The Sabres' number of players on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list is up to seven on Saturday, after Dylan Cozens and Curtis Lazar were added.

BUFFALO, N.Y. Forwards Dylan Cozens and Curtis Lazar on Saturday became the sixth and seventh Sabres players to be added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.

Head coach Ralph Krueger tested positive for the coronavirus earlier in the week as well.

Cozens and Lazar are now on the list with five other Sabres players, including forwards Taylor Hall and Tobias Rieder and defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour and Jake McCabe.

The addition comes after the Sabres had no players put on the list Friday for the first time in four days.

The team has been in quarantine since Tuesday, when they were supposed to travel to Long Island to play the New York Islanders on the day of the game. Their initial flight out of Buffalo on Monday was delayed after a significant snowstorm hit the northeast, including eastern New York.

The Sabres were coming off of a weekend series Saturday and Sunday against New Jersey, in Buffalo. The Devils were in the middle of their own COVID-19 problems at the time.

The league canceled the Sabres next four games. As of right now they are supposed to play again next Thursday against Washington.

The team also announced changes to twelve regular season games earlier on Saturday.

Read more from the original source:

2 more Buffalo Sabres added to NHL's COVID-19 protocol - WGRZ.com

Researchers at the CDC have been working to track down the origins of those variants.

ATLANTA Almost one year ago, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was working day and night to track down the origins of the coronavirus and how to stop it.

Today, the work is the same, but the task is heightened. Mutated variants of COVID-19 - deviations of the virus - are now spreading around the world.

As of Tuesday, there were 23 cases of the U.K. variant detected in Georgia, up from the previous 19 cases.

Researchers at the CDC have been working to track down the origins of those mutations, and - just as with the original version of the virus - they are working to keep everyone safe.

According to the latest forecast, the variant strain of the coronavirus that originated in the United Kingdom is spreading so rapidly that it will make up 1% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States within a couple of weeks, and rapidly take over as the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.

"Every time you encounter somebody who has an infection with one of these variants, you are much more likely to get infected," explained Dr. Nahid Bhadelia of Boston Medical Center.

"You are talking about a variant that might be upwards of 50% more transmissible," said Dr. Jodie Guest of Emory University's Rollins Schools of Public Health.

"We should see a huge surge of cases by March" if the variant strains are able to spread unchecked, Dr. Guest said.

But Guest said that, so far, social distancing and masks, along with the vaccines, have been able to stop all of the known variants. That would minimize a possible new surge.

In addition, researchers are working on adapting the existing vaccines to kill even more powerful variants that may emerge.

"It's not going to take very much to reproduce the mRNA vaccine with the changes that are needed, and give everyone who's had it a booster," Guest said. "But, at the moment, we don't believe that that is needed in the current state that we're in."

As of this point, the variants are not more powerful or deadly than the original strain, but they are more contagious - and they are able to infect more people more easily and more rapidly than the original coronavirus.

However, following proper health guidelines - and getting vaccinated as the vaccines become available -- will hinder and even stop the variant strains that have been discovered, so far.

See the original post:

Where are the mutated COVID-19 variants, spreading around the world, coming from? - 11Alive.com WXIA

Nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, as thousands of patients are dying every day in the United States and widespread vaccination is still months away, doctors have precious few drugs to fight the virus.

A handful of therapies remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies and the steroid dexamethasone have improved the care of Covid patients, putting doctors in a better position than they were when the virus surged last spring. But these drugs are not cure-alls and theyre not for everyone, and efforts to repurpose other drugs, or discover new ones, have not had much success.

The government poured $18.5 billion into vaccines, a strategy that resulted in at least five effective products at record-shattering speed. But its investment in drugs was far smaller, about $8.2 billion, most of which went to just a few candidates, such as monoclonal antibodies. Studies of other drugs were poorly organized.

The result was that many promising drugs that could stop the disease early, called antivirals, were neglected. Their trials have stalled, either because researchers couldnt find enough funding or enough patients to participate.

At the same time, a few drugs have received sustained investment despite disappointing results. Theres now a wealth of evidence that the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine did not work against Covid. And yet there are still 179 clinical trials with 169,370 patients in which at least some are receiving the drugs, according to the Covid Registry of Off-label & New Agents at the University of Pennsylvania. And the federal government funneled tens of millions of dollars into an expanded access program for convalescent plasma, infusing almost 100,000 Covid patients before there was any robust evidence that it worked. In January, those trials revealed that, at least for hospitalized patients, it doesnt.

The lack of centralized coordination meant that many trials for Covid antivirals were doomed from the start too small and poorly designed to provide useful data, according to Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. If the government had instead set up an organized network of hospitals to carry out large trials and quickly share data, researchers would have many more answers now.

I blame myself to some extent, said Dr. Woodcock, who has overseen the federal governments efforts to develop Covid drugs.

She hopes to tame the chaos with a new effort from the Biden administration. In the next couple of months, she said, the government plans to start large and well-organized trials for existing drugs that could be repurposed to fight Covid-19. We are actively working on that, Dr. Woodcock said.

Brand-new antiviral drugs might also help, but only now is the National Institutes of Health putting together a major initiative to develop them, meaning they wont be ready in time to fight the current pandemic.

This effort will be unlikely to provide therapeutics in 2021, Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the N.I.H., said in a statement. If there is a Covid-24 or Covid-30 coming, we want to be prepared.

Even as the number of cases and deaths have surged around the country, the survival rate of those who are infected has improved significantly. A recent study found that by June, the mortality rates of those hospitalized had dropped to 9 percent from 17 percent at the start of the pandemic, a trend that has been echoed in other studies. Researchers say the improvement is partly because of the steroid dexamethasone, which boosts survival rates of severely ill patients by tamping down the immune system rather than blocking the virus. Patients may also be seeking care earlier in the course of the illness. And masks and social distancing may reduce viral exposure.

When the new coronavirus emerged as a global threat in early 2020, doctors frantically tried an assortment of existing drugs. But the only way to know if they actually worked was to set up large clinical trials in which some people received placebos, and others took the drug in question.

Getting hundreds or thousands of people into such trials was a tremendous logistical challenge. In early 2020, the N.I.H. narrowed its focus to just a few promising drugs. That support included a project known as ACTIV, which enabled trials on antivirals and other treatments for Covid-19 to run at many sites at once. Researchers tested remdesivir, as well as monoclonal antibodies, gathering the data that showed they were indeed effective to some extent. Remdesivir, which stops viruses from replicating inside cells, can modestly shorten the time patients need to recover, but has no effect on mortality. Monoclonal antibodies, which stop the virus from entering cells, can be very potent, but only when given before people are sick enough to be hospitalized.

Hundreds of hospitals and universities began their own trials of existing drugs already deemed safe and widely manufactured that might also work against the coronavirus. But most of these trials were small and disorganized.

In many cases, researchers have been left on their own to set up trials without the backing of the federal government or pharmaceutical companies. In April, as New York City was in the throes of a Covid surge, Charles Mobbs, a neuroscientist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, heard about some intriguing work in France hinting at the effectiveness of an antipsychotic drug.

Doctors at French psychiatric hospitals had noticed that relatively few patients became ill with Covid-19 compared with the staff members who cared for them. The researchers speculated that the drugs the patients were taking could be protecting them. One of those drugs, the antipsychotic chlorpromazine, had been shown in laboratory experiments to prevent the coronavirus from multiplying.

The doctors tried to start a trial of chlorpromazine, but the pandemic ebbed temporarily, it turned out in France by the time they were ready. Dr. Mobbs then spent weeks making arrangements for a trial of his own on patients hospitalized at Mount Sinai, only to hit the same wall. We ran out of patients, he said.

If doctors like Dr. Mobbs could tap into nationwide networks of hospitals, they would be able to find enough patients to run their trials quickly. Those networks exist, but they were not opened up for drug-repurposing efforts.

Many scientists suspect that the best time to fight the coronavirus is early in an infection, when the virus is multiplying quickly. But its particularly hard to recruit trial volunteers who are not in a hospital. Researchers have to track down people right after theyve tested positive and find a way to deliver the trial drugs to them.

At the University of Kentucky, researchers began such a trial in May to test a drug called camostat, which is normally used to treat inflammation of the pancreas. The scientists thought it might also work as a Covid-19 antiviral because it destroys a protein that the virus depends on to infect human cells. Because camostat comes in pill form, rather than an infusion, it would be especially useful for people like the trial volunteers, many of whom lived in remote rural areas.

But the researchers have spent the past eight months trying to recruit enough participants. They have had trouble finding patients who have recently received a Covid diagnosis, especially with the unpredictable rise and fall of cases.

This has been the source of the delays for essentially all of the trials around the world, said Dr. James Porterfield, an infectious disease clinician at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, who is leading the trial.

While doctors like Dr. Porterfield have struggled to carry out studies on their own, a few drugs have become sensations, praised as cure-alls despite a lack of evidence.

The first supposed panacea was hydroxychloroquine, a drug developed for malaria. Television pundits claimed it had healing powers, as did President Trump. Rather than start one large, well-designed trial across many hospitals, doctors began a swarm of small trials.

There was no coordination, and no centralized leadership, said Ilan Schwartz, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alberta.

Nevertheless, the F.D.A. gave the drug an emergency clearance as a treatment for people hospitalized with Covid. When large clinical trials finally did begin delivering results, it turned out that the drug provided no benefit and might even do harm. The agency withdrew its authorization in June.

Many scientists were left embittered, considering all that work a waste of precious time and resources.

The clear, unambiguous and compelling lesson from the hydroxychloroquine story for the medical community and the public is that science and politics do not mix, Dr. Michael Saag of University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote in November in JAMA.

Now another drug is becoming popular before theres strong evidence that it works: the parasite-killing compound ivermectin. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, who extolled hydroxychloroquine in April, held a hearing in December where Dr. Pierre Kory testified about ivermectin. Dr. Kory, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at Aurora St. Lukes Medical Center in Milwaukee at the time, called it effectively a miracle drug against Covid-19. Yet there are no published results from large-scale clinical trials to support such claims, only small, suggestive ones.

Even if the federal government had set up a centralized trial network to evaluate these repurposed antivirals on a large scale, as it is trying to do now, scientists would have still faced some unavoidable hurdles. It takes time to do careful experiments to discover promising drugs and then to confirm that theyre really worth investigating further.

In drug development, were used to 10-to-15-year runways, said Sumit K. Chanda, a virologist at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

In February, Dr. Chanda and his colleagues began a different kind of search for a Covid-19 antiviral. They screened a library of 13,000 drugs, mixing each drug with cells and coronaviruses to see if they stopped infections.

A few drugs proved promising. The researchers tested one of them a cheap leprosy pill called clofazimine over several months, doing experiments in human lung tissue and hamsters. Clofazimine fought off the virus in the animals if they received it soon after being infected.

Now, nearly a year after he started his research, Dr. Chanda is hoping he can get funding for the most difficult part of drug testing: large and randomized clinical trials that can cost millions of dollars. To complete this stage efficiently, researchers almost always need the backing of a large company or the federal government, or both as happened with the large clinical trials for the new coronavirus vaccines.

Its unclear how the Biden administrations new drug-testing effort will choose which drug candidates to support. But if trials begin in the next few months, its possible they could reveal useful data by the end of the year.

Pharmaceutical companies are also beginning to fund some trials of repurposed drugs. A study published this week in Science found that a 24-year-old cancer drug called plitidepsin is 27 times more potent than remdesivir at halting the coronavirus in lab experiments. In October, a Spanish drug company called PharmaMar reported promising results from a small safety trial of plitidepsin. Now the company is preparing to start a late-stage trial in Spain to see if the drug works compared with a placebo.

The pharma giant Merck is running a large, late-stage trial on a pill called molnupiravir, originally developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics for influenza, which has been shown to cure ferrets of Covid-19. The trials first results could emerge as early as March.

Experts are particularly eager to see this data because molnupiravir may be effective in treating more than just Covid-19. In April, scientists found that the drug could also treat mice infected with other coronaviruses that cause SARS and MERS.

Any antivirals that may emerge in 2021 wont save the lives already lost to Covid-19. But its possible that one of those drugs may work against coronavirus pandemics to come.

Noah Weiland and Katie Thomas contributed reporting.

More here:

How the Search for Covid-19 Treatments Faltered While Vaccines Sped Ahead - The New York Times

For Immediate Release: January 04, 2021 Statement From:

Statement Author

Leadership Role

Commissioner of Food and Drugs - Food and Drug Administration

Leadership Role

Director - Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)

Two different mRNA vaccines have now shown remarkable effectiveness of about 95% in preventing COVID-19 infection in adults. As the first round of vaccine recipients become eligible to receive their second dose, we want to remind the public about the importance of receiving COVID-19 vaccines according to how theyve been authorized by the FDA in order to safely receive the level of protection observed in the large randomized trials supporting their effectiveness.

We have been following the discussions and news reports about reducing the number of doses, extending the length of time between doses, changing the dose (half-dose), or mixing and matching vaccines in order to immunize more people against COVID-19. These are all reasonable questions to consider and evaluate in clinical trials. However, at this time, suggesting changes to the FDA-authorized dosing or schedules of these vaccines is premature and not rooted solidly in the available evidence. Without appropriate data supporting such changes in vaccine administration, we run a significant risk of placing public health at risk, undermining the historic vaccination efforts to protect the population from COVID-19.

The available data continue to support the use of two specified doses of each authorized vaccine at specified intervals. For the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the interval is 21 days between the first and second dose. And for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the interval is 28 days between the first and second dose.

What we have seen is that the data in the firms submissions regarding the first dose is commonly being misinterpreted. In the phase 3 trials, 98% of participants in the Pfizer-BioNTech trial and 92% of participants in the Moderna trial received two doses of the vaccine at either a three- or four-week interval, respectively. Those participants who did not receive two vaccine doses at either a three-or four-week interval were generally only followed for a short period of time, such that we cannot conclude anything definitive about the depth or duration of protection after a single dose of vaccine from the single dose percentages reported by the companies.

Using a single dose regimen and/or administering less than the dose studied in the clinical trials without understanding the nature of the depth and duration of protection that it provides is concerning, as there is some indication that the depth of the immune response is associated with the duration of protection provided. If people do not truly know how protective a vaccine is, there is the potential for harm because they may assume that they are fully protected when they are not, and accordingly, alter their behavior to take unnecessary risks.

We know that some of these discussions about changing the dosing schedule or dose are based on a belief that changing the dose or dosing schedule can help get more vaccine to the public faster. However, making such changes that are not supported by adequate scientific evidence may ultimately be counterproductive to public health.

We have committed time and time again to make decisions based on data and science. Until vaccine manufacturers have data and science supporting a change, we continue to strongly recommend that health care providers follow the FDA-authorized dosing schedule for each COVID-19 vaccine.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nations food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

###

01/04/2021

Visit link:

FDA Statement on Following the Authorized Dosing Schedules for COVID-19 Vaccines - FDA.gov

NASHVILLE Tennessee continues efforts to administer COVID-19 vaccinations as described in the states COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. Tennessee county health department staff members administered more than 25,000 COVID-19 vaccinations during the New Year weekend, and more than 157,000 total vaccinations have been administered statewide to date.

We are pleased with the overwhelming interest Tennesseans are showing in receiving COVID-19 vaccinations, and are working as quickly as possible to provide vaccinations as we receive additional shipments of vaccines, said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. Some Tennesseans are now receiving their second doses of vaccine as well, so they will be well protected against COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccine supplies remain limited at this time, and availability of vaccines varies by county. Tennessee is currently working to vaccinate Phase 1a populations and individuals aged 75 and up as vaccine supplies are available.It is important to note Tennessee counties may progress through COVID-19 vaccination phases at different times, depending on supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. To learn what phase your county is in, visit https://covid19.tn.gov/covid-19-vaccines/vaccine-phases/.

This week shipments of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to begin arriving at Tennessee pharmacies that are partnering with long-term care facilities to vaccinate their residents and staff members onsite, as outlined in Phase 1a1 of Tennessees COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. As county health departments vaccinate phase 1a2 and begin to vaccinate those aged 75 years and older, pharmacies will also be administering vaccines for long-term care facility residents and employees. Although this may result in smaller shipments to county health departments, it is critical to get vaccines to those who are the highest risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 as quickly as possible.

TDH reminds all Tennesseans that in addition to vaccination, wearing a face mask, maintaining social distance and getting tested when exposed or sick are critical to controlling the pandemic.

The Tennessee Department of Health updated the Tennessee COVID-19 Vaccination Plan Dec. 30. The plan is available online at http://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccination_Plan.pdf Find answers to frequently asked questions about COVID-19 vaccination at http://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccine_FAQ.pdf.

The mission of the Tennessee Department of Health is to protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. Learn more about TDH services and programs at http://www.tn.gov/health.Connect with TDH on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn @TNDeptofHealth!

Link:

Tennessee Continues COVID-19 Vaccination - tn.gov

`;articleContent = document.querySelector(".article-content");articleContent.innerHTML = articleContent.innerHTML + formbox;function waitForElement(id, callback){ var goStahp = setInterval(function(){ if(document.getElementById(id)){ clearInterval(goStahp); callback(); } }, 100);}waitForElement("JotFormIFrame-202185815209151", function(){var ifr = document.getElementById("JotFormIFrame-202185815209151"); if(window.location.href && window.location.href.indexOf("?") > -1) { var get = window.location.href.substr(window.location.href.indexOf("?") + 1); if(ifr && get.length > 0) { var src = ifr.src; src = src.indexOf("?") > -1 ? src + "&" + get : src + "?" + get; ifr.src = src; } } window.handleIFrameMessage = function(e) { if (typeof e.data === 'object') { return; } var args = e.data.split(":"); if (args.length > 2) { iframe = document.getElementById("JotFormIFrame-" + args[(args.length - 1)]); } else { iframe = document.getElementById("JotFormIFrame"); } if (!iframe) { return; } switch (args[0]) { case "scrollIntoView": iframe.scrollIntoView(); break; case "setHeight": console.log(`case: setHeight`); iframe.style.height = parseInt(args[1]) + 15 + "px"; break; case "collapseErrorPage": console.log(`case: collapseErrorPage`); if (iframe.clientHeight > window.innerHeight) { iframe.style.height = window.innerHeight + "px"; } break; case "reloadPage": window.location.reload(); break; case "loadScript": var src = args[1]; if (args.length > 3) { src = args[1] + ':' + args[2]; } var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = src; script.type = 'text/javascript'; document.body.appendChild(script); break; case "exitFullscreen": if (window.document.exitFullscreen) window.document.exitFullscreen(); else if (window.document.mozCancelFullScreen) window.document.mozCancelFullScreen(); else if (window.document.mozCancelFullscreen) window.document.mozCancelFullScreen(); else if (window.document.webkitExitFullscreen) window.document.webkitExitFullscreen(); else if (window.document.msExitFullscreen) window.document.msExitFullscreen(); break; } var isJotForm = (e.origin.indexOf("jotform") > -1) ? true : false; if(isJotForm && "contentWindow" in iframe && "postMessage" in iframe.contentWindow) { var urls = {"docurl":encodeURIComponent(document.URL),"referrer":encodeURIComponent(document.referrer)}; iframe.contentWindow.postMessage(JSON.stringify({"type":"urls","value":urls}), "*"); } }; if (window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener("message", handleIFrameMessage, false); } else if (window.attachEvent) { window.attachEvent("onmessage", handleIFrameMessage); }});//

Originally posted here:

Austin infusion center to open this week to help treat COVID-19 patients - KXAN.com

'); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(""+val.title+""); // if (window.location.hostname == "www.kmov.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kctv5.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.azfamily.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kptv.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.fox5vegas.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.wfsb.com") { if (val.poly != "" && val.polyimg != "") { $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append('"+val.ihtml+""); $("#expandable-weather-block .weather-index-alerts").show(); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body h2").css({"font-family":"'Fira Sans', sans-serif", "font-weight":"500", "padding-bottom":"10px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body p").css({"font-size":"14px", "line-height":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body span.wxalertnum").css({"float":"left", "width":"40px", "height":"40px", "color":"#ffffff", "line-height":"40px", "background-color":"#888888", "border-radius":"40px", "text-align":"center", "margin-right":"12px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body b").css("font-size", "18px"); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body li").css({"font-size":"14px", "line-height":"18px", "margin-bottom":"10px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body ul").css({"margin-bottom":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body pre").css({"margin-bottom":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body img").css({"width":"100%", "margin-bottom":"20px", "borderWidth":"1px", "border-style":"solid", "border-color":"#aaaaaa"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).css({"borderWidth":"0", "border-bottom-width":"1px", "border-style":"dashed", "border-color":"#aaaaaa", "padding-bottom":"10px", "margin-bottom":"40px"}); }); } function parseAlertJSON(json) { console.log(json); alertCount = 0; if (Object.keys(json.alerts).length > 0) { $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body ").empty(); } $.each(json.alerts, function(key, val) { alertCount++; $("#mrd-wx-alerts .alert_count").text(alertCount); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body ").append(''); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(""+val.title+""); // if (window.location.hostname == "www.kmov.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kctv5.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.azfamily.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kptv.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.fox5vegas.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.wfsb.com") { if (val.poly != "" && val.polyimg != "") { $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(''); } else if (val.fips != "" && val.fipsimg != "") { // $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(''); } // } //val.instr = val.instr.replace(/[W_]+/g," "); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(val.dhtml+"

Instruction

The rest is here:

Oregon Health Authority reports 728 new COVID-19 cases, six additional deaths linked to the virus - KPTV.com

Airport takes step to address passenger spread; TSA installs barriers

by: David Charns

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Las Vegas McCarran International Airport ranks among the top in the United States where Transportation Security Administration screeners and employees have been infected with COVID-19, new data the I-Team obtained shows.

Out of nearly 300 airports in the country with confirmed COVID-19 cases, McCarran ranks tenth for the number of TSA employees and screening contractors who have gotten sick with the virus.

As of Monday, there were 117 recorded cases of COVID-19 in TSA at McCarran since the agency began tracking the number. Four employees who do not screen passengers had also been infected, data said.

McCarran is among the nations busiest airports, ranking No. 9 for passenger volume in 2018, according to FAA data.

The nations busiest airport, Atlantas Hartsfield-Jackson International, reported 151 cases. The airport with the most recorded cases as of Monday was Los Angeles International, with 310 confirmed cases.

TSA screeners are required to wear masks and gloves, as well as some sort of eye protectant.

More than 850 TSA employees across the country were actively infected with COVID-19 as of Monday, the TSA reported. Thirteen TSA employees across the country and one screening contractor have died from the virus.

All passengers are required to wear a mask in the airport. Officials at McCarran have also taken steps to disinfect high-traffic areas, provide hand sanitizer and limit capacity on shuttle buses.

Excerpt from:

I-Team: McCarran ranks among top airports for TSA COVID-19 infections - KLAS - 8 News Now

An employee working the Christmas shift at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center has died after falling ill with COVID-19. The person was one of at least 43 staff members who tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days, an outbreak possibly linked to an employee who wore an inflatable holiday costume to lift spirits.

The staff member who appeared briefly in the emergency department on Christmas Day wore an air-powered, holiday-themed costume, according to a hospital executive. KNTV-TV, the San Jose NBC station that first reported the outbreak, reported that the costume was an inflatable Christmas tree.

Inflatable costumes are typically battery-powered and use a fan to keep the costume puffed up. Such a fan can propel virus particles in a room.

The person who wore the costume subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus, the hospital confirmed Monday.

KNTV-TV reported that the person who died was a woman who worked as a registration clerk in the emergency department.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this terrible loss. We are providing support to our employees during this difficult time, said a statement issued by the hospital late Sunday.

In a statement Saturday, Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager of Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, said officials were investigating whether the costume contributed to the outbreak.

Any exposure, if it occurred, would have been completely innocent and quite accidental, as the individual [wearing the costume] had no COVID symptoms and only sought to lift the spirits of those around them during what is a very stressful time, Chavez said. If anything, this should serve as a very real reminder that the virus is widespread, and often without symptoms, and we must all be vigilant.

Chavez said the hospital would no longer allow air-powered costumes at its facilities and was taking steps to reinforce safety precautions among staff, including no gatherings in break rooms, no sharing of food and beverages and the wearing of masks at all times.

The highly contagious coronavirus usually spreads through droplets sprayed from a persons mouth and nose, such as through breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing, and usually land six feet or so from a person before falling to the ground. People can be highly contagious with the virus without showing signs of illness.

Strong drafts of air can help the coronavirus infect others. In one such case in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a pre-symptomatic person who had just returned from Wuhan the first hotbed of the global pandemic was eating lunch at a restaurant. Scientists concluded that the person infected two other families sitting at neighboring tables about three feet away; they suspect that infected droplets from the index patient hitched a ride on air flows powered by an air-conditioning system.

In the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is the largest city in Santa Clara County, Northern Californias most populous county, which has hospitals dealing with severe overcrowding in its worst surge of the pandemic. On New Years Day, 97% of Santa Clara Countys available ICU beds were occupied.

Santa Clara, home to nearly 2 million people, had the worst rate of coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths in the last week of any county in the Bay Area, according to a Times analysis. It recorded more than 74,000 cases and 740 deaths.

Last week, county officials said hospitals were stretched to the limit, with 50 to 60 patients each day stuck in emergency rooms waiting for beds.

Often, the only time a patient can be moved into an ICU bed is after a COVID-19 patient has died, said Dr. Marco Randazzo, an emergency room physician at OConnor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy.

Every ICU bed at St. Louise Regional Hospital was full, and patients were in so-called surge beds, Chief Operating Officer Gloria de la Merced said last week. This level of hospitalizations has never happened during my career, she said. If we go beyond the surge capacity, everyone will be affected more people in our community will know someone who died.

Across Santa Clara County, the daily coronavirus case rate is more than 10 times what it was Oct. 30. What we are seeing now is not normal, Dr. Ahmad Kamal, director of health preparedness for Santa Clara County, said last week.

This has been the state of the pandemic for the last several weeks, he added, and it is showing no signs of letting up.

Kamal pleaded with the public to continue to wear masks, stay socially distant and cancel gatherings.

Read the original:

Worker at hospital with inflatable costume dies of COVID-19 - Los Angeles Times

Santa Clara County hospitals have been hit so hard with so many COVID-19 cases, ambulances have had to wait outside -- with patients -- for hours in some cases before those patients can be admitted. And those hospitals say they're expecting another, post New Year's surge.

If we have another surge on top of that, it's going to be devastating, said James Williams from Santa Clara County Council. "Sometimes that has occurred sporadically in the past, but this is happening at an increasing frequency, across the board, across all the hospitals."

The Regional Medical Center of San Jose has been especially busy.

"We make sure that everyone who is critical is seen and seen right away, but there are waits for some, said Sarah Sherwood, Regional Medical Center spokesperson. Fearing that the post Christmas and New Year's rush is days away.

"We're bracing for a huge onslaught of patients, said Sherwood. We're prepared for this, and we know how to deal with this, we're trained for this, but it is very difficult, our staff is tired."

Meanwhile, there is a triage system in place to do its best to divert an ambulance on its way to a hospital that's too crowded. Instead, sending that ambulance to a different hospital nearby that has a bed open.

See original here:

COVID-19 Surge Forces Ambulances to Have Wait Outside South Bay Hospitals - NBC Bay Area

Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Department of Health today confirmed as of 12:00 a.m., January 4, that there were 3,226 additional positive cases of COVID-19, in addition to 4,579 new cases reported Sunday, January 3 for a two-day total of 7,805additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 665,097. The case counts today are atypically low as a result of technical maintenance to the data server on Sunday. This technical maintenance did not impact the death reporting system on Sunday or Monday as the death data comes from a different server.

There are 5,529 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, near double the peak in the spring. Of that number, 1,149 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older. More data is availablehere.

The trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 5,400 since the end of September.

Statewide percent positivity for the week of December 25 December 31 stood at 15.0%.

The most accurate daily data is available on the website, with archived data also available.

As of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, January 2, there were 56 new deaths and as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, January 3, there were 66 new deaths reported for a total of 16,361 deaths attributed to COVID-19. County-specific information and a statewide map are available on the COVID-19 Data Dashboard.

Mask-wearing is required in all businesses and whenever leaving home. Consistent mask-wearing is critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

There are 58,275 individualswho have a positive viral antigen test and are considered probable casesand 637 individualswho have a positive serology test and either COVID-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure.

There are 3,301,186 individuals who have tested negative to date.

In nursing and personal care homes, there are 54,465 resident cases of COVID-19, and 9,827 cases among employees, for a total of 64,292 at 1,479 distinct facilities in all 67 counties. Out of our total deaths, 9,023 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities. A county breakdown can be found here.

Approximately 19,437 of our total cases are among health care workers.

COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Pennsylvania hospitals began receiving shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine the week of Dec. 14 and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine the week of Dec. 21.

Through Jan. 3:

A spreadsheet of facilities that have received vaccine can be found here.

Statewide The Wolf Administration has since noon, Jan. 3:

The Wolf Administration stresses the role Pennsylvanians play in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19:

Updated Coronavirus Links: Press Releases, State Lab Photos, Graphics

All Pennsylvania residents are encouraged to sign up for AlertPA, a text notification system for health, weather, and other important alerts like COVID-19 updates from commonwealth agencies. Residents can sign up online at http://www.ready.pa.gov/BeInformed/Signup-For-Alerts.

MEDIA CONTACT: April Hutcheson - RA-DHpressoffice@pa.gov

# # #

Read the original:

Department of Health Provides Update on COVID-19: 5,529 Patients Hospitalized and 1,149 Patients in the Intensive Care Unit - Pennsylvania Pressroom

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- Patients receiving COVID-19 treatment at Mayo Clinic have a better outcome compared to hospitals around the world. That's according to a study released by Mayo on Dec. 22.

The study looked at 7,891 COVID-19 patients within the Mayo Clinic Enterprise (Minnesota, Florida, Arizona and outcare systems). Of those patients, 77 percent received some kind of COVID directed therapy, 11 percent of patients were hospitalized, 4.5 percent were admitted into the ICU and 1.1 percent died.

"How this compared to other center is that it's lower than anything else that's been reported," Mayo Clinic COVID Research Task Force Dr. Andrew Badley said.

Dr. Badley compared Mayo's numbers with the latest numbers this last week. Around the country, there were more than 20.5 million cases and 350,000 deaths, for a 1.7 percent death rate. Around the world, there have been 79 million cases and 1.7 million deaths, making for a mortality rate of 2.1 percent.

"At Mayo we saw 1.1," Badley said. "So why are these results different?"

Badley credits Mayo's success with a variety of advantages.

"We had the opportunity to learn from experience," he said.

With the deadly virus making itself known on the West coast, he leading health organization also had time to plan and prepare before outbreaks starting occurring where its hospitals were.

"So, the approach we put together was a multi-layer integrated approach. We brought together experts on everything we could think of," Badely said. "So, COVID, and immunology, and intense care unit and kidney disease and blood clots, to make sure we always had, at our fingers tips, the most up to date information about COVID."

Clinical trials also played a role in the hospital's success.

"Early in the epidemic, there weren't a lot of clinic trials. Within several months there were a lot. We had the option of choosing between clinical trails, and we could select the trails that most likely would have a meaningful impact."

This let the enterprise lead other hospitals in the fight. For example, creating a separate location to treat COVID-19 patients with antibodies.

"What we have done, and what other centers have started to do, is we have created out patient centers that are only for COVID patients," Badley said. "So, we can administer these antibodies to COVID patients and not risk infecting other patients."

Perhaps the biggest feat though, is the teamwork mentality demonstrated by those on the frontlines.

"It's a true testament to the teamwork of Mayo employees everyday, even pre-COVID. So, everybody from janitorial staff, to secretarial staff, nursing staff, to specialties; when there has been a request -- and there has been a lot of requests these last ten months -- they jump up to do it without hesitation. Because it's in the best interest of our patients."

The study took place between March 1 and July 31, 2020.

See the original post:

Mayo Clinic study shows lower mortality rates among its COVID-19 patients compared to the world - KTTC

Across the NBA, team officials tasked with enforcing and managing the league's day-to-day health and safety protocols say they're exhausted and struggling to balance those roles along with their typical team duties, many of which are focused on player health.

Further, several of these officials say they have found themselves so busy with protocols that their ability to work with individual players on a hands-on basis -- in areas that include treatment, recovery, training -- has been sacrificed, leading to concerns about reduced care for players.

"I've actually told my peers on these trips that we've been on -- it's very, very difficult for me to get my hands on [players]," said one Western Conference head athletic trainer, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to speak publicly. One Eastern Conference head athletic trainer independently echoed this point and said it's shared league-wide among peers.

One league health official who is close to the matter added, "What scares me -- and I know it's happening -- is that their normal job of doing health care on players [is impaired]. I've had some trainers tell me, 'I haven't touched a player in two weeks because I've been so busy doing all this logistics and testing and all that.' That's concerning. That's definitely what I don't want to happen."

A second Western Conference head athletic trainer agreed with the above sentiment.

"There will be some decline in player health care," that head athletic trainer said. "But I think the larger part will be the overload of the care providers."

As the NBA tries to hold a season outside a bubble during the coronavirus pandemic, team health officials and others filling protocol roles are essentially the NBA's front-line workers. Roles that have been largely delegated to team health officials, as outlined in the NBA's 158-page protocols, include testing officer, contact tracing officer, facemask enforcement officer, facility hygiene officer, health education and awareness officer and travel safety officer, among others. Some team health officials hold more than one of those roles, along with their original roles.

"We're responsible for the logistics of all of the staff, PCR testing, and all of the player rapid testing, and the compliance with the timelines that go into that every day, whether it's an off day, whether it's a game day," said the second Western Conference head athletic trainer. "So the workload has increased dramatically. [And] there's not been a decrease in any of the other workload."

Said one Eastern Conference basketball operations official who is working to handle their team's contract tracing program, "It's just frustrating because with all these things they are making us do it's been hard to find time to do our actual jobs. People are going to be exhausted and sick after this year with everything we are forced to do."

For all their duties, no team official who spoke with ESPN blamed the NBA or its protocols. Rather, there was an understanding that this is an extraordinary situation with understandably high demands. There is hope that staffers can find a rhythm as the season goes on, but several team health officials also noted that the situation continually evolves, with more memos and conference calls from the league in which new protocols are introduced or changes are made. There are also continually evolving city and state restrictions that affect team markets differently.

"Emails are coming fast and furious at all times," said the Eastern Conference head athletic trainer. "And they're not a one-page memo; these are 15 pages, sometimes. They come through daily almost. And so, yeah, we have an obligation to stay current on stuff and it's time-consuming."

A Western Conference GM added, "There's just not enough hours in the day to read the memos, the nuances, compliance, testing, the things that quickly change." The Western Conference GM continued, "You have constant scenarios happening where the memos don't cover that particular situation...That's no one's fault. It's just where we're at."

If their own physical and mental health is failing under the weight of added duties, as several team officials independently say is already happening, then what about the health of players? Several of these officials voiced concerns about not only a decline in players' health care but in the fragility of a non-bubble season, given the constant potential for outbreaks if there's slippage in protocols, vigilance, diligence or compliance.

"Normally, if you can get a 90% compliance rate in a lot of things, that's really good," said the second Western Conference head athletic trainer. "In some ways, a 90% compliance rate here might as well be zero."

Some team health officials reported weeks ago, as training camp was gearing up in early December, that they were already far busier than they had ever been in their careers, with the Western Conference head athletic trainer saying that the workload was at least double if not three times what it was before. For some, looking ahead to the coming months is daunting.

"Every waking hour seems to be committed to [the protocols]," said the Eastern Conference head athletic training official. "But you look down the pike here, and... you wonder, 'God, I barely got through today, how am I going to do this another 100-something times?'"

Said one Eastern Conference general manager, "There's a lot of people that are exhausted. I think their mental weight is as heavy as the physical weight. It wears on you, especially when you're traveling, especially on the road. There's so many moving parts."

Sleep loss is another factor in a league that has struggled with that very issue for years.

"It's extremely difficult," said the first Western Conference head athletic trainer. "The days become longer when you thought they were as long as they could be. If you get a phone call at 2 or 3 in the morning about a possible positive [test] that ends up being a false positive, you're trying to deal with that up until the team is starting to come in the facility at 8 or 9 just to make sure you're complying with everything and then go through your shootaround and then you have a game [and if you] get to bed at midnight, you're lucky to get three or four hours."

The Western Conference GM said his team's health and athletic training staff is robust but still struggling.

"The reality is, these people are really working hard to keep us all safe," said the Western Conference GM. "And like the front-line health care workers, we probably haven't put enough time and thought into their physical and emotional state."

That GM added, "I can't say thank you enough to my guys because you can feel it on them. It's really emotionally exhausting the health performance staff."

Here is the original post:

NBA team health officials find balance tough with new COVID-19 protocols - ESPN

9Health Expert Dr. Payal Kohli said she's surprised by the pace in which the virus has been mutating and spreading all over the world.

New variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are popping up in different parts of the world and they're spreading rapidly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking the new versions of the virus originating in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Nigeria.

9NEWS asked 9Health Expert Dr. Payal Kohli to help break down what we know about the new strains.

Strain Discovered in the U.K.

The COVID-19 variant known as B.1.1.7. emerged in the UK in September. The CDC said the variant spreads more quickly and easily than other versions of the virus.

On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new national lockdown lasting at least until mid-February in an effort to contain the new strain.

It has changed the behavior of the virus in the sense that its made it 70% more contagious," explained Dr. Kohli. "But, it does not appear to render the vaccines ineffective based on the studies that weve seen so far.

The highly contagious variant of COVID-19 is prevalent in London and southeast England.

Colorado detected the first case of the variant in the U.S. State leaders announced Dec. 29 a man in Elbert County was infected with the variant of the virus. He was a member of the National Guard working at a nursing home in Simla.

WATCH: Can you be infected with the COVID variant after already having COVID?

Variant Discovered in South Africa

The CDC said a separate variant of COVID-19 was detected in South Africa in early October.

The strain "shares some mutations with the variant detected in the UK," according to information on the CDC website.

The variant also appears to spread faster and more easily than other versions of the virus.

The CDC said there's no evidence the strains found in the UK or South Africa are more deadly or cause people to get sicker than the original coronavirus.

The fact that they spread more quickly means that more people are going to get infected which means that more people are going to get sick and more people are going to die," Dr. Kohli said.

Variant Discovered in Nigeria

Another version of COVID-19 recently popped up in Nigeria. The CDC is monitoring the strain and "there is no evidence to indicate this variant is causing more severe illness or increased spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria," according to the CDC website.

The CDC is also studying whether any of the strains will impact the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. Kohli said it's only a matter of time before the various strains of COVID-19 make their way to Colorado.

"its going to get on a plane and its going to fly here," she said.

WATCH: How did the new COVID variant affect Colorado's case count?

SUGGESTED VIDEOS:COVID-19 Coronavirus

Read the rest here:

What we know about the new variants of COVID-19 - 9News.com KUSA

For it to be within minutes of each other was shocking and surreal, said Vanessa Lee, who lost both her grandfathers.

PORTLAND, Ore. It could be months before the general population gets access to the COVID-19 vaccine. In the meantime, one family is hoping we all continue to keep each other safe.

They lost both of their grandfathers, Jim Ledbetter and Don Lee, to COVID-19-related complications in the same day, roughly 15 minutes apart. And it was on the night before Thanksgiving.

Jim Ledbetters family described him as a man of peace. His daughter, Karen Lee, said he grew up during the Great Depression, moved from Tennessee to California, was the first one in his family to go to college, and became an American Baptist minister.

He graduated from Linfield College in 51 and met my mom there, said Karen.

She said he was active, loved to play handball, and ran in the Portland Marathon as well as the Boston Marathon.

She said her father-in-law, Don Lee, was a survivor.

He survived the communist takeover of China in the '50s and they escaped, Karen said.

She said Don and his son, her husband, moved to the United States in 1969. Her husband was 16 years old at the time.

Karen said once in the U.S., Don worked at The Pagoda Restaurant in Portlands Hollywood District for a time, then went to the Hilton as a bartender, and retired from the Arlington Club in Southwest Portland, where he was well liked.

Both Don and Jim lived full lives. They both loved watching sports, eating good food, the outdoors, and most of all they loved their family.

They went the whole year, clear until the end of October with no virus at all, said Karen.

But in November things changed. Karen said her father, Jim, came down with COVID-19 at the beginning of November, along with her mother.

Karen said she knew when they were first diagnosed with COVID-19 that she would likely lose at least one of her parents.

Im a nurse. My heart just sank, Karen said.

She said both her parents had come out of quarantine, but still had not completely recovered due to fallout from the virus.

He stopped eating and he didnt have any taste or smell, Karen said of her father.

She said the COVID-19 cases popped up quickly at her fathers care facility.

It went from no cases, to 16 cases, and eventually, like 37," she said. "And that was over half of the place and the employees."

As for Don, family members said he had shown symptoms a week prior to his death. But he got a test showing he was not infected with COVID-19.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Jim was admitted to hospice. Then, two days later, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was sent to the hospital.

That night Karen left her father's facility to grab a quick meal when she got the call about Don.

My husband called and said that his dad had just passed away, said Karen.

She broke the news to her kids about their grandpa Don. Then, the unthinkable happened. She found out within minutes her own father died.

Within 15 minutes I had gotten a call from my mom that my other grandfather had passed away, said Karens daughter, Vanessa Lee. For it to be within minutes of each other was shocking and surreal.

Meanwhile on the East Coast in Boston, Karens son Cameron had just finished telling his family about grandpa Don: My wife was talking to the kids and I was like The other grandpa just died too.'

Karen said three days before her dad Jim passed away, family members saw him on a Zoom video call.

Everybody started crying because he had lost so much weight and we were like, Oh man, Dad, your not gonna make it. So, that was really hard, said Karen.

Days later, he was gone. Jims surviving wife, Karen's mom, is 90 years old and suffers from dementia. Karen made sure her mom got a chance to say goodbye, even if she didnt know it.

I had her give him a hug and kiss on the cheek," Karen said, "and she had no idea that he had already passed.

Were it not for COVID-19, its possible both Don and Jim would still be around.

What makes it hard is, it sort of accelerated the rate of which so many people have lost fragile loved ones, said Cameron about COVID-19.

Cameron said he and his family canceled a holiday trip back to Portland after his grandfathers deaths.

I didnt want to be the start of a chain reaction that would impact someone elses family, he said.

At this point, family members are coping as best they can.

Both my dad and Don both loved dim sum, and Chinese food, and buffets," Karen said. "That was our big thing, that when they died, they mustve had to get to the big buffet in the sky somewhere and they didnt want each one to beat them there."

Now, after losing the two men roughly 15 minutes apart, just as the holidays were getting underway, Karen said she hopes other families will be spared similar heartache.

It doesnt hurt you to wear a mask," she said. "It does not hurt.

You kind of have to chip in and try to protect them by breaking the chains of transmission, said Cameron.

Its not political," Vanessa said. "These are peoples lives."

Karen said no one really knows how Jim and Don contracted COVID-19, though the timing was right after Halloween.

She said she wants people to know that those who are elderly, vulnerable, or veterans have put their lives on hold many times for our collective benefit, whether its to raise families or fight a war, and we owe it to them to keep them safe by slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Read this article:

Family loses two grandfathers to COVID-19 minutes apart on eve of Thanksgiving - KGW.com

Statement from Governor Carney on COVID-19 HospitalizationsDate Posted: December 5, 2020

Winter Weather Awareness Week December 7-11Date Posted: December 4, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Update Dec. 4, 2020: DPH Continues to Announce Rise in Cases, Hospitalizations, RecoveriesDate Posted: December 4, 2020

Following federal indictment, DOJ reminds public of sexual abuse hotlineDate Posted: December 4, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH, DEMA Announce Community COVID-19 Testing SitesDate Posted: December 4, 2020

Zwaanendael Museum Decorated For The HolidaysDate Posted: December 4, 2020

Flags to be lowered December 7 for National Pearl Harbor Remembrance DayDate Posted: December 4, 2020

Governor Carney Announces Stay-at-Home Advisory, Universal Indoor Mask OrderDate Posted: December 3, 2020

Message from Governor Carney on COVID-19Date Posted: December 3, 2020

DNREC Soliciting Grant Applications for Projects to Improve Water Quality in DelawareDate Posted: December 3, 2020

Four Virtual-Programs At State Museums In December 2020Date Posted: December 3, 2020

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness Releases Review of States COVID-19 Data DashboardDate Posted: December 2, 2020

Delaware Day 2020 Expanding the Delaware StoryDate Posted: December 2, 2020

DNRECs Electric Vehicle Rebate Program Extended Six MonthsDate Posted: December 2, 2020

Killens Pond State Park to Close to Public Saturday for Cross Country State MeetDate Posted: December 1, 2020

FY2022 Grant Applications for Arts & Community-Based Organizations and Schools Now OpenDate Posted: December 1, 2020

December 1, 2020: COVID-19 BriefingDate Posted: December 1, 2020

Plastic Carryout Bag Ban Effective on Jan. 1, 2021Date Posted: December 1, 2020

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness Unveils Delaware CARES Act Fund TrackerDate Posted: November 30, 2020

Delaware students thrive during in-person learningDate Posted: November 30, 2020

Numerous Delaware Hunting and Trapping Seasons Open in DecemberDate Posted: November 30, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH, DEMA Announce Community COVID-19 Testing SitesDate Posted: November 29, 2020

Director Schall Tests Positive for COVID-19Date Posted: November 28, 2020

Statement from Governor Carney on DEMA Directors Positive COVID-19 TestDate Posted: November 28, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Update Nov. 27, 2020: New Daily Cases Remain High; Hospitalizations, Deaths Continue to IncreaseDate Posted: November 27, 2020

Delaware Families, Stakeholders Celebrate Adoption with Virtual EventDate Posted: November 25, 2020

Governor Carney Formally Extends State of EmergencyDate Posted: November 25, 2020

DNRECs Low-Digit Surf-Fishing Tag Auction Starts Black FridayDate Posted: November 25, 2020

DPH, DEMA Provide COVID-19 Testing UpdateDate Posted: November 24, 2020

AG Jennings Announces Multistate Data Breach Settlement With The Home DepotDate Posted: November 24, 2020

GovernorCarneyAnnounces $45 Million Higher Education Relief FundDate Posted: November 24, 2020

November 24, 2020: COVID-19 BriefingDate Posted: November 23, 2020

Poinsettia Sale to Run Nov. 23-Dec. 22 at Greenhouse on DHSS Herman Holloway CampusDate Posted: November 23, 2020

Two Additional Youth at Stevenson House Test Positive for COVID-19Date Posted: November 23, 2020

Delaware Farmers Encouraged To Participate In Environmental Deeds QuestionnaireDate Posted: November 23, 2020

DNRECs State Parks, Zoo Waive Entry Fees on Black FridayDate Posted: November 23, 2020

Delaware Emitira Beneficios de Emergencia para Novembre a los Hogares Elegibles de SNAP, TANF, y Asistencia GeneralDate Posted: November 23, 2020

Delaware Will Issue Emergency Benefits for November to Eligible SNAP, TANF, and General Assistance HouseholdsDate Posted: November 23, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH, DEMA Announce Community COVID-19 Testing SitesDate Posted: November 20, 2020

YRS Gives COVID Update, Temporarily Suspends VisitationDate Posted: November 20, 2020

Governor Carney Issues Third Revision to Omnibus COVID-19 Emergency OrderDate Posted: November 20, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Update: November 20, 2020: Highest Single-Day Total of New Cases Reported, Hospitalizations IncreaseDate Posted: November 20, 2020

Christina senior secretary named Delawares first Educational Support Professional of the YearDate Posted: November 20, 2020

State Auditor Kathy McGuiness Releases Delaware Volunteer Fire Service Special ReportDate Posted: November 19, 2020

DSHAs Eviction Defense, COVID-19 Rental Assistance, and Homes for Grads Programs Win National AwardsDate Posted: November 19, 2020

DNREC Opens Brandywine Zoo Madagascar ExhibitDate Posted: November 19, 2020

Delawares First Mental Health Parity Examinations CompleteDate Posted: November 19, 2020

Regional Coalition of Northeast Governors: Colleges Will Be Encouraged to Provide Testing for StudentsDate Posted: November 18, 2020

Electronic Tax Filing Requirements for BusinessesDate Posted: November 18, 2020

Additional Direct Support Now Available to Small Businesses Applying for DE Relief GrantsDate Posted: November 18, 2020

Second Suspect Charged For Murder Of Madison SparrowDate Posted: November 17, 2020

Governor Carney Announces Additional COVID-19 RestrictionsDate Posted: November 17, 2020

November 17, 2020: COVID-19 BriefingDate Posted: November 17, 2020

Delaware Launches Free CyberStart America ChallengeDate Posted: November 17, 2020

20 District/Charter Educational Support Professionals of the Year honored, one to be named state winnerDate Posted: November 16, 2020

Delaware Finalist for International Insurance Domicile of the YearDate Posted: November 16, 2020

Delaware Division of Public Health Announces Data Breach IncidentDate Posted: November 15, 2020

Relief Funds Community Resiliency Fund Applications Due Nov. 15Date Posted: November 14, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH, DEMA Announce Community COVID-19 Testing SitesDate Posted: November 13, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Update-Nov. 13, 2020: New Daily Cases Continue to Spike; Hospitalizations, Deaths Continue to IncreaseDate Posted: November 13, 2020

Unified Command For Oil Incident Along Delaware, Maryland Beaches Suspends Cleanup OperationsDate Posted: November 13, 2020

AG Jennings calls on Barr to reverse new policy that will erode the publics confidence in the 2020 electionDate Posted: November 13, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH Announce Testing Partnership with Nemours, Pediatric Care Providers across DelawareDate Posted: November 13, 2020

Secretary of State Bullock Sends Diwali Greetings and Well WishesDate Posted: November 13, 2020

Deadline Set For Applying To DE Relief Grant ProgramDate Posted: November 12, 2020

DNREC Issues Croda NOV for Air Quality Permit ViolationsDate Posted: November 12, 2020

Delaware Joins the ALL-IN Foster Adoption ChallengeDate Posted: November 12, 2020

Delaware Public Health Officials Confirm First Flu Case of the 2020-2021 SeasonDate Posted: November 12, 2020

DNREC to Break Ground on Killens Pond Elevated WalkwayDate Posted: November 12, 2020

Delaware Veterans Day 2020Date Posted: November 10, 2020

More Delaware Beaches are Cleared of Oily DebrisDate Posted: November 10, 2020

November 10, 2020: COVID-19 BriefingDate Posted: November 10, 2020

DNREC Natural Resources Police Collect Toys as Holiday Gifts for Delaware ChildrenDate Posted: November 10, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH, DEMA Announce Community COVID-19 Testing SitesDate Posted: November 9, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Update Nov. 6, 2020: Delaware Sees Highest Single-Day Total of New Cases Since Height of PandemicDate Posted: November 6, 2020

Attorney General Jennings Secures Relief for Investors in Real Estate Joint VentureDate Posted: November 6, 2020

Reminder: FY 2022 Budget Hearings To Be Held Virtually Nov 9 20Date Posted: November 6, 2020

The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit Works on Paper by Kim KlabeDate Posted: November 6, 2020

Governor Carney Issues Second Revision to Omnibus COVID-19 OrderDate Posted: November 5, 2020

Governor Carney Announces Nominations to Key Administration PostsDate Posted: November 5, 2020

Some Southern Delaware, Maryland Beaches Cleared of Oily Debris, Tar BallsDate Posted: November 5, 2020

Del. Museums Sponsor Three Virtual-Programs During NovemberDate Posted: November 4, 2020

Delaware Emitir Beneficios de Emergencia Para Octubre a los Hogares Elegibles de SNAP, TANF, y Asistencia GeneralDate Posted: November 4, 2020

Statement from Attorney General Jennings on passing of Elaine and Wayne ManloveDate Posted: November 3, 2020

November 03, 2020: COVID-19 BriefingDate Posted: November 2, 2020

Child and Adult Care Food Program offers meal reimbursementDate Posted: November 2, 2020

Unified Command for Delaware Coastal Oil Spill Assesses Cleanup Effort and Smaller Remaining Tar Balls on BeachesDate Posted: November 2, 2020

Governor Carney, DPH, DEMA Announce Community COVID-19 Testing SitesDate Posted: November 1, 2020

Enrollment Open For Delawares Health Insurance MarketplaceDate Posted: November 1, 2020

URGENT: Get Your Ballot In!Date Posted: October 31, 2020

Weekly COVID-19 Update Oct. 30, 2020: New Daily Cases, Hospitalizations Remain Elevated; Deaths IncreaseDate Posted: October 30, 2020

DNREC Extends Public Comment Period 30 Days for Diamond State Port Corp.s Proposed Container PortDate Posted: October 30, 2020

Governor Carney Formally Extends State of EmergencyDate Posted: October 30, 2020

Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island Announce Coordination on COVID-19 Testing GuidanceDate Posted: October 30, 2020

Delaware to Issue Emergency Benefits for October to Eligible SNAP, TANF, and General Assistance HouseholdsDate Posted: October 30, 2020

Additional Delaware Hunting Seasons Open in NovemberDate Posted: October 30, 2020

Kent County added to Delawares spotted lanternfly quarantineDate Posted: October 29, 2020

Virtual Halloween Costume ContestDate Posted: October 29, 2020

Cleanup Operation Extends from Upper Delaware Bay to Ocean City, Md.Date Posted: October 28, 2020

OMB to Hold FY 2022 Online Budget Hearings November 9 -20Date Posted: October 28, 2020

Original post:

Statement from Governor Carney on COVID-19 Hospitalizations - news.delaware.gov

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The Baltimore Ravens on Saturday said they were informed by the NFL that "at least four unique strains" of COVID-19 were found inside their facility during the team's outbreak.

"Three of the four were stopped and not spread within our organization," Ravens president Dick Cass said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the fourth was a highly-contagious strain and spread throughout our organization."

The outbreak in Baltimore was one of the biggest in professional sports.

At least one Ravens player tested positive for 10 straight days. Baltimore placed 23 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list during that span.

1 Related

"From the outset, we have taken the virus seriously, very seriously," Cass said. "... Despite our best efforts, the protocol is only as effective as our weakest link. With a dangerous virus like this, everyone must comply with the protocol to avoid infecting many. We now know that not everyone at the Ravens followed the protocol thoroughly."

The Ravens recently announced that a staff member had been disciplined. According to a source, the team's strength and conditioning coach was suspended for not always wearing a mask and contact-tracing device in the facility.

The outbreak forced the recent Ravens-Steelers game to be postponed three times.

The Ravens, who have had four straight days without a positive test, reduced their reserve/COVID-19 list to 10 players on Saturday.

"We cannot undo what has occurred," Cass said. "But, we can do our best to learn from what has happened and be vigilant moving forward to ensure that it does not happen again. As the recent experience has shown us, this virus does not need a large opening to spread within an organization, and 99% compliance is not a passing grade when dealing with this virus."

Continue reading here:

'At least' four strains of COVID-19 found in Baltimore Ravens' facility - ESPN

We're making this important information about the pandemic available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider joining others in supporting independent journalism in Alaska for just $3.23 a week.

Saturdays daily case tally is the most reported in a single day so far during the pandemic. Its the second time this week that a daily record for new cases has been set, after 760 cases were recorded Thursday (followed closely by Fridays near-record total of 756 cases).

The consistently high daily case counts are translating to more deaths and hospitalizations that are stressing the health care system, Alaska health officials say.

The death reported Saturday involved an Anchorage woman in her 70s, according to the state health department, and follows the 12 deaths reported Friday. In total, 142 Alaskans and one nonresident have died with the virus since it was first detected here in March. While the states overall death rate per capita remains one of the lowest in the country, state officials say its difficult to compare Alaska to other states because of its unique geography and vulnerable health care system.

Health officials say the daily reports underestimate the true number of virus cases because of a backlog in public health data, and they continue to report that shrinking hospital capacity and limited staffing pose a significant concern statewide.

By Saturday, ICU capacity in Alaska was in the red zone, or more than 75% full. There were 150 people hospitalized with COVID-19, along with 14 people with suspected infections. Thirty adult intensive care unit beds were available out of 128, and 16.1% of the adult hospitalizations in Alaska were COVID-related.

State data showed just five adult ICU beds available Friday in Anchorage hospitals, where the states sickest patients tend to end up.

Of the 908 new cases reported by the state Saturday among Alaska residents, there were 298 in Anchorage, plus 22 in Eagle River, six in Chugiak and one in Girdwood; 177 in Wasilla, 35 in Palmer and five in Big Lake; 89 in Fairbanks, 34 in North Pole and one in Ester; 36 in Kenai, 33 in Soldotna, five in Sterling, four in Homer, four in Nikiski and two in Seward; 19 in Kodiak; 12 in Bethel; 11 in Delta Junction; five in Utqiagvik; five in Sitka; four in Juneau; four in Ketchikan; two in Craig and one in Metlakatla; two in Dillingham; one in Cordova and one in Valdez; one in Healy; one in Kotzebue; and one in Chevak.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 people not named to protect privacy, there were 39 resident cases in the Bethel Census Area; 24 in the Kusilvak Census Area; 12 in the Fairbanks North Star Borough; five in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; one in the northern Kenai Peninsula Borough; one in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area; one in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area; one in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough; one in the Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula boroughs; and one in the Dillingham Census Area.

Twenty-five cases were reported among nonresidents: seven in Fairbanks, three in Anchorage, two in smaller North Slope Borough communities, one in Kenai, one in Utqiagvik, one in Unalaska and 10 in unidentified regions of the state.

All regions in Alaska as of Saturday were in a high alert status, reflecting the average daily case rate over 14 days per 100,000. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region has the highest average rate, at 174.29 cases per 100,000, followed by Mat-Su with 142.94 cases per 100,000.

State health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to avoid indoor gatherings with non-household members, and report that most Alaskans who contract the virus get it from a friend, family member or coworker.

Travel is also currently considered a high-risk activity.

The Centers for Disease Control announced this week it was revising its quarantine guidance to allow people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 to shorten their quarantine period from two weeks to as few as seven days with a negative COVID-19 test.

More than 1 million tests have been performed in Alaska since March. While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

Among the new cases, the state does not report how many people show symptoms when they test positive. The CDC estimates that about a third of people who have the virus are asymptomatic.

As of Saturday, the state had an average positivity rate of 7.24% over the last seven days. Health officials warn that a positivity rate over 5% can mean there is not enough broad testing occurring in a community.

Read this article:

Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 1 death and a record 933 new cases reported Saturday - Anchorage Daily News

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of December 5, 2020, therehave been 1,207,000 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 53,572totalcases and 829 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 67-year old male from TylerCounty, a 73-year old male from Cabell County, an 85-year old female fromPutnam County, a 62-year old female from Kanawha County, a 65-year old malefrom Mercer County, an 85-year old female from Kanawha County, a 79-year oldmale from Mercer County, a 69-year old female from Mineral County, a 68-yearold male from Berkeley County, an 84-year old male from Barbour County, a 54-yearold male from Fayette County, a 36-year old male from Mingo County, a 51-yearold male from Kanawha County, a 76-year old male from Mineral County, a 93-yearold female from Mineral County, a 73-year old female from Berkeley County, an 88-yearold female Putnam County, a 95-year old female from Kanawha County, a 74-yearold female from Fayette County, a 76-year old male from Fayette County,an84-year old male from Kanawha County, a 75-yearold male from Kanawha County, an 80-year old male from Ohio County, an 85-yearold female from Putnam County, a 61-year old male from Mineral County, an 84-yearold male from Mineral County, an 82-year old female from Preston County, an 83-yearold female from Preston County, a 47-year old male from Logan County, and a 63-yearold female from Logan County.

Each loss is a heartbreak to a family and toour state, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. I urge you toremember your actions for safety result in saving the lives of other WestVirginians.

CASESPER COUNTY: Barbour (497), Berkeley (3,747),Boone (709), Braxton (140), Brooke (777), Cabell (3,276), Calhoun (88), Clay(149), Doddridge (136), Fayette (1,241), Gilmer (218), Grant (465), Greenbrier(625), Hampshire (422), Hancock (910), Hardy (377), Harrison (1,623), Jackson(766), Jefferson (1,536), Kanawha (6,107), Lewis (266), Lincoln (460), Logan(1,128), Marion (1,024), Marshall (1,468), Mason (598), McDowell (674), Mercer(1,465), Mineral (1,515), Mingo (1,032), Monongalia (3,561), Monroe (411),Morgan (334), Nicholas (404), Ohio (1,764), Pendleton (125), Pleasants (120),Pocahontas (266), Preston (793), Putnam (2,184), Raleigh (1,759), Randolph(779), Ritchie (200), Roane (211), Summers (294), Taylor (397), Tucker (176),Tyler (167), Upshur (561), Wayne (1,147), Webster (72), Wetzel (464), Wirt(131), Wood (2,973), Wyoming (840).

Please note that delaysmay be experienced with the reporting of information from the local healthdepartment to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local healthdepartment level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may notbe a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in questionmay have crossed the state border to be tested. Such is the case of Calhoun County in this report.

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

Free COVID-19 testing daily events scheduled fortoday:

December 5, 2020

BerkeleyCounty

Doddridge County

10:00 AM 2:00 PM, Doddridge County Park, 1252 Snowbird Road, West Union,WV (in the barn)

Hampshire County

1:00 PM 6:00 PM, Hampshire County Fairgrounds, Fairground Drive, Augusta,WV (at the dining hall)

Jefferson County

9:00 AM 1:00 PM, Jefferson County Health Department, Front Parking Lot,1948 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville, WV (pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)

2:30 PM 6:30 PM, Shepherd University, Parking Lot beside Wellness Center,164 University Drive, Shepherdstown, WV (pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)

Logan County

Marshall County

Mingo County

10:00 AM 4:00 PM, Hurley Drug Company, 210 Logan Street, Williamson, WV

Morgan County

11:00 AM 6:00 PM, Berkeley Baptist Church (Family Life Center), 172Winchester Grade Road, Berkeley Springs, WV

Nicholas County

1:00 PM 5:00 PM, Richwood City Hall, 6 White Avenue, Richwood, WV

Ohio County

11:00 AM 4:00 PM, Valley Grove Volunteer Fire Department, 355 Fire HouseLane, Valley Grove, WV

11:00 AM 4:00 PM, Warwood Fire Station 9, 1301 Richland Avenue, Wheeling,WV

11:00 AM 4:00 PM, Wheeling Island Fire Station 5, 11 North Wabash Street,Wheeling, WV

WyomingCounty

11:00 AM 3:00 PM, Old Board of Education, 19 Park Street,Pineville, WV

December6, 2020

Hancock County

JacksonCounty

1:00 PM 5:00 PM, Jackson County Health Department, 504 SouthChurch Street, Ripley, WV

Nicholas County

1:00 PM 5:00 PM, Richwood City Hall, 6 White Avenue, Richwood, WV

Additional free testing events will be held Monday, December 7 inBarbour, Berkeley, Cabell, Grant, Hancock, Harrison, Jefferson, Marshall,Mason, Mineral, Mingo, Nichola, Taylor, Wayne, Wirt, Wood, and Wyomingcounties.

There are many ways to obtain free testing in West Virginia. Pleasevisit https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx for more testing options.

Excerpt from:

COVID-19 Daily Update 12-5-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Michigan on Saturdayreported 193 additional deaths linked to the COVID-19 virus, surpassing the previous record of 190 set Tuesday.

Saturday's deathsinclude 145 identified during a vital records review. Tuesday's totalincluded 30 deaths identified during a review, according to state data.

The state reported 6,004 new confirmed cases on Saturday. The latest figuresbring thetotal number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Michigan to 395,036 and deaths to 9,854, according to tracking by the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Teena Chopra, a professor of infectious disease with Wayne State University, said even though some ofthe latest death figures are based on vital record reviews, "deaths are deaths."

"These are human beings who have died of COVID," she said. "These numbers are real."

The state, she said, remains in a surge and she expects "some dark days ahead of us."

Michigan reported atotal of 45,015 new cases this week. It reported 47,316 new cases last week and established the weekly record of 50,892 casestwo weeks ago.

The state was averagingnearly 84 daily cases per 100,000 people in the last week the 10th highest rate in the country, according to ranking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sixteen percent of diagnostic COVID tests run in the state in the past week are coming back positive, according to state data. A positivity rate above 3% is concerning to public health officials.

Of the state's COVID patients, 2,585 are in intensive care units and ICU beds are at 81% capacity, according to state data from Friday. There are 1,552 patients on ventilators.

As of Friday, 4,113adults were hospitalized statewide with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. That's compared with 2,199 COVID inpatientson Nov. 4.

The state was tracking at least 969 active outbreaks as of last week. Top categories for outbreaks continue to be long-term care facilities, including nursing homes as well as manufacturing and construction sites and schools.

On Monday, 221 new outbreaks were reported across the state, including 21 new retail-employee associated outbreaks, 19 office-setting outbreaks and 25 outbreaks related to construction.

Long term care facilities and K-12 schools reported the largest number of outbreaks with 47 coming from nursing facilities and assisted living and 32 from school settings.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmerannounced new restrictions in Novemberlimiting gatherings at high schools, colleges and restaurants to combat what she described as the "worst moment" yet in the pandemic.

The policies temporarily halt in-person instruction at high schools and colleges, indoor dine-in service at restaurants and bars, and high school athletics as well as close some businesses, including movie theaters, bowling alleys and casinos.

Whitmer, during a Thursday afternoon news conference, said that the activity around Thanksgiving was"concerning" and she expects the upcoming Christmas holiday will create even more potential for virus spread.

The governor said that the state intends to get "a few more days of information under our belts" before making a decision on "if we have to make some extensions of the current pause in some realms."

"That is sadly possible because of the sheer volume of COVID," Whitmer said.

Chopra said medical professionals continue to see younger patients who traveled during the Thanksgiving holiday or attended parties. With the upcoming Christmas holiday, she's concerned about continued spikes in the virus into January.

"I don't think that there is any way we are out of the woods," she said. "We are continuing to surge and continuing to see very sick patients."

Chopra encouraged residents to stay on high alert by wearing face coverings in public and to limit gatheringsto their immediate household contacts only.

"You want to remain in your own bubble and of course you want to be masked when you are outside and socially distance yourself," she said.

As the state considers 165,269 people recovered from the virus as of Nov. 25, state officials are anticipating vaccines as soon as drug makers report encouraging results in trials.

cferretti@detroitnews.com

Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/12/05/michigan-sets-new-daily-record-covid-19-deaths-193/3838658001/

The rest is here:

Michigan sets daily record with 193 COVID-19 deaths but most from records review - The Detroit News