Monthly Archives: July 2020

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 2, 2020, there have been 178,238 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 3,053 total cases and 93 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.

CASES PER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour(15/0), Berkeley (443/18), Boone (20/0), Braxton (3/0), Brooke (8/1), Cabell(136/6), Calhoun (2/0), Clay (10/0), Fayette (67/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant(15/1), Greenbrier (60/0), Hampshire (42/0), Hancock (20/3), Hardy (44/1),Harrison (66/0), Jackson (143/0), Jefferson (229/5), Kanawha (324/9), Lewis (19/1),Lincoln (8/0), Logan (25/0), Marion (60/3), Marshall (40/1), Mason (19/0),McDowell (6/0), Mercer (45/0), Mineral (55/2), Mingo (19/3), Monongalia(179/14), Monroe (13/1), Morgan (19/1), Nicholas (11/1), Ohio (99/1), Pendleton(12/1), Pleasants (4/1), Pocahontas (27/1), Preston (67/15), Putnam (59/1),Raleigh (53/1), Randolph (161/1), Ritchie (2/0), Roane (11/0), Summers (2/0),Taylor (15/1), Tucker (6/0), Tyler (4/0), Upshur (20/1), Wayne (114/1), Wetzel(10/0), Wirt (4/0), Wood (94/8), 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 Boone, Greenbrier, and Mingo counties in this report.

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

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-2-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

A World Health Organizationled global trial of treatments for COVID-19 was slow to enroll coronavirus-infected people, like this one in a Spanish intensive care unit,whereas a large trial in the United Kingdom quickly produced results for threetreatments.

By Kai KupferschmidtJul. 2, 2020 , 5:30 PM

Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.

On 29 June, University of Oxford clinical scientists Martin Landray and Peter Horby changed how physicians around the world consider treating COVID-19for the third time in little more than 3 weeks. The principal investigators of a U.K. megatrial called Recovery, which has been testing existing drugs as therapies for the new infection, the pair had just finished reviewing data from 1596 patients who had received a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, two antivirals known to curb HIV, and 3376 patients who had received only standard care. In a press release, they and their Recovery colleagues announced there had been no significant difference in the death rate between the two groups. This could have worked. And it was a bust, says Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. It was really important to clarify that.

Earlier the same month, and again through press releases, Recovery (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 therapy) delivered widely accepted verdicts on two other treatments. It revealed that dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, reduced deaths by one-third in patients on a ventilator and showed that hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug controversially touted for COVID-19, did not benefit hospitalized patients. A run on dexamethasone ensued as physicians in the United Kingdom and elsewhere quickly made it part of their standard of care for the sickest patients, whereas many other studies of hydroxychloroquine now looked futile and were halted.

Its very, very rare that you announce results at lunchtime, and it becomes policy and practice by tea time, and probably starts to save lives by the weekend, Landray told Science at the time of the steroid result.

Large, randomized trials are the gold standard to test a drugs efficacy. But they have been scarce so far in the COVID-19 pandemic. Everybody has the first part about randomized, but they omitted the large part, says Ana-Maria Henao Restrepo, a medical officer at the World Health Organizations (WHOs) Emergencies Programme. Every clinician, every researcher wants to help and then they end up having a trial with 300 or 400 patients that cannot come up with conclusive evidence. In a sea of small, single institution studies, Recovery, with 12,000 patients and hundreds of participating hospitals, stands outand offers lessons for the few other megatrials, organized by WHO and other bodies, which have been slow off the mark. I think the three Recovery trials are the best trials that have been performed to date, Topol says.

One reason Recovery has done so well is that it was backed by the United Kingdoms centralized National Health Service (NHS), involving 176 of its hospitals. In the United States, where the health care system is fragmented, the National Institutes of Health has only begun a few large trials so far and completed just one, a trial of Gilead Sciencess antiviral compound remdesivir that showed those given the drug recovered from COVID-19 faster. The dearth of results from a country that has seen more cases of COVID-19 than any other is surprising and a bit disappointing, says John-Arne Rttingen, who heads the steering committee of Solidarity, WHOs attempt to evaluate repurposed drugs as possible COVID-19 therapies.

In contrast, the United Kingdoms own bungled public health response to the new virus, which has led to Europes largest outbreak, has been taken advantage of by Recovery. They have been able to recruit well, because they have had a lot of hospitalized patients, Rttingen says. (The United Kingdom has had more than 43,000 deaths, surpassed only by the United States and Brazil, far more populous countries.)

In a letter to all NHS hospitals, the United Kingdoms five most senior doctors urged health care workers to enroll patients in Recovery and two other important trials. Use of treatments outside of a trial, where participation was possible, is a wasted opportunity to create information that will benefit others, the doctors, including Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, wrote. Because of that coordination, One in every six COVID-19 patients that come into the U.K. hospitals go into the trial, Landray says.

Organizers also kept Recovery simple, allowing any NHS hospital to participate. Inspired by trials that his Oxford colleague Richard Peto and others did in the 1980s on treating heart attacks, Landray says they radically cut down on the data health care workers need to collect, with only a few questions asked at enrolment and at only one more data collection point: when the patient dies, is discharged, or 28 days after enrollment. Clinical trials have become excessively cumbersome in recent years, he argues. Its actually quite hard to make them really simple.

WHOs Solidarity trial has a similarly straightforward design, but its more international nature has proved a challenge. The trial, designed to test four treatmentshydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, interferon beta plus lopinvir/ritonavir, and remdesivirwas announced on 20 March and enrolled its first patient in Norway 1 week later. But rolling out the trial in dozens of countries has meant getting approval from dozens of regulatory agencies and ethics boards as well. That has taken a surprisingly long time in many jurisdictions, including in Europe, Rttingen says, and recruitment in Europe slowed over time as the epidemic subsided. When countries were ready to sort of start, the epidemic was under control in many ways, he notes.

A European trial called Discovery, coordinated by the French research institute INSERM and partnered with Solidarity in testing the same drugs, also fell short. The goal was to enroll 3200 patients across the continent, but although the study almost met its goal of 800 participants in France, it barely managed to recruit patients elsewhere. Though France funded its part of the trial, it expected partner countries to pick up the tab for their own trials. One of the issues was that not all the countries had funding, says Yazdan Yazdanpanah, head of infectious diseases at INSERM.

Meanwhile dozens of small trials competed for patients in many countries, most of them focusing on the same drugs, such as hydroxychloroquine. I dont understand why everyone was looking at the same thing, Yazdanapanah says. I think we can do better. Susanne Herold, an expert on pulmonary infections at the University of Giessen, agrees. There needs to be more coordination both within countries and across borders, she says.

Another problem has been the widespread use of treatments outside of randomized trials. Landray notes that tens of thousands of COVID-19 patients in the United States have been given convalescent plasma, for instance, but not alongside a control population receiving a placebo. We'll know what happened to those patients, but we won't know whether they would have been better off actually, if they hadnt got the convalescent plasma. Partly it is about convincing clinicians that there is still an open question, Henao Restrepo says. I have talked to about 2000 clinicians all over the world in the process of establishing Solidarity, and some of them are convinced they know which drugs work.

Henao Restrepo still has high expectations for the Solidarity trial. The preparatory work is paying off, she says. Its recruitment pace has picked up as more countries have joined, many with surging cases, including Iran and countries in Latin America. So far, 31 countries have joined and 60 more are in the process. One of the advantages of such a global trial is that you can follow the pandemic as it evolves, Rttingen says.

With recruitment running at about 500 patients per week now, Solidaritys three remaining treatment armsit stopped the hydroxychloroquine oneare likely to yield answers soon, raising the question of what drugs to test afterward. Some repurposed drugs such as camostat mesylate or favipiravir are still being discussed, but increasingly the attention is turning to monoclonal antibodies, designed to target the virus.

Henao Restrepo thinks the international nature of the effort makes its results more generalizable. The feeling that all kinds of patients and hospitals participated is an important part of accepting the findings, she says. And the global effort gives the people all over the world, clinicians all over the world the possibility to contribute.

Herold adds that the Discovery trial will also contribute, because it is designed to gather more detailed data than Recovery and Solidarity. Started in an effort to supplement Solidarity, it collects not only basic data on mortality, but also information on viral levels and certain blood parameters. Those data can indicate not just which drugs are effective, but also how they work and at what stage of the disease, Herold says, crucial to informing follow-up research or trials.

Work on the Recovery trial continues, with Landray, Horby, and the rest of their team scrambling to publish full results. Some researchers have criticized its practice of releasing important results as press releases; so far, it has given details for only one of the three headline findings, on dexamethasone, in a preprint posted 6 days after the release. The researchers are also continuing to collect data on the antibiotic azithromycin, an antibody called tocilizumab, and the antibody-rich plasma collected from recovered patients.

Results on those therapies are likely months away, Landray says. But he cautions he has been wrong before. On the morning of 4 June, he had predicted the first results from Recovery would likely come in early July. A few hours later, the chairperson of the trials data monitoring committee called him to say there was enough patient data to declare a verdict on hydroxychloroquine.

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One U.K. trial is transforming COVID-19 treatment. Why haven't others delivered more results? - Science Magazine

So much for Ohio flattening the coronavirus curve.

Gov. Mike DeWine moved aggressively to slow the spread of the virus by shutting down the economy and issuing stay-at-home orders, but COVID-19 numbers have been climbing again after DeWine started reopening the state.

There have been 9,779 new cases just in the last two weeks, a 73 percent jump over the number for the two weeks before, according to the latest NBC News tally. And on Tuesday, there were 13 more deaths reported and 1,076 new cases.

In total, 2,876 people have died from the coronavirus in Ohio out of 52,865 reported cases since the start of the pandemic, the NBC News figures show.

"People are letting their guard down," DeWine said Thursday. "The progress the state has made is in danger of being reversed."

"We're in a crisis stage in Ohio and this can go one way or the other," the governor added.

Dr. Stephen Blatt, medical director for Infectious Disease at TriHealth Hospitals in Cincinnati, agreed and noted that young people are increasingly the ones getting infected.

I dont think we reopened too soon, our numbers were very good, Blatt told NBC News. The problem is that people are not wearing masks. You go out and everywhere you look theyre not wearing masks.

Ohio is hardly the only state that has seen a big jump in numbers. Arizona, Florida and Texas in particular have reported an explosion of new cases. And nationally, there have been more than 2.7 million reported cases and nearly 130,000 deaths, the latest NBC News figures show.

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DeWine received bipartisan praise for moving decisively to secure his state well before President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on March 13. Both he and Dr. Amy Acton, the states former health director, were lionized for leading the state through the crisis.

While Gov. Tom Wolf in neighboring Pennsylvania has issued a mandate which requires people to don a mask whenever they leave their homes, DeWine said "that's not our intent."

But during a news conference to announce guidelines for reopening Ohio's schools in the fall, DeWine said "Im not ruling out additional orders."

"Remember, we wear masks to protect each other, often because people are sick, but show no symptoms," the governor said. "Masks can be especially useful and are strongly recommended at any grade level during periods of increased risk and when physical distancing is difficult."

While DeWine is a Republican, its not clear a mask-wearing directive would fly in a state where the GOP holds a majority in the legislature and in which conservative lawmakers resisted the governors moves to curb coronavirus by closing down the state.

Ohio State Rep. Tavia Galonski, a Democrat, said she wishes DeWine would try.

Sure, there would be people who would complain, but those same people had an Ohio that we all could be proud of before DeWine turned tail and ran, Galonski told NBC News. I believe Ohioans would have responded quite well to an authoritative figure they could trust telling them to put on a mask.

Blatt said he knows masks will be a hard sell with some in Ohio.

Im sure the governor is wrestling with that, he said. If there was some way to mandating mask use, that would be helpful.

Acton stepped down in June after Ohio Republicans tried to curb her powers and protesters besieged her home demanding an end to the states stay-at-home measures. The governor said Acton would continue serving as his chief health adviser.

Not long after, the number of coronavirus cases began rising again in Ohio.

Asked whether there could be a connection between Actons departure and the increased cases, Blatt said no. She was a calming influence, the doctor said of Acton.

Ohio appeared to be on a different trajectory on May 1 when DeWine began lifting the states stay-at-home rules and a month later the numbers continued to be flat.

"We're not seeing any significant increase or reestablishment of a wave or a peak in Ohio and thats great," Mark Cameron, an infectious disease researcher and professor in the school of medicine at Case Western Reserve University, told the Cincinnati Enquirer in a story published June 16. "What that could mean is that people are still generally following the guidelines."

Thats clearly no longer the case, said Blatt.

Most of the new cases are young people and I think they just got sick of not going out and seeing their friends, Blatt said. I think they saw that things were getting better and just said, OK, lets go out. We have to get the message out that this is not over and its not going to be over for a while.

The drive to get people to wear masks has, of late, been driven by Republicans like the Texas governor who had previously been following the lead of Trump, who has rarely worn one in public.

Trump, in an interview Wednesday, said hes all for masks but does not think they should be mandatory for people in public places. Pence echoed that Thursday, saying "I don't think there's a need for a national mandate."

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican and a Trump ally, used similar language Thursday in a Fox News interview.

Look, you should wear a mask, you should social distance, Scott said. But should governments mandate these things? No.

But Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis has been criticized for responding too slowly to the crisis and for reopening too soon, reported 6,563 new coronavirus cases Wednesday and 145 deaths, according to the NBC News tally.

There have been 76,278 new cases reported in Florida in the last two weeks alone, according to NBC News figures, forcing DeSantis to shut down the bars to slow the spread of the virus.

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COVID-19 is on the rise again in Ohio, and an expert blames young people who aren't wearing masks - NBC News

An immigration officer administers the oath of allegiance at a drive-through naturalization ceremony in El Cajon, Calif. Max Rivlin-Nadler/KPBS hide caption

An immigration officer administers the oath of allegiance at a drive-through naturalization ceremony in El Cajon, Calif.

In El Cajon, Calif., a procession of cars carrying 600 soon-to-be U.S. citizens from 68 countries passed through a series of stations behind a local community center earlier this week, where they were asked a series of final questions: "Any coronavirus symptoms? Have you been arrested since your interview? No tickets, nothing like that?"

After that, they were asked to surrender their green card and given a small U.S. flag. Driving a little farther forward, an immigration officer wearing a face cover administered the oath of allegiance 6 feet from the car's window. And in a matter of minutes, years of uncertainty were over hundreds of people became U.S. citizens over the course of the day.

When the coronavirus pandemic put a hold on naturalization ceremonies in March, it left a backlog of thousands of people who had qualified to become citizens but hadn't been able to officially swear an oath of allegiance the final step in the often years-long process.

To try to clear the backlog as quickly and safely as possible, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services put together a series of naturalization drive-throughs, where prospective citizens could take the final step toward citizenship without leaving their cars.

Prior to the shutdown, the greater San Diego area held its monthly naturalization ceremonies at Golden Hall, a giant venue in downtown San Diego that fits thousands of people. During the coronavirus pandemic, it has been converted to a homeless shelter.

"Whoo-whoo!" Belinda Rodriguez shouted from a parking spot, just moments after becoming a citizen.

Rodriguez had been working toward naturalization for 20 years. She brought her sister and niece along with her for the drive-through ceremony. She was relieved to finally be able to take her final step toward citizenship before she had to renew her residency permit.

"I was thinking my card was going to expire," Rodriguez said. "I was going to have to do it again and maybe have a longer time than this, pay more money, more fees."

Immigration officers in El Cajon held drive-through ceremonies every weekday since early June to play catch-up for the three months that there were no ceremonies in Golden Hall.

"Golden Hall is a great ceremony, but this makes it a lot more personal almost," said Madeline Kristoff, the USCIS field officer for San Diego. "The officers get to participate in ways they normally don't get to in Golden Hall. And it's really fun to talk to people who are driving through and get to hear a little of their stories."

Instead of greeting an auditorium full of faces, immigration officers administering the oath are often doing so for just one or two people at a time.

"I wish we could get a cheeseburger or like a milkshake for you guys too," said one immigration officer, making conversation with driver Niru Reinier.

Reinier, from India, was naturalized 10 years ago. On Monday, she chauffeured her mother, who was becoming a citizen.

"I called my sister and I said, 'I feel like this is so SoCal.' Everything happens quickly," she said.

Ready to vote

Many of the new citizens said what they were looking forward to most was voting in elections this November.

"We got our interview right before the shutdown, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to vote, which ultimately is an important part of why I want to become a citizen," said Raphael Declercq, who was born in France. He appreciated that the drive-through was able to make that happen. "I'm glad they're making those efforts."

Outside of a regular naturalization ceremony, voter registration tables greet people as they exit. At the drive-through, there were no booths to be found. But, along with their small U.S. flags, new citizens were given packets that included instructions on how to register to vote.

USCIS, currently facing a massive budget shortfall due to a reduction of visa applications, is looking to transition back to larger naturalization events later this summer.

"All right, congratulations to you, give her a big round of applause. You are now our newest United States citizens," said an immigration officer after administering the oath for the third consecutive hour.

The new citizen responded with a short honk of her car horn.

The rest is here:

Drive-Through Naturalizations Make New U.S. Citizens In The COVID-19 Era - NPR

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As Alaskas COVID-19 case counts soared, Anchorage and almost every community around the state canceled Independence Day celebrations to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Now popping up are alternative celebrations such as parades, but also a sing-along and a pie-eating contest just the type of close-up activities officials wanted to avoid to minimize the potential spread of infection.

An organizer urged people in Homer to come out to a Fourth of July march with a Facebook post: I say we bring our flags our drums and our guns out. In Juneau, where local officials discouraged large social gatherings, plans included an unpermitted parade.

And in Palmer, hundreds are expected to celebrate the holiday with the two-day Valley Freedom Festival that features vendors, a pie-eating contest and a parade down Palmers main street with full support of the citys mayor despite local concerns.

There are a lot of people that want to get out and celebrate the Fourth of July, Palmer Mayor Edna DeVries said Monday. There will be plenty of social distancing. People will be able to wear masks if they want to.

DeVries said she supported the event for the same reason she supported a Black Lives Matter rally in early June with a large crowd that included Second Amendment supporters.

People have a right to freely assemble, she said. So Im standing with that.

Palmers weekly Friday Flings are still happening, a summer tradition with food trucks, vendor booths and music that draw crowds to a fairly restricted area. Health officials do say that outdoor events are preferable to people packed together indoors.

But some Palmer residents are worried that crowds at the Valley Freedom Festival on Friday and Saturday could bring more COVID-19 that eventually spreads to people who dont even choose to attend.

Someone posted a question on a popular local Facebook group on Wednesday: Is anyone else worried that the crowds coming to Palmer from other communities might exacerbate the situation here in our little town?

The sites administrator shut off comments, saying the almost 40 responses generated within 20 minutes violated guidelines banning snarky language.

Alaskas COVID-19 cases rose after Memorial Day weekend gatherings, state health officials say. Now case counts are surging again and the active infection rate hits new highs daily.

Mat-Su this week was experiencing a spike in cases, especially in the cities of Palmer and Wasilla. The reported count in Mat-Su residents rose to 102 by Thursday an increase of 20 cases in two days.

State officials said the rising cases will eventually lead to more hospitalizations and implored safe practices as Alaskans geared up for the holiday weekend ahead.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, when asked about the alternative Fourth of July events, urged participants to practice social distancing and wear masks, a step his administration has not required.

For folks that are going to be in large congregations, groups, its just a fact when you get closer together, you increase the risk of spreading this virus, Dunleavy said Tuesday.

The top emergency doctor at the only hospital in Mat-Su issued a grim warning this week about the importance of wearing masks, citing a large study showing 8% weekly growth of infections in countries with widespread masking compared to 54% in those without.

Dr. Thomas Quimby saw a middle-aged COVID-19 patient recently. The patient had been sick for a week yet was still getting sicker.

Quimby, the emergency department director at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, said the patient was having trouble breathing. An X-ray revealed telltale spots on their lungs.

At that point the person didnt need oxygen, he said. But there was nothing else the doctor could do. He feared the patient would need to be admitted in the future.

That was a really awful feeling to look at this person and see how they were suffering and to just be helpless as a clinician, Quimby said at a community briefing Wednesday. I just want to remind everyone: thats still this disease that were dealing with.

The Valley Freedom Festival arose after Wasilla canceled its traditional Fourth of July celebration, organizers say.

Valley residents rose up and demanded something be done, the event website says. The Valley is an independent place, made up of people who are smart, caring, resilient, and FREE. The Valley Freedom Festival is a testament to the people of the Valley and our demand to Let Freedom Ring.

Organizer Haylee Kurka, a local business owner, said shes one of numerous businesspeople putting on the event with their own money.

Kurka on Wednesday said shes expecting attendance numbers anywhere from the high hundreds to a couple thousand, given the public event cancellations around Southcentral.

The Freedom Festival will station food trucks and vendors in the parking lot of the MTA Events Center near Palmers middle school. The schedule includes a pie-eating contest, sing-along, national cloggers and the big parade down Palmers main street on Saturday.

There are more than 20 floats signed up to take part in the parade.

Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, picnic blankets, good attitude, and cheerful heart, the event site says.

They are not required to wear masks nor follow other COVID-19 mandates, restrictions or dictates.

Asked how organizers are dealing with surging numbers of coronavirus cases, Kurka said the event is entirely outdoors, and it has a mitigation plan based on guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of the states new cases are associated with bars and other indoor spaces, health officials say.

Were also recognizing you do have a personal responsibility, Kurka said. If you dont want to be potentially exposed to the virus, we would think that people wouldnt attend. Theres not going to be much other than that ... its definitely based on what people feel comfortable with.

Palmer issued a special-events permit on June 12 but is not planning to provide additional personnel, according to Palmer City Manager John Moosey. Organizers met with public works officials and the police chief.

Palmer falls within the Mat-Su Borough, but the borough lacks authority to order masks at an event like this, Borough Mayor Vern Halter said. Thats up to the mayor of Palmer, who has the authority to require masks or restrict events.

Halter said hed highly recommend people attending wear masks.

A big parade, people close together its probably the exact opposite of what we should be doing, he said.

Palmers neighboring city of Wasilla canceled Fourth of July plans two months ago. That decision was made as much over the unknowns surrounding this years fire danger as the threat of the pandemic, Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle said this week.

But given the resurgence of the novel coronavirus, Cottle said he wouldnt be comfortable approving a parade in the narrow confines of the citys 1-mile route.

With the outbreaks that were having now, you cant put 7,000 to 10,000 people on Main Street shoulder to shoulder and have to worry about social distancing, stuff like that, Cottle said Monday. I cant do that. Thats too big of a risk.

Anchorage and most other communities canceled Independence Day celebrations ahead of the weekend.

Lawmakers in Juneau this week voted against an emergency ordinance that would have allowed fireworks to go ahead this weekend.

Officials in Seward this week canceled Fourth of July events entirely and implemented a series of measures on mask-wearing, gathering sizes and business capacity amid a growing coronavirus outbreak in that Kenai Peninsula city.

Homers Chamber of Commerce canceled that communitys parade fairly early on in this whole COVID situation, said chamber director Brad Anderson, adding the decision seemed right this week given the recent uptick in case numbers,

The parade can draw more than a thousand people. But a number of participants didnt feel comfortable even getting close together enough to build the floats, Anderson said.

The chamber also planned to celebrate first responders and health care workers with the parade, he said. They were the ones that said, Hey look, in bringing people together, this probably isnt the right direction for us this year.

An Anchor Point man is proposing an alternate parade Saturday from the elementary school to the Homer Spit, according to a widely viewed post on a local Facebook group that had attracted hundreds of comments. Organizer Matthew Mitchell recommended that route so people could spread out but still watch the bikes, cars, trucks, jeeps, tractors or other parade vehicle go by.

This call out is to all Veterans, Patriots and pure-blooded Americans, Mitchell posted Sunday. This parade is for the people by the people of Free men and women. Who are ready to get off the sidelines and show we will not stand for or tolerate dictatorship or tyranny over our Freedom. We are Free People.

[Because of a high volume of comments requiring moderation, we are temporarily disabling comments on many of our articles so editors can focus on the coronavirus crisis and other coverage. We invite you to write a letter to the editor or reach out directly if youd like to communicate with us about a particular article. Thanks.]

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Communities around Alaska canceled Fourth of July celebrations to slow COVID-19. Now unsanctioned events are replacing them. - Anchorage Daily News