Category: Covid-19

The WestVirginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reportsas of April 24, 2021, there have been 2,665,620 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 151,068 total cases and 2,817 total deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of an 81-yearold female from Cabell County, a 69-year old male from Monongalia County, a 45-yearold female from Berkeley County, and a 66-year old male from Marion County.

We are saddenedby the loss of more West Virginians and send them our deepest sympathies, saidBill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.

CASES PERCOUNTY: Barbour (1,366), Berkeley(11,849), Boone (1,922), Braxton (885), Brooke (2,135), Cabell (8,671), Calhoun(276), Clay (467), Doddridge (560), Fayette (3,324), Gilmer (741), Grant(1,247), Greenbrier (2,680), Hampshire (1,739), Hancock (2,731), Hardy (1,458),Harrison (5,488), Jackson (1,945), Jefferson (4,430), Kanawha (14,339), Lewis(1,145), Lincoln (1,422), Logan (2,991), Marion (4,233), Marshall (3,317),Mason (1,946), McDowell (1,519), Mercer (4,616), Mineral (2,794), Mingo(2,451), Monongalia (9,015), Monroe (1,090), Morgan (1,101), Nicholas (1,541),Ohio (4,085), Pendleton (694), Pleasants (846), Pocahontas (657), Preston(2,830), Putnam (4,877), Raleigh (6,368), Randolph (2,505), Ritchie (670),Roane (590), Summers (774), Taylor (1,205), Tucker (524), Tyler (676), Upshur(1,831), Wayne (2,849), Webster (458), Wetzel (1,244), Wirt (384), Wood(7,620), Wyoming (1,947).

Delays maybe experienced with the reporting of information from the local healthdepartment to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local healthdepartment level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may notbe a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in questionmay have crossed the state border to be tested. Such is the case of LoganCounty in this report.

West Virginians may pre-register for their COVID-19vaccination at vaccinate.wv.gov. The COVID-19 dashboard located at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov shows the total number of vaccines administered.Please see the vaccine summary tab for more detailed information.

Free pop-upCOVID-19 testing is available today in Jefferson, Lewis, and Putnam counties,and Sunday in Greenbrier County.

JeffersonCounty10:00 AM 2:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 HollywoodDrive, Charles Town, WV

10:00AM 2:00 PM, Shepherd University Wellness Center Parking Lot, 164 UniversityDrive, Shepherdstown, WV

Lewis County

10:00 AM 5:00 PM, Stonewall Jackson Home OxygenTherapy, 456 Market Place, Suite A, Weston, WV

Putnam County

9:00 AM 1:00 PM, Liberty Square, 613Putnam Village, Hurricane, WV (pre-registration: bit.ly/pchd-covid)

April 25

Greenbrier County

10:00 AM 5:00 PM, Dorie Miller Park, 396Feamster Road, Lewisburg, WV

For more free COVID-19 testingopportunities across the state, please visit https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx.

Excerpt from:

COVID-19 Daily Update 4-24-2021 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Rising infection and hospitalization rates force Mexican border city to go into immediate lockdown

by: Julian Resendiz

A rendering of coronavirus via the CDC.

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) On Monday morning, El Paso city and county officials lauded vaccination efforts and spoke in hopeful terms about reaching herd immunity.

Across the border a few hours later, Juarez announced a total shutdown of non-essential activities over the next two weekends due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and death and rising hospitalization rates.

All non-essential businesses were to shut down at midnight Friday and reopen Monday at 6 a.m. The lockdown will again be effective on midnight April 30 through the morning of May 3.

Chihuahua state Health Secretary Eduardo Fernandez said an immediate shutdown is necessary to keep the pandemic from reaching October levels, when hospitals became so overcrowded that COVID-19 hallways had to be fashioned into new wards for the emergency care of patients and dozens were dying daily.

What is affecting more than anything else is mobility. Its at the highest level weve ever seen. Its higher than in December, which is when more people are usually out and about, he said in a Friday teleconference. How do we explain it? Weve lost fear of the disease. We (lowered our guard) because vaccines are here. We went on Easter break. Political parties began campaigning. Were moving more, taking less precautions and were getting infected.

On Saturday and Sunday, all non-essential businesses are to remain closed. That includes all stores in shopping centers and malls, all dine-in service at restaurants and all bars.

Only grocery stores, convenience stores, bakeries and meat shops may continue to operate. Department stores are to be closed.

Shopping centers attract a lot of people and have the most potential for contagion. Restaurants will operate only on takeout or delivery and all common areas in hotels will close, Fernandez said.

The Mexican health official acknowledged the move was sudden, but he said the Chihuahua Health Council was left little choice.

What is more troubling is were seeing younger people hospitalized. Before we saw mostly the elderly. Now were seeing people 45 to 60 years old in hospitals, he said. What does that mean? That in a very short time our hospitals will be full like they were in October. Nobody wants that.

Juarez on Friday reported 23 new COVID-19 deaths, compared to only one in El Paso County across the border. Juarez has not tallied 3,062 coronavirus deaths to El Pasos 2,507.

One big disparity between the two communities separated by the Rio Grande is vaccinations. El Paso has administered 590,597 COVID-19 vaccines, fully protecting 36.5% of its population and getting 58.6% at least one dose. Juarez has received only 90,000 vaccines from the Mexican government and health professionals working at private hospitals are so desperate to get a first dose that they signed a petition to be allowed to cross into El Paso to get one.

Visit theBorderReport.com homepagefor the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.

Continued here:

BREAKING: Juarez shutting down this weekend due to COVID-19 spike - ABC27

HOUSTON -- Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said Saturday that he tested positive for COVID-19 but he never felt bad and hopes to return to the lineup soon.

"I felt really good all the way through, and I feel really good right now," Altuve said Saturday. "And I'm happy to be back here."

The 2017 AL MVP was among five Astros who were placed on the COVID-19 list on April 14. The four other players returned to the roster within a few days, but Altuve remained on the list until Friday.

1 Related

Altuve still hasn't been added to the active roster, and it's unclear how much time he'll need before that happens.

Altuve said he received the first dose of one of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccines before testing positive, and that he has no idea how he contracted the virus.

"It doesn't matter if you got the vaccine or not, it's not good to find out you were tested positive," Altuve said. "Nobody wants to get that. And on top of that, you have to stay away from the team for 10 days. So I was just ready for those 10 days to be over and to be able to get back to the field and play."

Altuve was off to a strong start in 2021 after a down year in last season's pandemic-shortened campaign. He is hitting .318 with one homer, three doubles and five RBIs in 11 games. He can't wait to get back in the lineup after his extended absence.

"It's been very difficult just to watch the guys play on TV and not be able to be there with them like I normally do," he said.

Altuve was able to do cardio and weight training while away from the team and is now working on baseball activities as he nears his return.

"I think the running is the most important for me, and then swinging," he said. "If I feel good running and swinging then I can go out there and play a game."

Read more here:

Houston Astros' Jose Altuve doing well after positive COVID-19 test - ESPN

April 23, 2021 -- Long-haul COVID-19 patients face many health threats -- including a higher chance of dying -- up to 6 months after they catch the virus, according to a massive study published in the journal Nature.

A second study, released by the CDC on Friday, also found lingering symptoms months later among COVID-19 patients who originally had mild symptoms.

For the Naturestudy, researchers examined more than 87,000 COVID-19 patients and nearly 5 million control patients in a federal database. They found COVID-19 patients had a 59% higher risk of death up to 6 months after infection, compared to non-infected people.

Those findings translate into about eight extra deaths per 1,000 patients over 6 months, because many deaths caused by long-term COVID complications are not recorded as COVID-19 deaths, the researchers said. Among patients who were hospitalized and died after more than 30 days, there were 29 excess deaths per 1,000 patients over 6 months.

As far as total pandemic death toll, these numbers suggest that the deaths were counting due to the immediate viral infection are only the tip of the iceberg, Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, the senior author of the study and a director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, said in a news release from the University of Washington Medical School in St. Louis.

Johns Hopkins University says more than 3 million people worldwide and about 570,000 people in the United States have died of coronavirus-related reasons.

Long-haul COVID patients also had a much higher chance of getting sick, and not just in the respiratory system, according to the study.

The patients had a high rate of stroke and other nervous system ailments; mental health problems such as depression; the onset of diabetes; heart disease and other coronary problems; diarrhea and digestive disorders; kidney disease; blood clots; joint pain; hair loss; and general fatigue.

Patients often had clusters of these ailments. And the more severe the case of COVID-19, the higher the chance of long-term health problems, the study said.

Researchers based their study on health care databases of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Besides the 87,000 COVID patients, the database included about 5 million patients who didnt catch COVID. The veterans in the study were about 88% men, but the large sample size included 8,880 women with confirmed cases, the news release said.

Al-Aly, an assistant professor at Washington University Medical School, said the study shows that long-haul COVID-19 could be Americas next big health crisis.

Our study demonstrates that up to 6 months after diagnosis, the risk of death following even a mild case of COVID-19 is not trivial and increases with disease severity, he said. Given that more than 30 million Americans have been infected with this virus, and given that the burden of long COVID-19 is substantial, the lingering effects of this disease will reverberate for many years and even decades.

Meanwhile, the CDC on Friday released a new study of people who had milder cases of COVID-19. It found that almost two-thirds of them returned to the doctor within 6 months of their initial infections with new symptoms.

The study validates the accounts of many COVID-19 long haulers who say they are still sick months later though their initial infections were mild.

More than 3,100 cases were reviewed for the study. None of the patients had been hospitalized for their initial infections. The study found that nearly 70%, or 2,100 people, with mild infections treated by the Kaiser Permanente health system in Georgia returned to the doctor 1 to 6 months after that initial diagnosis, and nearly 40% needed to see a specialist.

Compared to people who didnt return to the doctor after recovering from their initial infections, the long haulers were more likely to be African American, women, and people over the age of 50. About 10% of them were given a second diagnosis of an active COVID infection.

Health care providers used the diagnosis of active infection to indicate that the effects of COVID-19 were affecting medical care at the time of the visit, study author Alfonso Hernandez-Romieu, MD, said in an email. Therefore it cannot be determined whether patients might have been experiencing symptoms of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, rather than ongoing COVID-19 symptoms, said Hernandez-Romieu, who is part of the clinical team at CDC studying the long-term complications of COVID-19.

Pulmonologists, cardiologists, neurologists, and mental health professionals were some of the most frequently consulted specialties.

The study authors say doctors should be aware that patients coming to them might have new symptoms related to a past COVID diagnosis.

WebMD Health News Brief

Nature: High-dimensional characterization of post-acute sequalae of COVID-19.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis: Among COVID-19 survivors, an increased risk of death, serious illness.

MMWR, April 23, 2021

See the article here:

Study: COVID-19 Can Kill Months After Infection - WebMD

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said he is happy to be back with the team after he tested positive for COVID-19 and spent 10 days on the injured list.

Altuve on Saturday confirmed he tested positive for the virus weeks after he received the first dose of the vaccine following spring training. He described no serious side effects from the illness.

It doesn't matter if you got the vaccine or not, it's not good to find out you were tested positive, he said. And on top of that, you have to be away for 10 days. So, you know, I was just ready for testing days to be over and get back to the field and play already right now. And like I said, I can't wait to go back and play.

Although it is unclear when Altuve will rejoin the lineup he wont play in Saturdays home game vs. the Angels the infielder was in good spirits at Minute Maid Park for batting practice on Saturday morning.

I feel really good right now, and Im happy to be back here, he said.

Altuve last played in the Astros 8-2 loss to the Tigers on April 13. The next day, he and four other Astros were placed on the injured list due to health and safety protocols. Stuck in quarantine for 10 days, Altuve was forced to watch games on television.

That is very difficult, just to watch the guys play on TV and not be able to be there with them like I normally do, he said. I was just rooting for them.

While MLB cleared Altuve to return on Friday, the Astros are taking a cautious approach as he regains his physical form.

He still has to pass some tests, manager Dusty Baker said. He still can't work out with us. He can see us today. He still has to leave come game time. And so, like I said, hopefully next week.

Altuve estimated he would be back pretty soon.

The running is the most important for me, then swinging, he said. Those two, if I feel good running and swinging, I can go out there and play a game.

Altuve took live batting practice for the first time Friday, but otherwise has been doing what Baker calls boyhood stuff.

You know, running in the backyard, throwing against the wall, hitting off the tee -- that's what he's been doing, Baker said. He looked great. But, you know, thats BP. We just want to make sure that he's ready physically.

Even if Altuve isnt officially back in the dugout, the Astros have enjoyed having him back in the ballpark.

He came in my office and it was like a beam of sunlight came in, Baker said. When he's around he brings a great attitude, a lot of life, even though he doesn't say a whole bunch. But he has that infectious smile that just rubs off on people. And he came in with even more bounce today than he had yesterday. You know, he bounces anyway. So it was great to see him.

Read more here:

Astros' Jose Altuve confirms he tested positive for COVID-19 - Houston Chronicle

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) 137 new total COVID-19 cases were reported by theState Department of Healthon Saturday.

While the difference in the total case count reported (118,157) and (117,938) equals 136, when you add the PCR, or newly confirmed, cases (109) and antigen, or new probable, cases (28), there were 137new cases.

According to the latest update, there are 104 current hospitalizations, down from Friday (116). Total hospitalizations are at 7,293.

Active cases are now at 1,871, down from Friday (1,955).

The states total case count is now at 121,986, from Friday (121,850).

Total recovered cases are now at 118,157 compared to 117,938 on Friday.

One new death was reported by the Department of Health on Saturday. The new death reported was a woman in the 80+ age range in Charles Mix County.

The death toll is now at 1,958.

Total persons who tested negative is now at 340,562, up from Friday (340,029).

There were 670 new persons tested in the data reported Saturday for a new persons-tested positivity rate of 20.44%.

The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate reported by the DOH is 7.3%. The latest one-day PCR test positivity rate is 8.0%.

According to the DOH, 295,487 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered with 16,295 doses of the Janssen vaccine and 252,817 of the Moderna vaccine given out to a total number of 323,716 persons.

There have been 111,109 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna and 129,766 who have received two doses of Pfizer, according to the DOH.

As of Saturday, 53.77% of the population in South Dakota has received at least one dose while 42.65% have completed the vaccination series.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 137 total new cases; Death toll increases to 1,958; Active cases at 1,871 - KELOLAND.com

After months of not having enough COVID-19 vaccines to meet demand, Texas suddenly appears to have plenty of shots but not as many people lining up to receive them, even though more than three quarters of the state still isnt fully vaccinated.

Almost 7 million Texans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 more than 23% of the states population and health officials say they are starting to see lower demand at public vaccination sites. Recent data show reported vaccine doses have decreased: The number of people who have gotten at least one shot in Texas grew by over 1 million during the week ending April 14; the following week the number dropped to about 660,000.

Across Texas, local leaders are trying to ramp up outreach efforts and fill more appointments. Houston's FEMA hub at NRG Park is now offering walk-in slots, a shift from prior appointment-only requirements that kept some residents from getting early doses. The state will also be rolling out a TV campaign to boost vaccinations, Department of State Health Services spokesperson Chris Van Deusen told the Wall Street Journal.

Local health officials say efforts to vaccinate older Texans have been successful: As of April 21, nearly 60% of Texans age 65 and older have been fully vaccinated. Since the state opened vaccinations to all adults on March 29, around one-fifth of Texans between 16 to 49 years old who make up the biggest proportion of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated.

It seems were getting to the point that most people eager to get vaccinated have gotten at least their first dose, Imelda Garcia, associate commissioner of laboratory and infectious disease services for DSHS, said during a Thursday press conference. The next phase will be about helping ensure that vaccine is more easily available to those folks who are not going to go as far out of their way.

Nationally, vaccine supply may outpace demand within the next month, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health nonprofit.

Vaccination rates vary across Texas: most large urban and suburban counties, except for Tarrant County, are above the overall state rate in terms of the percentage of people who have received at least one dose. Along the border, a region that has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, more than 40% of the population in many counties, including El Paso, Starr and Cameron, have gotten a dose compared with 36% statewide.

In Starr County, Manuel Muniz, Rio Grande Citys fire chief and EMC, said vaccination rates have been slowing down for the past two weeks. Just over 40% of Starr County residents have been fully vaccinated, and Muniz said appointments have slowed over the last two weeks, with some sites only open once or twice a week. Theyve had to drive a few hundred unused doses back to the pickup location as well, he said.

Many county sites have been open to walk-ins for weeks, a change from the long waitlist they had during the first month of rollout, and are open to anyone in the Rio Grande Valley, Muniz said. Local officials continue to post hours and instructions on social media to make sure the process is understandable.

But in other small rural counties, the vaccination numbers are much lower: In roughly 50 of those counties, less than a quarter of the population have received a vaccine dose as of April 21.

Texas vaccination efforts are still missing people who have faced obstacles for months, said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston. Some lack internet access or the computer skills to make an online appointment, while others lack transportation to reach a vaccine provider.

And Black and Hispanic Texans continue to be vaccinated at lower rates than whites, even as appointments become more available across the state.

Texas has been allocated 700,000 doses for next week, Garcia said, which is the lowest amount the state has received in the past month.

On April 13, the Centers for Disease Control temporarily suspended the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine out of an abundance of caution because of concerns about blood clots. Federal health investigators had identified 15 confirmed cases of the clotting syndrome and three deaths as of Thursday all in women out of nearly 8 million doses given. On Friday CDC officials said they are investigating nearly a dozen more possible cases.

Given that it was easier to store and distribute, the vaccine had been prioritized for harder to reach populations, Troisi said, and this pause impacted people experiencing homelessness and homebound people the most.

But the Johnson & Johnson pause also has made it more difficult to convince some people to get vaccinated at all. Marisa Gonzales, community outreach program manager for Dallas County Health and Human Services, organizes vaccination registration events and said that while her events had plenty of action before, only a handful of people signed up at her location in West Dallas on Thursday.

Especially after Johnson & Johnson was paused, anybody who had any kind of reluctancy now really has [more] reluctancy, Gonzales said. A lot of people still dont trust it.

Troisi said Republicans consistently show lower intention to get the vaccine than Democrats and independents in Texas, according to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune survey.

That's actually increased since March, Troisi said. We used to talk about communities of color being hesitant. But in that case, it's more barriers, it's just harder for them to get to the place to be vaccinated.

Muniz said Starr Countys recent slowdown can be partially attributed to the J&J shot being pulled many people in the region are seasonal workers and prefer to get a single dose rather than two shots spaced weeks apart.

Experts say that this new stage of the vaccination process might require more tailored strategies.

We need to start thinking about reaching out, really extending and doing other types of community clinics, whether it's at smaller clinics, at churches, in other parts of the county, in rural areas, just again, making it easier to get [vaccines] to people, said Kelly Craine, communications lead for the Waco McLennan County Public Health District.

In the Rio Grande Valley, Carlos Sanchez said that one of the groups that concern him are younger people, who might not have high mortality rates when they get infected, but still can be key in spreading the virus.

Many are sitting on the fence, for others just right now it's not a high priority for them, said Sanchez, spokesperson for Hidalgo County. We're trying to figure out why or how we can reach those. I'm in the process of trying to organize a focus group of people in that demographic to get a sense of what we can do.

Experts and county officials across the state stressed that now is the moment to vaccinate as many people as possible to avoid a new surge in cases as new, more contagious variants of the virus continue to spread. In Dallas, where less than a quarter of the population was fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, Marisa Gonzales said they still have a tremendous amount of work to do.

And I hope that people do their homework, I hope that they learn the facts, they learn the science about the vaccine as well as the virus, and to educate themselves and use that knowledge as power, she said.

Staff writer Karen Brooks Harper contributed to this story.

Disclosure: UTHealth School of Public Health has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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In Texas, COVID-19 vaccine demand is dropping - The Texas Tribune

KLAMATH FALLS A Klamath Falls restaurant landed a hefty fine Friday from state workplace safety officials amid the COVID-19 outbreak for continuing to offer indoor dining. The restaurant was similarly fined last December for the same thing.

Caseys Restaurant was fined $27,660 by the Oregon Health and Safety Administration for four violations, the agency said.

The family-owned restaurant, which accepted nearly $80,000 in federal pandemic relief, was fined $8,900 over alleged violations in December. Caseys Restaurant has appealed that fine. Employers have 30 days to appeal citations. It wasnt immediately known if the owners plan to appeal the latest fine.

Klamath County has experienced high COVID case numbers and no indoor dining was allowed during the inspection period to limit disease transmission.

The restaurants fines also included infractions such as not setting up an infection control plan or monitoring employees potential exposure to the virus, Oregon OHSA said.

Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA, called the citations a critical part of his agencys role in enforcing Oregons health and safety rules.

In the vast majority of cases, we have not had to conduct formal enforcement visits, because most employers are choosing to do the right thing, said Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA. They are doing so because they know they are making meaningful contributions as part of a larger and multi-faceted community effort to end this pandemic sooner rather than later.

Wood is considering whether to make rules on COVID-19 workplace safety such as requiring masks and social distancing in businesses permanent when the temporary rules expire on May 4. He has said that any permanent rules will be repealed once the coronavirus is under control in Oregon and there is no longer a need for them.

The Associated Press

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Klamath Falls restaurant hit with another fine over COVID-19 rules - OregonLive

The locations, which include the United Center site that is run in conjunction with the federal government, will open up access in order to accommodate residents who dont want to or cannot schedule appointments ahead of time.

Additionally, a federal government advisory committee on vaccines met Friday to discuss the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and said the benefits outweigh a very rare risk of blood clots. especially against a virus thats still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding next steps.

Meanwhile, although the vast majority of Illinois students are now learning in person at least part time after more than a year of pandemic-prompted remote instruction, the surging number of kids forced into quarantine has been the latest source of disruption and frustration in the prolonged and difficult effort to reopen schools.

Heres whats happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:

7:30 p.m. (updated): Illinois gives providers go-ahead to resume use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after feds lift 11-day pause

Vaccine providers in Illinois can immediately resume giving Johnson & Johnsons one-dose immunization after federal officials determined the shots benefits outweigh the risks of rare but severe blood clots, state health officials said late Friday.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration lifted an 11-day pause on the use of the vaccine after an advisory panel said it was safe to do so in combination with a new warning about the risk of blood clots, particularly among women under 50.

5:55 p.m. (updated): US lifts pause, allowing Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations to resume

U.S. health officials have lifted an 11-day pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccinations following a recommendation by an expert panel. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the benefits of the single-dose COVID-19 shot outweigh a rare risk of blood clots.

Panel members said its critical that younger women be told about that risk so they can decide if theyd rather choose another vaccine. The CDC and Food and Drug Administration agreed. European regulators earlier this week made a similar decision, deciding the clot risk was small enough to allow the rollout of J&Js shot.

3:59 p.m. (updated): US health panel urges restarting Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccinations after pause over rare blood clots

A U.S. health panel says its time to resume use of Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots. Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&Js shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal. All were women, most younger than 50.

But advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the vaccines benefits outweigh that serious but small risk especially against a virus thats still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding next steps.

3:51 p.m.: COVID-19 positivity rate down but hospitalizations continue rise that started more than 5 weeks ago

An additional 136,525 coronavirus vaccinations were administered in Illinois Thursday as the state reported another slight downtick in the seven-day test positivity rate.

The latest batch of shots brought the total number of doses administered in the state to 8,610,478, public health officials reported. As of Friday, 51.58% of residents 16 and older have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

The number of residents who have been fully vaccinated receiving both of the required two shots, or Johnson & Johnsons one shot reached 3,648,936, or 28.64% of the total population.

3:41 p.m.: Lake Countys largest COVID-19 vaccination center opens with goal of speeding return to a new normal

A goal of Baxter, as it partners with the Lake County Health Department and Curative to operate the countys largest COVID-19 vaccination center with a capacity of administering 5,000 shots a day, is accelerating the time when residents can return to a new normal.

Dr. Sumant Ramachandra, Baxters pharmaceuticals president and its chief science and technology officer, said once a sufficient number of people are vaccinated against the disease, elements of normal life can return.

We want to help the community get to a new normal, Ramachandra said before a news conference Friday.

People will be making choices about social distancing, he added, describing the new normal. Once they get their shots, they will still be thinking about what they are doing.

3:39 p.m.: Being shot age 15 made her want to be a caregiver. As a COVID-19 nurse, shes turned to art as therapy

Nurses experienced things they could never explain.

People talking, then dead. Replacing family members by holding the hand of the dying. Losing the ability to comfort through a smile.

To process these moments, some picked up a pencil, or a paintbrush.

A new exhibit at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Nurses Relaxation and Renewal Through the Arts, features art by medical workers, including some who used artwork to process what they experienced treating COVID-19 patients. The Gold Coast museums exhibit was supposed to open last April. Scuttled because of the pandemic, it is now open through May 23.

One of the artists is Maribel Huerta. Ever since she was a trauma patient, lying in intensive care after being shot in the head at age 15, she knew she wanted to be a nurse.

2:58 p.m.: Sun shining, even a shirt off at United Center vaccination site on first day walk-ins are welcome

With city mass vaccination sites now open to walk-ins, regardless of city ZIP code or employment status, Friday marked an unofficial start of a final push to get shots into the arms of all Chicagoans.

Despite the potential for a crush of shot seekers, lines were short as the sun shone on the United Center Friday during the lunch hour. Large metal corrals set up like bank rope lines were quickly traversed and no one leaving the facility reported a visit that took longer than 25 minutes.

1:28 p.m.: The soaring number of students in quarantine is the latest obstacle for schools and sports teams trying to get back to normal

Although the vast majority of Illinois students are now learning in-person at least part-time after more than a year of pandemic-prompted remote instruction, the surging number of kids forced into quarantine has been the latest source of disruption and frustration in the prolonged and difficult effort to reopen schools.

With the shifting metric for social distancing in schools where 3 feet is now the allowable standard but exposure within 6 feet of an infected student can still result in a quarantine the ability to remain in class is sometimes a game of inches.

12:04 p.m.: 3,369 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 22 additional deaths reported

Illinois health officials on Friday announced 3,369 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,316,091 and the statewide death toll to 21,777 since the start of the pandemic.

Officials also reported 104,795 new tests in the last 24 hours. The statewide positivity rate for cases is 3.6%.

The 7-day daily average of administered vaccine doses is 118,741, with 136,525 doses given on Thursday. Officials also say a total of 8,610,478 vaccines have now been administered.

9:58 a.m.: Flu shots at work are routine, but company COVID-19 vaccination clinics have been hard to come by. That might be changing.

When Freedman Seating Co. heard manufacturing industry employees would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, the company wanted to hold an event to distribute doses at work, much like it does with flu shots.

Getting access to a supply of COVID-19 shots, though, was a struggle for the Chicago-based company. Pharmacies and other companies that could administer the shots were overwhelmed with requests and wanted Freedman Seating to determine the exact number of doses needed, information the company didnt have at the time, said marketing manager John-Paul Paonessa.

Instead, the city reserved spots for the company at mass vaccination sites and employees helped colleagues navigate the registration process. About half of 630 employees have been vaccinated, but Freedman Seating still pursued a clinic vaccination event on-site and recently scheduled one for about 100 employees in early May, Paonessa said.

The more people who are vaccinated, the more comfortable employees may feel returning to some sort of normalcy, he said.

As easy as we can make it, thats what were looking for, he said.

7:15 a.m.: Indianas Lake County Fair to be as traditional as possible this summer

Last year, the Lake County, Ind., Fair had to be canceled because of COVID-19. This year, Tom Lump said he hopes it can be done as normal.

Lump, the president of the Lake County Fair, said as of right now, the fair will continue as it was before the pandemic, though its always possible things could change.

Were pretty much planning it to be as traditional as possible, Lump said of the planned 169th edition of the fair. We dont want to throw too much at our fairgoers. There may be a requirement to wear masks, we dont know, there may be a requirement to have more hand sanitizers, we dont know that either Were hopeful that its going to be enough and pretty much as usual.

Without the ability to determine how the pandemic may look in the summer months, Lump said its difficult to say for sure how the fair will go. Its hard to plan for exact precautions when he isnt sure what they may be yet, but hes hopeful it will be as close to normal as possible.

6:40 a.m.: Lake County Health Department, sponsors, to show off new mass vaccination site

Lake County, Illinois, Health Department and officials from Baxter International and Curative were scheduled to give a media tour Friday showcasing the a mass vaccination site in Round Lake Beach that opened this week.

Officials were scheduled to give a media tour of the site, 400 E. Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach, Friday morning.

The is providing indoor COVID-19 vaccinations by appointment to all who live or work in Lake County, Illinois, ages 16 and older, at no cost. When vaccine supply allows the facility to reach its peak capacity of 5,000 vaccinations per day, this will be the largest vaccination site in the county, according to a release.

6 a.m.: All Chicago mass COVID-19 vaccination sites open for walk-in appointments starting Friday

All Chicago mass vaccination sites will accept walk-in appointments starting Friday, as the city also opens up eligibility at its vaccination sites to 16- and 17-year-olds.

The mass vaccination sites, which include the United Center site that is run in conjunction with the federal government, will open up access in order to accommodate residents who dont want to or cannot schedule appointments ahead of time, city Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a Thursday question-and-answer session.

The announcement about the mass vaccination sites came after three Cook County mass vaccination sites in the south suburbs Matteson, Summit and Tinley Park also opened up to walk-ins this week.

Meanwhile, Chicagoans under 18 must have a parent or guardian present during their appointment, and those 16 and 17 can only receive a Pfizer dose, according to the health department.

While walk-in appointments are being made available, the city still is encouraging people to make appointments to ensure they are able to receive a vaccine.

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Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Heres what happened April 23 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area - Chicago Tribune

I reached out to Dr. Anne Robin to answer these questions.

There is no medical evidence that smoking cannabis protects from COVID-19.

I have not seen a study, but it makes sense that the opposite is true. Smoking cigarettes is a known risk factor. The residue in the lungs from smoking marijuana is worse than from cigarettes. The conclusion is that smoking anything is harmful to the lungs and not protective. The lungs were not designed to accept smoke.

The question about meth raises an interesting point. The human mind loves to draw conclusions from our experiences. The writer knows some people who consume meth who survived COVID-19. Does this mean that the meth helped them or that they survived despite their meth use?

Im glad they survived, but it was despite, not because of, the meth use. Meth does not clear up the lungs. These people may also have other unverifiable beliefs about their health.

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Coronavirus response | Ask the Admin: COVID-19 and drug use - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette