Category: Covid-19

Dec 23 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker General Motors Co (GM.N), Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL.O) Google and its self-driving auto-technology company Waymo on Thursday joined the companies no longer attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in person early next month due to rising COVID-19 infections.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra had been scheduled to give a keynote speech at the annual conference on Jan. 5, during which the company would have shown its electric Silverado pickup truck for the first time. Barra will still make the speech and presentation remotely, a spokesman said. read more

"We have decided to move to an all-digital approach with our activation at CES 2022 in January," the U.S. automaker said in a statement. "We are continuing with our plans on Jan. 5 to share our significant company news, including the reveal of the Chevrolet Silverado EV."

Register

A Google spokesperson said in a statement: "After careful consideration we have decided to withhold from having a presence on the show floor of CES 2022," adding that Google would continue to "identify and support virtual opportunities."

Waymo said in a blog post that it hopes to participate virtually if possible at the Las Vegas event, which traditionally has drawn over 180,000 people from around the world to discuss emerging technologies and party through the night with business contacts.

ByteDance-owned TikTok said it would hold a virtual event for partners and advertisers. Also on Thursday, Intel Corp (INTC.O) said it would minimize staffing at CES.

"The health and safety ofour employees, partners and customers is always a top priority," the chipmaker said. "Our plans for CES will move to a digital-first, live experience, with minimal on-site staff."

Several other companies, including Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O), Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), Lenovo Group (0992.HK), AT&T Inc (T.N) and Amazon.com Inc dropped in-person attendance plans earlier this week, saying they would not send employees out of caution over the spread of Omicron. read more

CES officials said the event will still be held in person from Jan. 5-8 with "strong safety measures in place," including vaccination requirements, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests.

"Our mission remains to convene the industry and give those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally," CES said in a statement. "CES 2022 will go forward as important innovation for world health and safety, mobility and solving problems will be exhibited."

It added that while it had received 42 exhibitor cancellations since last Thursday, that was less than 7% of the exhibitor floor and 60 others had been added.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 was first detected last month in Hong Kong and southern Africa, sparking global concerns about a fast-spreading new version of the virus. Coronavirus infections have soared wherever highly infectious Omicron has spread, triggering new restrictions in many countries.

Register

Reporting by Paresh Dave and Ben Klayman; Additional reporting by Elizabeth Culliford and Stephen Nellis; Editing by Mark Porter, Cynthia Osterman and Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The rest is here:

GM, Google, others join retreat from CES over rising COVID-19 cases - Reuters

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of December 23, 2021, there are currently 9,285 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been nine deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 5,251 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 66-year old female from Cabell County, a 47-year old female from Grant County, an 86-year old male from Jackson County, an 88-year old male from Hancock County, an 87-year old female from Grant County, a 69-year old female from Logan County, a 77-year old female from Greenbrier County, and a 73-year old female from Kanawha County.

Included in the total deaths reported on the dashboard as a result of the Bureau for Public Healths continuing data reconciliation with the official death certificate is an 80-year old male from Cabell County. This death occurred in November 2021.

During this holiday season and always, we mourn the loss of these West Virginians and send our deepest sympathies to their loved ones, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Please choose vaccination to prevent further spread and illness.

CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (96), Berkeley (1,391), Boone (106), Braxton (69), Brooke (88), Cabell (393), Calhoun (52), Clay (44), Doddridge (26), Fayette (312), Gilmer (40), Grant (67), Greenbrier (209), Hampshire (67), Hancock (123), Hardy (87), Harrison (322), Jackson (97), Jefferson (539), Kanawha (570), Lewis (58), Lincoln (98), Logan (149), Marion (232), Marshall (110), Mason (119), McDowell (108), Mercer (464), Mineral (100), Mingo (104), Monongalia (282), Monroe (107), Morgan (160), Nicholas (197), Ohio (249), Pendleton (14), Pleasants (18), Pocahontas (17), Preston (110), Putnam (290), Raleigh (477), Randolph (119), Ritchie (40), Roane (65), Summers (59), Taylor (97), Tucker (17), Tyler (17), Upshur (85), Wayne (164), Webster (29), Wetzel (50), Wirt (16), Wood (250), Wyoming (116). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.

Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Please visit http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

West Virginians ages 5 years and older are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Boosters are also available. To learn more about the vaccine, or to find a vaccine site near you, visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call 1-833-734-0965.

Applications for the Do it for Babydog: Senior Center Edition are open for individuals over the age of 50 who have been fully vaccinated and who received their booster shot after December 7, 2021 to receive a $50 prepaid visa gift card. Please visit https://doitforbabydog.wv.gov/senior-registration.

Free pop-up COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Braxton, Cabell, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Jefferson, Marion, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Ohio, Raleigh, Randolph, Upshur, and Wood counties.

Barbour County

7:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Community Market, 107 South Main Street (across the street from Walgreens), Philippi, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVBBC)

3:00 PM - 7:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)

Berkeley County

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)

Braxton County

7:30 AM - 1:30 PM, Braxton County Memorial Hospital (parking lot), 100 Hoylman Drive, Gassaway, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=Braxton)

Cabell County

9:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Cabell-Huntington Health Department (parking lot), 703 Seventh Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavCabell)

Greenbrier County

9:30 AM - 3:00 PM, State Fair of WV, 891 Maplewood Avenue, Lewisburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVGBC)

Hampshire County

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hampshire Memorial Hospital, 363 Sunrise Boulevard, Romney, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)

Jefferson County

10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)

Marion County

10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Dunbar School Foundation, 101 High Street, Fairmont, WV

Mingo County

9:00 AM - 2:30 PM, Gilbert City Hall, 5 Wharncliff Avenue, Gilbert, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMGC)

Monroe County

9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Church of God Fellowship Hall, 96 Bud Ridge Road, Union, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMRC)

Nicholas County

9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Summersville Regional Medical Center, 400 Fairview Heights Road, Summersville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVNL)

Ohio County

9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Ohio Valley Medical Center (parking lot of former VPC South Building at the top of 22nd Street), 2000 Eoff Street, Wheeling, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)

Raleigh County

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Beckley-Raleigh County Health Department, 1602 Harper Road, Beckley, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavBeckleyRaleigh)

Randolph County

8:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Randolph-Elkins Health Department (parking lot), 32 Randolph Avenue, Elkins, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVRDC)

Upshur County

8:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Buckhannon Fire Department (parking lot), 22 South Florida Street, Buckhannon, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVUSC)

Wood County

7:30 AM - 3:00 PM, Vienna Baptist Church, 3401 Grand Central Avenue, Vienna, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavWood1)

Free COVID-19 testing will be held on Sunday, December 26 in Cabell, Fayette, Greenbrier, and Nicholas counties. For more testing locations, please visit https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx.

Cabell County

12:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Cabell-Huntington Health Department (parking lot), 703 Seventh Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavCabell)

Fayette County

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, J.W. & Hazel Ruby West Virginia Welcome Center, 55 Ruby Lane, Mount Hope, WV

Greenbrier County

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, State Fair of WV, 891 Maplewood Avenue, Lewisburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVGBC)

Nicholas County

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Summersville Regional Medical Center, 400 Fairview Heights Road, Summersville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVNL)

Read more:

COVID-19 Daily Update 12-23-2021 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

8:30 AM ET

Adrian Wojnarowski

Baxter Holmes

SIX PLAYERS BOARDED a charter to Midway Airport for a Toronto-Chicago meeting that would never happen -- a ghost team flying to a ghost game. Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse kept scores of his coaching and support staff back home, separating out those with young families awaiting Santa Claus.

"One positive [COVID-19] test puts you in Chicago over Christmas," Nurse told ESPN.

If anyone had been cursed with the sense of impending NBA gloom, it was these Raptors. Outside of the head coach and four assistants, the army of support staff that typically traveled had been whittled down to what Nurse described as "the least-attached video guy."

What was usually a traveling crew of 60 became a spartan 20 on the team flight. "Three buses for six players," Nurse said. "That was something to see."

As NBA problems go, these Raptors had absorbed some of the hardest hits since the pandemic's start in March 2020. From the bubble in Orlando, Florida, to a season-long exile in Tampa, the Raptors would go 19 months between games in Canada. Even now, home games at Scotiabank Arena are limited to 50% capacity.

The Raptors' roster was decimated by an outbreak in the 2020-21 season, and again now -- including seven players who have landed in the NBA's health and safety protocols prior to the team charter leaving for Chicago on Tuesday night. Raptors guard OG Anunoby made it eight on Wednesday, leaving the team with four available roster players, four short of the league-required eight players to play the Bulls. For days, Nurse could see it coming. They all did.

As Raptors players kept testing positive for the virus -- Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes and Gary Trent Jr. -- the front office stayed on the phone recruiting replacements. "We had three when I went to bed [Monday night], four when I woke up, and we got a fifth when I landed in Chicago," Nurse told ESPN.

The replacements would have had to play against the Bulls, but the Raptors will still need them on Sunday in Cleveland. The postponement spared Nurse a pregame meeting with his new players at the United Center, where he planned on the most elementary of introductions to Raptors basketball. Asked what, in that short window, Nurse could do to prepare them to play meaningful minutes, he said: "The simple stuff, like, 'Here's how to get the ball inbounds.'"

As it turned out in Chicago on Wednesday, some of the Raptors' replacement players tested positive for COVID-19, and Anunoby needed a private plane to fly back separately to Toronto. Another wasted trip, another game cancellation for a steeled but beleaguered organization.

Such is the rudimentary state of an NBA suddenly under the siege of a three-week December barrage that has uprooted stars, starters and rotation players, and replaced them with minor leaguers and old-timers.

The Raptors aren't alone.

As the omicron variant rages through the NBA, 11 other teams have faced outbreaks with each losing five or more players to the health and safety protocols. Three head coaches have entered the protocols, along with Raptors president Masai Ujiri. Nine games have been postponed. There have been 140 player entries into the protocols this season, with 123 this month alone, a brutal stretch by any measure. Several teams teeter dangerously close to not having enough healthy bodies, while G League players are filling vacant spots at a breakneck pace, severely impacting the level of play.

These most difficult weeks come just 48 hours away from Christmas, the league's most high-profile regular-season slate of games. But as of Wednesday, a total of 45 players among 10 teams scheduled to play on Christmas remained in the protocols. In a league overwhelmingly reliant on its star appeal, Christmas games could be played without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, James Harden, Trae Young and an injured Anthony Davis.

STANDING IN THE locker room at Barclays Center, Brooklyn Nets guard Bruce Brown stared at the empty stalls surrounding him: all his neighbors, all absent. No James Johnson. No DeAndre' Bembry. No Paul Millsap. It was Dec. 14, and the Nets were about to face the Raptors, but they were also in the teeth of a COVID-19 breakout. As Brown glanced to his left and right, a sense of dread settled in. "I don't think it's going to skip over my locker," he thought to himself.

Soon, Brown found himself on the court warming up for a rare starting assignment, a byproduct of so many teammates in the protocols. He wore a good sweat and the good-faith belief he had cleared two rounds of game-day testing. It felt like a clean getaway.

But before tipoff, Nets assistant general manager Jeff Peterson waved Brown toward the tunnel to the locker room. One of Brown's two pregame tests had come back inconclusive, and the NBA told the Nets that they needed to enter Brown into the league's protocols. Officials walked Brown toward an empty side room, brought him his street clothes and belongings, and walked him out to the loading dock to leave the arena.

Awaiting Brown was Nets star guard Harden.

Read more:

Inside the NBA's race to outlast COVID-19's omicron surge - ESPN

A COVID-19 outbreak has sidelined 18 members of the Jets, including 17 players and head coach Robert Saleh, who tested positive on Wednesday.

Its unclear in some cases who tested positive and who is just a close contact. The same goes for vaccination status, which would determine if players are eligible to play in Week 16 against the Jaguars. Any vaccinated player must test negative for the virus twice 24 hours apart and be asymptomatic in order to play this weekend.

As a Tier 1 coach, Saleh must be vaccinated to interact with players in-person. Tight ends coach Ron Middleton will run in-person practices while Saleh is out and will be the interim head coach on Sunday if Saleh is forced to miss the game.

Some of the sidelined players are on the active roster, while others are on injured reserve or the practice squad. Here is every Jet currently out due to COVID-19.

See more here:

New York Jets: 21 members of team on COVID-19 list - Jets Wire

The New Orleans Saints are looking down the barrel of possibly starting their fourth different quarterback this season. According to the NFL Network, the team is placing starter Taysom Hill on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday. Hill now joins backup signal-caller Trevor Siemian, who was placed on the COVID list earlier this week. With those two now on the shelf, for the time being, New Orleans is preparing to start rookie Ian Book against the Dolphins on Monday night.

The vaccination status of both Hill and Siemian is unclear at the moment. If either one is vaccinated, there is a path towards testing out of protocols in time for this game on Monday under the NFL and NFLPA's updated policy. If either is unvaccinated and have produced a positive test, that means they'll be forced into a 10-day quarantine, which would result in them missing Week 16.

This comes at a critical point in New Orleans' season as they are in the midst of a playoff push at 7-7. They'd likely need to win out to give themselves a shot to get into the postseason, so not having its preferred starter comes at a less than ideal time.

Since assuming the starting role back in Week 13, Hill and the Saints have gone 2-1 and were coming off a shutout win over the Buccaneers in Week 15. Over that stretch, Hill has completed 52.8% of his passes, averaged 197.7 yards passing and 69 yards per game on the ground. he also has four total touchdowns and four interceptions.

As for Ian Book, he was drafted by New Orleans in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He finished his collegiate career as the Fighting Irish's winningest quarterback in the school's history, but has yet to throw an NFL pass. During his final season at Notre Dame, Book completed 64.6% of his throws and averaged 8 yards per attempt. He also rushed 116 times in 2020 on a 4.2 yards per carry clip.

Read the original here:

Saints place Taysom Hill on reserve/COVID-19 list; Ian Book being prepared to start, per report - CBS Sports

COVID-19 is currently affecting multiple NFL teams. Many players are on the COVID-19 list as the number of positive cases across North American sports continues to rise.

The Cincinnati Bengals are one team that has managed to avoid having a lengthy reserve/COVID-19 list. There could be many reasons why this is the case, but Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has a funny -- and brutally honest -- theory about why his team has managed to keep players healthy and on the field.

Prepare Ohio folk, his answer is not exactly a compliment to one city in your state.

Here's what Burrow said,via ESPN:

"Fortunately, there's not a ton to do in Cincinnati. Nobody is going out to clubs and bars and getting COVID every weekend."

Poor Queen City.

Burrow continued, saying "We're still a healthy team, which not a lot of people can say at this point of the season. We've been lucky as far as injuries and COVID."

This NFL season has already seen rescheduled games, with the league postponing three games last week as COVID-19 cases increased. Burrow's squad is currently battling it out with the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC North division title. Both teams are 8-6.

Originally posted here:

Joe Burrow thinks Bengals have avoided COVID-19 surge because 'there's not a ton to do' in Cincinnati - CBS Sports

'We tend to forget we're dealing with humans': Health experts mixed on new NFL COVID-19 protocols  USA TODAY

Read the original post:

'We tend to forget we're dealing with humans': Health experts mixed on new NFL COVID-19 protocols - USA TODAY

December 21, 2021

As we enter a new year, a new variant has emerged, winter conditions are pushing people indoors, and holiday gatherings and travel are increasing potential virus exposure and movement. With this in mind, we are eagerly watching to see how the state of the pandemic evolves as we begin 2022.

Fortunately, we are in a very different place than we were in January 2021: much of our population is vaccinated, and there are many viable therapeutics that are already available or expected to be available soon for outpatient treatment of COVID-19.

Join us on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, for the 19th installment of our monthly Virtual Grand RoundsCOVID-19 Therapeutics - What Oral Medications are on the Way? for an update from Californias State Epidemiologist Erica Pan, M.D. on the status of COVID-19 in California. We will also hear from other experts on the evolving landscape of COVID-19 therapeutics and prepare us for the oral medications in the pipeline.

The grand rounds webinars arefree and open to all interested clinicians. Participants can receive1.5AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Clinicians likely to encounter COVID-19 in their practice settings (e.g., front line physicians, nurse practitioners or physician assistants) are encouraged to join the monthly case-based presentations, which will include expert panel discussions and audience participation.

If you are unable to attend the live webinar, they will be available for on-demand playback atcovidroundsca.org.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the California Medical Association and California Health and Human Services Agency. CMA is accredited by ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The California Medical Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 1AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Excerpt from:

Next Virtual Grand Rounds to focus on COVID-19 therapeutics - California Medical Association

D.C. is expanding the Health Department's free coronavirus testing program on Wednesday to include COVID-19 antigen tests that people can pick up to perform at home to get results within 15 minutes.

Well have these at eight libraries; well have initially 1,000 kits per library per day, said Patrick Ashley, senior deputy director at DC Health. Individuals can pick up two kits, which is a total of four tests per person, per day, at the library.

Each of the citys eight Wards will have a library providing the free, rapid tests to people showing proof of residency.

And these are in addition to our current Test Yourself program that we have operating at 36 libraries throughout the district, he said, referencing the citys current PCR testing program.

PCR test results developed in laboratories take a few days, but provide very definitive answers as to whether someone currently has COVID-19. Antigen tests are slightly less specific but give immediate results, so people can take action if needed to help reduce the spread of the virus in the community.

Most importantly, the reason to take an antigen test is if youre symptomatic, Ashley said.

And we want you to take an antigen test kit within the first couple of days of you being symptomatic because we know that antigen tests are far more likely to show a positive result, a reliable positive result within the first couple of days of symptoms.

COVID-19 tests of all sorts are not always easy to get.

It is so frustrating to not be able to find a PCR test or rapid test anywhere, saidNicole West, who arrived at the Shaw Neighborhood Library on Tuesday, after all available tests were distributed.

Everybodys going to see family for the holidays and friends and just in the interest of trying to be as safe as possible make sure that were all tested. And its not going as wed hoped, she said with a sigh.

D.C.s Test Yourself program involves people picking up a PCR test to administer at home before returning it to a drop off location to await laboratory results.

Weve used them before. Were really grateful the librarys doing this actually, Kinara Flagg said, while waiting in line to receive a test on Tuesday at the Shaw Neighborhood Library. Its made testing and drop-off pretty easy.

Flagg and her family members have used the tests repeatedly to rule out COVID-19 being responsible for cold-like symptoms and after being in contact with someone who tested positive.

They typically received test results within two or three days four days was the longest.

Sam, who preferred his last name not be used and is also from the Shaw neighborhood, attested to the convenience of the librarys PCR tests.

Its a great setup they have here, Sam said. He needed testing previously to go on honeymoon. They say 72 hours for results. I think we got ours back in like 28, 30 we needed them pretty quick. So that was a good thing.

The quick-result antigen tests dont involve documentation of results like the PCR tests do, but Ashley said thats crucial information people should report on the DC Health website.

Unlike traditional laboratories, which are required to report this information to us, because youre taking these at home, we have no knowledge of you taking those tests, Ashley said. And so for our surveillance purposes and understanding what the disease is doing in the community, its really important both those positive and negative results.

You can find a full list of testing locations offered by various community entities on the D.C. Department of Health website.

Courtesy DC Health

WTOP/Kristi King

WTOP/Kristi King

WTOP/Kristi King

WTOP/Kristi King

WTOP/Kristi King

WTOP/Kristi King

WTOP/Kristi King

View post:

DC expands availability and options for free COVID-19 testing - WTOP

Gov. Larry Hogan is expanding hours at testing sites and urging Marylanders to get boosters as hospitalizations are projected to reach a pandemic-high of 2,000.

Gov. Larry Hogan is expanding hours at testing sites and urging Marylanders to get boosters as hospitalizations are projected to reach a pandemic-high of 2,000 early next year.

If the predicted number of hospitalizations is correct, it will exceed Marylands peak of 1,950 hospitalizations last January, according to Dr. Ted Delbridge, the executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.

The Maryland National Guard is being mobilized to expand hours at testing sites in Anne Arundel and Prince Georges counties, Hogan also said Tuesday, to help meet demand. The state will provide school systems will $30 million in additional funding to buy tests.

So many of us are undoubtedly feeling dj vu. I want to urge Marylanders not to panic, Hogan said.

This is not March of 2020. We have the tools and resources in place to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. We must remain vigilant. We cannot let our guard down.

The updates come after Hogan tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday; he hosted the news conference from the governors house and said hes experiencing cold-like symptoms.

Hogan is also introducing emergency legislation to help hospital systems, including $100 million of additional funding to address staffing shortages at Maryland hospitals and nursing homes.

Of that additional funding, $50 million will go to hospitals and nursing hopes to expand COVID testing, treatments and vaccines. The other $50 million will be used to stabilize hospitals workforce and staffing needs.

Hogan said all nursing homes will offer COVID-19 therapeutic treatments to residents during an outbreak.

Heath officials are following a new directive as some reach capacity. Hogan said if hospitalizations reach 1,200, then some non-urgent medical procedures will be reduced. If hospitalizations reach 1,500, hospitals will implement their pandemic plans.

But, Hogan said, the state can only do so much.

We also need the federal government step up and do whatever it takes, including invoking the Defense Production Act to dramatically expand the availability of testing to the American people, Hogan said. Every American who wants a test should be able to get it fast.

Hogans announcements come as he said hospitalizations have reached 1,392, an increase of 180% in the last month.

Delbridge said that 75% of hospital emergency departments are currently alerting Marylands emergency medical services system that theyre at capacity and should be avoided if at all possible.

Hospitalizations are expected to peak in mid- to late January. Hogan said this is the same time period the flu is expected to peak.

The state is administering more than 50,000 tests per day.

Hogan said the state has administered over 10 million vaccines.

The remaining 9% of Maryland adults who arent vaccinated make up more than 75% of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state.

I know that theres been confusing guidance from the federal government on this, Hogan said. But what with what we know about these dangerous variants, nobody should think of a booster as just a bonus or an extra dose.

The University of Maryland medical center is expected to surpass the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the start of this pandemic during the new surge, said Dr. David Marcozzi, a professor at the universitys school of medicine and the incident commander for the medical system.

See the rest here:

Md. COVID-19 hospitalizations expected to reach pandemic-high in January - WTOP