Category: Covid-19

Despite widespread reports of a she-cession, most women managed to keep their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests a paper to be discussed at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity on March 24. That was a mixed blessing, however, because womenmuch more so than menbore the brunt of caring for children and elderly parents.

Far more mothers, and other women who are caregivers, have been stressed, frustrated, and anxious because they did not leave their jobs than have been forced to exit the workforce or cut back their hours, Claudia Goldin of Harvard University writes in Understanding the Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Women.

Usually, recessions affect male employment more than female employment because more men work in cyclically sensitive sectors such as manufacturing and construction, while more women work in usually more-stable service sectors. But the pandemic recession of 2020 hit services harder than previous recessions. Women working in restaurants, hospitality, retail, and personal care, saw their workplaces shuttered. The jobs most affected by the pandemic meant that people without college degrees, both women and men, were more likely to lose their jobs than people with college degrees, who often could work from home.

In May 2020, more than 60 percent of male and female college graduates were working at home due to COVID but only about 25 percent of women without a college degree and just 14 percent of men without a college degree were. Differences between the two education groups in remote work declined over time but have remained substantial and increased again during the Omicron wave.

The pandemic produced both a he- and a she-cession, Goldin writes. Relative to previous recessions, women have been harder hit. But the largest differences in pandemic effects on employment are found between education groups rather than between genders within educational groups.

Goldin compared the percentage of people at work during the pandemic with the percentage a year or two earlier for the same season. At work differs in one important way from employment. People with jobs but on furlough because of the pandemic, for instance, are not included in at work. A fall 2020-to-fall 2018 comparison, for example, adjusts for seasonal employment variation and for an anomalous spike in womens labor force participation in the months just before the pandemic began.

The pandemic produced both a he- and a she-cession.

Goldin looked at men and women and college graduates and non-graduates, aged 2054. Female college graduates at work fell by 2.7 percentage points; male college graduates at work declined by 2.6 percentage points. Female non-college graduates at work decreased by 5.7 percentage points; male non-college graduates at work fell by 5.5 percentage points.

The big differences are by education rather than gender, and that makes it more similar to previous recessions, Goldin writes.

With schools and daycare centers closed, women, much more so than men, spent additional time caring for children. For example, childcare (including schooling) by college-graduate women who worked full time, could work remotely, and had elementary school-aged children in two-parent households more than doubledfrom 8.7 hours a week before the pandemic to 17.3 hours in the early months of the pandemic. Childcare hours for custodial fathers in the same group spiked during those early months, probably to around 15.8 per week, but greatly decreased as work resumed. Because total childcare hours remained about as high, childcare hours increased for women by fall 2020.

Goldin closes her paper by speculating on whether increased workplace flexibility will benefit women after the pandemic, provided schools and daycare remain open. Possibly, mothers might be able to take on more-lucrative jobs that once required considerable travel away from home. But, if the new normal reduces womens in-person face-time with colleagues and clients relative to men, they could pay a career price in the form of reduced bonuses and pay increases and fewer promotions, she writes.

Goldin, Goldin. 2022. Understanding the economic impact of COVID-19 on women. BPEA Conference Draft, Spring.

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Understanding the economic impact of COVID-19 on women - Brookings Institution

Home > Press Releases > Georgia Southern enlisted to help fight COVID-19 in Georgias confinement facilities

March 23, 2022

Georgia Southern University has established the Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics to manage a new $7.2 million contract and partner with the Georgia Department of Public Health to better fight COVID-19 in the states jails, prisons and other confinement facilities.

The project has two initial purposes: to improve detection and mitigation of COVID-19 to reduce the risk of transmission among confinement facility staff and residents, and to reimburse Georgia confinement facilities for costs they have incurred from approved COVID-19 mitigation activities they have already implemented.

Experts estimate that state facilities have spent millions on COVID-19 mitigation efforts such as testing and supplies; personal protective equipment (PPE); reporting, monitoring, analysis and evaluation of control measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19; and expenses associated with meeting resident/detainee/inmate needs resulting from COVID-19-related limited/restricted mobility and/or access to the facility.

This pandemic has impacted the entire country in ways that few thought of before they ever heard of COVID-19, said Jessica Schwind, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology in Georgia Southerns Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health and the newly named director of the Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics.

COVID-19 disease has been particularly troublesome in confinement facilities, where physical separation is impossible, many different people are forced to be together, germs can easily be spread from person to person in the air or on numerous common surfaces, Schwind said. Managers of these facilities have done an admirable job we are going to help them be even more effective.

This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of Health and Human Services through the ELC Detection and Mitigation of COVID-19 in Confinement Facilities Grant Program as part of a financial assistance award to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The institute and the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) are encouraging all correctional confinement facilities in Georgia to implement COVID-19 testing and mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Facilities eligible to apply for COVID-19 mitigation projects include adult prisons and jails, juvenile confinement facilities, police lock-ups, and community confinement facilities.

The Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics will assist with the review and reimbursement of confinement mitigation projects and expenditures in enrolled facilities across the state of Georgia.

This contract and the new Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics are great examples of what we mean when we say Georgia Southern is focused on public impact research, said Carl L. Reiber, Ph.D., Georgia Southerns provost and vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Schwinds expertise is in fighting communicable diseases and she has spent the last two years guiding Georgia Southerns response to the pandemic. Im delighted her expertise will be used throughout the state.

For more information, visit the institutes website.

Continued here:

Georgia Southern enlisted to help fight COVID-19 in Georgia's confinement facilities | Newsroom - Georgia Southern University Newsroom

A person is considered fully vaccinated if theyve received two doses of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna, or if theyve received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Everyone 12 and older who has been fully vaccinated should also get a booster, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People are eligible to get a booster shot five months after their second Pfizer or Moderna shot, or two months after their Johnson & Johnson shot.

It is very important for people who are eligible to get boosted, Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and an attending physician in the section of Infectious Diseases at Boston Medical Center, said Wednesday. You need that booster to get to that higher level of protection.

DPH data shows that older residents have been more likely to get boosters. Seventy-six percent of fully vaccinated people who are 75-plus have gotten boosted. At the other end of the spectrum, only 29 percent of fully vaccinated 12- to 15-year-olds have gotten boosted. (Vaccines have been authorized for 5- to 11-year-olds but not boosters. No vaccines have been authorized yet for children under 5, though Moderna said Wednesday it would file an application for children 6 months to 5 years old.)

The states booster rate among fully vaccinated residents is better than the national average, which is 44 percent, the DPH noted in a report last Thursday.

But experts and officials say that a resurgence of cases and hospitalizations in the United Kingdom and other European countries underscores the need for more people to step up for vaccinations and boosters. Factors suspected of driving the trends in Europe include the lifting of pandemic restrictions, the waning of immunity from vaccinations and prior infections, and the arrival of the more-contagious BA.2 subvariant. Similar factors are at play in the United States, experts say. And recent data has shown BA.2 is on the rise nationally and in New England.

What happens in Europe tends to foreshadow what happens here, Assoumou said. The best way to be ready for a possible increase in cases ... is to first get vaccinated and boosted.

Assoumou said some people may not realize how crucial the booster shots are, especially for the elderly and people with underlying conditions. Other people may be hoping for protection from a prior infection, unaware that the CDC recommends they still get a booster. Still others may have problems getting time off to get shots or may worry about missing work due to side effects.

We need to get the word out there and also make it easier to get vaccinated, she said.

People may be confused by changing public health messages as scientists and officials have scrambled to cope with an unprecedented, unpredictable pandemic, she said. She noted one example of a confusing message: the official designation of people as fully vaccinated when they are supposed to get booster shots. She said she expected that in the future the definition of fully vaccinated would include the boosters.

The Biden administration is reportedly now pondering authorizing a second booster shot for people 65 and older, as BA.2 concerns swirl. Assoumou said it seemed like it would be a really hard sell lets get that first booster in.

Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Womens Hospital, said, The data from multiple countries strongly support getting a third dose [a booster] in particular for optimal protection against all forms of Omicron, including BA.2. This is particularly important for older people [anyone over 50] and those with multiple medical problems.

The good news its safe and rapidly provides protection, so its not too late, he said in an e-mail.

The state Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement that Massachusetts is a national leader in vaccination rates and Massachusetts residents have ready access to vaccines, rapid tests, and therapeutics all the resources needed to stay safe from severe illness. The Administration will continue to work with the healthcare community and the federal government to monitor all of the latest developments.

The DPH advises people that they should get fully vaccinated and boosted; get tested if they think they have COVID-19; and talk to their doctor about treatments if they test positive.

Martin Finucane can be reached at martin.finucane@globe.com. Daigo Fujiwara can be reached at daigo.fujiwara@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaigoFuji.

Excerpt from:

Charts: Many Mass. residents arent stepping to get their COVID-19 booster shots - The Boston Globe

Thursday, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported*:

*Of the deaths reported Thursday, MDH says 11 are from March 2022, five are from February 2022, three from January 2022 and one from December 2021.

MDH also reported the following data regarding hospital capacity**:

**For this data set, MDH defines COVID beds in use as being the number of patients who are currently positive with COVID-19 occupying a staffed inpatient bed in Minnesota. This does not include patients that were once positive but are now negative.

Additionally, MDH said:

View the complete updatevia the interactive infographicbelow or here.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, as of Thursday, four counties in Minnesota remained at a high level of COVID-19 community transmission. Another 31 counties are considered at a substantial spread.

View the complete update via the interactive map below or here.

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MDH: 20 newly reported COVID-19 deaths, 226 current hospitalizations - KSTP

On March 23, Cornell University raised its COVID-19 operational level to yellow Low to Moderate Risk after reporting 151 new positive COVID-19 cases March 22 the highest number of new cases since Cornell dropped its mask mandate March 14.

In a statement to the Ithaca community, Cornell credited multiple factors for the outbreak.

COVID-19 cases on the Ithaca campus are increasing beyond our predictions, indicating a substantial prevalence of the virus on campus, the statement said. This rising transmission is likely due to a number of factors, including relaxing mask requirements, the emergence of the BA.2 variant, and increased social activities.

The Low to Moderate Risk operating status calls for immediate voluntary actions to be taken, like wearing high-quality masks at parties and participating in surveillance testing.

The increase in cases comes 12 days after Cornell dropped its mask mandate for most on-campus locations. High-quality masks were still required to be worn in classrooms, laboratories, public transportation and testing sites.

At Ithaca College, COVID-19 cases remain low, with four total active student cases as of March 23. On March 4 shortly before the college went on spring break the college lifted its mask mandate, to mixed community response by students and faculty.

At the end of the Fall 2021 semester, both Cornell and Ithaca College experienced enormous COVID-19 surges that made national headlines. The colleges responded by mandating booster shots.

Originally posted here:

Cornell University reports increase in COVID-19 risk level - Ithaca College The Ithacan

Published on March 23, 2022

As demand for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations continues to decline, the city will temporarily cease operations beginning Monday, March 28.

If, at any time, public demand returns for these services, the city has the ability to respond quickly and reinstate the sites. New surges most recently in Europe and Hong Kong and new variants, such as Omicron BA.2, are being closely monitored.

The city will continue to offer:

These testing and vaccination operations will conclude beginning the week of March 28:

The COVID-19 hotline will remain active to assist anyone needing information or access to resource lists for the community. Call 817-392-8478.

Access to testing and vaccinations remains widely available through Tarrant County Public Healthand at many private entities such as pharmacies, hospitals and doctors offices.

To learn more, contact the COVID-19 hotline by email orat 817-392-8478.

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City COVID-19 testing, vaccination locations will pause next week - City of Fort Worth

Pennsylvanias worst allergy season is upon us.

Some people will surely wonder if theyre coming down with COVID-19.

In that first couple of days, a little bit of a sore throat, which can occur with allergies, and that nasal congestion and runny nose, they can appear similar, said Dr. Timothy Craig, an allergy specialist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Fortunately, there are major differences between seasonal allergy and COVID-19 symptoms that can help people distinguish.

For one, people coming down with COVID-19 often lose their sense of smell, which doesnt happen with season allergies. For another, sneezing is common with allergies but rare with COVID-19.

Beyond that, seasonal allergies dont produce the severe sore throat, fever and body aches common with COVID-19, according to Craig.

If youre a long-time allergy sufferer, timing can also help you make the call: If youre feeling the same allergy-type symptoms you normally feel this time of year, odds are its allergies rather than COVID-19, he said.

That said, theres one major, dangerous symptom thats common to COVID-19, and a sign of need for immediate medical attention: Severe shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

For the record, here are the main COVID-19 symptoms:

Central Pennsylvania recently entered the spring allergy season, with the main pollen coming from trees. The arrival is signaled by the pink buds on tree branches.

The first phase involves maples, followed by species including oaks and birches, according to Craig.

Because of the intense concentration of trees in the Appalachian mountain range, the tree pollen season is the worst of the year for allergy sufferers in this part of the country, according to Craig. It will last until around mid-May. Then grass will take over as the main pollen source. That can last until July or a little longer if we get a lot of rain.

The next major pollen surge will come in late summer, triggered by ragweed. Ragweed season used to be associated with an Aug. 15 starting date, but that has moved forward as a result of global warming, Craig noted.

While the tree pollen season is just beginning, its already time for allergy sufferers to begin taking medication, he said.

Anybody who hasnt started taking their medication who is tree allergic should definitely get on it, because its easier to treat your symptoms preemptively than to wait until you get symptoms and try to get rid of them, Craig said.

More:

Pa. National Guard ends COVID-19 mission at least for now

Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine works for kids under 6

Read more:

Do you have allergies or COVID-19? Heres how to tell - PennLive

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House on March 17, 2022, in Washington. Psaki announced she recently tested positive for COVID-19. Patrick Semansky/AP hide caption

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House on March 17, 2022, in Washington. Psaki announced she recently tested positive for COVID-19.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Psaki said she had two "socially-distanced meetings" with Biden on Monday and said he is not considered a close contact by CDC guidance.

Biden tested negative by a PCR test on Tuesday, she said.

"Today, in preparation for travel to Europe, I took a PCR test this morning. That test came back positive, which means I will be adhering to CDC guidance and no longer be traveling on the President's trip to Europe," Psaki wrote on Twitter.

It's the second time that Psaki has tested positive for the virus, and the second time she will miss an international trip because of it. Last fall, the press secretary tested positive just ahead of Biden's trip to the G-20 summit in Rome.

Psaki, who is fully vaccinated, said she was experiencing "mild symptoms" and would work from home until the conclusion of her five-day isolation and a negative COVID-19 test.

President Biden is set to depart for Brussels and Warsaw on Wednesday.

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki tests positive (again) for COVID-19 - NPR

A survey suggests individuals with cancer who were undergoing active treatment were more likely to endorse COVID-19 related misinformation than those with no history of cancer.

Survivors of cancer currently undergoing treatment were more likely to endorse misinformation regarding the COVID-19 virus than individuals without a history of cancer (P = .019), with cancer survivors not currently undergoing treatment being the least likely to endorse misinformation (P <.001), according to results from a survey published in Patient Education and Counseling.

Results of the survey highlighted high levels of misinformation engagement and suggest the need for oncologists and care providers to be particularly mindful of elevated beliefs in COVID-19 misinformation among survivors of cancer who are in active treatment.

Since patients undergoing cancer treatment seem to be particularly vulnerable to be exposed to COVID-19 misinformation, oncologists and other healthcare providers working with this patient population have the opportunity play an important role in helping to address patients concerns about how the pandemic relates to their course of treatment, the investigators wrote.

Self-reported data from 897 survey respondents were collected between June 1, 2020 and June 15, 2020. Survivors of cancer currently undergoing treatment accounted for 32.0% of respondents, survivors who were not currently undergoing treatment made up 33.6% of respondents, and individuals with no cancer history accounted for 34.4% of the survey population.

The survey asked, How much stress has the COVID-19 caused you? to determine the levels of stress the pandemic has caused for respondents, with response options ranging from not at all stressed to extremely stressed. A series of COVID-19 related misinformation statements (n = 21) via the World Health Organizations website were presented and responses were measured with options ranging from definitely untrue to definitely true.

Males were found to be more likely to endorse COVID-19 misinformation (P <.001), as were younger patients compared with older patients (P <.001). Education, race, and perceived stress were not found to impact endorsement of COVID-19 misinformation.

Limitations of this survey report include the cross-sectional design, the self-reporting of cancer diagnosis status that included limited disease and treatment details, and that the population was chosen via a convenience sample. Moreover, diversity within the cancer groups was relatively low compared to the overall sample population.

Oncologists and other providers working with patients undergoing treatment for cancer should be particularly mindful of the potential elevated beliefs in misinformation among this group. Strategic communications aimed at individuals at high-risk of COVID-19 complications due to underlying comorbidities are especially critical, the investigators concluded.

Guidry JPD, Carlyle KE, Miller CA, et al. Endorsement of COVID-19 related misinformation among cancer survivors.Patient Educ Couns. 2022;105(2):265-268. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2021.05.026

The rest is here:

Cancer Survivors in Active Treatment Likelier to Endorse COVID-19 Misinformation Vs Those With No Cancer History - Cancer Network

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has tested positive for COVID-19 as the countrys infection rate remains persistently high

ByThe Associated Press

March 22, 2022, 3:38 PM

2 min read

BERLIN -- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has tested positive for COVID-19, the head of state's office said Tuesday, as the countrys infection rate remains persistently high.

Steinmeier's wife, Elke Buedenbender, also tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, the president's office said. Both have mild symptoms and immediately went into isolation.

Steinmeier has been Germany's president, which is a largely ceremonial role but carries moral authority, since 2017. Before that, he served twice as Chancellor Angela Merkel's foreign minister and was chief of staff to her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder.

He was elected to a second five-year term in February.

Germany is currently in the process of removing most of its coronavirus restrictions despite a continuing surge in infections. On Tuesday, the national disease control center said that more than 222,000 new cases were reported over the previous 24 hours, along with 264 deaths bringing Germany's total since the pandemic began to 127,193.

The nationwide infection rate stood at 1,733.4 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. That was up from 1,585.4 a week ago.

Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

Read more:

German president and his wife test positive for COVID-19 - ABC News