Category: Covid-19

After getting FDA approval in December 2021, Merck's COVID-19 treatment pill is finally available at local AFC Urgent Care clinics.

PORTLAND, Ore. A newly approved COVID-19 treatment pill is now available at certain locations in the Portland metro area.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Merck's antiviral pill last Decemberfor for adults with early symptoms of COVID-19 who face the highest risks of hospitalization.

AFC Urgent Care clinics in the Portland metro area received it's first allotment of the pills earlier this week and started prescribing them to qualifying patients.

Dr. Andy Miller with AFC said adults with underlying health conditions and people over the age of 65 qualify for the treatment.

"The clinical trials were very compelling that this medicine cuts down the risk of hospitalization and death by 50% in the right patient populations," Miller said.

Dr. Miller said some patients taking the treatment initially didn't even know it was an option.

"It's four pills, twice a day for five days," Dr. Miller said. "We are able to dispense all 40 pills in a bottle and we hand it off to patients who qualify at the end of their visit."

The pills are free for patients because the federal government has already covered the $700 cost for each bottle as part of President Joe Biden's Test-to-Treat program.

"What we learned over the last few years is COVID is not going away and we need strategies to cope with it and get back to normal life," Dr. Miller said.

Merck's antiviral pill was also allotted to Rite Aid and Walgreens locations, according to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), but it's unclear when that they will become available.

Dr. Paul Cieslack with OHA said the new treatment is great, but there are some limitations.

"It can't be given to children and can't be given to pregnant women," Cieslack said. "With those caveats, if that's the pill that's given to you, I would recommend it."

He added that Pfizer has also developed a COVID pillcalled Paxlovid, which has close to a 90% success rate in keeping people out of the hospital.

Excerpt from:

COVID pill now available in Portland metro area - KGW.com

The nations courts are facing overwhelming case backlogs because of the Covid-19 pandemic and it could take years for the legal system to dig out.

Tens of thousands of legal cases ranging from minor thefts to civil disputes to murder are stuck in limbo in state courts around the country, a situation that has left some defendants waiting in jail and strained prosecutors and defense attorneys ability to do their jobs.

Follow this link:

Covid-19 Pummeled the U.S. Legal System. It May Take Years to Catch Up. - The Wall Street Journal

Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday night that she has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms.

The former secretary of state revealed her diagnosis on Twitter, where she said she is feeling fine and credited vaccines for protecting against more serious cases.

Clinton said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had tested negative and will be quarantining at home.

Im more grateful than ever for the protection vaccines can provide against serious illness, Hillary Clinton tweeted.

Please get vaccinated and boosted if you havent already!, she wrote.

Word of Clintons illness came hours after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she had tested positive for COVID-19 and as a result would not accompany President Joe Biden to Europe this week.

Psaki said she had limited recent contact with the 79-year-old president, whose advanced age puts him at higher risk of serious illness or death.

Last week, second gentleman Doug Emhoff tested positive for the virus after his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, spent the day with Biden

Another prominent Democrat, former President Barack Obama, also announced that he tested positive for the virus last week.

Read more from the original source:

Hillary Clinton tests positive for COVID-19, says she has 'mild' symptoms - New York Post

Public-health officials say they expect cases of Covid-19 to rise in the U.S. in the coming weeks as a new variant of the virus becomes dominant here. Whether an increase in hospitalizations and deaths follows is, so far, unknowable.

The Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 is the most widespread variant globally, and is now thought to be causing the majority of cases in some parts of the U.S.

New...

Link:

A BA.2 Covid-19 Wave Will Hit the U.S. Its Severity Is Unknown. - Barron's

Wayne, Ashland and Holmes counties have reached COVID-19 case lows not seen since mid-2021 and theearliest days of the pandemic.

In mid-March,Wayne County cases dropped by nearly 50%while Holmes and Ashland county cases increased, thoughstill remained low, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Holmes County cases increased by 19 to 30 cases; Ashland County went up by three to 27 cases.

Ohio cases as a whole dropped by 25% in mid-March and cases nationwide dropped by nearly 30%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

COVID: Wayne County's COVID cases fall 42.9%; Ohio cases plummet 25%

This sudden lull comes after Wayne and Ashland counties experienced a record-breaking phase of the pandemic over the holidays when cases reached new heights.

In recent weeks, the CDC downgraded the three counties from high rates of transmission to moderate. All three counties were listed as high since late summer and early fall of 2021.

And as the pandemic seemingly winds down in the U.S., cases are on the rise in Europe and Asia a possible foreshadowing of the next wave to strike North America.

"We're learning a lot about the next wave that's going to happen in the U.S.," Dr. Eric Topol,director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, told USA Today."It's going to happen. It's unavoidable."

Two years of the deadly disease outbreak killed over 6 million people with nearly 4.7 million cases worldwide, according to John Hopkins University.

More than 970,000 people have died in the U.S. out of the nearly 8 million confirmed cases since March 2020, per John Hopkins statistics.In other words, 1.2% of those confirmed cases resulted in deaths.

In the tri-county area, Wayne County has the largest population of approximately 115,710. Of that total, 23,068 people or nearly 20% of the population caught COVID-19 with 432 dying of virus-related complications, according to Ohio Department of Health data.

Education in the age of COVID: Preschool, community center plans in Rittman pick back up after COVID delayed progress

With53,484 people, Ashland County has the second largest population of the three counties. Nearly 22% of the population or 11,930 people caught COVID; 212 died.

Wayne and Ashland county COVID-related death rates are around 1.8%, slightly above the national percentage, according to the CDC.

Holmes County has the smallest population with 43,960 people andhad the highest percentage of coronavirus deaths in the tri-county area. Of the 5,098 people who caught COVID,180 or 3.5% died.

Vaccination rates have remained stagnant in each county. Wayne County has the most fully vaccinated residents at 48%. Ashland County sits at 45% while Holmes County, where roughly half of the population is Amish or Mennonite, remains at 19%, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Looking back over the past two years, Wayne County Health Commissioner Nick Cascarelli remembers when the first cases hit Ohio in March 2020 and the shortage of masks and PPE that followed.

Ahead of the closures, Cascarelli said he and the staff at the health department tried to meet organizations like schools and nursing homes to give them guidance ahead of the inevitable rise of cases.

Once supplies were more readily available for people other than first responders, more people began venturing out. Things like mask-wearing, clear dividers and social distancing became the new normal.

Business: Area businesses find workers through Ashland, Holmes and Wayne career center schools

Cascarelli remembers the COVID vaccine becameavailable in December of 2020, in limited quantities, with roll-out phases based on occupation, age and health conditions.

As cases continue to diminish and businesses relax masking, distancing and other rules, Cascarelli believes some changes experienced during the pandemic willstick around.

With the rising popularity of video conferencing services like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, more people are likely to hold virtual meetings or work from home, especially if they are sick.

Although the pandemic has brought welcomed attention to increased cleaning and personal hygiene, it's also divided some who have angrily disagreed at public meetings, in schools andin businesses about mask wearing and vaccinations.

"We need to be kinder to each other," Cascarelli said. "There's so much divisiveness that occurred over (the pandemic). We need to be kinder to one another, even if we don't think the same way about things."

The pandemic left no community untouched. Villages and cities in the tri-county area mighthave fared better than their larger, more urban counterparts, but some businesses still struggled.

For Holmes County manufacturers, the impact varied based on theproduct produced at a certain company, saidHolmes County Economic Development Council Executive Director Mark Leininger

"Companies that manufactured jarred goods and shelf-stable food items saw significant increases in demand for their products, particularly during the early stages of the pandemic," Leininger said.

Outdoor furniture and structure manufacturers saw increased demand as people remained home, opting for staycations, he said. Many customers took the time at home to renovate or redecorate.

Other companies like Berlin Gardens, a manufacturer of outdoor poly furniture in Holmes County, used its manufacturing facility to help produce emergency equipment early on in the pandemic.

Now they are back to regular production of their furniture.

Leininger said some companies suffered during the pandemic and are working to build back up.

"Manufacturers of restaurant furniture suffered from decreased product demand, as dining spaces were closed and restaurant seating was limited," he said. "It is my understanding that, as restaurants began resuming normal operations, this industry sector has started to recover and continues to build momentum."

Despite many businesses closing in the cities of Ashland and Wooster in 2020, most quickly reopened with hybrid business models. Instead, of in-person dining, eateries provided curbside pick-up or offered delivery options.

While some businesses permanently closed due to the pandemic, others have weathered the storm and look forward to growth.

Ashland Main Street ExecutiveDirector Sandra Tunnell saidthe city opened some new businesses with a focus on second-story apartments above shops and eateries.

Two buildings remain unoccupied in downtown Ashland after two years of COVID-19. One is under renovationand the second is changing owners, she said.

In Ashland and Wooster, main street organizations noted that remote work affected business by limiting foot traffic.

"Remote work did have a significant impact on Downtown Wooster restaurants and retailers in 2020, but for the most part, their business traffic fully rebounded in 2021," said Shannon Waller, executive director of Main Street Wooster.

Despite office jobs returning to in-person work, remote labor continues to leave office space empty in downtown Wooster, Waller said.

"Our Economic Development Committee plans to give office space vacancies some additional attention in 2022," she said.

Like in Ashland, residential housing demand remains high, Waller said, with many availabledowntown apartments and condos filling fast.

"All of the new downtown businesses that opened during the pandemic continue to thrive, and we anticipate steady, sustainable growth going forward," she said.

The Daily Record writers Rachel Karas and Kevin Lynch contributed to this report.

Reach Bryce by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com

On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie

Visit link:

How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people, businesses and downtowns two years later - Wooster Daily Record

As part of The Red & Blacks health news coverage, we are publishing weekly reports on news relating to COVID-19 and its recent statistics.

COVID-19 cases have increased slightly at the University of Georgia, according to the universitys reporting system. UGA reported 20 new cases during the week of March 14-20 compared to the 13 cases during March 7-13.

The surveillance testing positivity rate increased during the week of March 14-18 to 1.15% compared to 0.00% during the week of March 7-11.

The university conducted 262 surveillance tests during the week of March 14-18 compared to the 95 tests the week of March 7-11.

Because students may have tested positive off-campus and not reported it, the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the UGA community may be higher.

Many Georgia counties are classified as high or moderate transmission geographical areas for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Athens-Clarke County is classified as a moderate transmission geographic area.

According to the Georgia Geospatial Information Office, Georgias hospitals have about 24% of their intensive care unit beds left for sick patients. The percentage of intensive care unit beds left in Region E which includes ACC and several surrounding counties is about 16%.

From March 13-19, the majority of the COVID-19 cases in the southeastern U.S. were omicron cases, according to the CDC. About 21.5% were BA.2 cases.

The majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

There were two positive tests reported at the University Health Center. There were no positive tests reported through Athens testing sites, three positive tests from UGA surveillance testing and 15 positive tests from UGA community members reporting from other testing sites.

Students that test positive for COVID-19 off-campus are required to report it through DawgCheck, UGAs monitoring tool.

For the week of March 14-18, the UHC administered 70 vaccines. Cumulatively, the UHC has administered 33,555 vaccines.

Students and faculty may book a vaccine appointment through the UHC Vaccine Portal or get vaccinated at any University System of Georgia school. Students may also get tested for COVID-19 at the UHC with walk-in appointments. Appointments can be scheduled here. Due to vaccination status being verified on-site, individuals should bring their original vaccine card to the appointment.

From March 18-23, the county reported eight new confirmed cases, compared to 17 cases from March 12-17, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. The countys seven-day average positivity rate was 5.8%. The World Health Organization recommends communities maintain a positivity rate below 5%.

This week, ACC reported one confirmed COVID-19 death.

According to the Georgia Geospatial Information Office, the number of current hospitalizations in Region E which includes ACC and several surrounding counties was eight as of March 23.

According to the Georgia DPH, about 49% of the county is fully vaccinated.

Statewide, the weekly number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases decreased.

According to the DPH, Georgia reported 3,435 confirmed COVID-19 cases between March 18-23. This is a decrease from the 5,317 cases recorded between March 12-17. The states seven-day average positivity rate as of March 23 was 3.4%.

The number of confirmed deaths in the state decreased. Georgia recorded 183 confirmed COVID-19 deaths between March 18-23, compared to 233 between March 12-17.

On March 23, about 600 individuals were hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the state.

According to the Department of Public Health, approximately 5.8 million Georgians have been fully vaccinated, or about 56% of the state. In comparison, the U.S. has a current full vaccination rate of 65%. Approximately 6.6 million Georgians, or 63% of the state, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The CDC has also released guidelines advising vaccinated individuals in areas of high transmission to still wear masks when in public, indoor settings.

More:

ANALYSIS: UGA COVID-19 cases continue to increase | City News - Red and Black

Currently, Ohio's COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are the lowest they've been since last summer.

COLUMBUS, Ohio Coronavirus cases in Ohio are the lowest health officials have reported since last summer, though the state's health director warned of the possibility for another rise in infections in the coming weeks.

Currently, Ohio's COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are the lowest they've been since last July and August, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said Thursday.

Eighty of Ohio's 88 counties are in the green level on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's community map, indicating the lowest level of concern.

"This is a significant improvement from two weeks ago," said Vanderhoff.

Even so, Vanderhoff said it's still important to pay attention to virus trends in other parts of the world.

Subvariant BA.2, which has largely driven Europe's omicron surge, has made far fewer appearances in Ohio. Data collected from Jan. 7 to March 8 shows only 2% of the state's omicron cases were linked to the BA.2 subvariant.

Vanderhoff said this subvariant appears to be more contagious than the BA.1 behind the omicron surge in the United States. That said, both react similarly to the vaccine, Vanderhoff said.

While BA.1 fades, its counterpart continues to make appearances. According to Vanderhoff, BA.2 cases could potentially increase in the U.S. in the coming weeks and months. Vanderhoff said vaccines remain the best bet to offer protection from the virus.

Chris Cook, assistant health commissioner for the Clark County Combined Health District, says he and his team are actively working to protect vulnerable community members by providing vaccine services.

"We work to prevent sickness before it happens, so we continue to vaccinate because we still have an opportunity to decrease the number of people getting sick," said Cook.

Currently, health officials in Clark County have partnered with a grocery store, as well as at the Women, Infants and Children offices, to offer COVID-19 vaccines to immunocompromised individuals.

Vanderhoff announced that state health officials would transition to reporting cases only once a week during the health departments last briefing. Updated cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccination numbers will now be reported at 2 p.m. every Thursday. Additionally, schools will only be required to report a COVID-19 case if district health officials perform a test and it comes back positive.

Vanderhoff has discussed shifting Ohios focus to turning the pandemic into an endemic. Despite the potential for a rise in reported BA.2 cases, Vanderhoff said it's highly unlikely the U.S. will see a surge similar to what was reported this past winter, adding those who were infected with the BA.1 variant do not appear to become re-infected with BA.2.

You can watch Thursdays briefing in the player below:

Read more:

How a possible rise in the BA.2 COVID subvariant would differ from first omicron surge - 10TV

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) News 18 continues to track how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the food industry in Greater Lafayette. While restaurants have faced many challenges, the catering business is also attempting to recover from the pandemic.

For The Outpost in Lafayette, business dropped significantly when the pandemic hit. The venue lost 95 percent of its scheduled bookings, but office manager Monica Rowland says now, theyre seeing substantial progress.

The Outpost has been able to reschedule nearly all of the events it lost in 2020, according to Rowland. Right now, bookings are at around 90 percent of where they were prior to the pandemic.

Rowland says the uncertainty of the past two years has been difficult, and finding unique ways to keep some business on the books during that span has been key.

We were very creative, doing boxed lunches and things like that, Rowland said. We were able to try to keep business going as much as we possibly could.

The venue was able to keep staff members employed throughout the pandemic. They transferred those employees to the owners other two establishments, Old Buffalo and Sgt. Prestons.

Rowland says the biggest challenge now is handling the supply chain slowdowns. Many of the items the facility orders are either taking significantly longer to arrive or are unavailable altogether, making it hard to keep up with demand. As a result, the facility is increasing its prices until the market stabilizes.

While the last two years have been challenging, Rowland says The Outpost has been able to use the down time to improve the facility.

We were able to install some new dance floors that we have, Rowland said. Ordered some new chairs, did some upgrades to our bathroom. Kind of freshening it up a lot."

Rowland says the upgraded facility is also set to open back up for food tastings heading into the spring wedding season, which it hasnt been able to do since the start of the pandemic. She added that they are looking to hire some additional catering staff as the peak season approaches.

See the article here:

COVID-19 and the Food Industry: The Outpost sees increase in demand for catering - wlfi.com

Colorados COVID-19 cases and the percentage of tests coming back positive both ticked up over the last week, though they remained near all-time lows.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported 2,488 new cases in the week ending Sunday, up from 1,598 the previous week the first week-over-week increase in new infections since the omicron surge peaked in January.

But last weeks figure was similar to the number of cases seen in late June 2021, a relatively placid point in the pandemic.

The percentage of tests coming back positive rose slightly on Tuesday and Wednesday, though it remained well below the states goal of no more than a 5% positivity rate. The higher the positivity rate is, the more likely it is that the state is missing some cases.

Hospitalizations appeared to decrease more slowly this week, dropping from 151 on March 15 to 135 on Tuesday. The states decision to only update the number of people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 once a week made it more difficult to see a pattern, however.

Its not clear if the slight rise in cases represents a real increase in transmission or a fluke, said Beth Carlton, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health. Right now, the odds of encountering the virus while going about daily life in Colorado are still low, but if the numbers continue to trend up, people might want to consider taking precautions again, she said.

It is possible well see an increase in cases and hospital demand in the days and weeks ahead, though its very unlikely to be as severe as the most recent wave, she said.

The good news is that relatively few people are hospitalized for COVID-19 now, so if the virus does start spreading more widely, the system is in a better position to handle an increase, Carlton said.

The amount of the virus found in wastewater has remained relatively stable, according to the states tracking dashboard. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions wastewater surveillance showed that virus levels were falling in 12 Colorado locations and rising in nine. Testing wastewater often provides the first clue to whether the virus is advancing or retreating, because people who are infected excrete the viral particles whether they have symptoms or not.

Public health experts have been watching a recent increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United Kingdom. Its not clear how much of the increase is due to the BA.2 variant replacing omicron, the decision to lift all pandemic restrictions, or waning immunity.

The CDC estimates BA.2 now accounts for about 35% of cases in the country, though the state health departments latest data showed the variant was only present in about 7% of Colorado samples as of late February. The variant is a cousin of omicron, and early data suggests people who recently had an omicron infection are unlikely to be reinfected within two months though its not clear how much longer that immunity may last.

To figure out how concerning a variant might be, scientists consider how contagious it is, how well it gets around the immunes systems defenses and how likely it is to make people seriously ill, Carlton said. For BA.2, the main concern is increased transmissibility, she said.

BA.2 is just going to root out those remaining susceptibles who werent recently vaccinated or infected with omicron, she said.

While cases are still slowly declining nationwide, theyve risen over the last two weeks in Arkansas, Nevada, New York, Vermont and Rhode Island, according to data compiled by The New York Times. Hospitalizations are still falling in every state.

On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease doctor, said he expects an uptick, but not a surge. Most disease models also have projected that if another wave comes, it wont be as bad as the last one though omicron set such a high bar that a variant that falls short of it could still be disruptive.

The virus trajectory in the United States has often, but not always, followed the pattern in Europe, said Dr. Meagan Fitzpatrick, an infectious disease transmission modeler at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. What any given state or region will experience depends on how many people currently have immunity to the omicron variant and what precautions theyre taking to reduce the odds of exposure, she said.

Its too early to know how much of an increase the United States might expect, though the size of the most recent wave is cause for optimism, since so many people will have at least some protection, Fitzpatrick said. The best thing to do is monitor trends in your area, and then decide on precautions like socializing outdoors or wearing masks in a setting where its not important to see other peoples faces, like the grocery store, she said.

I know we all want to be done, she said. But its still not a great idea to get COVID if it can be avoided.

Originally posted here:

Colorados COVID cases tick up for first time since January, hospitalizations appear to be falling more slowly - The Denver Post

A University of Iowa study published this month in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare found that an at-home telemonitoring program was an effective and sustainable way to manage COVID-19 for patients.

The goals of the program, as outlined in the study, were to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, identify declining patients, escalate care when needed, and provide support to patients and families.

"Despite the low intensity of the intervention, our results support the use of telehealth to effectively monitor patients with COVID-19 at home," wrote researchers.

WHY IT MATTERS

As researchers explained, 1,128 University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics patients who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 met the criteria for the home-monitoring program, orHMP.

Enrolled patients were risk-stratified based on age and underlying comorbidities.

High-risk patients were given a monitoring kit that includeda pulse oximeter, an automated blood pressure cuff, vital signs and symptoms log sheet, contact information to report worsening symptoms, and instructions in English, Spanish and French.

A call line was established for patients to use outside regular business hours, and patients were instructed to call if they developed oxygen saturation under 92%, new shortness of breath, decrease in systolic blood pressure or other worsening symptoms.

Most patients, researchers found, did well with the system. Only 6.2% required hospitalizationand 1.2% a stay in the intensive care unitfrom the time of HMP enrollment. One patient, who had been inan emergency department beforehand, died while being monitored.

Hospitalizations were much more frequent for high-risk patients.

"Our observed rates of hospitalization and mortality were very low compared with national and regional averages at the time of this study," said researchers.

Although the patient population was racially and ethnically diverse, the study team noted that the mean patient age was lower than what is described in similar studies, and the majority of patients had zero or one risk factors for severe illness.

"It is not clear whether similar interventions would be sufficient in these settings where the rate of patient adverse outcomes would be much higher," said the study.

THE LARGER TREND

Health systems have been strategizing throughout the pandemic about the best ways to keep patients out of the hospital, given COVID-19's strain on resources.

Research published in December 2020 found that remote patient-monitoring (RPM) capabilities contributed to favorable COVID-19 patient outcomes at the Mayo Clinic.

But the potential for RPM goes beyond acute conditions. For instance, Dr. Waqaas Al-Siddiq, chairman, CEO and founder of Biotricity, told Healthcare IT News earlier this month that telehealth can help patients with chronic disease, as well.

"When you have a chronic condition, you need to maintain contact with providers to stay on track. And the added stress of living in a pandemic is enough to worsen a chronic condition, which has been reported. Patients need more care, not less," said Al-Siddiq.

ON THE RECORD

The University of Iowa researchers concludedthat their"study highlights a novel method of providing healthcare in a technology-driven world, reducing the utilization of hospital resources, while also allowing timely identification of disease progression and rapid escalation to inpatient care when necessary."

"It is also important to know that, in the event of a future pandemic, we have a tested method of risk-assessing patients and providing healthcare while minimizing healthcare worker exposures," they said.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.Twitter: @kjercichEmail: kjercich@himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

More:

Telehealth can effectively manage COVID-19 at home, study finds - Healthcare IT News