Category: Covid-19

Finnish ice hockey head coach Jukka Jalonen on Sunday accused China of "not respecting human rights" for keeping his star player Marko Anttila in isolation for more than two weeks, leaving the athlete, who tested positive for the virus, out of commission into the first weekend of the Beijing Winter Games, which kicked off on Friday.

"We know that he's fully healthy and ready to go, and that's why we think that China, for some reason, won't respect his human rights, and that's not a great situation," Jalonen told reporters Sunday, adding that according to his team doctor, Anttila was no longer infectious after first testing positive 18 days earlier.

Beijing has pushed back on the characterization, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday stressing controls put in place by the organizing committee for the Beijing Games were meant "to reduce the risk of infection as much as possible, and ensure the safe and smooth running of the Games as scheduled," while safeguarding the health of all those involved and in the host city.

The bubble completely cordons off the more than 10,000 athletes, media, and other participants joining from around the world in a "closed-loop" system, where they live, eat, work and travel between Olympic venues some 111 miles (180 kilometers) apart, all without coming into contact with people or areas in the capital city outside.

The ambitious scheme, run by thousands of Chinese volunteers and staff, is meant to minimize the spread of Covid-19 inside the Games and prevent it from spilling into the capital city. Its rigorous testing regimes and isolation requirements for positive cases are also meant to ensure any infections that do enter the bubble are picked up quickly, before they can cause an outbreak and disrupt the Games.

But for athletes coming from parts of the world that have begun to shift their approaches to "live with the virus" after large portions of their populations received vaccines, the rules can seem jarring.

And for some, the virus and its controls have meant giving up Olympic dreams.

Polish short track speed skater Natalia Maliszewska missed her first competitive event due to being placed back in isolation within hours of her initial release.

In a social media post Sunday, Maliszewska said she was released from isolation late Friday after returning two consecutive negative tests but ended up back in isolation Saturday morning, just hours ahead of her qualifying race, due to a follow up test which returned a positive result.

"I can't understand this anymore. I no longer believe in any tests, any Olympics. To me this is a big joke, I hope whoever is managing this has a lot of fun. My heart and my mind can't take this anymore," Maliszewska tweeted.

According to the Beijing 2022 organizers, athletes who test positive are required to isolate at a designated facility and can be discharged once they return two consecutive negative PCR test results, with at least 24 hours between samples.

The International Olympic Committee on Monday responded to complaints about isolation rules, with IOC sports director Kit McConnell telling reporters at a briefing Monday, "athletes in isolation remain an absolute focus" for the governing body.

"In the case of Natalia Maliszewska, the Polish short track skater...of course our thoughts are with her and anyone who is in that situation of missing an event," McConnell said.

In a press briefing over the weekend, IOC and Beijing organizing committee officials stressed they were working to fix problems as they cropped up and to improve the overall system.

"I'm sure with our joint efforts we can effectively address these problems so that we can have a safe environment and platform for the athletes to compete," Zhao Weidong, a spokesperson for the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee said.

The official reactions come as athletes have taken to social media to speak out about conditions in the facilities.

Follow this link:

Olympians pushed to their limits over uncompromising Beijing Covid-19 controls - CNN

DENVER (KDVR) The surge of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in Colorado looks to be over, at least according to the newest data from the state.

As of Monday, the states seven-day positivity rate was 12.22%, which is down from24.54% two weeks ago. Positivity rate measures the amount of COVID positive tests to the total amount of tests taken.

Over the last two weeks, 53 counties saw a decrease in COVID-19 positivity, 9 counties saw a rise and 2 counties administered fewer than 20 tests.

According to theColorado Department of Public Health and Environment, incidence rates also dropped over the last two weeks.

Heres a look atpositivity rates for every county over the last two weeks:

According toJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the percent positive is exactly what it sounds like: the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive, or: (positive tests)/(total tests) x 100%. The percent positive (sometimes called the percent positive rate or positivity rate) helps public health officials answer questions suchas:

The percent positive will be high if the number ofpositive testsis too high, or if the number oftotal testsis too low. A higher percent positive suggests higher transmission and that there are likely more people with coronavirus in the community who havent been tested yet, Johns Hopkins shared.

See the rest here:

COVID-19 cases take a nose dive in Colorado; heres where every county stands with omicron - FOX 31 Denver

Vincent Zhou of Team United States skates on Sunday. Zhou tested positive for COVID-19 and may not be able to take the ice in time for his second competition on Tuesday. Harry How/Getty Images hide caption

Vincent Zhou of Team United States skates on Sunday. Zhou tested positive for COVID-19 and may not be able to take the ice in time for his second competition on Tuesday.

BEIJING U.S. men's figure skater Vincent Zhou has tested positive for COVID-19 putting his chance for another Olympic medal at risk.

"As part of yesterday's regular COVID-19 screening, Vincent Zhou tested positive," a U.S. figure skating representative said in a statement. "Under the guidance of the [U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee] medical staff, Zhou is undergoing additional testing to confirm his status."

The announcement comes on the day the U.S. figure skating won silver in the team competition. Zhou competed on Sunday in the team event as a substitute for three-time world champion Nathan Chen.

Zhou is supposed to compete again on Tuesday in the men's short program. If he tests negative in subsequent COVID tests, Zhou would still be able to compete.

If not, he will be placed in isolation, like other athletes who tested positive in Beijing, until he tests negative on two consecutive PCR tests.

This is the 21-year-old's second appearance at the Winter Olympic Games. He competed in Pyeongchang in 2018, but did not medal.

View original post here:

U.S. figure skater Vincent Zhou tests positive for COVID-19 at the Winter Olympics - NPR

Cara Pritchettlights up when she talks about family memberswho have helped hernavigatelife withcerebral palsy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The oldest of four siblings, Pritchett, 25, of Upper Arlington, said she was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy shortly after she beingborn. The congenital disordercausedherto losefunction ofthe right side of her body and ledto other developmental and medical issues later in life.

Despite beingmore likely to be infected by COVID-19 andcontract severe illnesses from the virus, many people with disabilities and their advocates say they feel likethe community has been overlooked and pushed aside during the pandemic.

"The pandemic has not been very good to me," she said.

Without family, Pritchett said she doesn't know how she would have made it through the past two year being in and out of the hospital withulcerative colitis, having difficulties finding a job willing toaccommodateher conditions, and losingher best friend in a hit-and-run crash.

"They've been through it all with me," Pritchettsaid of her family.

Disabilities:Dublin woman, a self-advocate, named to county board of developmental disabilities

There are about 2.6 millionadults like Pritchett in Ohiowho have a disabilityand are more likely to develop other chronic conditions and lack access to health care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last month, some 150 disability advocacy groups spoke out after CDC director Rochelle Walensky sharedin an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" what she called the "encouraging news"thatmost COVID-19 deaths among vaccinated individuals in a small studyhadother health problemsand were "unwell to begin with."

Afterward, disability rights activistImani Barbarin started the viral "#MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy" to call out Walensky's remarks,and she's been joined bypeople fromacross the world.

The CDC director apologized andmet with a group of disability activists after what she acknowledged was ahurtful, yet unintentional, statement, according to a CDC press release.Walenskyalsocommitted the CDC to regular engagements with the disability community.

The disability community is often overlooked ormade to feel devalued and dehumanized, saidSue Hetrick, executive director of theCenter for Disability Empowerment, aColumbus nonprofit that helps connect people with disabilities to housing, jobs, transportation and other service in Franklin, Licking, Delaware and Union counties.

"A lot of time policies or decisions are made without the input of people with disabilities," Hetrick said. "There isn't the awareness of the non-disabled community about who they are as people, not just what their needs are."

Opinion:People with disabilities are struggling to survive the pandemic

People like Hetrick andKerstinSjoberg, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy organizationDisability Rights Ohio,have fought discrimination and a lack of awareness throughout the pandemic.

As hospitals decide how to ration ventilators, medication and beds during a crisis, people with disabilitiescould be given lower priority based on stereotypes about their quality of life and how effective treatment might be,Sjoberg said.

Disability Rights Ohio worked with the Ohio Department of Health to create crisis standards of care for hospitals and doctors that are inclusive of the disabled community, but they're only recommendations, shesaid.

Sjobergadded thatthe new state budget gives the health department more influence in hospital policy, and she hopesdisability-inclusiverecommendations will be incorporated into hospital care guidelines.

The discrimination already exists in our system, and its not just doctors. Its part of our society, Sjoberg said.

'We made it through today': Coronavirus adds to issues for those with developmental disabilities

Some people with disabilities require aides and other workers who help them at home or in facilities to navigate daily life. This presented a problem during the pandemic, Hetrick said, becausesocial distancing and slowing the spread of the virus became next to impossible, making it harder to protect vulnerable populations.

The pandemic also mayhave isolated people with disabilities or prevented loved ones from visiting or keeping in touch, Sjoberg said. Without these natural support systems, it also became harder for people in institutionsor congregate settings to report neglect and abuse.

So Disability Rights Ohiocreated a virtual abuse and neglect reporting system and Q &A section where people canget information on personal protective equipment, safe housing, accurate information about COVID-19 vaccinations and more.

It's, of course, better to have it face-to-face, Sjoberg said. "We've been able to keep that core function operating very effectively during this process."

People with disabilities also often face the most barriers trying to getvaccinations, Hetrick said.Accessibility issues, concerns about reactions with existingmedications or conditions or fear about poor treatment can get in the way, she said.

"Information is not always accessible to people with disabilities, whether that's written information that's given to them, the kind of language that's used to inform them," Hetrick said. "Transportation is a huge barrier."

To help with these issues, theCenter for Disability Empowerment (CDE) and the Ohio Department of Health willhost pop-up vaccinationclinicsin late-February or March and provide scheduling assistance and transportation for those who need it, she said.

Other news:Some Ohioans will move on from COVID, but those most impacted may never be able to forget

Pritchett struggled to find a job in child careas the pandemic shrank opportunities and shut down schools and day cares.

She turned to the CDE for help last year, and even though she found a job she loves at Riverside Methodist Childcare Center in Upper Arlington,the group still checks in with her today.

"I've always said that people with disabilities are some of the strongest people I've ever met, because of the barriers that we're always facing," said Shari Veleba, a CDEinformation and referral coordinator.

Pritchett's parents and younger siblings also helped her deal with the boredom of having to isolate at home andthe challenges of having to deal with new health issues.

Even now, her parents continue to support herby doing such things as sending her TikToks showingdisability activists, she said.

And Pritchett said heryounger siblings Jake, John, Madison and Taylorare some of her biggest supporters in life, with Jake being especially encouraging as Pritchett dealt with the grief over the death of her friend.

She said he took her to the cemetery and wrote anessay about how strong she's been this past yearas his college applicationessay.

"He wrote the paper without me or anyone knowing what it was about, so when I read it, I was shocked and emotional,"Pritchett said. "Knowing that those were his words makes it really special."

AWright1@gannett.com

@aubreymwright

Go here to see the original:

'The pandemic has not been very good to me': People with disabilities feel forgotten - The Columbus Dispatch

WATERLOO, Ontario (StudyFinds.org) COVID-19 has disrupted countless lives around the globe and still serves as a daily, unavoidable stressor. Now, researchers from the University of Waterloo are revealing just how detrimental the pandemic has been for multi-child families.

To start, the study finds that within a multi-child family, one child typically tends to be more affected by the pandemic than their siblings experiencing more stress, anxiety, anger, and depression. Unfortunately, this development appears to create a negative feedback loop of poor parenting decisions. Stressed out parents trying to navigate these uncertain timesend up reacting harshlyto the child in need of additional support.

Our study shows that parents tend to be most reactive and least positive to the child showing the highest levels of mental health difficulties, says lead study author Dillon Browne, a professor of clinical psychology, in auniversityrelease.

Struggles with mental health among family members exacerbate each other in a feedback loop, he continues. Our study suggests that the direction of influence appears to go from the childs mental health to parenting, not parenting to child mental health.

Data was collected on over 500 caregivers and 1,000 siblings for this study. More specifically, caregivers with at least two children (ages 5-18) filled out surveys asking about their COVID stress,overall family functioning, and mental health on numerous occasions during a two-month tracking period.

Understanding childrens mental health difficulties during COVID-19 requires a family system lens because of the numerous ways thepandemic affects the familyas a unit. Comprehensive interventions for childrens mental health require an examination of caregiver, sibling, and whole-family dynamics, explains Prof. Browne, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Clinical Psychology.

In light of these results, study authors believe countless families and households will likely benefit from some familytherapy sessions. Moreover, individual psychotherapy sessions for both children and adults may be a useful tool as the world continues to endure the ongoing pandemic.

A lot of research studies have pointed to mental-health challenges associated with the pandemic for children and parents. This work adds insight into how pandemic-related disruption goes beyond the individual and infiltrates the relational environment of the family unit, Prof. Brown concludes.

Thestudyis published in the journalDevelopmental Psychology.

View post:

COVID-19 stress and disruptions are wreaking havoc on multi-child families, study says - WKRN News 2

The United Teachers of Richmond have approved a tentative agreement that negotiators reached Jan. 29 with the West Contra Costa Unified School District on additional COVID-19 safety protocols.

A union news release reported Friday that 93 percent of the members had approved the agreement, which centered around personal protective equipment and staff at school sites.

The agreement highlights the following:

-The district shall provide N95, KN95, and/or KF94 masks daily for students and staff, depending on supply. Medical grade or three-ply masks shall be required for all students.

-When there is a positive case in a classroom, all registered students and staff in the class are to be tested twice per week for two weeks.

-Testing will be provided for all students and staff before the return from President's Week and Spring Recess in February and April.

-The district shall increase its substitute pay rate and period subbing rate at the secondary level.

-Testing at school sites will continue for the remainder of the school year.

-All educators and service providers at the school site shall be notified of a confirmed positive case on-site within 24 hours.

See the original post here:

Richmond Teachers Approve COVID-19 Agreement With District - NBC Bay Area

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. New data from the Arkansas Department of Health shows that hospitalizations have continued to fall over the last 11 days as omicron appears to show a push past its peak over the past week.

Data from ADH shows the total number of active cases in the state fell by 2,754 in just 24 hours, making that number 38,314. The figures show there have now been 794,342 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with new cases increasing by 981.

The ADH also reported there are 1,493 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19, falling by 19 from the day before. The figures show 229 patients currently on ventilators, one less than the previous day and 460 patients in ICU which is three more than Saturday.

The data reported on Sunday shows there are now 9,831 Arkansans who have died because of COVID-19, an increase of 38 from the previous day.

Hospitalizations have declined for the 11th day in a row, Gov. Hutchinson said in a message on social media. Were continuing to come down from the Omicron peak, but we still need to be mindful of the virus. Vaccines prevent serious illness and hospitalizations.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, 917 doses of the vaccine were given in the last 24 hours, changing the total number of doses given to 3,899,719. There are now 1,550,402 Arkansans who are fully immunized and 371,324 partially immunized.

The rest is here:

COVID-19 IN ARKANSAS: Hospitalizations down for 11th consecutive day - KNWA

Lockdowns during the first COVID-19 wave in the spring of 2020 only reduced COVID-19 mortality by .2% in the U.S. and Europe, according to a Johns Hopkins University meta-analysis of several studies.

"While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted," the researchers wrote. "In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument."

The researchers Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen's Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby analyzed the effects of lockdown measures such as school shutdowns, business closures, and mask mandates on COVID-19 deaths.

"We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates," the researchers wrote.

A man crosses an empty expressway during a complete lockdown amid growing concerns of coronavirus on March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

The researchers also examined shelter-in-place orders, finding that they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 2.9%.

Studies that looked at only shelter-in-place orders found they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 5.1%, but studies that looked at shelter-in-place orders along with other lockdown measures found that shelter-in-place orders actually increased COVID-19 mortality by 2.8%.

CHICAGO GUNSHOP SEES SKYROCKETING SALES FOLLOWING LOCKDOWNS, CRIME SPIKE

The researchers concluded that limiting gatherings may have actually increased COVID-19 mortality.

"[Shelter-in-place orders] may isolate an infected person at home with his/her family where he/she risks infecting family members with a higher viral load, causing more severe illness," the researchers wrote.

"But often, lockdowns have limited peoples access to safe (outdoor) places such as beaches, parks, and zoos, or included outdoor mask mandates or strict outdoor gathering restrictions, pushing people to meet at less safe (indoor) places."

The researchers also examined studies that focused on specific lockdown measures and found that the only intervention that reduced COVID-19 mortality was the closure of non-essential businesses, which reduced mortality by 10.6%, but this effect was likely driven by the closure of bars.

A man living on the streets displays what he says is the synthetic drug fentanyl in the Tenderloin section of San Francisco, California. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Researchers also pointed out other unintended consequences of lockdowns, such as rising unemployment, reduced schooling, an increase in domestic violence incidents, and surging drug overdoses.

From May 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. recorded 100,306 drug overdose deaths, a 28.5% increase from the 78,056 deaths that were recorded in the previous 12-month period, according to CDC data.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S AT-HOME COVID TEST WEBSITE LAUNCHES

A study from the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice last year found that domestic violence incidents increased 8.1% in the U.S. after lockdown orders were issued.

A sign taped to the front door of Pulaski International School of Chicago reads, 'School Closed,' after Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district, said it would cancel classes. (REUTERS/Jim Vondruska)

About 97% of U.S. teachers said that their students have experienced learning loss during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Horace Mann survey last year.

The unemployment rate peaked nationwide at 14.8% in April 2020, but declined to 3.9% in December, which is still slightly higher than the 3.5% rate it was at in February 2020.

"These costs to society must be compared to the benefits of lockdowns, which our meta-analysis has shown are marginal at best," the researchers in the Johns Hopkins University study wrote.

"Such a standard benefit-cost calculation leads to a strong conclusion: lockdowns should be rejected out of hand as a pandemic policy instrument."

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the administration's coronavirus surge response in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

President Biden has pledged to focus on testing and vaccinations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 instead of the lockdowns that characterized the earlier part of the pandemic.

"It doesnt include shutdowns or lockdowns, but widespread vaccinations and boosters and testing a lot more," Biden said in December about his winter plans for fighting the pandemic.

Several cities and states around the country still have mask mandates, remote learning, and other measures in place.

Original post:

Lockdowns only reduced COVID-19 death rate by .2%, study finds: 'Lockdowns should be rejected out of hand' - Fox News

by: Braley Dodson, Nexstar Media Wire

Posted: Feb 6, 2022 / 06:00 AM MST

Updated: Feb 4, 2022 / 06:25 AM MST

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) Can you throw your at-home, rapid COVID-19 test in the trash, or is it considered hazardous biological waste?

Unlike at hospitals, at-home tests can be thrown in the normal trash, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Miami Herald in January. However, some states have taken different stances.

In Delaware, schools should treat the kits as infectious waste, according to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Schools have been directed to place used test materials in red bags, mark the bags with the biohazard symbol and tie them closed. The bags must be stored away from people and be protected from the weather, rodents and insects. The state must then remove the bags, and schools must keep a copy of the manifests for at least three years.

As for South Carolina, the Department of Health and Environmental Control said that residents should follow the instructions on the at-home tests they use.

Were not aware of any stipulations preventing an individual organization, business, school, or provider from developing their own disposal policies, but we encourage them to follow practical safety and health protocols when doing so, the agency said.

Lucira at-home COVID-19 test kits include a plastic bag for the test to be placed in and disposed of in the trash. Instructions for the QuickVue, BinaxNOW and IHealth at-home tests also say the used tests can be placed in the trash.

In California, disposal of BinaxNow test cards depends on whether or not the result was positive. For negative results, the test cards can go in the trash, while positive tests along with used swabs and other test components must be disposed of in a biohazard container according to regulated medical waste guidelines.

The CDC says tests from labs and testing sites should be treated as biohazardous waste. Rules on how to dispose of the waste vary by state, contact your local health department or COVID task force with any questions.

Read the original post:

Can your at-home COVID-19 test go in the trash? - KRQE News 13

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

After an anxious January marked by a wave of COVID-19 infections that pushed Texas hospitals and intensive care units to their limits, the number of Texans in the hospital with COVID-19 across the state has been in a steady decline for about a week, according to state health data.

The decrease is the latest in a series of hopeful signs that the surge driven by the highly contagious omicron variant may be starting to abate, forecasters and health officials say.

If the trend continues, the state would have passed its peak hospitalizations for this wave on Jan. 20, when Texas hospitals reported 13,371 patients with COVID-19 a number that has decreased daily since then. That falls short of the record 14,218 hospitalizations the state saw a year ago on Jan. 11, 2021.

On Monday, the number of Texans in the hospital with COVID-19 was 11,997, the lowest number the state has seen in nearly three weeks. Forecasters and health officials feared last month that hospitalizations could reach new pandemic highs, but now say its likely the state wont reach that mark during this surge.

The decline is a welcome development for doctors, nurses and other officials in the states overwhelmed hospitals at the tail end of what, in some areas, was the fifth wave of infections in the past two years.

In the harder-hit metro areas such as Austin and Houston, hospitals reported record-breaking numbers of patients with COVID-19 last month but the situation is improving.

At Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston, the number of young patients with COVID-19 and the percentage of positive tests in the past six weeks far outpaced any records set during the prior two years, said Dr. James Versalovic, the hospitals pathologist-in-chief.

Now, positivity rates are down by a third, and the number of patients with COVID-19 is down by about 70%, he said. Those numbers are still higher than records set in the hospital during the delta surge, but they are dropping steadily albeit slowly, he said.

We are optimistic. We are breathing a bit more easily this week, Versalovic said. We do see light at the end of the tunnel, but its a long tunnel. We are looking forward to March.

Dr. James McCarthy, a chief physician executive and executive vice president for Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, said in a recent TV interview that the surge appears to be easing up at those facilities.

"We're feeling very optimistic that weve crested this wave, he said. We feel like the hospitals have weathered this storm again."

The state has also seen daily new COVID-19 cases decline by more than a third since last week, as well as a drop in positivity rates. And the number of ICU beds available in the state has started to increase again after it reached its lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

But with more than 25% of tests still coming out positive, the levels of virus still surpass what was seen during the delta surge and would have been mind-boggling at any point before December, said Chris Van Deusen, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

So people should still be cautious, he said.

Experts also say its hard to predict whether another variant may arise that could cause another surge, or how long the natural immunity from an omicron infection might last.

But the downward trend should continue as long as people dont get too confident too fast, drop their guards and start acting like the pandemic is over, said Anass Bouchnita, a researcher at the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, which uses data and research to project the path of the pandemic.

All of that is a good sign, but of course its not the end, he said. We know that around half of the infections and hospitalizations and deaths will occur after the peak, so this is not the finish line. Its not time to let our guard down. We need to keep up the vigilance.

That means to get vaccinated but also, he said, to continue masking up, hand-washing and social distancing so the transmission continues to subside.

The number of hospitals reporting full ICUs last week was at 73, still well under the pandemic record of 100 over the summer, and a decrease from the week before.

Still increasing, however, are the daily reported deaths, which dont usually start declining until a few weeks after hospitalizations peak.

The deadliest wave of the pandemic hit over the holidays in December 2020 and January 2021, just weeks after the vaccine was given emergency use authorization in the United States and very few people had access to it. The numbers of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 hit highs that the state hadnt seen before and has not seen since.

During the delta wave of last summer, the state put record numbers of children in the hospital with COVID-19 but missed the previous pandemic record for statewide hospitalizations by only a few hundred.

The most recent surge, which started in December, shortly after the omicron variant was detected in Texas, saw case counts and positivity rates in Texas top previous pandemic records, as well as pediatric hospitalizations. The same thing happened nationally.

Compared with the deadlier delta variant surge last September, the most recent wave brought about by the more contagious omicron variant comes with some important caveats, experts say.

Omicron is more easily spread than any of the other versions, taking down vital health employees for days at a time when more people are becoming infected.

Nearly 60% of the state is fully vaccinated, which experts say protects against hospitalization, and the omicron variant itself appears to produce less-serious symptoms than previous iterations. And while treatments are in short supply, there are more approved now than there were during the last surges.

But omicron is still leaving chaos in its wake.

Were in a different situation now than we were a year ago, said Dr. David Lakey, vice chancellor for health affairs and chief medical officer at the University of Texas System, and former state health commissioner. Having some tools out there, having experience with the virus, having the most vulnerable individuals immunized that helps a lot. On the other hand, the hospitals have been doing this a long time and theyre very burned out and theyre very short-staffed right now and they are going as hard as they can to care for individuals.

ICU admissions for people with COVID are lower than they were during the last peak a year ago, and fewer of those patients need ventilators, according to state data. Smaller percentages of patients who test positive are being admitted into the hospital for COVID treatment, and hospital stays are getting shorter, according to hospital officials.

Those trends signal that the virus is making Texans less sick, overall, which officials hope will not only reduce deaths and suffering but also, eventually, the pressure on hospitals.

That is a bright spot, Lakey said.

At the height of the delta surge, more than 100 hospitals in Texas reported that their ICUs were full to capacity. By comparison, at least 73 hospitals reported that their ICUs were full last week.

In Dallas-Fort Worth-area hospitals, even though most of the areas major hospitals were reporting ICU capacity filled to more than 95%, about half of those patients have COVID-19, similar to the share during delta, said Steve Love, president and CEO of the DFW Hospital Council.

Meanwhile, the number of ICU patients needing ventilators dropped by roughly 50% in the region compared with the other two surges, Love said.

At Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, north of Houston, theyre seeing fewer ICU beds used by COVID patients than they did during the delta surge. But chief medical officer Jason Knight said unvaccinated patients and those with preexisting medical conditions are still at risk.

With omicron, were seeing a lot more people with complex medical problems, where even though the [COVID] infection is mild, its pushing them over and causing their complex medical problems to result in ICU admissions and potentially deaths, he said.

The waves of people showing up at Texas hospitals come at a time when the health care industry is experiencing a historic staffing crisis two years into a pandemic that has killed more than 78,000 people in the state.

And while hospital stays are growing shorter, they are still extended in some cases by the lack of nursing home beds available for patients who are in postoperative recovery or need long-term care a problem exacerbated by staffing shortages at long-term care facilities.

The total number of hospital beds available statewide for all patients is lower than it was when hospitalizations peaked a year ago. Thats due to a combination of staff members and their families being out sick with omicron, nurses leaving for contract work, and employees quitting the industry altogether because of burnout or fears of infection.

At the height of last years January surge, the state had some 14,000 medical staffers deployed in the hardest-hit hospitals. During the delta wave last summer, about 8,000 nurses were sent to help.

So far during this surge, the state has contracted with about 4,400 travel nurses for hospitals that need them.

In mid-January at the Golden Plains Community Hospital in the Panhandle town of Borger, nurses were absent in the medical-surgical department as well as the emergency room, the lab and the clinic, while the hospital sees a surge in cases and hospitalizations. Only a third of that countys residents are vaccinated.

All 10 of the employees who were absent on a recent day last month were out with COVID-19, said CEO Don Bates.

Every day is a new battle, Bates wrote in an email. If it comes to shutting down surgery and pulling nurses from our clinics or OB which there arent many left well do what we have to do to care for the COVID sick, until we absolutely cant take any further admissions. Then our docs will have to focus on what the Panhandle Regional Advisory Council has been calling the salvageable.

Not my words, he added. By the end of January, Bates was home sick with COVID-19, too.

Nationwide, 81% of ICU capacity is being used, with 29% of those patients diagnosed with COVID-19, according to federal data. Texas ICUs are at a 92% occupancy rate, with about 39% of patients positive for COVID-19.

People ages 5-17 are eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. People ages 18 and older are eligible to get the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, which are now preferred over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All vaccines in the United States must go through three phases of clinical trials to make sure they are safe and effective. During the development of COVID-19 vaccines, phases overlapped to speed up the process, but all phases were completed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State data shows that unvaccinated Texans made up 85% of coronavirus cases and deaths from Jan. 15 to Oct. 1, 2021.

Yes. Research has not yet shown how long you are protected from getting COVID-19 again after recovering from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccination will boost protection. If you were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you are unsure what treatments you received or if you have more questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Most chain pharmacies and many independent ones have a ready supply of the vaccine, and many private doctors' offices also have it. Texas has compiled other options for finding vaccine appointments here, and businesses or civic organizations can set up vaccine clinics to offer it to employees, visitors, customers or members. The vaccine is free, and you dont need health insurance to get it.

The protection the vaccine offers can wane over time, so medical experts recommend getting a booster shot. People ages 18 and older are eligible for booster shots, according to recommendations from the CDC. Recipients ages 12-17 who received the Pfizer vaccine as their initial two-dose treatment are eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine as their booster.

The influx of omicron cases has created a vicious cycle for many hospitals, where administrators fear that the increased demands on nursing staff may lead to more of them burning out or leaving the profession.

At Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, patients are staying in the emergency department far longer than usual, waiting for a bed to open up.

Were trying to take care of essentially an inpatient unit down in our emergency department in addition to [nurses] trying to do their normal jobs, said Knight, the chief medical officer there. A lot of nurses are getting stretched really thin. Thats why a lot of them are getting frustrated. Thats why some people are leaving.

Knight said the current staffing crunch has created a competitive environment for health care, with an increase in frustrated and occasionally rude patients.

Prevention protocols such as masking, social distancing and limiting travel play a big role in lowering hospital rates, officials and experts say.

But the big weapon against overwhelming hospitals with severe cases is vaccination, which has been proven highly effective at keeping those who are inoculated out of the hospitals and intensive care units.

About 58% of Texans are fully vaccinated. Nationwide, that number is nearly 63%.

One thing Lakey, the University of Texas System chief medical officer, credits with keeping severe illnesses down and ICU numbers lower than they could be is the high vaccination rate Texas is reporting among its most vulnerable residents ages 65 and older. Some 84% of them have been fully vaccinated.

The really at-risk individuals of having severe disease, weve given them some protection so theyre less likely to go to the ICU and less likely to die because theyve been immunized, Lakey said. You are seeing breakthrough infections, but the vaccines do protect from the severe disease, a significant amount of protection.

In Montgomery County, where Houston Methodist The Woodlands is based, only 53% of residents are vaccinated, which is the lowest rate for Texas counties with populations exceeding 500,000. Roughly 17% of residents have received booster shots.

Nurses and doctors say that after nearly two years on the front lines, their empathy for the unvaccinated patients who will require their care is diminished.

The tragedy of COVID is, its happening behind the doors of our critical care rooms, in our [ER], in our ICU. Theres very few people in the community that has ever seen somebody suffocate and die from COVID, Knight said. That is totally and completely preventable. I just think that that is incredibly tragic, and thats hard emotionally on our nurses and its hard emotionally on our staff.

Eleanor Klibanoff contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Texas Childrens Hospital, Memorial Hermann Health System, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Read the original post:

Light at the end of the tunnel: Texas COVID-19 hospitalizations down as omicron wave appears to crest - The Texas Tribune