#COVID 19 Rapid Testing Las Vegas

[orangecountylabsus]

Orange County Lab has been providing high-quality PCR Test for Travel in Las Vegas testing services at lower rates. We provide detailed results that include all the requirements for departure.COVID-19 viral Rt-PCR and antigen testing are available in Orange County to keep you safe. Whether you want an Antigen test for your workplace or an RT-PCR test for traveling, we will provide you with the best services that will meet all the travel requirements.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Coronavirus in California keeps rising: Wastewater levels worse than last summer - Published July 22, 2024

Click the link to read the full article unpaywalled! A taste below...

Coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater now exceed last summer’s peak, an indication of the rapid spread of the super-contagious new FLiRT strains.

California has “very high” coronavirus levels in its wastewater — one of 21 states in that category, up from seven the prior week, according to estimates published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means about 155 million people — nearly half of America’s population — live in areas with “very high” coronavirus levels in sewage. Besides California, the other states with “very high” levels are Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., is also in that category.

Coronavirus levels in wastewater are also surging in Los Angeles County — and the rate of increase has been accelerating. The county also has seen notable jumps this month in newly confirmed infections, coronavirus-positive hospitalizations and the share of emergency room visits attributable to COVID-19.

Nationally, overall viral levels in wastewater are considered “high” for the second straight week, the CDC said. The estimates are subject to change as more data come in.

Most Americans probably know a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance who has come down with COVID-19 recently, perhaps being infected while traveling or at a social gathering.

“If you call — I don’t know — 20 or 30 friends, you’re very, very likely to find a bunch of them actually have COVID, or have had COVID recently, or are starting to be symptomatic,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a COVID expert and chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri.

One notable recent case was President Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday while traveling in Las Vegas. Biden returned to Delaware to recover. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tested positive a few weeks ago, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) said Tuesday that she was celebrating her birthday while recovering from COVID.

“Our fight against COVID is not over!” Lee said on social media.

Across the nation, COVID-19’s shadow has become more pronounced lately, with the usual seasonal uptick in travel and socialization spawning a fresh spate of infections. Many cases are relatively mild, but nevertheless disruptive — forcing trips or plans to be canceled.

Some recently infected people have described painful COVID symptoms, such as a throat that feels like it’s studded with razor blades. Overall, however, there are no indications the FLiRT subvariants are associated with increased illness severity that would trigger a substantial increase in hospitalizations.

The CDC estimates that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 41 states, including California. There are no states where the coronavirus is declining or likely declining.

The COVID resurgence comes as the sprawling FLiRT family is increasing its dominance nationally. For the two-week period that ended Saturday, the CDC estimates that about 80% of the nation’s coronavirus specimens are of the FLiRT subvariants, up from about 65% for the same period a month earlier.

Across California, the rate at which COVID tests are returning positive results is also on the rise. For the week that ended July 15, 12.8% of tests came back positive. That’s up from 5.9% a month earlier and close to last summer’s peak of 13.1%, which was recorded at the end of August and early September.

For the 10-day period that ended July 6, the most recent for which data are available, coronavirus levels in Los Angeles County wastewater were at 36% of last winter’s peak, up from 27% for the 10-day period that ended June 29.

Newly confirmed COVID cases are rising faster, too. For the week that ended July 14, there were an average of 359 new cases a day in L.A. County, up from 307 the prior week. A month earlier, there were 154 cases a day.

Official COVID-19 case tallies are certainly an undercount, as those figures include only tests done at medical facilities, not those taken at home, and also don’t account for the fact that fewer people are testing when they feel sick. But the overall trends are still helpful to determine the trajectory of the summer wave.

COVID hospitalizations are also ticking up, though they remain below last summer’s peak. For the week that ended July 13, there were an average of 287 COVID-positive people per day in L.A. County hospitals, up from 139 for the comparable period a month earlier. Last summer’s peak was the week that ended Sept. 9, when an average of 620 COVID-positive patients were in the region’s hospitals per day.

For the week that ended July 14, L.A. County reported that 2.8% of all emergency room visits were COVID-related — up from 1.8% for the comparable period a month earlier, but below last summer’s peak of 5.1%.

[army04bts]

[mydeztination]

Solo Female Travel Mexico - Is Puerto Vallarta Safe? + Yelapa & Los Arcos Video

Is Puerto Vallarta Safe?

Puerto Vallarta is located on the West side of Mexico and is lined by the Sierra Madre Mountains & a lush jungle coastline. Puerto Vallarta is known for its warm tropical weather, inexpensive cost of living and traditional Mexican culture. During whale season (November to March), you are guaranteed to see whales every day in the Bay of Banderas, and sting rays and dolphins year around.

So, is Puerto Vallarta safe for solo female travelers?

The answer is - YES!

As a solo traveler myself I have lived in Puerto Vallarta for almost 4 years now and have never run into any situations that I felt were dangerous or unsafe.

Is there a lot of theft or violence in Puerto Vallarta?

There is not a lot of theft, danger or violence in the tourist areas of Puerto Vallarta and any of the surrounding cities, but like with any place you choose to travel to it is smart not to wear a lot of flashy jewelry and keep a small amount of cash on your body.

The key here is: don’t come to a third world country and flash your first world luxuries and you should be just fine.

Puerto Vallarta is very safe and violent crime does not exist in here.

What is public transportation like in Puerto Vallarta?

Taxi’s, Uber, the bus and now INDriver are all available to you in PV and are all equally safe. Taxi’s are the most expensive option while the bus is still only $10 pesos (.50$ USD). Uber and INDriver are reasonably competitive.

The bus is currently the most used form of public transportation in Puerto Vallarta and personally my favorite! Can you drink a beer or a margarita on the bus in YOUR home country? Didn’t think so!

Is the ocean safe in Puerto Vallarta?

Tides, currents and jelly fish are all things to watch out for anytime you’re in the ocean, but there is no reason to be overly concerned.

In the Bay of Banderas, waters are calmer here than most other parts of Mexico because it’s crescent shape protects the beaches from currents out in the open ocean.

Sharks are not a concern in Puerto Vallarta which is one of the main reasons the humpback whales choose to breed here as well as bring their young calf’s to the warm tropical waters.

There are life guards on the beach at some beaches, but its good to pay attention to the flags on the beach:

Green Flag: Water conditions are safe for swimming.

Yellow Flag: Use caution while swimming.

Red Flag: Dangerous conditions.

Black Flag: The highest warning level. Do not swim.

Is it safe to eat the food in Puerto Vallarta?

Street food stands are located everywhere in Puerto Vallarta and are safe to eat at. Some of the best food in Mexico comes out of a little mom and pop street food stand because it is delicious and cheap.

Is it safe to drink the water in Puerto Vallarta?

That depends on where you are in the city and where you are staying. A lot of the major hotels have a filtration system and will inform their guests that the water is potable - ok for consumption.

Locals and visitors do not drink tap water in Puerto Vallarta, so we purchase a garrafon (5 gallon filtered water jug) 2-3 times per week from any OXXO or grocery store for around $35 pesos.

Is there crime in Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta is safe, but that doesn’t mean you should always be letting your guard down. Crime still exists, but crime levels are low, especially compared with the rest of Mexico and significantly lower than the crime rates of major cities in the U.S. like Miami and Las Vegas.

Is there Cartel activity in Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta has largely remained uninvolved in Cartel conflicts. Violent crime is rare, and in the few instances of violence that have occurred, the victims were expected to be involved with the cartel in some way.

Crimes that do occur are usually petty in nature, and mostly crimes of opportunity such as bag snatching, pick-pocketing or theft. But even these aren’t very common.

Mexico has this reputation…

Mexico has a reputation - mostly with Canadian and American travelers - that it is not a safe destination to travel to for people like retirees and solo female travers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In 2018, AARP ranked Puerto Vallarta the #1 place to retire in based on safety and the cost of living against 100 other cities around the world.

10 Quick Solo Female Travel Tips for Puerto Vallarta

Double check the license plate of your Uber/InDriver.

Never leave drinks unattended.

Take your belongings to the bathroom with you.

Smile and acknowledge the people you pass, most of the time they just want to say hello.

If you need help, ask for it. Almost everyone is here to help you enjoy your time in Puerto Vallarta.

Don’t wear flashy jewelry.

Always be conscious opening your wallet in public.

Be aware of leaving your purse open and pick-pocketers.

Don’t carry too much cash. $200 USD per day is more than enough.

Avoid walking home at night if you don’t know the neighborhood.

watch the video below

More Videos on Youtube

Travel Experts Interviewed in this video:

**Current COVID-19 Safety Protocol in Puerto Vallarta**

Masks are required in all public places & social distancing is enforced. Public beaches are open & groups are limited to 10 or less, with mask use optional once you are on the beach & distanced from others.

Restaurants & bars have limited capacity, but isn’t much of a problem since tourism is so low right now since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Wearing a mask or not wearing a mask is not a political statement here as it is in the US, but from my observation, most seem to follow the protocol.” - Jim Kellett.

“As of January 26th, 2021, all passengers on international flights bound for the United States will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, PCR or rapid antigen, or written documentation of recovery following a COVID-19 infection. Canada only requires the PCR test.”

Testing requirements for both countries must be within 72 hours prior to departure.

COVID Testing locations and prices in Puerto Vallarta: https://visitpuertovallarta.com/covid-19

Puerto Vallarta Activities x My Deztination

Book now!

What is the weather like in Puerto Vallarta?

From December through April, the average daily high temperature is about 81 degrees, with a low at night hovering around 65 degrees, so not too hot during the day & no air conditioner needed!

During the rainy season (June through November), temperatures are higher at around 89 degrees, with full-day sun and lightening showers in the evenings.

Where is Puerto Vallarta?

Puerto Vallarta follows the coast of the Pacific Ocean & shares the same latitude line as Hawaii, making it the best year around weather in the world. Most tourists visit the East coast of Mexico first because they assume that the Caribbean Sea will provide a better ambiance, but once those same people come to Vallarta they realize it’s the only place in Mexico where the tropical ocean is lined with the lush jungle of the Sierra Madre Mountain range.

Thanks for reading!

Puerto Vallarta Activities

by My Deztination

Read More:

[foreverlogical]

At one hospital in North Dakota, nurses are being forced to test patients for the deadly coronavirus with only a surgical mask. And across the state, scores of nurses are working several overnight shifts in a row, scared to speak up as North Dakota grapples with a rapid coronavirus spike that’s left hospitals facing a dangerous shortage of beds.On Monday, state officials announced a seemingly counterproductive band-aid to combat the tidal wave of cases that have overwhelmed the mostly rural hospital system: COVID-19 positive nurses and other health-care workers can come to work.Now nurses are mad as hell.“Nurses are very highly trusted in our community, and if we are saying we can go back to work after testing positive, how do we expect the public to take this pandemic seriously?” Tessa Johnson, president of the North Dakota Nurses Association, told The Daily Beast.“I have heard that from a lot of people that they are at their breaking point. I think we are going to lose nurses from this. It has affected everyone in a different way,” she added.A Montana County Is So Swamped by COVID They’ve Run Out of Teachers, Hospital BedsBut while several North Dakota nurses told The Daily Beast they are “terrified” of the virus, they insist they’ll still show up for their increasingly dangerous jobs because “that’s what nurses do.”“Nurses don’t feel safe. They don’t feel like they have adequate PPE and everyone is concerned about short staffing and they don’t feel supported by state leadership,” Johnson, who is also the executive director at a senior long-term care facility, said. “But they are going to continue to go to work and put themselves at risk because that’s just what nurses do—even if they are hanging by a thread.”As of Monday, North Dakota medical professionals with asymptomatic COVID-19 cases can continue to work in COVID-19 units at hospitals and nursing homes. It’s one of several steps taken by hospitals and officials as part of their “surge plans” to curtail the virus that has moved the entire state into the “high-risk” category.“This applies only to COVID-positive health-care workers who do not have symptoms, and they are allowed only to work COVID units around patients who already have the virus,” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said Monday.The move, Burgum insisted, aligns with CDC guidelines that allow asymptomatic medical personnel to work during severe staff shortages.These changes come even as elected leaders in North Dakota—which, according to one survey, has the lowest rate of residents using face coverings in the country—repeatedly refuse to institute a mask mandate or any other forceful COVID-19 mitigation plan.One North Dakota nurse, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of professional retribution, said the state’s unprecedented step to allow those with the virus to treat patients “is short-sighted at best—and completely detrimental at worst.”“We need state officials to take decisive, hard-line decisions to combat this virus or else our hospital system is completely going to collapse,” the nurse said, adding that she has several colleagues and friends who have had the virus. “Allowing health care workers with the disease to treat patients with the same disease is not going to help anything. It only makes the problem worse.”‘Overwhelmed and Terrified’: Las Vegas’ Reopening Backfires TerriblyAnother nurse, who works in Bismarck, told The Daily Beast that she doesn’t know how much longer she is willing to put herself and her family in danger for a state that doesn’t seem to “have her back anymore.”Johnson pointed out that COVID-positive nurses won’t be isolated with virus patients and could spread the deadly virus to their colleagues in “bathrooms and dining rooms and break rooms and elevators.”Not only is it “unrealistic” to contain a “highly contagious” virus to specific hospital wings, she said, but the new measure “is only going to make things worse” because it will add to nurses’ stress and prevent them from getting rest in areas of the hospital “where they should feel safe.”As the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Midwest, North and South Dakota currently have the nation’s worst rate of deaths per capita. And while the coronavirus is spiking at an uncontrolled rate in dozens of states across the country, North Dakota’s daily average for new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths put the state at the top, according to ProPublica.The North Dakota Department of Health on Thursday reported 1,801 new cases in the state, bringing the total to 59,173, with a positivity rate of about 18.7 percent. Last week, the state had 171 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, the highest per capita rate in the country, according to the CDC.Officials also revealed 11 people died from the virus on Thursday, bringing the state’s death toll to 697. The dead include David Andahl, a North Dakota Republican state legislative candidate who passed away in October—but still ended up winning his seat.Health experts are concerned about the trajectory of the state of 762,062 Americans, especially as neighboring states experience similar surges.Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who specializes in infectious diseases, believes North Dakota’s virus trajectory officially puts it in “crisis.”Dozens of Nurses Have Died of COVID-19. The Rest Are Still Forced to Reuse Masks.“This state does not have a lot of medical resources, meaning it has a low threshold to be overwhelmed if something goes awry,” Adalja told The Daily Beast, adding that the state’s surge “is a lesson for what happens for when you don’t plan for cases.”On Wednesday, the health department revealed that some residents have tested positive for COVID-19 multiple times, and officials said they’ve launched an investigation to determine whether those cases are, in fact, reinfections.“Our cases are people who have tested positive twice, developed symptoms a second time, most with more than 90 days in between positive results,” a health department spokesperson told The Forum.Adalja, however, insists North Dakota’s decision to allow health-care staff to continue to work with “acute infections” is more “a sign of the times” than a dangerous decision that could lead to re-infections.“Re-infection is something that is very rare. These medical personnel are acute cases working with patients that are already infected,” Adalja said. “That being said, it will get worse in North Dakota before it gets better.”Gov. Burgum has moved every county in the state to a “high-risk” level, signified by the color orange. The level, one step below shutdown measures never used in the state, limits all bars and event venues to 25 percent capacity. On Monday, Burgum outlined several other initiatives to stem the crisis, including hiring EMTs and paramedics to run testing sites.“Our hospitals are under enormous pressure now,” Burgum added. “We can see the future two, three weeks out, and we know that we have severe constraints.”Nurses Have Been Complaining for Weeks About Inadequate PPE. Now They’re Suing.Sanford Health, one of the state’s largest health-care systems, also announced Thursday it will be sending hospital patients to a nearby nursing home in Fargo to recover in an attempt to free up hospital space. According to The Forum, the nursing home is opening a wing that will provide 24 additional beds for a hospital system that is already at “very high capacity.”The North Dakota Nurses Association has blasted state leadership for allowing COVID-positive medical workers to keep working. In a Wednesday night statement, they said that it should be a health-care workers’ choice to stay on the job while COVID-positive—rather than their employers.“If a nurse believes they are not well enough to provide safe patient care and chooses not to work under these circumstances, employers should not retaliate against the nurse for making this decision,” the statement read, adding that the state should be pressing COVID-19 mitigation guidelines, like mandating mask-wearing and social distance.The North Dakota Emergency Nurses Association on Wednesday night also released a statement against the new policy, urging lawmakers to institute a statewide mask mandate and other CDC mitigation guidelines before resorting to a “crisis strategy.” Johnson said nurses are already putting themselves on the line for their patients daily.“They are probably positive health-care workers who haven’t been tested,” Johnson said. “Everyone is already putting themselves at risk for this virus. We’re preparing for a very, very dark week to eight weeks unless a drastic change happens.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

VISIT WEBSITE

[world-news-blog-2020]

Company Steps Up to Keep Health Care Workers Healthy

(NewsUSA) – As the ongoing spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) reshapes American lives by the day, and sometimes by the hour, the health and stability of the nation’s essential work force, namely our health care workers and first responders, remains paramount.To keep themselves and their patients safe, these workers, who may have potentially been exposed to this deadly virus, may have to stay home until they are tested, losing valuable time on a now critical job.Here’s where organizations such as xymbio are stepping up to the challenge. xymbio, an infectious disease testing company, has offered the use of its high-speed testing program to help run tests on health care personnel and first responders to keep them healthy and return them to their demanding roles as soon as possible.The Las Vegas based company, uses industry leading technologies from ThermoFisher and operates under the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) guidance issued by the Federal Drug Administration and highest diagnostic standards.xymbio is readying to process COVID-19 tests for hospitals and health care systems, and the company can provide both on-site testing and at-home testing kits for employees who believe they may have been exposed to the virus. In addition, individual physicians can request test kits and testing for patients using forms available online on the xymbio website.The company has been waiting on a response from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for necessary funding to accelerate its capabilities to acquire test kits so that it can rapidly scale testing capacity."xymbio has developed state of the art qPCR technology using ThermoFisher reagents to detect coronavirus protein n,s,e antigens. Their test is highly specific, accurate and scalable. They are now only limited by government funding to expand capacity from 500 tests per day to thousands of tests per day. Time is of the essence. They have the fix. They need the support to expand their operations now!" Dr. Larry Emdur, Chief Medical Officer of Alvarado Hospital in California."We are in a war against a dangerous virus, and with federal assistance we are prepared to ramp up our testing capacity over the next 35 days to 20,000 tests a day, or 120,000 tests a week, with immediate plans to expand operations to Las Vegas and Atlanta, which would more than quadruple our testing capacity," according to Dr. Heath Wills, CEO and Chief Medical Officers of xymbio."We are ready to undertake the rapid action on behalf of many more citizens, and await prompt action on our proposal to the NIH, HHS, CDC, FEMA or the White House Task Force on Coronavirus testing during this national crisis," Wills emphasizes.xymbio has also been working with the Swab for Life campaign of the Give Life Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raise awareness of blood donation."We chose to partner with xymbio because of its extremely accurate COVID-19 testing capabilities that we believe will accelerate help to Americans during this national healthcare crisis," says Bart S. Fisher, chairman of the Foundation.For more information about xymbio and their efforts to work with individual health care providers, hospitals, and the government, visit xymbio.com. Credit: NewsUSA Get ready to think on Logistics Company Singapore Air Freight Singapore and Transportation Service Singapore for your needs.

[timesofnewsindia]

Covid-19 Antibody Test, Seen as Key to Reopening Country, Does Not Yet Deliver

Dene Callas, an advertising executive in Santa Monica, Calif., quickly accepted when her doctor offered to test her this month. An initial rapid test was invalid; a second one came back negative. Still, Ms. Callas believed she had contracted the virus and recovered: She had attended a conference in Las Vegas in January and fallen ill within days. A positive test, she said, would have made a…

[psatalk]

Michelman India & Vishal Containers develop recyclable edible oil pouches

Ahmedabad-based flexible packaging solutions provider Vishal Container has collaborated with Michelman India to produce recyclable edible oil pouches. Vishal Containers presented its Circupack range of sustainable flexible packaging solutions at the Petfood Forum Kansas City which was held from 22-24 September and at Packexpo Las Vegas which took place from 27-29 September. It also showcased its recyclable store drop-off program pre-qualified packaging solutions using barrier coating technology and EB curing.

Talking about this collaboration Shailesh Nema, vice president and managing director of Michelman India said that the solution is primarily meant for edible oil pouches but can certainly be replicated for other end applications as well. “The industry had been looking for a replacement of nylon and EVOH in polyethylene-based edible oil pouches as these hinder the recycling process of PE laminates. They became a necessary evil because edible oil requires a moderate oxygen barrier and the Nylon/EVOH contributes to that,” he said.

“We discussed our oxygen barrier coating as a replacement to that structure with several edible oil manufacturers and packaging converters and Vishal containers liked the idea. We took exhaustive trials of the new structure using our coating at the Michelman Innovation Centre for Coating (MICC) in Mumbai and subsequently at Vishal Containers,” Nema added.

He said that the solution needed to be approved at multiple stages – including the packaging lines of the edible oil manufacturers and the process took almost two years for Michelman to attain full acceptability from some of the edible oil brands.

Nema explained that Vishal Containers were very collaborative in their approach and were equally passionate about providing green flexible packaging solutions. “Once the initial studies were done at our MICC, Vishal Containers invested in their production and resources to conduct multiple trials and motivated the edible oil manufacturers to try these solutions,” he said.

According to Nema, the solution lies in its simplicity where only two PE layers can be adjoined with an O2 barrier coating. “Michelman always looks forward to collaborating with entities who share our common passion, which is providing sustainable solutions to the industry.”

Indian packaging industry sees rapid recovery

The Indian economy has seen a significant recovery since the second lockdown was lifted in the middle of this year. According to Nema, the Indian packaging industry too has seen a sharp bounce back. “The business is recovering quite fast and the current business volumes are at pre-covid levels. Some of the segments of the industry had seen exceptional growth during the pandemic and lockdown and those segments are now normalizing in terms of business volumes,” he said

Nema is bullish about the prospects for the next 12 months given there is no third Covid-19 wave in India. “We believe that the recovery will continue and the industry will see double-digit growth in the coming year. We are already seeing investments and expansion projects by leading players in the packaging industry and it is also well supported by the consumption trends,” Nema said.

Compostable solutions from Michelman

For packaging converters looking for compostable solutions, Michelman has announced the certification of three high-performance products.

The three PFAS-free coatings, Michem Coat 2000, Michem Coat 525, and Hydraban 8000, have recently complied with the specifications established by the American Society for Testing and Materials standards ASTM D6400 and D6868 per the terms and conditions of Biodegradable Products Institute’s (BPI) certification program for compostable products.

These products have had biodegradation and ecotoxicity testing in order to receive BPI certification. This testing means that Michelman BPI-certified coatings are proven to biodegrade in an industrial compost environment and can be used in quantities typical for the applications they are designed for with minimal limitations.

The newly developed Michem Coat 2000 and Michem Coat 525 are functional coatings that provide maximum oil and grease performance in fiber-based food service applications. Hydraban 8000 is a water-resistant paper coating with excellent glue-ability and printability used for food packaging.

Michelman’s portfolio of compostable coatings is currently available only in North America, with global development underway.

[orangecountylabsus]

OC Labs is Nevada’s first high-complexity, full-service Medical Laboratory, specializing in VIP Concierge Appointments for Cathay Pacific COVID Test, Rapid-Antigen, Antibody and comprehensive blood wellness testing at the San Martin Patient Service Center, conveniently located in southwest Las Vegas near St. Rose Dominican Hospital, San Martin Campus.

[covid19updater]

COVID19 Updates: 08/18/2021

World:  Actress Sally Kirkland After Moderna Vaccine: In My 79 Years, I’ve Never Experienced This Level of Pain LINK

California:  The Lambda COVID variant is in California: 5 things you should know LINK

Alabama:  Alabama has “negative” ICU beds free as U.S. hospitals struggle with surge of cases

US:  More than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths recorded as US returns to April levels LINK

India:  COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Will Be Available In India By September, Says Director of ICMR-NIV LINK

UK: Scotland:  Side point: Schools went back in Scotland on Monday, 16 Aug Nightclubs opened 9th Aug. Cases reported: 2021-08-18,2531 2021-08-17,1815 2021-08-16,1567 2021-08-15,1498 2021-08-14,1383 2021-08-13,1542 2021-08-12,1525 2021-08-11,1498 2021-08-10,1032 2021-08-09,851 Highly vaccinated, approx 75% double-pricked.

China:  The Chinese mainland Tuesday reported six new locally transmitted #COVID19 cases in Jiangsu Province, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.

World:  WHO & @Unitaid express concern over @Roche's warning of a global shortage of tocilizumab, a WHO-recommended IL6 inhibitor for use as a treatment for severe #COVID19.

Tennessee:  In West Tennessee, a class of second graders at Riverwood Elementary in Cordova were sent home yesterday with a letter about the death of their teacher, 31-year-old Ashley Leatherwood. Family and friends say she contracted #COVID19 in the classroom. #GetVaccinatedNow #WearAMask

Texas:  Despite urgent cries from families, Plano ISD is not taking any new action to prevent COVID-19 in schools. LINK

Montana:  The Blackfeet Nation has implemented a mask mandate and the tribe’s offices are closed to the public. This comes as Montana experiences increased spread of COVID-19. Please mask up on Blackfeet land.

US:  U.S. COVID update: Nearly 177K new cases, including Florida backlog, and 1,316 new deaths - New cases: 176,787 - Average: 138,396 (+2,813) - In hospital: 88,481 (+3,742) - In ICU: 21,914 (+1,047) - New deaths: 1,316

Texas:  #COVID19 outbreaks in rural #Texas districts signal a troubled back-to-school season LINK

US:  WASHINGTON (AP) — US health officials recommend COVID-19 booster shots for all Americans to boost their defenses amid delta variant.

UK:  United Kingdom Daily Coronavirus (COVID-19) Report · Wednesday 18th August. 33,904 new cases (people positive) reported, giving a total of 6,355,887. 111 new deaths reported, giving a total of 131,260.

World:  How SARS-CoV-2 Evades And Suppresses The Immune System (Part 4) LINK

Alaska:  Anchorage ICUs at capacity as a surge of COVID-19 patients has hospitals under stress and scrambling LINK

Israel:  In less than a month #Israel may no longer be able to hide the very obvious about the #covidvaccine despite booster doses, #lockdowns and suppression of V data. Leaked yesterday - 95% of deaths in the #vaccinated and a huge jump from June.

Israel:  Israel: in high cases areas, only classrooms in which over 70 % of students are either vaccinated, recovered or pass a positive serological test for antibodies will be allowed to meet in person. Classrooms that fall below that level will be required to switch to home learning. LINK

Texas:  The new Texas COVID-19 surge could be worse than anything the state has seen yet Last week in San Antonio, 26 minutes went by with no ambulances available to respond to 911 calls from the city’s 1.5 million residents. LINK

US:  Booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine will be offered to Americans beginning September 20, pending CDC and FDA approval, US health officials say LINK

US:  There's concerning evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness over time and against delta; the risk of severe infection increasing among those vaccinated early and those with at-risk conditions.

US: CDC DIRECTOR  *WALENSKY: VACCINE EFFECTIVENESS FALLING IN NURSING HOMES.  WALENSKY SAYS  OVERALL VACCINE EFFECTIVENESS IS DECREASED FOR THE DELTA VARIANT

World:  Various people have been raising the variant AY.3 as a potential problem. So here is a quick thread on what we are seeing here (and internationally). TLDR: Definitely the first clear sign of potentially worrying variant here in a while.  First what is AY.3? It's a subtype of Delta and is most prevalent in the US where it is about 9% of their cases. Very early results from India suggest that it is more immune evasive than "original" Delta.   In the US, AY.3 has also increased rapidly, but alongside Delta so it's hard to say if it's outcompeting Delta or just outcompeting previous variants.

NYC:  *DE BLASIO SAYS 'DOESN'T ANTICIPATE' NYC SCHOOL VACCINE MANDATE

Michigan:  Grand Rapids and Traverse City regions are at "substantial" increases in new cases of #COVID19. The rest of the state's regions are classified as "high" numbers of new cases.

World:  Why is Delta so much more contagious than prior #SARSCoV2 variants? It achieves membrane fusion far more efficiently and faster LINK

Mississippi:  Mississippi eighth grader dies of COVID-19 amid escalating mask battle LINK

France:  France reports 2,054 people in intensive care units for covid-19, up by 111 ICU tally above the 2,000 limit for the first time since June 14

South Carolina:  As Delta Spreads Through South Carolina, A Troubling Rise In Breakthrough Cases LINK

New York:  Today's update on the numbers: Total COVID hospitalizations are at 1,888. Of the 156,128 tests reported yesterday, 4,737 were positive (3.03% of total). Sadly, there were 20 fatalities.

Colorado:  COVID-19 vaccine mandate issued for Colorado prison workers, other state employees LINK

Israel:  Israel is now requiring anyone over the age of three to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test before entering many indoor spaces, as it tackles a sharp rise in infections. LINK

Nevada:  The Las Vegas Raiders are the first NFL team to require all fans attending home games to be vaccinated against COVID.

France:  People refusing to get Covid-19 vaccines in France are paying hundreds for fake health passes in an online black market that has flourished since the government imposed mandates for them to enter cafes, intercity trains and other public places;

Singapore:  Singapore court sentenced Brit Ben Glynn to 6 weeks in prison, for repeated breaching covid protocols. Found guilty on 4 charges for: failing to wear a mask on train in May & his July court appearance; causing a public nuisance; & use of threatening words to public servants;

Texas:  Five regions of Texas have zero open ICU beds LINK

Alabama:  Alabama is out of ICU beds amid a COVID-19 surge, with some patients being treated on gurneys in hallways, hospitals chief says LINK

Afghanistan:  JUST IN - Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly hospitalized in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

NYC:  Restaurants in NYC sue the Mayor over his vaccine mandate.

US:  The Biden administration will move to require that nursing home staff are vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for those facilities to continue receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. LINK

Israel:  Israeli congressman in hospital with covid, Fully vaccinated 47-year old, not yet boosted, describes his experience LINK

Florida:  BREAKING: 3,055 students in Florida's Palm Beach County Schools have been forced to quarantine due to #COVID19 since classes began 7 days ago. There are now 608 confirmed student COVID-19 cases out of 167,000 students enrolled.

World:  Significant reduction in humoral immunity among healthcare workers and nursing home residents 6 months after COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination LINK

Israel:  Pfizer COVID vaccine 83% effective after third shot - Maccabi LINK

US:  UPDATE: J&J BOOSTER PENDING—People who received Johnson & Johnson vaccines may need boosters, too, says @Surgeon_General Vivek Murthy. The CDC will have more information about additional J&J shots in **coming weeks**

US:  The Biden admin will cover of 100% of states' emergency COVID costs. LINK

Alabama:  WaPo: An Alabama doctor watched patients reject the coronavirus vaccine. Now he’s refusing to treat them. “'Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against covid-19,' the sign reads." LINK

US:  The COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, which is utilized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, predicts new COVID-19 hospitalizations could reach 32,000 a day as soon as Sept. 13. LINK

South Africa:  ⁦@USAfricaLive⁩ BrkNEWS: South Africa hit by 14,728 new COVID-19 cases — within 24 hours ⁦@MLKmandelachebe⁩ ⁦@WHO LINK

Alabama:  JUST IN: Alabama now at NEGATIVE 29 ICU beds, according to the Alabama Hospital Association.

US:  BREAKING: Number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 tops 90,000

Kentucky:  More Kentuckians currently in ICU battling COVID than ever before during pandemic LINK

Washington:  BREAKING: K-12 school teachers and staff must be vaccinated in WA by Oct. 18 or face losing their jobs.  The applies to public, private, and charter schools. @GovInslee is live on #KOMONews  right now

Canada:  553 new cases of #COVID19 in B.C., as the rolling average increases slightly, but may be beginning to plateau. Active cases up to 5,580 (highest since May 13), hospitalizations down to 107 but ICU cases to 53, one new death.

World:  Researchers find that COVID-19 patients who only suffered mild infections can be plagued with life-altering and sometimes debilitating cognitive issues LINK

Australia:  Sydney Children's Hospital Network is currently looking after SEVEN HUNDRED kids with #COVID19 Still fortunately vast majority as outpatients, but expecting more to become unwell as time goes on

Hong Kong:  Hong Kong’s granting of quarantine exemption to Nicole Kidman following her arrival from Australia last week has sparked outrage among residents who face some of the world’s toughest pandemic restrictions. LINK

[newstfionline]

Monday, June 21, 2021

‘I quit’ (NYT) The blazing-hot job market is in part being fueled by two words: I quit. According to the Labor Department, nearly four million people quit their jobs in April, the most on record. The dynamic has placed more power firmly in workers’ hands: With employers offering higher wages and incentives to combat the labor shortage, many workers—especially in low-wage positions in restaurants and hotels—are leaving their jobs and jumping to ones that pay even slightly more. The pandemic has driven workers to quit for other reasons as well. People were able to save money and pay down their debts, giving them a cushion to leave jobs that left them dissatisfied. Other workers, disinclined to give up remote work, are abandoning jobs that are less flexible.

‘Protected them to death’: Elder-care COVID rules under fire (AP) Barbara and Christine Colucci long to remove their masks and kiss their 102-year-old mother, who has dementia and is in a nursing home in Rochester, New York. They would love to have more than two people in her room at a time so that relatives can be there too. “We don’t know how much longer she’s going to be alive,” Christine Colucci said, “so it’s like, please, give us this last chance with her in her final months on this earth to have that interaction.” Pandemic restrictions are falling away almost everywhere—except inside many of America’s nursing homes. Rules designed to protect the nation’s most vulnerable from COVID-19 are still being enforced even though 75% of nursing home residents are now vaccinated and infections and deaths have plummeted. Frustration has set in as families around the country visit their moms and, this Father’s Day weekend, their dads. Hugs and kisses are still discouraged or banned in some nursing homes. Visits are limited and must be kept short, and are cut off entirely if someone tests positive for the coronavirus. Family members and advocates question the need for such restrictions at this stage of the pandemic, when the risk is comparatively low. They say the measures are now just prolonging older people’s isolation and accelerating their mental and physical decline.

Southwest US states bake, wildfire threatens Arizona towns (AP) The Southwest U.S. continued to bake Saturday, and weather forecasters kept warnings in effect for excessive heat in Arizona, Nevada and desert areas, at least through the weekend. High temperature marks didn’t fall Saturday, but Phoenix reached a sweltering high of 115 degrees (46 C) for the day and Las Vegas hit 111 degrees (44 C). Both were 3 degrees shy of records for the date, forecasters said. In Arizona, fire officials blamed extreme heat for the spread of a wildfire that started late Wednesday and grew by Saturday to nearly 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) near Strawberry and Pine, mountain towns east of Interstate 17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff.

Life-threatening flash flooding rises in Claudette’s path (AP) Forecasters warned of life-threatening flash flooding in parts of the Deep South, particularly across central Alabama, as Tropical Depression Claudette traveled over coastal states early Sunday. Heavy rain led to high water late Saturday into early Sunday in the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa metropolitan areas. Claudette was expected to cross into the Atlantic Ocean on Monday, and regain tropical storm strength over eastern North Carolina.

US Catholic bishops and communion (NYT) The divergence of the conservative American Catholic church from Pope Francis has come into sharp focus. On Friday, U.S. Catholic bishops decided to draft new guidance on communion that would deny President Biden the sacrament because of his support for abortion rights. The vote flouted a warning from the Vatican and was squarely aimed at Biden, above on Saturday, perhaps the most religiously observant president since Jimmy Carter. The bishops are expected to vote on a text in November. But on Saturday, Pope Francis said nothing, church officials and experts said, because he remains confident that the American conservatives would never have enough votes to pass a doctrinal declaration on banning communion. Nonetheless, the pope’s allies worry that the rite of communion will be turned into a political weapon.

At least 15 die in multiple attacks near US-Mexico border (AP) Gunmen aboard a number of vehicles staged attacks in several neighborhoods in the Mexican border city of Reynosa on Saturday, and at least 15 people died in clashes that caused widespread panic, according to local law enforcement. The Tamaulipas state agency coordinating security forces said in a statement that the attacks began in the early afternoon in several neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city, which borders McAllen, Texas. The area’s criminal activity has long been dominated by the Gulf Cartel, but there have been fractures within the gang.

As Brazil tops 500,000 deaths, protests against president (AP) Anti-government protesters took to the streets in more than a score of cities across Brazil on Saturday as the nation’s confirmed death toll from COVID-19 soared past half a million—a tragedy many critics blame on President Jair Bolsonaro’s attempt to minimize the disease. Saturday’s marches came a week after Bolsonaro led a massive motorcycle parade of supporters in Sao Paulo, though his allies and foes differ dramatically on the size of that event.

EU Opens The Door To American Travelers. But Be Sure To Read The Fine Print (NPR) Americans are now able to visit the European Union again, vaccinated or not. The European Council has updated its list of countries whose citizens and residents should be allowed to travel freely to the bloc’s 27 member nations, and the United States is finally on it. But before you get on a plane, be aware there may be catches. In fact, there could be 27 different combinations of them. While the updated list published Friday is a recommendation on who may be granted entry based on their home country’s health situation, each EU government makes its own border decisions. This includes what nationalities to admit, whether to require PCR or rapid antigen coronavirus tests upon arrival, and whether quarantine is mandatory. And there’s yet another factor EU governments may take into account when deciding whether to grant access to American travelers: reciprocity. The U.S. government has not yet lifted its ban on non-essential travel by Europeans.

Feeling abandoned by Europe, Greece hardens migration policy (Reuters) With walled camps and tougher border controls, Greece is hardening its approach ahead of summer when migrant arrivals pick up, defying criticism from aid groups and saying it has little choice given a lack of support from the rest of Europe. The squalid conditions facing many asylum-seekers were laid bare last year when a fire devastated the sprawling Moria camp on Lesbos, and Greece has denied repeated accusations that its coast guard vessels have pushed back migrant boats as they entered Greek waters from Turkey. Greece was the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015, when a million refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan landed. The numbers have slowed sharply since, but Greece says it is still left shouldering much of the burden.

Thailand Once Shut Out Covid-19 but Is Now Pivoting to Living With It (WSJ) Last year, Thailand was one of the world’s top performers at fighting the coronavirus. It sacrificed the tourism dollars that normally buoy its economy to shut out Covid-19. In September, it celebrated 100 consecutive days of no locally transmitted infections. The government is now making a stark departure from that vision of an infection-free oasis. Its new message: Learn to live with the virus long term. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha pledged this week to fully reopen the nation in the next 120 days, or by mid-October, allowing most restrictions on business and tourism to be lifted. Foreign visitors would have to be vaccinated but could enter and travel freely. Doing so, he said, would mean accepting higher infection rates, but the step is necessary to ease the enormous suffering of those struggling to earn a living. “I know this decision comes with some risk because when we open the country, there will be an increase in infections, no matter how good our precautions,” he said in a televised address Wednesday. “But, I think, when we take into consideration the economic needs of people, the time has now come for us to take that calculated risk.”

Australia accused of 'excessive and unnecessary' secrecy (AP) Australia’s suppression of information seen as pivotal to a free and open media is at the center of accusations that the country has become one of the world’s most secretive democracies. Last week, a former Australian spy was convicted over his unconfirmed role as a whistleblower who revealed an espionage operation against the government of East Timor. It’s the latest high-profile case in a national system in which secrecy laws, some dating back to the colonial era, are routinely used to suppress information. Police have also threatened to charge journalists who exposed war crime allegations against Australian special forces in Afghanistan, or bureaucrats’ plan to allow an intelligence agency to spy on Australian citizens. Australians don’t even know the name of the former spy convicted Friday. The Canberra court registry listed him as “Witness K.” K spent the two-day hearing in a box constructed from black screens to hide his identity. The public and media were sent out of the courtroom when classified evidence was discussed, which was about half the time. The only sign that anyone was actually inside the box was when a voice said “guilty” after K was asked how he pleaded.

After cease-fire, Israel and Hamas revert to calibrated routine of provocation and reprisal (Washington Post) On just the second day of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s tenure, Jewish nationalists marched through East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 war, yelling, “Death to Arabs.” In what Hamas said was a response, the group launched incendiary balloons from Gaza, injuring no one but burning crops and wildlands. Hours later, Israeli warplanes struck two “military sites” in Gaza, injuring no one but unnerving residents. This was a version of the finely calibrated dance of provocation and reprisal well known to residents on both sides of the Gaza-Israel border. Nearly a month after a cease-fire ended 11 days of intense fighting, neither side is eager for a return to a full air war, according to military and political analysts, although the situation remains volatile. Hamas launched more fire balloons Thursday and Israel hit additional sites in Gaza, again with no reported injuries. But so far, Hamas has not resumed rocket fire, which would all but ensure a more muscular response from the Israeli military. Both sides are pressing their demands in negotiations over a longer-term truce being brokered by Egyptian mediators. Israel is insisting that Hamas return the remains of soldiers it has held since 2014 and two Israeli citizens it is assumed to hold. Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and stop blocking millions of dollars that Qatar is seeking to provide to pay Palestinian government salaries in Gaza. As the talks go on, an international program to help Gaza rebuild is waiting to launch. Israel has yet to open the border crossings, except for humanitarian and emergency traffic. No mail has reached Gaza since fighting broke out May 10.

Jordan’s unprecedented palace drama moves to the courtroom (AP) Jordan’s version of a trial of the century gets under way Monday when a relative of King Abdullah II and a former chief of the royal court are to be ushered into the defendants’ cage at the state security court to face charges of sedition and incitement. They are accused of conspiring with a senior royal—Prince Hamzah, a half-brother of the king—to foment unrest against the monarch while soliciting foreign help. The palace drama erupted into the open in early April, when Hamzah was placed under house arrest. It has since broken taboos in Jordan and sent jitters through foreign capitals, with Western powers rallying behind Abdullah, an indispensable ally in an unstable region. The case exposed rivalries in Jordan’s traditionally discreet Hashemite dynasty and spawned unprecedented public criticism of the monarch. The defendants are the most senior establishment figures to appear before the security court, which typically goes after drug offenders or suspected militants. “As far as I know, there has not been a case this big in the history of Jordan,” said defense lawyer Ala Khasawneh. The state news agency Petra said the trial starts Monday.

[pharmaphorumuk]

Reviv Global and V-Health hope digital passport will reopen Vegas

Reviv Global and partner V-Health Passport are backing their technology to allow the hospitality industry to reopen safely in resorts such as Las Vegas.

V-Health Passport makes use of the Code technology from VST Enterprises and was launched with the backing of Zara and Mike Tindall MBE in 2020 as a way of opening up the global economy.

Reviv have introduced this secure technology to hotels, bars and restaurants, as a solution to allow them to reopen.

The company said that everyone in attendance will be safe in the knowledge that the people they are socialising with, will have a valid code and would need to have tested negative for COVID-19 prior to allowing entry.

The public will be asked to download the VPassport app, before heading off to their restaurant, bar or conference.

They will be required to obtain and take a rapid antigen test for COVID-19 and their results will then be uploaded onto a health pass, which will contain their secure code.

This can then be scanned on entry by members of staff when they arrive at their chosen venue, proving they are negative and able to enter the premises safely.

People without a smartphone will be able to print off their certification and codes, which are available from a website portal.

Louis-James Davis, CEO and Founder of V-Health Passport said: “It has been great to have Reviv Global as a partner over the last 12 months working on our ‘fit-to-fly’ campaigns and now, moving into other global markets. The V-Health Passport was built to be multipurpose and it will thrive in a city such as Las Vegas”.

Vegas has been hit hard by the pandemic – earlier this week gambling firm Las Vegas Sands Corp announced it is to sell its properties there for $6.25 billion, exiting the gambling hot spot after three decades to focus on Asian markets.

Digital passports and similar schemes showing COVID-negative or vaccination status could also re-open other parts of the economy including airports and tourism.

The post Reviv Global and V-Health hope digital passport will reopen Vegas appeared first on .

from https://pharmaphorum.com/news/reviv-global-and-v-health-hope-digital-passport-will-reopen-vegas/

[gordonwilliamsweb]

More Than 2,900 Health Care Workers Died This Year — And the Government Barely Kept Track

This story also ran on The Guardian. It can be republished for free.

More than 2,900 U.S. health care workers have died in the COVID-19 pandemic since March, a far higher number than that reported by the government, according to a new analysis by KHN and The Guardian.

Fatalities from the coronavirus have skewed young, with the majority of victims under age 60 in the cases for which there is age data. People of color have been disproportionately affected, accounting for about 65% of deaths in cases in which there is race and ethnicity data. After conducting interviews with relatives and friends of around 300 victims, KHN and The Guardian learned that one-third of the fatalities involved concerns over inadequate personal protective equipment.

Many of the deaths — about 680 — occurred in New York and New Jersey, which were hit hard early in the pandemic. Significant numbers also died in Southern and Western states in the ensuing months.

The findings are part of “Lost on the Frontline,” a nine-month data and investigative project by KHN and The Guardian to track every health care worker who dies of COVID-19.

One of those lost, Vincent DeJesus, 39, told his brother Neil that he’d be in deep trouble if he spent much time with a COVID-positive patient while wearing the surgical mask provided to him by the Las Vegas hospital where he worked. DeJesus died on Aug. 15.

Another fatality was Sue Williams-Ward, a 68-year-old home health aide who earned $13 an hour in Indianapolis, and bathed, dressed and fed clients without wearing any PPE, her husband said. She was intubated for six weeks before she died May 2.

“Lost on the Frontline” is prompting new government action to explore the root cause of health care worker deaths and take steps to track them better. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services recently asked the National Academy of Sciences for a “rapid expert consultation” on why so many health care workers are dying in the U.S., citing the count of fallen workers by The Guardian and KHN.

“The question is, where are they becoming infected?” asked Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory team and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “That is clearly a critical issue we need to answer and we don’t have that.”

The Dec. 10 report by the national academies suggests a new federal tracking system and specially trained contact tracers who would take PPE policies and availability into consideration.

Doing so would add critical knowledge that could inform generations to come and give meaning to the lives lost.

“Those [health care workers] are people who walked into places of work every day because they cared about patients, putting food on the table for families, and every single one of those lives matter,” said Sue Anne Bell, a University of Michigan assistant professor of nursing and co-author of the national academies report.

The recommendations come at a fraught moment for health care workers, as some are getting the COVID-19 vaccine while others are fighting for their lives amid the highest levels of infection the nation has seen.

The toll continues to mount. In Indianapolis, for example, 41-year-old nurse practitioner Kindra Irons died Dec. 1. She saw seven or eight home health patients per week while wearing full PPE, including an N95 mask and a face shield, according to her husband, Marcus Irons.

The virus destroyed her lungs so badly that six weeks on the most aggressive life support equipment, ECMO, couldn’t save her, he said.

Marcus Irons said he is now struggling financially to support their two youngest children, ages 12 and 15. “Nobody should have to go through what we’re going through,” he said.

In Massachusetts, 43-year-old Mike “Flynnie” Flynn oversaw transportation and laundry services at North Shore Medical Center, a hospital in Salem, Massachusetts. He and his wife were also raising young children, ages 8, 10 and 11.

Flynn, who shone at father-daughter dances, fell ill in late November and died Dec. 8. He had a heart attack at home on the couch, according to his father, Paul Flynn. A hospital spokesperson said he had full access to PPE and free testing on-site.

Since the first months of the pandemic, more than 70 reporters at The Guardian and KHN have scrutinized numerous governmental and public data sources, interviewed the bereaved and spoken with health care experts to build a count.

The total number includes fatalities identified by labor unions, obituaries and news outlets and in online postings by the bereaved, as well as by relatives of the deceased. The previous total announced by The Guardian and KHN was approximately 1,450 health care worker deaths. The new number reflects the inclusion of data reported by nursing homes and health facilities to the federal and state governments. These deaths include the facility names but not worker names. Reporters cross-checked each record to ensure fatalities did not appear in the database twice.

The tally has been widely cited by other media as well as by members of Congress.

Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) referenced the data citing the need for a pending bill that would provide compensation to the families of health care workers who died or sustained long-term disabilities from COVID-19.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) mentioned the tally in a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the medical supply chain. “The fact is,” he said, “the shortages of PPE have put our doctors and nurses and caregivers in grave danger.”

This story is part of “Lost on the Frontline,” an ongoing project from The Guardian and Kaiser Health News that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who die from COVID-19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease. If you have a colleague or loved one we should include, please share their story.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

More Than 2,900 Health Care Workers Died This Year — And the Government Barely Kept Track published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/the-latest-pennsylvania-governor-warns-virus-getting-worse-world-news/

The Latest: Pennsylvania governor warns virus getting worse | World News

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf warned Monday that the coronavirus is running rampant throughout the state and could soon force overwhelmed hospitals to begin turning away patients.

Wolf calls it a “dangerous, disturbing scenario” that will become reality if people don’t take steps to slow the spread. He said additional pandemic restrictions might be on the way but did not elaborate on what his administration might be considering while also acknowledging the ones already in place have not worked.

Wolf said the unchecked spread of the virus in all regions of the state means that resource-sharing agreements among hospitals could soon begin to break down and force them to begin rationing care.

Still, the governor all but ruled out a return to the kinds of statewide restrictions he imposed in the spring, when schools were closed, thousands of businesses deemed non-essential were shut down, and all 12.8 million Pennsylvanians were under a stay-at-home order.

———

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Health officials warn Americans not to let their guard down

— UK gears up for coronavirus vaccination program watched around the world

— Citing low virus rates in schools, New York City reopens schools again

— Biden picks Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead HHS, pandemic response

— Senator says Trump, McConnell likely to back COVID-19 relief

— Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in hospital after positive COVID-19 test

———

Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

———

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

———

ATLANTA — The number of confirmed and suspected coronavirus infections has soared more than 70% in Georgia in the week ended Monday as hospitals continue to sound alarms about their ability to absorb new COVID-19 patients and a few schools give up in-person instruction for the remaining two weeks before Christmas holidays begin, with all students learning at home until 2021.

The last week has seen a rapid takeoff in new infections, with the state averaging more than 5,000 confirmed and suspected cases each day as of Monday. Even just the confirmed cases, based off molecular PCR tests, are now above the high set on July 24.

More than 2,500 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized Monday statewide. That’s below the summer peak of 3,200, but more than double the most recent low point in mid-October.

Despite the rapid rise, Georgia still ranks only 44th among the states for the most new cases per capita in the past 14 days, because cases are spreading so rapidly everywhere else. Still, the Georgia Department of Public health rates 60% of Georgia’s counties as having high transmission.

Georgia is likely to record its 10,000th confirmed or suspected death from COVID-19 sometime this week. On Monday, the death total stood at 9.851. The state passed 500,000 confirmed or suspected infections on Sunday.

———

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee lawmaker has been hospitalized with COVID-19 after attending a House Republican caucus meeting nearly two weeks ago.

Rep. David Byrd was flown by helicopter over the weekend to a Nashville hospital. The 63-year-old lawmaker attended the House GOP caucus meeting with nearly 70 lawmakers on Nov. 24 and also participated in a House GOP overnight retreat the weekend prior.

Byrd is at least the second lawmaker to be hospitalized after contracting the virus. Republican Rep. Mike Carter was hospitalized earlier this year for COVID-19.

Byrd had attracted scrutiny for more than a year over allegations by three women of sexual misconduct three decades ago when he was a high school teacher and their basketball coach. He was never charged.

———

LAS VEGAS — Officials have reported that the number of people hospitalized in Nevada with COVID-19 has more than doubled over the last month.

The Nevada Hospital Association reported Monday that hospitalized coronavirus patients increased to 1,617 statewide from Nov. 6 to Dec. 6 as the state continues experiencing a surge. That’s up from 692, a rise of more than 230%.

Nevada COVID-19 response director Caleb Cage says officials expect the number of reported cases to continue rising because of gatherings over Thanksgiving. Cage says that will likely increase the number of hospitalizations.

Nevada has reported 170,587 COVID-19 cases and 2,319 deaths during the pandemic.

———

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has announced plans for a nighttime curfew during the upcoming Hanukkah holiday to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

The curfew is set to go into effect on Wednesday, on the eve of Hanukkah. It says commercial activities will be banned and intercity travel will be limited.

An announcement Monday night said the measure, approved by the advisory coronavirus cabinet, still requires approval from the Cabinet.

Israel has already imposed two lockdowns this year and is still emerging from the latest set of restrictions imposed in September. In recent days, the number of daily confirmed cases has sharply climbed.

Also Monday, President Reuven Rivlin said the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine are expected to arrive in the country in the coming days.

———

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced plans Monday for a series of community meetings across Arkansas to address the growing surge of coronavirus cases.

Hutchinson’s office said that the governor will have meetings this week in Benton, Springdale and Jonesboro, followed by additional meetings in other cities next week. The governor also planned to give a speech Thursday night for a statewide audience.

Hutchinson said last week that he’s considering requiring state approval for smaller indoor events. Under the state’s current COVID-19 restrictions, indoor events with more than 100 people expected must have a plan approved beforehand by the state.

But overall, the Republican governor has resisted calls for widespread restrictions, such as stricter capacity requirements on indoor dining, which has been recommended by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Arkansas’ rolling average number of daily new virus cases has increased by 21% over the past two weeks, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. One in every 205 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week, researchers said.

———

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s health department has loosened its coronavirus quarantine guidance for schools and workplaces to match the latest recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guidelines suggest people who’ve come in close contact with someone infected with the novel coronavirus can resume normal activity after 10 days if no symptoms have emerged, or seven days if they test negative. That’s down from 14 days.

The state Department of Education is expected to give public school systems the green light to follow the relaxed quarantine rules.

But the health department is sticking to a 14-day recommendation for prisons and nursing homes where people live together in tight quarters.

———

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans may be in store for stricter coronavirus restrictions next week.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in Monday social media posts that cases are on the rise in the city. Cantrell said that if the numbers don’t look better in one week, more restrictions will be needed.

There’s been a sharp increase in the percentage of tests with positive results. The seven-day average, as reported by the city, has gone from around 1% in early November to 3.6% as of Sunday.

Cantrell didn’t provide details on what the tighter rules might entail.

Restrictions are already tight in a city famous for its hospitality industry and night life. Indoor social gatherings are limited to 75 people and outdoor gatherings to 150 people. Restaurants are limited to half their indoor capacity and bars to 25%, and alcoholic beverage sales end at 11 p.m. Indoor live entertainment remains off-limits.

———

COLUMBIA, S.C. — With new COVID-19 cases reaching record levels in South Carolina, a teacher group is asking districts to go back to all virtual teaching until this second spike in the virus can be flattened.

The plea was given more emotional weight over the weekend after the death of 50-year-old third grade teacher Staci Blakely from COVID-19. Her family asked the school district to announce her death publicly to remind people how serious the disease can be, District Superintendent Greg Little said in a statement.

Blakely was a 28-year teaching veteran who was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus on Nov. 11. No one else in her classroom has been infected, the district said.

At least four school districts in South Carolina have returned to all virtual learning. Nearly a quarter of the state’s districts are teaching in person every day.

When averaged out over seven days, South Carolina is seeing about 2,300 new COVID-19 cases a day. That’s more than during the July peak that saw the state among the nation’s leaders in coronavirus spread.

———

BERLIN — A panel of medical experts in Germany is recommending that nursing home residents, people over 80 and certain medical personnel in acute and elderly care should receive coronavirus vaccines first when they become available.

A draft recommendation released Monday defines some 8.6 million people who would receive a vaccine first. That’s over 10% of the German population.

According to the 62-page document, only once those groups have been immunized and if vaccines are still limited should other high risk groups receive the shot.

The draft, which still needs to be approved, has a total of six categories grouped according to their risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and the likelihood they might expose others. Teachers belong to the fourth category, while people working in key positions of government, in critical infrastructure and in small stores are in the fifth.

All other healthy individuals under 60 — an estimated 45 million people in the country of 83 million — would be last in line for a vaccine.

The expert panel says people who have recovered from confirmed infection with COVID-19 do not need to get immunized.

———

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa posted another 35 deaths from the novel coronavirus on Monday, continuing the high level of deaths related to the pandemic.

The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from 29 deaths per day on Nov. 22 to 45 deaths per day on Sunday, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

State health officials reported on Monday 912 new cases in the previous 24 hours. State data indicates new case trends have slowed with the average number of daily new cases decreasing by nearly 37% in the past two weeks.

Although slowing, the virus spread remains high in Iowa. There were 1,083 new cases per 100,000 people in Iowa over the past two weeks, which ranks 16th in the country for new cases per capita. One in every 195 people in Iowa tested positive in the past week.

State data also show positive trends with fewer hospitalized patients at 898 on Monday and fewer people admitted in the previous 24 hours.

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VILNIUS, Lithuania — Lithuania’s government began advising people on Monday only to leave home for serious reasons, banned private parties of more than two families, and tightened requirements in shopping centers.

The government also directed almost all public sector employees to work from home, after initial measures failed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Shops are urged not to have short-term sales promotions and to have no more than five people stand in a line. Also, only one person per family is recommended to go shopping.

People in the southernmost Baltic country will have to celebrate Christmas under the new regulations, which will last until at least the end of the month.

A country of almost 3 million, Lithuania managed to curb the first COVID-19 wave but now faces one of the highest surges in Europe per capita with 76,036 total cases and 637 deaths, most of those registered in the last two months.

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ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s government says it will maintain core lockdown measures through the Christmas holidays, acknowledging that monthlong restrictions have not reduced COVID-19 infections to the extent it had hoped for.

Schools, courts, and restaurants will remain closed through Jan. 7, government spokesman Stelios Petsas announced Monday, while non-essential travel between Greece’s administrative regions will also be banned.

Stay-at-home orders nationwide will remain in effect until that date, with movement outside households granted by the government by SMS.

Greece’s pandemic death toll reached 3,000 at the weekend, with most deaths occurring after Nov. 1. The number of daily infections, based on a seven-day rolling average, is currently at 1,609 compared to 2,674 in mid-November, Petsas said.

Restrictions for stores, churches, and hair salons will be announced later this week, Petsas said.

The current lockdown was launched on Nov. 7 and initially planned to last for three weeks.

———

HELENA, Mont. — Montana’s first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will go to health care workers in the state’s major hospitals, Gov. Steve Bullock announced Monday.

Hospitals first in line for the vaccine are in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell and Missoula.

Montana could receive 9,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-December.

Large hospitals were selected as the recipients in the first round because the Pfizer vaccine must be stored in cold temperatures, and doses are shipped in boxes of 975 per box. The number of doses distributed to each hospital will be based on a survey conducted by the state’s health department.

A second shipment of vaccines is expected a week after the first round, which will contain both the Pfizer vaccine and a vaccine developed by drug company Moderna. The second shipment will be distributed primarily to rural hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, according to the governor’s office.

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HONOLULU — Officials gathered in Pearl Harbor to remember those killed in the 1941 Japanese attack, but public health measures adopted because of the coronavirus pandemic meant no survivors were present.

The military broadcast video of the ceremony live online for survivors and members of the public to watch from afar.

USS Utah survivor Warren Upton says it’s too bad he can’t be there in person, but that it’s for safety reasons. The 101-year-old planned to watch the ceremony from his home in California.

A moment of silence was held at 7:55 a.m. That’s the same time the attack began 79 years ago, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,400.

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LISBON — Portugal has surpassed the threshold of 5,000 COVID-19 deaths and set a new record for hospital admissions.

The General Directorate for Health said Monday that 3,367 patients with the novel coronavirus are in hospital and 78 people had died over the previous 24 hours.

Authorities officially recorded fewer than 3,000 cases of COVID-19, as the pandemic has ebbed from a peak of 7,497 daily cases in early November. Hospital admissions have leveled off but remain high.

Portugal’s 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people is 600, according to the European Centre for Disease Control. That makes it ninth highest in the 31 European countries monitored by the EU agency.

———

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ longtime partner, first gentleman Marlon Reis, has been hospitalized as a precaution after experiencing shortness of breath and a worsening cough eight days after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.

Polis’ office said in a statement late Sunday that the governor, who also was diagnosed with COVID-19, drove Reis to a hospital “for review and treatment.” Polis was not experiencing severe symptoms, his office said.

No additional information was immediately released. Both Polis and Reis tested positive Nov. 28, and both had been quarantining at home.

Polis, a Democrat, had described his symptoms as “very mild” Dec. 1 as he worked last week from home. He had previously said Reis was asymptomatic.

———

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning that the upcoming holiday season may be even worse than Thanksgiving in terms of spreading the coronavirus.

Fauci told CNN on Monday that because the traditional Christmas season is an extended period that stretches into New Year’s, the prospects for spreading the virus as people travel “may be even more compounded than what we saw at Thanksgiving.”

Fauci said “it’s a very critical time in this country right now” with the virus surging and more important than ever for people to take precautions like avoiding indoor gatherings, wearing masks and social distancing.

Over Thanksgiving, many people traveled to gather with families, against warnings from health officials. Fauci said the U.S. is “probably just at the beginning” of seeing the resulting uptick in cases.

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Catherine Iveson, 17, a senior at Mater Dei, with her horse Waldo at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center in Huntington Beach on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 put her love of riding horses on hold to study for the ACTC. Cat, as her family and friends call her, finally had to travel to New Mexico and Nevada to take the ACT test after the pandemic canceled her plans to take the test locally. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mater Dei High senior Catherine Iveson approached her college entrance exams with a level of determination and responsibility that would make many parents proud.

The 17-year-old from Costa Mesa put one of her favorite extracurricular activities – competitive riding with her horse Waldo – on hold to focus on taking a weekend prep class for the ACT, one of the most common standardized tests for college admissions.

“It was as much about time as it was about finances,” she said of the decision. “It’s impractical to do both.”

But the trade-off turned out to be just the start of the sacrifices for Iveson and her family amid the first college application season of the pandemic era.

Iveson traveled outside of California not once, but twice, with her parents to take the ACT after the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing shutdown canceled testing opportunities in-state.

She drove with her parents to New Mexico and Nevada, joining other California high school students who journeyed hundreds of miles this fall to take the traditional admission exams – though most  private and public colleges have said they are not requiring them because of the pandemic.

“It’s like if you decide you want to run a marathon, and you spent eight months conditioning, and they said, ‘Oh, sorry there’s no marathon’ you be like, ‘No, I want to run the marathon,’”Iveson’s mother, Erin, said of the decision to still find a way to take the exam.

“She still wanted to do it. If you worked really hard to get that number for schools in hopes of acceptance, you really want a chance (to take the test).”

In a response to the pandemic and the physical closures of many high schools, the California State University system and its 23 campuses temporarily suspended SAT or ACT requirements for students applying to be freshmen in the fall of 2021.

The nine-campus University of California system made the same concession, but says students can still submit test scores, which might be used for course placement.

Private universities such as California Baptist in Riverside also temporarily suspended the admission test requirements for its incoming freshmen.

“Due to the circumstances and limited test availability, we didn’t want to have that barrier for students if they weren’t able to get a test,” said Taylor Neece, dean of admissions for Cal Baptist. “I am not aware of any universities in California requiring the SAT or ACT for the fall of 2021.”

But for a variety of the reasons, the quest for high school students to take the exams continues despite the stance of universities and obstacles for the efforts.

A recent morning in Peoria, Ariz. provided a snap shot of this landscape. On Saturday, Nov. 7, the most recent date for SAT testing, about 20 cars with California license plates were spotted in the parking lot at Centennial High, a host site for the exam.

On that same day, more than 200 testing sites in California reported cancellations, according to an online database for College Board, the nonprofit organization that administers the test. The database showed 72 testing sites available in California.

“So many people left the state to take the test,” Erin Iveson said. “So many went to Phoenix. So many went to Utah, Las Vegas.”

Iveson was first scheduled to take the ACT in-state on April 4, just a few weeks after the pandemic physically shuttered schools in mid-March. But the cancellations soon began to arrive, one after another.

“They canceled the April 4 test, they canceled the May test, they canceled the June and the July,” Erin Iveson said.

But Iveson didn’t want her prep class with AR Academics in Newport Beach to be for naught. As she searched online for open test sites, she decided to plug in the zip code of her cousins in New Mexico.

Bingo.

She found an open seat for Sept. 12 in Las Cruces, N.M., about 750 miles from her home in Costa Mesa.

“Every California zip code was either canceled or going to be canceled,” she said.

So Iveson and her mother made the two-day drive to New Mexico (this was well before California issued its travel advisory). Fortunately, they arrived early enough to handle another hurdle. Iveson needed a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the exam.

The duo responded by driving about 50 miles to El Paso, Texas to take a rapid COVID-19 test before heading back to Las Cruces for the classroom exam.

“Just these crazy hurdles,” Iveson said. “They didn’t have tests in Las Cruces that would come back that day in a rapid test.”

For the ACT exam, she said all the students from California were placed in the same room, with social distancing and masks required.

Iveson, who maintains a 4.4 grade-point average, felt she performed well on the ACT, but didn’t quite hit her target score.

A few weeks later, she took the ACT again at a “pop-up site” in Las Vegas. The ACT offers the sites to accommodate students affected by the pandemic.

Iveson made the trek to Las Vegas with her father, Mark, and earned the score she had hoped for.

“After giving up so much to do prep and to really dedicate myself to it, I was not going to stop until I was really satisfied with my score,” she said. “I was happy with my score.”

Iveson’s interest in some highly ranked colleges also fueled her desire to take the ACT. She lists the University of North Carolina, University of Washington and Vanderbilt University among her favorites. She has already been accepted at the University of Arizona.

North Carolina, Washington and Vanderbilt are not requiring SAT or ACT scores, but Iveson didn’t want to leave it to chance.

“The college admission process is already so daunting and it’s so competitive,” she said. “Even though schools are saying that they won’t consider you differently if you don’t take the test, how are you really supposed to know? That’s not a very comforting thing.”

Palos Verdes High senior Maya Whitcomb said she submitted her SAT scores – taken as a sophomore – in her application to Middlebury College in Vermont despite entrance scores – including the SAT subject exam – being optional.

“My scores were pretty strong and I felt representative of what I’m capable of,” said Whitcomb, also a runner in track. “Just another data-point for them. It definitely couldn’t hurt.”

But there are alternatives besides admission exams for students seeking to raise their profile with universities.

At Cal Baptist, for example, Neece said grade-point average and essays are both excellent targets.

“You don’t want to be defined by just a GPA number,” he said. “You’re more than a number, so the essay is really your opportunity to showcase yourself, your talents, your strengths and your fit for the institution.”

The UC application, due Monday, Nov. 30, presents applicants with a series of short-answer questions.

The common application gives students an option to write about how the pandemic has affected them.

Joe Liu, executive director of Sylvan Learning of Irvine, has seen students prioritize the college essay.

He said at least two high school seniors from the center who recently earned $1,400 Wescom scholarships plan to put some of the money toward tutoring to improve their essays.

“They’re using that scholarship money to enhance their college essay and some are using it to help with their classwork (and) to prepare for AP exam,” Liu said. “They’re definitely utilizing that money wisely.”

The Ivesons made some cost-saving steps on their trips. They stayed with family, for example, in New Mexico, but still ended up spending several hundred dollars on hotels and food on their travels.

They also know that not all families can afford such trips, and Iveson said she is grateful for her parents’ support.

“We survived it,” Erin Iveson said. “It’s a lot of extra stress. It’s financial. It’s emotional.”

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-on November 27, 2020 at 01:35AM by Dan Albano