Coronavirus: California continues to beat back outbreak after deadliest day in the Bay Area The Mercury News
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Although students and parents will not be returning to their Los Angeles public school anytime soon, when campuses do reopen, L.A. Unified plans to operate a website that will provide detailed information about coronavirus outbreaks at an individual campus and even each classroom.
Under the plan part of the districts ambitious testing and contact tracing plan for all students, staff and their families anyone could learn the number of positive cases to date and the number of active cases broken down by school, grade and by the small cohorts of students who will spend the day together once campuses are able to reopen.
Students or staff would not be identified. But parents could learn, for example, about a new case among the 12 first-graders in a particular cohort. In that example, the public web page would note: All families of students in Cohort 1A are notified to stay home and students in 1A will participate in online learning until health guidelines allow their return.
The online information also would allow parents to learn about whats going on at L.A. Unified schools around them, such as how many schools nearby are open or closed and test results in the school community by age. The age range starts at newborn to 5 and goes up to 71-plus, because the goal is to include information about infections among all family members. Families would not be identified.
If the districts testing, tracing and website plan unfolds as described, it could be one of the most detailed to date for a U.S. school district, involving nearly 500,000 students and 75,000 staff members. Last month, schools Supt. Austin Beutner said the district effort is part of a partnership that includes UCLA, Stanford and Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross and HealthNet, among others with a price tag of roughly $300 per student over a year, for close to $150 million.
The district has received hundreds of millions of dollars in coronavirus-related aid but has given few details of exactly how the testing would be paid for.
The website information could help schools to open and operate as safely as possible, when the time comes, Beutner said. No campus in Los Angeles County will be allowed to reopen to all K-12 students until at least November, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said late last week.
Dont expect to see a decision about a return to school classrooms by students until the case rate in the area is significantly lower and remains there, Beutner said in remarks scheduled for broadcast Monday morning. Los Angeles is purple on the state dashboard, the highest risk category, defined as widespread COVID-19 transmission in the area. That means its not appropriate for students to be back in classrooms.
As of Monday, schools in Los Angeles County are permitted to open to serve small groups of students with special needs, such as students with disabilities and students learning English. But the process for bringing students back involves extensive safety measures and negotiations with employee groups, notably the teachers union. And most public schools in the countys 80 districts do not appear ready to bring back immediately any groups of students for instruction.
But at some point in the weeks or months ahead, Beutner sees the testing and tracing effort as a necessary component to reopening campuses.
As part of the ramp up, L.A. Unified on Thursday and Friday tested more than 5,000 staff members and their children. Seven tests came back positive, six adults and one child, he said Monday.
Beutner added that, over the next several weeks, all staff and students will be provided with an initial, baseline test. After this, there will be periodic testing based on advice from epidemiologists at Stanford, UCLA and Johns Hopkins.
The district also will provide testing for household members of students or staff who test positive for the coronavirus or who show symptoms. In this way, the L.A. Unified initiative will feed into the larger county health program. Beutner said that the district is prepared to test 5,000 people per day this week and that it soon hopes to test 20,000 per day.
As part of an official kickoff, Beutner was scheduled Monday morning to be tested at a school in Wilmington, along with school board President Richard Vladovic.
Testing at schools will be for all in the school community, including many from neighborhoods which have lacked access to testing, Beutner said. Well also be including far more children in our testing effort.
The information from this program, which is based on a school community, will be of value to researchers and policy makers as they develop plans to combat the virus and provide additional support to schools, he added.
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LAUSD to offer online coronavirus school infection information - Los Angeles Times
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York State's COVID-19 infection rate has been below 1 percent for 38 straight days. Yesterday, 0.92 of test results reported to New York State were positive. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.
"New York's government sets the tone for the state's response to COVID-19, but New Yorkers drive it home. We can defeat this virus and create a better future, but we need New Yorkers to wear masks, socially distance and wash their hands as local governments enforce state guidance," Governor Cuomo said. "There's no doubt that we've made progress, but this is not over yet. By staying New York Tough, we'll get through this together."
Yesterday, the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force visited 1,018 establishments in New York City and Long Island and observed 8 establishments that were not in compliance with state requirements. A county breakdown of yesterday's observed violations is below:
Today's data is summarized briefly below:
Of the 63,358 test results reported to New York State yesterday, 583, or 0.92 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:
REGION
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Capital Region
1.0%
1.0%
0.4%
CentralNew York
0.7%
2.0%
1.4%
Finger Lakes
0.9%
0.6%
0.8%
Long Island
1.4%
1.2%
0.9%
Mid-Hudson
0.9%
1.2%
1.6%
Mohawk Valley
0.8%
0.4%
0.4%
New York City
0.7%
0.8%
1.0%
North Country
0.1%
0.2%
0.5%
Southern Tier
0.4%
0.4%
0.1%
WesternNew York
1.5%
2.0%
1.2%
The Governor also confirmed 583 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 444,948 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 444,948 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:
County
Total Positive
New Positive
Albany
2,921
6
Allegany
94
0
Broome
1,420
2
Cattaraugus
242
1
Cayuga
190
0
Chautauqua
516
1
Chemung
251
0
Chenango
245
0
Clinton
153
0
Columbia
577
0
Cortland
132
4
Delaware
128
0
Dutchess
4,994
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Governor Cuomo Announces 38th Straight Day With COVID-19 Infection Rate Below 1 Percent - ny.gov
Find developments on the coronavirus pandemic and the plan for recovery in the U.S. and Washington state.
Where cases stand in Washington
COVID-19 testing sites closed Monday
The COVID-19 testing sites run by the City of Seattle will be closed on Monday due to poor air quality.
The Seattle Fire Department said anyone who had an appointment scheduled for Monday will receive a notification.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday morning that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will look very different for 2020.
"It will not be the same parade we're used to," de Blasio said. "They're reinventing the event for this moment in history. And you will be able to feel the spirit and the joy of that day."
The mayor said that the parade will not be "live" this year, its "reimagined" format will still be shown online and on TV for Thanksgiving. He said Macy's would be releasing additional details about its plans later on Monday.
British scientists are beginning a small study comparing how two experimental coronavirusvaccines might work when they are inhaled by people instead of being injected.
In a statementon Monday, researchers at Imperial College London and Oxford University said a trial involving 30 people would test vaccines developed by both institutions when participants inhale the droplets in their mouths, which would directly target their respiratory systems.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new countrywide lockdown will be imposed amid a stubborn surge in coronavirus cases, with schools and parts of the economy expected to shut down in a bid to bring down infection rates.
Beginning Friday, the start of the Jewish High Holiday season, schools, restaurants, malls and hotels will shut down, among other businesses, and Israelis will face restrictions on movement and on gatherings.
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What you need to know about coronavirus Monday, Sept. 14 - KING5.com
TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., September 14,2020, there have been 487,714 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 12,820 totalcases and 275 deaths.
DHHR hasconfirmed the deaths of a 91-year old female fromCabell County, an 84-year old female from Kanawha County, a 78-year old malefrom Grant County, a 66-year old male from Harrison County, an 86-year old malefrom Harrison County, a 76-year old male from Harrison County, a 75-year oldfemale from Kanawha County, a 71-year old female from Kanawha County, and an 83-yearold female from Kanawha County. As we honor the lives of these WestVirginians, we must continue to do our part to slow the growth of this virus by being thoughtful, responsibleand safe, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Our thoughts go out toall who are grieving during this time.
CASESPER COUNTY: Barbour(37), Berkeley (884), Boone (176), Braxton (9), Brooke (105), Cabell (658),Calhoun (22), Clay (29), Doddridge (17), Fayette (475), Gilmer (19), Grant(147), Greenbrier (117), Hampshire (95), Hancock (135), Hardy (75), Harrison(324), Jackson (229), Jefferson (401), Kanawha (2,019), Lewis (37), Lincoln(144), Logan (547), Marion (244), Marshall (140), Mason (125), McDowell (80),Mercer (380), Mineral (149), Mingo (301), Monongalia (1,715), Monroe (144),Morgan (45), Nicholas (69), Ohio (332), Pendleton (46), Pleasants (15),Pocahontas (58), Preston (142), Putnam (403), Raleigh (423), Randolph (230),Ritchie (11), Roane (41), Summers (28), Taylor (114), Tucker (15), Tyler (15), Upshur(59), Wayne (320), Webster (7), Wetzel (46), Wirt (9), Wood (333), Wyoming (80).
Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the localhealth department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain countymay not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual inquestion may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is the case of Clay,Hancock, Jefferson, and Tucker counties.
Pleasevisit the dashboard located at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more information.
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COVID-19 Daily Update 9-14-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
The global tally for confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed to 29.0 million on Monday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, while the death toll rose to 924,463. At least 19.6 million people have recovered. The U.S. has the highest tallies in the world with 6.5 million cases and 194,084 deaths. President Donald Trump alarmed health experts by holding an indoor rally on Sunday in Nevada, ignoring a state directive, the New York Times reported. Brazil has the second highest death toll at 131,625 and third highest case toll at 4.3 million. India is third with 79,722 deaths and second with 4.85 million cases. Mexico is fourth with 70,821 deaths and seventh with 668,381 cases. The U.K. has 41,717 deaths and 370,930 cases, the highest death toll in Europe and fifth-highest in the world.
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Gilead SciencesCEODaniel O'Day told CNBC on Monday that the company is continuing to study new ways to use its coronavirus treatment remdesivir on patients, including potentially outside of the hospital all together.
"We're not finished with remdesivir," O'Day said on "Squawk Box,"one day after the biopharmaceutical company announceda $21 billion acquisition ofImmunomedicsthat will enhance Gilead's availability of cancer treatments.
Gilead in May received emergency approval for remdesivir from the Food and Drug Administration, allowing it to be used on people who were severely ill with Covid-19 in the hospital. The antiviral drug, which is administered through an intravenous infusion has been shown to help shorten the recovery time of some hospitalized patients.
Reuters reported last week that some large hospital systems in the U.S. are limiting their use of remdesivir to severely ill people. In late August, the FDA expanded its emergency authorizationto allow all hospitalized Covid-19 patients to receive the drug. Remdesivircosts hospitals $3,120 for a typical U.S. patient with commercial insurance while the government cost is $2,340.
O'Day said Monday that Gilead this month began trials to look at using IV remdesivir in outpatient settings, which may make it possible to "keep people out of the hospital in high-risk cases."
He noted the California-based company also has been testing the drug, which had previously been studied as a potential Ebola treatment, to be used in inhaled form for Covid-19 patients. Those trials began in July.
"If one could do it without an IV, right to the site of where you get this replication of the virus in the lungs, we're also hopeful that you might be able to treat outside the hospital and prevent patients from ever going to the hospital," said O'Day, who became Gilead CEO in March 2019.
As for the regulatory approval of these potential uses, O'Day said giving people remdesivir through an IV in an outpatient setting such as a nursing home is "probably a shorter timeline."
"The inhaled version, remember, we're moving at light speed in the industry. In fact, from when this virus first showed its head in January, in three months time, we had the first of our gold standard trials," he said. "With a new formulation of a medicine, it does take a little bit longer. So we're in the early stages of testing for [inhaled use]."
Gilead will try to accelerate emergency approvals if possible, he added, but suggested it is likely a 2021 event for more data being available on the efficacy of remdesivir when taken in inhaled form.
"Depending on the results we see over the coming months, with this early stage testing, we may be moving this into later-stage trials toward the end of this year, early next year," he said. "We'll just have to see. We want to follow the science here. We don't to get ahead of it."
There are no FDA-approved drugs to treat the coronavirus. In addition to searching for treatments to lessen the severity of the illness, companies and governments around the world also are racing to develop a vaccine to prevent Covid-19.
More than 29 million people have been infected by the coronavirus worldwide and at least924,814 people have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has more than 6.5 million infections and more than 194,000 fatalities.
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- There are your plans. Then there is 2020.
As it has for many of us, 2020 has not gone according to plan for Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller.
"2020? 2020, man, it's a lot right now -- a lot," Miller said. "But, you know, you have to get up every day, put in that work, try to be that person you want to be, keep grinding, no matter what comes at you. Just try, try at things, have passion. That's where I'm at right now. Be consistently committed to the things that are important."
Miller said these words just days before his football season likely ended thanks to an awkward step on the final play of an otherwise nondescript Tuesday practice. Miller had surgery on his ankle on Friday and recovery time is considered to be between four to six months, but a best-case scenario would be a three-month recovery. The injury comes during a year in which the would-be 10th-year pro has already fended off COVID-19 -- "I was scared as hell" -- and was distressed by police violence against Black men and women that has caused him to reflect -- "I could have stood taller with [Colin] Kaepernick" -- while inspiring him to take a leading role in the push for social justice.
2 Related
Miller will push forward. But for his Broncos, who open the season against the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football (10:10 p.m. ET, ESPN), Miller's ankle injury changes everything in 2020: on the field, in the locker room and anywhere else Miller's talents, attitude, joy, desire and humanity have reached during his decade with the team.
"My own personal feelings, I was sad, when [the injury] happened [Tuesday], for a lot of reasons," Broncos coach Vic Fangio said. "One, mainly for Von, because Von has had a hell of an offseason ... he was of a mindset where he was going to come out and have a hell of a season.
"So, I'm sad that he's not going to be able to get the season that he worked for because that would be fun to watch, for me, for him, for you, for everybody. ... The good thing about his injury is once it's healed, it's healed. It's not one of those where he'll have lingering effects."
Miller will keep pushing. The injury certainly isn't the first hurdle he has faced during his life or his career, and it won't be the last.
How Miller got to this point will play a big part in where he goes from here, how he lifts himself out of 2020 and what's to come. Recently, Miller took some time to talk about the ups and downs of a career that was set to reach its 10th season. Just days before his latest injury Miller said he "hasn't reached the high point, that's my goal, keep going for a better high point."
For now, that high point will have to wait.
This summer, Miller didn't take anything for granted as he climbed the stairs each day on his way to the socially distanced outside linebackers meeting room in the Broncos' facility.
"Every day, no joke, every day, I go up those stairs right now and reflect," Miller said. "The way this year has been, I -- those are the exact same stairs where it all started, my first day as a Bronco.
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"There was a lockout [in 2011], so we were going to come in after the draft real quick and that was going to be it. So they flew me in and I walked up those stairs to meet Mr. B. And back then when you met Mr. B, that's when you were a Bronco."
"Mr. B" was late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. And 2011, the year Miller arrived as the No. 2 overall pick, was pivotal for Bowlen, who had just hired Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway to be the team's chief decision-maker and guide the Broncos out of a 4-12 mess. Miller was the first player Elway selected in the draft.
"So, every day already this year I remember walking up these same stairs, right by Mr. B's office," Miller said. "I walked up those stairs losing my breath because the altitude and the situation, but just losing my breath. I remember that first time every time I walk up those stairs. I wanted to be great. Great for the Denver Broncos. Great for Mr. B. Great for myself. ... I'll always feel that way no matter what."
Even as 2020 has tried its best to pile on, 2013 laid a foundation for how Miller deals with adversity and how he will power through the post-surgery work he'll begin soon.
Miller was an immediate success in the league, but after two consecutive Pro Bowl seasons to begin his career, 2013 was a setback. He was suspended for the first six games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. He missed a court date for traffic violations that resulted in an arrest warrant being issued. Questions about where he was, whom he was with and who he was becoming when he didn't have a football helmet on were swirling.
"Man, 2013 really made me take a look, like a real look, like you look in the mirror and really look at what's there," Miller said. "It really made me prioritize me, what I was doing and how I was doing it. I found my real priorities in 2013, I had to really think about what I really wanted to do, who I wanted to be, because 2013 was the test everybody warns you about.
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"The hardest thing was to step out there and talk after the suspension ... thinking to myself earning people's trust back was going to be hard, but I had to get right. My first move was my parents, they moved in and we said we were going to get through it, but I had to clean up those things. Me."
His parents, Von and Gloria, did move in with him for a time. And Miller returned to play in nine games that season, some good, some not so good. He had five sacks before tearing his ACL in Week 16 against the Houston Texans.
But pain will get your attention if it doesn't overwhelm you, the notion that a fresh start has usually arrived because of a painful ending.
"He attacked that injury," Chris Harris Jr. said "We both had ACLs, we both had to be in there every day and we both decided we were coming back from that. But he attacked it. You could tell everything about that year was coming out of him in that rehab. He might not agree, but that torn ACL, man, that pushed Von out again, beyond what he did before. He was going to do some things after that."
Fangio expects Miller to do the same this time around. So much so that this past week Fangio wouldn't even rule out Miller returning this season, saying he told the team "we'll move forward [while] never forgetting Von and hoping that he returns at some point this year."
Miller has seen his share of football heights as well. Super Bowl 50 was a lot of things -- quarterback Peyton Manning's final game, Elway's pinnacle as a football executive and a showdown between the Broncos' historic defense and the Panthers' league-leading offense.
And it was all overwhelmed by Miller. After an audible, of course.
"Let me tell you about plans," former Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said with a wry laugh. "The plan was, we started out the game, the plan was to rush four and Von was going to be the spy on [Cam Newton] because of all Von could do athletically and we just thought that was our best chance to keep [Newton] under wraps a bit.
"Well, we got in the first quarter, our rush is too good overall and Von isn't even in it. I'm sitting there saying, 'We can't not rush Von right now.' I said, 'Von has got to rush.' We changed; we decided to put the five-man rush package, instead of four and a spy.
How Big Ben's year at WR helped him at QB Meet NYG's Judge: a blunt, cussing, nice guy? How Tannehill grew to be Titans' leader COVID fight part of Von Miller's tough 2020 Takeaways: Wilson, Rodgers have huge games
"Well, he caused a fumble, we recover for a touchdown and caused another at the 5-yard line and just disrupts everything and everybody until the clock is out. That's an MVP for sure."
Phillips has coached in the NFL since 1981. He has coached Hall of Famers such as Reggie White, Rickey Jackson and Bruce Smith. Last season he coached a Rams defense with the guy many people in the league believe might be the NFL's best player in Aaron Donald.
And Miller's Super Bowl 50 will always have a special place on his mantel.
"Von is just one of the greatest players to ever play his position," Phillips said. "To be as versatile as he is, rush the passer, he can cover people, too. People don't realize, he can cover a tight end, he can cover man-to-man -- he knocked that pass away down the field in the Super Bowl which would have been the highlight for some guys, but he had already wrecked so much other stuff by then nobody remembers. He can drop in zone. He can do everything. Now, you don't want him doing all those things because he can rush the passer like few others I've ever seen, but he's just really, really versatile.
"Like all those great ones, he's focused on being the best. They've got something, whether it's heart, I don't know what you call it, whatever it is, those guys I've been around, the Reggie Whites, the Bruce Smiths, the great, great players, have that inside of them that they want to excel, even though they're great, they want to be better. Von has that."
Recent struggles on the field have further motivated Miller. Before quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the league's "it" player and his Chiefs had won four consecutive AFC West titles, the Broncos owned the West. With Miller leading the defense, Denver won five consecutive titles from 2011 to 2015, but those seem like distant days now.
To make matters worse, the Broncos have missed the playoffs four consecutive times. In two of those seasons they lost at least 10 games. Miller has had moments of brilliance during this span, but not nearly enough to offset the carousel at quarterback and offensive coordinator. It's all affected Miller and explains why he attacked this offseason like no other before in his career.
Following a December loss to the Chiefs in what became a disappointing eight-sack season -- his lowest total since 2013 -- Miller said losing "just defeats my soul." It all sent Miller into a workout frenzy of sorts just days after the 2019 season ended.
"He has sent me some videos and pictures," Fangio said earlier this offseason. "I do think he's had a hell of an offseason. I know he's worked extremely hard. I do sense that he's got a hunger to his game and to his attitude that I don't think he's had the last few years in the league."
And the target of Miller's push was the mirror, again.
"When you get there and you win and you experience that, then every time after that you lose, you don't go, it's devastating," Miller said. "You think it's devastating to lose before, but after you've won it all, been at the top as a team, you really know what that feels like, when everything you do turns to gold.
"But this offseason, with everything going on, I figured out what I should have been doing more is pointing the finger at myself, figuring out what I can do, what more I can do."
1:58
On April 17, Von Miller detailed his symptoms since testing positive for the coronavirus.
In April, as Miller watched images of overwhelmed health care workers and cities on lockdown, the coronavirus reached his own house.
When Miller, an asthmatic who uses an inhaler, first felt symptoms he said he couldn't catch his breath at night. He had a fever and a strange sense this wasn't like any cold or flu he had before. A test confirmed he had COVID-19 and Miller's diagnosis made headlines from coast to coast.
"Man, I was extremely nervous. It's all over, you see the videos of the hospitals, the stay-at-home orders, all of these things going on and suddenly I'm one of the first guys [in the NFL] to get it. I was scared, I ain't even going to lie, I was scared," Miller said. "I've got asthma. I was like, 'This thing could kill me.' And when you can't catch your breath in the middle of the night, when you can't breathe, it's hard not to be scared. I eventually just did everything they say to get better, but yeah, initially, I was scared as hell. I tell these guys take it seriously or they might be scared as hell, too."
Miller quarantined for two weeks and said it took another few weeks after that before he could resume his workout regimen. During that time he read about leadership -- delving into Kobe Bryant's career in particular.
He now believes he wasn't pushing himself or teammates hard enough. He believes he can still be the player who brings others together, but he also can push to the front of the line with a little more forcefulness on football issues, social justice matters and the state of the Broncos.
"That's what quarantine was," Miller said. "The only good thing about quarantine is I could really look at myself in that light. Look in the mirror and really try to figure out what I can do, what should be on my plate. I'm the easiest thing that I control, the easiest thing I can influence."
0:55
Von Miller addresses the crowd at a Denver protest against police brutality and racism.
Miller's teammates have seen the fire stoked in this offseason. They saw it each day in training camp, right up until the last play of Tuesday's practice. They say it will fuel him moving forward, fuel him to return to demonstrate just how much he believes he has to show on the field and off.
"That was the thing that I think I was most hurt for him about was seeing that we won't be able to see how great he was going to be this year," safety Justin Simmons said. "[But] I'm a firm believer that that mentality that he had this offseason though, he'll transition that into rehabbing and getting back to where he needs to be to be even better next year when he comes back."
Miller said this past summer he felt "better than ever," but he has said that before. Still, teammates like Simmons have used the word "hunger" based on what they have seen from him on the field and in the community.
In recent months Miller has spoken of football as a platform for social justice and penned in Time Magazine, "the love of my country compels me to use it." In the essay, Miller described publicly the racism he encountered from the time he was an elementary school student through high school, college and into his NFL career -- he called it pain that "sears me every day now."
He closed the essay with: "Say their names. Hands up. Don't shoot. I can't breathe."
Miller was among the Broncos who spoke to a large crowd in downtown Denver this past June after marching during a Black Lives Matter rally just weeks after he had recovered from COVID-19.
"I felt like I could have stood taller with [Colin] Kaepernick at the time; I could have supported him better," Miller said. "... I apologize for not being a strong leader at the time. It's all part of what I've been thinking about me as a person, a person who happens to play football. You can try to be really good at your job, try to be one of the best ever and try to be everything you can be as a person, too."
Miller's fire seemed equally stoked on the field, where he seemed to take pride in reaching his 10th NFL season, especially given the struggle for most players to maintain a career half that length.
"If you still have a passion for it and you're still doing it at a high level, I don't think I should even think about not playing," Miller said. "I still feel like I'm able to compete; I still feel like I'm fast, most importantly. As long as I can keep doing that, I'm going to play. ... Every year I get to play, every play I get to play, I'll just keep pushing and at the end I'll see how many [years] it is and I'll look up and I'll be cool with that."
If you want a sense of how Miller will overcome this latest obstacle, consider how he answered this question: What is the single most important lesson you have learned since that April day in 2011 when you were drafted?
After pausing for nearly 40 seconds, almost geologic time for a guy who often responds in rapid fire, Miller spelled out his mentality.
"Over time I've really learned what effort means," Miller said. "You can't get complacent. It's impossible to do that and succeed. When you start doing that, that's when you go downhill. When you get complacent -- you don't take advantage of every day. So, do more, commit to it more. As time goes on, you've got to relearn that process every single year. You've got to keep going at it every single year.
"You can't get bored with trying to be great; you can't get bored with winning or thinking it just happens. You don't want to get bored with whupping other people's ass. You don't want to get bored with success, don't want to get bored with coming in here every day with the mindset of giving to your teammates and pushing yourself. Because if you do, you're done, that's it."
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'I was scared as hell' - Coronavirus fight part of Von Miller's tough 2020 - ESPN
Without masks and a vaccine, we could reach Herd Immunity from COVID-19, but deaths would skyrocket. We break down the science of it. USA TODAY
Scientists and physicians reacted with words such as aghast, despicable and outrageous over the weekend as news spread that White House appointeesinterfered with a basic national public health reportwhen it conflicted with PresidentDonald Trump'scoronavirus messaging.
Michael Caputo, the Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs, acknowledged Saturday that since June, he and an adviser havescrutinized and at times pushed for changes toa weekly health report distributed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The meddling, first reported by Politico,included efforts to stop the publication of a report last week on the use of hydroxychloroquine,a malaria drug often touted by Trump, delaya10-state study of COVID-19 infection statistics in Juneand another on the spread of coronavirus at a Georgia sleep-away camp.
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report is a series of dry and sometimes dense briefupdates on public health incidents that comeout on Thursdays. They typically describeevents or topicsand are an important way for doctors and health officials to get the latest data.
Monday, members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent a letter to HHS Secretary AlexAzar and CDC Director Robert Redfield requesting documents pertaining to the efforts to block the publicationof "accurate scientific reports."
"We are gravely concerned by reports showing that the Presidents political appointees at HHS have sought to help him downplay the risks of the coronavirus crisis by attempting to alter, delay, and block critical scientific reports from CDC," the letter said.
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Dr. William Schaffner, who is on the publications editorial board, said he was aghast and appalled" by the reported attempts to delay, stop or change reports.He described the publication as a vital part of the global conversation among public health officials who track diseases and dangers.
It has been the voice of the U.S. governments health system, of integrity and scientific rigor, for years," said Schaffner, a professor and infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee."Indeed, the MMWR has been a model for other countries ministries of public health for creating similar newsletters in their countries.
The interference is not just anti-science butdisinformation intended to deceive the American public, said Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
This is outright egregious. Its despicable, Topol said, accusing Redfieldand otherleadersof allowing the agency to be hijacked by politics.
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What were seeing is multiple actors, important people who are just laying down, who are complicit with the anti-science machinations of the Trump administration, he said.
In an interview Saturday with The Washington Post,Caputo alleged the content of the MMRWis being politicized by the agency itself.
But in an election year, and in the time of COVID-19,its no longer unanimously scientific. Theres political content, The Post quoted Caputo as saying.
On a Facebook livestream on Sunday night, Caputo railed against what he termed"sedition" among CDC scientists, the New York Times reported Monday.They havent gotten out of their sweatpants except for meetings at coffee shops to plot how theyre going to attack Donald Trump next, the Times reported him as saying. The Facebook video has since been removed.
On Twitter,Dr. Sherri Bucher, a global health researcher, wrote,There are no words to articulate how horrific this is. Trust & credibility, shattered, overnight. MMWR has been, for a long time, one of the most reliable, steadfast, scientific resources; unquestioned veracity, impeccable reputation for quality of data/analysis. No longer.
It is not unusual for communicationpeople within the CDC to be involved in an MMWR report before publication, said Dr. Patrick Remington, a member of the journals editorial board and a former CDC staffer.
That involvement was previously restricted to officials within the agency who let political leaders know what was coming so they could be prepared with a communicationstrategy, said Remington, associate dean for public health at the School of Medicine and Public Health at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison.
What is unusual is the allegation that the political process is attempting to influence the scientific conclusions. And thats a concern, Remington said.
A member of the editorial board for 14 years, Remington said the body meets roughly once a year to help decide the publication's big-picture vision. Its most recent meeting was in February.
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The board is not involved in the publication's day-to-day operations, and members knew nothing about the accusations of interferenceuntil they read about them, he and others said.
Jeff Niederdeppe, another member of the MMWR editorial board and a professor of public health communicationat Cornell University, said political meddling could erode public faith and cause long-term damage to the publication.
The big issue here in my mind is the fundamental undermining of trust, he said, both in the CDC generallyand among the public health practitioners who rely on the MMWR to make policy decisions. If that very foundation is being politicized, its incredibly alarming.
Regaining trust is a challenge, he said, and should begin with an immediate response from the CDC, which has not commented on the allegations.
If the concerns are confirmed, Niederdeppe said, Id be interested in convening with the other members of the MMWR editorial board to figure out what we could do in this role.
The Notes from the Field section of the MMWR previews small investigations by state or local health departments that illustrate a specific problem.
Theyre like an alert mechanism, Schaffner said.
MMWRs have described American heat-related deaths by sex and age, top foods contributing to high-salt intake, an outbreak of tuberculosis among workers at food processing plants and drinking rates among pregnant women.
Dr. Jennifer Kates, senior vice president of the nonprofit Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which focuseson health issues, described the MMWR as the go-to public health publication.
The MMWR predates the CDC, beginning as a publication of the U.S. Public Health Servicein 1878.
Kates said she was disturbed by what appears to be the insertion of politics into a well-respected scientific journal. In general, the politicization of COVID has been the enemy of public health, she said.
MMWR reports are written by CDC staff, as well as public health workers and physicians nationwide. The one- to two-page reports are known for their meticulous and careful editing, a process those who'vegone through it described as harrowing.
If youve ever been involved as a co-author of one of those reports, its painful how carefully every sentence is reviewed for scientific rigor, for precision,Schaffner said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report every Thursday.(Photo: Jessica McGowan, Getty Images)
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CLEVELAND, Ohio Since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, diagnostic tests that could quickly and accurately tell if someone is positive or negative have been something of a holy grail.
Having access to a rapid and reliable test could be a game-changer. It could alert people if theyve contracted the virus so they can take precautions to protect others. But it also could tell people if theyve tested negative, theoretically making it safer for families and friends to gather for birthdays or holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently granted emergency approval to a pair of tests that offer such hope.
The SalivaDirect test, developed by the Yale School of Public Health, tests a persons saliva for the virus. BinaxNOW, an antigen test developed by Abbott Labs in Chicago, detects a specific viral protein and promises results in 15 minutes. BinaxNOW uses a nasal swab to obtain a sample.
Could either be the hope that so many are holding out for? Could it be possible to take a test on Thanksgiving morning and have your results before the family comes over for dinner?
Northeast Ohio medical experts say the latest tests offer promise but think its unlikely theyll have us back to normal in the next several months.
SalivaDirect tests do hasten the testing process, but they still require a saliva sample be sent to a laboratory for results, said Dr. Thomas File, the chair of infectious diseases at Summa Health and president of the Infectious Disease Society of America.
A lot of people are referring to it as a game-changer. Well, Im not sure its a game-changer, because it does require going to a lab and it requires a device to assess the results, File said.
BinaxNOW gives quick results, but still needs to be administered by a health care worker. And while Abbott Labs has said the test is accurate, rapid antigen tests are considered less reliable than the gold-standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
Just last month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was the focus of a media frenzy when he tested positive on a rapid antigen test before a scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump in Cleveland. He subsequently tested negative on two PCR tests.
Theres usually a trade-off between accuracy and quick results, said Dr. Daniel Rhoads, who specializes in pathology and laboratory medicine at Cleveland Clinic. He said rapid tests may be useful for screening 20-year-old students on a college campus, but theyre not used for someone who arrives at the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms.
It really depends what your goal is, and your tolerance for false positives and false negatives, he said.
The other drawback for rapid tests is availability. Abbott Labs has said it plans to produce 50 million BinaxNOW tests per month by the beginning of next month. But that only amounts to one-sixth of the U.S. population getting one test per month, Rhoads pointed out.
Rhoads said hes optimistic about the overall advances in testing, but were not to the point where anyone could go to a drug store and pick up a coronavirus test the same way theyd buy a rapid pregnancy test.
Were definitely not there yet, Rhoads said.
Doctors are optimistic but cautious
Though the U.S. has a long way to go to meet its testing needs, medical experts say the latest developments are promising.
The SalivaDirect test is much less invasive than the nasal swabs that are traditionally used to collect a sample of a respiratory virus. Patients could even collect their own samples, eliminating the need for face-to-face contact with health care workers. That could save time and preserve the personal protective equipment those health care workers need for those interactions.
The SalivaDirect test compared favorably to a nasal swab, Yale researchers found in a recent study. Health care workers used nasal swabs to confirm infections in 70 patients when they were admitted to a hospital. The researchers then took additional nasal swabs and saliva samples while those patients were hospitalized.
They found 81% of the saliva samples came back positive one to five days after the initial diagnosis, compared to 71% of nasal swabs. The saliva tests also detected more of the viruss genetic material.
These findings suggest that saliva specimens and nasopharyngeal swab specimens have at least similar sensitivity in the detection of [the coronavirus] during the course of hospitalization, the researchers concluded in the study.
The SalivaDirect test is faster because it cuts out the process of extracting the RNA of the virus from the sample, which medical experts say improves the accuracy of testing. Skipping that step could make a test less likely to detect some positive results where low amounts of the virus are present, Rhoads said.
Oftentimes, if you skip that extraction step, it works most of the time. But youre not going to detect those low positives," he said.
Nevertheless, both Rhoads and File see advantages in getting quicker results. It could take a full week for a person to get the results of a more accurate nasal swab test, and they could pass the virus to other during that time. The rapid tests are also more convenient, they said.
We have to be aware that with these more rapid tests, youre probably losing some accuracy," File said. "But if its really convenient and you get a really fast turnaround time, theres going to be a trade-off there thats going to be helpful.
However, both doctors said rapid testing should not be considered a replacement for other measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Its still important to wash your hands, wear a face mask and practice social distancing. And large gatherings, particularly those indoors, will continue to carry risk until the pandemic is controlled. File noted that states reported spikes in coronavirus cases after Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, so families should be cautious if theyre gathering for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Everything we do to reduce transmission is going to be helpful in trying to control the virus, particularly at those holiday times," he said.
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