Category: Covid-19

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) The explosion of Coronavirus cases has led to the state issuing a new mask mandate and travel restrictions, which have taken effect statewide.

So what do you need to know now that those rules are in place? And will you be punished if you dont follow them?

All this comes less than a week before the Thanksgiving holiday.

In a nutshell, these orders ask you to limit gatherings, stay home, and wear a mask.

The state travel restriction says anyone traveling from out of state is supposed to have a negative test within 72 hours of coming into Pa. or quarantine for 14 days.

It does not apply to people commuting for work or medical care.

With the mask mandate, you are to wear one anytime you are around people, inside or outside.

They are also required to be worn anytime you are with people outside your household, even if you are physically distant.

RELATED STORIES:

It applies to schools, gyms, doctors offices, public transportation, and anywhere food is served.

It will be the responsibility of law enforcement and businesses to enforce those mandates when people are in those businesses, said Dr. Rachel Levine, Pa. Health Secretary.

We dont have guidance or mandates from the state as far what to enforce in mask orders. Weve been fortunate when we do get a call, weve been able to work out an amicable agreement between the parties, said Det. Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp of the Ross Township Police Department.

The concern from health officials and county leaders will be the night before Thanksgiving, the holiday itself, and Black Friday.

They say its on us to to do the right things.

Read more:

COVID-19 In Pennsylvania: New Travel Restrictions And Mask-Wearing Mandates Now In Effect - CBS Pittsburgh

IMAGE CAPTION: A CU Boulder student provides a saliva sample for a rapid COVID-19 test. CU is among several institutions developing new tests which can provide faster-turnaround results.

Testing half the population weekly with inexpensive, rapid-turnaround COVID-19 tests would drive the virus toward elimination within weekseven if those tests are significantly less sensitive than gold-standard clinical tests, according to a new study published today by CU Boulder and Harvard University researchers.

Such a strategy could lead to personalized stay-at-home orders without shutting down restaurants, bars, retail stores and schools, the authors said.

Our big picture finding is that, when it comes to public health, its better to have a less sensitive test with results today than a more sensitive one with results tomorrow, said lead author Daniel Larremore, an assistant professor of computer science at CU Boulder. Rather than telling everyone to stay home so you can be sure that one person who is sick doesnt spread it, we could give only the contagious people stay-at-home orders so everyone else can go about their lives.

For the study, published in the journal Science Advances, Larremore teamed up with collaborators at CUs BioFrontiers Institute and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to explore whether test sensitivity, frequency, or turnaround time is most important to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Its time to shift the mentality around testing from thinking of a COVID test as something you get when you think you are sick to thinking of it as a vital tool to break transmission chains and keep the economy open.Dan Larremore

The researchers scoured available literature on how viral load climbs and falls inside the body during an infection, when people tend to experience symptoms, and when they become contagious.

They then used mathematical modeling to forecast the impact of screening with different kinds of tests on three hypothetical scenarios: in 10,000 individuals; in a university-type setting of 20,000 people; and in a city of 8.4 million.

When it came to curbing spread, they found that frequency and turnaround time are much more important than test sensitivity.

For instance, in one scenario in a large city, widespread twice-weekly testing with a rapid but less sensitive test reduced the degree of infectiousness, or R0 (R naught), of the virus by 80%. But twice-weekly testing with a more sensitive PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, which takes up to 48 hours to return results, reduced infectiousness by only 58%. In other scenarios, when the amount of testing was the same, the rapid test always reduced infectiousness better than the slower, more sensitive PCR test.

Thats because about two-thirds of infected people have no symptoms and as they await their results, they continue to spread the virus.

This paper is one of the first to show we should worry less about test sensitivity and, when it comes to public health, prioritize frequency and turnaround, said senior co-author Roy Parker, director of the BioFrontiers Institute and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

The study also demonstrates the power of frequent testing in shortening the pandemic and saving lives.

In one scenario, in which 4% of individuals in a city were already infected, rapid testing three out of four people every three days reduced the number ultimately infected by 88% and was sufficient to drive the epidemic toward extinction within six weeks.

The study comes as companies and academic research centers are developing low-cost, rapid turnaround tests that could be deployed in large public settings or commercialized for do-it-yourself use.

Sensitivity levels vary widely. Antigen tests require a relatively high viral load about 1,000 times as much virus compared to the PCR test to detect an infection. Another test, known as RT-lamp (reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification), can detect the virus at around 100 times as much virus compared to the PCR. The benchmark PCR test typically provided by medical professionals requires as little as 5,000 to 10,000 viral RNA copies per milliliter of sample, meaning it can catch the virus very early or very late.

In the past, federal regulators and the public have been reluctant to embrace rapid tests out of concern that they may miss cases early in infection. But, in reality, an infected person can go from 5,000 particles to 1 million viral RNA copies in 18 to 24 hours, said Parker.

There is a very short window, early in infection, in which the PCR will detect the virus but something like an antigen or LAMP test wont, Parker said.

A researcher holds up a rapid RT-Lamp test in a lab at the BioFrontiers Institute.

And during that time, the person often isnt contagious, he said. The authors recently used these findings to call for a shift in the way we think about test sensitivity in The New England Journal of Medicine.

These rapid tests are contagiousness tests, said senior co-author Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They are extremely effective in detecting COVID-19 when people are contagious.

They are also affordable, he added. The rapid tests can cost as little as $1 each and return results in 15 minutes. Some PCR tests can take several days.

Mina envisions a day when the government sends simple, cheap DIY tests to every home in the United States. Even if half of Americans tested themselves weekly and self-isolated if positive, the result would be profound, he said.

Within a few weeks we could see this outbreak going from huge numbers of cases to very manageable levels, Mina said.

Rapid testing could also be the key to breathing life back into former superspreader threats like football stadiums, concert venues and airports, with patrons testing themselves on the way in and still wearing masks as a precautionary measure, Larremore said.

Less than .1% of the current cost of this virus would enable frequent testing for the whole of the U.S. population for a year, said Mina, referencing a recent economic analysispublished by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The authors say they are heartened to see that several countries have already begun testing all of their citizens, and hopeful that the new U.S. administration has named rapid testing as a priority. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first at-home rapid test.

Its time to shift the mentality around testing from thinking of a COVID test as something you get when you think you are sick to thinking of it as a vital tool to break transmission chains and keep the economy open, Larremore said.

See more here:

Frequent, rapid testing could turn national COVID-19 tide within weeks - CU Boulder Today

As COVID-19 Continues To Spread, Many Want The White House To Help America Mourn  NPR

Read more here:

As COVID-19 Continues To Spread, Many Want The White House To Help America Mourn - NPR

Tests of wastewater from across Maine have shown a steady increase in COVID-19 cases in recent months, offering additional, localized insight into the spread of the coronavirus.

Some Maine colleges, meanwhile, have successfully used the stuff flushed down the toilet to detect and isolate cases before they lead to larger outbreaks. St. Josephs College, for instance, has found infected-but-asymptomatic individuals on campus after following the virus trail to specific buildings.

The wastewater has given us the tip off, said Oliver Griswold, a spokesman for the small, private college in Standish. In both of the two outbreaks weve had, we heard from the wastewater first.

Still, it would take more frequent and robust screening to turn the states massive network of toilets into an early warning system for infection spikes.

Individuals infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 shed fragments or genetic markers of the virus in waste. While research suggests the amount of active or live virus in feces is low, laboratories can detect and then amplify active or inactive markers as another way to detect trends before they begin showing up in the daily case counts.

This is allowing us to get a finger on the pulse of whats going on in the community, said Yolanda Brooks, an assistant professor of biology at St. Josephs College whose team has been testing samples from the Portland Water District, Yarmouth and the campus community.

The Portland Water District has been collecting weekly samples from its East End treatment plant in Portland and its Westbrook/Gorham facility for COVID-19 testing since July. Test results show levels of virus materials increasing starting in September and spiking in late-October. That correlates with surging case numbers within surrounding communities in recent weeks as Maine has seen the highest rates of infections and deaths since the pandemic arrived in Maine in March.

Traces of the virus in samples from the Westbrook/Gorham treatment plant, for instance, increased by a magnitude of 10 between Sept. 1 and Nov. 3. While Brooks said federal officials caution against estimating the number of infections in an area based on wastewater results, she noted that Westbrook/Gorham had just a handful of cases on Sept. 1 and roughly 50 as of last week.

It does confirm a correlation, said Brooks, who has a doctorate in microbiology and a background in studying fecal pollution.

Other towns in Maine, including Yarmouth and Augusta, also have contracted with St. Josephs College or a national lab to conduct testing.

St. Josephs internal testing program, meanwhile, illustrates the enormous potential for wastewater monitoring.

Because St. Josephs has its own wastewater treatment system serving a relatively small population, staff have been able to use the testing results to zero in on clusters of cases in individual buildings.

The process begins by collecting a series of samples from each of the three wastewater lift stations that serve different sections of campus. By analyzing those results, Brooks and her colleagues can see whether levels of the viruss genetic markers have changed since the previous tests and, in the event of an increase, order building-level testing in that zone.

The college can then test individuals residing or working in buildings that have elevated levels of the virus markers. The vast majority of the students infected with COVID-19, to date, were asymptomatic but potentially contagious, so wastewater testing enabled college health officials to find and isolate them, said Griswold, the colleges spokesman.

The early warning piece of it has given the whole campus a sense of we are going to know early what is going on campus, Griswold said. Whereas if you are just doing individual testing, you are going to know only when you have a problem, not before you have a problem.

St. Josephs College has had 15 confirmed cases during the past two weeks, prompting administrators to transition all students to remote learning and send them home early this week before the Thanksgiving break.

Three campuses of the University of Maine System Orono, Fort Kent and the University of Southern Maine also have been testing wastewater for COVID-19 since September. More recently, the UMaine lab where the test is done recently started analyzing wastewater from the town of Orono and is working with the University of New England in Biddeford on testing.

Both the UMaine and St. Josephs labs use a testing system developed by IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook. The veterinary services company has also partnered with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to provide the equipment and materials used to conduct thousands of COVID-19 tests daily on nasal swabs collected from individuals.

Robert Wheeler, associate professor of microbiology who leads the testing effort from his Orono lab, said virus levels in wastewater have been rising since September but the increase has not been steady. Wheeler noted that the various campuses have had lower numbers of infections among students and staff than their surrounding communities.

The combination of sensitive testing technology and low virus prevalence rates allows them to detect slight changes.

If we dont have any known cases but we are seeing the virus in the wastewater, that is a disconnect and triggers a discussion about where to direct additional testing, Wheeler said.

Like Portland, UMaines testing is only done weekly, which limits the ability to quickly detect trends. Wheeler said his lab hopes to expand capacity this spring.

Ideally we would be testing all of these places every day, he said. The University of Maine doesnt quite have all of the resources to do that and the State of Maine hasnt provided those resources as of yet.

Scott Firmin, director of wastewater services at the Portland Water District, said it would be up to the member communities about whether to increase testing frequency. Tests cost $120 per weekly sample during the first, three-month period of the pilot project, but the district has since extended the agreement with St. Josephs College lab at $380 per sample.

With all of the focus on fragments of the virus in wastewater, Firmin stressed that drinking water is safe.

We use dual water treatments, ozone and ultraviolet light, that effectively inactivate viruses and kill pathogens, Firmin wrote in an email. COVID-19 is mainly thought to spread between people who are in close contact with one another, not through water, according to the CDC. The EPA states that the presence of the COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking-water supplies and based on current evidence the risk to water supplies is low.

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

Previous

Next

Read more here:

Wastewater testing sheds light on COVID-19 trends - Portland Press Herald - Press Herald

How likely am I get COVID-19 over the holidays? This chart will tell you  KUTV 2News

See original here:

How likely am I get COVID-19 over the holidays? This chart will tell you - KUTV 2News

The flu and COVID-19 have many of the same symptoms. But there are differences. Wochit

Editor's note: We're making this story free to read due to public health concerns. Please subscribe to the Coloradoan to support local journalism.

Larimer County will again tighten its rules to promote social distancing next week, movingto the redlevel of COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday.

"TheLarimer County Board of Health has voted to support this transition to Level Red," a news release from the Larimer County department of health stated Friday. "The move is a result of rapidly increasing COVID-19 case counts, positivity rates across all age groups, and significant impacts to hospital utilization within Larimer County over the past several weeks."

Red level defined by the state indicates"severe risk" and disallows any personal gatherings and all indoor dining at restaurants. It limits office operations to 10%.

Thechanges will go into effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

As of Friday, Larimer Countys COVID-19 14-day incidence rate is 819 per 100,000 people, and the positivity rate is 12.1%, according to the health department. And UCHealth and Banner Health systems have 94 patients with COVID-19in their Larimer County hospitals, upfrom 51 patients less than two weeks ago.

COVID-19 levels: Feeling blue? Seeing red? Here's what the levels on Colorado's COVID-19 'dial' mean

"Although some restrictions may vary depending upon the industry or location, almost every type of business will be impacted by this change," the news release stated.

"Larimer County businesses are at the heart of our community, and we encourage Larimer County residents to continue to support them as they innovate and adapt to these difficult changes once again, Larimer County Public Health Director Tom Gonzales said. We have more testing and knowledge than we did in April but today transmission is greater, cases are higher, and our hospitals are really feeling the impact. Please, we have got to do this together to move forward.

Larimer County Commissioner Steve Johnson, in a public Facebook post Friday, said the board is "basically abandoning their strategy developed with our epidemiologist to institute targeted restrictions where we are seeing transmission, instead going with a near total lockdown."

Meanwhile, Larimer County's neighbor Weld County has only three ICU beds open and no non-ICU beds available, Gov. Jared Polis said Friday during an afternoon video update on the state's response to the worsening COVID-19 situation.

UCHealth was caring for about 100 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 infections in Northern Colorado as of Friday morning, spokeswoman Kelly Tracer wrote in an email to the Coloradoan. Some of those hospitals are outside Larimer County.

Positivity rates from UCHealth's testingin the past week are at19%, Tracer said, "which shows the COVID-19 virus is spreading rapidly in the communities we serve."

"Greeley Hospital is extremely full, and it has been very full for much of the past two weeks. We opened three new ICU rooms just last week, and they were full almost immediately," Tracer said.

Somesurge plans have already been put in place and may be expanded, Tracer said, and "weare closely monitoring our staffing levels to make sure we have enough staff and providers to care for patients."

The Weld County COVID-19 dashboard indicates there were 43 ICU hospital beds and 185 non-ICU beds available atWeld County regional hospitals, as of Thursday. But regional hospitals include several outside the county.

COVID-19 in Colorado tracker: Larimer and state case, death and hospital data for November

The state of Colorado on Thursday flagged Weld County as one among a dozen or so that will move up to the "red" level on its COVID-19 dial, which outlines different levels of restrictions based on current conditions within a county.

But the Weld County commissioners on Friday said they would not adhere to the state's restrictions, the Greeley Tribune reported.

"The county will not enforce a rule confining individuals to their homes for an undetermined length of time, the statement said. The county will not enforce a rule that states residents cannot have personal gatherings; the county will not tell the school districts how to provide education to their students; the county will not enforce a rule requiring a reduction of attendees in places of worship; the county will not enforce a rule demanding restaurants close their indoor dining areas; the county will not enforce any rule that forces a business to shut down or impedes their ability to operate.

Instead, county government continues to do what it has done since March, which is promote and encourage residents and business owners to take individual responsibility and make decisions to protect themselves, their families, their communities and their businesses, the statement reads.

Testing: CSU researchers working on home test for COVID-19 that could be on the market soon

Tracer said the best way the public can help the medical community is "to heed the warnings from public health officials. Wear a mask, wash your hands, practice distancing, avoid gatherings of peopleand stay home if you feel sick."

If a county or region reaches Level Red, that means they're seeing new COVID-19 cases at an incidence rate of more than 350 per 100,000 people in a two-week period. The positivity rate over the past 14 days is greater than 15% and hospitalization rates are increasing compared to the previous 14-day period.

Rebecca Powell is a content strategist at the Coloradoan, working to connect our community with the answers they seek. Contact her atRebeccaPowell@coloradoan.com. We can't do the important work of keeping our community informed without you. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2020/11/20/larimer-county-covid-19-restrictions-moving-red-zone/6364107002/

View original post here:

Larimer County moves to Colorado's red zone for COVID-19 restrictions. Here's what it means - Coloradoan

Food Bank for Larimer County is hoping for 5,500 donated turkeys this year. Fort Collins Coloradoan

Rounding the corner of Sara Steen's Fort Collins home, walkers, cyclistsand passers-by are greeted with dozens of circles.

Roughly the size of small dinner plates, each one boasts a different color scheme and, at their center,a small stick-figure person.

There are 63 total, with each one representing63people in Larimer County who had died from COVID-19 as of Nov. 14the last time Steen updated the handmade memorial.

Andfollowing an act of vandalism that led Steen's neighbors to rally around and rebuild the memorialearlier this month, Steen said the circles alsorepresent something else now: her community.

Steen started working on thememorial's first iteration a few months ago.

"I just spent a lot of September feeling sad that people weren't talking more about the people who were dying (of COVID-19)," Steen said, adding that at that point, deaths were reaching large milestones both nationally and closer to home.

"I felt like I wanted a way to personally acknowledge them."

In mid-September, Larimer County marked its 50th death related to COVID-19. Since then, there have been an additional 17 deaths linked to the virus, bringing Larimer County's latest COVID-19 death toll to 67 people as of Friday afternoon, according to the county's health department.

As of Friday morning, 2,730 Coloradans had died with COVID-19, according to the state health department.The U.S. has surpassed 250,000 COVID-related deaths, and more than 1.3 million have been reported globally.

Amid COVID-19 surge, Larimer County begs: Don't gather in person for Thanksgiving

Steen, a sociologist, said shewanted a way to visually represent the hole the virus was leaving in our community.

She started by cutting out small posterboard circles and drawingthe figure of a person in the middle of each. She made 50 as well asa sign explaining the projectthen laminated and postedthem all on the sidewalk-facing sectionof her backyard fence in the Parkwood East neighborhoodnorthwest of the intersection of Drake and Timberline roads.

After putting up the memorial, Steen said she heard manypeople stopping at it while she was in her backyard.

"I heard a lot of 'Oh my goshes,'" Steen said, adding that through the month of October, many people also stopped byto thank Steen for erecting the small memorial.

"Other people were having the same feeling I had been feeling," she said, adding that she wanted the memorial to serve as just a visual reminder, not a political message.

"I think people just get kind of inured to the numbers," she said.

But on the morning of Nov. 5, Steen said she walked outside to see the opposite of a thank-you.

The previous night or earlier that morning, someone had vandalized the memorial by marringeach circlewith streaksofblack spray paint.

"Honestly, I kind of just curled up on the sidewalk," Steen said. "It just made me so sad someone would choose to do that."

Sara Steen's' COVID-19 memorial in the Parkwood East neighborhood was vandalized in early November.(Photo: Sara Steen)

Testing the waters: CSU researchers working on home test for COVID-19 that could be on the market soon

"But then, once the vandalism happened, we had so many people come by ... they came to the door to say, 'Sorry that happened, what can we do?'" Steen said. "I really quickly realized that we needed to rebuild it."

Steen posted a new sign to the fence announcing plans to start the memorial over again. She asked any interested neighbors to craft newcircle emblems as replacements, and many did just that dropping off newly designed circlesat Steen's home.

One neighbor volunteered to laminate the new circles and another spent hourscleaning the paint off of Steen's original emblems.

By Nov. 15, Steen said the memorial had been fully rebuilt, featuring63 handmade emblemsrepresenting a COVID-19 death in Larimer County. The emblems are now a mix of Steen's original emblems that had been cleaned and 36 emblems that had been submitted to her by neighbors.

Steenplans to keep updating the memorial to reflect the county's COVID-19 deaths, she said.

"Now it feels like much more of a community memorial," Steen said. "It's just beautiful ... I'm so grateful to be in this community. I'm not dwelling on the vandalism piece."

Aside from the emblems,anew sign is posted with the memorialnotingthe number of people who had died from COVID-19 in Colorado, the United States and across the worldas of Nov. 14.

Other small emblems adorn the fence, too. One shows a drawing of awater lily. Another says "Rest in Peace," with the image of a rose.

And at the center, there's a poem tacked to the fence an excerpt from Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Dirge Without Music."

"Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave/Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind," it reads. "Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave./I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."

Two adults walk past a memorial honoring the Larimer County residents who have died from COVID-19 in Fort Collins, Colo. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. After the emblems were vandalized, a neighborhood-wide effort restored the memorial in less than two weeks. (Photo: Bethany Baker / The Coloradoan )

Life in Larimer County: Your guide to the newest Larimer County COVID restrictions

Erin Udell reports on news, culture, history and more for the Coloradoan. Contact her at ErinUdell@coloradoan.com. The only way she can keep doing what she does is with your support. If you subscribe, thank you. If not, sign up for a digital subscription to the Coloradoan today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/life/2020/11/21/covid-small-neighborhood-memorial-rebuilt-hit-vandals-vandalism-fort-collins/6327293002/

Read this article:

Vandals tried to ruin a COVID-19 memorial in Fort Collins, but the story doesn't end there - Coloradoan

A rough week in Minnesotas fight against COVID-19 comes to a difficult close, with 276 COVID-19 deaths since Sunday and the governor signaling that Saturdays number will also be high.

Talking to reporters Friday, Walz said to expect a next-day death count very close to Fridays 68 deaths which followed Thursdays 72 a grim single-day high in the pandemic.

Its been a really hard week in Minnesota, the governor conceded.

Here are Minnesotas current COVID-19 statistics:

3,150 deaths

256,700 positive cases, 202,432 off isolation

3.7 million tests, 2.3 million people tested (about 40 percent of the population)

14.2 percent seven-day positive test rate (officials find 5 percent concerning)

One ray of hope from Fridays data: the climb in newly reported cases eased from its recent high as testing volume rose, suggesting a peak in the current surge may be in sight.

Still, current conditions remained severe across the state. The trend lines for deaths and hospitalizations continue to climb.

More than 1,700 people are in Minnesota hospitals more than doubling since Nov. 1 with about 20 percent needing intensive care. The hospital admissions trend hit a new high Friday, with the state averaging 260 new COVID-19 patients per day over the prior seven days.

Active, confirmed cases of the disease topped 50,000 for the first time in the pandemic:

New cases have been spiking over the past three weeks in all age groups.

People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the states largest number of confirmed cases nearly 52,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 28,000 among people ages 20 to 24. The rapid increase, however, has tapered off in recent days.

The number of high school-age children confirmed with the disease has also grown, with some 20,500 total cases among children ages 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.

The numbers help explain why experts remain particularly concerned about teens and young adults as spreaders of the virus.

Although less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts worry youth and young adults will spread it to grandparents and other vulnerable populations.

Its especially concerning because people can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 when they dont have symptoms.

Walz said recently the state has data showing infection rates rising around bar and restaurant activity after 9 p.m. among young adults, noting that people who have the virus but dont have symptoms are unwittingly spreading it.

Regionally, central and northern Minnesota have driven much of the recent increase in new cases while Hennepin and Ramsey counties show some of the slowest case growth in the state.

The fastest growing outbreaks remain largely along the states western border with the Dakotas, where the virus is spreading unchecked. But new cases are rising everywhere in Minnesota.

Collectively, rural areas continue to report the most new COVID-19 cases per capita.

The latest figures came on the same day new curbs intended to ease the spike in COVID-19 caseloads, hospitalizations and deaths are set to take hold.

Were at a dangerous point in this pandemic, Walz told Minnesotans Wednesday. How we act, and how this virus moves, will have huge implications on the number of people who will be hospitalized and, ultimately, those who will lose their lives.

Walz on Friday said it was a priority for him to get financial aid to bars, restaurants and other businesses that will be shutdown now until Dec. 18 because of his order. So far, theres been discussion with state lawmakers but no deal yet.

We need to do something. It wont be enough, but we need to do something in the short run to provide a bit of a lifeline, he told reporters. We cant wait for Congress to act.

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.

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.

Similar trends hold true for Minnesotas Indigenous residents. Counts among Indigenous people jumped in October relative to population.

Cases among all races and ethnicities continue to rise, although currently the growth is slowest among Black Minnesotans, who reported the most new COVID-19 cases per capita for much of the spring and summer.

Public health leaders have begged Minnesotans over the past month to take personal responsibility to reduce the diseases spread by wearing masks in social gathering places, socially distancing and staying home if you dont feel well.

The uncontrolled spread is being driven now by Minnesotans informal gatherings and get-togethers with family and friends where its transmitted unknowingly by people who have the virus but do not have symptoms, officials say.

State officials on Monday pleaded with Minnesotans not to gather for Thanksgiving outside their immediate household. They also asked college students to consider not going home for the holiday. (The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday also called on people not to travel over Thanksgiving.)

That advice was a change from the state Health Departments prior recommendations. The agency last week said itd be OK for people to have gatherings up to 10 from three households.

The acceleration of the spread, however, forced the state to change its guidance. Left unchecked one model suggests Minnesota could hit 20,000 new cases per day by the start of the new year, Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said earlier this week.. Thats nearly three times the current seven-day average.

Two weeks ago, I thought a 5,000-case day was horrific, Malcolm said. Now, that looks like a good day.

On Thursday, state officials and two hospital system executives warned the surge is putting a heavy strain on care workers.

Current conditions are very dire, Dr. Penny Wheeler, CEO of Allina Health, said Thursday. The virus is sidelining health care workers, including 800 at Allina, and the states health system is getting perilously close to being unable to care for everyone who needs care, she said.

Wheeler begged Minnesotans to wear masks, socially distance and take other measures to reduce COVID-19s rapid spread. We have to take a hit for the time being to care for one another.

Dr. Cindy Firkins Smith, president of Carris Health CentraCare in Willmar, Minn., said the rising numbers of health care workers unable to work due in some way to COVID-19 had put an unprecedented strain on their system.

The west-central Minnesota hospital executive said more than 10 percent of her 12,000 rural Minnesota workforce was out recently because of COVID-19, either having to quarantine because of illness or exposure, or because they have to take care of family members.

We dont have anybody to replace them, she said. Theres no calling New York. Theres no calling Texas. Theres no calling the Twin Cities. Theres no calling anywhere to get help.

Care workers, she added, are increasingly frustrated by the unwillingness of Minnesotans to take precautions.

Its heartbreaking for health care workers to finish an exhausting workday only to stop at the grocery store and see people not wearing a mask, she said.

She pleaded with people to follow state guidelines and stay home for Thanksgiving to avoid spreading the virus.

The people working in the hospital not only dont get to celebrate with the people they love, theyre going to be watching people die that day, said Smith. And they don't want to watch you die at Christmas. So please dont (gather). Just this year, please dont.

COVID-19 cases are continuing to set records in North Dakota.

North Dakota reported 23 deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of people killed by the coronavirus to 818.

And as Gov. Doug Burgum pointed out, the pace is accelerating rapidly.

"It took us over four months, 135 days from March 11 when we had our first case to Aug. 8 to reach 111 fatalities, Burgum said. We've had 111 fatalities in North Dakota in the last seven days."

Burgum said hospitals in the state are at or near capacity. Recently the closest hospital bed for an emergency appendectomy case was in Iowa.

The Department of Defense is sending 60 military nurses to help with hospital staffing and the state has hired another 60 private nurses to fill in at hospitals across the state.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

As restrictions on bars and restaurants takes effect in Minnesota, most tribal casinos are staying open.

Last spring when Gov. Tim Walz closed bars and restaurants, Tribal casinos across Minnesota also closed, cutting off a primary revenue source for tribal governments.

Now, casinos are staying open, with restrictions. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community said in a statement that as a sovereign tribal nation it made the decision to keep it's casinos open while following comprehensive health and safety plans. Other tribal casinos have posted similar statements.

Some dine in restaurants are closed, masks are required and many casinos are checking temperatures as people arrive.

Many tribal communities are experiencing significant increases in COVID-19 cases.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

The IKEA US Community Foundation is donating $1.2 million to the state of Minnesota to show appreciation for the states support of workers who have been unemployed due to COVID-19, Gov. Tim Walzs office said Friday.

The state will use the funding to support mental health services for Minnesotas students.

MPR News Staff

New Minnesota court restrictions will limit criminal trials and courthouse service access as the judicial branch responds to an acceleration of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Judicial Council voted unanimously Thursday put the freeze on in-person jury trials that will take effect on Nov. 30. Chief Justice Lorie Gildea plans to formalize the pause in an order coming Friday.

Todd County Judge Jay Carlson, vice chair of the council, made the motion to halt new trials. Other than new trials that are currently in progress were not going to commence any new trials until February unless the chief judge again in consultation with the chief justice has granted a specific exception for a criminal jury trial to commence, he said.

Exceptions will be made for in-custody defendants or other defendants that made a speedy trial demand prior to the order. Some grand jury proceedings will also be suspended.

Judges on the council said that staff and jurors have become more reluctant to come into court buildings as COVID-19 spreads rapidly.

During the pandemic, the court system has pushed many of its proceedings into virtual settings, including motions hearings in some criminal and civil cases.

The courts also are expected to limit walkup counter service in government buildings, urging people to either make appointments or use virtual methods where possible. But each county will retain at least one public service counter with daily hours.

I think we should all just send good vibes out into the universe for a vaccine very, very soon, said Judge Krista Martin of Pine County.

Brian Bakst | MPR News

Lawmakers look for ways to help businesses, workers: With another round of COVID-19 restrictions taking effect late Friday, Minnesota lawmakers are looking for ways to help small businesses that might be forced to close and the employees who would be put out of work. Discussions are already underway about what the state can do and when it could happen.

COVID-19 brings opera singer home to the farm: The pandemic is forcing many people to change how and where they work. For one Minnesota-born opera singer, the COVID-19 threat meant a return to her roots and a surprising revitalization.

A guide to navigating your virtual Thanksgiving: With COVID-19 cases on the rise in Minnesota, many families are planning to swap their traditional in-person Thanksgivings for virtual celebrations. But how will that work? We provide some tips for families to keep their video calls on track, along with a collection of activities to keep everyone entertained.

Im kind of screwed: Restaurant workers brace themselves for more job loss: With COVID-19 spiking and Gov. Tim Walz ordering more restrictions on bars and restaurants, many staffers feel like theyre about to be out of a job again. But this time, they cant rely on a $600 a week boost that helped keep them financially afloat in the spring.

CentraCare to make Sauk Centre a COVID-19 hospital:Starting Monday, COVID-19 patients from around central Minnesota who do not require ventilators or high-volume oxygen will be cared for at the western Stearns County hospital. CentraCare says the changes are in response to the surge of coronavirus cases across central Minnesota, and are aimed at reducing the pressures on its two largest hospitals, in St. Cloud and Willmar.

Mayo Clinic says 905 staff diagnosed with COVID in past 2 weeks: More than 900 staff members in the Mayo Clinic Health System in the Midwest have been diagnosed with COVID-19 over the last two weeks as the virus continues to surge across the region, officials said.

Health care workers feel squeezed by surge of COVID-19 cases: Hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients in Minnesota are surging. Even when beds are available, staffing them is a challenge as more health care workers get sick.On Thursdays MPR News with Kerri Miller, two physicians discussed the toll of the increase caseload on health care workers.

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.

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.

Read more here:

Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Another high death count expected to end a 'really hard week' - Minnesota Public Radio News

FRIDAYMAP UPDATEAlso on Friday, Gov. Justice provided a look at West Virginias latest mid-week County Alert System map update.

Redcounties:6(Berkeley, Hardy, Jackson, Marshall, Mineral, Wood)Orangecounties:14(Barbour, Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Hampshire, Hancock, Jefferson, Mason, Morgan, Ohio, Putnam, Wayne, Wirt, Wyoming)Goldcounties:13(Clay, Grant, Harrison, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Preston, Ritchie, Taylor, Upshur, Wetzel)Yellowcounties:12(Calhoun, Fayette, Greenbrier, Logan, Marion, McDowell, Mercer, Monongalia, Pleasants, Raleigh, Randolph, Tyler)Greencounties:10(Braxton, Doddridge, Gilmer, Lewis, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Roane, Summers, Tucker, Webster)

The map is updated live on theDHHRs COVID-19 Dashboard(Click "County Alert System" tab)throughout the week for informational purposes and to provide an indication of how each county is trending ahead of each Saturday at 5 p.m.; the time when each county is assigned its official color designation for the next week, which determines the level of scholastic, athletic, and extracurricular activities permitted in each county for that particular week.

See original here:

COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice: State prepared for efficient vaccine distribution; unveils new online map of free COVID-19 testing sites - West...

Through the pod, then, our kids are now a primary vector for contagion putting not just my wife and me at risk, but also our parents, if we choose to see them. The map of my bubble makes this plain if not for our children, my wife and I would be an island unto ourselves. But the thing about kids is, theyre never alone as Gurley pointed out, your friends and co-workers may live by themselves, but if you have kids, theres a good chance they associate with other kids, and you can be sure those kids are around other adults, creating an invisible chain between you and people you dont know.

A lot of people, it turns out. Rebecca Green, the mom of one first grader in the pod, is a doctor who has daily contact with two colleagues and about 10 in-person patients a week. Greens younger son, the first graders brother, attends a preschool with 10 other children and two teachers. Through this single connection, then, my kids are linked to at least two dozen other people, including a rotating cast of patients. Green told me that she thinks about this level of exposure often, and she outlined several mitigating factors. Her practice has strict Covid rules around illness and anyone with even a cold has to have a negative Covid test to return to work, she told me. The preschool is also exceedingly careful. Someone had a cold three months ago and everyone had to have a negative Covid test to return to preschool, she said.

Still, for months, Ive been linked to two dozen strangers, just a few ill-timed coughs away from Covid, and all the while Id been none the wiser. As I was analyzing the far-flung corners of my bubble, I was often reminded of the double-dipping bit from Seinfeld. The dip looks untouched, pristine. But how many people are double-dipping their chips in your dip?

So that sealed the deal, then, right were staying home for Thanksgiving?

Well, not so fast. Mapping the far reaches of my coronavirus bubble revealed far more contacts than Id expected, but there was something unexpectedly reassuring about candidly discussing Covid risks with Green and other parents. I discovered that my network is robust in ways that I hadnt anticipated. All of my indirect contacts are taking the virus seriously none of them spun conspiracy theories about the pandemic, or suggested it was no big deal or told me to bug off and mind my own business. None of them were beyond risk, but I was also satisfied that they seemed to be doing the best they could to avoid getting sick.

I asked Gurley if I was crazy to even consider visiting my family for the holidays. She told me I wasnt. In a pandemic, everyone is at some level of risk; whats important is understanding your risk, and deciding whether seeing your loved ones is worth it. I think we have to acknowledge the reality of peoples lives, she said. In my family, for example, we have a family member who has been diagnosed with stage-four cancer and may not live very long so of course that person is at high risk, but at the same time, would we pass up the chance to see them in a way that we felt was safe?

I wouldnt be going to Thanksgiving to see a family member dying of cancer. Mine is a more mundane desire to see my folks in person in a year weve spent mostly apart, and to accommodate their intense desire to spend time with our kids before the kids get too old for all that. This may not be enough to satisfy others scrutiny on social media, among lefties like myself who proudly believe in science and ostentatiously defer to expertise, Ive noticed quite a bit of travel-shaming. The C.D.C. says the safest way to spend Thanksgiving is to stay home. After discovering how huge my bubble is, shouldnt I just go with that advice?

But I cant do it. Even after Ive mapped my bubble, the question of whether or not to go still feels, in the end, like a gut call, ruled more by emotion than empirical data.

Visit link:

I Traced My Covid-19 Bubble and Its Enormous - The New York Times