Category: Covid-19

People arrive at a COVID-19 testing station in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 7. Texans were rushing to get tested as the state experienced an unprecedented spike in infections from the omicron variant. Francois Picard/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

People arrive at a COVID-19 testing station in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 7. Texans were rushing to get tested as the state experienced an unprecedented spike in infections from the omicron variant.

Most people in the United States, including most children, have now been infected with the coronavirus, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At a briefing for reporters on Tuesday, the CDC's Dr. Kristie Clarke said so many people caught omicron over the winter that almost 60% of everyone in the U.S. now have antibodies to the virus in their blood.

That number is even higher for children almost 75% of children 11 and younger have antibodies to the virus.

Clarke said the finding means many people have at least some immunity to the virus. But CDC officials stressed that people should still get vaccinated, because vaccination provides the strongest, broadest protection against getting seriously ill. Immunity provided by previous infection may or may not be as protective against severe disease.

The CDC also said that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, going up 23% last week to 44,416 a day. Deaths continue a months-long decline to 314 a day, or 13% less than the week before. Hospitalizations are on the uptick at 1,629 a day, up 7% over the previous week, according to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

About 1.5% of the U.S. population lives in communities where there is a high prevalence of COVID-19 at the present time, with 6.5% in medium-prevalence areas and the rest (92%) in communities with low levels of COVID-19.

More:

More than half of Americans have been infected by COVID-19 in past 2 years - NPR

HOLYOKE Riders are back on the saddle at the Therapeutic Equestrian Center after a 19-month layoff because of COVID-19 restrictions. The center serves adults and children with physical, emotional and developmental needs.

The center offers a seven-week therapeutic riding and five-week ground courses. For participants unable to mount a horse, the ground school teaches grooming, walking and handling skills. However, riding remains the centers primary focus.

Geraldine OConnor Page, the centers executive director, said the horses offer a calming effect for children with Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorders. Theyre able to focus and engage more with a specific task theyre doing and accomplish something to feel good, she said.

While the child may struggle in the classroom, completing riding or ground tasks gives a sense of fulfillment. A lot of those kids having feelings they dont fit, and theyre failures. Were giving them an opportunity to fit in and be good at something that other kids are also participating in, OConnor Page added.

The center matches riders with specific horses based on the animals temperament, gait or strength. OConnor Page said the horses offer a variety of riding experiences, from a jaunty, bouncy gait to a smooth stride.

Theres a lot of specifics around just choosing the horse, and one of the big ones is their temperament and personality, she said.

The prolonged shutdown was hard for riders and staff. But, unlike reopening a store or school, the equestrian center caters to a vulnerable population. OConnor Page did not want to compromise the riders or volunteers health.

There were so many questions about what was happening with COVID. So we were really careful, she said. To see the place alive again was just incredible. This is my second home. OConnor Page founded the program with the late Father Robert F. Wagner.

The program also works with riders with a history of trauma, veterans and children with autism. We have a lot of people with emotional issues. So its a huge gamut the types of riders we have, she said.

The first step is downloading an application from the Therapeutic Equestrian Centers website. Next, the applicant or family member must secure a physician referral and undergo an applicant interview with OConnor Page.

I sit with my instructors, and we determine an appropriate lesson for them. One of the important pieces of therapeutic riding is the social-emotional piece that goes along with it, she added.

The equestrian center works with outside agencies and school districts, which may offer grants or scholarships to cover lesson fees. Donations are welcomed as costs have jumped since the pandemic, including the price of hay, shoeing and veterinary care.

We take top care of our horses. Our horses do not want for anything. They are the heroes, and they need to be taken very good care of, OConnor Page said. The fee is a small percentage of what it cost us.

For information, visit the Therapeutic Equestrian Centers website at http://www.tecriders.org.

Here is the original post:

Therapeutic Riding Center back in the saddle after COVID-19 shutdown (photos) - MassLive.com

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Sunday said he does not think COVID-19 funding and aid for Ukraine need to be combined in a single piece of legislation, as Congress considers both priorities for the Biden administration.

President Biden on Thursday asked Congress to authorize $33 billion in aid to support Ukraine, with some funds going towards security assistance, weapons, military aid, humanitarian assistance and food security funding. The ask also comes as the White House is pushing for additional COVID-19 response funding.

An administration official told reporters on Thursday that the administration thinks it certainly makes sense that the pandemic funding and Ukraine aid move together in legislation. On Friday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed that strategy.

While assistance for Ukraine has bipartisan support in Congress, the path to passage for COVID-19 aid has been more convoluted in the past, raising some concerns that the support for Ukraine may be delayed if the two priorities are combined in a single package.

Asked by moderator Margaret Brennan on CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday if the two priorities have to be paired, Kaine said, I dont think it does.

The Virginia Democrat, however, did not endorse passing the funding together or separately.

The procedure where you put bills together or separate them is quirky and sometimes unpredictable. We need COVID aid, we need Ukraine aid, we should do them together or separately, but we shouldnt wait around, he said.

He said the month of May for Congress needs to be about passing the two funding priorities, in addition to the COMPETES Act, which seeks to make the U.S. more competitive with China.

Pressed on why Congress does not prioritize a standalone measure focused on defense support for Ukraine, Kaine said we can break it into smaller pieces or larger pieces, emphasizing we do need to do this quickly.

We still have some time to pass this next package. But I think my colleagues in Congress on both sides, with very few exceptions, they understand how significant this is. Theres quite a bit of bipartisan resolve on the Ukraine aid package, he added.

Continue reading here:

Kaine says Ukraine aid, COVID-19 funding do not have to be combined - The Hill

Former Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike took the podium at Dominican University in River Forest to deliver a congratulatory speech to students in the annual Black Achievements Ceremony on April 25.

Ezike who stepped down from her role with IDPH in March focused her speech on the students abilities to succeed, resilience gained from difficult recent history and on making sure to remember those instrumental to their success. Many of those present were students in the graduating Class of 2022.

I am so proud of you, as I am of all the graduates, Ezike said. You literally are your ancestors wildest dreams. When you think back, it was only in the 19th century that it was illegal to teach Black people to read. You guys have gone well past that and are getting degrees. Maybe this is just one degree out of other degrees you are going to get. I just encourage you to continue being that example of Black excellence, breaking down doors and shattering glass ceilings, and also making room for people behind you to follow suit.

Ezike became the first Black woman to assume the role of IDPH director in the organizations 143-year history. A pediatrician and internist, Ezike spent more than 15 years with Cook County Health and also served as the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Centers medical director.

Ezikes COVID-19 briefings were a staple source of news for some Illinoisans throughout the pandemic, and she would often switch seamlessly from English to Spanish to make her addresses more accessible. She is also fluent in Swahili and French.

She recalled bringing her children to Dominican for Igbo lessons over the years, an experience she enjoyed thoroughly.

Routinely, religiously, we came here and they shared not just the language, but the culture of the Igbo people to make sure we could know the culture, pass it on to our children and make sure it persisted, Ezike said. Im so grateful for this university and this commitment to learning about the different histories of Black people and supporting the students who make this university their home.

Dominican listed 195 Black/African-American students in its fall 2021 enrollment statistics, making up 6.4% of the overall enrollment, and with 104 undergraduates making up 5% of the undergraduate population.

Ezike acknowledged that being a minority student in college can be difficult, saying it can be isolating.

On top of the global pandemic, which has been a mass casualty, traumatic event for everyone, whether youve lost loved ones or youve had livelihoods disrupted or the mental health challenges from the isolation or separation, Ezike said. Weve all endured so much. On top of that, weve gone through the pains of racial injustice. And I know you were active here in the protests in honor of Mr. George Floyd. So all of these things have formed your college career, and youve had to be super resilient.

On June 13, Ezike will take over in her new role as the president and chief executive officer of Sinai Chicago. She is also the first Black woman to be named to that position.

Recalling a conversation with a student from before the ceremony, Ezike encouraged students to maintain and continue to invest in the friendships they have formed while in school.

Treasure and nurture these tender relationships as well, Ezike said. These people... will hold you accountable to the principles that they know you hold dear.

She added that in the 30 years since she began college, many of her former roommates and housemates are still among her closest friends.

She noted that students should draw on the wisdom of their parents and grandparents, and always remember to make time for them, as they are the ones who will always have their best interest at heart.

Go here to see the original:

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who guided Illinois through COVID-19, speaks at Dominican University in River Forest - Chicago Tribune

Racial disparities in Connecticuts COVID-19 deaths gaping in the early days of the pandemic narrowed over time as the crisis spread outward from urban to rural areas, a new Yale School of Public Health study has found.

Though Black and Hispanic people in Connecticut have remained more likely to die from COVID-19 than white residents, the narrowing of those disparities may suggest the success of campaigns to boost testing and vaccination among those communities, researcher Margaret Lind said.

In general we saw that, over the course of the pandemic in Connecticut, there has been a decline in the disparity of COVID-19 related mortality, said Lind, who led the study. We are moving in the right direction, and [equity] is something that could be achieved if we keep moving forward.

According to the study, Black and Hispanic people in Connecticut were more than four times as likely as non-Hispanic white people to die from COVID-19 between March 1 and Aug. 25, 2020, when the disease hit poor, under-resourced, urban communities hardest.

But over time, the study found, the COVID-19 mortality rate decreased only slightly among white Connecticut residents while falling much more sharply among Black and Hispanic residents. From July 13 to Dec. 13, 2021, the most recent period the study analyzed, Hispanic people were still about twice as likely to die of COVID-19 as white people, but the gap between Black and white residents had nearly disappeared.

This trend appears to mirror a national pattern in which the burden of COVID-19 gradually shifted over time from urban centers to whiter, more rural areas, which often had lower rates of vaccination and fewer control measures.

Racial disparities in Connecticut's COVID-19 deaths have diminished over the course of the pandemic, a new Yale study has found.

Despite the narrowing of disparities in Connecticut, the pandemic has remained, on balance, more significant for some groups than for others. Dating back to March 2020, state data shows, Black and Hispanic people have been substantially more likely to catch COVID-19 and about twice as likely to die from the disease, after adjusting for age.

We did see this attenuation overall, but there is still room to get better, Lind said. We can reduce these inequities, but we are not there yet.

As it happens

Get the latest updates on Coronavirus and other breaking news events happening across Connecticut

Disparities in COVID-19s impact in Connecticut were apparent from the earliest days of the pandemic, as state data almost immediately showed Black and Latino people catching and dying from the disease at higher rates than white people.

Experts say some groups were hit harder than others for several reasons. For one thing, Black and Latino people in Connecticut are more likely to live in densely populated areas and work front-line jobs that put them in direct contact with coworkers and customers. For another, decades of discrimination mean they are more likely to have underlying conditions like asthma and diabetes, which exacerbate the effects of COVID-19.

Though Linds team did not specifically study why these disparities shrunk over time, she guesses it was a result of state and federal programs aimed at distributing resources more evenly, combined with evolving attitudes toward COVID-19 among different groups. Throughout much of the pandemic, survey data has shown that people of color in Connecticut were more likely than white people to, for example, wear masks in public.

Whereas Black and Latino people in Connecticut were initially far less likely than white people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, those gaps have narrowed over time, state numbers show, which each racial and ethnic group now showing relatively high levels of vaccination.

Lind says her findings underscore the importance of measures aimed at reducing health inequities a lesson she says could be useful ahead of the next health crisis.

These measures such as trying to get testing equitably distributed, trying to get prevention measures ... widely utilized [helped], she said. The utility of education around that is something we should really think about and continue to move forward with, recognizing that this will not be our last global pandemic.

Read the original here:

Racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths decreased in Connecticut over time as pandemic shifted from urban to rural, Yale study finds - Hartford Courant

As the United States transitions out of a pandemic footing and into a new normal, it is also undergoing a shift in which Covid-19 metrics most accurately tell the story of the pandemic. The old standbys case numbers, namely arent as reliable anymore. So whats going to replace them?

At least three data sets are now being watched closely by the public health experts who spoke to Vox. Together, they help shed light on whats happening now, whats likely to happen, and how well were doing at dealing with whats already happened over the course of the pandemic.

The first, hospital data, covers the present, showing the level of severe illness in a given area and the strain being put on the local health care system. The second, new data on emerging variants, concerns the future and the potential for radical mutations to send the pandemic spinning out into a dangerous new direction. And the third, data on long Covid, reaches from the past and further into the future, as scientists attempt to gain a better grasp of the collateral damage the virus has left in its wake after infecting roughly 60 percent of the US population in the past two years.

Keep in mind that the most important pandemic metrics have been a moving target since 2020. The percentage of tests that came back positive was watched closely as an indication of how widespread the virus was in a given place at a given time. But nowadays, with so many people taking at-home antigen tests and never reporting the results to anyone, most experts consider that metric now to be unreliable. Case numbers, the raw count of positive tests, were an obvious signal to watch for a long time too; not only did they track the crests and dips of different waves, any growth in cases was predictably followed by a rise in hospitalizations and deaths in the subsequent weeks.

But many experts have stopped tracking cases too closely as well. They have the same reporting problem if you get a positive at-home test result but dont report it, your case doesnt show up in the official count but its more than that. Covid-19 is going to be around in the future, as society and the economy are adjusting to a new reality in which most people are expected to tolerate a certain risk of contracting Covid-19. If the public health goal is no longer to constrain case numbers, then they arent as meaningful in telling us whether or not our public health strategy is achieving its goals.

Instead, what many public health experts are tracking now is severe illness, meaning hospitalizations and deaths. The data coming out of local hospitals can still give us a good idea of the toll Covid-19 is exacting, the strain its putting on local health systems, and early indications that existing immunity may be fading.

Im not watching case rates. We expect there to be lots of mild cases, Bill Schaffner, the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a professor at Vanderbilt University, told me. But if hospitalization rates start to go up, theres probably more substantial waning immunity from vaccines and previous infections.

This is a new phase in the pandemic. Theres broader testing, vaccines, treatments, and new variants. Public health interventions are ending, leaving individuals to make their own risk assessments and choices about how to protect themselves. All of that demands a new approach to the coronavirus data that has become omnipresent in the last two years.

The dozen public health experts I contacted for this story were unanimous: They will watch hospital data most closely going forward. Some of those experts are still keeping tabs on cases as a general sign of the trends on the ground and because of the potential effect of long Covid to have a lasting effect in even mild cases.

But others said they were discarding cases as a major indicator, given the reporting limitations and the reality that society is shifting into a new phase of the pandemic where contracting Covid-19 is treated, for many people, as a tolerable risk. Theyre relying instead on metrics that measure the amount of severe disease in a community.

The vaccines cannot prevent every infection but are excellent in terms of preventing severe disease, and so I am looking at that metric as our metric of success in managing Covid-19 in this country, Monica Gandhi, an infectious diseases doctor at the University of California San Francisco, told me.

The overall number of hospitalizations is a good indicator of how prevalent Covid-19 is in a given community at a given time. But some number of Covid-19 hospitalizations may end up proving incidental, like if a person came to the hospital for a different reason and merely tested positive for the coronavirus as part of routine screening.

Thats why some experts said they were also looking specifically at the number of ICU patients admitted with Covid-19, more likely to be a real indicator of a severe Covid case, and the number of deaths attributed to the virus. Increases in those numbers would be a sign of something worrisome, either the virus evolving to become more lethal or existing immunity starting to wane.

ICU beds filling up would also mean the hospital runs the risk of not being able to care for all of its patients, which could worsen outcomes for patients and even contribute to unnecessary deaths. As Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University, told me, seeing hospital operations compromised because of an influx of Covid-19 admissions is one of the things that would cause him serious concern.

A rising mortality rate could also be a sign that the virus is evolving to become more dangerous. When I asked David Celentano, who leads the epidemiology department at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, what in the metrics would freak him out, he said: A major increase in mortality, which might be associated with a new variant. That is my nightmare.

For now, hospitalizations (down 8 percent over the last two weeks), ICU occupancies (down 21 percent), and deaths (down 25 percent) are still declining from their omicron peak. That is part of the reason that, in spite of a recent uptick in case numbers, the US government and businesses are continuing to push toward resuming normal activities. Theyre not trying to restrain case numbers anymore; these measures of severe illness have become paramount instead.

Data on new variants were top of mind for all of the public health experts I consulted. Radical mutations in the coronavirus are one development that could disrupt societys attempt to get back to normal. New variants are identified through genomic sequencing, though clues about emerging iterations of the virus can also be found in sewage, which is becoming a more integral part of our Covid-19 surveillance network.

Whenever any new variant is identified, experts told me that they are interested in three specific data points: how easily can it be transmitted, whether it causes more severe illness, and how easily it evades immunity from vaccines and previous infections.

If we had a virus that were to some degree substantially transmissible and could notably evade the protection of our vaccines, then wed be in trouble, Schaffner said.

The other set of data that will determine Covid-19s long-term consequences is on long Covid. Such long-term symptoms after an infection have loomed large over the pandemic, inspiring fears that a mild case of Covid-19 could still end up affecting patients for months after they ostensibly recover.

But there is still a lot we dont know about long Covid. Some preliminary surveys have suggested as many as 30 percent of people who get infected with Covid-19 may end up having persistent symptoms. But experts are doubtful the number is actually that high and are pushing for standardized attempts to quantify the problem. In the coming months and years, we should start to get an empirical understanding of how many people are affected, who they are, and what the consequences have been.

We need a much better study of long Covid. It is real and will likely lead to a sustained cost in terms of chronic illness for a large number of people, but how large that number is remains uncertain, William Hanage, a Harvard University epidemiologist, told me. Claims that 30 percent of people who recover have long Covid are not credible. However, even 1 percent would mean a lot.

The US government, businesses, and society at large are making the pivot to living with Covid-19. The virus is going to be with us going forward, so from hospitals to sewers to long Covid, its through these three metrics that the next revelations about where things are heading will be found.

Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism?

Millions rely on Voxs journalism to understand the coronavirus crisis. We believe it pays off for all of us, as a society and a democracy, when our neighbors and fellow citizens can access clear, concise information on the pandemic. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive. Support from our readers helps us keep it free for everyone. If you have already made a financial contribution to Vox, thank you. If not, please consider making a contribution today from as little as $3.

See the article here:

Covid-19 case numbers arent as reliable anymore. What are public health experts watching now? - Vox.com

3 ways pediatricians can help persuade caregivers to have their children vaccinated.

By Doug Harris Published: April 29, 2022

Some parents are hesitant to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19. Pediatricians are in a unique position to help drive COVID-19 vaccine discussions with parents and ease caretakers concerns. Heres how they can accomplish that.

The FDA approved a COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 in late October, providing a welcome tool to help pediatricians protect their patients. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 12.9 million children have tested positive for the virus. And those who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 have seen worse outcomes. For example, one study found that twice as many unvaccinated children ages 5 to 11 were hospitalized, compared with their vaccinated peers as the Omicron variant spiked earlier this year.

Despite these developments and statistics, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy persists among parents. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 36% of parents with children ages 5 to 11 years old say they definitely will not get them vaccinated. Meanwhile, only 11% will only have their children vaccinated if mandated, and 10% are taking a wait-and-see stance.

Some parents cite access and transportation issues, as well as reservations about second doses and boosters. Others harbor a level of distrust and express a desire to learn more about the vaccine, including how it affects other children. Vaccine hesitancy may also be higher among parents of color, suggesting it could exacerbate health inequities that have been heightened by the pandemic.

So, how can pediatricians approach these delicate conversations, and also work to encourage and persuade parents to vaccinate their children against COVID-19? Here are three suggestions:

Pediatricians have always played a crucial role in arming parents with reliable information. They can do the same with COVID-19 by bringing a sensitive, science-based approach to vaccine discussions.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than 5 may be approved in the coming months, so these conversations with parents could become more frequent and important. As trusted health care providers, pediatricians will be in a unique position to lead and influence the conversation with parents about the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination.

If you liked this article, sign up for Pediatrics Today SmartBrief. Its among SmartBriefs more than 250 free industry-focused email newsletters.

Doug Harris is a health care editor at SmartBrief. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Originally posted here:

Discussing COVID-19 vaccinations with parents - Smartbrief

In the current stage of the pandemic, many Berkeley residents are using self-tests, like the BinaxNOW COVID-19 tests, to monitor whether they have the virus. Before, residents relied on testing sites that reported data to the local health department. Credit: Amir Aziz

When the Grand Princess cruise ship docked in Oakland in March 2020 and the entire country began scrambling for information on the new virus at its shore, a local sewage agency activated a tool that has become key in responding to this pandemic and future ones.

East Bay Municipal Utilities District manages sewage lines that run through Berkeley, Oakland and the East Bay, roughly bounded by Hayward, Crockett and San Ramon, and processes an average of 50 million gallons of water daily.

The agency has always tested and treated this supply to meet state and federal standards, but it began navigating unknown territory when the ship with COVID-19 patients arrived in the Bay Area and asked EBMUD to take its wastewater.

Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state public health agencies and scientists at Stanford and UC Berkeley, EBMUD found they could check the water for COVID-19 and ultimately assess it for new variants, like delta, omicron and BA.2.

People who swim in the Bay were also concerned about getting COVID, said Alicia Chakrabarti, EBMUD manager of wastewater management, describing the haze of confusion around COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic. The agency was able to determine that the waters were safe, both for workers in their plants and people who access the waters recreationally.

In April, the state department of public health started processing the samples locally instead of at UC Berkeley. That data is available on theironline dashboard.

Berkeley has its own health department and began using the EBMUD data in the fall of 2020. It was the first time the city ever accessed sewage data for its public health strategy, according to Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez.

In the months since, officials have used the numbers to track the presence of the virus in the community as a supplement to diagnostic tests (like those from testing sites). Sewage typically detects case jumps about a week before testing, and eventually hospitalizations, reflect the same.

This predictive tool helps the city determine when they need to do more education and outreach about COVID-19, Hernandez said.

Were able to capture a broader part of our community with wastewater testing because we know that not everyone that needs to get tested, doesnt always want to, or can, get tested, Hernandez said.

Because the sewage lines are interconnected throughout the East Bay, the data is purely population-level meaning officials cant track individual homes or blocks but it can be specified as catchment areas, which can split up the city into regions, Hernandez said.

The numbers from sewage data have matched up to and in some cases, preceded county data from diagnostic tests. For example, EBMUD Director of Wastewater Eileen White said the numbers from different pipes showed COVID-19 numbers being higher in Oakland than Berkeley throughout the pandemic, due to a range of socioeconomic and health factors.

Other regions, like Santa Clara County, also used this wastewater data to predict the presence of the omicron variant in their cities. Hernandez said Berkeley actually found out about the omicron variant from traditional channels due to a large outbreak at Kaisers Oakland Medical Center in December 2021, but it is a useful tool to monitor for other variants and spikes in cases.

Berkeley is currently experiencing a small spike in cases, which Hernandez attributed to spring break travel and the more contagious variant, BA.2. Berkeley Unified School District reported a significant uptick in cases on Thursday, saying its schools saw 91 cases this week more than three times as many as the previous week.

Though the current average case rate (about 38 daily) citywide is much lower than the numbers observed at the height of the omicron surge this winter, Hernandez emphasized that these numbers are higher than they were this month in 2021 and 2020.

Testing has fallen considerably from levels during the omicron surge, when lines once again wrapped around testing sites, and appointments were difficult to come by. Because residents have the additional tool of self-tests to monitor COVID-19 infections, Hernandez said its about 50-50 whether cases are caught by an official diagnostic test (which is reported to the city health department) or a self-test.

That can lead to less data for the city, but Hernandez said the self-tests are still more of a blessing than a curse, because people can rapidly get information about whether they have COVID or not and hopefully do the right thing.

Funding for testing sites is also falling, and while city testing and vaccine sites are still free without insurance, others like Curative have started charging for certain options like the fastest rapid test. Testing sites may become less available as the government reallocates funding into other priorities, and Hernandez said this could be a time when population-wide data through wastewater becomes even more important.

I think wastewater sampling is going to be a definite, strong tool in our surveillance toolbox, Hernandez said.

Hernandez and officials at EBMUD also hope it can be adapted to test for things like the common flu, or respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory virus. White and Chakrabarti said these processes are still in the initial stages, and private labs have expressed interest in analyzing the wastewater to spot other bacteria and viruses.

EBMUD was not designed to take samples for COVID-19 or other viruses, and the process has been a huge lift for the agency, especially when its workers (half of whom work at plants and cannot be remote) were coming down with the virus during the worst parts of the surge, White said.

She added that Gov. Gavin Newsoms pandemic plan includes wastewater surveillance, and utility agencies that do similar work are hoping for additional support on the local and federal levels.

Its a very time-consuming effort, but its the right thing to do, White said. Weve always treated wastewater to protect public health, and now were looking for opportunities on how we can take wastewater and turn it into a resource.

The reporters and editors at Berkeleyside are dedicated to covering our city and providing you with the information you need to be an informed citizen. If you value what you get from Berkeleyside, please join us with a tax-deductible donation so we can continue doing the local reporting that matters to you.

Will you chip in to Berkeleyside today?

View original post here:

Berkeley is analyzing sewage data to track COVID-19 as response shifts in third year of pandemic - Berkeleyside

COVID-19 transmission rates are back up to the medium level in some Bay Area counties, according to the CDC.

In San Mateo County, the positivity rate is near 6% with nearly 800 new cases in the past day, but what theyre not seeing is the ICU hospital beds filled with COVID patients for the most severe cases.

In many cases, infection rates are even higher than they were during the height of the delta variant. But health officials say the new BA.2 variant thats infecting most people now is not causing as many severe illnesses.

At the peak of the delta surge, we had 25 people in the hospital, in Marin County, 10 in ICU, said Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis. Right now, were seeing only six total in the hospital, none in the ICU.

So despite the infectious nature of this variant, many people are feeling safer now about being out in public, even maskless.

I think its pretty safe, said Avash Pardhootman of San Francisco. Hospitalizations and deaths are low, so I think its looking upwards for the world, and everyone as whole.

And it took a lot for Pardhootman to get there after losing his father to COVID in 2021.

For a long time, it seemed like things may never turn around.

It did for a while, especially when things were crazy, peak pandemic but now I think the outlook is much different, said Pardhootman.

One of the Bay Areas top experts on COVID says shes started to return to a more normal lifestyle despite a rise in cases in some areas.

I have two children. Theyre vaccinated. Im vaccinated and boosted and we have been living and Ill tell you I was on a plane last week when they dropped the mask mandates and not very many people are masking on planes, said Dr. Monica Gandhi of UCSF.

Gandhi said people should feel safer because 60% of the population has now been exposed to the virus and 75% of kids under the age of 17 have built up natural antibodies. But she said COVID is here to stay.

For one thing, its in 29 species of animals, said Gandhi. Its not going to go away. But, what we have to do is prevent severe disease and we have very high levels of immunity in the Bay Area so we have to start living with it.

But some people arent quite ready to drop the masks just yet and will rely on testing and keep to their small circles until they feel more comfortable that the worst of covid is behind us for good.

I work in the public, and I dont know where everyone has been, so its better to be safe than sorry for now at least, said Nisha Aeri of Belmont.

And with large gatherings for proms, Mothers Day and graduations on the horizon, Marin Countys health leader is still warning people to be wise about masking and getting tested before those big get-togethers.

Theyre easily available. Theyre accurate. In terms of positive treat it as a positive result, said Dr. Willis.

See the original post:

COVID-19 Transmission Rates on the Rise in Bay Area - NBC Bay Area

By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD Two state Senators Lou DAllesandro, D-Manchester, and Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, attended Thursdays session via video because they both had tested positive for COVID-19, DAllesandro said Friday.

DAllesandro said it wasnt the first time, that in the past he attended remotely when recovering from surgery, but it is a controversial topic at the State House because it is not allowed in the House of Representatives.

The faces of DAllesandro and Gannon were seen on screens at the front of the Senate chambers in the State House and they both fully participated and voted on the bills before them. There was no mention Thursday as to the reason for the temporary change.

The Senate has been gracious, DAllesandro said.

He said he tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and was isolating at home for five days and after isolating will wear a face mask when he leaves the house for five days.

DAllesandro said he has had a headache, cold symptoms and a sore throat, but overall is not feeling too badly.

DAllesandro said Gannon mentioned to him that he had tested positive as well. Efforts to reach Gannon Friday were unsuccessful and Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, didnt respond to a request for comment, nor did House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry.

In stark contrast to the Senate, Packard has refused to allow House sessions to include members who are sick or disabled to vote and participate remotely.

A lawsuit against Packard filed by former House Minority Leader Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, who has since died of cancer and complications due to COVID-19, argues disabled members at high risk of getting COVID-19 should be allowed to participate remotely.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals recently remanded the lawsuit back to U.S. District Court for further proceedings.

DAllesandro was critical of the House not allowing remote participation for their members.

Thats not consistent with good government, DAllesandro said. Im feeling pretty good, just a headache, sore throat and runny nose.

Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye, a physician who is running for governor, said the big news of Thursdays session was Morses flexibility, allowing a Democrat and a Republican to participate remotely.

There was rigorous debate. Everyone could participate, Sherman said. What the Senate president did was model how we can handle this if we have more surges or more pandemics in the future.

The Senate president cant tell the House what to do, Sherman said. Leaders are people who lead by example. It was a wonderful solution.

Read more:

Two Senators With COVID-19 Attend Session Remotely - InDepthNH.orgInDepthNH.org - InDepthNH.org