Category: Corona Virus

Kristin Urquizathe former Maryvale resident who drew national attention for a searing obituary of her fatherthat slammedpoliticians' handling of the COVID-19 pandemic called for President Donald Trump to resign Wednesday after reports he'd purposely downplayed the severity of the novelcoronavirus.

Trump knew weeks before the first confirmed U.S. coronavirus death that COVID-19 was highly contagious and more deadly than the flu, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.Yet, when addressing the public, he claimed the virus was "under control" and would soon disappear.

"The president is on record lying," Urquiza, whose father died of COVID-19 in June,told The Arizona Republic. "Its undeniable, and its inexcusable."

More than 6 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in the U.S. to date, with those over 65 years old hit particularly hard. Nearly 190,000 Americans have died, and countless others face grueling, months-long recoveries.

"Were taught to follow our leaders especially during times of crisis. For people like my dad, he trusted Donald Trump, he trusted Gov. Doug Ducey," Urquizasaid.

"When they, in May, decided to lie to the public and say that it was safe to go out and to resume normal activities, my father followed their advice. For that, he paid with his life."

Mark Anthony Urquizastarted feeling ill June 11, as Arizona grappled with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world. The surge followedamid-May loosening of shutdown restrictions.

The Tolleson residenttested positive for COVID-19 the following day, and was hospitalized five days later.

He died on June 30, at age 65.

"Mark, like so many others, should not have died from COVID-19," Kristin Urquiza wrote in his obituary, which went viral andinspiredothers to write "#HonestObits."

"His death is due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk."

National media attention helped Urquiza raise more than $30,000, which she used to cover her father's funeral expenses and get a COVID-19 prevention organization off the ground."Marked by COVID" memorializes those lost to the disease online and in vigilsand pushes for mitigation measures.

Democratic leaders took notice of Urquiza's efforts, tapping her to speak about her father and the policy failures she believes contributed to his death during the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

"The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas:the America that Donald Trump lives inand the America that my father died in," she said during her live appearance. "Donald Trumpmay not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonestyand irresponsibleactions made it so much worse."

She echoed those comments Wednesday, saying it was "devastating to see that the president decided to not prioritize human lives."

"He should resign today, but I suspect he is too cowardly," she said.

The Urquiza family is furious with Arizona leadership for their handling of the pandemic as they bury Mark Anthony Urquiza, who died of COVID-19. Arizona Republic

Urquizaalsohad some words for the media, which she said must call Trump's tactics "what they are: lies."

And she lambasted the governors, members of Congress and other elected officials she deemed "complicit" in carrying out Trump's inadequate pandemic response.

"Our leaders can no longer feign ignorance regarding the severity of the pandemic and Trumps purposeful down-playing of the situation," she said in a public statement, urging themto "immediately and publicly denounce the Presidents tactics and implement data-driven public health measures."

During her interview with The Republic, Urquiza singled out Ducey, saying Arizona needs a leader who will prioritize his constituents versus attempting to stay onTrump's good side. Though the governor has sent condolences to her family, he did not accept Urquiza's invitation to attend her father's funeral.

Ducey has, however,changed his tune on pandemic-related restrictions after observing the state's June spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Late that month, he clamped downon bars and other businesses with the potential to be virus "super-spreaders." He also allowed local governments to implement mask mandates, now in place in the majority of the state.

Arizona has since been highlighted as a model for reversing a state's COVID-19 trajectory. But it's too late for the Arizonans and other Americans who've already died or been irreparably harmedby the disease, Urquiza said.

"The information released today proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that President Trump has the blood of hundreds of thousands of people on his hands," she said.

Republic reporters Emily Wilder and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez contributed to this report.

Reach the reporter at maria.polletta@arizonarepublic.comor 602-653-6807. Follow her on Twitter @mpolletta.

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Woman who lost father to COVID-19 says Trump should resign after downplaying virus - The Arizona Republic

An employee works in a protective suit in a laboratory of the biotech company Qiagen in Germany, September 8, 2020.

Fabian Strauch | picture alliance | Getty Images

German genetic testing companyQiagenannounced Tuesday that it plans to launch a new antigen test for the coronavirus that it says could eventually be deployed in airports and stadiums if it receives the appropriate authorizations.

The company said it plans to launch two versions of the antigen test in the U.S. later this year: one version that's meant to be processed in a clinical laboratory and another that's portable and can be processed at point of care. The company has not yet applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration but said it plans to.

If the test, called theAccess Antigen Test, is granted FDA authorization for point-of-care use and if it's waived from the requirements under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, Qiagen said, the test could be used in high-volume settings such as airports and stadiums to test people with symptoms. Rapidly testing symptomatic people could become increasingly important in the fall and winter as seasonal influenza, which causes many of the same early symptoms as seen in Covid-19, spreads in the Northern Hemisphere.

"The portable test offers a new combination of speed and scale that marks an important step towards decentralized mass testing that health authorities all over the world have been urgently seeking," the company said in a release.

The test, which wasdeveloped in collaboration withAustralian diagnostics company Ellume, can screen up to eight nasal-swab samples simultaneously, the company said. Administrators of the test use a small digital platform, called an eHub, which was launched in August with Qiagen's antibody test, to process the nasal swabs.

The platform can yield results in less than 15 minutes, the company said, and can process an average of about 30 swab samples every hour. Qiagen added that the test correctly diagnoses a positive coronavirus infection 90% of the time and correctly diagnoses a negative result 100% of the time. The company did not elaborate on the methods used to arrive at the accuracy conclusions.

The company has not yet disclosed a price point for the test, but Qiagen CEO Thierry Bernard called the tests "cost-effective." Qiagen also did not disclose details on how many tests it will be able to manufacture.

In a statement, Bernard added that the antigen tests are meant to supplement, not replace, the molecular, or PCR, tests, which are the most accurate tests on the market. PCR tests, however, are dependent on a strained supply chain of technical laboratory equipment, need to be processed by trained scientists and can take hours or days to yield results.

The company added that it will also apply for certification in Europe.

"The Access Antigen Test is fast, easy to use and cost-effective and will be a valuable tool to address the so far unmet high-volume testing needs for SARS-CoV-2 antigens in situations where time is of the essence," Bernard said in a statement. "It will deliver highly accurate results and will complement the gold-standard PCR tests used for detection of active COVID-19 infection. PCR tests offer a high level of diagnostic accuracy but are time-consuming and lab-bound."

CNBC's Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.

Read the rest here:

Qiagen to launch rapid coronavirus test it says could be used in airports and stadiums - CNBC

By Graham Lawton

John Nacion/Sopa Images/Lightrocket Via Getty Images

DOCTORS may be fretting about concurrent outbreaks of flu and covid-19 (see What will happen to covid-19 cases in winter and how can we prepare?) but some virologists are worrying about another scenario: a Frankenvirus.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19, almost certainly originated from the hybridisation of two different coronaviruses. The details remain hazy, but the viruss genome sequence suggests that this mash-up occurred in a bat about a decade ago. The bat was simultaneously infected

Original post:

Could the coronavirus merge with another virus to create a new threat? - New Scientist

A new study suggests immune responses to coronavirus in severely ill and critically ill patients are as strong or stronger than those of patients with milder illness. This adds to the evidence that the immune system itself is to blame for the most life-threatening form of the infection.

Immune cells known as T cells are responsible for recognizing pathogens, killing infected cells, and recruiting other branches of the immune system to combat infections.

However, according to the new study, T cell responses to the new coronavirus in critically ill patients appear to be just as robust as those with a less severe form of the illness.

The finding reinforces the conclusion that an inadequate immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is not responsible for critical illness and death. Rather, an excessive immune response is to blame.

Stay informed with live updates on the current COVID-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment.

The team of researchers, led by Marien Hospital Herne and Ruhr-Universitt Bochum in Herne, Germany, compared the T cell responses of 28 COVID-19 patients during the acute phase of the infection and after recovery in survivors.

Of these infections, 7 were categorized as moderate, 9 were severe, and 12 were critical.

The scientists measured the concentration of two T cell types in blood samples from each patient: helper T cells and killer or cytotoxic T cells.

They also analyzed the strength of these cells responses to three distinct parts of the virus: the three proteins that make up its spikes, its membrane, and the shell or nucleocapsid surrounding its nuclear material.

In addition, the team measured levels of cytokines immune signaling molecules that T cells produce to combat infection.

They found that in patients with critical illness, the scale of their immune responses was similar or even higher, compared with moderate or severe cases.

There were also no apparent associations between successful clearance of the virus or death and changes in T cell responses.

The total number of specific immune cells, as well as their functionality, was not better in patients who survived COVID-19 than in those who died from it, says Dr. Ulrik Stervbo, one of the authors.

The study features in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

T cells migrate to a viral infection site, where they kill infected cells and select other parts of the immune system to neutralize the virus.

But these same T cells can also create a cytokine storm, which is responsible for a potentially fatal complication known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Even though further studies will be necessary to understand the specific mechanism of COVID-19 development, our data suggest that excessive SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response can cause [immune damage] leading to COVID-19-related lung failure, says lead author Prof. Nina Babel.

The new research adds to a growing body of evidence that excessive immune responses cause life-threatening COVID-19.

A major study published in June 2020 found that dexamethasone, a corticosteroid that suppresses the bodys immune response, saved the lives of around a third of all patients on ventilators over a 28-day period.

A more recent study, reported by Medical News Today, suggests that another kind of immune-suppressing drug, known as an interleukin-6 inhibitor, may help prevent severe COVID-19 infections from becoming life-threatening.

The authors of the new study acknowledge some limitations of their research.

They do not know exactly when patients in their research contracted the virus. Therefore, the slightly higher T cell response in critically ill patients may simply result from a longer period of infection.

In addition, they were unable to analyze the entire range of T cell subtypes and the cytokines they produce. So, it is possible that they missed protective or detrimental immune effects that impacted non-critical and critical patients differently.

For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.

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Critically ill patients have robust immunity to new coronavirus - Medical News Today

"She becomes everybody's mother, everybody's sister, everybody's aunt," the 26-year-old said about holding her title.

The pandemic has led Indigenous pageant queens or tribal ambassadors like Parrish to redefine their duties. While the majority have been unable to travel, these young women have sewn hundreds of face masks, launched online campaigns to increase census participation after it was hampered by the pandemic and secured school supplies for thousands of children.

When the pandemic first forced families to shelter in place, Parrish became a temporary spokeswoman for the reservation's emergency operations center. Months later, as thousands fell ill to the virus, she traveled from her home in Window Rock, Arizona, to join teams distributing food and supplies to families in need.

"I knew that I could use my talents, my education and my experience to the best of my ability to convey the importance of wearing a mask and of social distancing," said Parrish, who had been a spokeswoman for the Arizona state treasurer before winning her title.

These pageants are not about showcasing beauty. To win, contestants should embrace their heritage, language and traditional practices. In the case of Parrish, she had to butcher a sheep in an hour and cook a large meal as a way to symbolize that she can provide for her family.

During the competitions, some contestants sing in their tribes' language, showcase traditional dances or demonstrate ceremonies or practices unique to their tribes.

For contestants, the indigenous pageants are mainly an opportunity to develop their leadership skills and a chance to be the voice of their people outside their communities.

Census participation gets new attention

Kippenberger, the first member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida to win the pageant, scratched her plans of returning to school and agreed to extend her reign for another year.

"I was so heartbroken for the girls who were going to be competing this year," Kippenberger said. "But I felt like I needed to do that for my people."

Kippenberger has continued speaking about mental health in Native communities but now solely during virtual events. In recent weeks, she launched a social media campaign focusing on getting indigenous people to complete the census.

Many tribal lands and reservation residents rely on census takers to drop off materials on their front doors because their addresses are not listed, they don't have landlines or they have limited internet access. Those efforts were delayed in mid-March when the Census Bureau temporarily suspended its field operations to protect communities.

Pageant winners use social media to get message out

As the Census deadline approaches, pageant winners of all ages -- including male title holders -- representing tribes in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon have joined Kippenberger by posting photos of themselves wearing their multicolor traditional regalia, crowns and sashes and holding "Be counted" or "Indian Country Counts" signs.

Indigenous people have been "so undercounted and so underrepresented" for decades and young leaders want to change it, Kippenberger said.

"When we receive that proper count, we can receive proper funding for our communities," Kippenberger added.

Before the pandemic, groups of about 20 women would gather and turn dozens of pounds of flour into traditional bread and pastries in the days leading to a ceremony. It's a tradition that would bring generations, and sometimes even an entire clan together, James said.

"I would get together with my clan sisters, my clan mothers, my clan grandmothers and you'll just share laughing and talking throughout the day," James told CNN.

Many tribal communities across the US have limited access to water and suffer from preexisting health conditions that put them at a higher risk of Covid-19 complications, and many lost their jobs early in the pandemic, James and Parrish said.

While James has continued focusing on her platform of mental health awareness and suicide prevention, she and a group of friends launched an initiative to provide school supplies to more than 1,000 children in the Hopi reservation.

"We wanted to show our students here that they have the support of community members. That they have people who care that they have the necessary supplies or the tools to have a good academic school year," James said.

Their efforts draw the attention from the National Guard, which donated hundreds of school supplies and from Hopi artists who donated more than 100 items, including paintings and jewelry, for a raffle to support their initiative.

"When the pandemic hit, I did felt really lost for a minute," James said. "But I think this has given us a really good opportunity to stop and reflect on what it is that we want to achieve with our titles."

More here:

Coronavirus is threatening their people but it hasn't held back these indigenous pageant queens - CNN

Cough, fever, chills with fall fast on the way, symptoms alone wont be useful in distinguishing Covid-19 from similar-looking cases of the flu. That means routinely testing for both viruses will be crucial even, perhaps, after some patients have already died.

That will at least be true in New York, where officials recently announced a ramp-up in post-mortem testing for the coronavirus as well as the flu. Deaths linked to respiratory illnesses that werent confirmed before a person died are to be followed up with tests for both viruses within 48 hours, according to the new regulation.

These regulations will ensure we have the most accurate death data possible as we continue to manage Covid-19 while preparing for flu season, Dr. Howard Zucker, the states health commissioner, said in a statement last week.

Deceased hospital patients and nursing home residents, as well as bodies in the care of funeral directors or medical examiners, will be among those targeted for follow-up testing. If experts at a local facility cant perform the test themselves, they can ask the state to run the test for them at its public health lab.

Although the results of these tests will be too late to change the course of treatment for the deceased, they can still help health officials track the prevalence of both types of infections, as well as indicate whether to warn close contacts of the deceased that they may need to quarantine.

People need to know who around them was sick, said Dr. Valerie Fitzhugh, a pathologist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. If someone cant be tested in life, why not test them soon after death?

Putting regulations in place ahead of time will also encourage counties to bolster their testing readiness ahead of autumn and winter, when seasonal viruses like flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., tend to thrive, said Dr. Mary Fowkes, a clinical pathologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. In many parts of the country, coronavirus cases are still ratcheting up every day and will become more difficult to track when similar sicknesses muddle the picture.

I think that is important to prepare for, Dr. Fowkes said.

In the early days of the pandemic, New York, like the rest of the country, struggled to rein in the virus. Many illnesses went untested, including those of several thousand people whose deaths were later reclassified as presumed, but unconfirmed, cases of Covid-19.

A lot has changed since the spring, said Gareth Rhodes, deputy superintendent and special counsel at the New York State Department of Financial Services and a member of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos virus response team. After a sputtering start to testing in March, New York is now running about 100,000 coronavirus tests a day, with positivity rates hovering around 1 percent or less. While hundreds remain hospitalized throughout the state, daily deaths attributable to Covid-19 have averaged in the single digits since late August.

The new regulations also stipulate that living patients with flulike symptoms or a known exposure to the coronavirus or a flu virus should be tested for both pathogens. That makes it less likely that a case will be missed in the first place.

We track fatalities very closely, Mr. Rhodes said. At this point, he added, New Yorks coronavirus testing regimens in medical settings are pretty consistent. You cant really be a hospital in New York right now without testing, he said.

The regulation doesnt apply to all deaths just those suspected of being linked to a respiratory illness.

That means the new rules on post-mortem testing probably wont change coronavirus case numbers much, if at all. Since the announcement, made last Sunday, the Wadsworth state lab has not yet received a request to process a post-mortem test, Mr. Rhodes said.

Updated September 4, 2020

Still, the regulation may come in handy if, for example, a death were to occur en route to the hospital or shortly after arrival, or if an emergency prompted a temporary lab closure so that tests could not be immediately run. Others might die at home, or elsewhere outside the care of a hospital or nursing home, without easy access to tests.

This is designed to catch anything that fell through the cracks, said Dr. Rosemary She, a pathologist at the University of Southern Californias Keck School of Medicine.

Thorough testing can also affect which bodies are autopsied at medical examiners offices, where resources and staff have been strained, said Dr. Erin Brooks, a pathologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Someone whose cause of death can be confirmed by a positive test for the coronavirus, for instance, might not need to be investigated further.

A number of pathologists noted that while coronavirus testing for sick patients is just about ubiquitous in medical settings in other states, combination testing that includes the flu, including post-mortem testing, is not as common and may need to be considered.

More laboratories will most likely need to invest in tests that can detect multiple types of pathogens at once. One of the tests run at Wadsworth, for instance, is a so-called respiratory panel, made by a company called BioFire, that simultaneously searches for genetic material from more than 20 types of bacteria and viruses, including the coronavirus and multiple types of flu viruses.

Some experts have postulated that proactive measures like continued physical distancing and vigilant mask wearing might soften the blow of this years flu season, as they appear to have done in the southern hemisphere.

But its in our best interest to prepare for the worst, Dr. Fitzhugh said, and hope for the best.

Read this article:

New York Will Test the Dead More Often for Coronavirus and Flu - The New York Times

Nineteen new coronavirus cases have been reported in the state, health officials said Monday.

Mondays report brings the cumulative total of coronavirus cases across the state to 4,701. Of those, 4,230 have been confirmed positive, while 471 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

No new deaths were reported on Monday, leaving the statewide death toll at 134. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

Here is the latest on the coronavirus and its impact in Maine:

The upending of school last March has led some Maine parents to rethink how they want their children to learn this fall, when schools are generally using a combination of in-person and remote learning. Some parents dont want their children to spend so much time learning on a computer, while others simply found that their children learned better in a different arrangement. Eesha Pendarkhar, BDN

For New Englands vanishing commercial clam harvesters, the coronavirus pandemic represents only the most recent in a string of setbacks that have held down the centuries-old industry. Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press

Maines seafood industry could get a $20 million boost this fall through funds made available under the federal CARES Act. The Associated Press

Operators of Maine music clubs and music industry professionals have formed a grassroots alliance and launched a $500,000 fundraising campaign to help local venues survive the pandemic. The Associated Press

Athletic training staffs around the state have been preparing to do their work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond taping ankles and attending to physical injuries, their job description will add a significant twist if indeed fall sports are contested monitoring coronavirus-related safety guidelines now being established in an effort to safely play the games. Ernie Clark, BDN

As of Monday afternoon, the coronavirus had sickened 6,292,206 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 189,095 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Visit link:

September 7 update: The latest on the coronavirus and Maine - Bangor Daily News

We're making this important information about the pandemic available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting independent journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.

As flu season fast approaches, public health officials have expressed concerns about further stress placed on hospital capacity. And this week, federal health officials told states to prepare for a COVID-19 vaccine to be available as early as November, raising questions about who will be able to get the vaccine and when.

Well continue to answer your questions about the coronavirus on a regular basis. What do you want to know? Tell us in the form at the bottom of this story or go here.

If all goes well, Alaskans could see a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as November, state and federal officials said this week. Initially, only small amounts of the vaccine will likely be available, and will be distributed in three phases.

FILE - This March 16, 2020 file photo shows vials used by pharmacists to prepare syringes used on the first day of a first-stage safety study clinical trial of the potential vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in Seattle.

While some public health officials have expressed concern about a rushed timeline, Dr. Anne Zink, the states chief epidemiologist, said during a briefing Wednesday that the development of a vaccine for COVID-19 is building on a large body of existing science and data, and that just because theres a certain timeline doesnt mean that its unsafe.

Part of the reason for the relatively speedy timeline is also the great deal of resources, initiative and brainpower that has gone into developing a vaccine, she said.

The vaccine also doesnt have to be absolutely perfect at preventing 100% of infections, she added: It just has to be safe and effective.

Many of our vaccines help to minimize the risk of death and hospitalization, and even that alone has a tremendous impact of the number of people who die of a disease, she said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released documents last week that described how states should prepare for two coronavirus vaccines. Both vaccines have undergone extensive testing and are in currently in the final rounds of testing, according to the documents.

While the current trials are still determining whether the vaccines are safe and effective, neither vaccine caused serious side effects in their first human studies, and both spurred the creation of antibodies that could attack the coronavirus.

According to the CDC planning documents, the first group eligible to get the vaccines will include health care workers, essential workers (includes food service workers, teachers, librarians and others who interact with the public on a regular basis), and workers and residents of long-term care facilities like nursing homes.

Phase two will be reserved for those the CDC has classified as high risk for severe illness from the virus, which includes adults 65 years and older and those with certain preexisting health conditions.

During the final phase, which most likely wont begin until well into the new year, most other Alaskans would be able to get vaccinated. Two groups that have not yet been included in any of the clinical trials are children and youths (anyone below the age of 18) and pregnant women, which means the initial doses of vaccine that are scheduled to come out in November will not be available to them.

Of course, this timeline is based on the assumption that the final clinical trials go well, Alaska state officials said on a call Wednesday.

The state of Alaska is not currently considering mandating that people receive COVID-19 vaccinations once they are available, said Dr. Zink.

She added that her public health team would not get prioritized for the first phase of vaccinations unless they were directly caring for patients.

State employees dont have some special access to vaccines, she said.

The state has been gearing up for the coming flu season: Alaska has bought enough of the flu vaccine to immunize up to 55% of the population for free, though small administrative costs may be included. When the private-sector supply is factored in, up to two-thirds of Alaskans can get and should get covered this year, health officials say.

Christine Calderon gives a flu shot to Steve Hall of Eagle River at the Alaska Regional Hospital drive-through flu shot clinic in 2014. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Both influenza and COVID-19 are life-threatening respiratory illnesses with overlapping symptoms. Nine people in Alaska died from influenza in 2019, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services. Hospitals are not required to report the number of patients hospitalized with the flu, but hospital capacity in Alaska has been affected during flu season in the past.

The CDC has said that the timing of when you get the flu shot matters because of waning immunity, meaning that antibodies to influenza slowly decline in your body months after receiving a flu shot.

Later in September through the end of October is the ideal time to get your shot so that it lasts the duration of flu season in Alaska, state health officials have said. No matter when you get it, adults should only get one shot per year.

Only children ranging from 6 months old through 8 years old who have never gotten a flu shot before will need two doses.

I get the flu vaccine every year, and see how it saves lives, Zink said. I plan to do the same with a COVID vaccine based on the data I see so far.

Private-sector doses of the vaccine are already available in pharmacies around the state, and are available for free with insurance.

Because the state has so much of the vaccine this year, all adults in Alaska can get a free vaccine even without insurance through a provider that offers state-supplied vaccines.

You can visit the state health departments website to find a public health center near you thats distributing the flu vaccine.

If you have no symptoms, that test ideally should happen within seven to 14 days after exposure. But if you do have symptoms, you should get tested right away, per state guidelines.

Read the original:

Alaska coronavirus Q&A: Who will be able to get a vaccine once they're available? Why does the flu shot matter? - Anchorage Daily News

A number of institutions of higher learning are already dealing with dangerous and disruptive coronavirus outbreaks shortly after reopening for in-person classes.

September 7:

According to the school's president, at least 11 cases of Covid-19 have been traced to a University of New Hampshire fraternity party where people did not follow public health guidelines. "This is reckless behavior and the kind of behavior that undermines our planning and will lead to us switching to a fully remote mode," UNH President James Dean said. "The August 29 party is reprehensible and will not be tolerated. As soon as we heard of this party at Theta Chi, we started an investigation with the Interfraternity Council."

September 6:

According to the New York Times, Brazos County, Tex., home to Texas A&M University, recorded 742 new coronavirus cases during the last week of August, the county's worst week so far, as the university reported hundreds of new cases.

East Carolina University has seen at least 846 infections involving students, faculty and staff since mid-August.

Since early July, Washington State University and the University of Idaho, which are about eight miles apart, have recorded more than 300 combined Covid-19 infections.

There were 64 positive test results across campus over an eight-day period at Gettysburg College, a private, liberal arts school. The college is now requiring students to "remain in their dorm room 24 hours a day for a week only leaving to use the bathroom or pick up food and has moved classes online after a rise in COVID-19 cases."

September 2:

The Lexington Health Department has reported 760 positive Covid-19 cases among students at the University of Kentucky. School officials say they are awaiting further data, including more testing of students and efforts to control the virus, before deciding how to proceed.

September 1:

Arizona State University confirmed it now has 803 known cases of Covid-19 among its students and staff. All positive cases are in isolation, according to the school.

All Colorado College classes "are moving to remote delivery for the remainder of Block 1 and most classes will be in remote delivery for the remainder of the Fall Semester," the school announced Tuesday.

Ten University of Central Florida football players, including two projected starters, have declined to opt out of the 2020 season because of concerns around the coronavirus pandemic, coach Josh Heupel said Tuesday

August 31:

On Monday, the University of Iowa reported 326 new Covid-19 infections over the previous three days. A total of 922 students have now reported testing positive for coronavirus.

August 30:

The University of Alabamahas recorded more than 500 new Covid-19 infections this week. As of Sunday morning, the total number of reported cases is now up to 1,368 cases among faculty, staff and students since Aug. 19, the first day of on-campus classes.

The total number of positive Covid-19 cases among Illinois State University students, since fall semester began Aug. 17, has increased to 512 as of Saturday. In addition, nine faculty and staff have self-reported testing positive to Human Resources.

August 26:

A New York Times survey published Wednesday of more than 1,500 American colleges and universities (including every four-year public institution and every private college that competes in NCAA sports), revealed at least 26,000 coronavirus cases of and 64 deaths since the pandemic began.

August 25:

As of Tuesday, six days after the start of classes, the University of Alabama's main campus in Tuscaloosa had recorded 531 total Covid-19 cases. University President Stuart R. Bell called on all students, faculty and staff to work together "at this critical moment."

Nearly 160 University of Missouri students tested positive for the coronavirus, the school announced earlier this week. The 159 students are in isolation and none have required hospitalization.

USC has experienced an alarming increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in students among the campus community. The school announced Monday that over the previous seven days 43 cases had been identified and more than 100 students placed in a 14-day quarantine due to exposures.

August 24

On Sunday, Georgia Institute of Technology reported 51 new cases of the virus, bringing its total number of cases since March to 302. A fraternity at the school was placed under quarantine over the weekend after at least 17 more of its members tested positive for Covid-19.

August 21:

After a spike in Covid-19 positivity rate among students, the University of Alabama announced a moratorium on in-person student events along with restrictions on fraternity and sorority houses. All events will be paused for 14 days.

August 20:

The University of Kansas confirmed 89 positive Covid-19 cases of the coronavirus from their initial mandatory testing results, Chancellor Douglas Girod said on Thursday.

N.C. State announced Thursday that they will move undergraduate classes to online-only for the remainder of the fall semester after seeing a spike in coronavirus cases, as more than 500 students have been forced to quarantine themselves because of their exposure to the virus.

August 19

Drake University has sent home 14 students who disobeyed the schools ban on parties. If we are going to get through the fall semester, it will come down to our decisions and our actions, said Dean of Students Jerry Parker. I want to be crystal clear: we are serious and we will not hesitate to take the necessary actions to mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19.

A total of 175 Iowa State University students have tested positive for Covid-19 during the move-in period. That accounts for a 2.2% positivity rate, according to the university.

A total of 38 individuals at Hope College have tested positive for the coronavirus, including several that have received a positive test since moving onto campus.

Michigan State University

MSU announced Tuesday evening that, effective immediately, undergraduate students who had planned to live in residence halls this fall are being asked to stay home and continue their education remotely. The schools president, Samuel Stanley Jr., said that the current status of the coronavirus pandemic, including recent outbreaks at other universities, caused the change in plans.

The University of Notre Dame:

Tuesday afternoon, Notre Dame announced it had canceled in-person classes for at least two weeks after reporting 80 newly confirmed coronavirus cases earlier in the day, up from 58 total cases the day before.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

On Monday, the state universitys chancellor and provost called off in-person classes for undergraduates. Within a week of its reopening, UNC reported four coronavirus clusters on the Chapel Hill campus: three in student dormitories, and one in an off-campus fraternity house.

University of Kentucky:

Through Thursday of last week, UK had reported 160 positive Covid-19 cases among students. The number was up to 189 as of Saturday. Yet, that total number is out of 17,285 tests, which translates to a positivity rate of 1.1%. The university currently plans to continue in-person learning, but with increased precautions. It has created nearly 35,000 signs encouraging social distancing and removed almost 10,000 chairs and furniture from classrooms to create added space. Some vending machines are selling hand sanitizer and masks.

East Carolina University:

The school has averaged about 30 new cases per week in August. It reported its first cluster in a dorm Monday evening. Dr. Ron Mitchelson, ECU's interim chancellor, said ECU police and Greenville police were called to two dozen parties over the weekend.

Oklahoma State University:

Earlier this month, OSU conducted mandatory tests on all students before they could move into their residence halls, and 22 students tested positive. An entire sorority house is now under quarantine and isolation after school officials confirmed Saturday that 23 members of Pi Beta Phi tested positive for the coronavirus.

Colorado College

A total of 155 students have been quarantined in Loomis Hall after a student tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend, officials said Monday. According to the school's website, the college's plan for the start of the fall semester allows only first-year students to attend classes in-person while others participate in distance learning. Sophomores, juniors and seniors will be permitted to return to campus in late September.

Northeast Mississippi Community College:

A week after classes resumed August 3, the school's president, Dr. Ricky G. Ford, said "around 300" students, roughly 10% of the entire student population, were in quarantine due to potential exposure to the virus. In addition, "about 25 to 28" of the college's approximately 300 employees were in quarantine, according to Ford.

Western Kentucky University

WKU isn't scheduled to open until August 24, but the University's online dashboard, which was updated last Friday, is reporting a total of 206 positive COVID-19 cases within its broader campus community, including 175 students. In addition, 31 WKU faculty, staff or on-campus contractors have tested positive for Covid-19 since July 1, with five of those cases coming last week.

"The number of clusters is growing and soon could become out of control," said Barbara Rimer, dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It is time for an off-ramp. We have tried to make this work, but it is not working."

How and when to safely reopen schools remains a hotly debated, and often partisan, issue in the U.S. As opposed to elementary and high schools, most students attending institutions of higher learning are adults with greater personal freedoms, but administrators still face responsibility (and liability) for their welfare. According to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, colleges should consider closing buildings and suspending in-person classes following Covid-19 outbreaks. Doing so comes at a great cost for universities: According to USA Today, experts have warned that "another semester of remote courses could have disastrous effects on student enrollment and college budgets." Some returning college students have reportedly considered deferring enrollment until campuses fully reopen. Some schools are reportedly charging students up to $450 for "Covid-19 fees" intended to cover testing costs, as well as cleaning and other expenses that schools are incurring.

17%: According to a SimpsonScarborough survey taken last month, only 17% of returning college students expressed a desire to return to take all of their classes in-person.

See the original post:

Reckless And Reprehensible Frat Party Linked To Coronavirus Outbreak At UNH: Here Are The Latest College Coronavirus Updates - Forbes

The Indian government reported 90,802 new cases on Monday, pushing the total number to 4,204,613. The rate of the virus spread in India, the worlds second most populous nation, has increased sharply over the last month. In the first week of August, India was recording only about 55,000 new cases daily. A month later, the daily numbers have spiked to 90,000. Thats currently thehighest confirmed new daily caseloadin the world.

Originally posted here:

Indias coronavirus crisis is catching up to the U.S. - it may already be worse - WBTV