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The city of Seward became the center of Alaskas two largest coronavirus outbreaks on Wednesday, with a factory trawler and a local seafood-processing plant where a combined 181 people had tested positive.

The American Seafoods ship carrying 85 infected crew members arrived in Seward from Unalaska on Wednesday afternoon.

After the 286-foot American Triumph moored at Sewards cruise ship dock, the crew disembarked and were ushered into the waiting buses by the drivers, who were wearing ventilated PPE suits. A handful of onlookers drove by as the crew disembarked, some with binoculars. They were taken to Anchorage.

Also on Wednesday, 96 seafood workers at the OBI Seafoods processing plant in Seward which employs 262 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus, causing the plant to temporarily shut down, city officials said.

An employee at the plant first tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, after seeking medical care for an unrelated health issue, the company said. The plant immediately closed so that the company could test all its employees and disinfect the campus.

The cases included 85 nonresident and 11 resident employees, according to a presentation from Alaskas state medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, at a community briefing on Wednesday.

The OBI outbreak is the latest to hit the seafood industry in Alaska, occurring just days after the 85 crew members aboard the American Triumph tested positive for the virus, and more than 40 became infected at a plant operated by a Juneau fish processor.

Alaska is currently experiencing three large, separate outbreaks of COVID-19 in the seafood industry, said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaskas State Epidemiologist, in a written statement Wednesday evening. These outbreaks are reminiscent of the meat packing plant outbreaks in the Lower 48 and stress the importance of vigilant symptom screening and prompt facility-wide testing in congregate work settings when index cases are identified.

Until now, the seafood industry has remained relatively unscathed despite concerns earlier in the year about the influx of out-of-state workers and potential for outbreaks in close quarters, on vessels and in processing plants that could overwhelm the states fragile health care system.

In response, 11 seafood companies released a letter addressed to communities to confirm our commitment that we are prioritizing health and safety of local residents in which they detailed their COVID-19 mitigation plans.

With the exception of some smaller outbreaks in Dillingham and Whittier, the companies safety plans appeared to been mostly effective.

From Seward, infected crew from the ship and the plant were headed to Anchorage for isolation or quarantine, officials said. It isnt clear where the workers will be housed while in the city.

The sudden influx of infected people prompted municipal concerns about Anchorage hospital capacity. OBI Seafoods said in a statement that the vast majority of their employees who tested positive are not currently experiencing symptoms of the virus, and none have been hospitalized.

But the possibility that some could get sick enough to need medical care was a factor in Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitzs decision to issue new restrictions on bars and restaurants Wednesday.

Berkowitz at a briefing said the new restrictions stemmed in part from Anchorages role providing medical care for most of the state including infected seafood workers, as well as residents of rural communities that rely on Anchorage hospitals.

When were looking at the hundreds of cases coming in from seafood workers, that will put a burden on our ability to provide capacity for people in Anchorage, he said. And so were watching the numbers not only inside Anchorage, were watching what is happening outside the community.

Crew disembark from the American Triumph and board busses in Seward on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. American Seafoods, which operates the factory trawler, reported over the weekend that 85 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The crew disembarked in Seward and will be transported to Anchorage where they will be isolated for further care. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Crew members from the American Triumph are transported by bus from Seward to Anchorage on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. American Seafoods, which operates the factory trawler, reported over the weekend that 85 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The crew disembarked in Seward and will be transported to Anchorage where they will be isolated for further care. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

The American Triumph docks in Seward on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. American Seafoods, which operates the factory trawler, reported over the weekend that 85 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The crew disembarked in Seward and will be transported by private bus to Anchorage where they will be isolated for further care. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

The OBI seafood processing plant in Seward, photographed on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

OBI Seafoods LLC was formed in June, the result of a merger between major processors Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Icicle Seafoods, and includes five shoreside locations in Alaska.

Earlier this summer, outbreaks were confirmed at two other OBI Seafoods plant locations in Dillingham, where 12 workers tested positive, and at the companys Excursion Inlet salmon processing plant in Southeast Alaska, where three employees also tested positive in late June.

The company has said it has extensive safety protocols in place to prevent an outbreak like this: All employees upon arrival in Alaska are required to quarantine for 14 days, and are then tested a second time, the company said in a statement. Every OBI employee also goes through a symptom and temperature check each day, according to the company.

But the close quarters and long working hours at fish processing plants can make social distancing difficult.

The American Triumph docks in Seward on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. American Seafoods, which operates the factory trawler, reported over the weekend that 85 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The crew disembarked in Seward and will be transported by private bus to Anchorage where they will be isolated for further care. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Crew disembark from the American Triumph and board busses in Seward on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. American Seafoods, which operates the factory trawler, reported over the weekend that 85 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The crew disembarked in Seward and will be transported to Anchorage where they will be isolated for further care. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Annie Berman reported from Anchorage and Loren Holmes from Seward.

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Seward announced 96 new COVID-19 cases at a seafood plant as a trawler with 85 infected crew arrived. They're all headed for Anchorage. - Anchorage...

The daily COVID-19 death toll in the United States topped 1,000 Tuesday, a grim threshold that's been met four times already within the past month, suggesting that the decline in deaths seen in May and June is reversing.

"That's basically two to three airplanes' worth of people crashing" in a single day, said Dr. Josh Denson, a pulmonary medicine and critical care physician at the Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans. "It's insane."

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The increase in deaths follows a pattern seen earlier in the pandemic: First, case counts rose. Then, hospitalizations went up. Deaths followed.

That's what's taking place in Houston, where COVID-19 cases have been rising steadily since mid-June.

"In April and May, we had between 200 and 300 cases diagnosed in the greater Houston area on any given day. Now we're around 2,400," said Dr. James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

In June, many of those new cases were among younger adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s a population that is generally less vulnerable to severe complications from the illness, and death. That increase appears to have transformed into an increase in hospitalizations and deaths, but within an older population.

"What we saw after about two weeks was the older population starting to catch up again," McDeavitt said, though he pointed out that there is no scientific data yet to link younger partiers with older patients.

"Presumably, younger people were going out and getting infected, and then bringing that back to parents and grandparents," he said.

"Young people are generally fine," said Dr. Michael Wasserman, a geriatrician and president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine. "They're not always, but if they give it to grandma, that's a problem."

Indeed, McDeavitt said, more severe outcomes still tend to be among older people and people with underlying conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

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The recent spike in cases has those who care for older adults concerned.

"It's frightened the daylights out of me," Wasserman said. "I don't want to see more older adults die again."

It's been well documented that the risk for COVID-19 complications and death increases with age, and it's no surprise that frail people with compromised immune systems are vulnerable.

"The greatest risk for severe illness from COVID-19 is among those aged 85 or older," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website says.

But other factors beyond age and health condition also increase the risk among the elderly.

People in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, for example, can't self-isolate. They "need people to move them or do their bathing," Wasserman said. "The more time staff has to spend with residents, it's going to increase the risk for exposure to the virus."

What's more, older adults are more likely to have dementia, which might mean they're unlikely to isolate in their rooms, wear a mask or wash their hands regularly three cornerstones of infectious disease control.

While there have been advances in COVID-19 therapies, such as the antiviral remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone, critical care physicians point out there is still no cure for the disease.

Among therapeutics, Denson said, "there's definitely no game-changer" yet.

He recalled a day last week when things were going badly in the COVID-19 intensive care unit. A young patient in his 30s died; a language barrier made conversations with the patient's family difficult; another patient had unforeseen complications.

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"It was very tough," Denson said. But that very afternoon, he got a call out of the blue from a former patient who nearly died of the virus several times during her hospital stay.

"She was as critically ill as any patient I've had," Denson said. "But she survived, called me from her house, doing great, and just wanted to say 'hello' and 'thank you.'"

It was an uplifting reminder that despite the worrisome rise in cases and in deaths, many people do, in fact, recover from COVID-19.

"It's a very survivable illness," Denson said.

Still, until a vaccine or more effective treatment is available, the key moving forward, he and other experts said, is prevention: Remain vigilant about face coverings and physical distancing.

Those are "our only weapons right now, the only things controlling the virus," McDeavitt said. "If we get past this surge, and we revert to old behaviors and take those weapons off the table, we're going to have another surge."

"Let's learn this lesson."

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COVID-19 deaths are rising once again. What's driving the increase? - NBC News

As manufacturers around the world race to develop Covid-19 vaccines, a parallel effort has begun to figure out who in the United States should get them first and how those doses should be distributed.

But already the effort is being complicated by tensions over who gets to make those critical decisions, with some groups feeling sidelined and multiple new actors crowding the stage.

On Tuesday, the National Academy of Medicine, tasked by top U.S. health officials, named an expert panel to develop a framework to determine who should be vaccinated first, when available doses are expected to be scarce. But that panel is ostensibly encroaching on the role of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that has made recommendations on vaccination policy to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for decades, including drawing up the vaccination priority list during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.

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There is also the matter of Operation Warp Speed, the governments vaccine fast-tracking program that has claimed authority over, among other things, distribution decisions when it comes to Covid-19 vaccines.

Amid so many players, public health experts are expressing concern and confusion.

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It seems to me like weve just assigned four different air traffic control towers to land the same plane, said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesotas Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy. Between ACIP, and this new committee, the group working within Operation Warp Speed and just in terms of input from the general community, its not clear to me who will make the final decision and how that process will unfold.

The health of untold numbers could hang in the balance, given that initial batches of vaccine are likely to be available only for a sliver of the population. Additionally, most vaccines will probably be given in two-dose regimens, meaning any figure of available doses would have to be divided in half to see how many people could be vaccinated.

There is no doubt that health care workers will be offered vaccines first. But after that, tough decisions will have to be made about the order in which other frontline workers which? how many? are offered priority access to vaccine and who will follow, in what order.

Normally, such decisions would fall to ACIP, which months ago set up a working group to monitor the evolving science on Covid-19 and the vaccines being developed to protect against it. But its not clear what task ACIP will be handed here.

We havent been given a firm answer as to what our role will be. We are continuing with our routine planning and discussion, and we will come up with what we think are appropriate guidelines for prioritization. But that weve not been given assurances that we will actually be contributing to that, said Jos Romero, the panels chairman.

Romero told STAT he even had applied to be on the National Academys panel after the academy urged people who were interested to nominate themselves. Romero said he never heard back. The agenda for the first public meeting of the panel, scheduled for Friday, states Romero has been invited to speak to the kickoff session. He said late Monday he hadnt received an invitation.

ACIP member Beth Bell, who chairs its Covid-19 vaccines work group, is also concerned about the National Academy panel working on vaccination priorities before ACIP.

Hopefully it wont be a parallel process and itll be something which can complement the work of the ACIP, said Bell, a professor of global health at the University of Washington and a former director of the CDCs national center for emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases.

She seemed to take some solace from the fact that former CDC director Bill Foege one of the architects of the smallpox eradication program and a revered figure in public health circles has been named co-chair of the new panel.

Foege will share chairing duties with Helene Gayle, president and CEO of Chicago Community Trust. Gayle previously worked at the CDC for 20 years on HIV/AIDS and at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition to the co-chairs, the panel is made up of 15 members include vaccine experts, ethicists, experts in vaccine hesitancy, global health, health policy, risk communications, and the delivery of health care to low-income populations.

Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, first asked National Academy of Medicine President Victor Dzau to create the new panel, even though setting vaccination priorities is a public health role traditionally on the CDCs turf, not the NIHs. Later a letter formally requesting that the panel be struck came from Collins and Robert Redfield, the CDC director.

In an interview, Collins seemed puzzled as to why ACIP members might be concerned about the creation of the expert panel. He said the decision-making framework the panel designs will make their job, I think, a lot more straightforward and less likely to be attacked as being capricious.

This is a discussion which is potentially going to be contentious and we want to try to minimize that, Collins told STAT.

There are certainly parts of society that are suspicious of what the government is doing, no matter what it is, he added. And this takes it out of that framework and provides an opportunity for whose sort of wisest big thinkers to gather and make this kind of a judgment about what those priorities ought to look like, he said.

Whats not to love about this? he said.

Some vaccine developers have embraced the idea of the National Academys involvement, which the body suggests will set a priorities framework that can be used in the United States and beyond.

It is the CDCs responsibility, the ACIP that makes decisions about allocation, but in this very special case, I have personally and I think many of us have called for the National Academy of Medicine to create a mechanism to look at health equity and make sure that the allocation is fair, Julie Gerberding, the chief patient officer at Merck, told a House subcommittee on Tuesday.

Others acknowledge there is confusion about who is doing what and most importantly, who will make the final decisions.

Osterholm, the University of Minnesota expert, called the composition of the National Academy panel outstanding. They couldnt find two better chairs than Bill and Helene.

But the excellence of the panel doesnt negate the fact there isnt much clarity about roles, he said.

At the end of the day, the administration in power when vaccine is approved for use will likely dictate who stands where in the vaccine priority line. The current administrations past decisions about distribution of desperately needed protective equipment for health workers and scarce supplies of the antiviral drug remdesivir dont instill confidence that the painstakingly crafted recommendations of the National Academy group, or of the ACIP, will be followed to the letter.

In the end it will be decided by the U.S. government, Osterholm said. Look at how the remdesivir situation unfolded nationally. That was a terrible situation.

The task of setting priority groups wont be an easy one.

Older adults are most at risk of dying if they become infected. But essential workers in food production and distribution may be at higher risk of contracting the virus. Who should move to the front of the line? Should the vaccination program prioritize people of color, who have contracted and died from Covid-19 in disproportion numbers? At the June meeting of the ACIP, at least one member suggested that should be considered. One of the charges to the National Academy panel is to advise on how communities of color can be assured equitable access to the vaccines.

Other questions asked of the National Academy panel include what criteria should be used to set priorities for equitable allocation of vaccines, and how individual risk, either due to age, underlying health conditions, or occupation or group risks such as people in prisons, the homeless or residents of long term care should be weighed. The panel is also being asked to provide input on how to communicate vaccine priority decisions to the wider public, and how to address vaccine hesitancy, especially in high-risk populations.

Collins said the panel has been asked to come up with interim recommendations by Labor Day, which would then be subject to a short period of public comment. Dzau, the academy president, said last week that the final recommendations would probably take about three months to deliver, which would mean early October.

Dzau strenuously refuted the idea that the new panel might be driving in someone elses lane. The group will create scenarios, he said, of how to deal with the variety of circumstances the country might face, for instance starting to vaccinate with 10 million doses, or 60 million, or 100 million.

I think our job will be to look at the evidence and the strategy of who should get what and how. Some kind of priority list and the rationale for that, Dzau said.

The time frame he and Collins envisage may leave the ACIP with little time to fine-tune the framework the National Academy panel devises. Some of the most aggressive manufacturers have stated they may have enough evidence to support the issuance of an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration by October.

Beyond questions of priority-setting, there are also concerns about how vaccines will be distributed.

Those concerns were first triggered by the press release announcing the formation of Operation Warp Speed, which claimed distribution as one of the projects responsibilities.

Four organizations representing professionals who make up the last mile of a vaccines journey into arms in the United States wrote to the leaders of Operation Warp Speed on June 23, asking if the project intended to use existing vaccine delivery infrastructure to get Covid-19 vaccines into Americans. They still havent received a reply.

If your job is logistics and you dont know that theres a system out there already, it might be easy for you to start planning things down a different path, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, one of the groups. And we dont want that to happen.

Another group that signed the letter, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, has since had a discussion with Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, from Operation Warp Speed, said Jim Blumenstock, the organizations chief program officer for health security. Blumenstock said that after the conversation, he felt more confident that traditional vaccine distribution networks would play a part in the roll out of Covid-19 vaccines.

The proof is always in the pudding, he said, recounting that Ostrowski told him that micro-planning for vaccine distribution would start in the next two to three weeks.

STAT asked Operation Warp Speed for interviews about these issues. The requests were neither turned down nor granted they were merely acknowledged.

Hannan, who hadnt heard anything from Operation Warp Speed as of Monday, remains unsettled.

I am still very concerned about how distribution will be carried out and about the lack of planning with state and local public health agencies, she told STAT. We have received no assurance that existing vaccine allocation, distribution, and tracking systems will be used.

Damian Garde contributed reporting

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Confusion spreads over selection of priority groups for Covid-19 vaccines - STAT

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on July 20,2020, there have been 233,490 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 5,080 total cases and 100 deaths.

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

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (25/0), Berkeley (549/19), Boone(60/0), Braxton (7/0), Brooke (38/1), Cabell (220/7), Calhoun (5/0), Clay(16/0), Fayette (102/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (23/1), Greenbrier (80/0),Hampshire (50/0), Hancock (58/4), Hardy (48/1), Harrison (140/1), Jackson(149/0), Jefferson (269/5), Kanawha (524/12), Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (21/0),Logan (46/0), Marion (136/3), Marshall (82/1), Mason (28/0), McDowell (12/0),Mercer (72/0), Mineral (71/2), Mingo (53/2), Monongalia (739/15), Monroe(16/1), Morgan (20/1), Nicholas (20/1), Ohio (178/0), Pendleton (19/1),Pleasants (5/1), Pocahontas (37/1), Preston (90/23), Putnam (115/1), Raleigh(98/3), Randolph (197/2), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (12/0), Summers (2/0), Taylor(29/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne (151/2), Webster(2/0), Wetzel (41/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (199/9), Wyoming (8/0).

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

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

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

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-20-2020 - 10 AM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on July 21,2020, there have been 239,341 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 5,161 total cases and 101 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the death of a 67-year oldfemale from Cabell County. Our sincere sympathy is extended to thisfamily for their loss, said Bill J. Crouch, Cabinet Secretary of DHHR.

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

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (26/0), Berkeley (549/19), Boone(58/0), Braxton (7/0), Brooke (38/1), Cabell (218/7), Calhoun (5/0), Clay(17/0), Fayette (100/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (25/1), Greenbrier (80/0),Hampshire (51/0), Hancock (61/4), Hardy (49/1), Harrison (141/1), Jackson(149/0), Jefferson (269/5), Kanawha (534/12), Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (30/0),Logan (47/0), Marion (136/4), Marshall (82/1), Mason (30/0), McDowell (11/0),Mercer (74/0), Mineral (76/2), Mingo (60/2), Monongalia (748/15), Monroe(16/1), Morgan (21/1), Nicholas (22/1), Ohio (179/0), Pendleton (19/1),Pleasants (5/1), Pocahontas (38/1), Preston (92/22), Putnam (115/1), Raleigh(108/3), Randolph (200/2), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (12/0), Summers (2/0), Taylor(29/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne (160/2), Webster(2/0), Wetzel (41/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (203/9), Wyoming (8/0).

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

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

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

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-21-2020 - 10 AM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

UPDATE (3 p.m. PT) As the number of Oregon COVID-19 infections continue to rise, Gov. Kate Brown is once again expanding Oregons statewide face mask policy, announcing on Wednesday it now applies to children ages 5 and older and people must wear a mask even while actively exercising inside of agym.

The governor also announced all bars and restaurants in Phase 2 reopening counties must now close at 10 p.m. instead ofmidnight.

Mark Snyder, of Canton, Mass., adjusts his mask while working out on a treadmill, Monday, July 6, 2020, at Answer is Fitness gym, in Canton. Oregons governor is expanding the states coronavirus requirements to include mandates for wearing masks while working out ingyms.

StevenSenne/AP

The new regulations take effect onFriday.

On July 1, the governor required all Oregonians to wear a face maskwhile inside public spaces. Last week, she expanded the rule to apply to all outdoor activities when social distancing could not be maintained. The mask mandate had been voluntary for children between ages 3 and 12, but Wednesdays announcement also changes the age limit. The new mask requirements will include schools. Masks arent required for children 2 andunder.

In addition, the governor madechanges to the size of gatherings allowed for Oregon businesses and other indoor venues. She changed the maximum capacity allowed from 250 people to 100 and reiterated that social distancing must be maintained. This includeschurches.

Brownhas already limited the number of people who can gather socially indoors to 10 people or fewer for privategatherings.

The governor returned to a familiar analogy she has used throughout thepandemic.

We ventured out on the ice together and that ice has begun to crack, the governor said. Before we fall through the ice we have to take additional steps to protect ourselves and ourcommunities.

Brown said she is also considering how to stop the spread of cases coming into Oregon due to tourism. She is considering requiring mandatory quarantining from people who are arriving from places where there are well-known COVID-19hotspots.

The Oregon Health Authority announced seven new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Tuesday. It was only the second time the state has reported that many deaths in oneday.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state epidemiologist, said there were more than 2,400 new cases in the last week, a 26 percent increase from previousweek.

Sidelinger noted there was concernabout the growth some of Oregons eastern counties have seenlately.

Oregon has reported more than 15,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 269 deathsas of Tuesday. The numbers have continued to rise since the governor lifted her stay-at-home order.The state has also struggled to track the virus and find and isolate Oregonians in part due to testing shortages and delays. The state is seeing more community spread where contact tracing is unable to identify thesource.

The governor said counties with the most concerning rates of coronavirus spread might face additional scrutiny or restrictions in comingdays.

The governor noted she had one piece of slightly more uplifting news: She was allowing outdoor visits to long-term care facilities that had no reported cases of the virus. The care facilities were ravaged particularly hard in the beginning stages of thevirus.

Some people will hear this announcement and think these restrictions dont go far enough, the governorsaid.

Theyll say we should completely close all restaurants and bars. Or move them to outdoor service only Heres what I want every Oregonian to know: I dont make these decisions lightly. There are no easychoices.

Later, the governor, added:This is really hard. Its lasting much longer and this virus is a lot tougher to beat than any of us would everwish.

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Oregon To Expand COVID-19 Restrictions, Starting Friday - OPB News

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A line forms outside the Waukesha County Expo Center on Wednesday, July 22, prior to the opening of a free COVID-19 drive-thru testing site. The Wisconsin National Guard will conduct testing from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.(Photo: Scott Ash/Now News Group)

WAUKESHA - The heightened numbers of new cases of COVID-19 in Waukesha County has, at the very least, sent some residents scurrying to be tested for infections.

Unofficially, the sudden rush is believed to be related to the rise in local cases 225 new cases over the weekendcompared to an average of about 70 new cases daily beforehand. The county numbers fed a record-setting 1,117 new casesreported statewide on July 21.

In addition, the number of new county cases for July 21, not reflected on the county's coronavirus dashboard as of Wednesday afternoon, totaled 136, the third consecutive record-setting day.

Officially, the county isn't certain if increasing cases are driving a more widespread desire for testing, though its direct involvement with COVID-19 control measures has been limited. There have been no county-mandated pandemicrestrictions in place since the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers' safer-at-home in May.The county's health department has since only issued recommendations, some of which loosened in recent weeks.

The demand for testshas been pronounced enough it had an impact on the county's two-day coronavirus testing program this week at the Waukesha County Expo Center.

On Tuesday, the testing site, conducted in partnership with the Wisconsin National Guard,closed around1:30 p.m. about 5 hours earlier than planned when the available 400 testing kits ran out, according to county officials.

On Wednesday, with the promise of another 400 testing kits, it resulted in a lineof cars waiting outside the entrance hours before the testing site opened. Vehicles 20 deep were seen in queue atthe expo grounds more than 90 minutes in advance of the 11 a.m. start time.

And the demand has been significant enough that the county is planning another two-day testing service at the expo center July 27-28, with 400 test kits expected to be available each day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., or until supplies again run out.

How the two circumstances the testing demand and the rise in COVID numbers locally relate to each other has been left open to speculation as county officials assess what's happening.

The county's public reaction to the news of the rising infection was slow in coming, and the county's dashboard on coronavirus data was also lagging. As of Wednesday afternoon, it hadn't been updated beyond July 19.

Linda Wickstrom, public information officer for the county's health department and emergency operations center on the front line of local data reporting, deflected all questions to County Executive Paul Farrow's office.

Nicole Armendariz, press secretary for Farrow's office, later responded to questions after huddling with county health officials Wednesday afternoon to review the data reflecting the latest trends in new cases in the county.

Armendariz saidthe numbers for July 18 (106 new cases) and July 19 (119 new cases) were updated to reflect a more modest daily increase compared to the 228 cases that had erroneously been reported on the state's coronavirus website Monday. Both sets of numbers, however, still showed the highest level of new cases within the county since reporting began in March.

"There are an increase in cases reflected in Waukesha County, but again that increase is being seen everywhere in the state," Armendariz said. "As far as cases in Waukesha County, part of that is due to increase in testing, but not all of it. Part of it is also due to there just being more cases overall."

Armendariz acknowledged the growing demand for testing, regardless of the growing number of cases. The expo center effort is part of a larger effort to give residents access to testing, she added.

"We're limited by the number of tests available each day (at the expo center)," she said, noting that the testing was open to all Wisconsin residents, not just those in the county. "The drive-thru test sites are just one of the ways that Waukesha County residents can get COVID-19 tests."

The county has coordinated efforts with local health care providers, for instance, Armendariz said.

"We're continuing to improve upon that, which is one of the reasons we have the (county) test sites." she said.

But she said she would have to consult with the county's public health staff to see if there is any correlation between the testing demand andlocal cases. She added the expo center testing totaled about 170 by 1 p.m. Wednesday and appeared to have enough test kits available to run much later in the day compared to Tuesday.

As cases have risen, so has the demand from some residents asking municipalities to order masks to be worn in public settings.

City of Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly acknowledged earlier in Julyhe has heard from residents wondering if the city was considering such a measure something, he said, he has no authority to do on his own.

And on Wednesday, Muskego Mayor Rick Petfalski issued a public letter noting that he, too, has heard similar demands.

"Unlike suburban communities in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County communities do not have their own health departments," Petfalski said. "I have been advised by legal counsel that communities who do not have their own health department or health official, cannot issue any health related orders or ordinances. If such an order were to come, it would have to come from the Waukesha County Health Department."

The City of Brookfield, echoing those limitations, this week was preparing such a requestto the county. However, the city's common council on Tuesday rejected a motion that would've asked the county to enact a mandatory mask order.

From Muskego's standpoint, Petfalski also acknowledged the emotion the issue has generated as he encouraged individuals to take measures to secure their own health.

"I understand that this is a topic that can bring out strong emotions to people on both sides of this debate," he said. "I ask that no matter which side you fall, please try to respect others choices in this issue. This includes businesses that make the business and health choice that they feel is best for their customers and their businesses."

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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COVID-19 testing site overwhelmed as Waukesha County deals with sharply rising coronavirus infections - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For many people living in poverty around the world, working from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic is not an option, even when showing up to work means potentially getting sick. But there is a solution to that problem, accordinga paper released Thursday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): Give the poor cash so they can afford to stay home. That could help slow the pandemic, says the paper.

Entitled "Temporary Basic Income: Protecting Poor and Vulnerable People in Developing Countries," the paper suggests giving cash to the poorest 2.8 billion people in 132 developing countries.

In total, 1.07 billion people live below the international poverty line (which is considered $1.90 per day in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; $3.20 per day in East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa; and $5.50 per day in Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean),according to the authors of the paper,George Gray Molina, the chief economist at United Nations Development Programme, andEduardo Ortiz-Juarez, a researcher at King's College in London.

Another 1.71 billion people are defined as facing "a sizable risk of falling into poverty," according to the paper.

Taken together, these 2.78 billion people (44% of the population of the developing world) should get temporary cash payments that are not contingent on residence, citizenship or work status, but only on how much money a person is making what UNDP spokesperson Victor Garrido Delgado calls a "means-test."

"Digital social registries and means-testing are widespread in the developing world and have been for about 20 years now," Delgado says. A person's means is determined with census data, declared income and other signifiers, like whether they have running water, he says.

"A [temporary basic income] payment, because it addresses urgent needs for food, shelter and health, should go to everyone in a household (adults will collect on behalf of children)," Delgado says.

"In that sense it's meant to be comprehensive," Molina said on Tuesday on a video call with reporters.

Currently, "large portions of the population" are not covered by existing cash transfer systems that have already been deployed amid the pandemic, according to Molina. People who are typically excluded from these social support systems include "people in the informal sector of the economy, of self employed [workers], domestic workers and unpaid care work," he says.

A more comprehensive cash payment program is important now because the coronavirus is spreading very quickly in the poorest countries, like "Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and so on," he said.

"We do believe that this is one tool in the toolbox that can be useful to stop the spread of the virus," Molina said.

To be sure, a cash payment program for almost 3 billion people is extreme. But "unprecedented times call for unprecedented social and economic measures," said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner in a press release. "Introducing a Temporary Basic Income for the world's poorest people has emerged as one option. This might have seemed impossible just a few months ago."

Depending on the exact nature of the program, it would cost at least $199 billion per month, according to the report. The three proposals put forth in the paper include topping up existing incomes to a threshold decided by the country, lump sum cash transfers based on the median cost of living in a country or a lump sum cash transfer that is the same for every person no matter where they live.

The report proposes financing the program by temporarily putting on hold debt repayments for the countries included. Developing and emerging countries are forecast to spend $3.1 trillion in paying back their debts in 2020, the UNDP said in a press release.

Other possibilities for paying for the temporary basic income include redirecting fossil fuel subsidies or military expenditures, Delgado says.

"These are some options, but at the end of the day it is an issue for each country to consider how to pay," he says.

One consideration for countries considering a temporary basic income is that money put in the hands of the poorest people is generally spent on "immediate food and essential services," so the money will go back into the economy quickly, Delgado says.

See also:

Twitter's Jack Dorsey is giving $3 million to help test free cash payment programs for Americans

2019 had a record-high number of billionaires here's how many and why

Feeding America CEO: What it's like to get $100 million donation from Jeff Bezos

Read more:

Cash payments to 2.7 billion people living in poverty would slow the spread of Covid-19: report - CNBC

A nurse speaks out in her first television interview, after testing positive for COVID-19.

Her experience with the illness is prompting her to share her story with others, in hopes that people realize it takes a community to stop the spread of this virus.

Kathleen Birsic would normally be working at Blessing Hospital, but is in isolation, after testing positive for COVID-19.

As she continues to fight the virus, she wants everyone to know what they can do to help stop the spread of COVID-19 together.

You've tested positive for COVID-19.

"When you hear those words, it just makes it so real," Birsic said. "It was a horrifying moment for me and I'm sure anyone else in the public, who is battling COVID as well."

Birsic is isolating in her bedroom. She tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday.

"It's so much worse than anything I've ever had," Birsic said.

Birsic is a nurse in outpatient surgery at Blessing Hospital.

She said her symptoms started shortly after she was tested.

"I started feeling this funny feeling in my throat," Birsic said. "I didn't think anything of it. Within an hour, that funny feeling developed into a, I don't want to say a sore throat, but more of a tightness around my throat."

She began checking her temperature every hour.

"By 4 o'clock I had 102.4 fever," Birsic said.

She also said she feels weak and has a cough.

Now, Birsic has a message for the public.

"Despite what you might think, what your political views are, or how you think this virus started or what your opinion is about masks, we're all in this together," Birsic said.

Birsic, a 56-year-old woman who considers herself physically fit, is now suffering from COVID-19.

It's something she said nobody should ever be ashamed of. She said the only shame is not doing your part to help stop the spread of the virus in the community.

"The disease does not discriminate against anyone," Birsic said. "We have to work together. That's all I will say."

Birsic said she's on day seven of isolation and treating her symptoms with Tylenol and Ibuprofen.

Officials at Blessing Hospital say 24 employees have contracted the virus since March and four nurses are currently out of work, after testing positive.

Birsic said her best advice is to stay in touch with your primary physician, after testing positive to monitor your systems.

She said she plans to return to work, once she is done isolating and has shown no symptoms for 72 hours.

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Nurse with COVID-19 speaks out about experience WGEM - WGEM

Riverside County Public Health has launched a new hotline for coronavirus workplace concerns.

"We first opened this new number for businesses and employees to call last Monday," Brooke Federico with Riverside University Health System told News Channel 3. "We've already taken hundreds of calls," she added.

If you're concerned about COVID-19 spreading at your workplace you can either call (951) 955-5950 or email to covid-19phbizsupport@ruhealth.org

"These are contact tracers who have specific information for businesses related to outbreaks at businesses," Federico said.

Some questions this hotline will answer are: Who needs to get tested? How to clean and sanitize the business. What additional safeguards are needed?

Federico said what this hotline is not meant for.

"This hotline is not for reporting businesses that may be operating outside the state's current orders," she said.

That call would actually go to a separate hotline here: (951)-351-6866

If you do report a business to that line, we asked Federico, what happens next?

"The county would then follow-up and provide an in-person visit to that business just to explain and do the education piece with that business," she said.

If the business still doesn't comply

"We will then involve our county's council office and that may include a cease and desist order or additional court action," she said.

Federico told us the county is currently working to combine these two business numbers so they will eventually be one number to call.

"And because of understandably the potential for confusion is why we want to do one business inquiry line," she said.

News Channel 3 will let you know once that line is ready.

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Here's how the new COVID-19 workplace hotline works - KESQ

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) Since mid-June, thousands of complaints about businesses violating Gov. Ralph Northams reopening restrictions have been reported to the Virginia Department of Health.

In Eastern Virginia, 36 percent of the regions complaints have been filed since Northam signaled hed be beefing up enforcement last week.

Since May 29, Virginians ages 10 and up have been required to wear face coverings inside all brick-and-mortar stores, salons and barbershops, on public transportation and anywhere 6 feet of social distancing isnt possible.

The state created anonline system to report violationsof face coverings and select phase 3 restrictions. The form allows a person to list the type of establishment in violation, the name, address, and information pertaining to the violation.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that since the pandemic began, nearly 1,700 complaints have been submitted concerning conditions at just over 1,000 businesses within the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Western Tidewater and Peninsula Health districts.

The majority of complaints were about restaurants, followed by grocery or convenience stores and then brick-and-mortar retail. The three violations the VDH is tracking are: whether face-coverings are being worn; if social distancing is being adhered to; and if the establishment is overcrowded.

10 On Your Side investigators sifted through the complaints provided by VDH to find the locations and businesses people reported most from the beginning of the pandemic to July 21.

Its important to clarify that complaints from citizens dont necessarily mean the claim was founded by the health department or any enforcement was carried out.

In the case of Macks Barge, they were forced to shut down. However, Barons Pub in Suffolk has remained open.

Dr. Todd Wagner, who oversees the Western Tidewater Health District, says no businesses have been shut down for non-compliance in that district.

Weve not needed to go there yet, Wagner said. Oftentimes, educating the business owner solves the problem.

Wagner said every complaint is looked at and once at least three separate complaints are filed, the health department staff calls the business.

The third complaint, Im going to call them and we are going to walk down the governors checklist, Wagner said. In some cases, we will also do secret shoppers.'

To encourage more businesses to comply, Chesapeake City Manager Chris Price said they are reaching out to businesses with a central message.

Regardless of what you believe, if you mask up, you are helping that small business, you are helping them stay open, you are helping them not going back to phase 2, Price said.

See the original post here:

COVID-19 safety complaints: What businesses have the most in Hampton Roads? - WAVY.com

The reason is simple: the US is experiencing a surge in cases, with states such as Florida, Texas and California reporting thousands of new confirmed cases in recent weeks.

Adm. Brett Giroir, an official on the White House coronavirus task force, said on Monday there was "no question we are having a surge right now."

But while President Donald Trump, his allies and some Republican governors have pointed to increased testing as the reason, others have rightly pointed out that hospitalizations are not the result of testing, as testing does not send people to the hospital.

Only a serious illness like Covid-19 would do that.

"As rates of testing increase, we also are seeing increases in three other key indicators that suggest we are seeing a real increase in Covid infections," said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Infectious Diseases Division at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. She cited hospitalization rates, positivity rates, and deaths, which are now increasing in 26 states.

Here's how the coronavirus is affecting hospitals in areas where it is spreading.

Hospitalizations in Florida

There are more than 9,500 people hospitalized in Florida and least 53 hospitals in 27 counties said they had no more beds in their ICUs, according to AHCA data.

Statewide, ICU bed availability stands at 15.98% -- that's "available adult ICU beds," according to AHCA data. On Monday, the available ICU bed count was 18.1%.

For comparison, in New York City, where the pandemic first took hold in the US, officials reported a positivity rate of just 2%.

Hospitalizations in California

California was the first state to issue a stay-at-home order on March 18.

Less than a month later, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said residents had "bent the curve," and the state started to phase out the early stages of its reopening plan in May.

Now, Los Angeles County has surpassed its record for daily hospitalizations for the fourth time in just the past week alone, according to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county's public health director.

Statewide, hospitalization rates and those in the intensive care unit are again reaching highs with increases of 1.9% and 0.7% respectively, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

Meanwhile, California's positivity rate over the past two weeks stands at 7.5%, which is slightly under the state's goal of remaining below 8%, according to CDPH data. More than 6.5 million tests have been performed to date.

"We opened up too soon," Anne Rimoin, an epidemiology professor at the University of California Los Angeles, told CNN. "We didn't have the virus totally under control."

California is fast approaching New York in total number of confirmed cases, and at this rate, could easily surpass New York to have the highest number of confirmed cases in the US.

"Whatever is done, states experiencing these increases in severe illness and with health care facilities under siege need help and a plan B, because plan A, reopening with lukewarm or no adherence to masks or social distancing clearly did not work," Marrazzo said.

Hospitalizations in Texas

Hospitals in Texas are facing an unprecedented wave of hospitalizations -- it is the only state in the US currently with more than 10,000 hospitalizations.

While that number is still comparably low to the record 18,825 hospitalized in New York during the peak of the pandemic, there are fears it could potentially be matched or surpassed at its current rate.

On Monday, President Trump acknowledged that the state, along with Florida, was dealing with a "flare up" in cases.

It's not the second wave -- it's the first

Officials and experts have long warned the public about bracing for a second wave, but the first wave has not truly ended and the spread of the virus has not even remotely been contained, some experts say.

"Some places never experienced an end of a first wave -- certainly in the South, we never really got below a baseline level since April," Marrazzo said. "A real second wave to me would be if someplace that has truly controlled spread, like New York or Connecticut, had another surge."

Marrazzo believes that the surge in hospitalizations can be attributed to one simple thing: The uncontrolled and sustained spread of infection in the community. Until the spread of the virus is contained, the rate of hospitalizations will continue to remain high.

"None of those currently experiencing these worrisome trends ever fulfilled the criteria laid out by the task force, which included a sustained downtrend in the percent positive tests for at least 2 weeks," Marrazzo said.

At least 27 states in the US have paused or rolled back their reopening plans due to the rising rates of infections. The math is simple: more infections will lead to more hospitalizations.

CNN's Ryan Browne, Erica Henry, Randi Kaye, Jason Kravarik, Christina Maxouris, Sarah Moon, Jenn Selva, Sara Sidner, Naomi Thomas, Ben Tinker and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

Excerpt from:

After falling for months, Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US are nearing April's peak - CNN

Refugee superhero

Nomie, 16, France

This contest caught my attention for its goal to inspire hope and solidarity and for its ability to raise awareness while staying at home. My superhero is a woman inspired by a Sudanese refugee girl walking under the rain on one of your Instagram posts.

My art is not only for this girl but for all refugees, their unique stories, and their courage I admire. My superhero also has a metal leg which at first is an injury but now is her strongest power, as her fears are now strengths.

Nesime, 16, Greece (from Afghanistan)

It is true that the coronavirus is now a part of our lives, but we should not be worried. We should fight together to defeat the coronavirus.

I now live in Greece. People have an image of me in their minds, but I am who I am.

Mukah, 24, Cameroon

The COVID-19 outbreak and the crisis in my country motivated me to participate. My artwork is entitled Ray of Hope. A group of refugees on the left depict those stricken by war.

Through the donations of nations and individuals that care, UNHCR is able to help refugees. This comes to them as a ray of hope for a brighter future and shows that they matter to our world.

Alpha, 25, Kenya (from Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Im a Congolese refugee living in Kenya. I wanted to communicate through my painting that solidarity is the best way to protect the lives of everybody in the world from this pandemic, including refugees.

Maria, 23, Cyprus

The girl in the drawing offers love to the refugee boy. He in turn conveys the love to his father. The father is a doctor and offers his love to a patient suffering from the coronavirus.

Finally, the patient, who is now healthy, offers her love to her daughter, who is the girl who appears in the original cartoon.

Mayu, 16, Japan

My drawing shows two hands joining each other to protect a refugee boy, inspired by the flag of UNHCR. There is a dark sky full of conflicts and viruses in the back. But people have united to form a cage that blocks them.

The boy has a hole in his heart. But the hearts of people all over the world pour down to create a deep blue heart. There are so many he cant hold them. You can also imagine that the boy sends back the love.

The potential of a child is immeasurable.

Faida, 20, Rwanda

Refugees in a camp are looking forward to receiving a heart which symbolizes love.

Just for a moment, love is enough to solve their problems, and that is love which comes from everywhere thats why its coming from the sky.

As countries around the world went into COVID-19 lockdown, many young people reached out to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, asking if there was a way to help while staying at home. We launched the 2020 Youth with Refugees Art Contest to give them a chance to use their creativity for a good cause. Within two months, we received 2,000 drawings from 100 countries.

The selection of the seven global winners whose drawings have been animated by Japanese studio SPEED inc.was made by a jury drawn from UNHCR high-profile supporters, refugee members of our Global Youth Advisory Council, artists, animation experts and our partners. UNHCR has also awarded five regional prizes, five prizes for cartoons and 20 special mentions. All participants have received a certificate of participation.

The rest is here:

Young artists drew a world where kindness defeats COVID-19 We animated it - UNHCR

The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 18, 2020, there have been 226,616 totalconfirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 4,922 totalcases and 100 deaths.

Inalignment with updated definitions from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, the dashboard includes probable cases which are individuals that havesymptoms and either serologic (antibody) or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to aconfirmed case) evidence of disease, but no confirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (25/0), Berkeley (545/19), Boone(57/0), Braxton (7/0), Brooke (37/1), Cabell (224/7), Calhoun (5/0), Clay(15/0), Fayette (102/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (21/1), Greenbrier (76/0),Hampshire (48/0), Hancock (51/3), Hardy (48/1), Harrison (135/1), Jackson(149/0), Jefferson (264/5), Kanawha (489/12), Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (21/0),Logan (43/0), Marion (130/3), Marshall (80/1), Mason (27/0), McDowell (12/0),Mercer (69/0), Mineral (71/2), Mingo (50/2), Monongalia (693/15), Monroe(16/1), Morgan (20/1), Nicholas (20/1), Ohio (174/0), Pendleton (19/1),Pleasants (4/1), Pocahontas (37/1), Preston (89/25), Putnam (108/1), Raleigh(92/3), Randolph (196/2), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (12/0), Summers (3/0), Taylor(29/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne (147/2), Webster(2/0), Wetzel (40/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (193/10), Wyoming (7/0).

Ascase surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may revealthat those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, oreven the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state borderto be tested. Such is the case of Cabell County in thisreport.

Please note that delays may be experiencedwith the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR.

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

Additional report:

Toincrease COVID-19 testing opportunities, the Governor's Office, the HerbertHenderson Office of Minority Affairs, WV Department of Health and HumanResources, WV National Guard, local health departments, and community partners todayprovided free COVID-19 testing for residents in counties with high minoritypopulations and evidence of COVID-19 transmission.

The testing resulted in 2,300 individuals tested: 559 inBerkeley County (two-day testing event); 717 in Jefferson County (two-daytesting event); and 1,024 Monongalia County (one-day testing event).Please note these are considered preliminary numbers.

Continue reading here:

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-18-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

The latest mask mandates came a day after Mr. Trump, who has long resisted wearing masks and at times even disparaged them, made his most robust call for wearing them yet, urging: When you can, use a mask. Some of the nations largest retail chains, including Walmart, Winn-Dixie and Whole Foods, have also moved to require customers to wear them.

Asked if he favored such mandates, Mr. Trump said Wednesday evening that it should be up to the governors I think all are suggesting if you want to wear a mask, you wear it, he said and that he would decide over the next 24 hours whether to require masks be worn on federal properties in Washington and at the White House.

But several more governors decided the time for masks had come.

Weve got to get this virus under control, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio said Wednesday as he issued a statewide mask order that will take effect Thursday evening. Wearing a mask is going to make a difference.

We all want kids to go back to school, we want to see sports, we want to see a lot of different things, we want to have more opportunities in the fall, said Mr. DeWine, who had previously ordered people only in the states hardest-hit counties to wear masks. And to do that, its very important that all Ohioans wear a mask.

Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana, a Republican, said Wednesday that he would sign an order mandating masks in most public settings beginning Monday. As we continue to monitor the data, weve seen a concerning change in some of our key health indicators, he said on Twitter. Hoosiers have worked hard to help re-open our state & we want to remain open.

In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Wednesday requiring residents to wear masks in indoor stores and other public indoor spaces beginning Saturday. Mr. Walz said that the state would distribute masks to people and businesses in underserved communities.

Minnesotas lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, whose brother died of Covid-19, acknowledged that masks had turned into a political football, but said the mandate could prevent the virus from spreading. I just simply dont want anyone else to endure what my family has endured, she said.

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Covid-19 Live Updates and Analysis - The New York Times

Media Advisory

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

RADx efforts seek to create capacity for 6 million daily tests by the end of 2020, address underserved populations.

In a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientific leaders from the National Institutes of Health set forth a framework to increase significantly the number, quality and type of daily tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and help reduce inequities for underserved populations that have been disproportionally affected by the disease. The authors describe the current testing landscape and explain the urgent need for nationwide deployment of low-complexity, point-of-care molecular diagnostics with rapid results. To fill this urgent need, the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program was established in just five days following the announcement of $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funding in April 2020. RADx covers the entire life cycle of the target testing technologies, is tightly focused on timelines and outcomes, receives applications from small and large companies and is expressly focused on health disparities. While based at NIH, RADx is closely coordinating with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Department of Defense.

Current testing methods to diagnose COVID-19 detect either viral RNA or viral antigens. These tests are highly sensitive and specific when conducted in centralized laboratories with standardized protocols, but require a large amount of lab space, complex equipment, regulatory approvals for the laboratory operations and skilled technicians. Results may take hours to days, and samples often need transport to a central laboratory, furthering delays. During that time someone who is unknowingly carrying the virus may go on to infect others, instead of being quickly isolated. These issues highlight the need for reliable, rapid, point-of-care testing diagnostics.

RADx includes four major components to enable approximately 6 million daily tests in the United States by December 2020, many times the current daily testing rate. In the near term, RADx confronts the pandemic by expanding testing capacity by fall 2020 as the nation faces the beginning of seasonal flu. In the slightly longer-term RADx aims to produce additional innovative diagnostic technologies and strategies for making testing available to diverse, vulnerable and underserved populations.

Tromberg BJ, et al. Rapid scaling up of COVID-19 diagnostic testing in the United-States: the NIHs RADx Initiative. New England Journal of Medicine. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr2022263 (2020).

NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Director Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., are available to provide comment upon request.

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

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

###

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NIH leadership details unprecedented initiative to ramp up testing technologies for COVID-19 - National Institutes of Health

Behind the doors of a spacious house in Chula Vista, Aury McDaniel was caring for six residents when the coronavirus pandemic struck this year.

By the end of May, five residents had tested positive for COVID-19 and three of them were dead.

McDaniel, 69, owns the assisted living facility and believes one of the aides contracted the virus from her husband, then brought it into the home before experiencing symptoms. By the time the worker felt sick after work one day, it was too late.

Then McDaniel contracted the virus. So did another one of her caregivers. So did all of her residents, except one who declined to be tested.

And so did McDaniels husband, who was rushed to the hospital with difficulty breathing. After about a month in the ICU, he is now recovering at the assisted living home in a private room. Hes taken up the bed of a 94-year-old resident who died from COVID-19.

The resident, Betty Gentry, was a veteran who served as a nurses assistant in World War II and the Korean War. She was taken to Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in late April with a bad cough. Her son Chris called the hospital to tell his mom he loved her.

Betty, weak and hard of hearing, mustered the strength needed for a one-word reply: Same.

She died in her sleep on May 13 as a result of cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, pneumonia and COVID-19.

My mother died from this virus when she didnt need to die, Chris Gentry said. She didnt need to be in a situation where she was going to be contaminated by this.

Despite the tragedy at Aurys Home Care, theres no way for the public to see that the assisted living facility was affected by the virus.

Citing health privacy laws, the state has refused to name assisted living facilities with six or fewer beds that have had COVID-19 cases, including Aurys Home Care. San Diego County health officials wont release the names of any local facilities even those with seven or more beds that have been affected by the virus, despite frequent requests from reporters and outcry from advocates.

This whole issue of not disclosing names has not protected public safety, said Chris Murphy, executive director of Consumer Advocates for RCFE Reform. The San Diego nonprofit supports people living in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, more commonly referred to as assisted living facilities, where aides help residents with daily tasks such as feeding and bathing.

By contrast, data on COVID-19 in all of Californias nursing homes which provide medical services, are overseen by a different state department and follow more regulations is readily available online.

This is a public health issue, Murphy said. To not share the information with consumers when they have big decisions to make is, I think, irresponsible.

Three-quarters of Californias assisted living homes have six or fewer beds, excluding them from much of the public scrutiny during the pandemic.

The state Department of Social Services has published the names of 154 facilities with seven or more beds that have COVID-19 cases. In a statement, a spokesperson said another 96 smaller facilities have had cases but have not been named because it may allow the public to identify people who contracted the virus, which would violate health privacy laws.

Department spokesperson Jason Montiel said the agency carefully considered the privacy and security of residents at RCFEs, which are often residential homes.

That decision has effectively denied the public access to valuable information, said Eric Carlson, an attorney at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Justice in Aging.

Knowledge about the presence of COVID-19 is just incredibly important at this point, Carlson said. Its not helpful for consumers and others to be deprived of that information.

On the county level, health officials have provided a range of reasons for hiding the names of elder care homes with COVID-19 cases. Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten has said the state already makes the information available. County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher has stated that publicizing them would discourage facilities from reporting honestly to the government about outbreaks.

And county spokesperson Sarah Sweeney told inewsource in an email it would violate the privacy rights of those with COVID-19.

San Diego County has 590 assisted living facilities but has refused to publish the names of those with COVID-19 cases. If publicized, this information could be used by advocates, families of the elderly and other members of the public to make informed decisions during the pandemic.

Murphy, the consumer advocate, called the health privacy explanation the most bogus thing Ive ever heard.

Nobody cares to know the name of the person in the facility of six beds that has COVID, she said. Nobody cares. What people care about is the public health issue of having COVID in the community and caregivers who are coming and going and where theyre being infected.

The county has also not released the number of local assisted living facilities with COVID-19 cases and deaths. Instead, officials combine these facilities with jails, immigration centers, homeless shelters and other residential locations as part of the ongoing data they publish on active outbreaks in congregate settings.

Plus, since cases exploded in late June, the county has only sporadically released that data to the public.

What the county is providing is useless information, Murphy said.

How is a family or community supposed to respond to that when they dont know what settings those are? she asked. I dont know. They have done an excellent, excellent job at masking and making the data opaque.

Neither the state nor the county would confirm the number of COVID-19 cases McDaniel said have occurred at her Chula Vista assisted living home or describe what steps the facility needed to take to continue operating after three people died. Two residents are currently living in the home, McDaniel said.

During the five years Betty Gentry lived at the facility, McDaniel said she looked after her like she would with her own mom, bringing the mother of four chamomile tea at night and lying in bed beside her to help her sleep.

She was so sweet, the caregiver said. The best resident I had in 20 years was Betty. I love her with all my heart.

McDaniel, an immigrant from Chile who worked as a nurses assistant before opening her assisted living home, said she was following state recommendations to frequently disinfect the building and anything that entered it but COVID-19 came anyway.

She was very shocked when her residents became ill, she said.

This is like Russian roulette, McDaniel said. Some people get it. You dont know how the virus enters your facility. If I publish my facility was affected by COVID, do you know what impression people are going to have? Careless.

McDaniels son Erik, the administrator of the assisted living facility, disagreed.

I think it should be accessible, he said. It should be something that you could find, that someone like you could easily discover.

Chris Gentry, Bettys son, said his family would not have sent his mother back to the Chula Vista facility if she had survived her hospital stay, and he wants others to know the home suffered from an outbreak.

I would definitely want to see that information from her home or any other assisted living home made public, he said.

Its critical so that when an outbreak happens, residents can be moved to a safer place, because its a breeding ground for people to get infected, he added.

Assisted living homes werent designed to face a pandemic.

Unlike skilled nursing homes, which have nurses on-site at all hours to help patients with acute healthcare problems, assisted living facilities follow a non-medical model and rely on aides to help residents with day-to-day tasks.

When the virus made landfall on the West Coast, assisted living facilities didnt have stockpiles of protective medical gear at the ready. They didnt have emergency infection control plans either, which nursing homes are required to prepare.

Nobody ever considered that personal protective equipment was going to be required for a pandemic experience like this, Murphy said.

But over the past decade, the line between these two types of elder care centers has blurred. Patients at nursing homes are staying longer, and residents at assisted living facilities have more underlying health conditions, meaning theyre especially vulnerable to COVID-19.

This is no independent living by any stretch of the imagination, said Carlson, the attorney with Justice in Aging.

Even so, because assisted living facilities mostly accept private insurance rather than Medicare and MediCal, they have less oversight than nursing homes do. The state Department of Social Services licenses and regulates them, but they face little scrutiny from federal and local governments, even though they are widespread: San Diego County has 590 assisted living centers, compared to 86 nursing homes.

The county has provided detailed instructions for nursing homes to help fight COVID-19 but has not released any specific rules for assisted living facilities. When asked about the countys role in aiding these facilities during the pandemic, a spokesperson told inewsource it does not regulate them.

Murphy said the county could be offering more support by improving access to testing and protective equipment.

I think its a real opportunity missed that the county of San Diego hasnt gone in like a little task force and said, Holy cow, weve got 600 facilities here in San Diego County, plus or minus 10 on any given day, she said. Were going to systematically go out in teams of three, and were going to saturate these ZIP codes. And were going to work through this ZIP code first, and then were going to move to the next ZIP code. And were going to do that from East County to the ocean.

And then were going to start over again.

It wasnt until June 26 that the state outlined instructions for screening people at the entrances to assisted living facilities for symptoms and regularly testing staff and residents. Even then, the department described these steps as guidance rather than requirements.

Raychell Jones, the director of patient care services at Sonata Hospice, said assisted living homes have been following different rules. Some have allowed her team of San Diego healthcare workers to enter during the pandemic, but others havent.

Some assisted living said yes, as long as you have the PPE, and some assisted living said no, absolutely not, Jones said. We have a handful of facilities that have not allowed anybody in their facilities for greater than 90 days.

Since information isnt easily available online, especially for smaller assisted living homes, industry experts said that direct knowledge of whats happening behind the scenes in these homes is key.

Because of the fact that weve stepped foot into all of these places, and oftentimes we know the owners on a personal basis, we just flat out ask, Do you have any positive COVID cases? And theyll tell us yes, I do. Or no, we dont, said Kie Copenhaver, co-owner of San Diegos CarePatrol franchise.

Copenhaver helps families find the right elder care homes for people in need.

We just believe that full transparency is the best for everybody involved, she said.

Assisted living facilities have been scrambling to mitigate the spread of the virus, but limited access to masks and tests has presented challenges.

More than half of them have less than a two-week supply of N-95 masks and gowns, according to a letter sent by the National Center for Assisted Living to governors on July 14.

The letter, co-authored with the American Health Care Association, urged state leaders to help nursing homes and assisted living facilities acquire more protective gear and improve the turnaround time for COVID-19 test results.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak in San Diego County and the response by local leaders and public health officials to the pandemic.

As equipment and testing shortages continue, cases at assisted living homes are escalating. It took a month for the number of COVID-19 cases at Californias facilities to jump from 1,000 to 2,000, according to state data. It took another month to hit 3,000, which occurred in late June. But it only took two more weeks to reach 4,000 on July 7.

As of July 20, the states assisted living facilities have now accumulated more than 5,000 cases and suffered from 539 coronavirus deaths.

As you might expect, our member communities have made significant changes to create the safest environment possible for both residents and staff during the pandemic, Sally Michael, president and CEO of the California Assisted Living Association, said in a statement.

As guidance has changed, assisted living providers have stayed in step, implementing new protocols and updating procedures as circumstances and science have evolved, she added.

In San Diego County, at least 202 residents and 196 staff have tested positive for COVID-19, state data shows.

McDaniel said she and her workers in Chula Vista wear face coverings, but when her caregiver carried the virus into the facility, she didnt have access to the highly protective N-95 masks common in hospital settings.

She said she had no way to stop her employee from contracting the virus from her husband or bringing it into the building.

If I have to do it again, Im going to select the caregivers who are not married, she said with a laugh.

Ramona Rhoads, an 89-year-old with dementia, was the third person at Aurys Home Care to die from COVID-19. Her daughter Tammy Wahl said the caregivers worked hard to protect residents from infection.

Its very heartbreaking this happened, both to our loved ones and to Aury, Wahl said. She was taking precautions before I was even taking coronavirus seriously.

McDaniel cut back on staff and worked overtime to avoid having too much traffic in and out of the facility. She also kept families informed of the outbreak and what steps were being taken to control it, Wahl said.

When Wahl was searching for a home that would provide the close attention and care her mother needed, she discovered that McDaniels facility stood out.

When I stepped into Aurys Home Care, I knew something was different, she said. Aury is a true caregiver. The care I feel my mom got there was very loving.

But the family of Betty Gentry, who lived a few doors down from Wahls mother, thinks more could have been done to save her.

Gentrys daughter, Bonne Bandolas, said the worker who became ill should have taken more precautions, since she knew her husband was sick.

I think it is easy for people to think that a loved one is safer and more sheltered in a smaller living situation, Bandolas and her husband, Banjo, wrote in an email. However, we found out the hard way that all it takes is one person disregarding protocols to infect the entire household with the COVID-19 virus.

The caregivers husband eventually died from COVID-19.

At the time the virus entered the Chula Vista home, staff didnt have their temperatures taken when they arrived for work and werent regularly tested for the virus, but neither was recommended or required by the state. Since then, the Department of Social Services has advised assisted living centers to do both.

These smaller places need to have stiffer regulations, so people dont die like this, said Betty Gentrys son Chris.

Betty Gentry is survived by four children, two grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

I want my mothers death to have some kind of meaning and maybe change the way they proceed from here on out to save elderly patients lives when a virus like this comes, Chris Gentry said. Because this isnt going to be the last time this is going to happen.

We'll let you know when big things happen. Email address:

Original post:

San Diego County conceals assisted living homes with COVID-19 deaths - inewsource

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) Eleonore Anderson was known for her quilting talent and her pride of Polish traditions.She died on Sunday from complications related to COVID-19 at the age of 93.

WCCO continues our Faces of COVID-19 series with a loyal friend and mother who grew lonely as the pandemic wore on.

A two-time cancer survivor, Eleonore was a fighter from the start. She was born on the East side of St. Paul, and she became a secretary, sharing part of her paycheck with her family through World War II.

She was a tough cookie, Eleonores daughter, Barb, said.

Polish recipes of perogies and sausage were a staple in their household.

I guess in our family and Barbs food is love, Mark Anderson, Eleonores son-in-law said.

It brought everyone together, Barb added.

Eleonore raised Barb and her five siblings while working for the Minnesota Revisors Office in St. Paul, the publisher of state laws and statutes.When she retired, she traveled with her husband, Howard. She was widowed, and Eleonore moved to an assisted living facility in Roseville three years ago.

She got sick in February with a really bad cough, which by May she had a really bad phenomena and a high fever, Barb recalled.

Her first COVID-19 test came back negative.

Then a week later (she) was re-tested and it was COVID, Barb said.

Eleonore was moved to hospice care. That was the first time in months her family could see her face-to-face.

That was truly the hardest with all of this, was not being able to be with her, Barb said.

Eleonore again fought back and actually beat the virus. But her daughter believes the damage had been done.

It was after that we saw a very quick decline and within about a month she passed away, she said.

Her family will hold a small funeral Thursday, with the quilts Eleonore spent countless hours on draped over church pews.

Were trying our best to make it nice but its not how we would want to do it, Barb said.

The Andersons hope well think of those like Eleonore moving forward, and follow the guidelines to give people like her more time.

Its all really important, Barb said.

If youd like to share any memories of someone youve lost to COVID-19, send an e-mail to tips@wcco.com.

View original post here:

Faces Of COVID-19: Eleonore Anderson, 93, Remembered As A Tough Cookie - CBS Minnesota

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 16, 2020, there have been 219,052total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 4,657 totalcases and 99 deaths.

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

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (24/0), Berkeley (536/19), Boone(50/0), Braxton (5/0), Brooke (31/1), Cabell (202/7), Calhoun (4/0), Clay(14/0), Fayette (95/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (21/1), Greenbrier (74/0),Hampshire (44/0), Hancock (47/3), Hardy (48/1), Harrison (133/1), Jackson(148/0), Jefferson (257/5), Kanawha (463/12), Lewis (23/1), Lincoln (15/0),Logan (40/0), Marion (120/3), Marshall (74/1), Mason (26/0), McDowell (12/0),Mercer (67/0), Mineral (68/2), Mingo (39/2), Monongalia (633/15), Monroe(14/1), Morgan (19/1), Nicholas (19/1), Ohio (162/0), Pendleton (17/1),Pleasants (4/1), Pocahontas (37/1), Preston (88/21), Putnam (96/1), Raleigh(85/3), Randolph (193/2), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (12/0), Summers (2/0), Taylor(26/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne (141/2), Webster(1/0), Wetzel (38/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (191/10), Wyoming (7/0).

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

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

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

Continued here:

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-16-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

There is no coronavirus vaccine. Medications for COVID-19 are still being tested. Across the U.S., states that once acted as if the pandemic was going away are setting new daily records for infections, hospitalizations and deaths. There is one proved tool that has helped other countries stem the pandemic, but in the U.S. it is severely underused; the Trump administration tried to cut financing for it from the latest pandemic relief bill, say reports this week. And it often meets resistance from the people it is intended to help. The tool is called contact tracing.

The tracing approach is built on a simple idea: When someone tests positive for the new coronavirus or becomes sick with COVID-19, you find all the people the infected person came into contact with, because they, too, may be infected. Then you help them quarantine for two weeksalmost everyone who becomes sick will show symptoms within 14 daysso they do not accidentally spread the virus any further. The goal is to stop the chain of transmission, says Emily Gurley, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who has created afree online course to train contact tracers.

Contact tracing is a tried-and-true method that epidemiologists have been using for decades to tackle everything from foodborne illnesses to sexually transmitted diseases, as well as recent outbreaks of SARS and Ebola. Its a great tool for bringing an epidemic into the suppression or containment phase, says special pathogens expert Syra Madad of NYC Health + Hospitals, which leads New York CitysTest & Trace Corps contact-tracing program.

Large-scale contact-tracing programs in places such as South Korea and Germany have been instrumental in suppressing the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Within days of detecting its first case on January 20,South Korea created an emergency response committee that quickly developed wide-scale virus testing, followed by an extensive scaling up of the nations network of contact tracers. Germany similarly committed resources to mobilizing a tracing workforce. Inbothcountries, cases have dropped dramatically.

By contrast, tracing efforts lag in the U.S., where COVID-19 cases hit record highs in mid-July and which leads the world with more than 3.7 million infections and more than 140,000 deaths. The country has no national strategy for contact tracing, says Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). Instead the federal government has said to states, do as you wish, she adds. This week, the White House moved to block $25 billion for tracing and testing in the latest pandemic relief bill being considered by Congress, according to news reports, contending that states already have funding.

Yet many states do not have the money to start large tracing programs. In fact, state public health departments across the U.S. were drastically underfunded even before the pandemic. Since 2008, local health departments have lost close to 25 percent of their employees.

The result is a patchwork of programs with insufficient money and uneven implementation. NACCHO estimates that, given national levels of confirmed cases, the nation needs at least100,000 contact tracers. And that number would cost local, state, territorial, Native American and federal public health agencies at least $3.7 billion. So far, however, no federal dollars have been specifically allocated to contact tracing or to any federal contact tracing programs, Casalotti says.

A look at some individual states makes it clear that the workforce has not reached the scale required in several places. For instance, Arkansas recently announced plans to hire350 new contact tracers, which would bring its total to about 900. But based on the number of current cases, the state actually needs 3,722 tracers, according to acontact-tracing-workforce estimator developed by the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University. In Florida, where the pandemic is surging terribly, the same estimator calculates that 291 tracers per 100,000 residents are needed. Yet as of early July, the state had onlyseven per 100,000. And cases of COVID-19 surged in Texas, even as contact tracers working for the Texas Department of State Health Services were taken off the job.

Some states and local governments have increased operations. Massachusetts has launched a large effort, and New York and Washington State have also mobilized strong programs, says Margaret Bourdeaux, a physician and research director of global public policy at Harvard Medical School. In California, San Francisco has called up city employees, such as librarians, to join its tracing workforce.

Yet making contact-tracing programs successful means more than just boots on the ground. Tracers are trained to help people think through who they might have been in contact with. Though numerous phone apps now aid in identifying potential contacts, technology cant solve the problem of convincing someone they should pick up the phone when a contact tracer calls, says Mary Gray, a social scientist at Microsoft Research, who also has affiliations with Harvard University and Indiana University Bloomington. It is the reason we are failingbecause we keep searching for something else we can buy or put into place. We have not conceded how deeply human this process is.

Contact tracing is built on trust. The first call from a tracer is the beginning of a relationship, Gurley says. Its not just explaining what someone needs to do; its also explaining why. From there, the contact tracer will follow up every day to make sure the contact is getting the support that person needs to maintain self-isolation. Contact tracers have to be good at building rapport, Gurley says.

The U.S.s divisive political climate can make this process challenging. The systemic racism that has disproportionately affected people in minority groups with the virus may also make them more hesitant to disclose their personal information, Madad says. With all the political rhetoric about immigration, people in [immigrant] communities may be afraid to talk.

Elizabeth Perez is bilingual in Spanish and English and works as a contact tracer in San Francisco. She mostly speaks with people in the Latino community, and she says that doing so in Spanish can help her build trust. Ramss Escobedo, who works in the same program, says that sometimes individuals worry about the information being collected. Occasionally, reluctant people give out incorrect phone numbers, and the team has to do some detective work to track down potential infected cases.

New York Citys program has approached this problem by recruiting contact tracers with diverse backgrounds from within local communities, Madad says. More than half of the contact tracers in her program are from the hardest-hit zip codes. Theyre part of that community, she says.

One of the biggest challenges is misinformation being disseminated on social media. BuzzFeed News reports that Facebook posts and YouTube videos spreading hoaxes and lies about contact tracers have received hundreds of thousands of views. Some of these posts compare tracers to Nazi secret police and falsely say they take people to internment camps. Others suggest they should be greeted with guns. Contact tracers report they have faced death threats.

The next action that comes after a tracer has identified a potential infected persongetting that individual to adhere to quarantinehas proved exceptionally difficult in the U.S. For stopping the spread of a virus, however, isolation is absolutely key. You can do the contact tracing all you want. But if youre not also providing these support services people need to isolate, it wont work, Madad says. No one is going to quarantine for 14 days if that means losing a job and income or abandoning caregiving.

That fact is why the availability of services to support people in quarantine, such as housing, childcare, income or meal services, can make or break a contact-tracing program, Madad adds. For example,South Korea transformed existing public and private facilities into temporary isolation wards and has ensured that people quarantined via contact tracing receive a twice-daily check in from a public health worker, as well as deliveries of food and other necessities.

In the U.S., these kinds of resources have not been offered, by and large. New York City has set up quarantine hotels where people can go, and so have a few other localities. But efforts such as these are not widespread, and they are not enough tomeet the needs of every community.

At this point in the pandemic, that shortfall is a desperate problem, according to Harvards Bourdeaux. We are looking into the abyss, she says. Contact tracing at the large scale that is needed might seem overwhelming, but what other choice do we have? Bourdeaux asks. You cant have an economy, you cant have open schools, you cant have normal life if the epidemic is raging and uncontrolled. Until we have effective medications and a vaccine, she says, testing, contact tracing and quarantine are the most effective plague stoppers in existence.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak from Scientific American here. And read coverage from our international network of magazines here.

Originally posted here:

Contact Tracing, a Key Way to Slow COVID-19, Is Badly Underused by the U.S. - Scientific American