Category: Covid-19

In stark contrast to the Fourth of July just a year ago, people were eager to break out the picnic tables and grills Sunday. But, for many its a day without a loved one lost to COVID-19.

One North Texas woman is asking her fellow Americans to stand in solidarity with those still dealing with the pain of that loss.

Like many others, Rosie Davis enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday on Sunday, complete with cupcakes and decorations. Sitting among the red, white and blue decor inside her house, were splashes of yellow.

Full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak and how it impacts you

This is a turning point for our country and we just want to make sure that our loved ones are remembered, she said.

Davis is founder of the Yellow Heart Memorial, created after the loss of her mother to COVID-19. Shes among the family members impacted by the more than 600,000 COVID-19-related deaths in United States. For them, holidays will never be the same.

Were always going to have that missing part of our family, she said. Well never get them back.

Davis teamed up with Chris Kocher with COVID Survivors for Change to launch the Add Yellow Campaign a splash of yellow on one's clothing or decorations in solidarity with those lost and the loved ones left behind.

Just a simple way to say, At the same time, Im remembering and honoring all the lives that have been changed forever. And its not an either-or. We can do both, Kocher said. We can celebrate that fewer people are being infected and at the same time remember the families devastated by COVID over the past year.

Davis said it's encouraging to know her mother and the names and faces of others wont be forgotten.

The yellow heart has become our symbol and thats how we identify each other, she said. When we see other people supporting us it means more than they know.

Davis is working with cities throughout the United States to add permanent Yellow Heart Memorials to public spaces in honor of those lost.

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COVID-19 Survivors Honor Those Lost With Splash of Yellow During July 4th Celebrations - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

ATHENS, July 4 (Reuters) - Greece's economy would not close again because of the coronavirus pandemic if it was just to protect an unvaccinated minority, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a newspaper interview released on Sunday.

Greece has fared well in the first wave of the COVID-19 last year. But a resurgence in COVID-19 infections has forced the country to impose lockdown restrictions since November which have cost many billions of euros to an economy slowly emerging from a decade-long crisis.

Greece has been easing restrictions as infections fall, but concerns are rising about the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.

With about 35% of its 11 million population fully inoculated, the government last week offered young people cash and phone data to boost vaccination rates.

"When we imposed across-the-board measures, there were no vaccines," Mitsotakis told Kathimerini newspaper. "We do have vaccines now."

Mitsotakis said he can't make vaccinations mandatory. "But everyone assumes his responsibility. The country will not close again for the protection of a few unvaccinated."

Mitsotakis said that he hoped that relations between Greece and Turkey will be better this summer than last summer when the two historic rivals came close to armed conflict.

The two NATO allies, at odds over competing territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean to migrant boats and the status of Cyprus, have been trying to lower tensions since.

"I am more certain that the summer of 2021 will be calmer than the summer of 2020," Mitsotakis said.

However, we have not solved our differences all of a sudden and there will be consequences for Turkey if it opted to fuel tensions, he added.

Reporting by Angeliki KoutantouEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Greek economy won't close again because of COVID-19, PM says - Reuters

Disgraced doctor used wrong test to clear patients of COVID-19, state says  The Tennessean

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Disgraced doctor used wrong test to clear patients of COVID-19, state says - The Tennessean

A health worker prepares a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Central Vaccination Center, inside the Bang Sue Grand Station, Thailand, June 21, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK, July 4 (Reuters) - Thailand plans to allow some construction projects to resume in its capital and surrounding provinces although most sites and workers' camps will remain closed as the Southeast Asian country deals with its biggest coronavirus outbreak to date.

The national COVID-19 task force has agreed to relax curbs on construction projects where they could cause damage or danger, the government said on its Facebook page on Sunday. It cited underground projects, scaffolding and those related to traffic safety as examples.

Construction projects related to COVID-19 control, such as field hospitals, will also be allowed to go ahead.

Movement of construction workers will be allowed for outbreak containment such as health screening and vaccinations, the government said, adding that further details would be announced later.

But construction sites and workers' camps in Bangkok, the epicentre of the outbreak, and five surrounding provinces, will mostly be closed until late this month to contain COVID-19 infections and deaths. read more

Thailand has been dealing with its deadliest coronavirus outbreak Since April. It reported 5,916 new coronavirus cases and 44 deaths on Sunday, bringing total cases to 283,067 and 2,132 deaths.

Reporting by Orathai SriringEditing by Catherine Evans

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Thailand to ease COVID-19 curbs on some construction projects - Reuters

(CBS) Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during an episode of "Face the Nation" on CBS on Sunday morning.

| July 4, 2021, 6:26 p.m.

| Updated: 8:20 p.m.

COVID-19. Vaccines. Politicization of the pandemic. Drought.

These were the main points Gov. Spencer Cox tackled while on the CBS show Face the Nation on Sunday morning.

Host Ed OKeefe was not shy about asking loaded questions, presumably in an effort to get substantial answers from the Utah governor. But Cox didnt shy away.

When it came to the topic of COVID-19, Cox quickly acknowledged that cases of the Delta variant as well as hospitalizations are rising in the state. The highly contagious variant has also led to a push to get more people vaccinated.

The Republican governor said Utahs population is the youngest in the nation (median age of 30.7 years), which means there is a large portion of people who are unable to get vaccinated. However, 89% of those over 65 are vaccinated.

We feel really good about that, and our death rates have come down because of that, but we desperately need more, Cox said.

However, just because a large part of the state population is young doesnt mean the state isnt trying to reach the young adult and teenage demographics. Cox describes the states very robust vaccination network, which includes mobile vaccine clinics as well as vaccine clinics at and near schools.

Its never been easier to get a vaccine, Cox said.

The Utah Legislature has prevented Cox from offering cash incentives to get more people vaccinated. He said Sunday that hed like to have all options on the table, but he added that not dying is enough incentive for people to seek out a vaccine.

OKeefe then brought up some numbers to show the bipartisan divide on vaccinations. The overwhelming majority of Democrats say theyve been vaccinated, while only 45% of Republicans have been vaccinated and 38% of Republicans say they wont get the vaccine, according to OKeefe.

Its troubling, Cox said in reply.

The Utah governor said its unfortunate that politics is becoming religion, sports and entertainment in the country. He believes making every situation into a political one is a huge mistake and has caused bad decisions to be made during the pandemic.

Cox went on to say that Republicans in Utah have a better vaccination rate than the numbers OKeefe shared, but he didnt give any specifics.

Well continue to work with everyone in our state to get them vaccinated, Cox said.

Next on the docket was the current state of drought Utah is in.

OKeefe brought up a graph with photos of Utah one year apart. This time last year, only a small portion of the state was considered to be in extreme drought. Now, 98% of Utah is in extreme drought, with 65% in exceptional drought.

So, how does Cox expect to get the state out of the current conditions?

First, people need to conserve water better, Cox said.

The sixth-generation alfalfa farmer said his familys farm is down to 70% of its water consumption.

But then it also comes down to storing more water. Utah hasnt been that great at doing so, but Cox mentioned that there is a bipartisan push to get that to happen and start storing water, possibly, below and above ground.

We are also the fastest growing state in the nation, so we have to be prepared for generations to come, Cox said.

When asked how detrimental it is to be part of a political party that includes many who dont believe in climate change, Cox said theyre working to help people understand its impacts.

But he admitted thats a long-term solution, and he listed examples of how Utah is working to combat climate change now by cutting back on emissions and working on electric car infrastructures.

At the end, Cox maintained that Utah is trying to take every step possible to combat the pandemic and the current drought, but acknowledged there is still work to be done.

Great things are happening there, but we also have to take the short-term impacts and take them very seriously, which President Biden did this week, talking about wildfires in the West, Cox said.

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Politicization of COVID-19 led to bad decisions during the pandemic, Cox says on CBS' 'Face the Nation' - Salt Lake Tribune

by: Jenny Ivy, Rachel Skytta

DENVER (KDVR) Colorado has reached President Bidens goal of vaccinating 70% of Americans 18 and older by July 4.

According to Gov. Jared Polis, 70.04% of Colorado adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

That means about 3.1 million state residents have been immunized with at least one vaccine dose.

Colorado is ticking up in COVID vaccinations versus the nation as a whole, with 67% of the national adult population receiving a COVID vaccine first dose.

I am excited that our state has reached the goal of 70% of adults with at least their first vaccination by Independence Day. This is an exciting milestone for the people of our state, it is a testament to our resilience and united commitment in the fight against this deadly virus. The vaccine is a safe and effective way to protect ourselves and enjoy the life we love in Colorado, said Polis. Our country has a simple tool to stop the loss in the form of a safe, highly effective, and free vaccine so get your vaccine to safeguard yourself and your family.

Only about a dozen individual counties in Colorado have reached the 70% goal for vaccinations. Counties with low vaccination rates are also seeing higher numbers of the Delta variant.

The Delta variant is scary because its the most infectious version of the virus weve seen and it makes people the sickest, said Dr. Anuj Mehta, a pulmonologist with Denver Health.

Mehta says an increased spread in counties where people are not vaccinated could eventually lead to a divide between communities.

Where you have vaccinated communities doing well, schools open and you have unvaccinated communities with ongoing stresses on their healthcare systems and potentially schools and businesses may have to shut down again, said Mehta.

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Colorado hits 70% of adults vaccinated against COVID-19 - FOX 31 Denver

TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - A member of Serbia's Olympic rowing team tested positive for the new coronavirus on arrival in Japan, an official said on Sunday, the third COVID-19 infection confirmed among Olympic team members visiting for the Tokyo Games starting this month.

A member of Uganda's Olympic squad tested positive for the virus on arrival in June and a second member was confirmed as having the virus a few days later.

One of Serbia's five-member rowing team tested positive during a screening at Haneda airport on Saturday night, said Takashi Ikeda, an official at the sports section of the central Japan city of Nanto, which had been scheduled to host the Serbians' training camp.

The man in his 30s was sent to a medical facility, while the other four were isolated in a separate facility in Tokyo, Ikeda told Reuters by phone.

"Since they are expected to be isolated for two weeks, the Serbian rowing team is unlikely to come to Nanto for training before the Games," he said.

The group was to have travelled to Nanto in Toyama prefecture on Sunday to hold their training camp through July 18, ahead of the June 23 start of the Games.

Rowing teams from Greece, South Africa and Russia arrived in Nanto earlier this month for training camp, he said.

The Tokyo Games, delayed by a year because of the pandemic, are proceeding amid concern that the influx of thousands of people from around the world could unleash another wave of COVID-19 infections in the country.

Foreign spectators are banned, and the government is considering what limits to place on domestic spectators.

Tokyo reported 716 new COVID-19 infections on Saturday, its highest in more than five weeks, as the nation considers extending pandemic restrictions in the capital just weeks. read more

Cases totalled 518 on Sunday, up 132 from last Sunday, marking the 15th consecutive days of increases from week-earlier levels, said public broadcaster NHK.

Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Serbian team member tests positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Japan - Reuters

Youve probably heard that the coronavirus pandemic triggered a worldwide mental-health crisis. This narrative took hold almost as quickly as the virus itself. In the spring of 2020, article after articleeven an op-ed by one of uswarned of a looming psychological epidemic. As clinical scientists and research psychologists have pointed out, the coronavirus pandemic has created many conditions that might lead to psychological distress: sudden, widespread disruptions to peoples livelihoods and social connections; millions bereaved; and the most vulnerable subjected to long-lasting hardship. A global collapse in well-being has seemed inevitable.

We joined a mental-health task force, commissioned by The Lancet, in order to quantify the pandemics psychological effects. When we reviewed the best available data, we saw that some groupsincluding people facing financial stresshave experienced substantial, life-changing suffering. However, looking at the global population on the whole, we were surprised not to find the prolonged misery we had expected.

We combed through close to 1,000 studies that examined hundreds of thousands of people from nearly 100 countries. This research measured many variables related to mental healthincluding anxiety, depression, and deaths by suicideas well as life satisfaction. We focused on two complementary types of evidence: surveys that examined comparable groups of people before and during the pandemic and studies tracking the same individuals over time. Neither type of study is perfect, but when the same conclusions emerged from both sets of evidence, we gained confidence that we were seeing something real.

Early in the pandemic, our team observed in these studies what the media was reporting: Average levels of anxiety and depressionas well as broader psychological distressclimbed dramatically, as did the number of people experiencing clinically significant forms of these conditions. For example, in both the U.S. and Norway, reports of depression rose three-fold during March and April of 2020 compared with averages collected in previous years. And in a study of more than 50,000 people across the United Kingdom, 27 percent showed clinically significant levels of distress early in the pandemic, compared with 19 percent before the pandemic.

Read: This is not a normal mental-health disaster

But as spring turned to summer, something remarkable happened: Average levels of depression, anxiety, and distress began to fall. Some data sets even suggested that overall psychological distress returned to near-pre-pandemic levels by early summer 2020. We share what we learned in a paper that is forthcoming in Perspective on Psychological Science.

We kept digging into the data to account for any anomalies. For example, some of the data sets came disproportionately from wealthy countries, so we expanded our geographic lens. We also considered that even if the pandemic didnt produce intense, long-term distress, it might have undercut peoples overall life satisfaction. So, members from our team examined the largest data set available on that topic, from the Gallup World Poll. This survey asks people to evaluate their life on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the best possible life and zero being the worst. Representative samples of people from most of the worlds countries answer this question every year, allowing us to compare results from 2020 with preceding years. Looking at the world as a whole, we saw no trace of a decline in life satisfaction: People in 2020 rated their lives at 5.75 on average, identical to the average in previous years.

We also wondered if the surveys werent reaching the people who were struggling the most. If youre barely holding things together, you might not answer calls from a researcher. However, real-time data from official government sources in 21 countries showed no detectable increase in instances of suicide from April to July 2020, relative to previous years; in fact, suicide rates actually declined slightly within some countries, including the U.S. For example, California expected to see 1,429 deaths by suicide during this period, based on data from prior years; instead, 1,280 occurred.

We were surprised by how well many people weathered the pandemics psychological challenges. In order to make sense of these patterns, we looked back to a classic psychology finding: People are more resilient than they themselves realize. We imagine that negative life eventslosing a job or a romantic partnerwill be devastating for months or years. When people actually experience these losses, however, their misery tends to fade far faster than they imagined it would.

The capacity to withstand difficult events also applies to traumas such as living through war or sustaining serious injury. These incidents can produce considerable anguish, and we dont want to minimize the pain that so many suffer. But study after study demonstrates that a majority of survivors either bounce back quickly or never show a substantial decline in mental health.

Human beings possess what some researchers call a psychological immune system, a host of cognitive abilities that enable us to make the best of even the worst situation. For example, after breaking up with a romantic partner, people may focus on the exs annoying habits or relish their newfound free time.

Lucy McBride: By now, burnout is a given

The pandemic has been a test of the global psychological immune system, which appears more robust than we would have guessed. When familiar sources of enjoyment evaporated in the spring of 2020, people got creative. They participated in drive-by birthday parties, mutual-assistance groups, virtual cocktail evenings with old friends, and nightly cheers for health-care workers. Some people got really good at baking. Many found a way to reweave their social tapestry. Indeed, across multiple large data sets, levels of loneliness showed only a modest increase, with 13.8 percent of adults in the U.S. reporting always or often feeling lonely in April 2020, compared with 11 percent in spring 2018.

But these broad trends and averages shouldnt erase the real strugglesimmense pain, overwhelming loss, financial hardshipsthat so many people have faced over the past 17 months. For example, that 2.8 percent increase in the number of Americans reporting loneliness last spring represents 7 million people. Like so many aspects of the pandemic, the coronaviruss mental-health toll was not distributed evenly. Early on, some segments of the populationincluding women and parents of young childrenexhibited an especially pronounced increase in overall psychological distress. As the pandemic progressed, lasting mental-health challenges disproportionately affected people who were facing financial issues, individuals who got sick with COVID-19, and those who had been struggling with physical and mental-health disorders prior to the pandemic. The resilience of the population as a whole does not relieve leaders of their responsibility to provide tangible support and access to mental-health services to those people who have endured the most intense distress and who are at the greatest ongoing risk.

But the astonishing resilience that most people have exhibited in the face of the sudden changes brought on by the pandemic holds its own lessons. We learned that people can handle temporary changes to their lifestylesuch as working from home, giving up travel, or even going into isolationbetter than some policy makers seemed to assume.

As we look ahead to the worlds next great challengesincluding a future pandemicwe need to remember this hard-won lesson: Human beings are not passive victims of change but active stewards of our own well-being. This knowledge should empower us to make the disruptive changes our societies may require, even as we support the individuals and communities that have been hit hardest.

Originally posted here:

COVID-19 Did Not Affect Mental Health the Way You Think - The Atlantic

There is much those 18th century inventors would have appreciated. U.S. companies developed or co-developed three vaccines at breakneck speed. Government officials approved them in record time. Taxpayers helped fund them directly and indirectly. (Note there were vaccine attempts that failed in trial, too, and dropped, mostly without recrimination. This is good. This is science.) City services went digital overnight so that building permits could be secured and unemployment benefits applied for. States found new ways to communicate with residents. In many instances, governors followed the data and closed and opened as new information suggested they could. Yellow school buses were re-wired with Wi-Fi to keep students digitally connected. Autonomous ones were even repurposed to keep people fed. Citizen inventors made it easier to find PPE and get vaccines. Frontline medical personnel and those that supported them innovated every day just to survive and then innovated to help millions of others. In many ways, science and ingenuity and entrepreneurship were marshaled to combat a society-threatening moment. The founders would be proud of that.

Along the way though, there was also dithering and delusion. Tests were too few. Tracing at scale was too late. The digital divide languished. The summer of 2020 should have seen hundreds of efforts piloted to get more kids safely into school buildings in the fall. The fall of 2020 should have welcomed creative ideas for getting vaccines into arms in the winter. We should ask ourselves on that front why ideas like Vax-a-Million deployed only this May and what other opportunities we missed to promote vaccinations to skeptical populations earlier in the year. Moreover, all that we did to help, helped inequitably, delaying efforts to make this countrys promise that everyone is created equal a reality.

The history books will say that we invented our way out of this pandemic, but not quickly enough to save more lives and avoid more damage. How do we do better come July 5th?

First, we need to be more candid about the weaknesses of todays status quo. This will be the time to make a realistic assessment of which of our public services are really working and which we are just pretending are. Thomas Paine began his Common Sense that helped birth the nation, A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. There will be champions for custom in the coming months, but when it comes to public education, infrastructure, sustainability, public safety and workforce readiness, custom in so many instances isnt cutting it. New York Citys rickety Board of Elections made itself known in recent days as but one tired example.

Second, well need to try new and novel programs and services in prudent ways. There is more than two times as much relief money for cities and states in the American Rescue Plan than there was in the post-2008 stimulus. The $350 billion in funding is meant to be used to respond to both the public health emergency and the economic one it gave rise to, and ARPAs eligible uses are wide-ranging. The federal guidelines this time use the word flexibility two dozen times. Mayors and governors have wide latitude in how to spend this chest of money. They should embrace novelty.

This is not an invitation to foolhardiness. Quite the contrary, there is a set of skills for possibility government the pursuit of new programs and services that by virtue of their novelty may only possibly work that minimize waste while maximizing learning. Public leaders should in this moment of all moments, use them: Invite in more ideas. Try new ideas out in partial ways before building them fully. Scale them by harnessing government as a platform, i.e. building a foundation for others to innovate on top of or connect across. GPS was one government project that unleashed unending private innovation, much of it for public good. We are ready for our generations version.

Not all of these attempts to bring about the future will succeed. Most new efforts dont. The idea is that a few giant transformative successes more than make up for smaller failures. On transforming public safety in his city of Saint Paul, Minn., Mayor Melvin Carter has said, Most likely, we wont get everything right our first time around. Hes right, and theres nothing inherently wrong with that, as long as leaders are willing to acknowledge failures, learn from them and move on.

Finally, we should contour our public investments to the kinds of programs that pave the way to a better future. This means federal agencies should move quickly to deploy the $1 billion for tech modernization in the American Rescue Plan. It means cities and states should grow their digital service teams, leveraging their relief funds (yes, tech and data investments are allowed) and other funding streams. Making America future-ready means supporting efforts like Code for America, Coding it Forward, The Tech Talent Project, and the U.S. Digital Response for the services they help deliver and because they attract a new generation into public service.

For too many years now, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste has been the operating maxim of governments. Left unsaid, but not unmeant is that change is impossible afterward. Today we hear with fingers crossed a different utterance, Our agility will stay when Covid is gone.I hope so. Its not inevitable, but it would be utterly American.

The rest is here:

Opinion | Would the Founders Have Applauded Our Handling of Covid-19? - POLITICO

On this 4th of July, people in New Britain and around the state celebrated our countrys independence as the nation now emerges from the pandemic.

Its great to be back outside, feels good to be around people, enjoying festivities and be able to eat some good food and just hanging out, said Stephon Adams of Waterbury.

In Waterbury, families grabbed dinner at the Food Truck & Fireworks Extravaganza.

Many were excited the trucks were back after being canceled last year because of the pandemic.

There is a huge financial impact to all of the trucks. You know, most of the trucks here are small businesses so they rely on every event. And this is the busiest event of the year for most of them. So losing this last year was huge, said Jillian Perez of Connecticut Specialty Events.

This year, the trucks were spaced out more to allow for social distancing.

Some festival-goers traveled from neighboring states just to take part.

Just something to do. Its kind of limited the stuff to do. And this is one option to actually come out here and give it a try and spend time with the family, said Hector Delgado of Springfield, Mass.

People come out for Waterbury's food truck and firework extravaganza on the 4th of July.

With the fight against COVID-19 not over, there was a pop-up vaccine clinic. And in New Britain, people had to buy passes and stay near their car during the show.

As skies across the state lit up, they were a hopeful sign as the country welcomes brighter days.

Its amazing they are all here spending time here, spending with the crowd together. Its awesome, said Delgado.

Just because Independence Day is almost over doesnt mean the fireworks are done. More are scheduled for later this month.

It was a night two years in the making as The Enfield Fourth of July Town Celebration fireworks returned.

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Crowds Celebrate 4th of July With Fewer COVID-19 Rules - NBC Connecticut