Category: Covid-19

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on August 25,2020, there have been 403,394 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 9,395 totalcases and 187 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a65-year old male from Logan County, a72-year old female from Logan County, a 72-year old female from Logan County, an86-year old female from Taylor County, a 73-year old female from Wyoming County,a 92-year old female from Grant County, a 64-year old female from KanawhaCounty, and a 51-year old female from Cabell County. Pleasejoin with me in sending our deepest condolences to these families as they grievethe passing of their loved ones, said DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill J. Crouch. Every life lost to this pandemic is atragedy.

CASESPER COUNTY: Barbour (33), Berkeley (769), Boone(130), Braxton (9), Brooke (85), Cabell (493), Calhoun (8), Clay (19),Doddridge (6), Fayette (188), Gilmer (18), Grant (134), Greenbrier (98),Hampshire (92), Hancock (118), Hardy (66), Harrison (258), Jackson (192),Jefferson (328), Kanawha (1,246), Lewis (32), Lincoln (111), Logan (446),Marion (211), Marshall (134), Mason (86), McDowell (66), Mercer (276), Mineral(131), Mingo (219), Monongalia (1,059), Monroe (79), Morgan (37), Nicholas(44), Ohio (289), Pendleton (48), Pleasants (14), Pocahontas (42), Preston(136), Putnam (252), Raleigh (328), Randolph (221), Ritchie (3), Roane (25),Summers (18), Taylor (100), Tucker (11), Tyler (15), Upshur (40), Wayne (230),Webster (7), Wetzel (45), Wirt (7), Wood (292), Wyoming (51).

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the localhealth department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain countymay not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual inquestion may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is the case of Lincoln,Marshall, Monongalia, and Taylor counties in this report.

Pleasevisit the dashboard located at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more information.

See more here:

COVID-19 Daily Update 8-25-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

A review of COVID-19 studies reveals a troubling connection between two health crises: coronavirus and obesity.

From COVID-19 risk to recovery, the odds are stacked against those with obesity, and a new study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill raises concerns about the impact of obesity on the effectiveness of a future COVID-19 vaccine.

Researchers examined the available published literature on individuals infected with the virus and found that those with obesity (BMI over 30) were at a greatly increased risk for hospitalization (113%), more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (74%), and had a higher risk of death (48%) from the virus.

A team of researchers at UNC-Chapel Hills Gillings School of Global Public Health, including lead author Barry Popkin, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and member of the Carolina Population Center, collaborated with senior author Meera Shekar, a World Bank health and nutrition specialist, on the paper published in Obesity Reviews.

For the paper, researchers reviewed immunological and biomedical data to provide a detailed layout of the mechanisms and pathways that link obesity with increased risk of COVID-19 as well as an increased likelihood of developing more severe complications from the virus.

Obesity is already associated with numerous underlying risk factors for COVID-19, including hypertension, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney and liver disease.

Metabolic changes caused by obesity such as insulin resistance and inflammation make it difficult for individuals with obesity to fight some infections, a trend that can be seen in other infectious diseases, such as influenza and hepatitis.

During times of infection, uncontrolled serum glucose, which is common in individuals with hyperglycemia, can impair immune cell function.

All of these factors can influence immune cell metabolism, which determines how bodies respond to pathogens, like the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, said co-author Melinda Beck, professor of nutrition at Gillings School of Global Public Health. Individuals with obesity are also more likely to experience physical ailments that make fighting this disease harder, such as sleep apnea, which increases pulmonary hypertension, or a body mass index that increases difficulties in a hospital setting with intubation.

Previous work by Beck and others has demonstrated that the influenza vaccine is less effective in adults with obesity. The same may be true for a future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, said Beck.

However, we are not saying that the vaccine will be ineffective in populations with obesity, but rather that obesity should be considered as a modifying factor to be considered for vaccine testing, she said. Even a less protective vaccine will still offer some level of immunity.

Roughly 40% of Americans are obese and the pandemics resulting lockdown has led to a number of conditions that make it harder for individuals to achieve or sustain a healthy weight.

Working from home, limiting social visits and a reduction in everyday activities all in an effort to stop the spread of the virus means were moving less than ever, said Popkin.

The ability to access healthy foods has also taken a hit. Economic hardships put those who are already food insecure at further risk, making them more vulnerable to conditions that can arise from consuming unhealthy foods.

Were not only at home more and experience more stress due to the pandemic, but were also not visiting the grocery store as often, which means the demand for highly processed junk foods and sugary beverages that are less expensive and more shelf-stable has increased, he said. These cheap, highly processed foods are high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat and laden with highly refined carbohydrates, which all increase the risk of not only excess weight gain but also key noncommunicable diseases.

Popkin, who is part of the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the findings highlight why governments must address the underlying dietary contributors to obesity and implement strong public health policies proven to reduce obesity at a population level. Other countries, like Chile and Mexico, have adopted policies from taxing foods high in sugar to introducing warning labels on packaged foods that are high in sugar, fats and sodium and restricting the marketing of junk foods to children.

Given the significant threat COVID-19 represents to individuals with obesity, healthy food policies can play a supportive and especially important role in the mitigation of COVID-19 mortality and morbidity, Popkin said.

See the article here:

Obesity linked with higher risk for COVID-19 complications | UNC-Chapel Hill - UNC Chapell Hill

As students, faculty, and staff trickle back to campus, Harvard has set up a testing apparatus aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus. Students living in campus housing have to get tested three times each week; most other affiliates have to get tested once a week.

Still, there are some factors Harvard cant entirely account for, including the hundreds of students moving into off-campus housing in Cambridge and Boston over the next several weeks. At other colleges and universities across the country, off-campus housing has been the locus of several COVID-19 outbreaks, in some cases causing schools to shift their reopening plans entirely online. It remains unclear whether those students will cause a rise in Cambridges case count.

Below is a summary of the data Harvard and the city of Cambridge have reported about test results in the area.

Last updated on August 26, 2020 at 5:02 p.m.

View original post here:

Here's How Many Harvard Affiliates Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 | News - Harvard Crimson

ALBANY The University at Albany announced on Wednesday the impending launch of new COVID-19 surveillance testing for the thousands of people on campus, testing that will be developed by the university's research arm, the RNA Institute.

The testing process is currently being piloted and will launch on Sept. 7.

"Clearly, if you look at our plan, if you look at our practices, if you look at our implementation, you look at our testing, it is a very robust system," said UAlbany President Havidn Rodrguez.

The tests which are being developed, conducted and diagnosed at UAlbany are not diagnostic, but rather "pooled testing." Those who are tested are notified whether they are a potential or presumed positive, then go in for a followup diagnostic test.

During the week of the Sept. 7 launch, researchers plan to conduct 600 tests. About 2,000 tests will be conducted the second week, and 5,000 per week from then on.

"The goal is to test everyone on campus at least three times students, faculty and staff," said RNA DirectorAndrew Berglund.

The tests will be mandatory for all those who are physically on campus.

In addition to surveillance testing, the university is having students, faculty and staff fill out symptom screeners every day.

The announcement comes the day after university officials announced a student on campus had tested positive for COVID-19, and had been self-isolating since Friday. Officials said students who were near the main fountain on campus Thursday night may have been exposed to coronavirus.

The university worked in collaboration with Albany County to conduct contact tracing after the positive diagnosis. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said on Wednesday that 10 people have been identified so far as having had close contact with the student who contracted the virus.

"We all knew that it was not a matter of 'if,' it was a matter of 'when,'" Rodriguez said. "It's about having a robust plan."

Since classes resumed Monday, 58 percent have been conducted online, 36 percent in-person and the remainder have been hybrid, Rodriguez said.

The dorms have been at 57 percent occupancy and half of the university staff has been working remotely.

McCoy commended the university's plan, saying it worked and "everything that was in place did what it needed to do."

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatrasadded that the student did the right thing by getting tested and self-isolating.

"It's all working exactly the way it's supposed to work so we can control the beast which is COVID-19," he said.

Read the original here:

UAlbany's COVID-19 pooled testing will monitor thousands on campus - Times Union

In a special virtual town hall, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined UC San Francisco Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS, to discuss the role of science and science advocacy in shaping federal policy during a global pandemic, her leadership during these turbulent times, and lessons learned during her long tenure as the first and only female Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Democratic Congresswoman, whose district covers a large portion of San Francisco, began the event on Tuesday by thanking UCSF for being a longtime partner and leader in science and health, both in San Francisco and worldwide. She recalled how decades earlier, UCSFs work in community-based research, prevention and care during the HIV/AIDS epidemic helped lead to the Ryan White CARE act.

Asked about the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pelosi said denial and distortion of the reality of the pandemic had prevented a more coordinated national response. There are two things here at work that are not so good: One is an anti-science attitude, and the other is an anti-government attitude, she said. So lets just hope that rather than looking back, that we can look forward and hope that the public awareness of all of this will take us to a place where we have unity around science.

Hawgood said the pandemic had raised the question of how research universities like UCSF could contribute to preparing for and responding to future pandemics. History tells us that COVID-19 will definitely not be the last pandemic that we experience in our lifetimes, he said. And Ive been thinking and speaking to my peers across the country about how we could perhaps create a more unified research university academic response in working with the federal government to prepare the country for what we know will come.

Pelosi said that support from universities would be critical for legislative funding, such as when leading institutions came together in the 1990s to help double the National Institutes of Health budget.

The conversation then turned to how the pandemic has affected early career scientists and how the federal government could help. Hawgood described the risk of losing a generation of early career scientists, particularly women, due to lack of support for caregivers, as an existential challenge.

Pelosi said that a massive investment in childcare, more debt forgiveness for students, and expanding access to healthcare was needed on a national level.

She said that evidence-based research, including UCSFs work in COVID-19 testing in the Mission District which showed that the Latinx community was disproportionately affected by the disease was critical to getting Congress to recognize and redress health disparities.

Its immoral for us to proceed with this without recognizing the disparity in the communities of color you know that better than anyone, she said to Hawgood. But we have to kind of convey that to some people who, shall we say, are not as close to the public experience as some of the rest of us are.

We just have to recognize that if were going to crush this virus, which we must do, it is going to take resources scientifically spent, she said.

Finally, asked how her approach to leadership has changed over time and lessons learned for aspiring leaders, Pelosi said the best advice was to be authentic and to know your own motivations. But to women, especially, I say, be ready. Because I didnt think for a minute I would be going to Congress and never thought I would run for leadership, but I was ready.

Join our students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters who stand up for values and policies fundamental to UCSFs mission of advancing health worldwide.

Become a UCSF advocate

Pelosi closed out her portion of the town hall with a question-and-answer segment, facilitated by Francesca Vega, Vice Chancellor of Community and Government Relations. Asked how the UCSF community could help the democratic process during the pandemic, Pelosi encouraged people to vote early. Right now the most important thing is for people to vote and to do so early enough so that their vote is counted as cast, she said.

The town hall continued with brief presentations by Keith Yamamoto, PhD, Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy, and Natalie Alpert, Executive Director of Federal Government Relations, discussing the continued need for advocacy at the federal level.

Vega ended the event by bringing attention to various voter engagement efforts across UCSF, including the UCSF Votes initiative to update addresses for mailed ballots. Now is the ask of all of you, she said. And thats ensuring that our voice is indeed heard and that we are aware of all the opportunities that we have within the UCSF community to get engaged.

More here:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Joins UCSF Town Hall to Discuss COVID-19, The Role of Science in Turbulent Times - UCSF News Services

Live updates: Oregons COVID-19 death toll hits 427 - OPB

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By opb Staff (opb)

Aug. 26, 2020 1 p.m. Updated: Aug. 26, 2020 6:02 p.m.

Oregons death toll from the coronavirus pandemic continues to climb: seven more cases announced Tuesday brought the death toll to 427, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Public health officials and elected leaders like Gov. Kate Brown have emphasized the need to drastically reduce the number of new cases announced each day, but the Oregon Health Authority reported that the number remains stubbornly high at 247 new confirmed and presumptive cases, bringing the state total to 25,391.

The new cases are spread across 23 Oregon counties from Baker and Malheur along the states eastern border to the largest numbers in the Willamette Valley - including 48 new cases in Multnomah County, 40 new cases in Marion County and 38 new infections in Washington. Five counties reported just one case: Clatsop, Deschutes, Polk, Tillamook and Wallowa.

The seven fatalities range in age from a 63 year-old man who died at home in Umatilla County to a 93 year-old woman who died at her residence in Lincoln County. All seven people who died were identified as having underlying health conditions.

Many professors at Southern Oregon University in Ashland expressed relief when the campus announced this summer that most courses would be taught online.

But the transition to a new model of teaching has brought long-workdays, technical challenges and an emotional burden that faculty members

I am 100% burned out and so is everyone I know, said SOU digital media professor Andrew Gay. I think that all of us are still pretty much in crisis mode of knowing that we have these really difficult tasks.

Related: SOU professors say theyre overwhelmed with new COVID-related workloads

The Pacific Crest Trail Association is will not begin issuing long-distance hike permits in October as originally planned. Organizers cited the ongoing pandemic and continuing spread of the coronavirus on their website. Instead theyll be monitoring the situation for next year and will reevaluate 2021 permits by mid-January. The nonprofit group is urging people to hike locally rather than tackle the 2,600-mile-through hike, though its warnings are non-binding and some backpackers have still insisted on hitting the trail.

Related: Pacific Crest Trail Association postpones 2021 permits

With hundreds of thousands out of work, Washington and California have instituted some of the countrys strongest directives to ensure people dont have their power or water shut off because they cant pay their bills.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, meanwhile, has been almost completely silent on the issue, preferring in many cases to trust that utilities around the state will protect customers struggling amid unprecedented circumstances.

Consumer advocates say that trust might be misplaced. While the states large investor-owned utilities like Portland General Electric and Pacific Power arent currently pulling the plug when customers cant pay their bill, many of Oregons consumer-owned utilities have ended a self-imposed moratorium in recent weeks, resuming regular disconnection practices.

Related: Some Oregon utilities resume disconnecting customers

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has plans to commute the sentences of more prison inmates who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

The Department of Corrections has seen some of the states biggest outbreaks of the disease, with 613 inmates and 177 staff who have tested positive for the virus. The department reported that 513 inmates and 139 staff members have recovered. Three inmates have died from the virus.

In June, the governorcommuted the sentencesof 57 people who are incarcerated.

The governor will only consider releasing inmates who are within two months of release, are not serving a sentence for a violent crime against another person, have suitable housing upon release, and have had good behavior while in custody for at least a year.

Related: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown prepares to commute more sentences of inmates vulnerable to COVID-19

Another 20 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Clark County, Washington, and one additional person has person died, the local public health department reported Tuesday. To date, 2,455 residents of the county have tested positive for the virus and 48 have died. The man who died was older than 80 and had no underlying medical conditions, officials said.

Since the start of the pandemic, 71,705 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Washington, and 1,876 have died, according to the latest data available from the state.

Sign up to get important news and culture from around the Northwest, delivered to your inbox six days a week.

As school reopening looms, a positive COVID-19 result at a Portland child care center presents a best case for how to deal with the virus.

Multnomah county's public health officer, Dr. Jennifer Vines, said that while older adults are at the highest risk for severe COVID-19, the infection can be a risky roll of the dice for younger people, too.

View post:

Live updates: Oregons COVID-19 death toll hits 427 - OPB News

Hawaii Department of Health officials reported two new COVID-19 deaths on Oahu and 169 new coronavirus cases today, bringing the statewide totals to 6,769 infections and 49 coronvirus-related fatalities since the start of the pandemic in the islands in late February.

The Oahu man and woman, both over 80 years old with underlying health conditions, became the 48th and 49th fatalities today, health officials said in an email this afternoon.

A total of 41 deaths have been on Oahu, seven on Maui, while one was a Kauai resident who died on the mainland. The U.S. death toll is over 177,000 today.

Todays new COVID-19 cases include 150 on Oahu, 10 in Maui County, and nine on Hawaii island, according to the state Department of Healths noon tally. Of the 169 new cases, health officials said 149 were adults and 20 were youth under 18 years old. Two of those cases are non-Hawaii residents, 157 are Hawaii residents and 10 have yet to be identified.

The statewide coronavirus case totals by county since the beginning of the outbreak include 6,181 on Oahu, 300 on Maui County, 209 on Hawaii island and 56 on Kauai County, according to health officials. The total also includes 23 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

As of today, 4,548 infections in Hawaii are considered active cases, with a total of 2,172 patients now classified by health officials as released from isolation, or about 32% of those infected. The category counts those infected people who have met the criteria for being released from isolation. Twenty-nine new release cases 23 on Oahu, three on Hawaii island, two on Kauai County and one on Maui County were reported today.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii cases, 399 have required hospitalizations, with three new hospitalizations two on Oahu and one on Hawaii island reported today, health officials said.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said today that there are 250 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, including 42 patients in intensive care units and 34 on ventilators.

Two hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 397 hospitalizations within the state, 352 have been on Oahu, 36 on Maui, eight on Hawaii island, and one on Kauai.

Officials counted 2,026 new tests in todays tally, with todays 169 positive cases representing 8.3% of the total tested. Of the 180,850 coronavirus tests conducted so far by state and clinical laboratories in Hawaii since the start of the outbreak, a total of 3.7% have been positive.

By county, Honolulu has seen 1,807 patients released from isolation, and Maui has had 168 patients released. Hawaii County has 65 active infections, while Kauai has two, according to Health Department figures.

Hawaiis daily new-case count hit triple digits for the first time in late July, and has remained there for most of August, with the vast majority of confirmed infections on Oahu. On Aug. 13, the states daily new-case count reached a record 355.

>> RELATED: Hawaii health officials say more triple-digit coronavirus cases will compromise hospitals

This breaking news story will be updated again.

Read the original here:

2 new COVID-19 deaths and 169 new coronavirus cases as Hawaii's total climbs to 6769 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

While President Trump announced Sunday an emergency authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients, such plasma is already being administered to infected U.S. servicemembers.

Trump heralded the recent policy change as a breakthrough, but the benefit of COVID convalescent plasma, or CCP, in treating those infected with the novel coronavirus remains unknown.

In the treatment, plasma is collected from people who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection and whose blood therefore contains antibodies. In theory, these antibodies could help neutralize the virus and improve the outlook for patients who are newly fighting the disease. But the medical community has not determined whether injecting CCP into sickened patients kick-starts the immune system and aids in recovery.

Even so, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration statement accompanying the presidents announcement notes that the potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product. The plasma can also complement other treatments, rather than replace them.

Under a program started in May by the U.S. Armys Medical Materiel Development Activity, with FDA approval, 14 people have been treated with CCP, officials said.

Theyve received the plasma and are being followed over the disease course to see how quickly they recover, Army Lt. Col. Sandi Parriott, director of the activitys Force Health Protection division, told Military Times last week.

Data on the outcomes of such plasma treatments is then sent to the FDA, she said.

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Of those 14 CCP recipients, half were treated downrange, according to Carey Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Army medical activity.

Two of the 14 were active-duty servicemembers. Four dependents, two contractors, one Defense Department civilian and two retirees also received CCP, Phillips said in an email.

Three foreign nationals, who received special permission, also received the plasma, Phillips said.

Twelve of the 14 were older than 50 and every recipient was dealing with severe to life-threatening disease, according to Phillips.

CCP harvested from recovered military volunteers has been placed at nearly 30 locations worldwide, including military bases and aboard Navy ships.

While it remains to be seen whether convalescent plasma is an effective treatment for those sickened by COVID-19, theres very little risk in using it, Parriott said.

Youre giving antibodies from someone who has fought off the disease, she said. You think that would help, and help the body mount a better immune response against the virus, but we dont know for sure.

The U.S. Defense Department hopes to obtain 10,000 units of COVID convalescent plasma by the end of September. The trials are ongoing and Parriott suspects that final determinations regarding the therapys efficacy should be known in the next six months or so.

As of Monday, there have been 36,232 COVID-19 cases in the uniformed ranks, according to the Pentagon.

The Armys Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany the largest American hospital outside the United States and the treatment and evacuation hub for wounded troops coming from Iraq and Afghanistan was the first of 27 sites approved for the CCP protocol. Others include Madigan Army Medical Center, Washington; Yokota Air Base Medical Treatment Facility in Japan; U.S. Naval Hospital Guam; and the Evans Army Community Hospital in Colorado. The plasma is also available at at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, and the military medical center in Baghdad.

A lot of our population is outside (the continental United States), Parriott said. We have to get a little more creative on how we prevent and how we make these treatment options available.

Several Navy ships now serve as CCP sites as well, with the aircraft carrier Nimitz becoming the first to be approved last month.

Other ships capable of administering the convalescent plasma to COVID-19 patients include the carriers Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gerald R. Ford, as well as the amphibious assault ship America, according to an Army release on the program.

To be eligible for the CCP program, sites must be capable of treating severe or life-threatening COVID cases and they must volunteer by reaching out the medical activity for consideration, Phillips said.

While the efficacy of convalescent plasma in COVID patients remains unknown, plasma has been used in the past to successfully treat other respiratory viruses, noted Navy Capt. Gilbert Seda, head of the Nimitzs COVID-19 response team, in the Army release.

In order to qualify for CCP treatment, patients must have a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection, have provided informed consent, have severe or life-threatening COVID-19 illness and not have any medical contraindications to receiving the plasma, Dr. Seda said.

To be clear, the CCP treatment protocol does not change the Navys plan to get Sailors with severe COVID-19 illness off the ship as soon as possible, Seda said.

If you have contracted and recovered from COVID-19, go here to learn more about donating your plasma.

Army Maj. Gen. Michael Place contracted COVID-19 in March and has now donated plasma several times, according to an Army release.

This is Soldiers and Soldiers Families taking care of Soldiers, said Place, the commanding officer of the Armys 18th Medical Command in Hawaii. You sit in this comfortable chair for a little while, they take the plasma from you and give you some cookies and snacks and some departure gifts.

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Trump touts expanded use of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients; the US military has already been using it - NavyTimes.com

NC State has paused all athletics-related activities after identifying 27 positive cases within the athletic department, the school announced Monday.

Not all cases involve student-athletes. NC State did not specify the athletic programs directly affected.

Overall, NC State said it has conducted 2,053 tests of student-athletes, coaches and staff with 30 total positives (a 1.46% positivity rate). That includes 693 new tests with 22 new positives since its previous report about two weeks ago.

Last week, NC State announced that all undergraduate courses will be online only, starting Monday, after discovering that the coronavirus had spread among the student body.

On Monday, the university reported three new clusters of the virus, including the one within the athletic department. There are now 14 reported clusters at NC State. The North Carolina Division of Public Health defines a cluster as a minimum of five cases that are deemed close in proximity or location.

During his most recent media availability on a call with reporters last week, NC State football coach Dave Doeren said his players were undergoing weekly testing.

"Kind of expected when the students come back that you're going to have an upswing in the numbers on the campuses," Doeren said last week. "It's more about managing them. We've been testing here every week and we've been good. We've had more scares than anything. A guy will have a headache and we'll hold him out until he gets retested and then he's fine. There's so many things that are symptoms of COVID, so every time a guy has one, you pull him out, you quarantine everybody that's in that tracking area. So we've had more removals, replacements, almost a day later because we're getting our testing back really fast.

"We'll just have to see how it plays out. Every day you just kind of bend your knees and be flexible and try to stay as positive as you can and deal with it."

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NC State pauses all athletic activities because of COVID-19 cluster in athletic department - ESPN

CORONAVIRUS CZAR UPDATES ON COUNTY ALERT MAP, PLASMA USE, COVID REINFECTIONS West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh provided several updates during his remarks Monday.

First, he offered clarification on the differences between the West Virginia County Alert System map and a similar map by the Harvard Global Health Institute, which served as the original inspiration for the school metric.

They're going to be slightly different, Dr. Marsh said. Remember, the difference in the two maps is that the Harvard map counts all cases: community spread cases and congregate cases, including nursing home residents, correctional facilities inmates, and so on. The West Virginia school map just focuses on the community spread.

Dr. Marsh went on to provide an update about ongoing plans to stand up a plasma donation operation in West Virginia.

The convalescent plasma the immune plasma which is a blood product that is used from people that have recovered from COVID-19 to give to people who are really sick with COVID-19 was approved by the Federal Drug Administration for emergency use authorization, Dr. Marsh said. Basically what that means is we will start being able to give the convalescent plasma, not necessarily using only a clinical trial.

That will change the game because, in people that are really ill, in the ICU, on ventilators, if the convolution plasma is given in the first day or so, then the reduction in death is 36 percent, Dr. Marsh continued.

Finally, Dr. Marsh cautioned West Virginians that public health officials have confirmed that a man from Hong Kong, who recovered from COVID-19 once, has become reinfected.

That's not really a surprise to us because we know that COVID-19 is a coronavirus and coronaviruses are yearly viruses, Dr. Marsh said. So, if you had a coronavirus last year, you still can get it this year. So we knew that the immune response may not be lasting and this was about four months from the first infection.

We have known that antibody levels go down over three to four months in a number of people, Dr. Marsh continued. So that really tells us that if you've gotten COVID-19 then you may well be protected against a more severe form, but it doesn't completely protect you from getting COVID-19 again.

This is a real warning for a lot of our younger people and people that may not consider themselves so vulnerable because we know now that getting the disease is not necessarily a lifetime of immune protection.

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COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice announces County Alert Map to determine nursing home visitation; highlights success of indoor face covering requirement...