Category: Covid-19

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After circulating at nearly nonexistent levels last year, influenza is increasing in most of the United States.

Thats according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions most recent flu report, released Friday, which also notes that the number of reported flu-related hospital admissions has increased each week for the past seven weeks.

I have been tracking recent influenza activity nationally and locally. We are not surprised that influenza activity is increasing, Dr. Angela Branche, an infectious disease specialist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester, wrote in an email Wednesday.

Im a little surprised that its still mostly H3N2 infections and not influenza B. I might have expected an influenza B wave this late in the flu season, Branche wrote.

Influenza A and B viruses cause the most illness in the United States, especially during flu season. The subtypes of influenza A are H1N1 and H3N2. Influenza A H3N2 viruses have been the most frequently detected influenza viruses this season, according to the CDC.

In a non-pandemic year, this pattern of flu activity would not be entirely unusual; to see influenza cases peak in January and then decline with another surge in early Spring, Branche added.

The CDC estimates that, so far this season, there have been at least 3.1 million flu illnesses, 31,000 hospitalizations, and 1,800 deaths from flu, as of Friday.

By comparison, the lowest end of CDC flu estimates for each year between 2010 and 2020 included 9 million cases, 140,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths.

While flu activity has been increasing in most places across the country, the highest levels have been recorded in the central and south-central regions of the United States, according to the CDC.

Some schools in these areas have canceled classes due to a surge in flu.

Johnson County Schools in Tennessee closed March 11, citing an excessive amount of influenza cases. The closure gave custodians time to thoroughly clean the buildings before schools reopened the next week.

We did close one day due to increase number of employees out for Flu and not having enough substitutes to cover, Mischelle Simcox, Johnson Countys director of schools, wrote in an email Tuesday.

We did this on a Friday which gave us a long weekend to help staff members recover and feel better, Simcox wrote. We have not had to close for Flu since 2020. We only close when we have a large number of employees out and not enough coverage for our staff. During this time our custodians take extra steps to disinfect and clean all areas of the buildings.

In the West, Oregons health officer, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, said the uptick in flu cases there could be the indication of a surge. About 3.1% of tests reported in Oregon were positive for flu in the week ending March 12, he said, compared with 2.5% the previous week.

Nationally, for the week ending March 19, 7.7% of specimens tested in clinical labs for the flu virus were reported to the CDC as being positive for influenza.

We are concerned because this is usually the time that our flu season is winding down, but we are seeing this uptick in cases, and it could be tied to peoples behavior: taking off their masks and returning to some of their more normal activities, Sidelinger said Tuesday.

He added that current flu levels are still well below what has been reported in Oregon for pre-pandemic flu seasons. In March 2019, the percent of influenza tests coming back positive was nearly 40%.

Like the rest of the country, last year, we saw very little flu, Sidelinger said. That wasnt because the flu virus disappeared. But those measures that people took to combat Covid wearing their masks, limiting their gathering, trying to move things outside where spread of respiratory viruses is harder and is less easy certainly limited flu.

Branche also referred to the rolling back of Covid-19 mitigation measures as playing a role in increases of flu activity.

Because H3N2 has remained in circulation, even if at low levels, for the last several months, I would think that the current rise in H3N2 cases is probably most related to the relaxation of COVID19 mitigation strategies such as masking and social distancing, she wrote.

Viral competition which describes when respiratory viruses may compete for people to infect also may play a role.

This concept has been theorized for many years, and intuitively makes sense where adults are concerned, since they are much less likely to be coinfected and usually are only infected with one virus at the time, Branche wrote. So its one possible explanation.

Influenza is contributing to levels of respiratory illness in the United States, but the CDC notes that other respiratory viruses are also circulating, too.

The CDC also notes that while the number of flu-related hospital admissions reported to the US Department of Health and Human Services has climbed weekly for the seventh week in a row, the cumulative hospitalization rate for this flu season is higher than the rate for the entire 2020-2021 season, but still lower than the rate seen around this time during the four flu seasons preceding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Flu activity was declining from mid-December through January, according to the CDC. Around that time, Covid-19 cases were increasing. Then, as flu cases started to rise earlier this year, Covid-19 cases took a downturn.

As coronavirus mitigation measures like mask-wearing and social distancing roll back in states across the country, why has the nation seen a rise in flu but not Covid-19 itself?

I think the reason were not seeing Covid cases go up right now is a combination of high vaccination rates with many people in Oregon being up-to-date on their Covid vaccines and then folks whove recently recovered during this largest surge, this Omicron surge, and still have a level of protection, Sidelinger said.

So were at a place where we have less people who are susceptible to the disease right now than at previous times in the pandemic, he said. Thats why we still continue to see numbers go down even as masks come off.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials hasnt heard much from its members about increases in flu, but the rise in cases nationally could be tied to fewer people getting their flu shots this year and this seasons flu vaccine not being as effective as in previous seasons, Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHOs chief executive officer, said Wednesday.

Yet even if its less effective than normal, it still has the ability to provide some protection perhaps that might lessen the symptoms and-or the length of the flu, Freeman said. So I wouldnt necessarily give up on the flu shot, because it can still be helpful in warding off more severe disease.

This flu season, based on data from 3,636 children and adults who got the flu between October and mid-February, the vaccine did not seem to reduce their risk of getting sick from the influenza A (H3N2) viruses that have been predominant, according to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published this month. The overall vaccine effectiveness against infection was 16%, which is considered not statistically significant.

However, there wasnt enough enrollment in that study for a reliable understanding of how effective it was, and the CDC is studying how well the current vaccine protected against severe illness.

Overall, the flu vaccine is known to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from flu, and the CDC still recommends that people get vaccinated against flu, even late in the season. The CDC estimates that during the 2019-2020 season, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 105,000 flu-related hospitalizations.

Americans should always be encouraged to get vaccinated against influenza. Influenza has always been a threat to the health of vulnerable members of our communities and that remains true, even during the pandemic, Branche wrote in her email.

Usually I dont strongly encourage my patients to get an influenza vaccine this late in the season, but with rising cases and the uncertainty of how things will unfold over the next few months, its still worth getting vaccinated if you havent done so as yet for the 2021-2022 season.

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As Covid-19 cases fall and masks come off, flu cases are rising - CNN

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In yet another sign Illinois government is moving into a new pandemic phase, the state will close its community, free COVID-19 testing sites within the next week.

The action comes amid concern about spread of the highly transmissible BA.2 variant, but the Illinois Department of Public Health in a release Friday said the State is currently strongly positioned to respond to a potential surge, with the State stockpile of tests nearly fully replenished. There are more than 1.5 million rapid tests on hand, with a half a million more on the way in the coming weeks.

Statewide, the case positivity rate is currently 1.4%, per the latest IDPH data. Chicago reports a positivity rate of .9%

The taxpayer-funded testing sites have been a fixture since early in the pandemic.

IDPH cites a sharp increase in demand that dropped precipitously in recent weeks as its reason for closing the testing locations, as well as an anticipated end of federal funding.

COVID-19 at-home testing is also more common and accessible, with the federal government offering to mail households testing kits and a federal requirement that health insurance companies reimburse policyholders who buy testing kits in stores.

While there had been dozens of these sites dotting the state performing 1.5 million tests throughout their time in operation, according to IDPH the agencys website now lists only ten.

Half of the sites had also been operating as vaccination clinics. Come March 31, they will no longer offer vaccines either.

The sites are currently handling less than one percent of the tests being conducted statewide, IDPH said Friday in a press release, and said that its data shows the number of daily tests conducted at these sites is on track to be the lowest on record with each site seeing fewer than 50 individuals per day, down from a peak of 1,040 per day at each site in November 2020.

There are ample, convenient opportunities for Illinois residents to obtain access to a test if needed, the IDPH release said, including at SHIELD saliva testing sites, federally qualified health centers.

Private COVID-19 testing operations remain open, and doctors offices offer tests, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved 63 at-home COVID-19 testing kits.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, who led IDPH throughout the pandemic, resigned effective March 14. Ammal Tokars, who had been assistant director, is serving in the top position on an interim basis while Illinois conducts a national search.

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With Sharp Drop in Demand, Community-Based COVID-19 Testing Sites to End Operations March 31 - WTTW News

Is the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic behind us or is it yet to come?

Although some of us are breathing a sigh of relief now that the pandemic seems to be waning, we cant let our guard down, said Rep. Liz Boldon (DFL-Rochester).

We dont know what the future holds. Worldwide, less than 59 percent of the population is fully vaccinated and this leaves the door open for new variants and future waves.

She sponsors HF3862, which would direct the Department of Health to distribute free COVID-19 tests, masks, and respirators to Minnesotans.

The House Health Finance and Policy Committee laid the bill over, as amended, Friday for possible omnibus bill inclusion.

The department would ship the free COVID-19 antigen tests, masks, and respirators including KN95 respirators directly to individuals, but they could also be distributed through local health departments, COVID community coordinators, and other community-based organizations.

Providing these tools to those who want them will allow Minnesotans to take the actions we know will keep each other safe, Boldon said.

The Health Department may prioritize distribution to communities and populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19 or who have difficulty accessing COVID-19 tests, masks, or respirators.

The bill would make a yet-to-be-determined appropriation in fiscal year 2022 to fund the program.

My colleagues and I know all too well the threat that COVID still poses to Minnesotans of all ages, said Dr. Caleb Schultz, an anesthesiologist at Hennepin Healthcare and a Twin Cities Medical Society board member.

The virus will change quickly, and public health agencies must also be prepared to change quickly in response, he said.

While we all hope we are done battling with COVID-19, hope is not a strategy, Schultz said. We must remain vigilant, and our state must be prepared for future surges.

Sen. Melissa Wiklund (DFL-Bloomington) sponsors the companion bill, SF3904, which awaits action by the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee.

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Health panel hears bill to distribute free masks, COVID-19 antigen tests to Minnesota residents - Session Daily - Minnesota House of Representatives -...

Wayne Snap, a chemist in the St. Louis County Health Department clinical lab, grabs a sample on Tuesday, Feb, 22, 2022, in the process running a small batch of COVID-19 test samples in the Berkeley headquarters building of the agency. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com

ST. LOUIS A federal program that has given tens of millions of dollars to Missouri providers to defray the cost of COVID-19 testing and treatment for the uninsured came to an end Wednesday, leaving clinics and hospitals worried about the impact on tight budgets and continuing efforts to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

From a public health and a community health perspective, anything that puts a damper on testing and treatment is really a bad idea because the consequences are increased (infection) rates and higher degree of transmission, said BJC HealthCares Dr. Clay Dunagan, speaking on behalf of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which includes all the major hospital systems in the region.

Hospital leaders fear uninsured patients may not seek testing and treatment when exposed or sick because they are worried about the cost, miss the window for prevention therapies or end up requiring more costly care in the emergency room.

Dr. Clay Dunagan, BJC HealthCare senior vice president and chief clinical officer .

The health systems, as always, will do whats clinically appropriate for the patient sitting in front of us, Dunagan said. It will become just another unfunded mandate on the health system for taking care of uninsured patients.

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The end of the funding for the uninsured is the first casualty in a budget impasse between Congress and President Joe Bidens administration over its request for an additional $22.5 billion for the ongoing response to the virus.

The uninsured program has been in place since May 2020. It reimburses hospital, clinics, doctors, laboratories and other service providers for COVID-19 care of the nations uninsured population, which totals about 28 million people. In Missouri, the latest federal census data shows 12% of those under the age of 65 are uninsured or about 612,000 Missourians.

The program is run by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, which warns on its website that it stopped accepting claims at midnight Wednesday for testing and treatment. After April 5, the program will no longer be able to accept claims for vaccination costs.

A White House fact sheet says other COVID-related efforts also will soon be in danger without new funding, such as the development of new vaccines and maintaining a robust capacity for testing.

The federal government also has no more funding for additional monoclonal antibody treatments for high-risk individuals who get COVID-19. Starting Monday, state allocations of the treatments will be cut by more than 30% to spread out the existing supply.

Waiting to provide funding once were in a surge will be too late, the fact sheet stated.

Republicans argue money to pay for new expenditures should be found in the trillions that Congress has already provided since the pandemic began two years ago, including a $1.9 trillion measure Democrats pushed through Congress over unanimous GOP opposition a year ago.

GOP leaders say the administration has not provided figures on how much of that money remains unspent. At this weeks Republican leadership press conference, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, called on using unspent funds.

My advice to the administration is be totally transparent with where that $1.9 trillion went. Lets see whats left, Blunt said. Lets see if we couldnt find, out of whats left, some money to fully pay for whatever the administration would like to do next to add to the accounts that I personally believe need to be added to, but I dont think we need to do it as an emergency.

Administration officials say they have provided details, according to the Associated Press. Only around $300 billion of the $1.9 trillion relief measure remains unspent and most of that has been promised to specific recipients like states and cities.

The St. Louis County Health Department of Public Health responded to a reporters inquiry about the end to the uninsured program with a statement that urged Congress to revive the program.

Vaccination, testing and treatment (whenever indicated) are the cornerstones of the response strategy in the current phase of the pandemic, the statement read. Any disruptions in support for health care providers on this front will only result in more disease and misery for our community.

$402 millionHRSA officials say the uninsured program has reimbursed care for millions of people during the two-year-old pandemic. The program pays out about $500 million a week in claims, and more than 50,000 service providers have taken advantage of it.

In Missouri, federal data shows, 1,165 providers have used the program and been reimbursed nearly $402 million to test, treat and vaccinate the uninsured between May 29, 2020, and March 3, 2022.

Most about $300 million has been used to cover testing costs. Most of that money has gone to private laboratories processing the tests for places like health departments, homeless shelters and clinics.

Quest Diagnostics received nearly $225 million in claims for processing tests for the uninsured, some of which could also come from out-of-state.

When contacted by the Post-Dispatch, Quest company officials referred a reporter to a March 21 letter that the American Clinical Laboratory Association sent to congressional leaders asking them to replenish the uninsured program.

Last year, members of the association processed more than 8 million tests for the uninsured. In January and February, during the peak of the omicron variant-driven COVID wave, labs were processing 500,000 tests per month.

This critical program has provided life-saving access to COVID-19 testing for uninsured individuals and ensured that all Americans could access a test when needed, the letter stated.

The letter went on to warn that testing remains an important tool against a possible new wave of infections by the omicron subvariant BA.2, which is already increasing cases in some states. The federal government must continue to protect COVID-19 testing and ensure that all Americans, regardless of insurance status, will have access to COVID-19 testing without cost-sharing.

Vince Ojeda, the CEO of Biodivision Diagnostics, a small lab in Collinsville, said the lab has had to shut down its uninsured program, which was processing tests for the homeless service providers across the country, like St. Patrick Center in St. Louis, and groups assisting refugees at the southern border.

Our mission during the pandemic has been to serve the underserved, Ojeda said. But, he said, we simply cannot afford to pay for the supplies needed, the collection staff required, and the technology and technical staff in our laboratory without being reimbursed.

Amanda Laumeyer, senior director of philanthropy for St. Patrick Center, said the agency was using Biodivision to process weekly tests at its homeless shelter for women.

The testing has been essential in catching positive cases and preventing spread within the shelter, Laumeyer said. She learned of the end to the program from a reporter.

We dont know how this will affect us, she said. We will have to look at other ways to find free testing, or wed possibly have to look into having to stop providing testing.

Many patients have used urgent care clinics promising free COVID-19 testing when they have been exposed to an infected person or have symptoms.

Total Access Urgent Care, with nearly 30 urgent care clinics across the St. Louis region, has used the federal program to get reimbursed $6.8 million for testing and $1 million for treating the uninsured, data shows.

Ashley Williams, vice president of patient experience for Total Access, said the company has relied on the program since its inception and was caught off guard this week when it ended.

The clinics will now start charging those without insurance $199 for a COVID-19 test, Williams said, which just covers the cost of the provider to see the patient and the lab to process the test.

Theres no mark-up on that lab charge, she said. We want to make sure that people have access to COVID testing, and that we do everything we can to help everyone, insured and uninsured.

Omicron subvariant{p style=text-align: left;}Affinia Healthcare operates more than half a dozen federally qualified health centers in St. Louis that care for patients on Medicaid and the uninsured.

Affinia Chief Operating Officer Kendra Holmes said the areas low case levels and positivity rates have allowed Affinia to switch gears to another federal program that began a month ago providing health centers with free COVID-19 home-testing kits and highly protective N95 face masks for those who need them.

Anyone, not just Affinia patients, can pick up two kits a week, she said. Each kit contains two COVID-19 tests that provide results in 10 minutes using a self-collected nasal swab.

Affinia is also working to provide kits to places like homeless shelters, Holmes said. This is definitely going to help with the testing piece.

She said staff is also focusing on helping any uninsured patients they come across to enroll in Medicaid, which recently expanded eligibility in Missouri, or the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, where participation costs are lower thanks to pandemic relief funds.

Holmes said it makes sense to pivot funding to other areas such as understanding and treating long COVID serious symptoms that can linger months after the infection which Affinia providers are seeing more of.

The virus, however, has been shown to be unpredictable with each new wave and mutation.

The omicron subvariant BA.2, estimated to be 50% more infectious than omicron, is causing an increase in several states in the Northeast and South. In New York, Connecticut and Arkansas, cases are up by more than 20%, according to The New York Times data tracker.

St. Louis County health department officials warned on Wednesday that the new subvariant has been detected in Missouris wastewater surveillance, and it has caused some cases of COVID-19 in the county.

Dunagan, with the hospital task force, said he expects the strain to cause an uptick in cases, but how much is unknown.

Anything that puts pressure on testing and treatment is going to decrease our ability to contain it, he said. I dont know how severe the withdrawal of funding (for the uninsured) will be in that regard, but it certainly doesnt help.

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End to federal program covering COVID-19 costs for the uninsured worries local health officials - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A team of researchers from theUniversity of Gothenburg has just taken another step toward understanding how the immune system develops resistance against COVID-19.

For six months, the researchers at the Universitys Sahlgrenska Academy investigated 156 employees from five primary care health facilities who were recruited during April and May 2020. None of these employees had been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the majority of them had to work with infected patients on a daily basis during the height of the pandemic.

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They identified IgA (immunoglobulin A) in the respiratory tracts of several of the personnel who didn't catch COVID-19, which could mean they had an antidote in their immune systems all this time.

These antibodies are found naturally in mucous membrane secretions in the airways and gastrointestinal tract, where they protect the body by binding to viruses and other invading organisms.

COVID-19,an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has claimed the lives of more than 6 million people since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. In fact, some researchers say the true number of lives lost to the COVID-19 by 31 December 2021 was 18.2 million, which is more than three times the official death toll.

The disease appears to affect some people more severely than others, with some experiencing very minor symptoms and others being hospitalized and requiring aid in breathing.The current study aimed to uncover health factors that appeared to offer COVID-19 protection for the unvaccinated.

We all have IgA," saidChristine Wenners, Professor of Clinical Bacteriology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and senior physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, who is part of the research team. "Its found on the mucous membranes, and COVID-19 is an infection that spreads via those membranes. We thought it was important to investigate what happened when completely healthy people encountered the coronavirus, before vaccines became available."

Of the participants in our study, none whom contracted COVID-19 required hospitalization," she continued. "A lot of other research has concerned the most seriously ill patients, who have been hospitalized and in need of intensive care.

According to the results of the study published in the European Journal of Immunology, a third of the care workers developed antibodies to COVID-19, and theyfell into two distinct groupsbased on antibody patterns and COVID-19 incidence.

One group that exclusively possessed IgA antibodies never succumbed to COVID-19. Participants in the other group had IgG antibodies as well as T cells and got the sickness.

The participants who did not test positive or were unwell all had IgA antibodies. Other characteristics that seemed to provide protection against infection were being female and having a respiratory allergy.

The data, however, does not support the notion that those who do not have antibodies against COVID-19 have protective T cells, which area part of the immune system that focuses on specific foreign particles.

It should be noted that the majority of the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. In fact, as the Omicron subvariant BA.2 replaces its sister version, BA.1, as the dominant form of COVID-19 in many countries, researchers have discovered that two doses of COVID vaccination stillappear to reduce the risk of infection caused by the new subvariant.

Study Abstract:

The patterns of humoral and cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2 were studied in Swedish primary health care workers (n = 156) for 6 months during the Covid-19 pandemic. Serum IgA and IgG to SARS-CoV-2, T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion, demographic and clinical data, PCR-verified infection, and self-reported symptoms were monitored. The multivariate method OPLS-DA was used to identify immune response patterns coupled to protection from Covid-19. Contracting Covid-19 was associated with SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing serum IgG, T cell, IFN-, and granzyme B responses to SARS-CoV-2, self-reported typical Covid-19 symptoms, male sex, higher BMI, and hypertension. Not contracting Covid-19 was associated with female sex, IgA-dominated, or no antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2, airborne allergy, and smoking. The IgG-responders had SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses including a cytotoxic CD4+ T-cell population expressing CD25, CD38, CD69, CD194, CD279, CTLA-4, and granzyme B. IgA-responders with no IgG response to SARS-CoV-2 constituted 10% of the study population. The IgA responses were partially neutralizing and only seen in individuals who did not succumb to Covid-19. To conclude, serum IgG-dominated responses correlated with T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 and PCR-confirmed Covid-19, whereas IgA-dominated responses correlated with not contracting the infection.

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A hidden immune feature may have spared unvaccinated people from COVID-19 infections - Interesting Engineering

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) Every Ohio county is green on the Centers for Disease Controls latest COVID-19 risk map, indicating that the federal health agency recommends no one needs to wear face coverings.

The new weekly map, published Thursday night, has all 88 counties at the lowest of three community levels. At green, the CDC leaves masks as a personal choice for everyone regardless of their risk to COVID-19.

In counties at a high community level (orange), people are urged to wear masks indoors. At medium (yellow), masks are possible for high-risk people if their doctor recommends it.

The CDC notes, however, anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, a positive test or exposure to someone with the virus should wear a mask. Immunocompromised people also have further recommendations.

Even when a county is green, the agency still recommends residents stay up to date with vaccines and get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. The CDCs guidance also does not override local, business or transportation mask requirements that may still be in place.

A month ago the CDC switched to its current orange-yellow-green color code for COVID-19 community levels, replacing the the former red-orange-yellow-blue palette. The new map is based more on hospitalizations (and the risk of being hospitalized) than cases.

This week is the first that all of Ohio is green. Last week, a handful of counties in southeastern Ohio were yellow.

The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday reported 3,668 coronavirus cases and 193 hospitalizations from the past week. At about 524 and 28 per day, respectively, they follow the recent downward trend since the omicron wave subsided.

ODHs switch from daily to weekly reporting earlier this month took inspiration from the CDCs updated data techniques and risk evaluation.

Data scientists looked back over time and said, What paradigm would help to best understand risk at a community level related to COVID-19, given the kind of data that we collect and is available? ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said Thursday.

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Masks optional everywhere in Ohio on latest CDC COVID-19 map - NBC4 WCMH-TV

The Met Council said overall virus levels remain low; however, levels of the BA.2 subvariant are rapidly increasing.

ST PAUL, Minn. EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above originally aired in August 2021.

The Metropolitan Council said it is detecting a slight increase in COVID-19 levels in wastewater in the Twin Cities metro area for the first time in more than two months.

According to data shared on social media, COVID-19 levels flowing into the St. Paul Metro Plant on March 21 were up 15% compared to the previous week. It's the first increase detected in metro wastewater since early January, at the peak of omicron variant infections in the state.

The Met Council said overall virus levels remain low; however, levels of the BA.2 subvariant are rapidly increasing, now detected at levels four times higher than two weeks ago.

Wastewater testing shows omicron remains the dominant variant, according to the Met Council.

The Met Council began tracking COVID-19 in wastewater early in the pandemic, taking samples from the Metro Plant in St. Paul, then partnering with the University of Minnesota's Genomics Center to study the prevalence of COVID-19.

Last summer, Steven Balogh, a research scientist at the Metropolitan Wastewater Plant in St. Paul,told KARE 11's Breaking the News that 1.95 million people send the plant their wastewater every day. "All of our treatment plants collect a daily, 24-hour, composite sample, so we know what's coming into our plant. We see the whole picture," Balogh said.

Similar testing has also been happening in a large portion of wastewater facilities across the state during the last year, thanks to the network developed by the University of Minnesota Medical School.

"We're sampling 65% of the population of the state twice a week with this technique," said Dr. Tim Schacker, vice dean of research for the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Wastewater sampling helped the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health track the emergence of the delta variant more than a week before it showed up in testing last summer. Earlier this year, the sewage data helped chart the rapid rise of the omicron variant.

The wastewater tracking data is available to view online.

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COVID-19 levels rising again in Twin Cities wastewater - KARE11.com

The number of people infected with Covid-19 in the U.K. soared by almost a third in a week just as the government prepares to end free virus testing for most people.

About 4.25 million people currently have the disease, almost a million more than last week, according to an estimate by the Office for National Statistics.

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U.K. Covid-19 Infections Surge by One Million in Just a Week - Bloomberg

The nations public health agency now says on its website that people should use the most protective form of masks. While facilities can continue to offer patients surgical masks, facilities should allow the use of a clean mask or respirator with higher level protection by people who chose that option based on their individual preference.

The CDC confirmed the update after this article published.

Matthew Cortland, a disability rights advocate who has been pushing for this change, applauded the update.

CDC has taken an important step to limit the harm their infection prevention and control recommendations are doing to those of us who require health care, Cortland said. No one should be told by a hospital that they must remove a highly protective mask, like an N95.

The change comes after a POLITICO report last week found that hospitals around the country routinely ask patients and visitors to wear a surgical mask instead of their own N95.|Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo

Many hospitals around the country ask patients to remove their N95s and replace them with less protective surgical masks, POLITICO found. That story spurred U.S. health officials to consider notifying Americans how to report facilities that they believe endanger them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates hospitals, wants patients to report facilities that request they remove their masks and replace them with surgical ones.

Health facilities, like all indoor spaces, have facilitated Covid-19 transmission throughout the pandemic. A record number of hospitalized patients in the U.S. were infected with Covid during the Omicron wave. Hospital staff and visitors often wear surgical masks in accordance with CDC guidelines but such masks put people at higher risk of catching Covid, according to studies, including some done by the CDC. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert who advises the Biden administration, earlier told POLITICO that he had no doubt such masks contributed to the transmission.

N95s are some of the best respiratory protection available against airborne viruses, including Covid-19. Many people are several months from their last Covid vaccine shot, and while those shots remain highly protective for most people against severe disease, they dont prevent infection. Healthy as well as immunocompromised people rely on N95s to stop infections.

Though public health experts have urged the Biden administration for over a year to universally recommend N95s, the CDC has not done so. The agency and the White House have argued that even in hospitals, surgical masks provide sufficient protection in many situations, despite CDC research showing that N95s provide superior protection. The agency also says the public can wear cloth masks, which it found are the least effective in stopping Covid transmission.

CDCs choice not to set highly protective masks as the default standard of protection disproportionately harms chronically ill, disabled and immunocompromised Americans, said Cortland.

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CDC updates Covid-19 guidance to allow patients wear N95s - POLITICO

NYC Health + Hospitals continues to urge New Yorkers to get vaccinated and boosted at its hospitals, Gotham Health clinics, and Test & Trace locations; sites remain open and convenient

New York, NY

NYC Health + Hospitals today marked two years since the public health system admitted its first patient in March with a known diagnosis of COVID-19 to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. Throughout the entire pandemic, the health system in collaboration with the NYC Test & Trace Corps, tested, vaccinated and treated thousands of New Yorkers. At the peak of the first wave in April of 2020, the health system treated approximately 4,000 patients. Yesterday, there were fewer than 24 admitted patients with COVID-19 across the systems 11 hospitals. The health system also just recently opened its third COVID-19 Center of Excellence, a specialized clinic for patients with long-term COVID-19 symptoms, known as Long-COVID. A tribute to NYC Health + Hospitals employees can be found here, and a video summarizing the health systems response can be found here.

While the pandemic is not over, its important to mark the anniversary and remind New Yorkers that vaccines and boosters have saved thousands of lives, said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. Our heroic workforce has been on the frontlines since early March when the first COVID-19 patients came through our doors, and they did everything they could to ensure our patients could recover from this disease.

Since our fight against COVID began, our healthcare heroes have worked tirelessly, never giving up, leading us forward and saving thousands of lives, said Dr. Ted Long, Executive Director of the NYC Test & Trace Corps and Senior Vice President for Ambulatory Care and Population Health at NYC Health + Hospitals. Thanks to their efforts, we have provided New Yorkers millions of vaccines and over ten million COVID-19 tests, while always keeping our doors open for anyone who needs to receive care. We have kept our city safe through the pandemic, and as we learn to safely manage COVID-19, we will remain vigilant to protect our city from anything that comes our way.

Compassionate Care

Through the four surges to date, the health system has provided quality and compassionate care for thousands of patients at its hospitals and nursing homes. More than 116,000 patients have been discharged from its hospitals. The emergency departments managed nearly 273,000 patient visits. New Yorkers continue to trust the health systems heroic health care workers, its hospitals, and clinics for their care.

Vaccination is Still Key

NYC Health + Hospitals continues to vaccinate and boost New Yorkers. To date, the health system, with the NYC Test & Trace Corps, has administered over 1.7 million doses and continues to provide mobile vaccinations in areas of need, including New York City Schools, and offer at-home vaccination appointments. Eligible New Yorkers are still encouraged to get vaccinated and can make an appointment by using the health systems COVID-19 vaccine scheduler.

Test and Trace

The public health system built the largest and most robust testing and tracing operation in the country the NYC Test & Trace Corps. Since the program began, it has performed more than 10.5 million tests. During the recent Omicron surge, City-run testing sites tripled over the course of three weeks, conducting more tests than ever before. City-run testing reached a peak of nearly 67,000 tests performed on a single day, January 3, and averaged over 50,000 tests per day during the first weeks of 2022. In December 2021, City-run testing sites detected at least 133,000 positive tests.

Test & Trace continues to provide testing at over a hundred locations across the city and distribute millions of at-home tests through New York City schools, community-based organizations, libraries and cultural institutions.

Through contact tracing, the Test & Trace Corps identified 1.7 million contacts, providing millions of opportunities to break chains of transmission and provide those exposed the resources needed to safely quarantine or isolate. While the tracing program will formally wind down at the end of April, positive cases will still be texted by Test & Trace to be connected to guidance and resources to help them quarantine and isolate. New Yorkers who were exposed or test positive for COVID-19 can also be directed to an online Quarantine and Isolation Guidance tool that offers personalized guidance and quick connections to resources.

Continuing its focus on saving lives, Test & Trace also recently launched COVID Treatment Outreach or CATCH. The initiative will quickly contact New Yorkers at the highest risk of developing serious or severe COVID-19 infections, with a priority on those living in communities hardest hit by the pandemic. CATCH will ensure that life-saving oral antiviral treatments, monoclonal antibody treatment, and other healthcare resources are promptly delivered to those in need.

With the Citys Department of Education, the NYC Test & Trace Corps created the nations first COVID-19 Situation Room, which has enabled NYC to be the first big city in the country to reopen its schools during the COVID pandemic. In addition, Test & Trace created the first school testing surveillance program in the country, and regularly conducts over 80,000 tests per week to ensure students remain healthy and schools remain open.

Additionally, Test & Trace helped 33,000 people isolate at our Test & Trace Corps hotel, and delivered more than 2.2 million free meals to those in isolation or quarantine.

Recovering

In April of 2021 the NYC Test & Trace Corps launched AfterCare to support New Yorkers living with Long COVIDa wide rangeof new, ongoing or returning symptoms patients may develop after their initial COVID-19 infection. The program, which recently announced an inbound calling hotline for New Yorkers to speak directly to its health outreach specialists, connects prior Test & Trace clients who had COVID-19 with ongoing health and social needs to the full range of resources and referrals relating to Long-COVID, including NYC Health + Hospitals COVID-19 Centers of Excellence.

Just recently, the health system opened its third COVID-19 Center of Excellence at 815 Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The other two Centers of Excellence are in Tremont, Bronx and Elmhurst, Queens. All of the sites are located in neighborhoods that were significantly affected by the virus. These centers will ensure New Yorkers have access to the specialized care to address long-term respiratory, cognitive and mental health conditions caused by the virus.

New Yorkers can also schedule an appointment at these, or any one of the NYC Health + Hospitals facilities by calling 844-NYC-NYC (844-692-4692).

Contact: Press Office, 212-788-3339

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the citys five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the systems trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health planall supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit http://www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.

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2 Years Later: Health System Reflects on its Role During COVID-19 Pandemic - New York City Health and Hospitals