Category: Covid-19

Chicago's top health official encouraged people to "bring the outdoors in" in an attempt to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said that while she's not concerned about residential air conditioning spreading coronavirus, opening windows and doors can lower risk.

"I want to address this because I think particularly with the heat and with you know, 25 years post our really significant heat wave here, I want to be clear that it is safe and appropriate for individuals to use air conditioning in their apartments or in their homes," Arwady said. "I am not concerned about a window air conditioner or an air conditioner in a residential setting being a source of COVID spread. I would apply the same guidance that we give to the large buildings to individuals that a really good way to decrease any potential risk of COVID is just to open your window, open your door, have additional airflow running through your apartment or through your home. And, broadly, letting the outdoors in is one, it has turned out to be, one of the more important things for limiting the risk of COVID in buildings."

Arwady said much of the guidance surrounding air flow has centered on ventilation in large buildings.

"There is very specific guidance that the CDC has put out and that CDPH in the city have pushed out particularly to larger businesses that would have large scale ventilation or air conditioning systems in place," she said. "The bottom line is you want to do what you can to increase air exchanges with the outside. And so our big buildings here in Chicago have done that at an individual level."

The CDC advised office building owners to "increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors if possible, and using fans" as employees return to work.

According to the guidance from the agency, buildings were also encouraged to increase airflow supply to occupied spaces, consider using natural ventilation to "increase outdoor air dilution of indoor air when environmental conditions and building requirements allow," and improve central air filtration.

The guidance comes as states across the country shut down indoor dining as cases spike.

Experts have suggested that a lack of airflow could play a role in the spread of the virus.

"If youre indoors there is also less air circulation, so its more likely that COVID-19 can spread through respiratory droplets when people talk, cough or sneeze," said Heather Voss, a program director of epidemiology and infection prevention at Northwestern Medicine.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization published new guidance, saying it cant rule out the possibility that the coronavirus can be transmitted through air particles in closed spaces indoors, including in gyms and restaurants.

The new guidance recognizes some new research that suggests the virus may be able to spread through particles in the air in indoor crowded spaces.

In these events, short-range aerosol transmission, particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out, the United Nations health agencysnew guidance says.

Airborne transmission of the coronavirus could occur if virus-carrying droplets generate microscopic aerosols by evaporating, the WHO said, or if normal breathing and talking results in exhaled aerosols. In theory, WHO says someone could inhale the aerosols and become infected. But it remains unknown, WHO says, if such aerosols would actually carry enough viable virus to cause infection.

Still, the WHO said in its guidance that while early evidence suggests the possibility of airborne transmission in such environments, spread by droplets and surfaces could also explain transmission in those cases.

The WHO added that more research is needed to further investigate preliminary findings. The agency says the main mode of transmission is still believed to be through respiratory droplets.

If airborne transmission proves to be a major factor in the spread of the virus, it could have wide-ranging policy consequences. Masks may prove to be even more important in reducing infections, especially in indoor environments and even in areas where physical distancing is possible. And more specialized masks designed to block microscopic particles may become more important. Specially outfitted ventilation units designed to kill the virus in circulating air could prove critical in preventing spread in indoor, congregate settings.

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Opening Windows Can Help Prevent Spread of COVID-19: Top Chicago Health Official - NBC Chicago

Authorities in Bangladesh say Mohammad Shahed, 43, who had evaded authorities for nine days, was caught trying to cross a river into neighboring India while wearing a burqa.

Shahed is accused of providing patients with fake negative test results for the novel coronavirus, said Col. Ashique Billah, a spokesman for the country's Rapid Action Battalion, an elite security force.

Shahed is also accused of charging people for virus treatments and documents certifying they did not contract the coronavirus after agreeing with the government that he would provide those services free of charge.

Billah said that two medical facilities owned by Shahed conducted some 4,000 genuine coronavirus tests, but faked the results of another 6,500.

A court Thursday granted police the opportunity to keep Shahed in custody for 10 days for questioning. CNN is attempting to locate a lawyer who represents Shahed for comment.

Shahed is not the first person in Bangladesh arrested on charges of committing medical fraud during the pandemic. Last week, owners of a different private testing facility were arrested for providing fake Covid-19 test certificates without actually testing people, authorities said.

Experts are concerned that these scams could discourage people from getting tested in Bangladesh, which is already facing limited testing capacity. Since March, the government has tested an average of between 13,000 to 17,000 people per day, a comparatively small number for a country with a population of more than 168 million people.

Those seeking tests have faced frustrating delays, with many forced to wait in long lines, sometimes overnight. The new scandal could affect public confidence in testing, and further dissuade people from getting tested altogether.

More than 193,500 people in Bangladesh have contracted the virus, 2,457 of whom have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. But many are concerned that the true number could be much higher owing to Bangladesh's limited testing capacity.

Critics have lashed out at the government for not doing more to protect vulnerable populations, especially in densely populated areas like the capital of Dhaka or along the Ganges River Delta.

Bangladesh went into lockdown for 68 days but reopened in a "limited scale" on June 1 to help jumpstart the economy, despite the fact that public health authorities are still identifying thousands of new cases each day.

Schools remain closed but businesses and government offices have opened.

South Asia is one of the world's current coronavirus hotspots. India is expected to hit 1 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 within days, while Pakistan has recorded more than 255,000 infections.

"Covid-19 is spreading at an alarming rate in South Asia, home to a quarter of humanity," John Fleming, who heads the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' (IFRC) health unit for Asia-Pacific, said in a statement Thursday.

"We now need to urgently turn our attention to this region, urgently step up prevention measures and expand our resources to save thousands of lives," Fleming said.

The pandemic has been particularly devastating to Bangladesh's economy. Though the country's service and technology sectors have grown in recent years, garment production is still the country's economic backbone, raking in an estimated $30 billion a year.

Factories in the country had furloughed or laid off more than half of the country's nearly 4.1 million garment workers by April, the association said at the time.

This story has been updated to accurately reflect the day that Shahed was arrested.

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A hospital owner in Bangladesh allegedly scammed patients out of $350,000 using fake Covid-19 tests. Then he tried to flee the country - CNN

Jena Martinez-Inzunza tested positive for COVID-19. Her colleague died. She's cautious about reopening schools, despite the difficulties of online instruction. Jena Martinez-Inzunza hide caption

Jena Martinez-Inzunza tested positive for COVID-19. Her colleague died. She's cautious about reopening schools, despite the difficulties of online instruction.

As school districts consider how to approach learning this fall with no sign of the coronavirus slowing, the virus has already had devastating consequences in one rural Arizona school district.

Jena Martinez-Inzunza was one of three elementary school teachers at the Hayden Winkelman Unified School District who all tested positive for COVID-19 after teaching virtual summer school lessons together from the same classroom.

Martinez's colleague and friend, Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd, who taught in the district for nearly four decades, died.

"She was very dear to me. She's one of my closest friends," Martinez told Morning Edition.

Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died after testing positive for coronavirus. Other teachers she worked with tested positive as well. "She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind," says her colleague Jena Martinez-Inzunza. Luke Byrd hide caption

Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died after testing positive for coronavirus. Other teachers she worked with tested positive as well. "She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind," says her colleague Jena Martinez-Inzunza.

"She was a very loving, very faithful person and she was very kind. She always loved watching kids find their way, find their strong points and be able to get them to understand that everyone is different. We all have strengths and weaknesses. And that's OK. And that was the message and the love that she brought to our lives."

When teaching summer school classes together from June 8-11, the three teachers: Martinez, Byrd and Angela Skillings, all took precautions and followed CDC guidelines, Martinez says. They kept their distance, wore masks and constantly used hand sanitizer.

Byrd started feeling sick and went to the hospital on June 13. She had underlying conditions, including asthma, and often had sinus infections, according to CNN. She died on June 26.

Byrd's death not only leaves a community mourning, it illustrates the risk of in-person schooling. No students were physically present when the three teachers taught their online classes.

But the alternative, online-only instruction, has its own challenges for teachers and students.

Martinez had already been doing online instruction since schools closed in March. It's "made for very long days," she says, because of the constant and different types of communication between teachers, parents and students: FaceTime, text, email, phone calls and sending physical learning packets. Not all the students have access to the Internet.

As of now, the Hayden Winkelman district will be going online-only when classes resume in August. The school has been working to help unconnected families get online and provide iPads to students, Martinez says.

It will still be a challenge, but Martinez says "it's not the right time" for students to be back in the school building, with Arizona being a coronavirus hot spot.

"It's just going to be worse when we repopulate schools" this fall, she says, if Arizonans don't become more diligent in stopping the virus's spread.

NPR's Krista Kapralos and Taylor Haney produced and edited the audio version of this story.

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A Teacher Who Contracted COVID-19 Cautions Against In-Person Schooling - NPR

Coronaviruses have jumped from animals to humans beforeand theyll do it again. Thats why Adagio Therapeutics is working on antibodies that can fight multiple members of the virus family, including SARS-CoV-2, the culprit behind the current pandemic. The startup snagged $50 million to push its lead candidates into the clinic.

The Adimab spinout is working on monoclonal antibodies that could be used to prevent infection by coronaviruses or to treat patients who have fallen ill. The hope is that one injection could protect people from coronaviruses for months. Unlike vaccines, which stimulate the body to produce antibodies against a pathogen, prophylactic antibody treatments give patients ready-made antibodies to fight off the virus.

Adagios antibodies bind to a piece of the spike protein that is found on multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2which causes COVID-19SARS-CoV-1, which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and two coronaviruses circulating in bats.

RELATED: Regeneron kicks off prevention trial for COVID-19 antibody cocktail

Broad and potent neutralizing antibodies, like the ones that Adagio is developing, are a very promising long-term solution to controlling not only SARS-CoV-2, but also future coronavirus outbreaks. If we had developed broadly neutralizing antibodies during the SARS outbreak in 2003, we would likely be in a much better place today, said Dennis Burton, Ph.D., co-chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, in a statement.

The series A financing, drawn from Polaris Partners, Mithril Capital, Fidelity, OrbiMed, M28 Capital and GV, will bankroll IND-enabling studies and early clinical work. The company plans to be in the clinic by the end of the year.

The repeated spillover of coronaviruses into the human population is now well documented and requires a more comprehensive strategy, particularly when you take into account the emerging doubts about the robustness and durability of the immune response in SARS-CoV-2 patients, said Adagio CEO Tillman Gerngross, Ph.D., in the statement. A professor of bioengineering at Dartmouth College, Gerngross has co-founded multiple companies, including Alector, Avitide, Arsanis and GlycoFi in addition to Adimab.

RELATED: Adimab broadens R&D deals with Novartis, Regeneron, Takeda

Although vaccine development efforts against COVID-19 are moving at warp speed, antibody makers think their drugs will reach patients first. Whats more, it is uncertain how long they will be able to protect people from infection, and some groups, including older or immunocompromised people, may not be able to receive a vaccine at all.

Regeneron, Amgen, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly are among the other drug developers working on antibodies that could be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 infection. Of the group, AstraZeneca and Regeneron have chosen to test a combination of two antibodies that target different areas of the receptor-binding domain on the new coronaviruss spike protein. Using two antibodies rather than one could reduce the risk that a mutant, drug-resistant form of the virus will escape treatment and become the dominant strain.

Our path to normalcy envisions a product, based on the well-known safety profile of antibodies, that can be administered twice a year, while providing greater than 90% protection against SARS-CoV-2, can be used as an effective treatment, and can offer protection against future emerging coronaviruses for everyone, Gerngross said.

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Adagio debuts with $50M to fight COVID-19and the next pandemic - FierceBiotech

A new report of COVID-19 patients referred to a neurological hospital in the United Kingdom describes complications including delirium, brain inflammation, and stroke.

Viral infections can impact the brain, even if the virus has not directly infected brain tissue. For example, inflammation of the brain, or encephalitis, most often results from a viral infection.

These infections usually cause mild, flu-like symptoms, but when they affect the brain, the issues can be severe.

At around the same time as the 1918 flu pandemic, there was an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, or sleeping sickness. Between 1917 and 1927, millions of people likely developed this issue worldwide. Many of the survivors experienced lasting behavioral changes and extreme lethargy. Some lived in catatonic states.

Previously, some researchers have observed a link between infections with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV the coronaviruses that cause SARS and MERS, respectively and signs of damage within the central nervous system.

Stay informed with live updates on the current COVID-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment.

The new coronavirus has also been associated with neurological symptoms. However, our understanding of the neurological consequences of COVID-19 remains in its early stages.

A recent report, led by experts from the Institute of Neurology at University College London, describes cases of delirium, brain inflammation, stroke, and nerve damage associated with COVID-19.

The authors say that their report, which is published in the journal Brain, provides a template to help researchers around the world improve the diagnosis and treatment of the neurological complications of COVID-19.

The study describes the experiences of 43 people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 who were referred to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, in the U.K. The group had a wide age range of 1685 years.

The study team analyzed both the clinical features and the results of brain scans and laboratory tests, and it is the first to have done so in this context.

The report details 10 cases of temporary brain dysfunction, or encephalopathies, with delirium. These patients were mostly over 50 and presented with confusion and disorientation, with one patient experiencing psychosis.

A further 12 patients experienced inflammation of the brain. The majority of these people experienced a rare disorder called acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is triggered by viral infections and leads to damage of the myelin sheaths around nerves.

The researchers note that ADEM is more common in children and that they typically see around one adult with the condition per month. During the period that the study was concerned with, this rate increased to one case per week. This is concerning, as ADEM can progress to multiple sclerosis.

The team also found reports of nerve damage. Specifically, there were seven reports of Guillain-Barr syndrome, a rare neurological disorder in which a persons immune system attacks healthy nerve networks.

This syndrome is often associated with a prior infection and also involves damage to myelin.

The finding is consistent with a previous report, from Italy, of five cases of Guillain-Barr syndrome in COVID-19 patients.

We identified a higher-than-expected number of people with neurological conditions such as brain inflammation, which did not always correlate with the severity of respiratory symptoms. We should be vigilant and look out for these complications in people who have had COVID-19.

Co-senior author Dr. Michael Zandi

The team also reported eight cases of stroke, which confirms previous findings. These cases are thought to result from the sticky blood found in COVID-19 patients.

The remaining patients had other neurological complaints, including dysfunction of the cranial nerve and a brain abscess.

Interestingly, some patients in the study did not experience any severe respiratory symptoms, making their neurological symptoms the first and major presentation of COVID-19.

The authors say that doctors should look out for possible neurological symptoms in people with suspected COVID-19.

Doctors need to be aware of possible neurological effects, as early diagnosis can improve patient outcomes. People recovering from the virus should seek professional health advice if they experience neurological symptoms, says co-lead author Ross Paterson, Ph.D.

In eight of the patients, the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord was tested for the virus, and no evidence of it was found. This suggests that neurological symptoms of COVID-19 are not a result of a direct attack on the nervous system.

Understanding exactly how an infection with the new coronavirus causes these symptoms will require more research. However, it seems likely that the neurological consequences of COVID-19 result from an immune response gone awry, rather than the virus itself.

For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.

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What are the neurological complications of COVID-19? - Medical News Today

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Over 8,300 people across Massachusetts have died after contracting COVID-19.

The 22News I-Team discovered that a county right here in western Massachusetts has the highest death rate in the state. Out of every 100,000 people that live in Hampden County, 140 of them died from COVID-19.

Springfields Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris told 22News the city is seeing more cases of COVID-19, in more densely populated areas, which are often communities of color.

Find out what other factors give Hampen County the highest death rate. Watch the 22News I-Team report on the impact of COVID-19 on Hampden County, Thursday, July 16, on 22News at 6 p.m.

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I-Team: The impact of COVID-19 on Hampden County - WWLP.com

A robot introduces itself to patients in Kigali, Rwanda. The robots, used in Rwanda's treatment centers, can screen people for COVID-19 and deliver food and medication, among other tasks. The robots were donated by the United Nations Development Program and the Rwanda Ministry of ICT and Innovation. Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images hide caption

In some places in the world right now, getting tested for COVID-19 remains difficult or nearly impossible. In Rwanda, you might just get tested randomly as you're going down the street.

"So whenever someone is driving a vehicle, bicycle, motorcycle or even walking, everyone is asked if you wish to get tested," says Sabin Nsanzimana, director general of the Rwanda Biomedical Center, which is the arm of the ministry of health that's in charge of tackling COVID-19. Health officials in personal protective equipment administer the test. Nsanzimana says the testing is voluntary, although some others say refusal is frowned upon.

The sample collection from a swab up the nose and filling out the contact information paperwork takes about five minutes.

"All these samples are sent that day to the lab," Nsanzimana says. "We have a big lab here in Kigali. We have also six other labs in the other provinces."

Despite being classified by the World Bank as a low-income country, and despite its limited resources, Rwanda has vowed to identify every coronavirus case. Anyone who tests positive is immediately quarantined at a dedicated COVID-19 clinic. Any contacts of that case who are deemed at high risk are also quarantined, either at a clinic or at home, until they can be tested.

Nsanzimana says health workers call or visit every potential contact of someone who tests positive.

"We really believe that doing so is important to make sure we detect and trace where the virus could be," he says.

Comprehensive contact tracing is a task that has overwhelmed countries with far more resources than Rwanda. Rwanda's per capita income is roughly $2,000 per year. Yet all testing and treatment for the virus is provided for free.

It costs the government between $50 and $100 to run a single coronavirus test, Nsanzimana says. In order to test thousands a day, Rwanda has started using a process called "pool testing." Material from 20-25 nasal swabs are all put into one vial and run through the machine. This allows them to test far more samples at once. If they get a positive result, then all the swabs that went into that initial vial are tested individually to pinpoint the person who's infected.

Nsanzimana says Rwanda's experience dealing with other infectious disease outbreaks is helping it now during the pandemic.

The country is using systems and equipment it already had in place to address HIV.

"The main machines we are using for COVID testing are the HIV machines that were (already) there," he says. "We are using the same structure, same people, same infrastructure and laboratory diagnostics, but applying it to COVID testing."

Since recording its first case in mid-March, the country of 12 million has recorded just over 1,200 cases. Ohio has a similar size population and has recently been reporting roughly 1,200 cases a day.

"Rwanda did a few things that are quite smart," says Sema Sgaier, the head of the Surgo Foundation, which has just launched a new data tool to analyze trends around COVID-19 across Africa. "One is they responded really early. They put some of the most stringent lockdowns in place compared to every other African country. In fact, we've been monitoring physical distancing data across the continent and Rwanda fares, I think, second; they've physical distanced the second most across Africa" a conclusion based on mobile phone movement data. South Africa is No. 1.

Rwanda mobilized community health care workers and police and college students to work as contact tracers. It set up national and regional command posts to track cases. It's even using human-size robots in the COVID-19 clinics to take patients' temperatures and deliver supplies.

Tolbert Nyenswah, who ran the Liberian ministry of health's response to Ebola in 2014, gives Rwanda high marks for how it has been handling COVID-19, even if at times it's heavy-handed.

"Rwanda, from all indications, is a success story for Africa," Nyenswah says. The strong leadership from President Paul Kagame, which Nyenswah says can even be authoritarian, has been effective during this crisis. Kagame demands accountability from his health ministry.

Whether the people trust or fear the government, Rwandans listen to their government and have been following the orders regarding masks, washing hands and staying home.

Nyenswah worries that the worst is yet to come in Africa with this pandemic.

"No country is out of the woods yet," he says. However, he adds that Rwanda is an example to other low-income countries that even with limited resources, this virus can be contained. "So what needs to be done is to follow the (prevention and containment) measures. Political leadership is very, very crucial. Rwanda should continue what it is doing now. And other countries should emulate Rwanda."

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Coronavirus Success Story: How Rwanda Is Curbing COVID-19 : Goats and Soda - NPR

Photo by Matthew Bowler

Above: A San Diego county employee explains the testing process to a person with an appointment at a San Diego County COVID 19 testing station by the SDCCU Stadium on May 18, 2020.

The San Diego County COVID-19 case total sits just shy of the 21,500 mark as county public health officials reported over 500 new cases for the fifth time in the last seven days.

The 559 cases and 12 deaths reported Wednesday raise the total number of cases to 21,446 and the number of deaths to 448. Of the 8,436 tests reported Wednesday, 7% returned positive, bringing the 14-day rolling average to 7.2%.

County public health officials previously reported 560 cases last Thursday, 508 on Saturday, 558 on Sunday and 539 on Tuesday.

Four new community outbreaks were reported Wednesday, bringing the weekly total to 14 well above the county's metric of no more than seven in a one-week span. The new outbreaks were reported in a laboratory, hair salon, barber shop and restaurant/bar.

A community outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households.

Of the total positive cases, 2,093 or 9.8% have been hospitalized and 546 or 2.5% of cases have been admitted to an intensive care unit.

About 147.2 of every 100,000 San Diegans are testing positive for the illness, well above the state's criterion of 100 per 100,000 and the highest daily rate since the pandemic began.

The last metric the county has failed to maintain is the percentage of cases that have been handled by a contact investigator. Although there are more than 500 investigators currently employed by the county and 98% of all cases had been investigated as recently as June 25, that rate has dropped to a dismal 46%.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, the San Diego County's public health officer, said as a response to these flagging rates, the county is attempting to hire more contact investigators. In just a three-hour period after the job posting went online, more than 300 applications came in.

The number of cases continues to rise in people between the ages of 20 and 49 and particularly in people in their 20s, prompting the county to make efforts at educating younger people.

"While it's true that the mortality for younger people is lower, it's also true that the rate is not zero," said Dr. Scott Eisman, pulmonologist at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas. "The complications from this illness are far greater, much longer lasting and far more serious than the flu."

Eisman said in studies following SARS and MERS outbreaks other coronaviruses people who had the disease and showed symptoms sometimes didn't regain original lung capacity until a year or longer after the symptoms began.

"All indications lead us to expect it to be at least as serious as those diseases and much more aggressive," he said, adding that even otherwise healthy people could see months of complications from the illness.

Eisman also said heart attacks, strokes and serious blood clots were increasing among younger people confirmed to have COVID-19. A total of 58% of those confirmed to have COVID-19 in the county were between the ages of 20 and 49.

Following Gov. Gavin Newsom's updated health order Monday, all indoor operations ceased at midnight Tuesday in gyms, houses of worship, non-critical office businesses, hair salons and barber shops, indoor malls and personal care services, such as massage businesses and tattoo parlors.

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which began its racing season five days ago, canceled its racing program for the upcoming weekend on Wednesday after 15 jockeys recently tested positive for COVID-19. Racing is slated to resume July 24.

KPBS' daily news podcast covering local politics, education, health, environment, the border and more. New episodes are ready weekday mornings so you can listen on your morning commute.

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San Diego County Reports Over 500 New COVID-19 Cases For 5th Time In A Week - KPBS

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 14, 2020, there have been 213,894total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 4,407 totalcases and 97 deaths.

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(20/0), Berkeley (524/19), Boone (38/0), Braxton (5/0), Brooke (29/1), Cabell(195/7), Calhoun (4/0), Clay (13/0), Fayette (84/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant(20/1), Greenbrier (71/0), Hampshire (44/0), Hancock (43/3), Hardy (46/1),Harrison (126/0), Jackson (148/0), Jefferson (253/5), Kanawha (422/12), Lewis(22/1), Lincoln (9/0), Logan (39/0), Marion (110/3), Marshall (67/1), Mason(26/0), McDowell (11/0), Mercer (63/0), Mineral (68/2), Mingo (29/2),Monongalia (596/14), Monroe (14/1), Morgan (19/1), Nicholas (19/1), Ohio(148/0), Pendleton (16/1), Pleasants (4/1), Pocahontas (37/1), Preston (84/21),Putnam (90/1), Raleigh (81/3), Randolph (189/2), Ritchie (2/0), Roane (12/0),Summers (2/0), Taylor (22/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne(128/1), Webster (1/0), Wetzel (37/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (185/9), Wyoming (7/0).

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 Grant County in this report.

Please visit thedashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-14-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

In normal times, I would feel an obligation to take part in the recent protests against police brutality. Im worried, however, that these gatherings could lead to a coronavirus outbreak. Black Americans are suffering from Covid-19 at a disproportionately high rate I dont want to endanger the very lives that this movement is seeking to protect. I have done what I can to speak out in other ways, from signing petitions to making donations and even making a Black Lives Matter sign and carrying it for a solo march around my neighborhood (which definitely attracted a lot of laughter and scorn). I feel bad for not getting out there and standing up for whats right. Is it ethical to support these protests only from a distance? Name Withheld

How do you balance political progress and public health? Many philosophers would say theres no easy moral arithmetic that would allow you to compare the two concerns. In 1965, when John Lewis, the young chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, helped lead a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., he did not consult first with his physician. Nor did he or the other protesters heed the advice of Maj. John Cloud of the Alabama state troopers, who warned them through a bullhorn that it would be detrimental to your safety to continue this march. The troopers then made sure that it would be freely swinging whips and clubs. Among the injured protesters was Lewis, whose skull was fractured. The spectacle of peaceful marchers menaced by state violence is, of course, what made the protest so powerful and effectual.

Public-health issues take on another dimension in the pandemic; to catch the virus is to gain the capacity to spread the virus. Responsible protesters this summer have worn masks and tried to maintain some distance from one another. But public safety is jeopardized when law-enforcement officials use tear gas and other irritants that cause respiratory problems, leading people to cough or to remove their masks. It is jeopardized when riot police engage in kettling, boxing protesters into confined spaces and cutting off exits.

So far, it appears that the public-health effects have been more modest than some experts feared. Massachusetts offered additional free coronavirus testing in mid-June to anyone who had recently attended a large gathering, and the results were said to be within the range of statewide numbers. New York City health officials say that they havent yet seen an uptick. It no doubt mattered that the rallies were outdoors; it may have helped that the protesters were typically moving. Luck may have played a role, too. We cant know if the story will be the same with other large protests, especially if a false sense of safety leads to less caution. Its entirely possible that some people who wouldnt otherwise have been infected will become infected and infect others; its possible that some will die.

But not protesting also has significant costs. Our country seems to be on the cusp of necessary reforms, not just in policing but in other areas where racial injustice is pervasive, and careful analysis by social scientists tells us that protests of the right sort can spur political change. We shouldnt assume that this summers political energy can be recaptured when vaccines become available. Many people believe that, at least for this generation, it is now or never.

You wonder, reasonably enough, whether it will be worth the risks. Your own contribution, by itself, is unlikely to make a significant difference either to the spread of Covid-19 or to the process of reform. But if your individual impact was all that mattered, you wouldnt do anything much in politics, including voting, where one vote rarely shifts the outcome. The right question is not: What contribution am I making? The right question is: Am I taking part in a process thats making a positive contribution over all?

Leave aside the fact that the possible gains and losses are extremely hard to model. Even if we knew the net long-term epidemiological effects of participation, on the one hand, and the net long-term effects on health of better policies, on the other, we wouldnt have captured everything important. Had no one ever paid costs in health and mortality for political change, we might still be living with slavery or Jim Crow.

The calculus is complicated in this case by the fact that the health costs of protests may end up being borne, in part, by people who didnt choose to participate who didnt choose, as protesters often have, to take an individual risk of serious injury or death for a chance at a significant advance in justice. Its further complicated by the fact that theres no bureau de change that tells you how much public health to trade for how much political equality. Rational people can disagree about the assessments they reach.

And a final point different people are going to be differently situated here. If youre going home to tend to someone in the class of the most vulnerable, you would have an individual reason to stay away in order to meet your responsibilities to that person. Absent such considerations, if you think large-scale protests are important, you can reasonably take part in them, observing all the necessary precautions and urging others to do the same.

I work for a fast-growing health care company. Recently I referred a friend of mine for an open position, and she was offered the job. After she accepted the offer, my friend told me she intends to keep her current job while also working for my company. (Because both firms allow for remote work, she feels that shell be able to balance time for each.) This arrangement of two full-time positions is clearly against company policy, which requires, among other things, disclosure and approval of all other employment. My friend intends to keep her plans a secret from both her employers. I have advised her against this decision, but she remains undeterred. Im worried about the potential fallout for my friend but also the potential that my professional reputation could be tarnished if her deception comes to light. Should I warn my employer? Name Withheld

In violating the terms of her employment, this person is taking advantage of a company that trusts employees to work unsupervised at home, in a way thats unfair to others who dont abuse the trust. But shes also letting you down: You referred her and, in some sense, vouched for her, in the expectation that she would devote her full-time attentions to her new position. No decent friend would do what shes doing. There are many ways that her deception could come to light: People from one company can talk to those at another, and company directories can increasingly be found online, anyway.

If the details were otherwise, we could discuss the tension between what you owe your employers and what you owe your friend. But given that shes recklessly forfeited the trust that friendship is based on, youd clearly be within your rights to alert your employers. Because the consequences of your doing that could be severe, though, you should offer her the choice between voluntarily ending her double-dipping and your ending it for her.

Original post:

I Dont Want to Spread Covid-19. Can I Sit Out the Protests? - The New York Times