Category: Covid-19

Colorados COVID-19 cases rose for a fifth consecutive week and hospitalizations are up slightly, but the virus is still circulating at relatively low levels in the state compared with other points of the pandemic.

The state confirmed 4,511 new cases during the week ending Sunday a 25% jump from the previous weeks 3,619 cases, according to data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 in Colorado also ticked up for the second straight week, rising to 103 people from 88 a 17% increase. The state is only publicly updating hospitalization numbers once a week, though, making it harder to observe trends.

Those numbers are still far below the peak of the omicron variants surge in January, when more than 1,600 people were hospitalized with the virus in mid-January.

The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive rose to an average of 5.54% over the last seven days, up from 4.98% a week ago another indicator that the virus is spreading slightly more in the community. State officials tend to start getting concerned when that positivity rate rises above 5%.

Even with the slight increases across the board, virus numbers are still relatively low in the state, said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health.

Only one Colorado county Pitkin is above low levels of COVID-19 community transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We may continue to see an increase, but I dont expect this to be the type of wave weve seen in the past thats disrupted all manner of things, Carlton said.

Public health officials are keeping an eye on the BA.2.12.1 subvariant that has emerged in Colorado and elsewhere and appears to be growing as a proportion of total infections. But theres still much more to learn about the subvariant and how it compares to previous iterations of the virus, Carlton said.

Should people be dramatically changing their behavior right now? Probably not, she said.

The states public health department also announced Wednesday that it would be updating the way its data is reported to reduce confusion. National and third-party reporting sites, such as the New York Times COVID-19 tracker, had been showingmuch higher case data for Colorado since they couldnt distinguish between new cases and older cases that were just now being entered into the system.

The state is making this change in response to Colorado residents expressing continued frustration and confusion when comparing local reports with national ones, even though the source data is the same, public health officials wrote in a news release.

Denver Post reporter Jessica Seaman contributed to this report.

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Excerpt from:

Colorados COVID-19 numbers on the rise, but still relatively low - Boulder Daily Camera

By TOM MURPHY

Merck soared past first-quarter expectations, helped by sales of its long-standing blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda and a new COVID-19 treatment that also topped forecasts.

The drugmaker raised its 2022 forecast Thursday after its coronavirus treatment molnupiravir brought in almost $3.2 billion in sales in the quarter.

Analysts were expecting $2.54 billion from the drug, which debuted late last year under the brand name Lagevrio.

Merck has said it expects the capsules to bring in sales of $5 billion or more this year. But analysts are starting to wonder whether all the treatment courses Merck makes will get used.

One analyst said on a Thursday call with company leaders that some data shows the treatment Paxlovid from rival Pfizer is being used much more frequently. The analyst noted that the U.S. has contracted to have 3.1 million courses of Lagevrio delivered and asked if there was a recourse for the government to return unused portions.

Chief Financial Officer Caroline Litchfield said the company expects the roughly 6.4 million treatment courses that it has delivered so far globally to be used over time, and the drugmaker remains confident in our financials.

She said data they have access to suggests that 500,000 people have used Lagevrio so far globally, and use has been particularly strong outside the United States.

Governments have been using and stockpiling both Lagevrio, which is also made by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and Paxlovid, which was shown to be more effective in clinical research, after the omicron surge of the virus filled hospitals earlier this year.

The treatments have been seen as a breakthrough in the fight to control the ongoing pandemic because they are effective and are easier for patients to use than other drugs that require injections or IV infusions.

The drugs are being used to treat patients most at risk of winding up in a hospital from the virus.

Both Lagevrio and Paxlovid must be used soon after COVID-19 symptoms appear, and U.S. President Joe Biden is pushing to expand their availability.

The treatments are free to patients in the U.S.

Not counting Lagevrio, Merck said its pharmaceutical revenue still grew 18% in the first quarter. Sales of Keytruda climbed 23% to $4.81 billion.

Overall, Mercks profit climbed 36% to $4.31 billion.

Adjusted earnings, which exclude one-time items, totaled $2.14 per share. Total sales jumped 50% to $15.9 billion.

Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $1.83 per share on about $14.55 billion in revenue in the quarter.

The company also said Thursday it was raising and narrowing its forecast for the year. Merck now expects adjusted earnings to range between $7.24 and $7.36 per share after forecasting $7.12 to $7.27 per share in February.

Analysts expect earnings of $7.28 per share, according to FactSet.

Shares of Merck & Co. Inc., based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, climbed more than 3% to $87.38 late Thursday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, of which Merck is a component, rose slightly.

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Follow Tom Murphy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thpmurphy

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COVID-19 treatment, Keytruda boost drugmaker Merck in Q1 - The Mercury

TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.The Tompkins County Health Department has re-issued a countywide mask advisory in the wake of newly high positive COVID-19 test numbers and rising hospitalizations.

The county issued the health advisory on Wednesday morning, citing the 14 current hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 and that there are currently several hundred active cases in the county. Hospitalizations have doubled over the last week.

The Tompkins County Health Department is issuing a health advisory encouraging all residents, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask while indoors and around others in public settings, in addition to continuing other precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19, stated the health department.

The county is providing masks through a variety of means.

While the full number of active cases are not readily available anymore, with the countys conscious shift to tracking hospitalizations and severity instead of case numbers, New York State lists the number as 396, though that does not count at-home tests. To add more information, the countys daily updates have listed about 100 new cases per day over the last several days, between lab-verified tests and self-reported home tests (the latter is a fairly unreliable metric, so safe to say there have been more than that), though people are also continuously being released from isolation as well.

Were seeing a higher number of positive cases locally as well as an increase in hospitalizations, said Frank Kruppa, the countys public health director. This advisory is alerting the community to our strong recommendation that you wear a mask while indoors and around others in public settings, as this will limit spread, help bring down our positive case and hospitalization numbers, and help protect vulnerable community members. We are monitoring the data on cases and hospitalizations daily, and will continue to do so in order to make the best advisements to the Tompkins County community. At this time you should wear a mask while indoors and around others.

A note from The Ithaca Voice as well: we are working on remaking our COVID-19 Dashboard to better reflect some of the information we think could be useful during this time. Thus, we will be taking down the progress of the vaccination rate, since it has basically stagnated and that metric has obviously evolved. We will be adding a way for users to track wastewater COVID-19 testing metrics, which traces the amount of RNA from the virus is in local wastewaterCayuga Heights has been testing since early February, but the Ithaca Wastewater Treatment Plant has just recently begun to test and will publish its data in the coming few weeks, according to Kruppa. We believe that, plus hospitalizations and a few more data graphs we can reliably source each week will be beneficial for the community. So we apologize that it has been lax lately, but check back in the next few days for a refined board that better reflects the situation in April 2022 and going forward.

Read this article:

Mask advisory back in effect amid "continued increase" in COVID-19 hospitalizations, new cases - The Ithaca Voice

Prairie Surf dedicates soundstage to Oscar-winner Gray Frederickson

Prairie Surf Studios surprised Oklahoma native and Oscar-winning producer Gray Frederickson by naming a soundstage after him during a small ceremony.

Addison Kliewer, Oklahoman

In fall 2005, just months after Hurricane Katrina dealt a devastating blow to Louisiana, the New Orleans Hornets tipped off the first of their two NBA seasons in downtown Oklahoma City.

In the wake of catastrophe, tragedy and trauma, the Sooner State's capital showed the world it was a big-league city, setting up the court for the OKC Thunder to move to town in 2008.

In much the same way, Oklahomans' welcoming poise in the face of another calamity the global COVID-19 pandemic has helped the state's burgeoning film and television industry score multiple slam dunks over the past two years.

"Overall, I believe COVID has changed the landscape of Oklahomas film industry but for the better because our people and communities united and chose to find solutions during such uncertain times," Oklahoma Film + Music Office Director Tava Maloy Sofskysaid in an email.

"From Gov. Kevin Stitt deeming the motion picture and recording industries as essential industries in June of 2020, along with our states borders and businesses opening, it was honestly like the Land Run for films pivoting from other states (and) wanting to come film in our beautiful and pro-business state."

With Stitt inking a new, larger film incentive last year, industry watchers don't expect to see the rush of movie and TV projects to slow anytime soon.

In June 2020, producer-director Danny Roth completed production on the feature film Harvest of the Heart (later retitled "A Country Romance") in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The Michigan moviemaker's romantic drama was one of the first live-action productions to start in North America after the pandemic brought TV and filmmaking to a halt in March 2020.

"We were the first state to return to work after the stay-at-home orders, and I think it just put Oklahoma on the map for a lot of producers and studios that hadn't really heard the Oklahoma buzz yet," said Emily O'Banion, a health safety supervisor and the owner of Oklahoma Set Medics.

"It created a real spotlight on what could be filmed here."

In May 2020, Roth contacted O'Banion and asked if she was interested in becoming the "COVID officer" on his first movie to film in the Sooner State. By the time the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Directors Guild of America and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees had released their "The Safe Way Forward" report that summer, Roth was on Day 13 of the 16-day shoot on the romantic drama.

"I wrote the protocols for that, just put what I thought sounded like good ideas. … We got the protocols approved from SAG, and that was the first feature film that SAG (green) lit in the post-COVID world," O'Banion recalled.

"It was a very positive thing for Oklahoma film. With the pandemic, we've had a lot of success in filming under the COVID protocols and drawing more productions here because of the innovation of getting back to work the quickest. ... And I would say the strictest protocol shows that I've worked on have been in Oklahoma the first 18 months of COVID."

Becoming the first state to reopen for filming after the coronavirus outbreak was the first but certainly not the last milestone the state's movie and TV industry has achieved during the pandemic. Since early 2020, the Oklahoma Film + Music Office has hosted a record-breaking 65 films, providing more than 11,000 career opportunities and direct spending by the productions in excess of $170 million, Sofsky said.

In 2021, the groundbreaking immigrant drama "Minari," which was made in Tulsa, became a darling of the cinematic awards season, winning a best supporting actress Oscar for Korean performer Youn Yuh-jung.

Also last year, Martin Scorsese's eagerly awaited adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon became the largest movie to ever film in Oklahoma, while the trailblazing streaming show "Reservation Dogs" became the states first scripted television series.

The first mainstream TV show on which every writer, director and series regular performer is Indigenous, "Reservation Dogs" in March won two Film Independent Spirit Awards for best new scripted series and best ensemble cast in a new scripted series on the Santa Monica Pier in California and then began filming its anticipated second season in Tulsa and Okmulgee.

"Its been a whirlwind. My lifes changed and to be able to share what we share with this show has been a blessing, and I think people really needed something that was hopeful and truthful during this pandemic," Sterlin Harjo, the Tulsa-based Native American co-creator and executive producer of "Reservation Dogs," told press backstage at the awards show.

Filming also started in March in OKC and Tulsa on another high-profile streaming series: the "Untitled Tulsa Project" starring iconic actor Sylvester Stallone. Expected to debut in fall, the planned Paramount+ show created by Taylor Sheridan the mastermind behind the hit shows "Yellowstone," "1883" and "Mayor of Kingstown" is also known as "The Tulsa King."

As is typical in the film business, what's happening behind the scenes is as important as what's happening in front of the cameras.

"Weve been fortunate to witness first-hand so many success stories amid the pandemic, as the states film and television industries evolved and expanded (and still are) to better serve the needs of this creative sector," Sofsky said.

"While COVID has certainly brought many Oklahomans challenges on personal and professional levels, the people of Oklahoma are born resilient, and our local crew, including health and safety companies, labs and small businesses, collaborated with major Hollywood studios and independent producers to find ways to rise above and build an even stronger industry by innovating this new frontier."

Last May, Stitt signed the "Filmed in Oklahoma Act of 2021," boosting the annual cap on the state's film incentive program from $8 million to $30 million.

Plus, the state's film rebate isn't the only one around these days: The cities of Bethany and Oklahoma City, as well as the Cherokee Nation Film Office, have all launched their own film incentive programs in the past year.

Also since the pandemic started: Prairie Surf Studios opened in the former Cox Convention Center, while Green Pastures Studio is operating in a converted elementary school in Spencer. Inventive crew training programs are popping up across the state, and local businesses like O'Banion's are expanding to meet the growing industrys needs.

"I started getting calls right from the get-go: Working on 'Reagan' morphed into 'The Unbreakable Boy' and that then went into 'American Underdog.' By 'American Underdog,' I was just inundated with producers and studios reaching out, offering, 'Can you do our project, and if you can't do our project, can you consult?O'Banion said.

Her Oklahoma Set Medics now boasts about 45 full-time employees either working on projects or taking a break but still on her active roster, up from 30 workers a year ago.

As with hosting the Hornets after Hurricane Katrina, she said Oklahoma's ability to respond positively to catastrophe has been a boon to the film industry.

"Even filming in another state, when you mention Oklahoma, the question is gonna be, 'Oh, you guys are filming a lot. ... What happened over in Oklahoma?'" O'Banion said.

"It's kind of crazy that COVID was a catalyst in this boom, but it really was. ... There is definitely still a buzz. There's still a momentum. There's still a lot of the locals that have really come up the last few years that are working in high demand. So, it's a very exciting time."

Read more here:

Momentum gained in COVID-19 pandemic 'like the Land Run' for Oklahoma film and TV industry - Oklahoman.com

Based on Public Healths latest data from Monday, April 25th, our rate of cases now puts King County into the Medium COVID-19 Community Level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): over 200 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.

While the CDC medium risk category is not a magic threshold, meaning something has suddenly or fundamentally changed about the outbreak, it does tell us that COVID-19 risk is increasing for individuals and for our community. We can use this information to lower our own risk and those around us by increasing our protection.

We know the number of reported cases is an underestimate of the actual current level of COVID-19 in the community. Thats because more people are using at-home rapid test results that are often unreported to health officials and some people dont get tested at all.

While cases have been rising gradually over the past month, hospitalizations and deaths remain relatively low, thanks primarily to the protection against serious illness that vaccinations and boosters are providing to most King County residents.

As King County Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin reflects, that hospitalizations and deaths are stable and relatively low is a good sign that people who are vaccinated and boosted have great protection from serious infections. This can change if cases continue to increase, but so far, its reassuring.

COVID-19 activity can rise and fall in response to several factors. For example, the amount of virus in our community can change based on whether we take more or fewer precautions. Levels can also change when new variants emerge and if they spread more readily, cause more severe illness, or dodge protection from vaccines and past infection. And levels can shift depending on if or when protection from vaccination or past infection decreases over time.

Preventing hospitalizations and deaths is the top priority, and our vaccines are currently doing a great job on this front, says King County Health Officer Jeff Duchin. Although were not able to count every case, every case counts because even less severe COVID-19 can lead to long COVID in an estimated 10-30% of cases, with brain, heart and lung problems that can make it difficult to work and do normal activities. People with less severe infections can also spread COVID-19 to others, including people at high risk. And some people will get severe infections, especially those who are unvaccinated such as children under five, says Dr. Duchin.

At this time, we are re-emphasizing our recommendations for layered prevention measures described above and are not issuing any new requirements or restrictions in King County.

Public Health will continue to monitor our local situation to determine whether additional measures will be needed to optimally protect the health of our community.

Its not possible to predict if cases will continue to rise, when they might fall, or when they might rise again, but we expect ongoing ups and downs over the next few years based on what variants emerge, population immunity and other factors. By increasing our prevention steps when more virus is circulating, as it is currently, we can help prevent larger surges and lower our risk.

Going forward, to decrease risk over time, its critical to continue to focus on sustainable, long-term strategies, such as increasing opportunities to improve indoor air quality and confronting structural and systemic disparities that place some communities at greater risk for more severe impacts from COVID-19.

This latest video highlights the key recommended steps that can help reduce risk.

Originally published 4/25/22

Originally posted here:

What does Medium COVID-19 level mean for you? Our latest data and steps to take with cases rising - Public Health Insider

COVID-19 remained the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in 2021, according to preliminary datareleased Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 death rates were highest among people aged 85 and older; Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native populations; and males.

According to a separate CDC reporton the data, disparities in COVID-19 death rates decreased between 14% and 40.2% in 2021 for all racial and ethnic groups except Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders. The authors said the reductions reflect the widespread impact of effective interventions, including vaccination, deployed since January 2020 to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 disease and death.

Read more here:

CDC: COVID-19 third leading cause of death last year, disparities decline | AHA News - American Hospital Association

U.S. Rep. Andy Levin talks about "green ooze" in Madison Heights

U.S. Rep. Andy Levin discussed the now-infamous green ooze has been leaking out of the condemned site in Madison Heights

Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press

U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, tested positive last week for COVID-19 and is quarantining at home.

Levin, 61, came down with cold-like symptoms last Thursday but is feeling much better now, his spokeswoman, Jenny Byer, said Monday.

More: Democratic allies now rivals, Levin, Stevens spar in first campaign debate

More: COVID-19 cases in Michigan expected to climb through May: What it means

"He's feeling good. He's back to his regular schedule," albeit virtually, she said.

Levin himself said he was feeling better in a post on Twitter on Sunday night.

Byer said Levin will remain in Michigan this week andvote remotely.

Levin is in a tough race this year facing another Democrat, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, of Waterford. The two debated in Pontiac last Wednesday night.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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US Rep. Andy Levin tests positive for COVID-19 - Detroit Free Press

Health officials are urging Australians to take Covid-19 precautions at Anzac Day commemorations despite restrictions easing in most states and territories.

With many jurisdictions preparing for the return of full-scale Anzac Day services after two Covid-disrupted years, Victorias health department has shared risk-mitigation tips.

It recommends patrons wear a mask when unable to physically distance, particularly in crowds or indoor environments.

Those who are symptomatic are encouraged to stay home and get tested, while people meeting indoors should open doors and windows to maximise air flow.

As important as the Anzac Day march and our dawn services are, there may be elderly and vulnerable people there we need to protect, chief health officer, Brett Sutton, said on Sunday.

Seven-day isolation for close contacts is no longer mandatory in NSW or Victoria as daily case numbers plateau or dip amid the current Omicron sub-variant wave.

New South Wales recorded eight Covid deaths and 11,107 new cases on Sunday while two people died with Covid and there were 7,104 cases in Victoria.

Prof Nancy Baxter, an epidemiologist told ABC News the number of cases was still too high to have relaxed the rules for close contacts.

Although we seem to be over the hump of the second Omicron wave, we still have a very, very high number of Covid cases in our community and a high number of Covid deaths, Prof Baxter told the ABC on Sunday.

And we know that with the high risk of household transmission, if those people are not isolating, we are going to increase the risk of further transmission outside the household. So, I think what were going to end up with is a high plateau of cases.

She said it was difficult to determine the chance of contracting the virus if you are a household contact, but estimated they had a 25% to 50% chance of becoming a Covid case.

Household contact quarantine rules will be ditched in the ACT after Anzac Day, while Queensland is moving to scrap quarantine for unvaccinated international arrivals by Thursday.

South Australia will also drop the requirement for close contact isolation from 30 April, but they must take five rapid antigen tests over seven days.

Masks will also be required outside the home, high-risk settings like aged care centres will be off limits and employers and schools will need proof of status.

Vaccination status and check-in requirements for social and sporting venues are being wound back in Victoria, although mandates for workers in multiple industries have been retained.

NSW is shifting to a risk assessment model, with household contacts of positive cases no longer needing to isolate for seven days, so long as they continue to test negative.

They should still work from home where possible and avoid high-risk settings.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee says it would be appropriate to drop some stricter restrictions, once the current wave of infections has peaked.

But authorities also warn infection rates may spike as restrictions ease.

More than 31,000 new Covid-19 cases have been recorded across Australia along with 17 deaths on Sunday, as the national toll since the start of the pandemic nears 7,000.

6,987 Australians have lost their lives to coronavirus, with NSW and Victoria accounting for 79% of the deaths.

Read more:

Anzac Day: health authorities urge Covid-19 precautions at gatherings - The Guardian

COVID vaccine second booster: Here's who can get the 4th shot

Here's what to know about the second COVID-19 booster shot and if you are eligible for it.

Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

A few weeks into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and metrics show both positive and negative signs.

Wisconsin has reached new lows this year in the average number of deaths reported by the state Department of Health Services. Currently, the seven-day average of confirmed daily deaths is fewer than two, the lowest average this year. The state reported 11 confirmed COVID deaths this week and another two deaths were probable.

The state averaged 46 deaths a day during the onslaught of the omicron variant peak in January. Now, new death totals provides optimism as the omicron variant wanes and new variants settles in.

The BA.2 variant has been the most dominant variant in the U.S. since mid-March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.There is also an increase in the presence of other variants BA.2.12.1, BA.1.1, BA.1.1.529 in the last month.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygienehasn't provided data that shows a significant presence of the BA.2 variant in Wisconsin cases.

The state, though, isexperiencing a rise in cases and positivity rate. The seven-day average of daily cases is 895,up 563 cases from a month ago. The seven-day average of percent positive by test is 7.2%,up 4.5%.

Also, thenumber of total patients hospitalizedhas increased in recent days, but the number of people hospitalized (163 patients)is considerably lower than its peak of more than 2,250 patients in January.

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin: See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses

State and private labs regularly do further tests on a portion of positive COVID-19 samples to find the prevalence of different variants of the virus. The numbers below are just a fraction of the total number of variant cases.

Omicronvariant was identified in 100% of tests sequenced during the week starting March 20.

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 orDBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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Wisconsin is averaging fewer than 2 confirmed COVID-19 deaths a day as the presence of BA.2 variant increases in the U.S. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Inside the Oak Cliff Government Center sat people facing uncertainty and some facing evictions.

Hopefully with having the agencies here, like United Way, and the county and the city, it might help them expedite the application process, said Juan Jasso, Justice of the Peace.

Jasso and other city officials and leaders organized the clinic to help people get financial assistance.

There has always been a need, but I think the pandemic has exacerbated the need because people obviously lost their jobs, had their salaries cut, and they fell behind, said Jasso.

Community agencies guided over 100 families who showed up, unsure of what to do.

We also have attorneys from North Texas Legal Aid. Its to give people an opportunity to come and get some legal advice, but also to apply for rental assistance, said Jasso.

Its a one-stop shop clinic full of resources and hope.

The latest news from around North Texas.

All of us have been affected by COVID-19, and all of us have been affected by the rising prices in the grocery stores and in rent. So thats where the rubber meets the road, right here, said Theresa Daniel, Dallas County Commissioner District 1.

Landlords were also able to get assistance and information at the Eviction Clinic.

City leaders say more events are planned for the future.

Read this article:

Eviction Clinic Held in Dallas to Help Families Affected by COVID-19 - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth