Category: Corona Virus

HOUSTON The map of Texas lays bare the unrelenting march of the pandemic.

A new coronavirus surge is driven by outbreaks in cities, towns and wind-swept outposts, stretching from Dallas to west Texas. Health officials along the border in El Paso extended a stay-home order, more than doubled their mobile morgues to 10 and expanded a temporary hospital at the convention center. Fresh outbreaks were piling up in Amarillo and Lubbock, too.

Big cities were also hit hard, but because the infections were spread across larger populations the Houston metro area alone is home to about 7 million people they didnt trigger lockdowns or public outcry. By the end of a disquieting and startling week one thing was clear: Texas, like much of the nation, is overwhelmed by a virus that is more stubborn than the will of many quarantine-fatigued Americans who want to wish it away.

The country is in freefall. Its in disaster mode, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor College of Medicines National School of Tropical Medicine. Its really scary in terms of the surges on the ICUs, the hospital staff getting exhausted and, you know, mortality is just going to shoot up. These are lives that dont have to be lost.

COVID-19 cases are increasing in 46 states. Public health officials announced more than 177,000 new infections in the U.S. on Friday, a record high for the third straight day. Coronavirus hospitalizations also reached a record 67,096 this week, double from five weeks ago. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reinstated the countrys most restrictive pandemic measures, saying the state was at a breaking point, while Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced a two-week statewide freeze to limit gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving.

U.S. deaths have increased to an average of more than 1,000 a day. More than 244,000 have died of the virus since the pandemic began. An additional 40,000 could die in the next month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By years end, Hotez expects at least 400,000 COVID-19 deaths.

Texas became the first state to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases this week (followed by California), matching peak levels reached this summer and alarming public health experts ahead of the winter holidays, when infections are expected to soar.

Despite exhausted doctors and steady funeral processions, many Texans refused to wear masks or avoid crowded public places. In the border city of McAllen, Bianca Lilley, 36, took her mom and 3-year-old daughter out to eat at the La Plaza Mall this week. They plan to gather with their extended family on Thanksgiving, she said, but only after one member of each of their nuclear families tests negative for the virus.

We obviously dont want to get sick, she said as she watched her daughter play outside the mall. But also, we dont want to live in fear.

Public health officials said that testing one family member wont necessarily protect the rest of the family, because they could have a false negative or other family members could still be infected but asymptomatic.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders have resisted pandemic shutdowns and restrictions, even in places such as El Paso. Texas attorney general joined local businesses suing to overturn the El Paso stay-home order.

Unlike Californias governor, Abbott hasnt issued a coronavirus-related travel advisory ahead of the holidays or warned residents who travel out of state to quarantine when they return, even though Texas colleges have more infected students than any other state. On Friday, Dallas Countys chief executive sent a letter to the governor requesting added pandemic restrictions.

Hotez has become frustrated with people socializing at cafes without masks in his Houston neighborhood. He had been looking forward to a visit by his daughter and her husband from Los Angeles during the holidays. He canceled it when cases in El Paso soared.

People are choosing to make such horrible decisions because of this medical freedom ideology that came out of Texas and is now being pushed on us by the White House coronavirus task force, Hotez said. He is at work on a COVID-19 vaccine thats in clinical trials but will still take months to develop.

As temperatures drop in north Texas, Hotez expects infections to multiply as they have in the Upper Midwest as people spend more time indoors, especially in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Were starting to see hospitalizations go up, he said, including in Houston, where coronavirus hospitalizations nearly doubled this week compared with last month. The more aggressively we can social-distance for the next two or three months, the more lives well save.

Small gatherings in north Texas have increased community spread of COVID-19, said Dr. Erin Carlson, an associate clinical professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at the University of Texas at Arlington.

People have quarantine fatigue. Theyre tired of it. They want to go over to their friends house and have poker night just like they used to, she said. Pretty much any contact tracer you talk to, theyre seeing small gatherings and thats driving the rates up. Theyre tired and they want to see their families, so theyre going ahead to the birthday parties.

Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, said she is concerned about diminishing hospital resources because of the virus exponential spread. If families gather for Thanksgiving without quarantining for two weeks beforehand, she said, theres a chance the pandemic will worsen.

We want to keep up our social routines, she said. But we arent getting that public health message across. That can have devastating effects.

A breast cancer survivor, Troisi, 68, has grandchildren in Washington, D.C., whom she hasnt seen since the start of the pandemic.

Im sick of it. I miss my grandbabies, she said. But what weve got to emphasize is its not about you, its about your community.

Her message was lost among many. Indoor malls and restaurants in Houston were packed Friday with patrons, some maskless.

At the Galleria Mall, pharmacist Michael Varnado, 36, stopped for lunch in the food court with his parents, who were visiting from New Orleans. Varnado and his mother share a birthday Monday, and they had come to celebrate. But his father had to be persuaded to go to the mall, concerned about the pandemic. They all wore masks.

Walking through the mall, we saw people who didnt have masks on, said Sharon Varnado, 66, despite signs warning that masks are required. They dont take it seriously. A lot of people dont comply because it hasnt hit home.

Across from the food court, Oscar Castillo of San Antonio and his parents visiting from Guadalajara, Mexico, wore masks as they watched maskless ice skaters glide across the malls indoor rink. They had been isolating since the start of the pandemic and were surprised to see such crowds.

We are getting used to it, Castillo, 26, who teaches at a migrant shelter, said of the pandemic. The numbers are going up, but were going out and getting on with our lives. I dont know if its the best thing, but humans are social.

Nearby, a dozen shoppers rushed to leave the mall and drive across town to the Southern comfort mecca, Turkey Leg Hut, in Houstons Third Ward neighborhood. By 4 p.m., the outdoor tented patio was already packed. Construction worker Robert Rodriguez said he felt safe: He was wearing a mask and technically eating outside.

We got hit hard at first, but since we adapted, its all right, said Rodriguez, 35, who planned to gather with family as usual this Thanksgiving.

The restaurants pre-dinner line stretched down the block. Those waiting had traveled from as far as St. Louis, Florida and New York.

I refuse to be at home on my 25th birthday, said Jonae Mims, who was waiting to celebrate after traveling from North Carolina with friend Lativia Nash.

You only live once, said Nash.

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Despite 1 million coronavirus cases in Texas, 'people have quarantine fatigue. They're tired of it' - pressherald.com

In the spring, when the coronavirus was spreading across the planet, Americans took steps slow and uneven as they might have been to bring the first U.S. outbreaks under control. Houses of worship and nonessential businesses closed. People resigned themselves to wearing masks in public. They worked from home if they could, to reduce the risk to those who could not.

The federal government deployed resources to help people stay home. Major league sports suspended games. Broadway suspended plays. Families suspended vacations. Schools closed. Nursing homes and hospitals banned visitors. It was painful, and in some cases devastating and it was still not enough to stamp out the virus in America.

Still, those steps mattered a great deal.

Case counts came down in places where they had been up, like New York City and Seattle. Surges that followed in early summer were beaten back, if not wholly quelled. In time, even nursing homes saw some decline in cases. While the economy tumbled grievously, the bottom did not fall out. Newly expanded unemployment benefits, combined with some $500 billion in federal aid, enabled small businesses to close or reduce their payrolls without setting off a surge in poverty rates. Easy credit for big businesses and stimulus checks for nearly everyone else also helped.

Much more could and should have been done. An egregious lack of national leadership gave the virus too consistent an edge, and far too many lives and livelihoods were still lost as a result. But for all those avoidable losses, we also gained crucial understanding of how this virus works, and of how it might be defeated.

At the moment, that lesson appears forgotten. The nation is entering its third, and potentially most dreadful, coronavirus surge. Earlier this month, the daily nationwide case count reached 100,000 for the first time. On Thursday it passed the 160,000 mark. Hospitalizations are at their highest point yet. Unlike previous surges, there is no epicenter. The virus is spreading everywhere.

Even communities that ought to know better are responding with a mix of apathy and magical thinking. In New York City, officials are preparing to once again close schools, while they leave bars and restaurants open for indoor service (albeit at reduced capacity). In Texas, the governor has dithered about closing or restricting businesses, even as case counts pass the one million mark.

Some people cling to the fact that while case counts are rising, death rates have so far remained low during this surge. Thats true. But its not that simple: Death isnt the only bad outcome of contracting the coronavirus. Debilitating symptoms can last for months, and some doctors worry they may lead to permanent disability. Also, lower death rates are contingent on a high standard of care, which will be difficult to maintain across the country as case counts grow. In any case, death tolls are a lagging indicator. They tend to rise a few weeks after case counts do, which is what experts warn will happen later this month and next.

Its like we survived the Titanic, says Dr. Umair Shah, health commissioner in Harris County, Texas. Now were looking at the tip of an iceberg and pretending that the tip is the whole thing.

Such wishful thinking and resignation are not difficult to understand. It seems cruel to close businesses and put people out of work again, especially when elected officials from both political parties have planned indoor election celebrations. It feels pointless to skip Thanksgiving, when after a year of such sacrifices, the virus still appears to be winning. Why believe that anything can defeat the pandemic when so far in the United States at least nothing has?

For most of the past year, the Trump administration has encouraged this mind-set, with a steady beat of delusional pronouncements: that the virus will go away on its own, that changing weather or herd immunity will rescue the nation, that however the charts look, things are really not that bad. Never mind that 240,000 Americans are dead, with 1,000 more dying every day, and the staff of the administration itself is shot through with outbreaks. It can be difficult to fathom the end of this thing.

Still, there are clear reasons to be hopeful. Doctors and scientists know much more about how this coronavirus spreads, and about how to treat the disease it causes. Drugs and long-heralded vaccines are coming through the pipeline, and in two months the nation will have a new president one who campaigned on a promise not to squander the sacrifices that have been made and instead prioritize fighting the pandemic. President-elect Joe Biden has already put forth a plan, chock-full of evidence-based initiatives. He has also assembled a team of professionals who possess the experience and expertise that could help clean up this mess.

If Americans want to get the current surge under control through this long, dark winter, they need to skip indoor gatherings, including for the holidays. They need to avoid nonessential travel. They must wear face masks in all public places. They all need to practice social distancing. They need to quarantine when they think theyve been exposed to the virus and isolate if they get a positive test result, even if no symptoms emerge.

Its also clear what state and local leaders need to do: Promote social distancing and mask-wearing, and consider mandating masks in communities where case counts are soaring. Dont wait to get contact tracing and quarantine programs up and running. Even if outbreaks are too widespread to find every case now, these programs can still help get localized clusters under control, and will be crucial to keeping things in check once the current crisis abates. It makes little sense to close schools, especially when bars and restaurants remain open indoors. The latter have been consistently linked to case clusters across the country, while the former have not.

Closures will be painful. They will be downright catastrophic without the right economic support. Congress must set its partisan bickering aside and immediately pass a new stimulus bill for the good of the country, and for the sake of its most vulnerable constituents.

These are not new revelations. They are derived from months of hard lessons backed by hard evidence and those are the only things that can save us now.

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This Coronavirus Surge Does Not Have to Be So Horrific - The New York Times

Medical staff members check on a patient at the COVID-19 ICU in United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Cases and hospitalizations rose dramatically in the U.S. this week. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

Medical staff members check on a patient at the COVID-19 ICU in United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Cases and hospitalizations rose dramatically in the U.S. this week.

It's hard to overstate how much the U.S. coronavirus outbreak has deteriorated this past week, with each day ushering in new, disturbing records.

On Thursday, there were more than 150,000 new infections. It was only last week that the U.S. reached a record of more than 100,000 infections in a single day for the first time ever.

"This is the worst the pandemic has been," says Dr. Preeti Malani, Chief Health Officer in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Michigan.

Daily cases have gone up more than 70% nationwide, since the beginning of November. Another way to put it: one in every 378 people in the U.S. tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week.

"You have the entire country seeing surges and you're seeing it in rural areas and in urban areas. It's a reflection of the fact that COVID is so widespread."

While the week brought some promising news about a potential vaccine, there are dark months ahead of the country, as people spend more time indoors and travel for the holidays.

"This is a really dangerous time," says Malani, who is also a fellow with the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "It's not too late. We can still turn things around, but it's going to require a big effort."

Here are some of the big takeaways from the week in COVID-19:

1. Hospitals have never been so full

Across the country, more than 67,000 COVID-19 patients are now hospitalized. Compare that to the spring and summer peaks, when hospitalizations leveled off at close to 60,000 patients. Experts say there is no indication that the current trend will slow down. In fact, quite the opposite. Given the record-setting growth of cases, it's likely that hospitalizations will pick up speed in the coming weeks, as some patients end up seriously ill.

The Midwest and the South (including Texas) account for more than two-thirds of all COVID-19 hospitalizations. Earlier surges were concentrated in a few places, but this fall spike is hitting lots of states all at once. From Utah to Wisconsin to Iowa, hospitals are warning that the situation is not sustainable if the volume of new patients doesn't slow down. An NPR analysis found at least 18 states have crossed into a dangerous zone where their hospitals could be at risk of reaching capacity, which could eventually require extreme measures like rationing care.

2. Parts of Midwest and the West are 'at the breaking point'

For months, the virus has pummeled the Midwest. There are no signs that is subsiding. In fact, new daily cases have more than doubled over the past two weeks in that region, which is made up of 12 states. Illinois has added far more cases over the past week than any other state 80,000, which is almost twice as many as California.

The Dakotas, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska have the highest rate of infections per capita in the U.S. Wisconsin is now averaging more cases a day than New York City did at the height of its outbreak.

In the West, Utah is setting new records in cases as the state's governor says, "We're at the breaking point." Parts of Texas, in particular El Paso, are in crisis and carting in mobile morgues because of rising deaths. Montana is reeling after months of rising case counts, and doctors are warning the region is on the "brink of disaster."

3. States tiptoe toward new restrictions, but gaping holes remain

From Iowa to Connecticut, state leaders have started tightening restrictions and rolling back their reopening plans. Parts of California have stopped all indoor dining, including San Francisco. Minnesota has told restaurants to stop in-person service at 10 pm, saying that infections spread the most quickly later in the evening.

Indiana is putting caps on gathering sizes, limiting them to 25 people in the hardest hit counties (though religious services are exempted). Meanwhile, New York has put in place a nightly curfew for indoor dining, gyms and bars. In Illinois, state leaders have warned a shutdown could be on the way; Chicago has issued a stay-at-home advisory, although it's unclear how that will be enforced.

Some states are taking things further: On Friday, New Mexico announced a stay-at-home order that will take effect next week and non-essential businesses will close in person service. Oregon's governor made a similar decision.

Public health experts caution that states need consistent policies, instead of a patchwork of restrictions that only chip away at certain high-risk settings. As Anne Rimoin of UCLA told NPR recently: "This is a hard moment where we don't necessarily get to have our cake and eat it too. You want to have bars open, then you might not be able to have schools open. You want to not wear a mask, you're going to see more COVID."

4. New mask mandates kinda?

Some state leaders that resisted mandating mask use are starting to bend, but experts say these new measures don't go far enough.

Utah's Republican governor issued a statewide mask mandate. Iowa's Governor Kim Reynolds has implemented a limited mask requirement, mostly aimed at large gatherings. Nebraska's new mandate also only requires people to wear a mask when they spend an average of 15 minutes together and are within six feet of each other.

And there are quite a few states that don't have a sweeping statewide mask mandate. And even those that do, compliance and enforcement are issues.

"We need to make mask-wearing obligatory and put a lot of stress once again on not having group assemblies of any kind," says Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

5. After a long plateau, deaths are now going up

Since the summer, one of the few hopeful developments has been that fewer people are dying. That trend is shifting now. After averaging below 900 since Sept. 1, average daily deaths broke above 1,000 this week. Daily deaths have increased about 23% over the past week. The current average is still about half of what the U.S recorded during the spring peak, but public health experts caution that deaths lag behind hospitalizations by a few weeks.

The latest prediction from the modeling group at the University of Washington predicts that more than 2,000 people will die each day from COVID-19 by mid January, and that the total U.S death toll will reach about 440,000 by March. The modelers say that changes in behavior could still prevent that from happening.

6. Even East and West coast states, that had kept cases low, are heading into trouble

Parts of the country that kept the virus in check for months are starting to see growth. Look at the Northeast, where daily cases have close to doubled over the past two weeks. New Jersey and Massachusetts are still averaging about half as many cases a day as hard-hit states like Minnesota and Michigan.

On the opposite side of the country, in Washington state, cases have more than doubled since the beginning of November. Oregon is not far behind. California is a bit more mixed. The per-capita rate remains lower than almost any other state, but there are pockets of alarming growth, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area and around San Diego.

7. Rural and suburban counties outpace metro counties in per capita infections

The pandemic was slow in reaching rural America, but it's hold hasn't loosened since getting to those communities. The rate of infections in the most rural counties remains higher than anywhere else and well-above the large urban areas. Much of the stress on hospitals in parts of the Midwest like Michigan, Kansas and Utah comes from rural areas, which rely on transferring patients in need of care to the metro areas. "In Michigan, a lot of the new cases are coming from the west side of the state and from less populated areas,"says Dr. Malani.

In the Dakotas, the numbers are nothing short of staggering. One in 1,629 residents of South Dakota is hospitalized for COVID-19, the highest per capita rates in the country. The mortality rate in rural communities is also higher than urban areas. Public health experts say there are similar patterns with other public health crises, like HIV. It can take longer to reach rural America, but once there it's harder to root out the problem.

8. Long-term care facilities are getting hammered again

More than 40% of all COVID-19 deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. These populations are exceptionally vulnerable because of their age and how easily an outbreak can balloon in congregate living situations. There were horrifying examples of the coronavirus tearing through nursing homes earlier in the pandemic. Now, the COVID Tracking Project finds that cases are again surging in these facilities, with more than 24,000 cases in these facilities last week. Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas account for about one third of all nursing home deaths this week.

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Trends In Coronavirus Cases, Deaths And Hospitalizations This Week : Shots - Health News - NPR

Editors note The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every weekday morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.

Utah hit record highs in new COVID-19 infections, deaths and hospitalizations as the state ended the first week of Gov. Gary Herberts latest coronavirus restrictions.

In the past seven days, there have been 21,187 cases of coronavirus. That number stood at 16,111 just a week ago.

Since Monday, the Utah Department of Health has reported that 59 people have died from COVID-19. Last Sunday, the total number of deaths was 46 at weeks end. The death toll since the pandemic began is 718.

There are 484 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, per the health department. A week ago, it was 424.

To date, 6,769 people have been hospitalized. Ninety-six new hospitalizations were reported Sunday, and 85% of all intensive care unit beds are currently occupied with coronavirus patients.

The week included two days when new cases surpassed 4,000. The rolling seven-day average rate for positive tests stands at 24.3%. Last week, it was at 20.6%.

The department of health on Sunday reported 2,667 new cases of the coronavirus and eight new deaths:

The lives of many Utahns were affected this past week as a result of the still increasing case numbers.

Conditions have gotten so dire in Utah recently that Salt Lake County, in an apparent effort to motivate people to follow health precautions meant to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, launched an initiative to share stories of people impacted by COVID-19.

Herbert said Thursday that it will take the modification of behavior to get on the other side of the pandemic.

The order is set to expire Nov. 23, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Its unclear if state officials will extend the restrictions or offer other recommendations for Utahns this holiday season.

We want people to have an enjoyable holiday season," Herbert said Thursday, but we also want them to have a safe enjoyable holiday season.

Correction Sunday, 3:51 p.m.: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Sundays deaths.

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Coronavirus in Utah: Record-breaking week ends with a total of more than 21000 cases - Salt Lake Tribune

The number of Oregonians tested for coronavirus has barely budged amid a record-setting wave of infections, with health care systems and state officials failing to deliver at the time of greatest need.

Roughly 45,000 Oregonians were tested the first week of November, according to preliminary state data.

Thats barely more than the summer peak in July.

The difference now? More than 2 times as many people are actively infected, cases are rising exponentially and Gov. Kate Brown is so concerned she just issued a partial lockdown.

Public health experts say Oregons inadequate rate of coronavirus testing means a large number of cases have and continue to silently spread across the state, seeding new infections.

To be sure, few U.S. states are testing enough of their residents to effectively contain the highly contagious coronavirus as it shatters records and infects as many as 180,000 people a day.

But state officials and health care providers had more than eight months to prepare for this moment.

Early in the pandemic they faulted the federal government for testing shortfalls but that is no longer fully the case. On top of existing test capacity that local hospitals have built over subsequent months, the Trump administration is now shipping tens of thousands of rapid antigen tests to Oregon each week through years end something state officials pledged would nearly double testing capacity.

And yet significantly more Oregonians still arent being tested as a result.

That has left many exasperated and searching for answers.

The state has never seemed to be able to get to sufficient testing on any level compared to the rest of the country for inexplicable reasons, said Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, who also is an emergency room doctor.

Compared to four months ago, Oregon has increased the number of people tested each week by just 10%, according to state statistics. States across the nation have upped their testing numbers by an average 58% in the same period, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.

Meieran said she understands expanding testing is a complex issue but is baffled why Oregon does not appear to have similar gains.

I have been asking this question for seven months now and have never gotten what I feel like is a solid answer, she said.

Testing supplies, it seems, are no longer Oregons largest stumbling block. Among other things, the state has instead struggled to secure enough health care workers to oversee expanded test collections.

Dr. Melissa Sutton, who monitors testing capacity for the Oregon Health Authority, said she believes its misleading to compare the states numbers to the nations because of the way some calculations are made.

But she acknowledged the state would benefit enormously from testing more Oregonians and said it has been slowed by bottlenecks in the system. Those include a limited pool of health care providers authorized to administer testing, not enough staffing and challenges deciding where to offer events, such as at pop-up sites or in the emergency room.

But I think what were seeing is health care systems doing everything they can to increase the number of COVID-19 tests that theyre offering, Sutton said. Honestly, it takes time to build these systems to collect additional tests.

State officials recognized early that those challenges would exist, however.

Asked what steps have been taken to increase staffing for test collections since the federal government began supplying at least 60,000 tests a week in October, Sutton said efforts are ongoing.

We are in dialogue with those partners about the barriers and opportunities they see and are both helping them to adjust and in turn adjusting our own strategies and tactics, Sutton wrote in an email.

Like everything in this pandemic, the steep increase in test availability was unprecedented and so we are both building the network as we are deploying the tests to that network.

Theres certainly demand among Oregonians for testing. The state has reported an average of 900 new coronavirus cases a day over the past week, and those account for only the infections that are known.

People waited in long lines for drive-through COVID-19 tests administered by OHSU at the Oregon Convention Center on Thurs., Nov. 12, 2020. The Oregonian

Portland area residents took to social media this week to highlight waits of anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours. One man Tweeted that upon arrival at one of OHSUs testing sites, he was told hed have to wait for three to four hours.

Shouldve bought snacks, he mused.

Troy Whiteley, an Aloha resident, showed up at OHSUs Hillsboro Stadium testing site Thursday morning and waited about two hours before a technician collected a sample from him.

As he was driving off, he noticed the long line of cars, almost twice as many as when he arrived.

The wait alone is enough to push some people away, Whiteley, who learned a day later he tested negative, told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

***

Oregons testing woes have long been known, but theres no escaping the challenge now.

Early in the pandemic, state leaders said they werent able to get the testing kits and supplies needed because the federal government prioritized shipments to other states with more COVID-19 cases.

Even the federal government acknowledged Oregons obstacles. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, called Oregon out in April as one of three states that were working on building capacity in.

State officials tried to boost testing capacity on their own.

By summer, their efforts seemed to be paying off. The state reported a record 41,300 Oregonians had been tested one week in mid-July, in conjunction with the summer wave of infections.

Among those screened, a record 2,213 Oregonians also tested positive for coronavirus that week.

The positivity rate the number of people testing positive divided by the number of people screened was about 6%.

State officials remained upbeat, believing they were testing adequately.

While that rate held through much of summer, it spiked in mid-October and has now reached double digits.

Just 45,405 Oregonians secured tests the first week of November, according to preliminary data that still may tick up a bit.

An eye-popping 5,433 Oregonians tested positive equaling a 12% positivity rate.

Sutton, the Oregon Health Authority senior health advisor, said the rapidly rising positivity rate this fall shows the state clearly isnt testing enough anymore.

As this surge has begun, I think weve all been shocked at how quickly that figure has changed, Sutton said. This surge is really straining our system in many ways, and its certainly straining our ability to test quickly.

While officials acknowledge the need to test more now, they take issue with other metrics that have consistently suggested Oregon lags nearly every other state.

Data from two of the most prominent test tracking sites, the COVID Tracking Project and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, shows that Oregon ranks 49th or 50th among U.S. states for the amount of coronavirus testing it offers per capita.

But Sutton said that because many other states report total tests given, and not total people tested, its an apples to oranges comparison.

In Oregon, for example, someone in a long-term care facility might be tested multiple times in a given month.

Oregon would count it once, while another state would count each test.

Sutton said state officials dont publicly share the number of tests administered because they arent entirely sure the numbers are accurate, due to how results are reported by laboratories and health systems.

Even so, she believes the number of tests administered in the past month has actually increased by about 50%, because the state is testing more people multiple times.

Sutton said she believes Oregons testing performance is more middle of the pack.

***

Restrictive testing guidance still appears to be holding some people back from getting tested.

The Oregon Health Authority generally recommends testing only people with symptoms or people whove come in close contact with someone known to have the virus. A few others, such as minorities and migrant agricultural workers, also are given the green light for tests from state public health officials.

In other states its not that difficult.

Jennifer Nuzzo lives in Maryland, where the state health department encourages everyone from grocery store workers to teachers and people whove attended large social gatherings to get tested.

The same goes for Washington state, Oregons neighbor to the north, which allows (a)nyone whos concerned about their health to go get a test.

We should test everyone who wants to get tested, said Nuzzo, the lead epidemiologist for the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Testing Insights Initiative.

Even under Oregons stricter criteria for testing, on any given day an average of 700 people line up to be tested at OHSUs two drive-through testing sites in Portland and Hillsboro.

Thats more than double the number of people compared to some days this summer, and testing now often takes twice as long.

Officials at OHSU say the increased demand illustrates the need for more easily accessible testing sites.

Nuzzo said Oregons positive test rate is telling us that, too.

In the past couple days, the portion of people tested whove been told they have the virus has ballooned to 14%.

If your number starts ticking up, that should be cause for immediate alarm, Nuzzo said. Its a sign that somethings happening. It should immediately trigger the state to go out and do more testing.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

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Oregon fails to test enough residents for coronavirus as need hits all-time high - OregonLive

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Anchorage emergency officials are encouraging residents to get a COVID-19 test whether theyre experiencing symptoms or not.

Do you know if you do not have COVID-19? Why not find out? JUST GET TESTED, Anchorages Office of Emergency Management said in an alert Friday.

The call to action came as both the city and state deal with an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. The test positivity rate, or the percentage of tests that come back positive, is used to gauge whether a community is conducting enough testing. In Anchorage, that number was up to 11.4% by Monday far above the citys target of below 3%, according to Janet Johnston, epidemiologist with the Anchorage Health Department.

As of Saturday, state data showed Anchorages seven-day test positivity rate had reached 12.4%.

This is an indication both that we have a high level of virus in the community and that we need more testing, she said Friday.

The city, which had already set up several free community COVID-19 testing centers across Anchorage, announced expanded hours 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at its testing locations. And with help from a contractor, there will now be pop-up testing sites around the city through the rest of the month, including at Clark Middle School on Monday and East High School on Friday.

Alaska reported a record 745 new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Municipality of Anchorage residents accounted for 489 of those new cases, or nearly two-thirds.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, decreased appetite, diminished sense of taste or smell, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, muscle/joint aches, nausea, rash, runny nose and sore throat.

More information about Anchorages testing sites, including hours and locations, can be found at anchoragecovidtest.org.

Anchorage officials announced expanded hours at its COVID-19 testing locations and new pop-up testing locations through November 2020. (Image courtesy Anchorage Office of Emergency Management)

Anchorage officials announced expanded hours at its COVID-19 testing locations and new pop-up testing locations through November 2020. (Image courtesy Anchorage Office of Emergency Management)

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'JUST GET TESTED': Anchorage urges coronavirus testing regardless of symptoms - Anchorage Daily News

WAUSAU (WAOW)-- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, concerns rise over the chance for reinfection of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has said, similar to other viruses, some reinfection is expected and the possibility of reinfection could be challenging when it comes to controlling the spread of the coronavirus.

COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin are rising rapidly on a daily basis.

At this time it is more than likely someone you know has contracted the virus.

As of Friday the state is reporting 7,777 newly reported cases.

"It is ruthless and it is here in our community," said Melissa Moore with the Marathon County Health Department.

Even after a patient recovers from COVID-19, it is not impossible to be re-infected.

"There are instances, there have been reinfections, that is why it is so important to take those steps we can do to protect ourselves," Moore said.

However, there is a difference between a long-term coronavirus case and the possibility of reinfection.

"For those that are actively ill and tested positive, it is 10 days from date of symptoms and that is a minimum," Moore said. "There is limited immunity we just don't know if people can get re-infected or if the strain can mutate."

However, Moore said you can be susceptible to the virus again within 90 days.

Since the start of the pandemic we have been told to self isolate and quarantine for two weeks if you test positive or have been exposed.

The virus can still be in your body much longer than that, even after you are symptom-free, and you can still test positive for it.

The CDC and health departments are still coming up with studies to see the possibility of reinfections.

Although it is rare, they want to remind you it is not impossible.

See more here:

What are the chances of coronavirus reinfection? - WKOW

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) Active coronavirus cases reached a record high as 23 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Sundays update from the South Dakota Department of Health.

The death toll rose to 644. There have been 219 deaths reported since Nov. 1. New deaths listed were 12 men and 11 women with three listed in the 60-69 age range, three in the 70-79 age range and 17 in the 80 and older age range.

On Sunday, 1,199 new total coronavirus cases (1,100 PCR and 99 antigen) were reported bringing the states total case count to 65,381, up from Saturday (64,182). Total recovered cases are now at 45,377, up from Saturday (44,814). The new deaths were reported from the following counties: Beadle, Bon Homme, Brown, Codington (4), Davison, Day (2), Gregory, Hutchinson, Lawrence, Lincoln (3), Minnehaha (2), Oglala Lakota, Spink (2), Sully and Turner.

Active cases are now at 19,360, up from Saturday (18,747).

Current hospitalizations are at 553, up from Saturday (549). Total hospitalizations are now at 3,644, up from Saturday (3,598).

Total persons tested negative is now at 228,733, up from Saturday (227,641).

There were 2,291 new persons tested reported on Sunday. On Sunday, the new person test positivity-rate is 52.3 percent. The latest 7-day all test positivity rate, reported by the DOH, is 21.3 percent. The DOH calculates that based on the results of the PCR test results but doesnt release total numbers for how many PCR tests are done daily.

Of South Dakotas 66 counties, 61 are considered substantial community spread with five counties listed as moderate community spread.

Originally posted here:

COVID-19 in South Dakota: 1,199 total new cases; Death toll rises to 644; Active cases at 19,360 - KELOLAND.com

Its not just your neck of the woods that the spread of the coronavirus is increasing. Its everywhere in New Jersey.

For a second straight week, all 21 counties saw increases in coronavirus cases. Every countys number of new cases for the week of Nov. 5-11 was at least 24% higher than the week prior, and 11 counties increased their caseloads by 50% or more.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Passaic County saw the most severe spread, adding 32.8 cases per 10,000 residents, a 73% increase over the week prior. Essex County also cleared 30 new cases per 10,000, landing at 30.2.

Eight counties added more than 20 cases per 10,000 residents. The state as a whole added 20.5 cases per 10,000 residents, a 49% jump from the week prior. The U.S. added 25.5 cases per 10,000, up 35% from last week.

Is the map not displaying? Click here.

Just three counties Cape May, Salem and Sussex managed to keep their new caseload under 10 per 10,000 residents. All were over 9.

The biggest spike from last week came in Warren County. After sitting at 8.7 new cases per 10,000 residents last week, the county jumped to 18.8 a 117% increase.

In an effort to curb the spread of the virus, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new rule Thursday that will allow New Jersey counties and municipalities to order nonessential businesses to close at 8 p.m.

It came on the same day that new restrictions on bars and restaurants limiting hours and indoor dining went into effect.

Thursday brought 3,517 new cases of the coronavirus in N.J., the fourth time in six days that number has eclipsed 3,000.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nick Devlin is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at ndevlin@njadvancemedia.com.

Link:

New coronavirus cases exploded in many N.J. counties this week. See the spread in yours. - NJ.com

Thanksgiving plans have been made fraught by the coronavirus pandemic, but how worried should you be? One tool aims to give an answer.

The COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool, a project led by professors Joshua Weitz and Clio Andris of the Georgia Institute of Technology, aims to show the risk of COVID-19 being present at a gathering given the size and location.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

For example, if you are planning to attend a Thanksgiving gathering of 10 people in Passaic County, the chance of someone there having COVID-19 is currently around 18%, the tool calculates. Thats the highest in New Jersey.

On the flip side, youd be safer in Sussex County, where the chance is around 6%.

Is the map not displaying? Click here.

If youre dead set on having the same type of family holiday blowout as usual, with 25 attendees, the probabilities obviously go up. This time, a gathering in Passaic County is about 40% likely to include the coronavirus, while in Cape May its 13%.

But you are headed out of state, you say?

Well, a gathering of 10 people in New York City has a 7% likelihood of having someone with the coronavirus, and theres an 11% chance in the Empire State as a whole. In Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in general, the risk is 17%. Delawares is 15% and Connecticuts is 22%.

If you are looking for least risk, theres Vermont (4%), or better yet, Hawaii (5%).

Or, maybe just trim your sails this year, given the outbreak and travel advisories that could have you quarantining for 14 days after you return to New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy has encouraged residents to scale back Thanksgiving plans by staying at home and having smaller dinners with immediate household family members only.

One way to mitigate things would be to enjoy the holiday meal outside, though whether the weather will allow for that is anyones guess. Another way would be to have all attendees quarantine for 14 days in advance, in which case, hopefully youve been spending the last couple days indoors.

Bear in mind, with cases currently surging in New Jersey and across the United States, risk calculations could go up over the next couple weeks as the holiday approaches. On six of the last eight days, N.J. has announced more than 3,000 new cases, including 4,395 new cases on Saturday, a record number.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nick Devlin is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at ndevlin@njadvancemedia.com.

Staff reporter Riley Yates contributed to this report.

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Here are the odds of someone bringing coronavirus to your Thanksgiving dinner - nj.com