Category: Covid-19

COVID-19-related hospitalizations are still rising in San Diego County, but this summer's wave is proving different from other surges. Most patients are coming in with less severe illness and fewer people are dying, according to officials from local hospital systems.

"It is across the board much less acute," Sharp HealthCare Chief Operating Officer Brett McClain said.

Right now, about 460 San Diego County residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, a fourfold increase since May. But the situation is significantly better than it was last summer and this past winter.

Sharp has about 160 COVID-19 patients, the most of any hospital system in the county. Yet, McClain said, there are far fewer being admitted to the intensive care unit or put on ventilators.

"The overall picture is a less-acute variant, thank goodness," McClain said. "That said, we are seeing a similar surge of a higher acute nature with those that are older and more frail."

It remains unclear if officials are seeing less severe illness because the BA.5 variant is milder or due to the "wall" of protection built up with vaccinations or previous infections or a mix of both.

"We certainly have less patients with this surge that are requiring ventilation than ever before, and thats great because our antiviral [treatments] are working," said UC San Diego Health's chief medical officer, Dr. Chris Longhurst.

Fewer deaths

Longhurst said he also saw some patients presenting with milder illness, and, according to data from UC San Diego, recent infections are not as deadly as before.

"Whats circulating now probably has a mortality rate of less than the flu," Longhurst said.

Recently, a Los Angeles County USC Medical Center official said just 10% of patients admitted with COVID-19 were being hospitalized because of illness caused by the virus. Longhurst said that was not the case in San Diego.

"Up to two-thirds of patients admitted to the hospital are being admitted for COVID, as opposed to with COVID," he said. "The LA County data seems a little bit off to us."

Many San Diegans hospitalized with COVID have underlying medical conditions that the virus makes worse, so it can be difficult to pinpoint what is driving the serious cases.

Scripps Health officials say their situation is similar to the other hospital systems. Scripps Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ghazala Sharieff said about 10% of hospitalizations were "incidental" case findings, meaning that people are testing positive while being admitted for something else.

Staffing worries

COVID-19 aside, officials at Sharp and Scripps are seeing unusually high volumes of non-COVID-related emergency room and urgent care visits. And the virus is hitting hospital staff hard. Sharp alone had 700 employees out with COVID-19 on Thursday.

"We have to replace those staff, right, with others to be able to take care of the patients," McClain said.

Sharieff is wondering whether staffing will again reach the point where surgeries and other procedures will have to be delayed.

"Are we going to get to that crossroads at some point where we have to start delaying surgeries again?" Sharieff said. "None of us wants to do that, right? Were already seeing delayed care across the country Id hate to get to that point. So I think Its time for us to take a pause. We all know what to do: just be extra careful."

Sharieff is also worried about San Diegans who are experiencing lingering effects from infections, typically referred to as "long COVID".

"Ive heard so many people in the last couple of weeks say its just like flu," Sharieff said. "Flu doesnt necessarily give you these long-term complications like COVID is doing."

Officials are continuing to recommend that people use the state's CA Notify phone system. It was pioneered in San Diego and can let people know if they have come in close contact with someone who has the virus.

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Another summer COVID-19 wave has hit San Diego hospitals, but this one is breaking different - KPBS

MINNEAPOLIS -- The novel coronavirus of 2019 is not yet old news, but it is evolving as patients and physicians endure the latest surge in this summer of 2022.

"I think the shortness of breath piece is less than what we saw early on," Dr. Mark Sannes, an infectious disease physician at HealthParters, explained to WCCO. "The cough and fever piece looks very similar. It is a different disease in the sense that we are seeing a lot less severe illness now than we did early on in the pandemic."

The HealthPartners system of hospitals and clinics is spread throughout the Metro, including Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. According to administrators, there have been 337 people hospitalized with COVID-19 over the last 30 days, including seven currently in the ICU or on a ventilator.

Data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows the rates of hospitalization, while increasing, are stilla fraction of what they were last winteror even in the fall of 2021. Unvaccinated adults over 65, moreover, are more than 8x as likely to suffer from a severe case of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization than those adults who are vaccinated.

At HealthPartners, Dr. Sannes noted many of patients at the hospital with COVID-19 are also vaccinated, but Dr. Sannes insisted those numbers must be put into context.

"It's not COVID that sent them to the hospital," he explained. "I think it's reflective on what's happening in the community. They're coming in with heart attacks or a stroke and something totally unrelated to COVID. They only happen to have COVID because of how transmissible it is in the community."

As for patients suffering from severe cases of COVID-19, Dr. Sannes said the major symptom reported among patients is fatigue.

"There used to be a lot more pneumonia," he added. "If you're in your 80s or 90s and you're sick enough to be hospitalized and you test positive for COVID-19, weakness might be your presenting thing."

New studies are also showing how COVID-19 symptoms are evolving, including a report fromZoe Healthin the U.K., showing signs of the Omicron COVID-19 variantdiffer from more prominent symptoms at the start of the pandemic.

As for how to move forward as a community in this latest surge, Dr. Sannes maintained people should evaluate their own risks and think of those around them.

indoors with a large group of people, I better be thinking about whether I should be wearing a mask."

Jonah Kaplan is WCCO and CBS News Minnesota's investigative reporter and has built a strong reputation for his balanced and in-depth coverage of high-impact issues including the economy, immigration, education, public safety, and the military, among others.

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What's changed, what's consistent amid a new wave of COVID-19 - CBS Minnesota

WASHINGTON White House pandemic response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha delivered a grim message on Friday about the ever-evolving coronavirus pathogen that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates has infected more than 140 million Americans, including President Biden.

This virus is going to be with us forever, Jha said during a press briefing otherwise devoted to an update on the presidents health. Its really, really important that people build up their immunity against this virus, he added, emphasizing that vaccination is the best means of doing so.

It was a bracing reminder that any hopes of fully eradicating the coronavirus are long gone. And while many Americans have sought a return to normal life, the coronavirus continues to cause economic and social disruptions.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Dr. Jha is acknowledging the consensus among medical and public health experts that COVID-19 is with us for our lifetimes and beyond, Dr. Leana Wen, a public health expert closely aligned with the White House on the pandemic, told Yahoo News.

But this is not the COVID-19 of 2020, Wen said, pointing to the widespread availability of vaccines and treatments. We now have many tools that allow us to live with this coronavirus.

Biden is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots. On Friday, he and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre both said his symptoms remained mild after the president tested positive for COVID on Thursday. The presidents infection returned the pandemic to the headlines after several months during which the war in Ukraine, inflation and gun control dominated news coverage.

President Biden, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, at the White House on Thursday. (Twitter/President Biden@POTUS/Handout via Reuters)

Some public health experts saw Bidens infection as a further sign of how complacent citizens have become. Like many Americans, Biden had ceased to wear a mask and had resumed travel, including abroad.

The president likes to interact and engage with the American public, Jean-Pierre said in response to a reporters question about whether Biden regretted the recent pace of his social and travel commitments.

Story continues

The several waves of the Omicron variant that have washed over the United States have suggested that the virus initially known as SARS-CoV-2 is becoming increasingly transmissible, though not necessarily more virulent. While that is good news for people who are vaccinated and boosted, it does mean that the virus will almost certainly find new ways to evade immune protections, if only to ultimately cause relatively mild illness.

Even as the BA.5 variant continues to drive new infections, a new, even more transmissible strain known as BA.2.75 has been detected in the United States.

The dominant strains are so contagious that its extremely difficult to avoid infection, Wen told Yahoo News.

But even if the coronavirus lingers for years to come, it is for the most part the unvaccinated and the unboosted who risk serious illness or death. More than 1 million Americans have died due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Were at a point now where, I believe, where we can prevent nearly every COVID death in America, Jha said on Friday. The week ended with about 400 people dying daily from COVID-19 across the country.

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COVID-19 'is going to be with us forever,' White House says - Yahoo! Voices

This is not the summer of kissing strangers or gallivanting all day until the sun goes down. No; this summer we are once again drowning in oceans of our own perspiration, thanks to dangerously high temperatures, and anxiously hiding out from the newest Covid-19 variant.

We may not be able to beat the heat (or existential dread), but doggone it, we can have fun anyway. Here's how you can enjoy the rest of the summer that won't put you at as high of a risk of Covid-19 infection and heat exhaustion.

Outside

Take an umbrella to the park. Hear me out -- sitting out under the sun without a shady respite will roast you, stuff you and make you fit to be served at Thanksgiving dinner. It might feel silly to spend a day outside underneath an umbrella when it's not raining, but at least your skin will be partially protected from the sun's oppressive rays. Imagine yourself in the Victorian era, strolling through a regal garden under a dainty parasol.

Seek shade in nature. It's definitely too hot to go on a desert hike right now. But if you live near a botanical garden or arboretum, take advantage of the natural shade and breezes. You might even happen upon some birds or other forest creatures, and you can observe their tricks for keeping cool.

Inside

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How to have fun this summer in spite of Covid-19 and extreme heat - CNN

DAYTON Health experts are warning people to take precautions as Covid-19 cases are rising across the Miami Valley, but some are willing to take the risk.

>>Majority of Miami Valley now under high COVID-19 community level

Last week, we were at 498 cases per 100,000 residents, said John Steele, Public Health-Dayton & Montgomery County. This week, were at 584 cases per 100,000 residents.

Steele says at this time last year, the numbers were around 100 cases per 100,000 residents.

News Center 7s Brandon Lewis spoke with Doctor Nancy Pook, Kettering Health Emergency Physician, about the latest spike and she says its different this time around.

We have seen an uptick in the number of people hospitalized in a daily basis for Covid so fortunately people are staying for a shorter interval of time in the hospital, she said. Were seeing fewer of those critical care patients on ventilators and while the number is still not zero, it is importantly different.

>>City of Dayton reinstates mask requirement for city employees

For some people, the virus is still a concern.

I took the vaccinations, said Malveena Marks of Dayton. Both of them, Moderna and the booster, but I dont know. I hope I dont get it. Thats the only thing you can hope for.

Others have noticed a change in peoples behavior, including Darren Staten of Miamisburg.

I think now every body is relaxed, he told Lewis. Even though they hear the cases are rising, no one is really wearing their mask, including me.

>>Layoffs in progress at Enon-based Speedway as part of 7-Eleven acquisition

Steele has noticed it as well.

I think with the cases being so low not too long ago, people were just trying to put it behind them trying to resume their normal lives, he said. But now that the cases are up steadily, people need to revisit that I think.

As people figure how to deal with the recent uptick in cases, some like Regan Lane of Oakwood think there is always a bit of chance of catching the virus.

Last time I had it was in January and I always get nervous, he said. Like do I have antibodies, do I not have antibodies anymore but its really whats going to happen is going to happen and if its here to stay, its here to stay. If its not, its not.

Doctor Pook of Kettering Health told Lewis that to slow the spread of Covid-19, people should avoid being public and traveling if they are sick.

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I hope I dont get it, Local Covid-19 cases are on the rise - WHIO

July 21, 2022 | Austin, Texas | Proclamation

WHEREAS, I, Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, issued a disaster proclamation on March13, 2020, certifying under Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) poses an imminent threat of disaster for all counties in the State of Texas; and

WHEREAS, in each subsequent month effective through today, I have issued proclamations renewing the disaster declaration for all Texas counties; and

WHEREAS, I have issued executive orders and suspensions of Texas laws in response to COVID-19 aimed at protecting the health and safety of Texans and ensuring an effective response to this disaster; and

WHEREAS, a state of disaster continues to exist in all counties due to COVID-19;

NOW, THEREFORE, in accordance with the authority vested in me by Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code, I do hereby renew the disaster proclamation for all counties in Texas.

Pursuant to Section 418.017, I authorize the use of all available resources of state government and of political subdivisions that are reasonably necessary to cope with this disaster.

Pursuant to Section 418.016, any regulatory statute prescribing the procedures for conduct of state business or any order or rule of a state agency that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with this disaster shall be suspended upon written approval of the Office of the Governor. However, to the extent that the enforcement of any state statute or administrative rule regarding contracting or procurement would impede any state agencys emergency response that is necessary to cope with this declared disaster, I hereby suspend such statutes and rules for the duration of this declared disaster for that limited purpose.

In accordance with the statutory requirements, copies of this proclamation shall be filed with the applicable authorities.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and have officially caused the Seal of State to be affixed at my office in the City of Austin, Texas, this the 21st day of July, 2022.

GREG ABBOTT

Governor

ATTESTED BY:

JOHN B. SCOTT

Secretary of State

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Governor Abbott Renews COVID-19 Disaster Declaration In July 2022 - Office of the Texas Governor

The weekly average of new COVID-19 cases is increasing as the county continues to have high transmission of COVID-19, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department said Friday.

Compared to last week, the weekly average of positive cases increased 5.6%, Public Health said.

Santa Barbara County has a high community transmission rate of the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and so do most other California counties.

The county has reported 1,226 cases for the week ending Thursday, which is fewer than the previous week, when 1,334 new cases were reported.However, this number is lower than the actual case count locally since the results of rapid antigen tests (like at-home tests) are not reported by the Public Health Department.

As of this week, there have been98,826 confirmed cases in the county.

There were 43 COVID-19-positive hospital patients in the county as of Thursday, including two people being treated in intensive care units. This includes people who were admitted for treatment due to COVID-19 and people who tested positive but were admitted for unrelated reasons.

The county reported four more COVID-19-related deaths so far, which brings the total to 706 people.

The BA.5 subvariant of the novel coronaviruscontinues to be the dominant strain in the county as well as most of the West Coast, according to state data.

Santa Barbara County's test positivity rate is at 16.6% and has steadily been increasing throughoutJuly. This percentage is higher than both neighboring counties. San Luis Obispo has a 13.3% test positivity rate and Venturas test positivity rate is 15.5%.

The county's test positivity rate for the same date last year was 7.1%.

UC Santa Barbara is hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for children next week.It will serve children from six months old to 11 years old.

The first dose of a two-dose Moderna vaccine series will be offered on Wednesday, July 27 and the second dose will be offered on Aug. 24.To sign up for an appointment, visit myturn.ca.gov. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Find a COVID-19 vaccine provider here, including locations for pediatric vaccines and booster shots.

Find a testing site here, including locations to get free at-home rapid tests.

Noozhawk staff writer Grace Kitayama can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

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Public Health Reports Increase in Weekly Average of New COVID-19 Cases, Continued High Transmission - Noozhawk

A California man contracted COVID-19 and monkeypox at the same time a double-dose of misery that left him flattened for weeks.

Mitcho Thompson, of Sebastopol, told NBC Bay Area he initially tested positive for the coronavirus in late June. He felt decimated by the virus, but then started noticing small red lesions throughout his back, legs, arms and neck.

The doctor was very certain that I have monkeypox and that I had both, Thompson told the station in an exclusive report. Because that was the question. Could I get them at the same time? And he said, Yes, yes, yes.

Thompson said the twin viruses left him feeling as if he had a severe case of influenza. He also had a fever, labored breathing, chills, body aches and skin lesions.

Really sick, Thompson recalled. And the worst of it was honestly where I just could barely get out of bed, and you could barely like get a drink of water.

An infectious disease specialist at Stanford University confirmed its possible for someone to become infected with both viruses simultaneously.

Its certainly not impossible for that to occur, Dr. Dean Winslow told the station. Its just incredibly bad luck. They are very different viruses.

More than 2,400 cases of monkeypox have been reported nationwide as part of an international outbreak that began two months ago. The virus spreads primarily through skin-to-skin contact, but it can also be transmitted through linens used by an infected person.

Some 778 people had been infected in New York City as of Thursday, city officials said.

Cases in NYC are increasing, and there are likely many more cases that have not been diagnosed, NYC Healths website reads. Anyone can get and spread monkeypox. The current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

The illness has been relatively mild for many men and has not led to any fatalities in the United States.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Associated Press we still have the opportunity to contain monkeypox as vaccine supplies will soon increase.

While roughly 2,000 doses were available when the outbreak was first identified in the US in May, Walensky said the government had distributed more than 191,000 doses this week with 160,000 ready to ship and as many as 780,000 doses to become available as soon as next week.

Thompson, meanwhile, told NBC Bay Area hes finally better after his dual infection of monkey COVID.

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California man infected with COVID-19 and monkeypox: 'Incredibly bad luck' - New York Post

Several highly effective vaccines were developed at an unprecedented speed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. During the phase 3 clinical trials, mRNA vaccines had vaccine efficacy of 9495% in preventing symptomatic infections. After the rollout, real-world evidence showed that the mRNA vaccines provided ~90% effectiveness against infection. Then came the variants. The wave after wave of new variants, with ever-increasing transmissibility and capacity to escape existing immunity, challenge the ability of vaccines to prevent infection and transmission. The effectiveness of a primary series of mRNA vaccines (two doses) to prevent hospitalization and death is also being chipped away by these highly immune-evasive variants. Vaccine-mediated protection became shorter-lived, especially with the emergence of Omicron variants. People look at these data and wonder, what is the point of getting the vaccines if they will not prevent symptomatic infections, and the protection does not last? Well, to expect robust protection from just the primary series of any vaccines is unreasonableand was always likely to bebut somehow society has placed too high a bar on what is considered an acceptable number of doses for COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, we need to understand that were going to be getting boosters in the foreseeable future, and to appreciate their benefits.

Vaccines against other infectious diseases are given in multiple doses. Many of our childhood vaccines require multiple doses5 doses for (diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis), 4 doses (Haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal conjugate, inactivated poliovirus), or 3 doses (hepatitis B) are all commonly given before the age of 18 years. These doses are required and not considered optional to achieve immunity. In adulthood, many of these vaccines need periodic booster doses to maintain immunity. The influenza virus requires annual vaccination doses for all ages. Yet, people dont complain about having to get their 60th dose of the influenza vaccine. We should think of COVID-19 vaccines the same way.

Why do we need booster doses? The primary series of vaccines kick-starts the immune response by engaging lymphocytes, white blood cells that detect specific features of the pathogen to expand in numbers and become instructed to eliminate the pathogen. Most of these cells disappear over time, except for a small subset of cells that are kept by the body for future use. These memory cells are responsible for long-lasting immunity against a given pathogen. What boosters do is stimulate these memory lymphocytes to quickly expand in numbers and to produce even more effective defenders. The booster also selects for B cells that can secrete antibodies that are even better at binding and blocking virus infection and spread.

The primary series can be thought of as the high school for lymphocytes, where nave cells receive basic instructions to learn about the pathogen. Boosters are like a college where lymphocytes are further educated to become more skilled and mature, to fight off future infections. Periodically, these college graduates need refreshers by more booster doses given later in life. This is the case for all vaccines. Booster doses provide the immune system the education it needs to prevent severe diseases from infections.

COVID-19 vaccines also need booster doses for the same reasons. We need to educate, maintain, and improve T and B cell responses to prevent severe disease. Boosters provide significant benefits to people who received the primary series in preventing hospitalization and death. In the U.S. in April 2022, people older than 50 years of age who received no vaccine, primary series only (no booster dose), or one booster dose had 38 x, 6 x, or a 4 x higher risk, respectively, of dying from COVID-19 compared to those with two or more booster doses. During the Omicron-predominant period, the booster dose provided protection from hospitalization even in previously infected people, whether older (>65 years of age) or younger (<65 years of age). Among children and adolescents, a primary series (two doses) of vaccination was less effective in preventing COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care encounters during the Omicron wave compared to the Delta period. Immunity also decreases with time since primary vaccination. No significant protection was detected more than five months after a 2nd vaccine dose among adolescents aged 1617 years. However, a third booster dose restored vaccine effectiveness to 81% in this age group. There is thus a clear benefit of a booster dose across a broad range of age groups studied to date.

Can booster vaccination be improved in the future? Absolutely. We need improved boosters that can provide more durable protection, are effective against variants we encounter moving forward, and do a better job of preventing infection and blocking transmission. For example, booster-induced immune protection wanes within 4-6 months during the current Omicron period. We need vaccine strategies that provide more durable protection. Boosters are now being developed to match the circulating Omicron variant BA.5, which should provide better protection than boosters based on the original strain. However, because of the rapidly mutating nature of SARS-CoV-2, going forward, we will need boosters that can provide coverage against not just the existing but future variants of concern.

Boosters that work against a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants, now or in the future, as well as against other coronaviruses that may cause future pandemics need to be pursued. Coronaviruses have made the jump from animals to humans multiple times in history which resulted in pandemics. Vaccines that can broadly protect against a wide range of coronaviruses will also prevent future pandemics. In addition, future boosters should be given as nasal spray vaccines to provide local mucosal immune protection, capable of reducing infection and transmission at the portal of entry for the virus, and reducing long COVID risk. Ultimately, we need booster strategies that can be more easily implemented worldwide and have higher acceptance and uptake rates to provide much-needed immune protection for everyone. An over-the-counter nasal spray booster can bring us closer to that goal.

Researchers and industry are furiously working on developing next-generation vaccines as they did with our current vaccines, which have saved more than 14 million lives during the pandemic. But for now, take the booster doses you are eligible to keep your immune system educated and up to date so it has the best chance of protecting you from COVID-19 in the upcoming winter season and so we can prevent the enormous loss of life we experienced last winter with more than 300,000 people dying in the U.S. from a disease that can be prevented by current boosters.

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Why You'll Need to Get COVID-19 Boosters Again and Again - TIME

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 Friday.

The result from the home test marks the second time he has tested positive. The first time was in January.

Johnson's office said the positiveresult came back from a test he took shortly after a press conference in his office to mark his first 100 days in office.

His office said the mayor is experiencing very mild symptoms and will isolate at home "for the coming days."

"The Mayor has been tested on at least five occasions this week, and todays is the only test that returned a positive result," his spokesperson, Jeff Fleming, said in an email.

Fleming said Johnson tested after the news conference when he was feeling a mild headache and has regularly worn a mask in close quarters with others.

He noted that Johnson had been at least six feet from others in the office during the press conference, where he was not wearing a mask.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.

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Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson tests positive for COVID-19 on 100th day in office - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel