Category: Covid-19

When fans of the band Phish started falling ill with Covid-19 all over the country after a Halloween concert weekend in Las Vegas, public health officials were largely in the dark about what appears to have been a superspreader event. In a Facebook post from mid-November with hundreds of responses, concertgoers compared symptoms and positive test results, many of those from tests taken at home. But those data werent added to state public health tallies of Covids spread.

Its a story thats becoming commonplace in the era of rapid home Covid testing: People who test positive are almost never counted by public health agencies charged with bringing the pandemic to heel. While home tests have distinct advantages theyre convenient and quickly inform people of their infection status so they can take steps to avoid spread the virus most who test positive dont come to the attention of health officials unless they are sick enough to see a doctor.

To be sure, the growing availability of home tests is good news for a country that stumbled through more than a year of the pandemic with inadequate testing resources. Still, as the U.S. moves into a second pandemic holiday season with the Omicron variant looming, state and local health departments are increasingly relying on incomplete data and educated guesses to capture ups and downs in the infection rate and to guide decision-making. Home-testing samples, for example, arent submitted for genomic sequencing, which could delay identification of the Omicron variant in communities. And contact tracers cant trace cases they dont know about.

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If nobodys reporting the tests, are we really getting the information we need? said Atul Grover, health policy researcher and executive director of the Association of American Medical Colleges. We have no idea what the true positivity rate is.

Grover and his colleagues have spent months tracking Covid testing availability and usage in the United States and have grown increasingly worried about the data black hole that is home antigen testing, particularly with cases again on the upswing. The Biden administration last week announced plans to make home testing free, and widely increase testing availability. While these tests can still be difficult to get in places, the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorizations to 10 home tests for sale to consumers, and more are coming on line, so home testing is poised to become the primary Covid tracker.

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Complicating matters is that health agencies have little idea how many home tests are performed in their states and communities, and thus how many results theyre missing. Indications are that home testing nationally has already surpassed the number of PCR tests which are processed by labs that are required to report results to health agencies. In contrast, most of the home tests have no mechanism to enable patients to easily report their results. Only two of the approved home tests include an app to report results, and its unclear whether those are used in most states. Most people are also too busy to bother, and the Centers for Disease Control last month dropped guidance urging users of home tests to report results to public health agencies.

Mara Aspinall, managing director of Health Catalysts Group, an Arizona-based consulting company that focuses on life sciences firms, has been tracking testing data using industry reports, test production numbers, and a host of other sources. Its nearly impossible to get a precise read on exactly how many home tests are used in the U.S. each week, but her best estimates show that home testing now accounts for the majority of Covid testing and the number will grow as more tests become available. Aspinall says by her tally, roughly 40 million Covid tests are performed each week. Of those, she estimates, 12 million are PCR tests and roughly 28 million are antigen tests. Among the antigen tests, the vast majority are taken at home and never reported to public health agencies, she said.

The volume of home testing, and growing information gap, is bringing about a shift toward managing the pandemic through personal behavior, leaving public health officials reliant on peoples own personal choices.

Why do we test at all? We test not to count the number. We test to be able to give people the information to isolate the positives, said Aspinall. It would be much better if we knew in an accurate, reliable and consistent way, how may tests are being done. But the most important issue is that people use the tests and use them effectively and regularly.

STAT contacted public health agencies in 10 states now experiencing rising Covid cases and found none was able to track the data around home testing. Officials in the states said they are confident in their Covid data and minimized the impact of the home test data gap, at least so far. They said theyre using a patchwork of PCR test data, estimates, some self-reporting, and in some places, wastewater sampling to detect infection levels in their communities and guide health policy.

In New York, state health officials are heavily promoting a message for those who test positive, at home or in a doctors office, to follow Covid protocols that include isolating and quarantine. But in many other states, that guidance has faded from public attention as political and popular will tires.

In Massachusetts, residents are urged to confirm rapid antigen test results with a PCR test, relying on hundreds of free test locations across the state. But in less-funded, more rural and Republican-led parts of the country such as Montana, widespread PCR testing on-demand simply doesnt exist.

Public health agencies are quick to point out that at-home tests are a key weapon in the arsenal against Covid.

We believe that continuing to make testing available both proctored and unproctored is valuable for multiple reasons, Alicia Shoults, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Public Health, said in an email.

To the extent more people are testing and reporting their results, it gives us a better (though admittedly imperfect) sense of our overall case rates. And even when people dont report, they are using their test results to inform their behavior regarding going to school or work, going to visit relatives. So these tests can help slow community spread and protect vulnerable residents.

Grover said one solution could be as simple as adding a bar code to home testing kits that links to a website or app that allows users to scan or call and report results. Michael Mina, a former Harvard epidemiologist and vocal advocate of home Covid testing, recently joined a biotech software company, eMed, in part to solve the data reporting problem, he told the Boston Globe. The firm is working with a home testing company on a test that would relay results to local health agencies and come with a postage-paid envelope for consumers to submit positive swab samples for sequencing.

Grover called for a national solution, adding that as with all things related to the pandemic, communities of color will be most likely harmed by inaccurate surveillance of surges. The federal government needs to take a lead, because it is such a patchwork not only of inequality but of bad public health policy, he said.

This story is part of a project funded by theNIHCM Foundation. The foundation played no role in the reporting, editing, or presentation of this work.

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Growing use of home Covid-19 tests leaves health agencies in the dark about unreported cases - STAT

It's too early to know for certain how the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus behaves, but one small early study and multiple anecdotal reports suggest with cautious optimism that the strain may cause more mild symptoms than other variants such as delta, experts said.

A report released Saturday from South Africa's Tshwane District Hospital Complex at the center of an outbreak in Pretoria revealed that across two weeks, the majority of COVID-19 patients did not need supplemental oxygen. Most COVID-positive patients were admitted to the hospital for other medical, surgical or obstetric reasons and were found to be infectious after a required test.

The report took a close look at 42 patients in the COVID-19 ward on Dec. 2 and found that only 13 needed supplemental oxygen. The hospital confirmed that almost all cases were omicron; some cases weren't tested for the strain."It is essential to recognize that the patient information presented here only represents the first two weeks of the Omicron wave in Tshwane," the study authors said. "The clinical profile of admitted patients could change significantly over the next two weeks, by which time we can draw conclusions about the severity of disease with greater precision."

"Promising, but we certainly dont know for certain," UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford said of the report. "We need to stay the course. Let us figure this out. Dont jump to conclusions. Well navigate through these waters, just as weve navigated through other waters. People need to get vaccinated and get boosted."

Mild symptoms have also generally been observed in cases emerging outside southern Africa, said UCSF infectious diseases expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. "In a recent report from the European CDC, of the first 70 cases of omicron in Europe, 50% have no symptoms and 50% have very mild symptoms," he explained. "In the U.S. cases so far, most have been very mild."

Fatigue, headache and body aches, symptoms that are common with the flu, are being reported by patients who tested positive for omicron, Chin-Hong said. "Some of the symptoms are very subtle," he said.

Other symptoms typical with strains such as delta were less prevalent in the South Africa cases, including "no loss of taste or smell" and "less shortness of breath," said Chin-Hong, referring to anecdotal reports on omicron cases from Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a private practitioner and chair of the South African Medical Association.

What's more, in the first glimpse of hospitalized patients with omicron emerging from South Africa, hospitalizations have not increased dramatically, Chin-Hong said.

"And those who have been admitted to the hospital have not been very ill," he said. "Most have been in the general wards, not in the ICU, and most have not required oxygen. Admitted omicron patients have been hospitalized for a much shorter period than delta or previous other variants."

Chin-Hong shared this information with the caveat that researchers are in the early stages of understanding the variant and it takes two to three weeks to really start seeing the impact of any surge of cases or hospitalizations.

In its online resource "What we know about omicron," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not made any statement about omicron causing milder disease.

"More data are needed to know if Omicron infections, and especially reinfections and breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated, cause more severe illness or death than infection with other variants," the CDC said.

The CDC did say there's indication that it may spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. "How easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown," the CDC said. "CDC expects that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or dont have symptoms."

The first U.S. case of omicron was identified in San Francisco on Dec. 1, and since then, cases have been reported across the country. Twelve Alameda County residents who attended a wedding in Wisconsin last week tested positive for COVID-19, and five of them have been diagnosed with the omicron variant, health authorities said Friday.

The Alameda County Department of Public Health said genomic sequencing data that identifies the variant is not yet available for all 12 cases.

State and federal officials have urged people notto panic as more information is gathered on the variant.

"We are not surprised by this," Gov. Gavin Newsom said last Wednesday when the first U.S. case was identified in California. "This was predicted."

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What are the symptoms of the omicron COVID-19 variant? - SFGate

A COVID-19 patient connected to a ventilator tube in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Centre Cardiologique du Nord private hospital in Saint-Denis, near Paris, amid the coronavirus disease pandemic in France, May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

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PARIS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - France on Tuesday registered a surge in COVID-19 hospitalisations as a rise in new infections in mid-November led to an increase in patient numbers.

The health ministry reported that the number of COVID-19 patients in French hospitals rose by 618 to 12,714, the second-highest net one-day increase this year behind the net increase of 732 on April 6, when the patient tally was above 30,600.

Due to one of Europe's highest vaccination rates, a rise in new cases now has less impact on hospital numbers than in the spring.

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France also reported that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units rose by 160 to 2,351, the second-highest increase this year. On April 6, ICU numbers rose by 193 to 5,626.

France also reported 59,019 confirmed new cases of infection, pushing the cumulative total to 7.99 million.

The daily new case tally stayed below highs of over 60,000 seen in the spring, but the seven-day moving average of new infections rose to a new year high of over 44,500 per day, although the rate of increase - at under 40% week-on-week - was less than the more than 80% seen two weeks ago.

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Reporting by Geert De ClercqEditing by David Goodman, Angus MacSwan, William Maclean

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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France registers surge in COVID-19 hospitalisations - Reuters

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 266.5 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.26 million. More than 8.21 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Mexico City will begin offering a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to residents over the age of 60 from today, as part of a government plan to roll out booster shots.

China reported 94 new confirmed COVID-19 cases for 6 December, up from 61 a day earlier, its health authority said on Tuesday.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added more countries to its 'Level 4: Very High' classification, advising against travel to countries including France, Jordan, Portugal and Tanzania as a result of COVID-19 concerns.

The World Bank has said its funding had helped deliver 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines around the world - a figure which should reach 150 million by the end of December.

British Health Minister Sajid Javid has said there is now community transmission of Omicron across regions of England - but it's too early to tell if it will "knock us off our road to recovery".

Healthcare and delivery disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to malaria killing 69,000 more people in 2020 than the previous year - but a worst-case scenario was prevented - the World Health Organization said yesterday.

The Czech government will order COVID-19 vaccinations for people working in hospitals and nursing homes as well as police officers, soldiers and some other professions and all citizens aged 60 and older, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Monday.

New York City has expanded its COVID-19 mandates, setting vaccine requirements for children as young as 5 years old and for workers at all private sector companies.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

The COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship is a coalition of 85 global leaders, hosted by the World Economic Forum. Its mission: Join hands in support of social entrepreneurs everywhere as vital first responders to the pandemic and as pioneers of a green, inclusive economic reality.

Its COVID Social Enterprise Action Agenda, outlines 25 concrete recommendations for key stakeholder groups, including funders and philanthropists, investors, government institutions, support organizations, and corporations. In January of 2021, its members launched its 2021 Roadmap through which its members will roll out an ambitious set of 21 action projects in 10 areas of work. Including corporate access and policy change in support of a social economy.

For more information see the Alliance website or its impact story here.

A major British study into mixing COVID-19 vaccines has found that people had a better immune response when they received a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech shots followed by Moderna nine weeks later.

"We found a really good immune response across the board... in fact, higher than the threshold set by Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine two doses," Matthew Snape, the Oxford professor behind the trial dubbed Com-COV2, told Reuters.

The findings supporting flexible dosing will offer some hope to poor and middle-income countries which may need to combine different brands between first and second shots if supplies run low or become unstable.

"I think the data from this study will be especially interesting and valuable to low- and middle-income countries where they're still rolling out the first two doses of vaccines," Snape said.

Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must not be squandered and the world should ensure it is prepared for the next pandemic, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has said.

"The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both," Sarah Gilbert said in the Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the BBC reported. "This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods."

Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said the world should make sure it is better prepared for the next virus.

"The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must not be lost," she said.

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Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: Top news stories about the coronavirus pandemic on 7 December | World Economic Forum - World Economic Forum

After first recommending that people in certain groups get a COVID-19 booster and then stating that people aged 18 and up may get a COVID-19 booster, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now strongly recommending that all adults 18 and older get a COVID-19 booster. But what are the side effects of COVID-19 boosters?

Last week, the CDC released a statement from director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., that said the organization is strengthening its recommendation for these additional doses. The recent emergence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19, Walensky said. Early data from South Africa suggest increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, and scientists in the United States and around the world are urgently examining vaccine effectiveness related to this variant.

If youre planning to get a COVID-19 booster, you probably have some questions about how this will impact you and whether youll have any side effects. Heres what you need to know.

Updated guidance from the CDC says that everyone ages 18 and older who has completed their primary COVID-19 vaccination series should get a booster shot after a certain period of time has passed. The exact amount of time varies depending on the type of vaccine you received the first time around.

If you had a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, the CDC recommended getting a booster dose after at least six months have passed since you received your second shot. If you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should get a booster when its been at least two months since you had your primary series.

As for which shot to get for your booster, the CDC says its up to you. You can get a booster dose of the original vaccine you received or get a different booster.

If you're 18 or older, go get boosted, Anthony Fauci, M.D., the nations leading infectious disease expert said on MSNBC last month. We are entering the winter season; the weather will be colder, people will be indoors, theyre circulating virus around. Were seeing an uptick in some of the cases right now.

Data suggest that immunity starts to wane for COVID-19 vaccines after a certain period of time.

The available data make very clear that protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection begins to decrease over time following the initial doses of vaccination, and in association with the dominance of the Delta variant, we are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease, officials from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (including Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci) wrote in August.

Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death could diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout, the announcement said. For that reason, we conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability.

A study of public health data from Israel released in July estimated that the Pfizer shot was 39% effective at preventing people from COVID-19 infection in June and early July, compared with the 95% efficacy from January to early April. (Its important to note, though, that the vaccine was still more than 90% effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in people in June and July.)

Data shared by the CDC also clearly show that the vaccines ability to prevent COVID-19 declines over time, with exact drops varying by age and types of vaccine people received. Data on booster shots, however, have shown that the additional dose can help prevent people from getting symptomatic COVID-19.

There are still a lot of COVID-19 cases and getting vaccinated, along with wearing a mask and social distancing, decreases your risk of getting COVID-19, says Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician and professor of internal medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.

The CDC recommends bringing your COVID-19 vaccination record card to your appointment so that your vaccine administrator can fill in the information about your booster dose. And, if you didnt receive a card at your original appointments or youve lost it, the CDC suggests contacting the site where you received your first shot or your state health department to find out how you can get your card.

Otherwise, its a good idea to wear a mask to your appointment to lower the risk youll contract COVID-19 while youre there, says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. (Note: Some vaccination sites also require that you be masked up on the premises anyway.)

As a whole, experts suggest side effects of the booster shot will be mild, if you even experience them at all, Dr. Watkins says. As a general rule, people feel similar to how they felt after they got their second shot, Dr. Russo says. He also stresses that the side effects you experienceor dont experiencedont correlate with your immune response to the vaccine.

One CDC study that was published in September found that people had similar reactions to a third dose of the mRNA vaccine compared to what they had during their original vaccines series. Side effects generally included:

These initial findings indicate no unexpected patterns of adverse reactions after an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the study says, noting that most of the side effects were mild or moderate.

Also worth pointing out: Pfizer said in press release that side effects from its COVID-19 booster were similar to or better than after dose two of the primary series. Meaning, you shouldnt have worse side effects than you had with your first two COVID-19 vaccines.

Data submitted by Moderna to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that these were the most common side effects in people who received a booster dose:

Of note, swollen lymph nodes in the underarm were observed more frequently following the booster dose than after the primary two-dose series, the FDA says online.

FDA data for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine show that these are the most common side effects from the companys booster:

The good news is they dont typically stick around long. Symptoms usually resolve in a day, Dr. Watkins says. If youre dealing with flu-like symptoms or are generally uncomfortable, Dr. Russo recommends taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) for relief.

But, if you notice that youve developed symptoms like a cough, shortness of breath, or a loss of taste or smell, Dr. Russo recommends getting tested for COVID-19. While you cant get COVID-19 from the vaccine, its possible that you were infected with the virus before your booster shot kicked in, he says.

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What Are the Side Effects of COVID-19 Boosters? - Prevention.com

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The omicron Covid-19 variant that has prompted global travel restrictions and fresh vaccine mandates since its discovery in southern Africa last month has now been found in 50 countries and 19 states across the U.S., CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday.

"While we are still working to understand the severity of omicron as well as how it responds to therapeutics and vaccines, we anticipate that all of the same measures will at least, in part, provide some protection against omicron," Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 press briefing, reiterating her call to get vaccinated.

Jeff Zients, who's leading the White House's Covid response efforts, said vaccinations have surged with roughly 12.5 million shots administered over the last week 7 million of which were booster shots.

"That's the highest weekly total number of shots since May," he said. "So we're now vaccinating people in numbers we haven't seen since the spring."

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said scientists should have some data by the middle of next week that shows how well today's vaccines stand up to the new variant, which contains dozens of mutations that generally make it more contagious.

"We'll be able to determine whether or not antibodies induced by all vaccines lose their capability of effectiveness with omicron," Fauci said of studies looking at both live virus and "pseudo virus." "In addition, we are doing animal studies to evaluate immune protection as well as efficacy of antivirals."

He said "real world evidence" in epidemiology and clinical studies will definitively answer how transmissible and severe the virus is as well as whether or not it can evade vaccines.

Fauci pointed to a chart that showed a seven-day rolling average of confirmed omicron cases per 1 million people in South Africa, noting that it is now the dominant variant circulating in the country. "The almost vertical inflection of this clearly argues towards a high degree of transmissibility, he said.

He said it was too early to determine the severity of the disease. While data released over the weekend from South Africa indicates omicron might cause more mild illness, he cautioned, "however, this can be influenced by the fact that many in this particular cohort are young individuals."

There is an increased risk of people who have recovered from the beta or delta variants to get re-infected with omicron, he said. One study showed a threefold increase in the risk of re-infection with omicron over other variants, according to a slide he shared with the group. That indicates, "again without definitive proof, that there is a variation and, in fact, evasion of immunity that is induced by other variants."

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Omicron Covid variant has spread to more than 50 countries and 19 U.S. states, CDC director says - CNBC

COVID-19 travel restrictions: How to enjoy your trip to Europe and avoid the headaches  AZCentral.com

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COVID-19 travel restrictions: How to enjoy your trip to Europe and avoid the headaches - AZCentral.com

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect expert guidance on COVID-19 vaccines and people with autoimmune disorders.

WAUSAU Shegot the call from doctors at Marshfield Clinic Wausau Centerat about 1 a.m. Nov. 4.

Adriana Jasso's mother, Suzanne Holubiw, 43, had been treated there for COVID-19 since Oct. 13, Adriana said, and Suzannehad taken a turn for the worse. The medical providers wanted Adriana to come to the facility; they felt it would be best to have her mother taken by helicopterto Marshfield Medical Center, where she could receive a higher level of care with more sophisticated equipment.

With her minda whirl of thoughts,Adriana rushed to the hospital.

"I was sad, I was upset, I was confused," she said. "Allthe doctors and nurseswere like, Oh, its OK, its going to be OK. Shes going to get more help,' but I washysterically crying, because I was like, 'Oh my god. This is crazy. This isnt happening. Im making these decisions and Im hoping these are the right decisions.'

Adriana agreed with doctors. COVID-19 ravaged Suzanne's lungsand her oxygen levels had plummeted. At Marshfield, doctors put Suzanne on anECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, a device that supports a person's heart and lungs, allowing their bodies to fight COVID-19.

The day after Suzanne was taken to Marshfield, Adriana learned her grandmother, Suzanne's mother, Lorraine Holubiw, also was sick with COVID-19. She had been sick for a couple of days, but didn't tell Adriana or other relatives because she didn't want to worry them. When her illness suddenly got worse and she couldn't breathe, Lorraine went to Aspirus Wausau Hospital by ambulance.

Lorraine wanted to go to Marshfield Medical Center to be in the same building as Suzanne, Adriana said, but there wasn't time. The day after, Lorraine'sorgans began to fail, and Adriana again got a phone call, and again rushed to the hospital. When she got there, other family members, Adriana's uncles and aunts, and she decided that Lorraine would not want to be put on a life support system.

Lorrainedied on Nov. 6. Adriana was holding her hand.

In a matter of days, the 18-year-old Adriana went from being a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a pre-dentistry major aiming for the dean's list, to being a young woman whose life was completely shattered by COVID-19.

The disease had disrupted her life before; school shut down in her senior year at Wausau East High School and she graduated studying online. She was in college when she got COVID-19 the last week of September, and she knew it was serious because it took weeks for her to recover.

But this was a whole different level of crisis. Adriana was raised by her mother and grandmother, and losing her grandmother and knowing her mom was in the fight for her life, understanding that she could not turn to them for guidance, made her feel unmoored and alone.

"Im scared, Im worried. Im overwhelmed. Im everything all at once," Adriana said.

Adriana wasn't alone. She has two younger siblings, 16-year-old twins Juliana and Isaac, and they are allclose. But she couldn't unburden on them, she felt, because she needed to be strong as she took over guardianship of the younger teens, who are sophomores at Wausau East High School.

She would lay awake at night, worrying about a myriad of things: Who was going to drive the twins to sports practices and classes? Who was going to take care of their pets? Who was going to cook, shop and clean house?

Tears came when she was alone. But she also turned to her oldest and dearest friend, Cooper Lindman. The two had known each other since they were both in eighth grade, new to Wausau, and Cooper tripped over Adriana's backpack when he was getting on the bus.

The bus was crowded, and he asked if he could sit with her.

"We were both new and scared and we just were friends from then on," Adriana said.

When Adriana got overwhelmed, she would call Cooper.

"I'd be crying," Adriana said. "I'd be saying, 'I don't want to do this. This is all too much.'"

Cooper knew more about what Adriana was going through than anybody. Not only had they been close friends for six years, he is a certified nursing assistant with Aspirus, and is studying nursing at UW-Stevens Point.

Cooper told his mother, Nicky Lindman, what was going on with Adriana. Nicky immediately went into full-on mom mode and began helping out Adriana, whether Adriana wanted it or not.

"I think it is a hard place to be, a place in need. Last year she was just in high school. And she was part of these organizations that gathered food for people in need," Nicky said. "She did all this stuff for the community and all of a sudden (she's) thrown into this crisis situation. And (she) did not have (her) two major resources, Mom and Grandma, to go to."

Nicky put together a GoFundMe fundraiser called "Help the Jasso Kids!"But Adriana was hesitant about putting her story out there, or to accept money or help from strangers. But a couple of weeks after her grandmother died, Adriana relented.

When she first launched the GoFundMe, Nicky set a goal of $5,000, and then started posting about the Jassos and the fundraiser on Facebook. The appeal struck a chord, and donations started pouring in. It didn't take long for the effort to exceed that $5,000 goal.

Now"Help the Jasso Kids!" has raised $14,360 from 188 donations. Nicky has upped the goal to $20,000, with the money raised to be used for living expenses while Suzanne is in the hospital and recovering.

Suzanne is doing well, Adriana said. She has been taking off the ECMO machine, but still uses a ventilator to help her breathe. Adriana and doctors are preparing for Suzanne to be moved to a long-term recovery care facility. Adriana hopes she can get that long-term recovery care at North Central Health Care campusin Wausau.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 case rate is ranked "high" in Marathon County, according to the Marathon County Health Department. The department tracked 133 new daily cases of COVID-19 on Friday. The county had a total of 23,549 confirmed cases, and 284 confirmed deaths.

Nicky has also enlisted other moms and friends to help advocate for the Jassos, including educators and people with medical expertise. Nicky tries to accompany Adriana to meetings with health care providers and teachers and others, so Adriana isn't on her own.

Adriana is "very capable," Nicky said. "All of us are amazed. But none of us can do all of this on our own."

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RELATED: Where can I get the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for my child in central Wisconsin?

Adriana has temporarily put her college studies on hold, after consulting with advisers at UW-Stevens Point. Going to school and helping her siblings and making sure her mother gets the care she needs and studying got to be too much.

But she plans to continue again next semester. She, Juliana and Isaac all work at Tri-City Restaurant in Schofield. Adriana thought it was important to not only keep earning money, but to keep as regular schedules as possible.

Adriana also understands her younger siblings need to feel the sadness and grief, and they want to help.

"I was trying to take the burden away from them, but that's not what they want me to do," she said.

Instead, they work together, she said, to deal with all the emotions they are feeling.

They had been through this before, Adriana said, when she was10 years old her mother was hospitalized with a perforated bowel. Her mother also suffers from autoimmune disorders, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. (Because of the immune illnesses, Suzanne, with advice of doctors, Adriana said, did not get the COVID-19 vaccine. Lorraine also had underlying illnesses, including Crohn's disease, and she too, consulted her primary care doctor, did not get the vaccine, Adriana said.)

The Centers for Disease Control has determined that people with underlying medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart conditions and weakened immune systems are more prone to having more severe cases of COVID-19. In general, the agency has found vaccinations to be safe for these people. The Lupus Foundation of American recommends that people suffering from that disease consult their doctors to decide to take the vaccine, and if so, which one. The foundation also finds "that there is no evidence that people with lupus should not receive the vaccine."

The Jassoshad their grandmother watching over them eight years ago when Suzanne was ill, Adriana said, "and it was always, we're going to be OK."

The Jassos don't have that reassurance now, but Adriana said they will be strong.

She said she does it for her mom.

"My mom really built me to be who I am, to be strong, to do my best in situations like this. And I don't have her here to guide me. I don't have my grandma to guide me," she said.

Adriana knows, though, she has Juliana and Isaac, and "we have become stronger and closer together."

She also has Cooper and Nicky, and a whole lot of other people to help her. She's not stubbornly not asking for help now, she's grateful for it.

"I just didn't realize how long this was going to be. I didn't how everything was going to happen so quickly, but last for so long," she said. "And I still don't know how long it's going to be."

Nicky Lindman started a GoFundMe.com fundraiser to raise money for the Jasso teenagers and their mother Suzanne Holibiw. People can learn more about the effort and donate by visitinghttps://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-jasso-kids.

Contact Keith Uhlig at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.

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'I'm scared. I'm worried. I'm overwhelmed.' How COVID-19 upended a Wausau teen's life - Wausau Daily Herald

The hippos, named Imani and Hermien, have shown no symptoms "other than runny noses," according to a news release from the zoo.

How the animals were exposed to the virus is unknown -- their caretakers have not shown any Covid-19 symptoms and all tested negative for the virus, the release said.

Imani, who is 14 years old, and Hermien, who is 41, are being kept in isolation for now and cannot be seen by visitors, the zoo said.

"To my knowledge, this is the first known contamination in this species. Globally, this virus has mostly been reported in great apes and felines," said the zoo's veterinarian Francis Vercammen, who oversaw their testing for the coronavirus.

Originally posted here:

Runny-nosed hippos test positive for Covid-19 in Belgium - CNN

Norwegian Cruise Lines Breakaway

Photo: Norwegian Cruise Lines

A Norwegian Cruise Line ship with at least 10 passengers and crew membersinfected with Covid-19docked Sunday in New Orleans, where health officials said they were trying to disembark people without worsening the spread of the coronavirus illness.

Local news outlets in New Orleans confirmed the Norwegian Breakaway had arrived in the city. The ship departed New Orleans on Nov. 28. The Louisiana Department of Health said in a late Saturday news release that over the past week, the ship made stops in Belize, Honduras and Mexico.

Norwegian Cruise Line issued a statement that confirmed a "handful of Covid-19 cases among guests and crew." The company said all of the identified cases involved people without symptoms of the illness.

Norwegian said it requires all passengers and crew members to have been vaccinated against the coronavirus prior to departure.

"We are testing all individuals on Norwegian Breakaway prior to disembarkation, as well as providing post-exposure and quarantine public health guidance by the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)," the company's statement said. "Any guests who have tested positive for COVID-19 will travel by personal vehicle to their personal residence or self-isolate in accommodations provided by the company."

The state health department which is working with the cruise line and state and local officials to contain the outbreak said at least 10 people on the ship tested positive for Covid-19. More than 3,200 people were on board the ship, officials said.

Some disembarking passengerstold WVUE-TVin New Orleans that they were notified about the positive cases on the ship, while others said they had no idea about the outbreak until being asked about it by a reporter.

"We didn't hear of this until we kind of heard you talking a second ago," said Don Canole, a passenger from North Carolina. "It would have been nice to have known. We would have taken maybe a few more precautions."

Passengers said they were tested for Covid-19 exposure on Saturday before disembarking Sunday. The cruise line also gave passengers take-home rapid tests as they left the ship, according to WVUE.

The company said no changes to scheduled future sailings on the Norwegian Breakaway are currently planned, and the ship was scheduled to depart again Sunday evening.

Cruise ships were an early source of outbreaks last year at the start of the coronavirus pandemic as some ships were rejected at ports and passengers were forced into quarantine. The CDC issued a no-sail order in March 2020, prompting a standstill that ended last June as cruise ships began to leave U.S. ports with new health and safety requirements.

Link:

Norwegian Cruise ship with Covid-19 infections arrives in New Orleans - CNBC