Category: Covid-19

It has been seven weeks since Floridas governor, Ron DeSantis, took a coronavirus victory lap, pressing ahead with a swift reopening program while berating the media for a doom and gloom approach he said bore little relation to reality.

We havent seen an explosion of new cases, DeSantis insisted during a 29 April news conference, a day on which the states Covid-19 tally increased by 347.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, DeSantis, a keen Trump ally, added.

This week, however, it became clear that the Republican governors garden of roses is wilting fast in the face of a resurgent virus.

A period that began with Floridas daily record of new cases below 1,700 saw eight consecutive days above that figure, five of them topping 2,000 and both Thursday and Friday seeing the highest numbers of all: 3,207 and 3,822 cases, respectively, eclipsing the previous recorded high by more than 35%.

The staggering figures have caused experts at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania to conclude that Florida has all the markings of the next large epicenter of coronavirus transmission. Such a consequence could be significant in a politically sensitive swing state that analysts agree Donald Trump must win in November to secure a second term as president.

Governor DeSantis has lost control of Floridas Covid-19 response, said Nikki Fried, the agricultural commissioner and only Democrat elected to statewide office, who has previously complained at being shut out of DeSantiss recovery taskforce.

His policies are simply not working and hes recklessly reopening Florida despite the data screaming for caution. Refusing to acknowledge the alarming patterns in cases, hospitalizations and positivity is not only arrogant but will cost lives, public health and our economy, Fried added.

The rise in Floridas figures, with close to 90,000 cases and deaths surpassing 3,000, comes as the majority of its 67 counties reach the end of the second week of DeSantiss safe, smart, step-by-step reopening plan.

Beaches, bars and restaurants, movie theaters and entertainment venues are mostly open again, with tighter restrictions in the hardest-hit counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Universal Orlando resort welcomed back guests on 5 June and Disney World will reopen its theme parks next month.

DeSantis, meanwhile, contends that Florida is on the right track, arguing that the rising figures can be attributed to increased testing, particularly among younger residents, and concentrated pockets of outbreaks among agricultural workers, prison inmates and even a 52% positivity rate among airport workers an unsubstantiated claim debunked by the Orlando Sentinel.

He refuses to consider calls to slow or reverse the pace of Floridas reopening. Were not shutting down. Were going to go forward. Were not rolling back. You have to have society function, DeSantis said on Tuesday.

His comments came the same day Vice-President Mike Pence wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that concerns over a second wave of coronavirus were overblown by the press, and that the White House was winning the fight against the invisible enemy.

DeSantiss critics say that although testing has increased in Florida, the number of cases has risen at a significantly higher rate. They point to other indicators, such as declining availability of intensive care and other hospital beds around the state, and a rising positivity rate in Covid-19 tests that has climbed back above 10% for the first time since April.

Public health analysts see merit in both arguments, but warn of darker days ahead if social distancing is not maintained. Already in Jacksonville some newly reopened bars have closed again after a Covid-19 outbreak.

The bulk of this is almost certainly due to testing [but] there is definitely evidence of wider community spread, typically among younger folks, said Dr Charles Lockwood, senior vice-president of USF Health in Tampa and dean of the universitys Morsani college of medicine.

There are enough signals, a drop in test negativity, a slight increase in influenza-like illnesses, bad behavior in terms of social distancing, that Im concerned.

Around the state there are rumblings that renewed closures could become necessary. Jerry Demings, the mayor of Orange county, said he would consider a lockdown if numbers continued to rise, a view echoed by Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami.

Municipalities are also tightening up restrictions because of the surge. Beginning Friday, businesses in St Petersburg must ensure employees wear masks, now a requirement for visitors to the Florida Keys under a law enacted this week.

Carol Dover, president and chief executive of the Florida restaurant and lodging association, said she remained guarded about the immediate future of the states $67bn tourism industry, even though numbers since the reopening are still going in the right direction.

Our members are doing everything they can to survive at 50% [occupancy], hoping the governor will be able to get us to 75 or 100%, she said. Im hopeful and somewhat guarded because were not completely open yet but I feel the governor has done an amazing job.

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Floridas Covid-19 surge shows the state's reopening plan is not working - The Guardian

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists are only starting to grasp the vast array of health problems caused by the novel coronavirus, some of which may have lingering effects on patients and health systems for years to come, according to doctors and infectious disease experts.

FILE PHOTO: A health worker takes care of a patient infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), inside an Intensive Care Unit of the University of Chile's clinical hospital in Santiago, Chile, June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo

Besides the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, the virus that causes COVID-19 attacks many organ systems, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.

We thought this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didnt appreciate that in the beginning, said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.

In addition to respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 can experience blood clotting disorders that can lead to strokes, and extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems. The virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion.

And recovery can be slow, incomplete and costly, with a huge impact on quality of life.

The broad and diverse manifestations of COVID-19 are somewhat unique, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

With influenza, people with underlying heart conditions are also at higher risk of complications, Khan said. What is surprising about this virus is the extent of the complications occurring outside the lungs.

Kahn believes there will be a huge healthcare expenditure and burden for individuals who have survived COVID-19.

Patients who were in the intensive care unit or on a ventilator for weeks will need to spend extensive time in rehab to regain mobility and strength.

It can take up to seven days for every one day that youre hospitalized to recover that type of strength, Kahn said. Its harder the older you are, and you may never get back to the same level of function.

While much of the focus has been on the minority of patients who experience severe disease, doctors increasingly are looking to the needs of patients who were not sick enough to require hospitalization, but are still suffering months after first becoming infected.

Studies are just getting underway to understand the long-term effects of infection, Jay Butler, deputy director of infectious diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a telephone briefing on Thursday.

We hear anecdotal reports of people who have persistent fatigue, shortness of breath, Butler said. How long that will last is hard to say.

While coronavirus symptoms typically resolve in two or three weeks, an estimated 1 in 10 experience prolonged symptoms, Dr. Helen Salisbury of the University of Oxford wrote in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.

Salisbury said many of her patients have normal chest X-rays and no sign of inflammation, but they are still not back to normal.

If you previously ran 5k three times a week and now feel breathless after a single flight of stairs, or if you cough incessantly and are too exhausted to return to work, then the fear that you may never regain your previous health is very real, she wrote.

Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine, reviewed current scientific literature and found about half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had neurological complications, such as dizziness, decreased alertness, difficulty concentrating, disorders of smell and taste, seizures, strokes, weakness and muscle pain.

Koralnik, whose findings were published in the Annals of Neurology, has started an outpatient clinic for COVID-19 patients to study whether these neurological problems are temporary or permanent.

Kahn sees parallels with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Much of the early focus was on deaths.

In recent years, weve been very focused on the cardiovascular complications of HIV survivorship, Kahn said.

Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; additional reporting by Caroline Humer and Nancy Lapid in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot

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Scientists just beginning to understand the many health problems caused by COVID-19 - Reuters

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, today announced that its oral COVID-19 vaccine has been selected to participate in a non-human primate (NHP) challenge study, organized and funded by Operation Warp Speed, a new national program aiming to provide substantial quantities of safe, effective vaccine for Americans by January 2021.

The study is designed to demonstrate the efficacy of Vaxarts oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

We are very pleased to be one of the few companies selected by Operation Warp Speed, and that ours is the only oral vaccine being evaluated. SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is primarily transmitted by viral particles that enter through the mucosa - nose, mouth or eyes - strongly suggesting that mucosal immunity could serve as the first line of defense, said Andrei Floroiu, Chief Executive Officer of Vaxart Inc. In addition, our vaccine is a room temperature-stable tablet, an enormous logistical advantage in large vaccination campaigns.

About VaxartVaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing oral tablet vaccines designed to generate mucosal and systemic immune responses that protect against a wide range of infectious diseases and has the potential to provide sterilizing immunity for diseases such as COVID-19. Vaxart believes that a room temperature stable tablet vaccine is easier to distribute, store and administer than injectable vaccines and may provide significantly faster response to a pandemic than injectable vaccines, enabling a greater portion of the population to be protected. Vaxarts development programs include oral tablet vaccines that are designed to protect against coronavirus, norovirus, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV). For more information, please visit http://www.vaxart.com.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding Vaxarts strategy, prospects, plans and objectives, results from pre-clinical and clinical trials, commercialization agreements and licenses, beliefs and expectations of management are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may be accompanied by such words as should, believe, could, potential, will, expected, plan and other words and terms of similar meaning. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Vaxarts ability to develop and commercialize its product candidates and clinical results and trial data (including timing for and plans with respect to the COVID-19 vaccine product candidates and Operation Warp Speed and the NHP challenge study); potential partnership opportunities; Vaxarts expectations regarding the effectiveness and convenience of any COVID-19 vaccine; and Vaxarts expectations with respect to the important advantages it believes its oral vaccine platform can offer over injectable alternatives. Vaxart may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that Vaxart makes, including uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical endpoints, commencement and/or completion dates for clinical trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and results from the clinical studies; decisions by regulatory authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, and safety that could affect the availability or commercial potential of any product candidate, including the possibility that Vaxarts product candidates may not be approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities; that, even if approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities, Vaxarts product candidates may not achieve broad market acceptance; that a Vaxart collaborator may not attain development and commercial milestones; that Vaxart may experience manufacturing issues and delays due to events within, or outside of, Vaxarts control, including the recent outbreak of COVID-19; that Vaxart may not be able to obtain, maintain and enforce necessary patent and other intellectual property protection; that Vaxarts capital resources may be inadequate; Vaxarts ability to obtain sufficient capital to fund its operations on terms acceptable to Vaxart, if at all; the impact of government healthcare proposals and policies; competitive factors; and other risks described in the Risk Factors sections of Vaxarts Quarterly and Annual Reports filed with the SEC. Vaxart does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

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Vaxart's COVID-19 Vaccine Selected for the U.S. Government's Operation Warp Speed - GlobeNewswire

Months of lockdown and isolation across Europe have given way to impromptu parties and illicit raves, sparking fears of a surge in Covid-19 cases and prompting warnings that the progress made across the continent in fighting the pandemic could be wiped away.

In Portugal, the government said on Thursday it would tighten restrictions on several areas of Greater Lisbon from 1 July to allow residents to leave their homes only for food, medicine or to work, and to limit gatherings to five people. The measure came after reports of parties that attracted as many as 1,000 revellers.

The country of 10 million was initially hailed as one of Europes success stories, with the governments swift response credited with limiting the death toll to 1,549. But in recent weeks the number of cases has soared, resulting in a rate that ranks among the continents highest when it comes to new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Along with localised outbreaks in a handful of neighbourhoods and industrial hubs, social gatherings have proven fertile ground for the virus, with 76 cases tied to a birthday party in the Algarve attended by 100 people earlier this month and another 20 cases linked to a party held days later at a campsite in the countrys south-west.

After some 1,000 revellers descended on a beach party near Lisbon last weekend, officials began clamping down on residents in and around the capital, banning drinking in public spaces and barring restaurants from serving alcohol after 8pm. After doing everything right, were not going to ruin it now, the prime minister of Portugal, Antnio Costa, told reporters on Monday.

On Thursday the World Health Organization warned that some 30 European countries had reported a surge in new cases in the past two weeks.

Last week, Europe saw an increase in weekly cases for the first time in months, Hans Kluge, the regional director for Europe, told reporters on Thursday. He did not identify any of the countries, but added that the situation was particularly acute in 11 countries.

As countries crack down on illicit parties, the task has been largely left to police. This week saw police sporadically clash with the thousands who thronged to Pariss Canal Saint-Martin and Marais district for the annual Fte de la Musique, while in Berlin more than 100 officers broke up a demonstration that turned into a spontaneous, 3,000-person party earlier this month. In Berlin, police have also warned of a rise in illicit raves in the citys parks.

Analysis carried out this week by the Guardian suggested the total number of cases had climbed by 37% in the past week in Germany, where authorities are struggling to control an outbreak at an abattoir, while France saw a 12% rise in cases over last week.

Warmer weather and the relaxing of restrictions also fuelled gatherings in England, where police are grappling with a proliferation of parties, hastily organised on social media and held in motorway underpasses, parks and industrial estates. Earlier this month, two illegal raves in Greater Manchester attracted some 6,000 people.

In hard-hit Spain, which on Wednesday reported its highest number of cases in three weeks, health officials have long warned about the risks of social gatherings.

An outbreak brought on by a small, innocent party just one outbreak could be the start of a new, nationwide epidemic, Fernando Simn, the health official heading the countrys response to the virus, said in late May after a cluster of cases in the countrys north-east was linked to an illicit birthday party in which four of the 20 or so attendees tested positive.

Days later another illegal party made headlines around the world and saw Spain slap a 10,400 (9,400) fine on Belgiums Prince Joachim after the royal breached the countrys quarantine rules to attend a party in southern Spain. He later tested positive for the virus.

Spanish officials are now bracing themselves for the months ahead, as the countrys deeply ingrained culture of traditional fiestas faces off with the countrys new rules on physical distancing. The scope of the challenge was laid bare this week after hundreds of people few of them wearing masks spontaneously gathered in the Menorcan city of Ciutadella to mark the day of Sant Joan despite the official celebrations being called off.

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Parties and raves across Europe spark fears of Covid-19 surge - The Guardian

Californias early, aggressive response to the coronavirus pandemic had earned praise from the top US health officials, and even Donald Trump. But after avoiding the scenarios faced by New York and New Jersey, the state has seen infections and hospitalizations swell in recent weeks.

As malls, museums, bars and other public spaces reopened, Governor Gavin Newsom has urged citizens to wear masks and keep their distance from one another to slow the spread of disease. I cannot impress upon people more the importance at this critical juncture, he said, to take seriously this moment.

Heres what we know about the situation.

Big. Overall, the state has reported more than 195,500 cases since the pandemic first struck, with 5,700 deaths. California marked a record 7,149 people who tested positive on Tuesday, a figure that dropped on Wednesday to 5,349.

Part of the surge were seeing is due to increased testing, said Dr Lee Riley, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. California has tested roughly 3.7 million people since the beginning of the pandemic, and more than 101,000 tests were processed on Wednesday.

But the fact that the number of hospitalizations are also increasing means that theres more going on, Riley said. As of Thursday, the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 is 32% higher than it was two weeks ago, Newsom reported. The number of patients in intensive care also increased 19% over the past fortnight more than a third of ICU beds available across the state are now occupied by coronavirus patients. Over the past two weeks, about 64 people have died of the virus each day.

I think pretty much every place has rushed to reopen, said Dr Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at UC Los Angeles. And as we reopen, of course were going to see more cases.

The number of cases appear to be increasing throughout the state, but the biggest surges in infections are in Los Angeles county and other parts of southern California.

Los Angeles now has more cases than anywhere else in the country, with more than 89,600 infections reported, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker. Rural communities like Imperial county, at the US-Mexico border, and Stanislaus, in the Central Valley, are also seeing surges in both the total number of cases recorded and the proportion of residents who are testing positive.

Bay Area communities including Santa Clara county, the first in the nation to enact a shelter-in-place order are also seeing surges, though the proportion of positive tests in the region remains far below the state average.

Officials have attributed the surge in some parts of the Bay Area to workplaces, including an outbreak at a waste management company in Marin county. Since mid-May, outbreaks at prisons have been excluded from the states Covid-19 tracking data, but it is worth noting that a devastating outbreak at San Quentin state prison, where an inmate transfer led to more than 500 new cases, and outbreaks at other facilities across the state would add about 850 more new cases logged in the past two weeks to the states totals.

Its not totally clear, though public health experts and officials blame large gatherings where people are not wearing masks and not maintaining a 6ft-radius, even as adherence to these safety measures becomes increasingly political.

Theres a group of people who go around bragging that theyre practicing individual freedom by not wearing masks, Riley said. These people are not practicing freedom theyre practicing pure selfishness.

While reopening society can never be risk free, Riley said that countries that have been most successful at containing the virus have been far more vigilant than California in mandating mask-wearing, hygiene and physical distancing. In South Korea, where fewer than 300 people have died despite reporting more cases in February than any country besides China, a second wave of infections has remained relatively small despite restaurants, schools and even nightclubs reopening, Riley noted. Small clusters of cases are much easier to contain by isolating those who are infected, notifying those who are exposed, he said. What were seeing in California is a lost opportunity to reopen carefully.

An uptick in the number of cases among young people is also a concern, Riley said. While people in their 20s, 30s and 40s are less likely to die from Covid-19, they can get seriously ill, and they can be sources of infection for older people who are most at risk: their grandmas, their grandpas, their buds with diabetes and their friends with high blood pressure. Healthy young people who show few symptoms could pass the virus on to those who are most at risk of suffering complications.

In order to safely reopen, no more than 5% of everyone in a community who gets tested for Covid-19 should receive a positive result, according to the World Health Organization.

Californias threshold for reopening is that no more than 8% of all tests should come back positive. While the positivity rate for the state overall hovers at a tenuous 5.1%, the rate in some southern California counties is nearly 9% or higher.

Governor Newsom said the state might have to revert back to tougher restrictions if the situation gets worse.

Officials and health experts are pleading with Californians to continue to wear masks, wash hands, and stay 6ft apart. Health agencies in some counties are encouraging residents to keep their social circles small limited to bubbles of no more than a dozen friends and gather outdoors.

In Imperial county, which borders Mexico and Arizona, defiance of a statewide mandate to wear face masks and lax social distancing appears to have exacerbated a crisis both within and across state and national borders. Whether people here brought infections to Yuma, Arizona and Mexicali, or whether they brought it back from those places is kind of immaterial at this point, said Dr Thomas Henderson, director of the Imperial County Medical Society. What were seeing here is craziness.

The crisis has overwhelmed local hospitals, he said. Its just a horrible time to be a physician he added, because doctors have found themselves pleading with the community to wear masks and stay safe, but its all become so political.

As Donald Trump and rightwing politicians and media outlets derided masks as unnecessary, Dr Anthony Fauci, the health official leading the US response to coronavirus, told Californians who were skeptical of covering their faces in public to forget the politics. Look at the data. A string of new research released this summer suggests that masks can reduce the risks of spreading the virus, even if theyre far from foolproof.

Its totally understandable to want to get back as quickly as possible to what you perceive as normal in your life, Fauci said at an event hosted by the Sacramento Press Club. But he urged Californians to stay vigilant, nothing that reopening isnt black or white, either no restrictions or locked down.

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Why are California's Covid-19 cases surging? Here's what we know - The Guardian

The U.S. is seeing a "disturbing surge" of COVID-19 infections, particularly in the Southeast and West, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday.

Playing a large part in this surge, health officials say, are increasing cases in younger people, in their 20s, 30s and 40s increases that are driven, in part, by increased testing, but even more so by large gatherings.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged that young people have a "pent up urge" to go out into public spaces, but stressed the need to continue physical distancing and wear face coverings to prevent spread of the virus.

"The next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges that we're seeing in Florida, Texas and Arizona," Fauci said.

The coronavirus spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing, talking and singing.

"I've seen bars and restaurants that look like it's New Year's Eve 1999 not a care in the world, nobody wearing masks, standing shoulder to shoulder," said Dr. James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The number of COVID-19 cases has begun to rise as college athletes resume training. Members of the University of Houston football team have tested positive, as have players at the University of Texas at Austin and Clemson University in South Carolina.

McDeavitt said Houston is seeing "very rapid increases" in new patients sick enough to be hospitalized, although the age range of the patients is unclear. However, most of those patients don't need intensive care or mechanical ventilation, McDeavitt said.

That suggests that current patients aren't quite as sick as those who fell ill in March and April. McDeavitt said that while it's true that doctors now have access to treatments like remdesivir and convalescent plasma, "our leading hypothesis is that we are probably seeing a slightly younger patient population."

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In general, older adults and those with chronic health problems have been more likely to develop more serious complications of COVID-19.

During a conference call Monday, Vice President Mike Pence told governors that a growing number of people under age 35 are testing positive for COVID-19, especially in hard-hit states such as Florida and Texas.

According to sources who were on the call, Pence said the White House is working with those states to address the rise in cases.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference last week that certain counties have reported that people under age 30 represent a majority of positive COVID-19 tests. On Monday, he said the spread of the coronavirus is "unacceptable."

It's a similar situation in Florida. During a news conference last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the average age of COVID-19 patients in the state had declined dramatically in recent months from the 60s to 37.

"Those under 40, in particular, who don't have any significant underlying conditions, are much, much less likely to be hospitalized or to suffer fatality," DeSantis said. However, over the weekend, the state Health Department confirmed Florida's first COVID-19 death in a minor, a 17-year-old boy in Pasco County.

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"We are starting to see younger patients coming in, more 30-, 40-year-old patients coming in, late 20s," June Ellis, an associate chief nursing officer at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, told NBC Miami.

Physicians in North Carolina, too, are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 among younger adults, even teenagers.

"As we're reopening, sports teams are getting back together and people are going to camps," said Dr. Katie Passaretti, medical director for infection prevention at Atrium Health in Charlotte. "We're starting to see some evidence of increased patients associated with that."

She echoed McDeavitt's observation that those patients don't seem to be as sick as older adults.

"We're not necessarily seeing an increase in the severity of disease. It's just that we're seeing evidence of more transmission," Passaretti said.

"Some people would like to say, well that's not a big deal because young people don't get as sick," Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said Tuesday on "TODAY." "But young people are then going to spend time with their parents and grandparents."

"Just because it starts with young people, doesn't mean it will stay with young people," Jha said.

Judith Malmgren, an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington's epidemiology department, noted a marked shift to younger COVID-19 cases in Washington in March and April in a study she co-authored. The study was posted to a preprint server and hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Malmgren said she, too, has noticed large numbers of young adults gathering in large crowds. But beyond that, people involved in essential work are more likely to be 20- to 39-year-olds, she said.

"They're also more likely to have interaction with the public, for example, packing your groceries at the grocery store," Malmgren said. "It's just the way that COVID-19 is spread, human to human, face to face."

Experts say there are ways to minimize risk as people try to get back to some level of normal life without pushing the economy back into a lockdown. They include wearing face coverings, remaining vigilant about hand hygiene, staying about 6 feet away from others in public and avoiding others if you become sick.

"Everybody needs to take personal responsibility," McDeavitt said. "If we do those things, that will replicate a lot of what a lockdown does.

"But the challenge I see," McDeavitt added, is that "some people are taking it to heart, and others are acting like they're not in the middle of the worst global pandemic of this century."

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'Not a care in the world': In hard-hit states, younger adults increasingly bear brunt of COVID-19 cases - NBC News

On Olympic Day, 23 June 2020, the International Olympic Committee and WHO together with theUnited Nations launch a partnership to encourage individuals and communities around the world to be #HEALTHYTogether.The three partners and Olympic athletes will spotlight the global collaboration needed to stay healthy and reduce the spread and impact of COVID-19.

Olympic athletes will help deliver important public health information,toinspirepeople to adopt or continue behavioursthat will curtail the pandemic and provide information that promotes physical and mental health. The partnership kicks off today with Olympians around the world showcasing various exercises to stay healthy during this time.

A WHO survey showed that many people who had severe COVID-19 disease were already living with or at risk for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The results emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle including being physically active, having a healthy diet, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol.

We are pleased to partner with the International Olympic Committee to spread important health messages that will save lives. Olympians will help us advocate for healthier populations to ensure that people are as resilient as our health systems must be to fight COVID-19, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO.

Over the past six months, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every corner of the globe and every aspect ofpeopleslives.The world is looking for global institutionsto work together andfor leaders to deliverreliable, credibleinformation from sources they trust. Olympic athletes are symbols of strength that can act as trusted messengers for this information.

IOC President Thomas Bachsaid, Sport can save lives. We have seen over the last few months just how important sport and physical activity are for health and well-being. And working together with the WHO and the United Nations we can take another step together. We will ask our Olympic athletes to help share the information and best practice that the world needs now.

Antnio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, addedDuring this time of unprecedented challenges and change --from the COVID-19 pandemic to the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice, to the climate crisis --there has never been a greater need for global solidarity and hope. The Olympic movementand its athleteshavealways brought out the best in humanity, and the UnitedNationsis pleased to work with the InternationalOlympicCommitteeandtheWorldHealthOrganizationin calling on people everywhereto unite and be #HEALTHYTogether.

The global partnership will act locally, through the voices of Olympic athletes voices that symbolize perseverance, dedication and endurance qualities all individuals need during this public health challenge. WHO will work with athletes to bring tailored health messages to people who are living through various stages of the pandemic through digital platforms.

As COVID-19 forces changes to our daily routines and lives from how we interact with others to how we move and exercise we need to pay attention to our own mental and physical health and help others who may need extra support. By working together, the aim of the partnership on Olympic Day and every day is to stay Healthy Together.

For more information, please visithttps://www.who.int/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat-coronavirus/healthytogether

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IOC joins forces with WHO and the United Nations to fight COVID-19 - World Health Organization

Introduction

Breastfeeding is the cornerstone of infant and young child survival, nutrition and development and maternal health. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods for up to 2 years and beyond.1 Early and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact, rooming-in2 and kangaroo mother care3 also significantly improve neonatal survival and reduce morbidity and are recommended by WHO.

However, concerns have been raised about whether mothers with COVID-19 can transmit the SARS-CoV-2 virus to their infant or young child through breastfeeding. Recommendations on mother-infant contact and breastfeeding must be based on a full consideration of not only of the potential risks of COVID-19 infection of the infant, but also the risks of morbidity and mortality associated with not breastfeeding, the inappropriate use of infant formula milks, as well as the protective effects of skin-to-skin contact. This scientific brief examines the evidence to date on the risks of transmission of COVID-19 from an infected mother to her baby through breastfeeding as well as evidence on the risks to child health from not breastfeeding.

WHO recommends that mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should be encouraged to initiate or continue to breastfeed. Mothers should be counselled that the benefits of breastfeeding substantially outweigh the potential risks for transmission.4

Mother and infant should be enabled to remain together while rooming-in throughout the day and night and to practice skin-to-skin contact, including kangaroo mother care, especially immediately after birth and during establishment of breastfeeding, whether they or their infants have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

A living systematic review of evidence that followed the procedures of the Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions was carried out with the latest search done on 15 May 2020 to identify studies including mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and their infants or young children.5 The search was conducted on Cochrane Library, EMBASE (OVID), PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics) and the WHO Global Database. A total of 12,198 records were retrieved, 6945 were screened after removing duplicates, and 153 records with mother-infant dyads in which the mother had COVID-19 were included in full-text review.

A total of 46 mother-infant dyads had breastmilk samples tested for COVID-19. All mothers had COVID-19, while 13 infants tested COVID-19 positive. Breastmilk samples from 43 mothers were negative for the COVID-19 virus while samples from 3 mothers tested positive for viral particles by RT-PCR. Among the 3 infants whose mothers breastmilk tested positive for virual RNA particles, not live virus, one infant tested positive for COVID-19 but infant feeding practices were not reported. The two other infants tested negative for COVID-19; one was breastfed, and the other newborn was fed expressed breast milk after viral RNA particles were no longer detected. In the single child with COVID-19, it was unclear through which route or source the infant became infected, i.e. through breastmilk or droplet from a close contact with the infected mother.

A preprint article reported secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) immune response against the COVID-19 virus found in 12 of 15 breastmilk samples from mothers with COVID-19.6 The implications of this finding on the effect, duration and protection against COVID-19 for the child was not addressed.

To date, studies of mother-infant dyads with data on feeding practices and COVID-19 infection have come from case reports, case series or a report of a family cluster. Other study designs such as cohort studies or case-control studies were eligible for inclusion, but none were identified. We are thus unable to measure and compare risks of infection based on feeding practices.

Although 1 of the 3 infants of mothers with viral particles in breast milk had COVID-19, it was unclear through which route or source the infant was infected, i.e., through breastfeeding or close contact with the mother or other infected person. RT-PCR detects and amplifies viral genetic material in samples, such as breastmilk, but does not provide information on viability or infectivity of the virus. Documented presence of replicative COVID-19 virus in cell culture from breast milk and infectivity in animal models are needed to consider breast milk as potentially infectious.

The presence of IgA in breast milk is one of the ways in which breastfeeding protects infants against infection and death. IgA antibodies with reactivity to the COVID-19 virus have been detected in breastmilk of mothers previously infected with COVID-19 but their strength and durability have not yet been adequately studied to address protection from COVID-19 among breastfed infants.

Detection of COVID-19 viral RNA in breastmilk is not the same as finding viable and infective virus. Transmission of COVID-19 would need replicative and infectious virus being able to reach target sites in the infant and also to overcome infant defense systems. If in the future COVID-19 virus from breastmilk were shown to be replicative in cell culture it would need to reach target sites in the infant and overcome infant defense systems for transmission of COVID-19 to occur.

The implications of transmission risk need to be framed in terms of COVID-19 prevalence in breastfeeding mothers and the scope and severity of COVID-19 infection in infants when transmission occurs compared to the adverse consequences of separation and using breastmilk substitutes and also separation of newborns and young infants from mothers.

Children appear to be at low risk of COVID-19. Among the cases of confirmed COVID-19 in children, most have experienced only mild or asymptomatic illness.7,8 This is also the case with other zoonotic coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV), which seem to affect children less commonly and to cause fewer symptoms and less severe disease compared with adults.9

Secretory IgA have been detected in breastmilk of mothers with previous COVID-19 infection. Although the strength and durability of sIgA reactive to COVID-19 have not yet been determined, multiple bioactive components have been identified in breastmilk that not only protect against infections but improve neurocognitive and immunologic development of the child since Lars A Hanson first described sIgA in breastmilk in 1961.10-12

Skin-to-skin contact and kangaroo mother care facilitate breastfeeding as well as improve thermoregulation, blood glucose control, and maternal-infant attachment, and decrease the risk in mortality and severe infection among low birth weight infants.13,14 Beyond the neonatal period, positive effects of mother-infant holding include improved sleep patterns, lower rates of behavioural problems in the child and higher quality parental interaction.15,16

Exclusively breastfed infants, the risk of mortality is 14-fold higher in infants who are not breastfed.17 Over 820 000 childrens lives could be saved every year among children under 5 years, if all children 0-23 months were optimally breastfed. For mothers, breastfeeding protects against breast cancer and may protect against ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes.18 On the other hand, children are at low risk of COVID-19.

It is still not clear whether the virus can or cannot be transmitted though breast milk. Risk of transmission based on feeding practices have not been quantified, compared, or modelled against the benefits of breastfeeding and nurturing mother-infant interaction.

At present, data are not sufficient to conclude vertical transmission of COVID-19 through breastfeeding. In infants, the risk of COVID-19 infection is low, the infection is typically mild or asymptomatic, while the consequences of not breastfeeding and separation between mother and child can be significant. At this point it appears that COVID-19 in infants and children represents a much lower threat to survival and health than other infections that breastfeeding is protective against. The benefits of breastfeeding and nurturing mother-infant interaction to prevent infection and promote health and development are especially important when health and other community services are themselves disrupted or limited. Adherence to infection prevention and control measures is essential to prevent contact transmission between COVID-19 suspected or confirmed mothers and their newborns and young infants.

Based on available evidence, WHO recommendations on the initiation and continued breastfeeding of infants and young children also apply to mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

WHO continues to monitor the situation closely for any changes that may affect this interim guidance. Should any factors change, WHO will issue a further update. Otherwise, this scientific brief will expire 2 years after the date of publication.

The rest is here:

Breastfeeding and COVID-19 - World Health Organization

Amy Watson, is among a growing number of people experiencing coronavirus-related symptoms lasting months

A pre-school teacher in Portland, Amy first experienced coronavirus-like symptoms in mid-march, just a few days before schools closed because of pandemic lockdowns. She still suffers from various symptoms to this day.

LOS ANGELES - Since the first reported cases of the novel coronavirus, several support groups have emerged on Facebook consisting of thousands of members calling themselves long haul survivors, reporting COVID-19 symptoms that they say have lasted for months.

Today is day 93, said Amy Watson, a preschool teacher who lives in Portland, Oregon as she shared a photograph of her thermometer that read 100.3 on June 18. She first tested positive for COVID-19 on April 11, after falling ill with flu-like symptoms in mid-March.

Watson said she has had a persistent fever for nearly three months now, along with a handful of other disconcerting symptoms.

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Photograph of Amy Watsons temperature taken on June 18. (Credit: Amy Watson)

Watson said she first came down with the flu-like symptoms on March 15, when she developed a cough and fever. She felt some of the worst of the illness for about a week, until, she said, she started to feel better, only to have the illness return like a ton of bricks.

While she said the initial symptoms of congestion and cough have since subsided, she continues to experience other manifestations of the illness.

These other symptoms that have just been hanging on are the ones that nobody knows how to treat and fix, said Watson. Ive got this fever, I got this crazy burning sensation, nerve pain thats like under my skin, incredible fatigue.

Watson, whose only underlying condition before contracting COVID-19 was asthma, added that she has to sit down and rest every time she performs any menial task.

Back in March when she first reported feeling sick, it was nearly impossible for her to get a COVID-19 test. She said she called an advice nurse, who told her to assume it was the novel coronavirus and isolate herself for two weeks, which she did.

The 14 days passed and I was still sick, said Watson. She was prescribed multiple rounds of antibiotics after she reached three weeks of being symptomatic with the illness.

RELATED:Dr. Fauci says 'it will be when not if' for a COVID-19 vaccine

Lifesaving organ transplants plummeted amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The problem with testing

Watsons long-term fever sparked concerns that she might have cancer, but after several lab tests, her results came back normal. At that point, Watson said she was told that only medical workers and front-line responders to the coronavirus were permitted to take a COVID-19 test in her area.

But because of her asthma, she was finally able to get tested, nearly a month into her illness. Two days later, the test came back positive.

A screenshot of Amy Watsons COVID-19 test results.

Despite Watson testing negative for the novel coronavirus at the end of April, she still felt sick, and doctors gave her the discouraging news that she should expect at least another eight weeks before fully recovering from the disease.

Watsons experience with testing also resonated with many members of the various long haul Facebook groups. Many said they have simply been unable to get tested.

Health officials have said that testing in the United States early on was insufficient for optimal containment of the virus. In early March, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, testified that the nation's testing system was not really geared to what we need right now and added, it is a failing. Lets admit it.

By mid-February, when some of the first CDC coronavirus tests were administered, technicians reported getting inconclusive results, which the CDC said could be due to the test looking for signs of generic coronaviruses, of which there are many, rather than the specific virus that causes COVID-19.

By then, only about a half-dozen state and local public health labs had reliable tests.

In March, President Donald Trump assured Americans that the COVID-19 test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was perfect and that anyone who wants a test can get a test. But more than two months after the first U.S. case of the new disease was confirmed, many people still could not get tested.

When Watson was still experiencing symptoms long after testing negative for the virus, she decided to search for others with a similar experience. She found several COVID-19 support groups on Facebook, many of which she said consisted of members who did not actually suffer from the virus.

Watson said she had a negative experience with people in those groups, so she decided to start her own after connecting with other people who she said sounded like me.

She said she initially expected the group to have maybe a dozen members when it started on April 29, but it has since drawn more than 3,000 people from over 58 countries.

The group has been an amazing source of comfort, said Watson. On our header it says, welcome, no youre not crazy and youre not alone.

Since the groups creation, Watson and other members have started a petition, which had received 9,367 signatures as of June 22, in hopes of clarifying official COVID-19 guidelines to accurately reflect recovery periods.

Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that individuals who contract the novel coronavirus self-isolate for 14 days. A report from the World Health Organization said that the median time from onset to clinical recovery for mild cases is approximately 2 weeks and is 3-6 weeks for patients with severe or critical disease.

In an interview regarding recent increases in coronavirus cases in the U.S., Dr. Tom Tsai, a surgeon and health policy researcher at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said he had not heard of stories like Amys, most likely because we are still in the midst of it.

I dont think we have enough clinical or medical data, said Tsai. I havent seen anything in the medical literature about the long-term consequences from COVID infections, and that is probably just because its only been six months since COVID reared its head.

Tsai added that while most disease models suggest that people recover from the virus from a transmissibility standpoint, there is not enough information to understand the long-term effects of the novel coronavirus in terms of symptoms, calling instances like Watsons and other long haul survivors, a legitimate concern.

Its important to study that [long-term effects of COVID-19], the hard part is that COVID symptoms are so vague, and its so variable, said Tsai. People dying, people in the ICU, people who have almost no symptoms, thats part of the challenge of the pandemic is that its effect is so variable across populations, across different demographic groups, different ages.

I think its too early to know whether this is truly people who may be at risk for a longer disease course, Tsai said.

RELATED:The battle is not over: Rising coronavirus infections seen worldwide

COVID toes and other anomalous effects of the virus

Dr. Mady Hornig has been confronted with an array of concerning symptoms that have persisted in patients, as well as herself.

Dr. Mady Hornig, an immunologist and professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who is currently researching the long-term effects of a viral infection like COVID-19, has been confronted with an array of concerning symptoms that have persisted in patients, as well as herself.

Hornig can personally attest to the variety of symptoms that have been reported in coronavirus patients, ever since she began to experience COVID-19 symptoms herself in April that have continued to impact her daily life for the past 11 weeks.

Hornig listed an array of long-term effects that she and her fellow researchers are finding in COVID-19 patients, including one illness that has been frequently described in the long haul Facebook groups, and by Watson as well. It has been referred to as COVID toes.

Hornig said shes not entirely clear on what can cause such a symptom, but said that she did experience swelling in her feet.

When sufferers describe COVID toes, they describe a painful swelling in their feet in which red or purple lesions can develop on fingers or toes.

The most common coronavirus symptoms are fever, a dry cough and shortness of breath -- and some people are contagious despite never experiencing symptoms. But as this bewildering virus continues to spread, less common symptoms are being reported including loss of smell, vomiting and diarrhea, and increasingly, a variety of skin problems.

In one report, dermatologists evaluated 88 COVID-19 patients in an Italian hospital and found 1 in 5 had some sort of skin symptom, mostly red rashes over the trunk. In another, Spanish doctors reported a series of 375 confirmed virus patients with a range of skin complaints, from hives to chickenpox-like lesions to the toe swellings.

Pictures of reddened toes and rashes all over social media and doctor chat groups have already enabled the rapid recognition of skin signs by dermatologists. It is now time for rigorous science to understand the link, Dr. Kanade Shinkai of the University of California, San Francisco wrote in a recent JAMA Dermatology editorial.

Since getting sick, Hornig said shes had to carry a pulse oximeter with her, a device which registers her pulse since she began to have tachycardia episodes when her fever began to decline. Tachycardia is a condition that can make your heart beat abnormally fast, reducing blood flow to the rest of your body, according to The Mayo Clinic.

Her most recent episode was on June 22. Her pulse registered at 135 beats per minute, which she said occurred just from her sitting at her computer. She said a normal pulse for someone her age would be around 60-70 beats per minute.

Watson also said that her heart rate has been known to escalate and drop dramatically since she has been sick, and she said she was forced to go to urgent care after an incident she had last week when she thought she was having a heart attack.

While it was not a heart attack Watson was experiencing, she was diagnosed with pleurisy, a very painful illness in which tissue that separate the lungs from the chest wall becomes inflamed.

While symptoms like COVID toes and month-long fevers have left some medical workers perplexed, some illnesses stemming from the coronavirus are not entirely without precedent.

Hornig has been researching one particular illness that has previously been linked to other coronaviruses like SARS and MERS.

According to the CDC, coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different species of animals. Many people have previously experienced a coronavirus in the form of the common cold. But COVID-19 has not previously been identified in humans

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is an illness Hornig said has been found in patients who have recovered from coronaviruses such as SARS. The CDC cites a 2015 report from the nations top medical advisory body, the Institute of Medicine, which says that an estimated 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans suffer from ME/CFS.

The CDC says that people with ME/CFS experience severe fatigue, sleep problems, as well as difficulty with thinking and concentrating while experiencing pain and dizziness.

Hornig said SARS-CoV-1 and MERS have been associated with longer-term difficulties, in which many people appeared to have symptoms of ME/CFS.

In April, advocates of the Solve ME/CFS Initiative (Solve M.E.) virtually stormed Capitol Hill for the fourth annual ME/CFS Advocacy day, which the organization calls a national event to educate congress about the neuroimmune disease.

According to the organization, nearly 35 percent of COVID-19 patients are experiencing ME/CFS adding that the illness typically follows a viral infection.

ME/CFS is an urgent public health crisis based on what is happening in our country right now, says Emily Taylor, Director of Advocacy and Community Relations at Solve M.E. Evidence suggests that a virus as serious and widespread as COVID-19 could ignite rapid and significant growth in the ME/CFS population in just 36 months This is a very real, science-based concern, adding an even stronger sense of urgency to take action today. We must get the attention of our countrys leaders.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has surpassed the number of Americans who were killed during WWI.

Despite long haul sufferers, pandemic still in early stages

After personally experiencing her own mysterious and frustrating long-term COVID-19 effects, Hornig reiterated the importance of studying cases like Watsons as an opportunity to learn the potential future effects of a viral infection like the novel coronavirus.

We owe it to these patients to really take these issues seriously, Hornig said. Its a challenge because we may have missed the window for getting the right diagnosis, people may no longer be infectious, and we dont know how long the antibodies are going to last.

And while the term long haul has been coined for people who have experienced COVID-19 symptoms for months now, medical experts like Hornig are emphasizing that much is still unknown about the disease and that we still may be in an early stage of the pandemic.

Alarming surges in coronavirus cases across the U.S. South and West raised new fears Monday that the outbreak is spiraling out of control and that hard-won progress against the scourge is slipping away because of resistance among many Americans to wearing masks and keeping their distance from others.

Confirming predictions that the easing of state lockdowns over the past month-and-a-half would lead to a comeback of the virus, cases surpassed 100,000 in Florida, hospitalizations are rising dramatically in Houston and Georgia, and a startling 1 in 5 of those tested in Arizona are proving to be infected.

Over the weekend, the virus seemed to be everywhere at once: Several campaign staff members who helped set up President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tested positive, as did 23 Clemson University football players in South Carolina. At least 30 members of the Louisiana State University team were isolated after becoming infected or coming into contact with someone who was. Meatpacking plants were also hit with new outbreaks.

It is snowballing. We will most certainly see more people die as a result of this spike, said Dr. Marc Boom, CEO and president of Houston Methodist Hospital, noting that the number of COVID-19 hospital admissions has tripled since Memorial Day to more than 1,400 across eight hospital systems in the Houston metropolitan area.

He warned that hospitals could be overwhelmed in three weeks, and he pleaded with people to cover their faces and practice social distancing.

It is possible to open up at a judicious pace and coexist with the virus, but it requires millions and millions of people to do the right thing," Boom said.

Texas is among a number of states including Arizona, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina whose governors have resisted statewide mask requirements, leaving the matter to local authorities.

The number of new coronavirus cases across the country per day has reached more than 26,000, up from about 21,000 two weeks ago, according to an Associated Press analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Over 120,000 deaths in the U.S. have been blamed on the virus, the highest toll in the world.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Originally posted here:

Today is day 93: People report experiencing COVID-19 symptoms that last for months - FOX 5 DC

Here are the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The Walz administration announced Tuesday The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is now accepting applications from businesses wishing to tap into the $62.5 million Small Business Relief Grants Program signed into law last week.

COVID-19 has brought historic challenges for our small business owners," Walz said in a statement Tuesday. "This program is a result of bipartisan collaboration and conversations with the communities most impacted by this pandemic. I encourage our small business owners to apply for this funding, which will provide a lifeline for our communities and help Minnesota build a stronger and more equitable economy."

According to an afternoon press release put out by the Governor's office, businesses with 50 or fewer employees are now eligible to apply for grants up to $10,000.

Echoing the governor's sentiment, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan said, Minnesotas small business owners deserve support through this unprecedented time. Im proud of this program to support our historically under-supported communities, including our business owners who are women, veterans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color. But we have a lot of work left to do to rebuild our communities.

The money is intended to be spread evenly across regions of Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro. The release states at least $10 million will go toward minority-owned businesses, $2.5 million toward veteran-owned businesses and $2.5 million toward female-owned businesses.

The release states by law an additional $2.5 million will be allocated for grants up to $250,000 each to the operators of cultural malls, in order to sustain existing tenants.

The Governor's Office states that applications will be evaluated immediately for a 10-day period ending on July 2 at 5 p.m. Eligible businesses will be selected using a randomized lottery process in partnership with the Minnesota Lottery - which will then be observed by an independent third party, the release states.

Grants will be administered by "qualified local and regionally based nonprofit agencies," and can be allocated toward supporting payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, "and other similar business expenses."

Applications and more information can be found on DEED's website.

New numbers released Tuesday by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reflect another day of single-digit deaths from COVID-19.

Nine Minnesotans perished from the virus over the last 24-hour reporting period, raising the number of fatalities to 1,393 since the pandemic began. Of those deaths, 1,101, or 79% of them occurred in long-term or assisted living settings.

MDH says 245 people tested positive for the coronavirus in the past day, elevating the number of confirmed cases to 33,469. Private and state labs processed an additional 7,261 tests, for a total of 520,045 since the department started compiling statistics in late January.

Currently 339 patients are hospitalized with complications from COVID-19, with 158 of them being cared for in the ICU. A total of 3,860 have been treated in hospitals since the start of the pandemic.

Health officials say Minnesotans continue to recover from the virus, with 29,399 people who at one time tested positive now recovered to the point they no longer require isolation.

Of those testing positive for the coronavirus, people ages 30 to 39 make up the largest segment with 6,715 cases, followed by those between 20 and 29 who account for 6,629 cases. People from 80 to 89 have tested positive just 1,514 times, but account for 477 of Minnesota's deaths.

The Minnesota Department of health (MDH) is issuing a warning about two areas of concern in light of the COVID-19 pandemic: decreased use of emergency rooms, and decreased vaccinations for children.

MDH Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann said they're seeing a drop-off in the percentage of children getting their vaccines because parents are not going in for well-child visits. About three months ago, the MMR vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella was down by 70% as compared to 2019. Last week it was down by about 34%.

"We know that if introduced that measles can take off anytime we have low vaccination rates," Ehresmann said, referencing Minnesota's outbreak in 2017.

"As we take our eye off very critical preventive measures, we may see some very tragic consequences of that," MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said.

Ehresmann also said she wanted to put in an "early plug" for the influenza vaccine.

"Thinking ahead this year it will be even more important that we have as many people protected from influenza as we can," she said.

Ehresmann said national data that includes Minnesota also shows a 23% decrease in ER visits for heart attacks, 20% decrease for stroke, and 10% for hyperclycemic crises. That data is taken from the 10 weeks after the national emergency was declared for coronavirus, and compared with the 10 weeks prior.

Ehresmann said MDH wants to make sure that people who are experiencing signs of serious illness seek emergency care.

Malcolm said that the new COVID-19 case numbers reported Monday are not a big change from what they've been seeing lately.

"We are still seeing that couple days up, couple days down pattern," she said.

There were 308 new cases reported Monday, based on the positive tests that were confirmed Sunday. That decrease came after a couple days of increase, with 430 on Friday and 460 on Saturday. Before that, 360 new cases were identified Thursday.

The median age of cases is now 40.4 years old in Minnesota. Ehresmann said that is likely because they have expanded testing beyond just older, more vulnerable populations.

Although overall hospitalizations increased Monday for the first time in just under a week, Malcolm said there is a "stable hospitalization picture" from COVID-19. However, she said, "Many of the hospitals still are running at a very high occupancy rate from other business."

More than 15,000 people have been tested at community sites and by HealthPartners after the large gatherings and protests following George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody. Malcolm said the positivity rate so far is under 2%.

KARE 11s coverage of the coronavirus is rooted in Facts, not Fear. Visit kare11.com/coronavirus for comprehensive coverage, find outwhat you need to know about the Midwest specifically, learn more about thesymptoms, and see what businesses are open as the state slowly lifts restrictions. Have a question? Text it to us at 763-797-7215. And get the latest coronavirus updates sent right to your inbox every morning. Subscribe to the KARE 11 Sunrise newsletter here. Help local families in need: http://www.kare11.com/give11.

The state of Minnesota has set up a data portal online at mn.gov/covid19.

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Live updates: MDH reports another day of single-digit COVID-19 fatalities - KARE11.com