Category: Covid-19

3 things to know:

More than 1 million state residents have at least one vaccine dose

More than 10 percent of Minnesotans have completed vaccinations

Nearly 64 percent of Minnesota seniors have at least one dose

Minnesota passed more COVID-19 vaccination milestones over the weekend.

On Saturday, the state Health Department reported that more than 1 million residents had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

And on Sunday, it reported that more than 10 percent of Minnesota residents had completed their vaccinations whether two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Nearly 19 percent of Minnesotans have now received at least one dose including nearly 64 percent of state residents 65 and older.

That last figure is a particularly important one, because state officials have said Minnesota will expand vaccination eligibility when 70 percent of seniors get a first dose.

Officials expected to meet that goal by the end of March. But on the current trajectory, it could happen much sooner which would accelerate the timeline for when any Minnesotan can get a shot.

As vaccinations continue, there has been a slight uptick in newly confirmed cases in recent days. Averaged over the past week, Sundays update showed Minnesota is seeing about 786 new cases each day. Thats up from about 753 on Friday.

Sundays update showed a slight decrease in COVID-19 deaths and hospital admissions reported each day, averaged over the past week.

Here are Minnesotas current COVID-19 statistics:

6,550 deaths (4 new)

490,011 positive cases (897 new); 97 percent off isolation

18.8 percent of Minnesotans with at least 1 dose

63.9 percent 65 and older with at least 1 dose

Projections by MPR News data reporter David Montgomery.

The pace of vaccinations fell slightly in Sundays update. Averaged over the past week, Minnesota is now administering just over 39,000 shots a day down from a record high of more than 41,000 a day as of Saturdays report. Thats in part because of an unusually high number of vaccinations reported the previous Sunday, as weather-delayed vaccine doses made their way around the state.

The Health Department on Sunday reported 570,038 people more than 10 percent of the states population have completed their vaccinations. More than 1 million Minnesotans more than 18 percent had received at least one dose.

Minnesota currently ranks 16th among states in doses administered per 100,000 people, according to data collected by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As more Minnesotans are vaccinated against COVID-19, the states pandemic metrics show disease conditions are fairly stable.

There were 7,406 known, active cases as of Sunday, continuing a trend that stayed fairly stable through February and remains down dramatically from late November and early December, when active cases hovered around 50,000.

Four newly reported deaths raised Minnesotas toll to 6,550. Among those whove died, about 62 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems. Average daily death counts had ticked up in recent days before falling on Sunday.

The state has recorded 490,011 total confirmed or probable cases so far in the pandemic, including 897 reported Sunday. About 97 percent of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point where they no longer need to be isolated.

People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the states largest number of confirmed cases more than 92,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 48,000 among those ages 20 to 24.

The number of high school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 38,000 total cases among those ages 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.

With kids increasingly returning to school buildings and sports, Minnesota public health officials are urging Minnesota families with children to get tested every two weeks for COVID-19 now until the end of the school year.

Although young people are less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts worry youth will spread it unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.

People can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 when they dont have symptoms.

Regionally, most parts of Minnesota are down significantly from the late November and early December spike, as well as a smaller January uptick.

In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 has hit communities of color disproportionately hard in both cases and deaths. Thats been especially true for Minnesotans of Hispanic descent for much of the pandemic.

Even as new case counts continue to track well below their late November, early December peaks, the data shows Latino people continue to be hit hard.

Distrust of the government, together with deeply rooted health and economic disparities, have hampered efforts to boost testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information may be used to deport them.

Walz has acknowledged that distrust by communities of color has been a problem during the pandemic. Officials on Friday offered up some data on vaccinations broken down by race and ethnicity.

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said the state was committed to doing more to expand vaccine access to people of color, including getting more doses to community pharmacies, partnering with local groups and deploying mobile vaccination clinics.

Data in these graphs are based on the Minnesota Department of Health's cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at theHealth Department website.

Minnesota health officials on Friday warned of a rapidly growing outbreak of the U.K. COVID-19 strain tied to youth sports in Carver County. They are recommending a two-week suspension of youth sports in the county amid the outbreak.

Since late January, the Health Department says there've been at least 68 cases of COVID-19 cases linked to school and club sports in the metro-area county. Among those cases, 24 have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 U.K. variant.

Epidemiologists have also seen an uptick of the U.K. variant cases in Carver County gyms and fitness centers with many of those linked to the youth sports cases.

Health officials say youth sports in the county should be paused starting Monday. They also recommend weekly testing of athletes and coaches elsewhere in the state, strict masking and no gatherings before or after games.

B.1.1.7. is more transmissible than other coronavirus variants. While researchers don't believe it's more deadly on its own, its ease of spread may lead to more deaths.

Matt Sepic | MPR News

COVID vaccinations take center stage in long-standing program to address health care inequities: For 15 years, an M Health Fairview program has worked to address inequities in health care. That effort is now focused on getting the COVID-19 vaccine to communities that have often not had equal access to health care.

You make MPR News possible. Individual donations are behind the clarity in coverage from our reporters across the state, stories that connect us, and conversations that provide perspectives. Help ensure MPR remains a resource that brings Minnesotans together.

Donate today. A gift of $17 makes a difference.

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Latest on COVID-19 in MN: State reaches more vaccination milestones over weekend - Minnesota Public Radio News

ROME On an icy evening last month, Akas Kazi, a 35-year-old originally from Bangladesh, huddled under a blanket in the portico of one of Romes main post offices, as Red Cross volunteers distributed hot meals of pasta and tea.

Working in a restaurant kitchen had barely paid the bills, but after the restaurant closed six months ago yet another casualty of the pandemic Mr. Kazi found himself living on the street. No work, no money for rent, he said.

Job searches had been fruitless: Theres nothing, he said. And even sleeping on friends couches was not an option. Everyone has problems because of Covid.

The winter has been especially hard: Since November, 12 homeless people have died on the streets of Rome, where a growing number of people have ended up because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But even as the need increases, those in Rome who care for the homeless are challenged by restrictions put in place to keep people healthy, like those that require beds to be a certain distance apart.

Capacity at overnight shelters dropped sharply, and managing Romes so-called cold strategy for the winter months was more complicated this year, said Alberto Farneti, who runs a homeless assistance program for the Rome branch of the Catholic charity Caritas.

The 200 beds at his shelter at Romes Termini train station have dropped to 60. Many local parishes that once offered bunk beds in back rooms to the homeless during the coldest months are not doing so this year.

Its a question of protection, said Marco Pavani, a volunteer at a shelter for older homeless men inside the Church of San Calisto, run by the Community of St. Egidio, a Catholic charity. Capacity there fell to 10 beds from 30, after wooden partitions were erected between the cots to ensure social distancing.

Numbers for Romes homeless population vary widely; Caritas estimates that some 7,700 people are on the streets. Some social workers put the number at almost twice that. For City Hall, those are absurd numbers and dont reflect reality, said Veronica Mamm, the municipal councilor in charge of social services, who estimated the number of homeless at closer to 3,000.

Daniele Archibugi of the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, Italian Research Council, who is studying the financial impact of the pandemic in Italy, noted that many Italians work in the countrys informal economy and are not recorded, so one of the problems is to find and reach them.

That means those people do not get aid, making them especially vulnerable, he said.

Ms. Mamms department has a round-the-clock operations center that monitors the number of free beds in shelters, and covers the cost of 40,000 meals a month dished out in soup kitchens.

The department also sponsors rapid virus testing sites for the homeless. But she said in an interview that regional health codes have made it more difficult for us to put people into shelters. She added, We have the funds and are constantly looking for new shelters, but the coronavirus and the need to limit numbers hasnt helped.

March 8, 2021, 10:38 a.m. ET

To help allay some concerns, the Caritas center at Termini Station is serving as an isolation shelter, repeatedly testing its guests, who must remain there for 10 days before they are sent to other refuges.

Of the 200 men who have passed through the shelter in the past month, only one tested positive. Its almost miraculous, said Mr. Farneti. (There is some anecdotal evidence that the isolated lives of homeless people make them less vulnerable to the virus.)

After 10 p.m., when the nationwide curfew kicks in, Rome becomes a ghost city, something surreal that we Romans have never seen before, said Debora Diodati, the president of Romes Red Cross. And the homeless suffer because bars and restaurants are closed so its more difficult to find food.

To provide more food, volunteer groups there are several dozen in Rome, including neighborhood associations have added more shifts. The downtown Red Cross team averages around 180 meals per shift, prepared in a field kitchen normally used during emergencies, like earthquakes. It began operating when a national lockdown was imposed last March.

Soup-kitchen dining areas have been closed by the pandemic, and the homeless are given bag meals, even when its cold or rainy. Their living conditions, which werent great, have gotten worse, said Michele Ferraris, spokesman for an association that lobbies for the rights of the homeless.

Twice a week, and more often when its cold, the Red Cross team brings food and blankets, as well as face masks and hand sanitizer, to those whom Emiliano Loppa, a volunteer coordinator, described as Romes most isolated people. They live downtown in makeshift camps under the bridges along the Tiber River, under porticos and even in the nooks of ancient ruins.

For years, Pietro, 66, who asked that his last name not be used because he was ashamed of being homeless, eked out a living as an unofficial parking valet at a hospital. But his income dried up last March after the hospital restricted visitors. He spent 10 months sleeping at Termini Station, before finding a spot at the San Calisto church. Sleeping at the station, alongside hundreds of other homeless, was frightening, he said.

Another guest at San Calisto, Antonino, 61, ran out of money after losing his job last year and ended up on the street. After three months living under a bridge, he found refuge at the St. Egidio shelter, where he feels secure. Theyll never send us back out on the streets, he said.

Ms. Diodati of the Rome Red Cross said her groups had seen an increase in women on the streets, mainly because of the drop in shelter beds, though the numbers remained considerably lower than those of men. Normally women tend to find hospitality, she said.

On a recent Sunday, Maria, a Ukranian woman who used to work as a cleaner, picked up a lunch bag offered by St. Egidio after a Mass. People are afraid to hire me because I have to take public transportation and risk exposure to the virus, she said.

Were coming across people who only arrived on the streets a few months ago, said Massimiliano Signifredi, a volunteer with St. Egidio. Each January and February, St. Egidio celebrates special Masses commemorating the homeless people who have died on the streets, including Modesta Valenti, who became something of an icon when she died in 1983 after an ambulance refused to transport her.

Over the past year, the number of homeless people has clearly increased, Mr. Signifredi said. with a housing crisis adding to the problem, even though the government made evictions illegal during the state of emergency. We have said that the pandemic unleashed the poverty of the penultimate those who barely made it to the end of the month and now cant make it to the 10th, so they come to us or Caritas, he said.

St. Egidio has opened several new dormitories and also drafted an agreement with a hotel whose rooms had been empty since the pandemic began. But its not enough. Weve asked authorities to react more quickly to emergencies, because the emergency was not going away anytime soon, he said.

The kind of poverty has changed, said Claudio Campani, a coordinator of the Forum for Street Volunteers, an umbrella group for some 50 associations that assist Romes homeless. Now you have the so-called new poor who go to live in their cars before ending up on the street. And while many homeless people are immigrants, the number of Italians has increased, he said.

For Mr. Pavani, the year has been one long cautionary tale.

The thread that binds us to normality is so fine that it can take very little loss of work, a weakness, a separation for that thread to break and for us to fall and lose our life story and roots, he said.

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Covid-19 Conundrum in Rome: More Homeless on Streets as Shelters Shrink - The New York Times

His symptoms began while he was on a deer hunting trip in western North Dakota with members of his family.

He was able to return to his north Moorhead home before the symptoms got bad. Soon, however, his fever spiked to 104 degrees and he was bedridden.

Id shake so bad I couldnt control myself, he said. I couldnt do anything.

He went to a testing center in the former Thomas Edison Elementary School and the news came back with the expected diagnosis that he had COVID-19.

The 85-year-olds condition continued to deteriorate. He went to the emergency room in November, when cases were at their peak, and was sent home. A few days later, he went back, and this time was admitted to the COVID-19 unit at Sanford Broadway Medical Center.

That was on Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving the beginning of a health crisis that would keep him hospitalized for 67 days.

He would shed 42 pounds from his 180-pound frame. One of his lungs would collapse. He refused to be placed on a ventilator.

I was at the point of no return at one time, he said.

And he survived, thanks to a strong will to live and the care received from multiple teams of dedicated doctors and nurses, his family believes.

Hes literally been to hell and back, his son Tim Poehls said.

But surviving COVID-19 is one thing. Regaining your life, after becoming severely weakened from spending weeks in a series of hospital beds with a body ravaged by the virus, is another.

At the COVID-19 unit at Sanford Broadway Medical Center, doctors repeatedly told Harlen Poehls that his best chance for recovery would be to go on a ventilator to help him breathe.

Your options are next to nothing, he said, recalling his doctors advice.

But each time, Poehls refused.

They had experimented with a type of helmet designed to deliver oxygen and help patients breathe, but Poehls couldnt tolerate the device and pulled it off.

I totally freaked out, he said. I was very high with anxiety at the time. I didnt know what was going to happen. It was ruling me. I said if I dont make it, I dont make it. It was my choice.

The isolation that is required to treat highly infectious COVID-19 patients was difficult for his father, and Tim Poehls believes that is why his condition continued to deteriorate in the hospital.

Dad is a very social guy, he said. The problem is they couldnt be with their families.

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Still, he said the care his father received was second to none. COVID-19 patients often have their ups and downs, and that was the case with Harlen.

When he was no longer infectious, he was moved out of the COVID-19 ward and into intensive care.

At the low point, Poehls believed he was dying. We were talking about hospice and palliative care, his son said. Thats how bad it was.

But Poehls rebounded and was transferred to Vibra Hospital of Fargo, a long-term acute care hospital located inside Sanford Medical Center, to continue to recuperate. While there, his family met with a team at the Post Acute Medical (PAM) Rehabilitation Hospital of Fargo, a rehabilitation center.

We believe he can do it, because he really wants to go home, Tim Poehls said, recalling the evaluation to determine his father's rehab potential.

When he entered the rehab hospital, Harlen Poehls was confined to a wheelchair. During almost two months of being bedridden, his body had weakened severely. The 42 pounds hed lost included much of his muscle mass.

He would have to regain the ability to walk and take care of himself. Even the simplest tasks, like taking a shower while standing up, were beyond his ability.

When he got here, he really couldnt do anything, said Sarah Nordin, chief of therapy at PAM Hospital. In the beginning, we helped him get dressed.

The therapists at PAM Hospital worked with Poehls in a series of progressive therapies that gradually rebuilt his body. He walked the hallways. He rode a stationary bicycle. He climbed stairs.

Exercises strengthened his core as well as his arms and legs. We targeted certain muscle groups so it all came together, Nordin said.

Poehls could feel his strength returning. You would walk a little further each day, he said. You could see the progress each day.

Jonah Joyce, a physical therapist who worked with Poehls, credited his grit and determination.

He was hardworking, he had a good drive, Joyce said. Although extremely weak at the beginning, he was one of the best candidates because he was so hardworking.

COVID-19 patients often have shortness of breath and a severe level of deconditioning, requiring long courses of rehabilitation, Nordin and Joyce said.

Hospital rehabilitation stays for COVID-19 can range from seven or 10 days up to two or three months, Nordin said. It just depends how quickly they can bounce back.

Some COVID-19 patients come to rehab after spending two or three months on a ventilator. They take longer, she said.

On Jan. 31, after 67 days of hospitalization, including 11 days of rehab, Harlen Poehls walked out of PAM Hospital and got into his sons waiting SUV.

He was driven to Tim Poehls home near Wolverton, Minn., where he could receive help in the early days of his recovery outside the hospital.

His first day out of the hospital was a Sunday. On Monday, Tim Poehls and his wife went to work and Harlen managed well on his own.

He came back fast, Tim Poehls said. For about two weeks, Harlen Poehls has been back at home, managing by himself as he continues to regain strength and endurance.

It was a very good relief just to relax at home, Harlen Poehls said. I could sleep, relax. Its just a whole different situation.

Its a miracle, Tim Poehls said. We really believed we were going to lose him.

Harlen Poehls never really retired. He spent his career working as a truck driver. After retiring at the age of 71, he became bored after a few weeks and started working for Tims construction business, delivering materials and supplies, and helping out in other ways.

In fact, he still has a commercial drivers license allowing him to drive an 18-wheeler and had worked right up until he got sick with COVID-19 in November.

He has an exercise bike that he uses to continue his rehab at home. Hes slowly regaining weight and strength.

The muscle isnt there that it used to be, he said.

Since returning home, Harlen Poehls has a new outlook on life, having survived such a trying ordeal.

Hes got a different zip in his step, his son said. Hes a different guy and its a positive.

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'He's literally been to hell and back' one Moorhead man's COVID-19 recovery journey | INFORUM - INFORUM

ASUNCIN/LIMA (Reuters) - Sandra Contreras, camped outside Limas Villa el Salvador hospital, is running out of funds to pay for her mothers COVID-19 treatment, a sign of thin welfare systems around Latin America that are dragging many into debt and poverty.

FILE PHOTO: Eurenice Melo, 87, who suffers from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is helped by a nurse and her daughter, Cintia Melo, 50, at her home in Manaus, Brazil March 2, 2021. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

I have pawned all my things, Contreras, 34, told Reuters between tears outside the hospital, where she has set up a hammock as she waits for news of her mother, infected amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the Andean nation.

I said to my siblings: What do I care if we have to sell the house to save my mother? We are going to do it.

Latin America, where countries are seeing a mix of reopening and new waves of COVID-19, has been hard hit by the pandemic, with 22 million people pushed into poverty and weak social safety nets, an annual U.N. report said on Thursday.

It said the number in extreme poverty was at a level not seen for 20 years, and it pointed to deep structural inequalities, a sprawling informal labor market and a lack of effective health care coverage - meaning many people end up paying for treatment out of pocket.

In Paraguay, that has sparked a wave of informal fundraising, with bake sales and short-term loans as family members seek to meet the costs of medical care.

Mirta Gonzlez, a 34-year-old manicurist from a small town in southern Paraguay, took an express loan when her husband Jess got sick and was transferred to the capital Asuncion. She spent 6.5 million guarani ($985) on medications and supplies.

Family and friends organized raffles and sold pizzas to raise more funds.

Here without contacts or money you will die, Gonzlez told Reuters while waiting to be called by a loudspeaker to deliver medicine to her husband at INERAM, the main COVID-19 treatment center in the country.

In the landlocked country of some seven million people only around one in five have social security and heath cover via their jobs, and only around 7% pay for private cover, government data show. Free state care is open for all but is very limited.

ABSOLUTELY NO BEDS

In the Brazilian city of Manaus, where a surge in COVID-19 case in January led to a collapse in public health services, Cintia Melo was forced to look after her 87-year-old mother at home, hiring carers and a ventilator, and renting or buying oxygen cylinders.

There were absolutely no hospital beds at all, the freelance video producer said by telephone. She said it was costing about 20,000 reais ($3,553) a month and, even though her mother was now recovering, she would still need care for several more weeks, maybe months.

The costs havent finished yet, Melo said.

Vernica Serafini, an economic researcher in Paraguay, said health expenses were the main driver pushing people into debt and this would snarl a revival of growth after the pandemic eased, key as the commodities-rich region looks to bounce back.

Instead of investing in a house, business or education, we are getting into debt for health. And theres no possibility of growth if people lose assets when they get sick, she said.

A BLOW NO-ONE WAS PREPARED FOR

The wave of indebtedness comes as millions of Latin American families grieve loved ones who died during the pandemic. The region has recorded more than 687,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, a Reuters tally shows, second only to the death toll in Europe.

Renata Granados, 24, and her family in Quertaro, Mexico, were forced to sell the family pick-up truck in a raffle after her sister Paloma got infected and died after 21 days in hospital. The bill was 7 million Mexican pesos (about $330,000).

The expenses were very large when she was in the hospital and we had to find a way to raise funds, said Granados, who herself is training to be a doctor. She said her sister had been an inspiration.

I feel like it was a blow that no one was prepared for.

The report last week by the U.N.s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said that in addition to rising poverty the pandemic had caused growing social tensions.

But it said things would be worse without measures taken by Latin American governments to transfer emergency income to some 84 million households, or about half the population.

The commissions executive secretary, Alicia Brcena, said people were living through heightened uncertainty due to the pandemic and that it is necessary to build back with equality and sustainability, aiming to create a true welfare state, a task long postponed in the region.

Back in Peru, 26-year-old Yoselin Marticorena waited outside the Villa el Salvador hospital for news about her father. Her mother and sister also had COVID-19 symptoms and she said there was no one left to help support her.

I dont know what to do, I truly sold everything already, she said amid pitched tents outside the hospital. I already got into debt. I have no one else to ask for help.

Reporting by Daniela Desantis in Asuncion, Carlos Valdez in Lima, Carlos Carrillo in Quertaro, Mexico, and Stephen Eisenhammer in Sao Paulo; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Daniel Wallis

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'Sell the house': Latin Americans beg and borrow to pay COVID-19 debts - Reuters

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2 Hempfield Area schools temporarily closed because of covid-19 cases - TribLIVE

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Local restaurants share policies with customers ahead of lifted COVID-19 restrictions some arent happy about it - KXAN.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno along with city health officials provided an update on the citys response to COVID-19 Monday morning.

Watch live at 10:15 a.m.

Mayor Sarno joined with the following people at 10:15 a.m.:

Springfield is still listed as a high risk community for COVID-19. There are 881 COVID-19 cases reported in Springfield over the last 14 days bringing the total of cases to 17,730 as of Thursday March, 4.

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WATCH LIVE: Springfield to provide weekly COVID-19 update - WWLP.com

Posted: Mar 8, 2021 / 10:23 AM EST / Updated: Mar 8, 2021 / 10:23 AM EST

The Erie County Department of Health is reporting 29 new positive cases of COVID-19 as of 11:59 p.m. on March 7.

Over the weekend, the county reported 27 new cases as of 11:59 p.m. on March 5, and 19 new cases as of 11:59 p.m. on March 6. Two new deaths were also reported over the weekend.

The cumulative total in the county now stands at 17,645, with 444 total deaths (reported in NEDSS). There are 62,329 negatives reported.

The next news conference will take place Wednesday, March 10 at 3 p.m. Watch live on Jet 24, Fox 66, YourErie.com, or the YourErie 2Go App.

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Erie County reports 29 new cases of COVID-19; two new deaths over the weekend - YourErie

She died less than two months after beginning her career as a correctional officer.

BEAUMONT, Texas A Southeast Texas correctional officer who had just begun her career in January has become the latest TDCJ employee to die in connection to the coronavirus.

Tracey Adams, 45, died early Saturday morning after being hospitalized with COVID-19 for nearly a month according to a news release from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Adams, who was a correctional officer III cadet at the Stiles Unit in Beaumont, had been a TDCJ employee for less than two months the release said. She began her career with the department on January 19, 2021.

She tested positive for COVID-19 after showing symptoms on February 11, 2021 and was hospitalized the next day according to the release.

She dedicated herself completely to that service and for that we are grateful, TDCJ executive director Bryan Collier said of her new career with the department.

Once you join the TDCJ family you are a part of that family and we are in this together. We hold the Adams family in our prayers this day. Know that Ms. Adams will be missed and remembered, he said.

Adams is the 43rd TDCJ employee to die due to the coronavirus according to the release.

This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.

From a Texas Department of Criminal Justice news release

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is grieving the loss of an employee that is connected to the COVID-19 virus.

45-year-old Correctional Officer III Cadet Tracey Adams had two months of service with the TDCJ and was assigned to The Stiles Unit in Beaumont. Adams began her career with the TDCJ on January 19, 2021. She tested positive for COVID-19 after having symptoms on February 11, 2021. She was hospitalized In a Beaumont area hospital the next day. Tracey Adams died in the morning hours of March 6, 2021.

Tracey Adams was beginning a new career with the TDCJ family, said TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier. She dedicated herself completely to that service and for that we are grateful. Once you join the TDCJ family you are a part of that family and we are in this together. We hold the Adams family in our prayers this day. Know that Ms. Adams will be missed and remembered.

Officer Adams was very determined and driven to succeed. She told us she wanted to be the best officer she could be, said TDCJ Training and Leader Development Division Director David Yebra. Starting a new career can be difficult but she took on that challenge head on and full steam. Our hope is that her family finds comfort in this difficult time knowing she chose to serve.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has had forty-three employees who have died in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Beaumont prison guard is 43rd TDCJ employee to die in connection with COVID-19 - KHOU.com

NEW YORK (WJW) Medical researchers are testing a new medication that could be used to treat COVID-19.

During a Sunday morning interview on FOX & Friends, Dr. Marc Siegel revealed that officials are in the first stage of testing an experimental COVID-19 pill called Molnupiravir.

It may be the holy grail on this because it was just studied in phase two trials and it literally stopped the virus in its tracks, he said during the interview. And there wasnt any virus found in the patients that were studied.

Dr. Siegel told the news outlet that the drug has shown promising signs of effectiveness in reducing COVID-19.

Molnupiravir reportedly functions as a five-day, at-home treatment. It would be used to stop the coronavirus from reproducing before causing major damage.

It is possible that Molnupiravir could be available on the market within four to five months.

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Doctor: New pill shows promising signs of effectiveness in treating COVID-19 - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland