Category: Covid-19

JPMorgan

Consumers are about to run out of their excess savings from the pandemic, according to JPMorgan.

Excess savings peaked in August 2021 at a whopping $2.1 trillion, helped by government stimulus checks.

But analysts estimated that has been whittled down to just $148 billion as of last month.

Our Chart of the Day is from JPMorgan, which highlights that consumers have significantly spent down their excess savings from the COVID-19 pandemic.

At its peak in August 2021, consumers had a whopping $2.1 trillion in excess savings, in part buffered by stimulus checks from the US government. But those savings have been consistently drawn down and JPMorgan estimated that consumers had just $148 billion left last month.

Amid high interest rates and years of elevated inflation, consumers have relied on their savings to keep up their spending habits. A strong labor market has also helped fuel robust levels of consumption.

But JPMorgan warned that high rates are set to weigh down consumers going forward as their excess savings are fully depleted.

"Consumers are facing tighter credit conditions and rising rates, wind-down of Covid-era stimulus and relief programs, declining excess savings and liquidity, and multiple years of above average inflation," JPMorgan said in a Monday note.

The bank highlighted that US consumers expanded their debt by $2.9 trillion since the pandemic to $17.1 trillion.

That increased debt, combined with big-ticket assets nearing the end of their useful life and need to be replaced, should drive a steady increase in the debt service ratio to the pre-Great Financial Crisis level of about 12%.

"The sunset of government stimulus and relief programs and diminishing savings should result in higher delinquency rates and charge-offs in coming quarters," JPMorgan said.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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CHART OF THE DAY: The extra money people saved during COVID is almost gone - Yahoo Finance

Related video: David Cameron heckled at Covid inquiry

Boris Johnson has been accused of a mad and dangerous response to the Covid pandemic comparable to Donald Trumps handling of the crisis.

The exchanges between Simon Case, the governments top civil servant, and officials were shown on Monday to the inquiry into how the government handled the worst health crisis in almost a century.

When the government was reopening after the first lockdown, Case said Mr Johnson wanted to let the virus rip and compared his approach to that of the former US President and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous, Case told other colleagues.

It comes as diary extracts revealed chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance accused Mr Johnson of creating chaos and being completely inconsistent during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, former top aide Martin Reynolds confirmed his internal report into government culture in spring 2020 found that female staff were being talked over and ignored in what showed a significant degree of misogyny.

Dominic Cummings, who served as the former prime ministers chief of staff, and Lee Cain, Mr Johnsons former communications chief, will be grilled at the inquiry later this week, alongside all Mr Johnsons former aides.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approach to dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic was "mad and dangerous" and his constant indecision made it "impossible" to tackle the virus, the government's top civil servant told officials.

The exchanges between Simon Case, the government's most senior official, and officials in which he also described Britain's response in 2020 as a "terrible, tragic joke", were shown on Monday to the inquiry into how the government handled the worst health crisis in almost a century.

In the autumn of 2020 when the government was discussing how to suppress the virus, Case said of Johnson: "He cannot lead and we cannot support him under these circumstances. The team captain cannot change the call on the big plays every day." He then wrote in capital letters: "IT HAS TO STOP".

Months earlier when the government was reopening after the first lockdown, Case said Johnson wanted to let the virus "rip" and compared Johnson's approach to the way US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who were known for dismissing the threat of Covid, were handling the crisis.

"This is in danger of becoming Trump/Bolsonaro level mad and dangerous," Case told other colleagues.

A spokesman for Johnson, who will appear as a witness in the inquiry in the future, declined to comment.

Simon Case, the current Cabinet Secretary, vented about the Prime Minister during the pandemic

(PA Archive)

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 19:03

Scotlands First Minister has said he has not deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, following press reports his predecessor and senior officials may have.

Last week a note to the chairman of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry from one of its counsels said the inquiry was of the belief that the majority of informal messages, including on WhatsApp had not been retained.

Humza Yousaf said on Monday he had retained his messages, but that there had been a Scottish Government policy on social media messaging which advised their deletion after 30 days.

Press reports in recent days suggested former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch and chief medical officer Dr Sir Gregor Smith may have deleted messages either manually or through the use of the apps auto-delete function.

The First Minister said on Monday: I dont know why theres been press reports suggesting Ive deleted my WhatsApp messages, thats not true.

Ive retained my WhatsApp messages and, of course, whatever the Covid Inquiry asks for, Ill be absolutely prepared to hand them over as I would for the Scottish inquiry too.

Scotlands First Minister has said he has not deleted WhatsApp messages relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, following press reports his predecessor and senior officials may have

(PA Wire)

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 22:15

An internal report into the culture at the top of Government in the early months of the pandemic found that female staff were being talked over and ignored and bad behaviours were being tolerated from senior leaders.

The report, by former top aide Martin Reynolds and then deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara, was written in May 2020 amid concerns about discipline, macho behaviour and misogyny, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard on Monday.

Released as part of a batch of documents relevant to the inquiry, the report asked more than 45 people who worked closely with No 10 what could be done to better support the prime minister in May 2020.

Among the themes listed by the report are that culture was failing to get the best from people.

Lots of people mentioned junior women being talked over or ignored, the report summarised. We need a modern culture of organised collaboration, not superhero bunfight.

The report also found that people are exhausted and stressed and that bad behaviours from senior leaders (are) tolerated. Other themes included that there were far too many meetings taking up the time of senior leadership, and that No 10 was always at war with someone.

Mr Reynolds was asked about the report while giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday. He agreed with counsel that the report showed dysfunctionality, lack of discipline, chaos and a significant degree of misogyny.

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 21:00

Families held a vigil for Covid-19 victims at the site of Dominic Cummings eyesight-testing lockdown trip, ahead of his appearance at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Campaigners projected the message 228,040 Covid deaths is that clear enough to read? on to the walls of Barnard Castle on Monday.

The County Durham beauty spot made headlines during the pandemic when it was disclosed that Mr Cummings, former prime minister Boris Johnsons chief adviser at the time, had taken a day trip there in April 2020, while the country was in lockdown.

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 20:00

Senior Labour MP Andy McDonald has had the party whip suspended for using the controversial phrase between the river and the sea in a pro-Palestine rally speech.

The MP for Middlesbrough used the phrase as he urged peace between Israelis and Palestinians at an event at the weekend.

Some pro-Palestinian protesters have chanted from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free during recent demonstrations in London, despite controversy around the slogans meaning.

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 19:45

Mr Sunak revealed that he would have a conversation with the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, on his social media platform this Thursday evening.

Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent reports:

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 19:25

Scathing WhatsApp messages sent between Boris Johnsons top team accused the former PM of creating chaos during the Covid crisis complaining that he flip-flopped every day on direction and made it impossible to tackle the pandemic.

Adam Forrest and Archie Mitchell report:

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 18:48

Dominic Cummings press conference on his lockdown trip to Barnard Castle was described as a car crash by the former chief scientist, who said the journey had clearly gone against the rules at the time.

Sir Patrick Vallance, writing in his notebooks at the time in May 2020, also said he and Englands then-chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty felt No 10 officials were trying to strong arm them into appearing by Boris Johnsons side at a Downing Street press conference afterwards.

Mondays hearing at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard Mr Cummings, who became well-known to the public when news of his trip to the Co Durham beauty spot emerged, described as the most empowered chief of staff Downing Street has seen.

He will give evidence to the inquiry on Tuesday.

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 18:10

Former private secretary to Boris Johnson Imran Shafi also said Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, had criticised Rishi Sunaks Eat out to help out scheme in August 2020 calling it Eat out to help out the virus.

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 17:49

Rishi Sunak has sacked a senior Tory from his government job as a ministerial aide for calling breaking ranks and calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hama conflict.

Paul Bristow, a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) at the science department, called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in a letter to Mr Sunak.

The MP for Peterborough said it would save lives and allow for a continued column of humanitarian aid [to] reach the people who need it the most.

Adam Forrest, Political Correspondent reports:

Tara Cobham30 October 2023 17:07

Read more here:

Boris Johnson's pandemic response was 'Trump-level mad and dangerous' - live - The Independent

Emily Hutto is an Associate Video Producer & Editor for MedPage Today. She is based in Manhattan.

In this exclusive video interview, Jeremy Faust, MD, editor-in-chief of MedPage Today, and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), discuss the future of CMS policies and priorities after the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch part 1 of the interview here.

The following is a transcript of their remarks:

Faust: With the time we have left, I want to cover two topics, one is Medicare Advantage and then a little bit on hospital nursing home safety.

With Medicare Advantage, first of all, I'm curious to know just what your overall impression is on the growth of Medicare Advantage, giving some pros and cons of that. Also I'd like you to comment, if you would, on the fact that you and your agency took a tougher stand on some of the advertising that was suboptimal, shall we say, and I'm curious to see if we can also expect more of that.

Brooks-LaSure: Medicare Advantage is a crucial part of the Medicare program. People choose between original or traditional Medicare, which we think of as the fee-for-service program where every doctor that participates in Medicare, you have access to as a Medicare beneficiary, and then Medicare Advantage, which is growing.

I think that's not surprising in some respects, especially as increasingly baby boomers are coming out of employer-sponsored insurance and they come to Medicare and enroll in a plan that looks very much like employer-sponsored insurance. It's very similar in many respects. There also is the ability to offer additional benefits, which we know often attract seniors.

I think that's why the marketing is so important, because it's really important that people know what they're getting into when they choose a Medicare Advantage plan. It can be very advantageous to them, but it can also come with some limitations, like, you have to see a doctor that's in your network. The benefits that you're being provided might be very limited.

Dental is a perfect example of how a lot of the coverage that's offered by Medicare Advantage plans may be very limited, which is fine, but we just want to make sure that Medicare Advantage plans are giving accurate information. That's why we've really focused on marketing.

I've been talking with seniors across this country, and increasingly with physicians, who've told me about their frustrations with MA. We really try to make sure that whether it's us looking at the prior authorization rules for doctors being able to deliver care to patients, or whether it's making sure that seniors really know what they're getting into when they get calls when they're being encouraged to enroll in MA.

Faust: Yeah. I worry, based on a lot of reporting that we and others have done, that a lot of times people don't get what they think they're getting or they're not signing up for what they think they're signing up for. And there's a predatory component here. Is there some way to crack down on those kinds of rogue iterations of MA?

Brooks-LaSure: We are working as hard as we can. As we hear issues coming up, we continue to look and think about what other additional oversight we need to do.

This first step was really looking at the marketing materials, because we've seen a rise in those, but we continue to really make sure that we are staying at the forefront -- whether it's in terms of agent and broker behavior -- to make sure that seniors are being given the information accurately and with an opportunity to ask the right questions.

Faust: I'd like to close with a topic that we could take about 6 weeks to discuss, so we'll get it done in 2 or 3 minutes, which is nursing home and hospital safety. This is an area that CMS probably has more influence on than most people realize. CMS has great regulatory authority there.

In particular, there are two topics I think we could delve into just for a moment. First is infection control, both in nursing homes and in hospitals. And I think that if the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it's that we can stop flu and RSV because everything we did eliminated pathogens like those. Testing and masking and other mitigation measures had a real benefit in hospital- and nursing home-acquired infections.

I feel like CMS has a lot going on when it comes to things like antibiotic stewardship and catheter-associated infections, but less focus on respiratory pathogens. Is that an area where we could really beef up our safety?

Brooks-LaSure: Well, I would say that CMS has become increasingly involved in making sure that we focus on quality and safety. You're exactly right to say that we have, I think, an outsized role that's really unknown in terms of insuring and working with facilities.

We still are right now very actively talking with nursing homes, in particular, as we head into flu season, RSV, and of course COVID-19. We continue to work to make sure that nursing homes and other facilities are prepared for the winter months, and that will remain a focus.

One of the pieces in that is regulation, but another of it is having support. We certainly hope that Congress will pass our budget so that we can make sure that we will be able to help survey a lot of the facilities to make sure they're meeting the standards, because we do have a very important role in making sure that we have safe facilities across this country.

Faust: Just to be specific, are nursing homes and hospitals required to report the hospital- and nursing home-associated infection rates in their facilities?

Brooks-LaSure: I will have to check whether they need to report on the infection rates. We do have requirements about a whole host of things related to respiratory -- particularly as I mentioned, the three related to flu, RSV, and COVID-19.

Faust: Okay. I think this is one area where, especially with nursing homes, we saw something happen positively for a little while, and I worry that the alignment of incentives needs to be reiterated or reinforced by CMS, and there's a huge opportunity there. I think we'd love to see leadership there.

I also want to talk about a topic that's, unfortunately, near and dear to my experience as an emergency physician, which is boarding. This is when patients who are in the hospital have been hospitalized, but they don't have a place to go in the hospital. So they're literally still in the ER for hours and days.

This is a very dangerous thing because it taxes all the healthcare workers, it leads to actual deterioration of the kind of care the patients need because we can't possibly be managing patients who we admitted 6 hours ago and also the new trauma coming in or the new stroke or heart attack.

CMS in the past has had metrics on this, but they have not been continued and certainly aren't part of its highest stratum of concerns if you read the tea leaves through the metric instrument. What can CMS do to address this issue, especially with the pressures in ERs and in hospitals in the post-COVID world that we are in?

Brooks-LaSure: CMS is definitely trying to work with all of our sister agencies when it comes to workforce, and certainly making sure that people can get the care that they need.

In moving from the emergency room to the hospital, one of the areas that I hear a lot about is people who are in hospitals and really need to be in other types of facilities. So I would say in terms of our quality, we've really been trying to think very hard.

A lot of our rules were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic because facilities were so focused on really treating COVID-19. We really let a lot of facilities stop or pause their reporting because we knew that they had their hands full. As we start to bring back many of these metrics, we've been bringing them back over the last year, we're really focused on trying to make sure we're aligning across our programs and looking for ways to reflect a variety of priorities.

There are so many things that we need to continue to track, and that's part of our strategy. So just because something is removed, doesn't mean we don't care. It may be that we're focusing on additional priorities or looking for ways to streamline.

Faust: And along that line, in terms of decompression, will CMS continue to support telehealth -- including for things like opioid replacement therapies, buprenorphine, via telehealth -- as it has done since the beginning of the pandemic?

Brooks-LaSure: We are very supportive of telehealth. I hear about telehealth from so many stakeholders about what a difference it's made. We are trying to extend that authority as far as we can. There are some limitations.

Congress has extended a lot of our telehealth authority through the end of next year, so through the end of 2024, and particularly for mental health services, that's a key area where we're able to extend telehealth.

Faust: Okay. The last question is going to be just another personal bugaboo for me. It's an area of interest for me, which is sepsis, a devastating condition.

CMS has had a regulation on sepsis for quite some time, which unfortunately is not a very popular one and not one that's very adhered to. The IDSA -- the Infectious Diseases Society of America -- has called for it to be retired and replaced with an outcomes metric as opposed to a process metric. We care about outcomes as opposed to process.

Will CMS heed the call of the nation's leading infectious disease experts and retire SEP-1 and replace it with something better?

Brooks-LaSure: I can't speak to our future actions, but I do know how much we take what the scientific community says and what the clinical community says seriously. We continue to review sepsis and other conditions.

Faust: Alright. Well, thank you for your work leading CMS, one of the most important agencies in the United States, whether it's for health or just well-being for our fellow Americans. So thank you for the work you do and for sharing your views today.

Brooks-LaSure: Thank you for having me.

More:

CMS in the Post-COVID World | MedPage Today - Medpage Today

COLUMBIA Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) will host a walk-in flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinic Thursday, Nov. 2 from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Southern Boone Primary School at 803 S. Henry Clay Blvd. in Ashland.

The flu vaccine will be available to all residents aged six months and older. PHHS will provide flu vaccinations for free to those aged between six months and 18 years, due to a partnership with MU Health Care. Parental consent forms are required for anyone under the age of 18.

A high-dose flu shot is available specifically for those 65 and older.

The cost of the flu vaccine for residents aged 19 and older varied based on their insurance coverage.

The PHHS clinic accepts checks and can bill various insurance plans through a system known as VaxCare.

For self-pay residents, the cost of the vaccine is $25.

COVID-19 vaccines are also available and billed to insurance. Free flu and COVID-19 vaccines are available for those without insurance coverage.

In addition to this clinic, vaccination opportunities are available with other local vaccinators. The list of vaccinators and their information can be found by visiting: vaccines.gov.

Read more here:

Boone County health department to host flu, COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Ashland - KOMU 8

The coronavirus was already devastating parts of the world, bringing illness and death, and the future was uncertain when Henry Karpik, a retired police officer from the Australian suburb of Figtree, and his wife of nearly 50 years, Susan Karpik, began their holiday cruise to New Zealand aboard the Ruby Princess.

It was March 8, 2020. About a week earlier, a passenger on another cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, had become the first Australian to die of Covid-19.

A few days after the Ruby Princess left Sydney, Australia, Mr. Karpik began to feel tired, weak and achy, court records show. By the time the ship returned to Sydney, on March 19, 2020, Ms. Karpik saw that her husband was shaking and barely able to walk or carry his luggage, according to court documents.

Mr. Karpik, who was 72 at the time, spent nearly two months in the hospital, was placed on a ventilator, put into an induced coma and, at one point, given only a few days to live, court records show. He later recovered.

Ms. Karpik, the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the cruise company Carnival, which chartered the Ruby Princess, also contracted Covid-19, although her symptoms were milder.

On Wednesday, an Australian court found that Carnival and a subsidiary, Princess Cruise Lines, were negligent and had breached their duty of care in their handling of a coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship in the early days of the pandemic.

About 2,670 passengers and 1,146 crew members were aboard the Ruby Princess. About 660 people on board contracted coronavirus, and 28 died, according to court records.

Ms. Karpik, a retired nurse, had sought damages for personal injuries and distress and disappointment of more than 360,000 Australian dollars, or about $227,000.

But Justice Angus Stewart of the Federal Court of Australia found that Ms. Karpiks Covid-19 infection gave rise to very mild symptoms, and did not result in long Covid. He awarded her 4,423 Australian dollars, plus interest, or about $2,790, for her out-of-pocket medical expenses.

I have found that before the embarkation of passengers on the Ruby Princess for the cruise in question, the respondents knew or ought to have known about the heightened risk of coronavirus infection on the vessel, and its potentially lethal consequences, and that their procedures for screening passengers and crew members for the virus were unlikely to screen-out all infectious individuals, Justice Stewart wrote.

Justice Stewart ruled that Carnival knew of the danger to passengers from outbreaks in February 2020 on other vessels owned and operated by the company, namely the Diamond Princess off Japan and the Grand Princess off California.

To proceed with the cruise carried a significant risk of a coronavirus outbreak with possible disastrous consequences, yet they proceeded regardless, Justice Stewart wrote.

Vicky Antzoulatos, Ms. Karpiks lawyer, said that each passenger would need to prove individual damages unless Carnival settles the lawsuit. All of the passengers who were on the ship are part of the class action, she said.

Susans husband was very catastrophically injured, so we expect that he will have a substantial claim, and that will be the same for a number of the passengers on the ship, Ms. Antzoulatos said, according to The Associated Press.

Carnival Australia said in a statement: We have seen the judgment and are considering it in detail. The pandemic was a difficult time in Australias history, and we understand how heartbreaking it was for those affected.

Ms. Karpik said that she was pleased with the judgment and that she hoped it would help other passengers on the Ruby Princess and the families of those who died.

I hope the finding brings some comfort to them, she told reporters, according to 9News, because theyve all been through the mill and back.

Read more from the original source:

Carnival Was Negligent in Covid Outbreak on Cruise Ship, Court Rules - The New York Times

An Australian court has ruled Carnival Cruises was negligent during an outbreak of COVID-19 onboard one of its ships in March 2020. A class-action lawsuit alleged the cruise line failed to take appropriate measures to ensure passengers on its Ruby Princess ship didn't get sick as the coronavirus was spreading around the world.

More than 2,650 passengers were onboard the ship when it departed Sydney on March 8, 2020, and returned to Sydney on March 19.

Susan Karpik, a former nurse whose husband was hospitalized with COVID-19 after the cruise, was the lead applicant in the class-action suit, according to Shine Law, the firm that represented about 1,000 plaintiffs.

click to expand

Karpik sued for over 360,000 Australian dollars, claiming she suffered psychological distress due to her husband's condition, according to the Reuters news agency. He was given only days to live at one point and is also part of the class-action lawsuit.

Karpik was awarded AU$4,423.48 ($2,826) for her medical expenses but did not receive other damages. However, attorney Vicky Antzoulatos said her husband and other passengers involved in the suit are still awaiting the court's decision on their claims and may be awarded more, according to Reuters.

About 900 COVID-19 cases and 28 deaths were linked to the cruise, Reuters reports.

During the trial, Carnival argued the nearly 700 U.S. passengers onboard signed a class-action waiver as part of the cruise line's U.S. terms and conditions and they should not be included in the suit, according to Shine Law. The court has yet make a decision on that.

"I am pleased with this outcome as it brings a degree of comfort for all passengers who were worse off as a result of traveling on the Ruby Princess," Antzoulatos said in a news release. "It's of course only a partial win as 28 lives were lost on this cruise. There are many individuals and families who will never recover from this loss."

CBS News has reached out to the law firm for further comment and is awaiting a response.

"We have seen the judgment and are considering it in detail," a Carnival Australia spokesperson told CBS News via email. "The pandemic was a difficult time in Australia's history, and we understand how heartbreaking it was for those affected."

In May 2020, Congress opened an investigation into how Carnival responded to COVID-19. At the time, more than 100 U.S. citizens who worked on cruises were stranded on ships because the CDC wanted cruise lines to make quarantine plans before allowing people to disembark.

Carnival said it was working with the CDC to get the employees home and that it would cooperate with the House investigation.

The CDC has since stopped monitoring cases of COVID-19 on cruise ships but said in 2022 it would "continue to publishguidanceto help cruise ships continue to provide a safer and healthier environment for passengers, crew and communities going forward."

Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.

See original here:

Court rules Carnival Cruises was negligent during COVID-19 outbreak linked to hundreds of cases - CBS News

Scientists may have unlocked a major piece of the mystery surrounding the mysterious cognitive issues associated with long COVID, and potential new treatment options.

Research published October 16 in the journal Cell investigates a comprehensive relationship between SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, gut health, and serotonin, a neurotransmitter.

Specifically, researchers have discovered a link between brain fog associated with long COVID and diminished serotonin levels.

Using both human and animal studies, researchers found a link between low circulating serotonin levels in the blood and cognitive problems. The study is the first to combine different hypotheses about serotonin, the gut, and long COVID into a cohesive, unified theory.

This is a beautiful and important study, Dr. Michelle Monje, PhD, a professor of neurology at Stanford University, told Healthline. Monje wasnt affiliated with the research.

The mechanism uncovered by this study highlights one of several ways that COVID and other inflammatory conditions can influence the brain and contribute to brain fog symptoms, Monje added.

Prof. Damien Keating, PhD, director of the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute at Flinders University in South Australia, whose previously published research explored the link between serotonin in the gut and COVID-19, called the study groundbreaking.

[This study] brings together a number of aspects related to COVID-19 and long COVID, as all were shown to be linked to mechanisms associated with gut serotonin, Keating, who wasnt affiliated with the research, told Healthline.

At the center of the hypothesis is the neurotransmitter serotonin. Researchers have looked at the connection between serotonin and COVID-19 at various times, but the results have never been so compelling.

Although scientists worldwide have attempted to answer questions about the cognitive issues caused by long COVID with varying success, this new research may be the most complete hypothesis about these symptoms and their biological underpinnings.

The multi-pronged study began in the post-COVID clinic of the University of Pennsylvania, where researchers identified that patients with long COVID had low levels of serotonin in their bloodstream.

Serotonin isnt just a feel good hormone but an important part of the bodys biochemistry that regulates bowel function, sleep, and the nervous system. Serotonin can also affect the brain and memory.

As researchers began piecing together the connection between long COVID, low serotonin levels, and cognitive problems in human patients, they also wanted to see if they could confirm their findings in an experimental study, they also wanted to confirm their findings in an experimental study with mice.

They observed that infected mice had similar issues related to low serotonin and cognitive impairment. When serotonin levels were restored using an SSRI, so did cognitive function.

The research investigates a long and complex series of biological mechanisms that begin in the gut and ultimately lead to cognitive symptoms in the brain.

Researchers have observed for some time that SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been found to linger in the gut of people whove had COVID-19, even after symptoms have cleared.

These viral remnants can persist as a reservoir inside the gastrointestinal tract. This theory has consistently been supported by the presence of the SARS-Cov-2 virus in stool, even long after the virus has appeared to clear from the body.

You have this pathway, this biochemical and biological pathway that is inhibited at its onset, and that has consequences, the end result of which is a reduction in serotonin, said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical School, told Healthline. Schaffner wasnt affiliated with the research.

These viral fragments continue to stimulate and provoke a chronic inflammatory response, which leads to a reduction in the absorption of tryptophan, which is a precursor to the chemical development of serotonin. Now its the circulating serotonin diminution, that may well relate to the brain fog and confusion kind of symptoms, he told Healthline.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the phrase long COVID has been hard to pin down.

Today, there is general acceptance within the medical community about what long COVID is.

Still, it is difficult to diagnose and treat the condition due to the myriad lingering, sometimes debilitating symptoms (over 200, according to the World Health Organization) in about 1020% of people who develop COVID-19.

Now that a credible hypothesis has been formed that addresses the mechanism for at least some of those symptoms, what does that mean for treatment? In the short term, nothing.

However, the research has opened the door to investigate selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), traditionally used in depression treatment, and similar drugs that affect serotonin levels in the body as a potential adjunct treatment for long COVID. However, rigorous clinical trials would have to occur before any such treatment option would be viable.

For now, treating long COVID is all about treating the specific symptoms, which can vary from person to person. And, while this new research is substantial, it only looks at a small number of the many symptoms reported by individuals dealing with the disease.

The number one thing that Im hearing from people with long COVID is that they have these symptoms that physicians are not understanding and not connecting the dots. The diagnosis of long COVID hasnt been clearly defined because the symptoms are so vague, said Dr. Adupa Rao, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Rao, who isnt affiliated with the research, is one of the founders of USCs Covid Recovery Clinic, and is currently overseeing a clinical trial to assess the effects of the ketogenic diet on gut inflammation associated with COVID-19.

This research highlights how complex this long COVID diagnosis can be. It requires really thinking outside the box to establish a diagnosis and hopefully a treatment option in the near future, he said.

New research suggests that diminished blood serotonin levels could cause cognitive impairment and brain fog in long COVID patients.

Serotonin levels appear to be diminished due to a series of downstream biological mechanisms caused by COVID-19-associated inflammation in the gut.

Focusing on drugs that affect serotonin levels could offer new treatment options for cognitive impairment caused by COVID-19, although none are currently on the horizon.

Read more:

Low Serotonin: Study Sheds Light on Why Some People Develop Long COVID - Healthline

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and top aide Melissa DeRosa deliver a COVID-19 update in New York City in August 2020. File photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

Oct 26, 2023

A prominent figure from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is resurfacing with a new memoir.

Melissa DeRosa was Cuomos top aide for four years until he resigned in 2021 amidst multiple allegations of sexual harassment.

Her book, titled Whats Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics and Crisis, covers her experiences leading the states management of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the scandals that ultimately brought Cuomo down.

In an interview with Albany reporter Karen DeWitt, DeRosa defended a March 2020 nursing home policy decision. It required the facilities to take back COVID-positive patients from hospitals. Critics say it led to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of elderly New Yorkers.Their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

KAREN DeWITT: You present a defense of the March 25, 2020 nursing home policy. It became kind of an infamous decision to allow hospitalized COVID-positive nursing home residents to go back into the nursing homes. And you also talked about the report by Attorney General Tish James that said you undercounted the deaths by 50%. You present a defense of that, but I wonder, in retrospect, do you think that if you and the governor had maybe just apologized for that decision, instead of kind of doubling down on it, maybe it would have played out differently politically?

MELISSA DeROSA: I don't mean to try to present a defense of it in the book. My intention was to try to explain it to people: what it was, what happened, what was going on around us. I think that, particularly as it related to nursing homes, and the weaponization and the politicization of what happened around nursing homes, combined with the very real pain of the families who lost loved ones, it just became this political football that it never should have been. And looking back, if I knew then what I knew today, I would do a lot of things differently. But my heart goes out to people who lost loved ones in nursing homes. As I write in the book, you know, every decision that was being made was done with the best possible intent with the information that we had at the time.

In her book, DeRosa also harshly criticizes current Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was lieutenant governor when DeRosa was Cuomos top aide. Hochul finished out Cuomos term when he resigned in August 2021.

DeWITT: I wanted to get to your references to the current governor, Kathy Hochul, in the book. They're not exactly flattering. And you also mentioned in the book that someone gave you the "Mean Girl" moniker, which you didn't like, but you're pretty hard on a lot of people in the book and, I would have to say, yourself, too. But your references to Kathy Hochul are pretty negative. You say she's a character straight out of HBOs "Veep" central casting, you admit that you tried to get her off the ticket in 2018. And it seems like you're essentially blaming her for deaths in Hurricane Ida and the Buffalo snowstorm because she fired the head of emergency management. I mean, don't you feel any kinship I mean, you were a groundbreaking woman in your job to the first female governor in New York State?

DeROSA: You know, look, I think that Kathy Hochuls heart is in the right place. I really do...

DeWITT: You don't really say that in your book, though.

DeROSA: ...but, you know, I disagree strongly with how she's been governing the state for the last two years and the flipness in that moment, when I was calling her to say, you know, The governor is announcing he's resigning, it's going to be effective in 14 days, which, by the way, was such an emotional low. I mean, at that point, my mental health had deteriorated to a point where I wasn't sure I was going to get to the next day. And when I call to tell her that he's going to step down, it's the hardest decision of his life, not because he's conceding guilt on these things, but because we could count the numbers in the impeachment and because we knew we were on a losing track with the legislature, and because of what it was doing to all the people around us. I call and I have this moment with her, and her immediate response is, Lieutenant governors are prepared to take over at a moment's notice. And I was like, what? Like she hadn't been involved in a single substantive policy discussion in seven years that we were there, she wasn't a part of negotiating with legislature, she'd never dealt with a snowstorm, she'd never dealt with a hurricane, shed never dealt with a disaster or an emergency of any kind. And it was the flipness of that that grated on me and continues to grate on me to this day.

DeWitt reached out to Hochuls office for a response to DeRosas comments. A spokesperson said in a statement, "The State of New York has moved on, and we hope she is able to find a way to move on as well."

Click here for Karen DeWitt's full interview with Melissa DeRosa.

See more here:

Former Cuomo aide talks NY COVID response, thoughts on Hochul in new memoir - North Country Public Radio

A new omicron subvariant, HV.1, now accounts for more than a quarter of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., CDC data shows. Meanwhile, uptake of the new vaccine has been slow and new hospital admissions continue to decline.

Five COVID-19 updates to know this week:

HV.1: Experts believe the strain may be slightly better at evading prior immunity, which may explain its new dominance. There are no concerns surrounding changes in disease severity, and the new COVID-19 shots are expected to offer some level of protection against the strain, given it's a descendant of XBB.1.5, which the shots were initially designed to target.

Separately, the CDC is monitoring the spread of JN.1, a variant first detected in the U.S. in September. According to an Oct. 27 update, the strain is very similar to BA.2.86 and currently makes up less than 0.1% of cases. "With this limited information, it is too early to tell whether it will spread more widely," the agency said.

COVID-19 admissions have been declining in the U.S. for weeks. There were just over 16,100 new COVID-19 admissions for the week ending Oct. 21, marking a 0.2% decline from the week prior. Based on past trends, however, experts predict the nation may see another winter uptick in December or January the same time of the year flu tends to peak.

Detecting COVID-19 gets murkier: A quarter of the nation's CDC-sponsored wastewater testing sites are shut down indefinitely as the agency looks to replace the firm it worked with on wastewater surveillance since 2020, sparking concerns among public health officials that there will be little insight into COVID-19's spread as colder months arrive. Read more here.

New vaccine rollout off to slow start: About 12 million Americans have received the new shots since mid-September, less than 4% of the U.S. There have been numerous reports about supply issues and difficulty accessing the new shots across the country. As of mid-October, many community health centers were still waiting on supplies to arrive. Pharmacies and nursing homes have also faced difficulties in stocking enough vaccines amid bumps in a new distribution model, which changed from federal entities to wholesalers and other private suppliers.

A new long COVID-19 theory: Remnants of the virus that causes COVID-19 may linger in the gut, ultimately causing a reduction in circulating levels of serotonin. According to new research from scientists at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, this may explain a number of long COVID-19 symptoms, such as brain fog and memory problems. The findings are believed to connect many of the major hypotheses surrounding the causes of new or persistent symptoms, such as lingering virus components, inflammation and increased blood clotting.

Read this article:

Admissions, vaccines and a new variant: 5 COVID-19 updates - Becker's Hospital Review

Here I was at Statevilles Health Care Unity (Hereinafter HCU), on Friday August 18, 2023

I felt sick but not totally out of it. I had been there since 9:30 in the morning, waiting to see Dr. Perez. Some other men saw her and left but not me. Oh, they were peeved too. I was told she couldnt hear that good: another nurse would relay the message, whatever one of us said to her. Hmm

Listening, I decided to write down what I was gonna say. In that way, my message would not be misunderstood. My nose wasnt running but I sneezed a lot. I coughed up phlegm; Funny thing, I had a fever but no chills. No vomiting or diarrhea. I hadnt eaten either.

Two hours passed, more men came; more left. Whether it was the dentist, physical therapy, talking to the psyche, or seeing the eye doctor, lunchtime they bounced. When they returned, saw patients, and they left. I knew the kitchen was done with much. In fact, the kitchen changes shifts between 12:30 and 1:00pm. I asked corrections Officer Smith, (hereafter C.O) about our trays. He was working at the HW main entrance.

Your trays will be waiting for you back at your units. Unquote.

I knew better. The closer it became 1:00. I began to realize I was S-O-L. The other men in the bullpens places for us to sit as we waited to see the medical pro assigned to us by pass; were grumbling too. It was late.

Some men came and left. Yet, no Dr. Perez. Tired of hearing us grumbled CT. Clark asked if anyone would like to leave. Hell yeah! I was ready to bounce. She opened the door, I waited right outside, caught the escort line back to C-house, my unit.

It was almost two in the afternoon when I stepped into my cell. For over four and a half hours, just wasted. Getting out my cell is always cool but sitting and waiting like I did no haps. Security will tell ya after so many hours,

Your pass is canceled today. Well reschedule whoever you were here to see.

Sure enough, thats exactly what happened. Friday night, for institutional mail, I received a Medical Pass for Dr. Perez on Monday, the 21st.

I thought it didnt matter. All Saturday, I tossed and turned with a fever. Sunday Morning, I tried to get up and moving but I couldnt. I chilled, as soon as the shift changed on 3 toll, I was leaving with the C.House Medline the Diabetes, Treatments, and Hypertension Folles.

After I had a cellhouse worker inform Sgt. Pinto, she was okay with me leaving with the Medline.

As soon as I made, it over to the HCU and the men received their meds and treatment, I was called. I went into the examination room, I hopped on the medbed, and the curtain was shut. The nurse took my vitals. I was still burning up! No diarrhea or vomiting, just the fever. I sneezed some but not much coughing.

Mr. Ward, Im Going to have to swab you for COVID-19 and the flu, the nurse said.

Okay,

She pulled out a six- inch Q-Tip, This is gonna feel strange. It may hurt Im sorry to have do it.

Thats okay, I winked at her, Im sort of used to it, the swabs tests.

The First swat was for the flu; she inserted it in my right nostril, all the way up I held onto the bedrail. The next one was for COVID-19. It was worse. Seemed like after she Inserted it into

my left nostril, she was probing around in my brain! DAMM! Finally, she pulled out; she set them

in test tube survey.

Ill have your results in a few minutes, Mr. Ward.

Go here to see the original:

Stateville Surviving COVID-19 Again NEIU Independent - The Independent