronavirus theyve seen since the start of the pandemic. The speed of the uptick, county health officers said, means that to avoid being overwhelmed, those counties need to shut down even sooner.

That depends. The state stay-at-home clock doesnt start ticking until the Bay Areas ICU beds fall below 15 percent, so when that happens, the three week stay-at home begins. Its quite likely that these areas will be shut down beyond January 4 if a bed shortage continues.

San Mateo County remains open with outdoor dining and other non-stay-at-home activities as of publication time, even though one of its supervisors says he wishes his region had joined its neighbors in shutting down. Napa, Solano, Sonoma have also opted not to shut down, so folks looking for al fresco meal have options in wine country.

You got me there. The stay-at-home order bars nonessential travel, which arguably makes a trip across county lines a violation. And according to a statewide travel advisory thats been in effect since November 13, Californians are encouraged to stay home or in their region and avoid non-essential travel to other states or countries. So its not like the state is saying that that is a great plan! (Nor are we.)

Prior to the stay-at-home, Bay Area officials had said that it was acceptable to gather outdoors with people from as many as three households, but thats over now. Bay Area health officials put it plainly, saying You may no longer gather socially (even outdoors).

No. You cant have anyone come over, nor can you go over to someone elses place. No backyard Christmas dinner, no New Years barbecue with your friends. None of that is allowed.

Its up to local officials to enforce the orders, so itll be handled region by region. Violations are classified as misdemeanors, and are punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, so thats worth a long think before you break any rules. But one might hope that you will stop you. After all, the only way restaurants will be able to reopen is if COVID-19 cases drop, and the only way theyll drop is if we all stop hanging out with each other. Let your conscience be your guide.

Read more from the original source:

Everything Diners Need to Know About the Bay Areas New Coronavirus Lockdown - Eater SF

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 67.6 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 1.54 million.

Greece has said it will not re-open schools, restaurants or courts until 7 January. A nationwide lockdown was first introduced in November, and extended twice since.

Canada is set to receive its first does of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine before the end of the year.

Japan's household spending rose in October for the first time in over a year. The news came as the government announced a fresh $708 billion economic stimulus package.

Western Australia has begun to allow travellers from Victoria and New South Wales to enter without quarantining for the first time in 8 months.

Hong Kong is set to impose further restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19, including a ban on dining in restaurants after 6pm.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared that 27 December will be the 'International Day of Epidemic Preparedness' in a bid to ensure lessons are learned for future health crisis.

World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that studies show us "most of the world's population remains susceptible to infection with the COVID-19 virus."

As part of work identifying promising technology use cases to combat COVID, The Boston Consulting Group recently used contextual AI to analyze more than 150 million English language media articles from 30 countries published between December 2019 to May 2020.

The result is a compendium of hundreds of technology use cases. It more than triples the number of solutions, providing better visibility into the diverse uses of technology for the COVID-19 response.

To see a full list of 200+ exciting technology use cases during COVID please follow this link.

2. Merkel warns of tougher restrictions

She told party colleagues "the situation is getting very serious: these measures will not be enough to get us through winter".

New daily cases have plateaued in Germany.

Image: Our World in Data

Bars and restaurants are currently closed, with shops admitting limited numbers. Bavarian leader Markus Soeder said he was certain tighter restrictions would be agreed before Christmas.

Some states - including Bavaria - have already introduced their own, heightened, restrictions.

3. California introduces new restrictions

Restaurants in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley have been forced to close, except for takeaway and delivery, as part of new measures introduced by California state governor, Gavin Newsom.

Playgrounds have also been closed, stores operating at reduced capacity and hair salons and barbershops closed.

The rules apply to places where fewer than 15% of intensive-care hospital beds remain available, so far affecting Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Localities in the San Francisco Bay Area imposed similar orders.

Some schools remain open, but Los Angeles Unified School District closed campuses that had been partially open to offer in-person services and tutoring.

Originally posted here:

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 8 December - World Economic Forum