Category: Covid-19

Viva la Fiesta!

If the absence of Old Spanish Days festivities is not enough to throw you off, Im really going to confuse you with this weeks Best of Bill column. Or maybe confuse you more than I usually do.

Longtime readers know my weekly column is a compilation of and my commentary on Noozhawks Top 5 most-read stories of the previous seven days, as tracked by our Google Analytics. This week, by the way, we had an audience of 165,653 readers, thank you very much.

Our top story is a very cool one, and Im excited to share why. But its our third most-read story that actually is our most important one, given the ongoing catastrophe that is taking such a massive toll on almost every aspect of our lives.

So Im going to invoke the rarely used Publishers Prerogative and start the Top 5 with No. 3 before introducing No. 1. Consider the number crunching a warmup for Major League Baseballs 2020 playoff schedule scheme.

Making sense of Santa Barbara Countys inconsistent, nontransparent and often mystifying reporting of its COVID-19 data has been an enduring frustration in Noozhawks coverage of the coronavirus crisis.

So it really was no surprise to us when Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, director of the county Public Health Department, announced July 31 that her agency had underreported the number of COVID-19 deaths by 28.

Thats right, 28 dead county residents more than two dozen of our neighbors were simply never entered into the system.

As our Josh Molina first reported, the mistake was discovered when the county Vital Records Office noticed a discrepancy between the number of death certificates issued and the deaths reported on the countys own website.

Unfortunately, we have a serious data problem, Second District Supervisor Gregg Hart, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said in an understatement.

For the past month, the Public Health Department has underreported the number of COVID-19 deaths in Santa Barbara County.

Thats not the half of it.

Noozhawks news team keeps a very detailed daily spreadsheet of all the public COVID-19 data were tracking, but its exceedingly difficult to reconcile largely because of the county.

Over the last few months, our editors and reporters have been much more insistent and unyielding with officials about county reporting irregularities. To their credit, senior county officials have been reaching out to our team about ways they can better communicate and deliver what we need to provide you with a complete picture of what our community is up against.

Talk about two steps forward, one step back.

This week, our editors noticed the county had reported an average of 430 COVID-19 tests a day over the last few days, well below the normal total, so they pressed for more details about that specifically. For good measure, they tossed in additional questions to try to get a better sense of how well the testing system is working something they do on a regular basis.

Well let you know when we find out the answers to those simple questions but, at this stage of a pandemic that started more than six months ago, the fact that such basic information is not readily available is as alarming as it is unacceptable.

The county also is withholding the date of the latest coronavirus death, with an absurd explanation that officials are exploring whether such information can even be released under HIPAA regulations.

Let me be clear: There is no reason for the county to be hiding behind the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 over a date of death.

Public agencies release basic death information every single day, as you know from reading our reporting on fatal car crashes. There may be aspects of a death that are caught up in privacy or other issues, but not the fact that a guy died on a Tuesday.

I tell you this to illustrate just how challenging it can be for the news media to do its basic job our constitutional right of keeping you informed, which is your constitutional right to know. This involves you as much as it does Noozhawk.

In the absence of a widespread vaccine, what appears to be the most effective defense against COVID-19 is entirely, and scarily, up to you and me. As I wrote in last weeks Best of Bill column, that means wearing masks responsibly, keeping our distance, washing our hands, and staying home if were compromised or feeling sick.

But if that responsibility is going to fall to us, Santa Barbara Countys erratic hoarding of coronavirus information has got to stop. It needs to start sharing everything it knows so we, the public, can make fully informed decisions on how best to protect ourselves and others.

As with a lifting fog, there have been glimpses of what Santa Barbara County officials can do if they choose to. Sunshine benefits everyone.

To help you better understand the blizzard of numbers and the processes involved with compiling them, Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli put together two useful guides that already have been a big hit with readers:

Noozhawks Guide to Understanding Santa Barbara County Public Health COVID-19 Data

Noozhawk FAQs on the Coronavirus and Santa Barbara Countys Public Health Response

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Each August, the Earth drifts through a debris cloud left behind by the passing Comet Swift-Tuttle. As bits of pebbles and even dust particles some no larger than a grain of sand slam into the atmosphere, they burn up in bright streaks and even fireballs, creating a spectacular display known as the Perseid meteor shower.

As our astronomy columnist, Dennis Mammana, reported Aug. 2, the peak of this years celestial extravaganza will be late Aug. 11 and the early morning hours of Aug. 12 when up to 100 visible meteors per hour are likely to appear weather and light permitting, of course.

Dennis lives in the stargazing-advantageous Anza-Borrego Desert in the San Diego County backcountry, but Santa Barbara County is not that far behind when it comes to dark skies. And no special equipment or skills are needed; just look up.

While Dennis has always been one of Noozhawks most popular columnists, the traffic on his Aug. 2 column was out of this world. Its already claimed the No. 2 spot in our 2020 most-read analytics with 66,000-plus reads and counting.

Although the Perseids come around just once a year, you can read Dennis astronomical insights each week when we post a new column on Sunday afternoons. And dont worry, theres plenty of space for what hes writing about.

My friend, Brian Goebel, is not an epidemiologist, or a physician or a public health official. But he is a public policy professional with a passion for data analysis.

Noozhawk readers have come to trust him as hes consistently written correctly, accurately and matter-of-factly about coronavirus trends and tendencies. Hes done that by focusing on a few key data points, running the modeling and explaining his work. In the old days, I think that was called SCIENCE.

Brians Aug. 2 column outlined how California had again flattened the hospitalization curve after an extended spike in cases. But he made three bonus points that merit more consideration if were going to move forward with our lives and livelihoods.

Most important, sensible public health measures i.e. masks and social distancing and precision-based business closures all work. Theyre also preferable to a threatened second statewide stay-at-home order, which would be increasingly problematic and far less likely to be followed six months into the pandemics sweeping upheaval.

Second, based on the latest run of data, which essentially covered June and July, the numbers indicate that much greater economic activity is possible as we learn to co-exist with the ever-present contagion.

Finally, its time to re-evaluate and revise testing protocols to more precisely measure COVID-19s community spread.

According to the state Department of Public Health, the current protocols were developed to facilitate medical evaluation of persons with symptoms of COVID-19 as well as efforts by public health agencies and essential employers to prevent and control the spread.

Brian argues that there should be more testing of a larger cross-section of the statewide population, not less, because the current limited testing data are not as accurate a measure of community transmission. He goes deeper into the details than Im going to here, but please do read his column for more information.

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported 215 new coronavirus infections on Aug. 1, a significant increase after a week of steady declines.

Our Tom Bolton reported that local COVID-19 hospitalizations rose to 87 from 85 that day, but the number of intensive-care unit patients decreased to 26 from 28.

As of Aug. 6, the number of confirmed cases in the county stood at 6,652 with 68 deaths, a 98.97 percent survivability rate.

In a development rich in irony, a Florida cannabis corporation that is publicly traded on the Canadian stock exchange has acquired a controlling interest in one of Santa Barbaras three retail marijuana dispensaries.

As our Josh Molina reported Aug. 2, Boca Raton, Florida-based Jushi bought the multimillion-dollar controlling interest in the operating license from Golden State Greens, which itself is headquartered in San Diego. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jushi is moving full speed ahead on building out the new Beyond / Hello dispensary at 3516 State St., across from Loreto Plaza. A late September opening is expected.

Santa Barbara is a perfect example of what we are looking for in acquisition in the California market, Michael Perlman, executive vice president of investor relations & treasury, told Josh. The population is affluent.

He seemed to imply that Santa Barbaras other two dispensaries locally owned Coastal Dispensary and Farmacy target tourists.

We want to be known in the Santa Barbara market as the company that is focused on the local people, giving them a differentiated shopping experience both online and in stores, Perlman said.

Time will tell but Im with City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon, who found out from Josh that the hard-fought license issued by the City of Santa Barbara had changed ownership.

Its really important that the integrity of the scoring process is impartial and it favors local vendors, she said. I am not a fan of the expansion of this industry. It is important that we prioritize local vendors.

This was not my expectation.

What was our most-read story this time last year? Young Girl Injured by Horse During Santa Barbaras Fiesta Parade.

This video is surreal: Lebanese Bride Still Shaken after Beirut Blast Cuts Short Wedding Video.

@kyles_kitchen was my big outing this past week in my Instagram feed. Officially, I was there to help come up with a fall game plan for Noozhawks partnership with the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table, but the Spicy Chicken Avo Burger made my highlight reel. And, yes, its a #bestofbillrecommendation.

While browsing in an antique shop, Noozhawk reader Steve Baker stumbled on old Kodachrome footage of Santa Barbaras Fiesta Parade. Since we have no El Desfile Histrico this year, enjoy his cleaned-up version from the mid-1940s. HT to Charley Pavlosky.

(Steve Baker video)

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Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawks founder and publisher. Contact him at [emailprotected], follow him on Twitter: @noozhawk and Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.

Read the rest here:

Bill Macfadyen: Santa Barbara Countys Big COVID-19 Error Isnt the Only Hole In Its Reporting - Noozhawk

The supplies were transported on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum, the regions premier political and economic policy organization.

With commercial air services greatly reduced due to airport closures, and other measures to prevent further spread of the disease, the 18-member bloc has established a platform to facilitate the timely and rapid movement of medical and humanitarian assistance, known as the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID-19.

The humanitarian air service flights are a welcome demonstration that the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID-19 is doing what leaders intended - protecting citizens and supporting health systems, said Dame Meg Taylor, Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General.

The Pacific region is comprised of more than 20 countries and territories scattered across an area that represents roughly 15 per cent of the earths surface.

Therefore, air and sea transport is nothing short of a lifeline, according to Jo Pilgrim, Director of WFPs Pacific Multi-Country Office, which is located in Fiji.

Although border closures have helped curb the COVID-19 threat, she said impacts have been significant, particularly as the region relies on tourism revenue.

It's also affected international supply chains, especially for air cargo, and this makes it very difficult for Pacific governments and international aid organizations to import goods, especially medical equipment like the personal protective equipment that you need to protect our health workers, Ms. Pilgrim told UN News.

Even shipping routes across the Pacific, which are major avenues for the importation of food and fuel, for example, have been affected. Even though they are still running, the services are reduced, and the costs are increasing.

Unlike other WFP operations, the Pacific Office does not work on food aid distribution orfood assistance. Instead, it supports governments with emergency preparedness in a region that is highly susceptible to cyclones and other extreme weather events.

During the pandemic, staff have been assisting national authorities in three areas: establishing COVID-19 call centres and tele-health initiatives, conducting remote surveys on food security at the household level, and in logistics.

A good example for logistics is that with the shut-down of the aviation sector affecting the ability of governments and aid organizations to import goods, we have established the Pacific humanitarian air service which will deliver cargo to those countries where there are no viable commercial options available for the importation of freight by air, said Ms. Pilgrim.

The Pacific humanitarian air service will transport medical items, medicines, and equipment on behalf of UN agencies such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the International Federation of the Red Cross.

Flights will also deliver supplies on behalf of countries, coordinated through the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway for COVID-19.

Normally, humanitarian air services only move cargo on behalf of humanitarian organizations, Ms. Pilgrim explained. But in this particular case in the Pacific, because of the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in, where no one can get anything on a plane, were also moving medical cargo for the governments.

Ms. Pilgrim expressed hope that commercial flights will be back in the air soon.

We don't want to do anything that would contradict this or that would disincentivize the aviation sector commercially, she said, so all the flights that we will operate will be limited as much as possible to those sectors without commercial options.

The Pacific humanitarian air service is currently funded by Australia and the United States, and the hope is that other donors will step up.

WFP is a voluntary-funded organization and we rely completely on donations from governments and the private sector, so we can keep flying for as long as we've got funds coming in, said Ms. Pilgrim. And hopefully we will have enough support from the donor community to allow us to fill the gap in the aviation sector until it's restored and our services are no longer required.

Go here to see the original:

New humanitarian air service boosts COVID-19 response in the Pacific - UN News

News Release

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Study aims to determine safety and efficacy of experimental monoclonal antibodies.

Patients admitted with COVID-19 at select hospitals may now volunteer to enroll in a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a potential new treatment for the disease. The Phase 3 randomized, controlled trial is known as ACTIV-3, and as a master protocol, it is designed to expand to test multiple different kinds of monoclonal antibody treatments. It also can enroll additional volunteers in the middle of the trial, if a specific investigational treatment shows promise.

The new study is one of four ongoing or planned trials in the National Institutes of Healths.Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV)program,a public-private partnership to speed development of the most promising treatments and vaccine candidates. Italso is receiving support throughOperation Warp Speed, the U.S. governments multi-agency effort to develop, manufacture and distribute medical countermeasures to fight COVID-19.

The trial will take place at select hospitals around the world that are part of existing clinical trial networks. They include the lead network, the International Network of Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT), operated by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health. Collaborating clinical trial networks include the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury network (PETAL) and Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN), supported by the NIHs National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute through the Collaborating Network of Networks for Evaluating COVID-19 and Therapeutic Strategies (CONNECTS) program, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

Under Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. Government has brought together multiple agencies to accelerate the development, manufacture and distribution of medical countermeasures for COVID-19, said NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. The ACTIV studies are just a few examples of this critical activity, which emphasizes flexibility and minimizes delays to generate scientifically sound results.

ACTIV-3 uses an adaptive two-stage Phase 3 protocol design. The ACTIV-3 trial can be modified to test additional experimental therapeutics and flexibly allow novel therapeutics to enter at either stage 1 or stage 2. In addition, if a treatment appears to be safe and effective in the initial stage after review by an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB), the investigational therapeutic proceeds to stage 2 testing, where more volunteers are enrolled. If an investigational therapeutic is unsafe or not likely to be effective, it will be dropped.

The ACTIV-3 study will begin by studying the investigational monoclonal antibodyLY-CoV555, which was identified in a blood sample from a recovered COVID-19 patient. Antibodies are infection-fighting proteins made by the immune system that can bind to the surface of viruses and prevent them from infecting cells. Synthetic versions of antibodies can be reproduced in a laboratory. These manufactured antibodies are known as monoclonal antibodies. The LY-CoV555 antibody was discovered by Abcellera Biologics (Vancouver, British Columbia) in collaboration with NIAIDs Vaccine Research Center. Subsequently, it was developed and manufactured byLilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, Indiana), in partnership with AbCellera. The investigational product also is being tested in another ongoing NIAID study, ACTIV-2, which is studying its safety and efficacy in people with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 who have not been hospitalized. Safety data and other findings will be shared across the ACTIV-2 and ACTIV-3 studies through the DSMB.

Studying the impact of this investigational therapeutic on multiple patient populations at the same time is critical to determining whether it can help COVID-19 patients with differing levels of disease severity, said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. These concurrent trials have the potential to yield significant and comprehensive clinical data.

The initial stage of the ACTIV-3 clinical trial aims to enroll approximately 300 volunteers who have been hospitalized with mild to moderate COVID-19 with fewer than 13 days of symptoms. Once their COVID-19 infections have been confirmed and they have consented to take part in the study, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either an intravenous (IV) infusion of LY-CoV555 or a saline placebo infusion. Participants also will receive standard care for COVID-19, including the antiviral remdesivir. After five days, participants symptoms will be assessed, as will their need for supplemental oxygen, mechanical ventilation, or other supportive care. Volunteers will be followed for 90 days after enrollment and will receive regular examinations and have blood samples taken periodically during this time to analyze their response to the investivational therapeutic.

Data collected on the fifth day of the volunteers participation will determine whether the investigational therapeutic will be administered to a larger group of volunteers. If LY-CoV555 appears to be safe and appears to be effective, the trial will enroll an additional 700 participants. It also will begin enrolling more severely ill participants, such as those with organ failure requiring mechanical support, or COVID-19-associated dysfunction of organs other than the lungs. The primary endpoint of the trial is the participants sustained recovery for 14 days after release from the hospital.

The principal investigator of ACTIV-3 is Jens Lundgren,M.D., of the University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet. Leads of the participating networks include James Neaton, Ph.D., of the INSIGHT network, Taylor Thompson, M.D., of the PETAL network, Annetine Gelijns, Ph.D., and Alan Moskowitz, M.D., of the CTSN, and Rachel Ramoni, D.M.D., Sc.D., of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. To ensure that the trial is being conducted in a safe and effective manner, an independent DSMB will oversee the trial and conduct periodic reviews of the accumulating data.

NIAID conducts and supports research at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on theNIAID website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

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NIH launches clinical trial to test antibody treatment in hospitalized COVID-19 patients - National Institutes of Health

HONOLULU (KHON2) -- On Tuesday, The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) reported that 3,029 people arrived in Hawaii. The states mandatory 14-day self-quarantine started on March 26 for all passengers arriving in Hawaii from out of state.

Most of those coming into the state on Tuesday included a total of 979 returning residents. There were 922 visitors. The remaining 1,228 were crew members, military, transit, those who are relocating to the state, and those exempt from the quarantine order.

Excerpt from:

173 new cases of COVID-19 brings state total to 2,763 - KHON2

With Covid-19 cases again climbing, health tech companies and researchers are renewing their pitch for wearables and apps as a cutting-edge way to catch new cases and detect when patients are growing sicker.

The flood of tech tools and the marketing machinery playing up their potential promises to give users more timely information and fill key gaps in testing and tracing cases. But it is not altogether certain that these devices will benefit patients. Its not just a basic question of whether a device or algorithm is accurate, health technology experts say, but whether the information provided is actually helpful in delivering better care or stemming the spread of the virus.

It is easy to take an off-the-shelf monitoring device, slap a Covid-19 label on it, and tell the world the device can be used to help lift us out of a public health crisis. It is far more difficult to ensure the product can home in on the unique signature of this virus and improve outcomes for patients, especially when it affects people so differently.

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I can tell you for a given system, it may be 80% accurate. But for me to show you it made someones care better is actually much harder to accomplish, said Karandeep Singh, a physician and professor at the University of Michigan who studies the use of technology in health care.

But in certain clinical settings and populations, apps and wearables might be able to provide significant assistance during the pandemic, experts said. Here are a few questions to ask when trying to differentiate between empty promises and valuable tools.

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Plenty of apps designed to monitor vital signs can accurately detect a fever and changes in respiration, but thats not the same thing as correctly diagnosing Covid-19.

That kind of app is not going to be nearly specific enough, said Singh. Were heading into flu season. You cant tell apart flu from cold from anything else.

John A. Rogers, a biomedical engineer at Northwestern University, has spent months trying to tackle this problem with a wearable he developed for the universitys health system in Chicago. It is a Band-Aid-sized patch that attaches to the users throat to help monitor coughing and respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath.

One of the planned uses was to monitor signs of possible infection of frontline health care workers. So far, however, none of the health workers who have tested the device with Northwesterns health system has become sick. Its not clear whether none has contracted the virus, or whether some did but were asymptomatic, which points to a challenge facing any tech tool designed to track Covid-19 symptoms.

You have to have some type of symptoms in order for us to pick anything up, Rogers said. If youre completely asymptomatic were not going to be able to see it. This is not a molecular scale test.

Thats not to say it cant be helpful for other purposes. The wearable, which is experimental and has not been approved by regulators, is also being used to monitor symptoms in hospitalized patients. In one case, Rogers said, it flagged periods where a patient was experiencing a dangerous heart arrhythmia. It also picked up respiratory interruptions at night, helping providers spot signs of sleep apnea.

It turned out to be pretty severe and we could see it pretty clearly, Rogers said.

He said the impact of the wearable is still being evaluated and that his partners at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab are seeking to develop an AI model that would use the data to help predict infections from symptom data.

A major shortcoming of most wearables is that they are deployed in populations with very low risk of developing the problem they are designed to detect. The Apple Watch, for example, is often used by young, healthy people unlikely to benefit from its ability to detect the heart arrhythmia known as atrial fibrillation.

In Covid-19, that means many symptom tracking apps meant to flag the onset of illness in broad populations are likely to flag perceived problems that dont amount to much. This results in a low positive predictive value, or the probability that a subject who tests positive truly has the illness.

Its going to be crying wolf a lot, Singh said. He said thats a significant drawback in a health care system trying to contend with a pandemic.

With any of these apps, if you identify a problem, usually that problem results in a connection to the health care system, which has a time and a cost value to it. We dont have unlimited resources, he added.

However, the problem of false positives is mitigated in higher-risk populations, such as people who live in nursing homes or whose immune systems are compromised. In those defined user groups, it is helpful to provide caregivers with alerts about sudden changes in vital signs or a fever, because those are more likely to be associated with medical emergencies.

Apps and wearables can collect massive amounts of biological data from patients. But that doesnt mean the information is going to be helpful to doctors who are trying to treat them.

A Covid-19 symptom tracker developed earlier this year by researchers at Kings College London, Harvard University and Stanford compiled symptoms reported by more than 2.6 million people, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, and loss of taste and smell.

While the researchers are hopeful that the smartphone app can help inform individuals of their risks, and potentially flag infection hot spots, they are not arguing that it would significantly improve the care of infected patients.

Thats because its not clear that providing that information, through this app or another, will help doctors triage patients or change the way they are treating them.

Thats something that remains to be seen, said Andrew Chan, a Harvard professor who helped develop the app. Theres a lot of hope this approach could be used in the setting of Covid because it is so highly infectious and there is a need to keep distance between patients and providers.

But so far, there is no evidence that apps or wearables used to collect biological information on Covid-19 patients is improving their care. Singh said proving a positive effect on care is likely to take years, even in the case of products that have demonstrated an ability to accurately measure changes in symptoms and predict a patients deterioration.

This is all experimental, he said. Studying the impact of a technology like this takes a ton more time than studying the validity of a technology.

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Covid-19 apps and wearables are everywhere. Can they benefit patients? - STAT

RICHMOND, Va. Virginia has rolled out a smartphone app to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. state to use new pandemic technology created by Apple and Google.

The Covidwise app was available on the tech giants app stores Wednesday ahead of an expected announcement from Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

Were using every possible approach to fight this virus and keep Virginians healthy, Northam said in a statement provided to AP that encouraged all Virginians to download the app. The COVIDWISE app is completely anonymous, protects personal privacy, and gives you an additional tool to protect yourself and your community.

VDH officials intentionally avoided using platforms that collect location data to protect the privacy of users. Although the project has often been referred to as a contact tracing app, they emphasize that personal information is not actually being tracked by the state.

Jeff Stover, Executive Program Advisor to the Commissioner at the Virginia Department of Heath, explained how the technology works in a press briefing on Wednesday. When a person tests positive for the virus, he said a contact tracer will reach out and encourage them to download the app if they havent already. If they agree, Stover said they will be given a 6-digit pin number unique to their lab result that the user will be in charge of entering.

Once the pin is submitted, Stover said the app will notify other users of potential exposure, keeping the identity of the person who tested positive anonymous. He said the app notifies close contacts using Bluetooth keys or anonymous tokens that can determine which phones were within 6 feet of a positive case for 15 minutes or morecriteria based on CDC guidelines.

Stover said these phone signals are stronger when people are closer together. He compared the technology to using a Bluetooth speaker: If you walk too far away, your music stops playing.

If, for instance, there are two students in adjacent dorm rooms with a wall between them, the health department says the wall would be expected to diminish the signal strength between devices but a false alarm might still be triggered depending on the walls materials and structure.

If another user youve been nearby tests positive for COVID-19 within a 14-day period, the app will notify you.

Stover said VDH has no way of knowing if and when a user submits a pins. The agency also has no way of knowing which phone numbers received exposure notifications. Stover added that users can download or delete the app at anytime.

It comes nearly four months after Apple and Google said they were partnering on creating app-building software for public health agencies trying to contain the spread of the pandemic. Canada and a number of European countries have already rolled out apps using the tech companies framework.

Those who download Virginias app get a message that it is 100% voluntary and doesnt use location-tracking technology such as GPS or collect personal information that can be used to identify someone.

Those who test positive can anonymously notify others to help stop the diseases spread.

Previous coverage: A contact tracing app is in the works but will Virginians use it?

A number of states have expressed interest in using the Apple-Google technology for an app, including Alabama, South Carolina, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, but until Wednesday none had publicly introduced one yet.

Everyone is trying so hard and theres limited time, limited capacity, said Sameer Halia, who is working to launch an app in Arizona using the Google and Apple software. Every state will look at what their needs are and what their population cares about and make a decision.

Several states have rolled out apps using other approaches, such as satellite-based GPS location tracking, but theres little evidence they have been successful. Unlike the tech companies model, many of these apps send data to public health officials so they can use it to trace the contacts of infected patients.

One of the first to launch, in Utah, has since disabled locating-tracking features. Rhode Islands app uses GPS and has been downloaded by nearly 70,000 people, about 7% of the population, but health officials dont know how often it has led to someone being notified of an exposure. Instead of an automatic notification, it is meant to jog someones memory by showing them or health workers where they have been for the past two weeks.

While we know that it has been very helpful in many cases, we cant say exactly how many, said Rhode Island health department spokesman Joseph Wendelken.

Privacy advocates have largely favored the approach taken by Apple and Google, but some health experts have questioned its effectiveness, especially if there are too many false alarms and if local health agencies dont have the capacity to test enough people.

Apple and Google didnt immediately return an emailed request for comment Wednesday.

Stover said the app relies on widespread use and individual initiative to slow the spread. Theyre hoping to see at least 50-60% of Virginians voluntarily download it.

Madison + Main, a Richmond-based company, is helping VDH launch an advertising campaign that engages private businesses, social influencers and universities.

The states biggest challenge could be overcoming privacy concerns and conspiracy theories surrounding the technology. Several members of Congress are pushing for federal privacy protections to boost public trust.

Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to provide more information on the app at his 2 p.m. press conference.

A week ago, WAVY posted a Twitter poll asking Virginians if they would download the app when it was released. The response was close, but the majority said they would not. Now that the VDH COVID-19 exposure notification app is officially available, we want to know if you have already downloaded the app or plan to.

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Virginias the first state to use new COVID-19 app from Apple, Google - WAVY.com

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) We are entering month six of the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota.

The first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Minnesota was announced on March 6. Since then, more than 1,600 Minnesotans have died from the virus.

The latest figures released by the Minnesota Department of Health Wednesday showed 305 people are hospitalized, which includes ICU patients, for COVID-19 complications. Three weeks ago, that number was 230.

Weve seen up and downs, but the case growth over the last month has been pretty significant, said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.

MDH closely tracks the positivity rate as a key in monitoring the spread of the virus.

It measures the number of positive COVID-19 tests against the total number of tests administered. It was over 5% Wednesday. MDH has warned a positivity rate above 5% indicates a more rapid spread of the disease.

As far as testing, Malcolm said the state still has the capacity to administer the 20,000-a-day goal. But, it has faced an uptick in a global testing supply shortage, and some local providers have had to cut back.

Some have less walk-in or drive-up appointments than they had before. Some are prioritizing patients who are having procedures scheduled, Malcolm said.

Health officials also said the biggest concern for outbreaks remains any event where there is a gathering of people, like bars, but there have also been cluster outbreaks from family gatherings, concerts, and socializing after sporting events.

Its why we just keep reinforcing how important it is to not just think everything is back to normal and we can socialize without any constraints.

Commissioner Malcolm did say that there are encouraging signs of having better treatment options for COVID-19. She said early results of convalescent plasma therapy show promise and medical providers are also learning how to better manage more severe cases.

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As COVID-19 Case Positivity Rate Crosses 5% Wednesday, Health Officials Warn That Everything Is Not Back To Normal - CBS Minnesota

Suriname is preparing to come out stronger from COVID-19. As the pandemic highlights the gaps in the countrys health system, the Government is acting quickly to drive its response, engaging partners, reaching remote communities through primary health care and building a strong foundation for universal health coverage.

About 90% of Surinames landmass is characterized as tropical rainforest. In the most remote villages reside indigenous communities who need access to effective primary health care. This is just one of the many challenges that Surinames health system faces. COVID-19 has further highlighted its small health workforce: just eight physicians and 23 nurses per 10,000 people, health infrastructure that is still being developed and limited emergency response capacity, among others.

Since the start of 2020, WHO, through theUHC Partnership, has expanded its support in strengthening Surinames health system with the goal of helping the country achieve universal health coverage. With funding from the European Union, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Irish Aid, the Government of Japan, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the UK Department for International Development and Belgium, the Partnership has been supporting work in four main areas: saving lives, protecting health care workers, slowing the spread of the virus and strengthening epidemic intelligence.

PAHO/WHO supported Suriname in advancing preparedness and response capacities. The Central Laboratory of the Bureau of Public Health/Bureau voor Openbare Gezondheidszorg (BOG) was provided reagents for molecular testing. Laboratory technologists were trained in conducting screening and confirmatory tests for COVID-19. This photo was taken in February 2020, before COVID-19 hit the country. (Credit: WHO/PAHO)

Surinames experience in preparing for COVID-19 and its urgent actions to keep its population safe has also brought a unique opportunity to chart a new path for public health in the country.

Looking forward, WHO will continue to support Suriname in building a resilient health system and to develop and maintain capacities to prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.

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Responding to COVID-19 boosts Suriname's health system - World Health Organization

The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on August 4,2020, there have been 298,290 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 7,051 totalcases and 124 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a70-year old male from Preston County, a 55-year old female from Taylor County,a 68-year old female from Kanawha County, a 73-year old male from Marshall County,a 92-year old male from Grant County, a 43-year old male from Mingo County, anda 91-year old male from Wood County. Eachdeath reported is a solemn reminder of the seriousness of this disease. We sendour deepest sympathy to these families, saidBill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (29/0), Berkeley (637/24), Boone (88/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke(60/1), Cabell (341/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay (17/1), Doddridge (4/0), Fayette(131/0), Gilmer (16/0), Grant (80/1), Greenbrier (87/0), Hampshire (74/0),Hancock (100/4), Hardy (53/1), Harrison (198/1), Jackson (158/0), Jefferson(287/5), Kanawha (835/13), Lewis (26/1), Lincoln (68/1), Logan (157/0), Marion(174/4), Marshall (126/3), Mason (50/0), McDowell (45/1), Mercer (167/0),Mineral (112/2), Mingo (142/2), Monongalia (913/16), Monroe (18/1), Morgan(25/1), Nicholas (32/1), Ohio (259/1), Pendleton (40/1), Pleasants (7/1),Pocahontas (40/1), Preston (102/23), Putnam (173/1), Raleigh (191/7), Randolph(203/3), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0), Summers (6/0), Taylor (52/1), Tucker(11/0), Tyler (12/0), Upshur (36/3), Wayne (189/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel(40/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (228/12), Wyoming (23/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is the case of Kanawha and Marion counties in this report.

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. Visitthe dashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

On July 24,2020, Gov. Jim Justice announced that DHHR, the agency in charge of reportingthe number of COVID-19 cases, will transition from providing twice-dailyupdates to one report every 24 hours. This became effective August 1, 2020.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 8-4-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle is stationed in front of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier as construction continues in hard-hit Imperial County on July 22, in Calexico, Calif. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle is stationed in front of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier as construction continues in hard-hit Imperial County on July 22, in Calexico, Calif.

Most Americans support Trump administration efforts to stop immigrants from coming to the United States as long as it's done in the name of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll.

But Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric during the pandemic has done little to budge public opinion on other immigration policies, the poll found. Most of Trump's policies, including his border wall, remain unpopular except among Republicans.

"Americans do want to take steps to limit immigration right now," said pollster Mallory Newall. "But that's not because their views on immigration have changed. It's because they want to do everything in their power to contain the spread of COVID-19."

Meanwhile, immigration is no longer a top concern ahead of the November election. The poll shows it has been eclipsed by the coronavirus, racial justice, unemployment, political extremism and a range of other pressing issues.

The poll was conducted July 30-31 and surveyed 1,115 adults from the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii.

The poll found broad support for a single, national strategy to address the pandemic and for more aggressive measures to contain it. Two-thirds of respondents said they believe the U.S. is handling the pandemic worse than other countries, and most favor more aggressive action, including a nationwide order making it mandatory to shelter at home for two weeks.

Since March, Trump has taken broad actions to curtail legal immigration during the pandemic, imposing new limits on green cards and visas for guest workers, and turning away asylum seekers at the southern border. The administration also closed the southern and northern borders to all but "essential" travel.

There is sizable bipartisan support 85% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats for temporarily shutting down the borders. And more than half overall support limits on legal immigrants, though that is largely driven by Republicans.

"I feel like we need to take care of America first," Tammy Bunce, a Republican respondent from Queen Creek, Ariz. "We should be staying at home, and I think other countries should not be coming in until we have the coronavirus especially under control."

Another respondent, Robert Torres of San Leandro, Calif., is a third-generation immigrant from Mexico who identifies as politically independent. He said: "Right now is not a very good time to be immigrating."

That's partly because of the pandemic, Torres says, but also because "there's a lot of undocumented here that should be documented before we start adding to the immigration."

President Trump has made his immigration crackdown a signature policy and key to his argument for reelection.

From the outset of the pandemic, Trump has blamed foreigners for bringing coronavirus to the United States, calling it the "China virus" and "kung flu." He's also returned to a familiar refrain about protecting American jobs as justification for the latest immigration restrictions, pointing to the battered economy.

But Americans remain divided on immigration policy when it's not tied to stopping the spread of the virus.

"I get right now that we got this pandemic going on, that's fine," said Jo Lee of Houston, Texas, in a follow-up interview. "But once this calms down, if somebody really wants to come over here and raise their family and be a citizen, let them do that. I don't have a problem with that," said Lee, who says she often votes for Democrats.

That divide was clear when poll respondents were asked about whether the federal government should provide stimulus relief checks to undocumented immigrants who pay U.S. taxes: 49% of respondents said yes, including 71% of Democrats; 43% said no, including 66% of Republicans.

The NPR/Ipsos poll found that underlying attitudes about immigration are deeply entrenched, remaining remarkably stable since a previous poll in 2018. For example, about 70% of respondents then and now say immigrants are an "important part of our American identity."

And efforts to build a border wall and limit immigration still fail to garner majority support, except among Republicans, according to the poll:

What has changed, according to the new poll, is how much weight Americans place on immigration as an issue.

Two years ago, one in four respondents cited immigration as one of their top concerns, and it ranked fourth behind health care, crime and terrorism. Now 46% of respondents say COVID-19 is a top concern, while immigration has fallen out of the top 10, with only 11% of respondents saying it's one of the topics they find "most worrying."

Immigration is no longer "a major factor when it comes to deciding who to vote for," Ipsos pollster Mallory Newall said.

"That's where we're sort of almost seeing bipartisan agreement," she said. "People may not have the same stance when it comes to how to deal with the virus, how to deal with immigration. But what they do know is that taking care of COVID, and addressing that and taking care of the economy, is priority number one, full stop."

NPR's Senior Producer Marisa Pealoza contributed to this report.

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Americans Back Trump On Immigration But Only To Stop COVID-19, Poll Finds - NPR