Category: Covid-19

Antibody test cartridges used in diagnosing the coronavirus move along on a production line at Boditech Med in Chuncheon, South Korea. By Friday, authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery. Lee Jin-man/AP hide caption

Antibody test cartridges used in diagnosing the coronavirus move along on a production line at Boditech Med in Chuncheon, South Korea. By Friday, authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery.

A growing number of recovered COVID-19 patients are relapsing in South Korea, raising new questions and concerns among scientists and health authorities after the country successfully flattened the curve.

By Friday, Korean health authorities had identified 163 patients who tested positive again after a full recovery. The number more than doubled in about a week, up from 74 cases on April 9. Those patients just over 2% of the country's 7,829 recovered patients are now back in isolation.

According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on Friday, the age and regional distribution of relapse cases are largely in line with that of the total infections.

To find out reasons for relapse, South Korean health authorities are running a range of tests and vetting various scenarios. The World Health Organization said last week that it is investigating the issue. While a fuller analysis will take at least a few weeks, early findings suggest there can be more than one cause.

Top KCDC officials said in recent briefings that the most likely possibility is reactivation of remaining viruses in patients' systems. If a patient had not developed sufficient immunity against the virus or if a patient's immune system weakens after recovery, the previously undetectable level of virus concentration could rebound. Or the novel coronavirus may be capable of staying dormant before reactivating.

Another possibility is that tests are picking up dead virus particles that are no longer infectious or transmissible. KCDC director-general Jeong Eun-kyeong said Friday that viruses collected from six relapse cases could not be cultivated in isolation, signifying that they are either dead or too small in number.

But some relapsed patients may have living viruses that make them sick. As of Friday, at least 61 developed symptoms, albeit mild.

A live virus is probably also transmissible, according to Jeong, but no secondary transmission by relapsed cases has been reported.

Reinfection through another virus carrier is a less probable scenario, considering that patients are retesting positive not long after they are released from treatment. Jeong said on Friday that relapse cases are detected an average of 13.5 days after recovery. The longest reported interval, however, is 35 days.

KCDC has also mentioned errors in testing or sample collecting as potential causes.

Short of definitive answers, authorities are for now advising recovered patients to stay home for an additional two weeks and to monitor for symptoms.

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In South Korea, A Growing Number Of COVID-19 Patients Test Positive After Recovery - NPR

SCHENECTADY Barely an hour after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state would conduct widespread antibody testing in an effort to trace the virus spread across the state, people lined up inside the Price Chopper/Market 32 on Eastern Parkway in Schenectady seeking to get tested.

City resident John Bergin parked his shopping cart and hopped in line as shoppers milled about, most of them wearing masks.

He said he experienced mild respiratory issues earlier this winter.

"I've been concerned," Bergin said.

While most people practiced social distancing, others clumped together in twos and threes without wearing masks, all attracted by a bright yellow sign that said, NYS DOH antibody screening. Find out if you have been exposed here!

By mid-afternoon, nearly two-dozen people waited in line, including several county legislators.

Deputy Chair Philip Fields works in the state Assembly, where at least three lawmakers have tested positive for the virus.

"I feel like I've been exposed to people who definitely had COVID and just wanted to make sure," said Fields, who likened the test to "just a prick."

State officials said finger-stick blood samples will be tested at Wadsworth, the state lab.

The abrupt operation which took over the supermarkets cafe caught the county by surprise.

Schenectady County was notified about random antibody testing being conducted at the Eastern Parkway Price Chopper site today by the [state] Department of Health after it had begun, said county Legislature Chairman Anthony Jasenski in a statement.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi shot back on Twitter: This is for a specific study, as we made clear today and they have our phone number. Dont be small.

The governor didn't indicate testing was scheduled to begin imminently during his daily press briefing on Sunday.

A statement released by his office following his remarks at a Long Island testing lab said the state aimed to take a survey of 3,000 people initially, a process that wasn't scheduled to begin until Monday.The state Department of Health told the Gazette that patrons at grocery stores in different regions across the state will be recruited as part of that effort.

"We're fortunate we've got a partner in Price Chopper/Market 32, an essential business, that worked with us so quickly to operationalize this effort today, which will go a long way in helping us reach a goal of 3,000 participants," a spokesperson told The Gazette on Sunday evening.

Price Chopper/Market32 said the testing at three stores, including their location in Malta, was a one-off and will not be repeated.

They have not made any other arrangements for our other stores," said Mona Golub, Price Chopper/Market 32's vice president of public relations and consumer services. There are no future dates or times at these stores or others of ours at this time."

Antibody testing is not the same traditional diagnostic testing, which indicates whether a person currently has the virus.

Testing antibodies reveals if the person has previously been infected or not.

For many, the virus presents mild symptoms and can often self-resolve without the person knowing they have been infected.

The Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services notified people of the Malta event, advising people to wear masks and practice social distancing if they went.

Some criticized the format.

The [state] DOH needs to move this outside, or do drive-up testing, wrote one commentator. Way too many people are standing way too close together for me. Until they figure a way to do this that doesn't involve packing people into the front of a grocery store, count me out.

Widespread testing and contact tracing is necessary to ease the states shutdown, said Cuomo, and would offer a true snapshot of the spread of coronavirus, which has killed nearly 14,000 New Yorkers.

We have not had hard data on where we are, Cuomo said.

Researchers said they aim to start with 10,000 antibody tests a day before ramping up.

The anticipation is well be able to do hundreds of thousands of tests, said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, the lab spearheading the effort.

Dowling said on Sunday people will initially be selected through random sampling

While antibody testing is still relatively new and untested, its limited usage nationwide has yielded mixed results and raised concerns over its accuracy, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

Cases are subsiding in New York, and the hospitalization rates and deaths are at their lowest levels since early-April.

But infection rates could spike if the state reopens too fast and without the proper precautionary measures, Cuomo said, noting its difficult when the virus will peak upstate due to the lack of testing.

We have a very small margin of error here as we move forward, Cuomo said.

Jasenski said the county appreciates any and all testing opportunities" made available.

However, the continued lack of test kit availability in Schenectady County, a nation-wide problem, hampers our ability to take care of our residents, especially the most vulnerable among us, he said. Available widespread use of testing, random and otherwise, is crucial to identifying the steps necessary for us to move forward.

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COVID-19 antibody testing starts in Schenectady, elsewhere, but some eyebrows raised with process - The Daily Gazette

One of the biggest barriers to cooking frequently is that it takes practice and time to gain proficiency and ease. That initial training time has simply not been available to most Americans, as the pace of life has intensified over the decades. Nor has there been a perceived need to cook because prepared and fast foods were readily available.

The pandemic has put everything on pause, and almost every nonessential worker, employed or unemployed, is now enrolled in a de facto home economics course. Cooking is at the top of the curriculum. The course will be months or years long. Even if stay-at-home orders are lifted, cooking will be the most cost-effective way to eat during a deep recession.

An increase in the frequency of cooking does not necessarily mean we are getting healthier during the pandemic. Tragedy and fear are making us stress-eat, as we drown ourselves in tubs of ice cream or binge bake. Moreover, with gyms closed and movement restricted, many of us are now more sedentary than ever. But we are acquiring an ancient skill that has been shown to help people live better and longer. If we apply that skill with greater frequency over the long run, it could reduce our risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

A poor diet is the biggest underlying cause of mortality in America, and that poor diet is largely delivered by large food companies like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A and McDonalds. Just 10 dietary factors (such as high intake of processed meat and refined grains) are estimated to cause more than 1,000 deaths per day from heart disease, stroke and diabetes alone. More than 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes and 122 million have cardiovascular disease.

Frequent cooking could make a difference in outcomes on average, people who frequently cook at home eat less fat and sugar than other people. Most restaurants and many large food companies, after all, use levels of salt, sugar and fat that would be inconceivable for home cooks.

Cooking as an element of good health is starting to catch on. A number of medical schools, such as George Washington University and Tulane University, now have culinary schools or culinary programs.

That need has never been higher, since the coronavirus has been most threatening to people with food-related chronic diseases. About 90 percent of those who become seriously ill due to the virus have an underlying condition hypertension and diabetes being the most common.

Once life rebounds, we may go back to our previous ways, but our palates will have experienced a reset and our hands would have acquired an artful skill. Family ties would have strengthened for many, as cooking is a group activity and is deeply fulfilling and nurturing. There will be many lessons from the coronavirus pandemic, but we would be wise not to forget this one. This newfound proficiency could be lifesaving.

Hans Taparia is a food entrepreneur and clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business.

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How Covid-19 Is Making Millions of Americans Healthier - The New York Times

An EMT wearing protective equipment moves a patient into Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York. Preliminary data suggest COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on communities of color. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

An EMT wearing protective equipment moves a patient into Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York. Preliminary data suggest COVID-19 is having a disproportionate impact on communities of color.

As data emerges on the spectrum of symptoms caused by COVID-19, it's clear that people with chronic health conditions are being hit harder.

While many people experience mild illness, 89% of people with COVID-19 who were sick enough to be hospitalized had at least one chronic condition. About half had high blood pressure and obesity, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about a third had diabetes and a third had cardiovascular disease. So, what explains this?

"Obesity is a marker for a number of other problems," explains Dr. Aaron Carroll, a public health researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine. It's increasingly common for those who develop obesity to develop diabetes and other conditions, as well. So, one reason COVID-19 is taking its toll on people who have obesity is that their overall health is often compromised.

But does obesity specifically affect the immune system? Perhaps.

Prior research has shown that people with obesity are less protected by the flu vaccine. They tend to get sicker from the respiratory disease even if they've been immunized. In fact, researchers have found that as people gain excess weight, their metabolism changes and this shift can make the immune system less effective at fighting off viruses.

"What we see with obesity is that these [immune] cells don't function as well,' says Melinda Beck, a health researcher at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Basically, she explains, obesity throws off the fuel sources that immune cells need to function. "The [immune cells] are not using the right kinds of fuels," Beck says. And, as a result, the condition of obesity seems to "impair that critical immune response [needed] to deal with either the virus infection or [the ability] to make a robust response to a vaccine."

So this is one explanation as to why people with obesity seem more vulnerable to serious infection. But, there are many more questions about why some people are hit harder, including whether race is a factor.

The CDC found that 33% of people who've been hospitalized with COVID-19 are African American, yet only 13% of the U.S. population is African American. Some local communities have found a similar pattern in their data. Among the many (26) states reporting racial data on COVID-19, blacks account for 34% of COVID deaths, according to research from Johns Hopkins University.

This disproportionate toll can be partially explained by the fact that there's a higher prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes among African Americans compared with whites.

And as Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said last week at a White House coronavirus task force briefing, this crisis "is shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is, because yet again, when you have a situation like the coronavirus, [African Americans] are suffering disproportionately."

There are several factors, including some genetic ones, that may make African Americans more vulnerable to COVID-19. "There have been a few studies that have pointed to African Americans potentially having genetic risk factors that make them more salt-sensitive," says Ren Robinson, a professor of chemistry who researches chronic disease at Vanderbilt University. This may increase the likelihood of high blood pressure, which, in turn, is linked to more serious forms of COVID-19. "It could be a contributing factor," she says, but there are likely multiple causes at play.

Another issue to consider, she says, may be high stress levels. She says when a person experiences racial discrimination, it can contribute to chronic stress. She points to several studies that link discrimination and stress to higher levels of inflammation among black adults. "And chronic stress can make one more vulnerable to infection because it can lower your body's ability to fight off an infection," she says.

Chronic stress is linked to poverty so this could be a risk factor for low-income communities. In fact, research has shown that people who report higher levels of stress are more likely to catch a cold, when exposed to a virus, compared with people who are not stressed.

According to a new survey from Pew Research Center, health concerns about COVID-19 are much higher among Hispanics and blacks in the U.S. While 18% of white adults say they're "very concerned" that they will get COVID-19 and require hospitalization, 43% of Hispanic respondents and 31% of black adults say they're "very concerned" about that happening.

And other aspects of structural racism could contribute to the elevated risk for black Americans.

"Every major crisis or catastrophe hits the most vulnerable communities the hardest," say Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. And he points to several factors that help to explain the racial divide.

"Black workers are more likely to hold the kinds of jobs that cannot be done from home," Morial says. So, they may be more likely to be exposed to the virus, if they are working in places where it's difficult to maintain social distancing. In addition, he points to longstanding inequities in access to quality care.

"There also is bias among health care workers, institutions and systems that results in black patients ... receiving fewer medical procedures and poorer-quality medical care than white individuals," he says. He says an expansion of Medicaid into those states that still haven't expanded would be one effective policy to address these inequities.

The characteristics of the communities where people live could affect risk, too especially for those who live in low-income neighborhoods. The roots of chronic illness stem from the way people live and the choices that may or may not be available to them. People who develop the chronic illnesses that put them at higher risk of COVID-19 often lack access to affordable and healthy foods or live in neighborhoods where it's not safe to play or exercise outside.

"Let's take a patient with diabetes for example. They are already at high risk for COVID-19 by having a chronic condition," says Joseph Valenti, a physician in Denton, Texas, who promotes awareness of the social determinants of health through his work with the Physicians Foundation.

"If they also live in a food desert, they have to put themselves in greater risk if they want access to healthy food. They may need to take a bus, with people that have COVID-19 but aren't showing symptoms, to get access to nutritious food or even their insulin prescription," he says.

Poor nutrition, and the obesity linked to it, is a leading cause of premature death around the globe. And, this pandemic brings into focus the vulnerability of the millions of people living with lifestyle-related, chronic disease.

"We're seeing the convergence of chronic disease with an infection," says UNC's Beck. And the data suggest that the combination of these two can lead to more serious illness. "We're seeing that obesity can have a great influence on infection," she says.

So, will this shine a spotlight on the need to address these issues? "Hopefully," Beck says. "I think paying attention to these chronic diseases like obesity is in everybody's best interest."

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What Explains The COVID-19 Race Gap? : Shots - Health News - NPR

HOUSTON We are continuing to track the latest headlines and updates regarding the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Bad weather caused Houston and Harris County's testing sites to close Sunday. Also Congress is close to agreeing on another financial relief bill. Get today's top headlines and latest updates in the live blog below.

Stimulus payment tracker & FAQ | How you can get tested for COVID-19| Local COVID-19 cases | Coronavirus symptoms | COVID-19 FAQ

Here are the latest updates from around the Houston area and the world(alltimes are Central/Houston time):

APRIL 19 5:07 p.m. A man and woman, both between ages 61-70 and suffering from pre-existing medical conditions, have died from coronavirus. the Galveston County Health District said both passed away April 18.

So far, 455 coronavirus cases have been reported in the county. Seventeen people have died from COVID-19 and 193 people have recovered.

APRIL 19 2:08 p.m. TheHouston Health Department is reporting 130 new coronavirus cases, bringing the city total to 2,821.

Sadly, three more people all with underlying health problemshave also died from the virus. These individuals are a man in his 70s, one in his 90s and another man, also in his 70s.

These men all passed away on the same day, April 16, the health department said. The death toll for the city of Houston is now 34.

APRIL 19 11:29 a.m. Democrats close to reaching deal with GOP on coronavirus response bill | Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday his party is close to coming to an agreement with Republicans regarding a new coronavirus response bill. Schumer said Sunday on CNN that the Democrats have made "very good progress," and the Senate leader said that he is hopeful they can "come to an agreement tonight or early tomorrow morning. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday the GOP is close to reaching a deal with the Democrats. The bill would expand on the Small Business Administrations loan program. Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 19 10:15 a.m. All Harris County and City of Houston public testing sites are closed today due to poor weather conditions. Those with codes/appointments for today should use them tomorrow, Monday, April 20

Related: View latest weather alerts & forecast

City of Houston statement: "Houston's two community based testing sites are closed today (Sunday, April 19) due to inclement weather. People with authorization codes for today should use them on Monday, April 20."

Harris County statement: "URGENT: All of our #COVID19 testing sites are closed today due to the weather. We plan on opening back up Monday. If you had an appointment for today, please come back tomorrow."

APRIL 19 10 a.m. The European Center for Disease Control says the continent now has more than 1 million confirmed cases and almost 100,000 deaths from the new coronavirus. According to a tally posted on the ECDC website Sunday, Spain had the most cases in the region with 191,726, followed by Italy, Germany, Britain and France. It listed Italy as having the most deaths in Europe, with 23,227, followed by Spain, France, Britain and Belgium. According to the tally, Europe accounts for almost half the global case load and more than half the total deaths. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 19 9:50 a.m. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says 150,000 coronavirus tests are now being conducted daily in the U.S. but suggested that governors and not the federal government were to blame for numbers not being higher. Pence tells NBCs Meet the Press that, if states around the country will activate all of the laboratories that are available in their states, we could more than double that overnight." He said the nation has sufficient testing today for states to begin reopening their economies as part of the initial phases of guidelines the White House released this week. Governors from both parties have said that while they do have more labs that could increase testing in many areas, they often are unable to do so because of federal delays. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 19 9 a.m. The latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University show the world has reached more than 604,000 recoveries. There have been 162,000 deaths worldwide with 2.36 million confirmed cases reported.

Here's a look at the confirmed case numbers in the Houston area as of this morning:

Southeast Texas COVID-19 cases as of Sunday morning, April 19, 2020

KHOU 111

APRIL 19 6:50 a.m. World news:The Italian coast guard is transferring 34 migrants from the Spanish rescue ship Aita Mari off the coast of the Sicilian capital Palermo onto a naval ship for quarantine. The new arrivals will join 146 migrants from the German-run rescue ship Alan Kurdi, who were transferred on Friday to the Rubattino. The Italian naval ship will remain a mile off the coast for the duration of the quarantine, which is being overseen by the Italian Red Cross. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 19 5 a.m. World news: Over a thousand virus cases on French ship | Figures from France's military leadership show more than half the sailors aboard the country's flagship aircraft carrier contracted the new virus as the ship traveled through the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. A navy official says 1,046 of the 1,760 people aboard the Charles de Gaulle tested positive for the virus. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Christophe Prazuck attributed the quick spread to the great population density aboard the ship. Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 19 12 a.m. Sad news from the entertainment world over the weekend: Broadway star Nick Cordero faces leg amputation due to complications while battling coronavirus | Cordero entered the intensive case unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA on March 31 and has been on a ventilator and unconscious after contracting COVID-19. Read more here.

APRIL 19 12 a.m. World news: Spain has reported its lowest daily death total for confirmed coronavirus victims in nearly a month as the country contains a savage outbreak that has killed more than 20,000 people there. Spanish health officials said Sunday another 410 people have died in the last 24 hours. That is the lowest daily death toll since March 22. It takes the total to 20,453 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. Spain also reported 4,218 confirmed new cases, pushing the total to 195,944 second only to the United States. Top health official Fernando Simn said the latest data gives Spain hope, adding that it shows "the rate of contagion has fallen and that we are on the correct path. (AP) Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 19 12 a.m. World news: Japan passes 10,000 cases of COVID-19 | Japanese health ministry said Sunday that 568 new cases of the coronavirus were reported the day before, bringing a domestic total to 10,361. A combined total including 712 others from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo earlier this year came to 11,073, with 174 deaths. The number of cases is still relatively small compared to the U.S. and Europe, but thats only as many as Japans limited testing has detected and actual infections are believed to be far more widespread. Read more national/world updates here.

APRIL 18 10:25 p.m. After their wedding was postponed, family surprises couple with car parade | Their day began with brunch and then some photos of the couple. But the biggest surprise was waiting just around the corner. Read more here.

APRIL 18 9:59 p.m. Great news from Houston police chief Art Acevedo! The chief said detective Ramon "Ray" Cervantes, who's been hospitalized with COVID-19 in intensive care, opened his eyes today.

He "was able to follow stimuli and doctor's instructions," Acevedo said in a tweet. "We are so hopeful. Thank you for all your prayers and the ones yet to come."

APRIL 18 9:14 p.m. Tito's Vodka donated 130 cases of handsanitizer to the city of Houston's essential workers. "Thank you for your geenrosity and shifting your production to help during #COVID19!" Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a Facebook postSaturday.

APRIL 18 8:39 p.m. Dallas County health officials reported the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in one day. County health officials confirmed Saturday afternoon an additional 134 people have tested positive, bringing the county's total case count to 2,324. Five more people have also died from the virus. All the victims had been critically ill at local hospitals, officials say.

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The symptoms of coronavirus can be similar to the flu or a bad cold. Symptoms include a fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Some patients also have nausea, body aches, headaches and stomach issues. Losing your sense of taste and/or smell can also be an early warning sign.

Most healthy people will have mild symptoms. A study of more than 72,000 patients by the Centers for Disease Control in China showed 80 percent of the cases there were mild.

But infections can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death, according to the World Health Organization. Older people with underlying health conditions are most at risk for becoming seriously ill. However, U.S. experts are seeing a significant number of younger people being hospitalized, including some in ICU.

The CDC believes symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 14 days after being exposed.

Get complete coverage of the coronavirus by texting 'FACTS' to 713-526-1111.

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Coronavirus updates: Houston's COVID-19 death toll now 34 after passing of three men with underlying health problems - KHOU.com

MADISON, Nebraska (KTIV)- On the evening of Thursday, April 16th, Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department says they were made aware of two confirmed COVID-19 casesboth employees at Tyson in Madison, NE.

Officials say that at this time, there are a total of six confirmed cases stemming from employees of that Tyson plant.

An additional 30+ tests are pending at this time from Tyson employees or direct household contacts of Tyson employees.

On the prior evening of April 15th, ELVPHD says they were notified of the statewide initiative to increase COVID-19 testing in the area and were advised that a mass testing event was to be offered in the ELVPHD district for up to 100 patrons in coordination with DHHS, Nebraska Public Health Lab and military personnel.

After learning of the positive cases at Tyson in Madison, ELVPHD made the decision to designate the majority of the 100 tests for Tyson employees and/or household members of Tyson employees.

The department says that initially, support was achieved from both corporate and local Tyson leaders.

On Friday evening, April 17th, the department says they were notified in writing from Tyson Vice President in Arkansas that upon further reflection, Tyson was declining to provide names of any Tyson team membersas requested by their department.

Further, ELVPHD says, the notice stated that Tyson did not see that providing team member information to us was necessary, as they believed that the testing should be reserved for other groups stating that they had not identified the symptomatic Tyson team members who had not been tested.

ELVPHD says they made several recommendations to Tyson on Friday, April 17th, reiterating that utmost attention to stopping spread and exposures in the plant now could procure immense gain in outbreak control in the days and weeks ahead.

Tyson was asked to immediately begin the following:

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COVID-19 Outbreak being investigated at Tyson Foods, Inc. in Madison, NE - KTIV

A family in Oxford, Wisconsin, is suing the local sheriff's department after a patrol sergeant threatened to arrest a teenage girl for disorderly conduct for posting on Instagram about being infected with COVID-19.

Amyiah Cohoon, 16, is a student at Westfield Area High School in Westfield, Wisconsin. According to this lawsuit, she and schoolmates went to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida for a spring break trip in early March, right as the coronavirus was beginning to spread and businesses began to shut down. She and her classmates canceled the trip early and returned home.

Once home, Cohoon began developing symptoms associated with COVID-19. She sought medical assistance, but at the time they were unable to test her to see if she was infected. She was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection with "symptoms consistent with COVID-19," according to the lawsuit.

Cohoon went home and posted on Instagram letting people know that she had COVID-19 and was in self-quarantine. Her condition worsened and she was brought to the hospital for treatment. She posted again about the experience on Instagram. Finally, they were able to test her, but the test came back negative. According to the lawsuit, doctors told her it was likely she missed the window for testing positive, but she probably did have COVID-19, despite the test results. (False negative results have been an ongoing issue in accurately diagnosing infections.)

After she returned home from this visit, she posted again on Instagram and included a picture of herself at the hospital wearing an oxygen mask.

The very next day, Patrol Sergeant Cameron Klump from Marquette County Sheriff's Department showed up on the family's doorstep. He was there under orders from Sheriff Joseph Konrath to demand that Amyiah and her father, Richard Cohoon, remove Amyiah's Instagram posts. If they refused, Klump said the family faced charges for disorderly conduct and Klump told them he would "start taking people to jail," according to the suit.

Konrath's justification was that there had been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county. He found out about the Instagram post from Amyiah's high school. The Cohoon family had contacted the school to let them know about Amyiah's infection, but nobody ever contacted them back to get more information. It appears that instead the school contacted the police. Under the threat of arrest, Cohoon complied and deleted the allegedly illegal Instagram post.

That evening the family would discover that a school administrator sent out an alert to families accusing Cohoon of making it up and assuring families that any information of infection was just a rumor. "Let me assure you there is NO truth to this," the message read. "This was a foolish means to get attention and the source of the rumor has been addressed. This rumor had caught the attention of our Public Health Department and she was involved in putting a stop to this nonsense."

The family then connected with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, and the Institute sent a letter to Konrath warning him that he had violated Cohoon's First Amendment rights and demanded both an apology and the promise that there would be no further threats of criminal charges against the family for Amyiah's post.

Konrath refused, and now the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty is suing Konrath and Klump in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin for violating Cohoon's First and 14th Amendment rights. Her Instagram posts are protected speech, the Institute argues, and there was nothing about her posts that violated the county's disorderly conduct law, and even if they did, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that disorderly conduct statutes in the state cannot be applied to speech protected by the First Amendment.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is asking the court to rule that Cohoon's posts were protected speech and order that the sheriff's department may not threaten or cite Cohoon or her family for these posts, plus paying "nominal damages."

The sheriff's department is not backing down or even acknowledging an overreaction. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, their position remains that the one negative test means that she did not have COVID-19, which simply isn't how it works. The Sentinel reports:

Sam Hall, an attorney for the sheriff, said the teenager "caused distress and panic" among other parents by claiming she had contracted the coronavirus despite getting a negative test result.

"This case is nothing more than a 2020 version of screaming fire in a crowded theater," he said, referring to speech that is not protected by the First Amendment.

That the sheriff's lawyer is misusing the much-maligned "fire in a crowded theater" argument from Schenck v. United States is a huge tell that these guys don't have a leg to stand on. It's a bad argument, a bad precedent (it was about censoring anti-war activism), and the Supreme Court has subsequently weakened that decision and broadened our free speech protections.

And even if that ruling remained relevant, Amyiah Cohoon was not engaging in the equivalent of "shouting fire in a crowded theater." Because of the significant number of false negative test results, it's appropriate for health staff to treat her as though she likely has COVID-19 based on her symptoms. It's also appropriate for the Cohoon family to attempt to warn families of the students who went with her to Florida that they might have been exposed, too.

It's the school officials and the police who behaved irresponsibly, not Amyiah or her family.

Read the complaint here.

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A Teenager Posted About Her COVID-19 Infection on Instagram. A Deputy Threatened To Arrest Her If She Didn't Delete It. - Reason

If one person in the household is sick with COVID-19, everyone else in the home should consider themselves as possibly having an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection, even if they feel fine, doctors say. sorbetto/Getty Images hide caption

If one person in the household is sick with COVID-19, everyone else in the home should consider themselves as possibly having an asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection, even if they feel fine, doctors say.

By now, you've likely heard the advice: If you suspect that you're sick with COVID-19, or live with someone who is showing symptoms of the disease caused by the coronavirus, be prepared to ride it out at home.

That's because the vast majority of cases are mild or moderate, and while these cases can feel as rough as a very bad flu and even include some cases of pneumonia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says most of these patients will be able to recover without medical assistance. (If you're having trouble breathing or other emergency warning signs, seek medical help immediately.)

But this general advice means anyone living in the same household with the sick person could get infected a real concern, since research so far suggests household transmission is one of the main ways the coronavirus spreads. So how do you minimize your risk when moving out isn't an option? Here's what infectious disease and public health experts have to say:

Physically isolate the person who is sick

If you live in a place with more than one room, identify a room or area like a bedroom where the sick person can be isolated from the rest of the household, including pets. (The CDC says that while there's no evidence that pets can transmit the virus to humans, there have been reports of pets becoming infected after close contact with people who have COVID-19.)

Ideally, the "sick room" will have a door that can be kept shut when the sick person is inside which should really be most of the time.

"It would make sense for the person to just to be in their [contained] area in which we presume that things have virus exposure," says Dr. Rachel Bender Ignacio, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the University of Washington and spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. That way, she says, everyone else can move about the home more freely. A door would also make it easier to keep kids out of the isolation room.

Things get trickier if you all live in tighter quarters, like a one-bedroom or studio apartment, or have shared bedrooms. Everyone should still try to sleep in separate quarters from the sick person if at all possible "whether it's one person on a couch, another person on a bed," Bender Ignacio says.

That said, when multiple people share a small living space like that, "it may be very near impossible to avoid exposure," says Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. "If you are somebody that has other medical conditions or you're an advanced age and you're at risk for having a more severe course [of COVID-19], I do think you should take that into consideration and, if it's feasible, move out."

Limit your physical interactions but not your emotional ones

Even as you try to limit your face-to-face interactions with the sick person, remember, we all need human contact. Try visiting via text or video options like Facetime instead. Old-fashioned phone calls work too.

Whenever you are in the same room together, the CDC recommends that the sick person wear a cloth face covering, even in their own home. In practice, however, Adalja notes that "it can be uncomfortable for someone who's sick to wear a mask all the time in their own house" hence, another reason to limit those interactions.

Just make sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after every visit with the ill person.

Consider yourself quarantined, too

Bender Ignacio says if one person in the household is sick, everyone else in the household should consider themselves as possibly having asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infection, even if they feel fine.

That means you should quarantine yourselves at home, too, she says, and ask a friend or neighbor to help with essential errands like grocery shopping so you don't run the risk of exposing other people in the store.

"The important consideration is that the entire house should be considered potentially infected for up to two weeks after people who are ill stop having symptoms," Bender Ignacio says. It's important to understand "that anybody leaving that house also has the possibility of bringing the virus out."

If others in the household do get sick, one after the other, that two-week quarantine should restart with each illness, she says which means you all could end up quarantined together for a long time.

If you have to share a bathroom ...

The CDC says anyone sick with symptoms of COVID-19 should use a separate bathroom if at all possible, but for many of us, that's not an option. If you do share a bathroom, the CDC advises that the caregiver or healthy housemates not go into the bathroom too soon after it's used by a person who has the virus.

"The hope is that with more time, if the patient was coughing in the room, fewer infectious droplets would remain suspended in the air," explains Dr. Alex Isakov, a professor of emergency medicine at Emory University and one of the creators of Emory's online tool for checking for COVID-19 symptoms at home. "It would help if you could ventilate the bathroom by opening a window, or running the exhaust fan, if so equipped."

If feeling well enough, experts say, the person who tested positive for the virus should disinfect the bathroom before exiting, paying close attention to surfaces like door knobs, faucet handles, toilet, countertops, light switches and any other surfaces they touched. If they can't do that, then the healthy housemate should wait as long as feasible before entering to disinfect, then wash their hands thoroughly afterward. And this is key each person in the household should use only their own frequently laundered towel.

Bender Ignacio says it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to remove all the bottles and lotions people tend to keep in the bathroom, so you can minimize the number of surfaces you have to disinfect in there. One idea: Everyone in the home might carry the items they'll need to use in the bathroom with them in a caddy, and remove them when they exit.

Handling food and dirty dishes

The whole goal of isolating a sick person is to minimize the areas they might be contaminating, so having them cook their own food in a shared kitchen should be considered a no-no, Adalja and Bender Ignacio agree.

"You just want to limit that person's interaction with other people and around common-touch surfaces" like the kitchen, says Adalja.

Instead, someone else in the house should prepare food for the sick person and take it to their isolation spot. The CDC recommends using gloves to handle and wash their dirty dishes and utensils in hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling the used items.

Parenting challenges

Of course, Facetime chats aren't likely to cut it if you're the parent of a young child who is sick. "I think that it's probably unfeasible to mask a sick child in their own home," says Bender Ignacio, adding, "If the child is the one who's sick, they need physical contact. That's important."

Keeping small children away can also be difficult if it is the parent who is sick. "If you have a child and you have a partner and that child is satisfied with the partner's hugs, then that's great," she says.

But "if the sick person is the only caregiver, then there has to be physical interaction," she says. "And I think we should be reassured to some extent that even though children are as likely as adults to get sick, we know now they're much less likely to get severe disease."

As with most things when it comes to parenting, "you just do the best you can," she says.

Laundry

"The good thing about the coronavirus is that it is easily killed by soap and water," says Bender Ignacio.

The CDC advises washing clothes and other fabric items using the warmest water setting appropriate. The agency says it's fine to wash a sick person's clothes with everyone else's and make sure to dry items completely. Wear disposable gloves when handling the sick person's laundry, but don't shake it out first, the CDC says. When you're done, remove the gloves and wash your hands right away.

And don't let the sick person's clothes linger on the floor, says Bender Ignacio. "Make sure that laundry takes the shortest line between the hamper and the washing machine." Consider putting soiled clothes directly in the washer. If you use a hamper, it's a good idea to use a washable liner or a trash bag inside of it, says Bender Ignacio. Otherwise, she advises wiping down the hamper with soapy water afterward.

Disinfecting

Commonly touched, shared surfaces in the house such as tables, chairs, door knobs, countertops, light switches, phones, keyboards, faucets and sink handles should be disinfected daily with a household disinfectant registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the CDC. (It doesn't have to be spray bleach, or a fancy product Comet disinfecting bathroom cleaner, Windex disinfectant cleaner, and many other easily found products are on that list.) The agency advises wearing disposable gloves when disinfecting surfaces for COVID-19.

However, unless you have to change soiled linens or clean up a dirty surface, try not to go into the sick person's room to clean, the CDC says, so you can minimize your contact. Give them their own trash can, lined with a paper or plastic bag that they can then remove and dispose of themselves if possible. Use gloves when taking out the trash and wash your hands right after you remove the gloves, the CDC says.

Protecting vulnerable people in the home

Recovering from COVID-19 at home poses particular challenges if someone else in the home is at higher risk of developing a severe case of the disease. That's of particular concern in multigenerational households. It would probably be safest for that at-risk household member say, a grandparent, or person with cancer or an autoimmune disease to move someplace else temporarily, until everyone else in the family is symptom-free, says Adalja.

However, moving out isn't an option for lots of people, and there's also the chance that the at-risk person might already be infected, in which case they could potentially transmit the virus to anyone else they moved in with, notes Bender Ignacio.

"The best option is to essentially find the safest room or rooms in the house for the most vulnerable people and then exclude everyone else from those rooms," she says. "Visit those people with meals in their room if there is a high concern."

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Living With Someone Who Has COVID-19? Here's How To Stay Healthy : Shots - Health News - NPR

As we reopen the United States, our surveillance effort around the Covid virus will also begin in nursing homes," Verma said. "This will support CDC's efforts to have surveillance around the country and to support efforts around contact tracing" in communities where the virus spread began in long -term care facilities, she added.

A combined lack of preparedness, inadequate testing capacity over the past few months and early misunderstanding of how the virus could spread has seeded death in scores of nursing homes across the country, where patients are not only dying quickly, but often without family and loved ones at their side.

In New York, for example, more than 1,100 state nursing home and adult care facility residents have died from Covid-19 since the outbreak began more than a month ago. New data released by the Department of Health found that at least 1,135 people died at nursing home and adult care facilities as of Wednesday, mostly in New York City. That's about 9 percent of the state's death toll so far.

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Trump administration will require nursing homes to report Covid-19 cases - POLITICO

CHICAGO (CBS) Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Sunday announced that another airlift of personal protective equipment will soon be coming from China to fight the coronavirus outbreak, and defended the choice to have the state bring in equipment from overseas.

Meanwhile, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said there were 1,197 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in Chicago on Sunday, and 33 new deaths for a total of 30,357 confirmed cases statewide and 1,290 deaths.

Pritzker said another airlift of PPE will be coming from China on Monday, after the first flight landed last week. The Illinois National Guard will handle the logistics of transporting the PPE, which will first be taken to a state warehouse and then distributed to first responders and health care professionals.

The first shipment of PPE directly to Illinois from China arrived on Thursday. It was loaded with millions of masks and gloves for Illinois first responders and a state insider asked CBS 2 to keep quiet about the landing until it was completed.

That first flight, which began in Shanghai, cost Illinois taxpayers $888,000 according to state receipts.

Pritzker said if it seemed atypical that a state government would be moving items in from another country, thats because it is. But he also said it was necessary due to the current situation and took a jab at the federal government.

Thats the landscape that were operating in competing with other states, other countries, and our own federal government for supplies, Pritzker said.

Pritzker also emphasized that most disposable PPE used by health care workers comes from China.

As CBS 2s Mike Puccinelli reported Sunday, the issue of testing for coronavirus also came up at the news conference.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that President Donald Trump should get an F when it comes to testing. But Vice President Mike Pence went on national television Sunday morning to tout what he said is the governments great success when it comes to testing.

Yes, we think weve laid a strong foundation for testing for Phase One, and were going to continue expand testing going forward for the nation in the weeks and months ahead, Pence said on NBCs Meet the Press.

He said as of Sunday, the country was testing about 150,000 people a day and he said he believes that number could double once all the labs in the country are activated.

But Gov. Pritzker said that is easier said than done, and he said most of the states are at the mercy of those labs as Illinois was on Sunday when it came to reporting data.

Today, we got no report from one of the largest commercial laboratories in the country, and so thats a number of tests that were obviously done and completed, but never reported to us, because they didnt report it to anyone in the country, Pritzker said. You know, why that is, I cant tell you.

Pritzker was also asked about protests against ongoing stay-at-home orders in many states, particularly Michigan. The stay-at-home order for Illinois is in place for the rest of the month of April, though it may be extended.

I think I would say to all those folks who legitimately want to get back to work that I do too. I want people to get back to work. I want people to get back to school. And I want us to have a great summer, and so Im looking at all the ways to make that happen, Pritzker said. But were in the middle of an emergency a pandemic and its nothing like weve ever seen, at least in our lifetimes.

Thus, Pritzker said, the state cannot open up if its dangerous to do so.

We have got to be very careful as we make decisions about change in the stay-at-home order to keep people safe, and Im looking at all the ways in which we can open things up and keep people safe, he said.

Pritzker did say people should have more confidence in a brighter future particularly given the likelihood that a treatment could be coming. He emphasized in particular a study on Remdesivir at the University of Chicago.

Published reports said U of C clinical trials have showed promising results for an antiviral drug being tested as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Reports state COVID-19 patients who were treated with Remdesivir, a treatment for the Ebola and Marburg viruses, have been recovering quickly.

Pritzker emphasized that the study on Remdesivir is not over and it is not an approved treatment. But he did say the prospect of treatments for COVID-19 in the coming months should be reassuring.

Pritzker also said while there is no order about wearing masks while outside now only an advisement an order may be coming in the future, whether applying when people are outside in general or only when people are going into essential stores or other spaces with a lot of people.

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Number Of Illinois COVID-19 Cases Tops 30,000; Another Flight Of PPE Coming To Illinois From China On Monday - CBS Chicago