Daily Archives: January 1, 2021

Chinese travelers at a railway station in Beijing, China, wear face masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus on Jan. 21, 2020. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, in Dec. 2019, and since then has quickly spread worldwide. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images hide caption

Chinese travelers at a railway station in Beijing, China, wear face masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus on Jan. 21, 2020. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, in Dec. 2019, and since then has quickly spread worldwide.

Exactly one year ago today, the World Health Organization first learned of a cluster of a few dozen pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China of "unknown" origin. The cause, of course, would turn out to be the coronavirus behind the current pandemic. Here's a by-the-numbers summary of the toll the virus has taken on countries across the globe since that fateful day.

For the first two months of the pandemic nearly all reported cases were in China. But after a massive lockdown in Wuhan and other provinces, China quickly turned the corner. Today it has one of the world's lowest casualty figures with less than 100,000 reported cases and less than 5,000 deaths, according to statistics maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

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Yet even as China gained control over its outbreak, the virus was spreading exponentially in countries on every continent of the planet. And nowhere has the toll been more severe than in the United States. Today the U.S. ranks highest when it comes to both its total reported case count of 19.7 million and its death toll of more than 342,000. Even when countries are ranked by reported cases as a percentage of their population, the U.S. ranks in the top five. And the U.S. also currently has the highest number of daily new reported cases and daily new deaths.

When considered in purely numerical terms, other hard-hit countries include India with 10.3 million reported cases, Brazil with 7.6 million, Russia with 3.1 million, France with 2.7 million, the United Kingdom with 2.4 million, Turkey with 2.2 million, Italy with 2.1 million, Spain with 1.9 million and Germany with 1.6 million. Practically all of these countries also rank in the top 10 on the number of deaths. Brazil, for instance, has had more than 193,000, India more than 148,000. And practically all are currently seeing the world's highest numbers of new reported cases and deaths.

Several countries that don't make it into the top 10 tallies of cases and deaths still bear mentioning. In the Americas for instance, Colombia and Argentina now have about 1.6 million reported cases a piece. Mexico, with 1.4 million, is close behind. And Mexico also has one of the world's highest death tolls with nearly 125,000 lives lost to date. In the Middle East, Iran has fared particularly poorly with about 1.2 million cases and more than 55,000 deaths. And while it seemed for a time that African countries might escape the brunt of the pandemic, South Africa has now seen its total case count surpass 1 million.

Then there are nations where the case and death counts don't look as serious until they are considered as a share of the population. Countries where the virus has wrought this outsized impact include the Czech Republic, Belgium, Panama and Slovenia, where the caseload per capita ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 per 100,000 people as well as, when it comes to deaths per capita, Peru, where 116 people per 100,000 have died.

China is not the only nation that showed the coronavirus can be contained. Other standouts include South Korea, with about 60,000 cases and 900 deaths, and Vietnam, with 1,465 cases and just 35 deaths.

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The Year Of Pandemic: COVID-19 By The Numbers : Goats and Soda - NPR

When Tony Searcys brother died of COVID-19 in September, it felt like he had lost his left hand.

Tommy and Tony referred to themselves as mirror twins, identical in almost all aspects except that Tommy was left-handed and Tony was a righty.

They had spent 45 years doing almost everything together, from switching classes in high school to see if teachers could tell to becoming firemen at the age of 18. Their first children were born only months apart, and they both rose to the rank of captain in the Houston Fire Department.

One of the only major life events that they spent apart was Tommys hospitalization, his month-long battle with COVID-19, and his final moments.

Thats the side people dont see when people get sick, you assume you can be around them, take care of them, Tony said. Thats a lonely feeling, for him Im sure. For us, we wanted to be with him, we wanted to support him.

Capt. Tommy Searcy was just one of the 4,647 people in the Houston region and the 27,952 people across Texas who died of the new coronavirus in 2020.

As death tolls flashed across television screens almost daily, it became easy to forget that each represented a life, a person who was loved and left behind a family and friends. But for those who were left behind, the numbers serve as an ever-present reminder of the hole now left in their hearts.

Some of their names are better-known than others. Nationally, famed singer songwriter John Prine, 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain, Broadway actor Nick Cordero and former Temptations lead singer Bruce Williamson were among those who died. And, days before New Years Eve, actress Dawn Wells known for her portrayal of the lovable Mary Ann on the iconic TV show Gilligans Island died due to COVID-19 complications.

In Houston, those who died of COVID-19 came from all walks of life. Ernest Leal Jr., a 36-year veteran of the Houston Police Department, died in November at age 60.

Dr. Adeline Fagan, 28, was completing her second year of residency as an OB-GYN until she contracted the virus and died of it in September. After 3,800 people donated to a GoFundMe fundraiser launched during her fight to stay alive, the family said it planned to use the proceeds to support medical students with scholarships, medical missions for under-served populations and ECMO treatments for critically ill patients something that would make Adeline proud.

Popular Milby High School chemistry teacher Erick Ortiz, who was 52, died on Dec. 6. After setting up a GoFundMe page to help cover his funeral expenses, his sister-in-law Laura Heredia said she was struck by the number of messages she began receiving from his current and former students.

There was a year he taught at an alternative school, and even one of those students put up a comment and said Mr. Ortiz was the type of teacher who was so giving. Out of his own pocket, he bought chess sets for every student in his classroom, Heredia said. Those things impact lives as a teacher.

The regions Black and Latino populations have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. In July, the virus claimed the life of the Rev. Vickey Gibbs, 57, a prominent Houston preacher and activist for marginalized Christians. Shortly before her death, she delivered a rebuttal against white supremacy during a vigil for George Floyd, the Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police officers last spring. Hundreds of people posted remembrances on a Facebook page dedicated to her memory.

The disease has had a devastating impact on individual families, such as when it claimed the lives of Alfonso Rodrguez, 86, of Fort Bend County; his wife, Porfiria, 87; and their son, Rudy, 55, in less than weeks.

I just kept thinking it was all like a bad dream, said Alfonso Rodrguez, Jr., 66, in a July interview. A nightmare.

While victims have tended to be older, younger people have not been spared. In October, Kevin Swearingen of Lumberton lost his teenage daughter Charlee, who was wheelchair-bound and nonverbal due to a preexisting condition.

I will always love and cherish her for as long as Im here, Swearingen posted on Facebook after Charlee died in a Houston hospital.

People whose lives were affected by the loss of someone who died of COVID-19 also had their grief interrupted.

David Kessler, a grief specialist and founder of grief.com, said the difficulties start with the last goodbyes, which now often have to take place over video calls rather than by the dying persons bedside. The idea of being able to say goodbye can affect people years later, he said.

At the end of life, really the only thing we have for one another is our presence, Kessler said. And thats been taken away.

In Houston, Cristina Chipriano, Spanish program and outreach director at the nonprofit Bos Place bereavement center, said others are struggling to understand that their loved ones are actually gone because of the distancing.

One big thing weve seen is people saying It doesnt feel real because I wasnt able to see them, I wasnt there. There was a screen, but they werent alert, Chipriano said. And the guilt of having their loved one dying alone.

Apart from the actual death, normal mourning rituals have also been upended. Funerals have been limited, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. Even gatherings outside of those formal settings are difficult now, Kessler said, and so many people are struggling to get by that they may not be able to drop off a casserole or offer financial assistance.

For Tony Searcy, the outpouring of support after his twin brother died was among the only sources of comfort that he and his family could find. But he and his family would be devastated again soon after his father died of cardiac arrest months later.

Even with the pain, Tony still gets up every day and finds ways to make it through. Much of his strength comes from lessons that his father taught him, Tommy and their older brother: believing in God and family, and taking care of others. The last lesson has felt especially poignant this year as legions of friends and family offered support.

You feel like youre on an island when something like this happens, Tony said. But still, people go out and take care of you. I dont think we could have made it through this without all the people who reached out to us and helped us.

shelby.webb@chron.com

See the rest here:

COVID-19 killed more than 4,600 Houston area residents in 2020 and left a hole in the lives of many more - Houston Chronicle

Gary Carden, 63, has owned and managed Nespelem's only tavern for about 25 years. Earlier this year, he spent a month in the hospital with COVID-19. Eilis O'Neill/Eilis O'Neill hide caption

Gary Carden, 63, has owned and managed Nespelem's only tavern for about 25 years. Earlier this year, he spent a month in the hospital with COVID-19.

Gary Carden sits on the reclining chair in front of the tavern he's owned and managed for two and half decades in the north central Washington town of Nespelem, on the Colville Reservation. The 63-year-old is on the concrete porch with his two dogs, Sissy and Harold.

"She's the older dog," he says, "and that's probably the best thing that happened to her is finding her a small buddy, 'cause he's so active and keeps her active."

Carden's normally active too, not just running the tavern but riding horses and motorcycles. But, one day this past June, he felt out of breath and exhausted.

"And my sister came walking in," Carden recalls. "And she says, 'God, brother, you don't look good. Do you want me to call the ambulance?' " He replied, "Yeah, I think you better. There's something wrong."

Carden thought he had heat exhaustion. But it was COVID-19. He was transferred to a hospital about 100 miles away, in the city of Wenatchee, Wash.

He spent a month there a week of that time on a ventilator.

"It's tough," Carden remembers. "It was tough. I was even ready to give up."

The Colville Tribal Council has been doing its best to insulate its community from the pandemic.

In mid-March, the council closed the reservation to non-essential travel. And, when members tested positive for the coronavirus, the council helped them isolate by providing portable toilets, mobile homes and even hotel rooms as needed.

But COVID-19 cases are hitting record highs throughout the state. And the reservation's borders are fluid, so even the tribe's extensive precautions haven't been enough to fully protect Colville members. About 300 people on the Colville Reservation have tested positive for the coronavirus.

That's a big hit for a small community of 5,000 people. The infection rate on the reservation is twice that of Washington state's most populous county.

"We got hit so hard," says Larry Smith, a doctor on the reservation who runs two of its four clinics.

Smith says it was scary to see so many COVID-19 patients.

"Probably 80% of the people that I see have some risk factors whether it's hypertension, diabetes, or autoimmune disease," he says.

To Smith, the numbers have been overwhelming.

"For six weeks, we were seeing four to five cases every single day," he says.

Vice-chair of the tribal council Joel Boyd says when cases are up in neighboring communities, it's difficult hard to keep the virus out.

"When you do go off-reservation, there's communities that almost pride themselves on not wearing masks, and it's a serious danger," he says.

Boyd says the most serious outbreaks came from tribal members going off-reservation.

The current outbreak started when a group of about 10 people from the Colville Reservation went to a nearby town in mid-November, before Washington state's governor closed indoor dining again.

"Everyone was getting in their last little hurrah, I guess you would call it," Boyd says. "And unfortunately, that was all it took for us to get a nice little outbreak."

Many people on the reservation live in large, multi-generational households, so the virus spreads rapidly within families.

To try to contain the reservation's current outbreak, the tribal council took a new step: It imposed a curfew to try to keep people from gathering after work.

"A lot of people that have got it recently they're being pretty vocal about, you know, how they got it and that they're sorry for spreading it," Boyd says. "And I'm thankful that they're sharing that to prevent it from happening again."

Boyd says people telling their stories about how they got infected is an important way to spread the word on the reservation about need to take precautions.

Tavern owner Gary Carden says he often shares the story of how he almost died so others on the reservation can learn from what happened to him.

Carden says that during his time in the hospital, "I even told them doctors, you know, 'Hey, I quit. Pull these tubes out.' "

A young intern sat down at his bedside and gave him a pep talk.

"He says, 'Gary, don't give up,' " Carden recalls. " 'You've made it through the hard part. You've got 20-plus years still to go. Hang in there. You've almost got it licked.' "

Continue reading here:

Colville Reservation And COVID-19: 'Last Hurrah' To Keep The Pandemic At Bay - NPR

TAMPA (WFLA) A case of the new coronavirus strain that spread quickly in the United Kingdomhas been confirmedin Florida.

The Florida Department of Health announced on Twitter Thursday that the individual is a man in his 20s who is currently in isolation in Martin County. The department noted the man has no travel history.

Florida has evidence of the first identified case of the UK COVID-19 variant in Martin County. The individual is a male in his 20s with no history of travel. The Department is working with the CDC on this investigation. We encourage all to continue practicing COVID-19 mitigation.

The Department of Health is working with the CDC on this investigation.

The news comes after Colorado health officials announced earlier this week the first person in the U.S. known to be infected with the new and apparently more contagious variant. That individual was identified as a Colorado National Guardsman who had been sent to help out at a nursing home struggling with an outbreak. Health officials said Wednesday a second Guard member may have it, too.

California officials also confirmed later Wednesday that a San Diego County man has Californias first confirmed case of a new variant of the coronavirus.

The cases have triggered a host of questions about how the mutant version circulating in England arrived in the U.S. and whether it is too late to stop it now, with top experts saying it is probably already spreading elsewhere in the United States.

The virus is becoming more fit, and were like a deer in the headlights, warned Dr. Eric Topol, head of Scripps Research Translational Institute. He noted that the U.S. does far less genetic sequencing of virus samples to discover variants than other developed nations do, and thus was probably slow to detect this new mutation.

The case in Florida comes as the state on Thursday saw the largest single-day jump in new COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Florida has more than 1.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 21,500 deaths according todata complied by Johns Hopkins University.

On New Years Eve crowds of people in downtown Tampa celebrated by gathering in large crowds, most people not wearing or being lax about wearing masks in public. Its easy to see why health officials are concerned to now have a strain of the virus that spreads even quicker.

I mean obviously, we dont wanna see a virus that has a greater capability of spreading. The other thing that is important and a favorable thing, it does not seem to evade the protection thats afforded by vaccines that are currently being used, said Dr. Fauci.

The best way to fight this new strain to wash your hands, wear masks, and practice social distancing.

LATEST ON THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

Read more:

New COVID-19 variant found in Florida, marking the nations 3rd confirmed case - WFLA

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The deaths involved three men in their 70s: two from Wasilla and one from Anchorage, the state health department said.

Wednesdays and Thursdays identical case counts were slightly higher than the trend of fewer cases reported in recent weeks after a surge through November and into early December. State health officials have expressed cautious optimism about the overall decline, though more recently they expressed worry that holiday-related travel and celebrations could drive case numbers up again.

We know that some people are still gathering for the holidays, so we could start to see an uptick in cases starting as early as the next week or two, so were really just encouraging Alaskans to continue to be vigilant, said Joe McLaughlin, an epidemiologist with the state health department.

Residents in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region accounted for more than a quarter of the cases reported by the state Thursday. Tribal health authorities separately reported 43 new cases in the region on Wednesday and 26 cases on Tuesday, including 18 in Bethel, 13 in Akiachak and 12 in Chefornak over that two-day period.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations remain lower than they were in November. Health officials say a hunker-down order in Anchorage thats moving to a less restrictive phase Friday played a role in the decline, as did voluntary actions taken by people around the state. The number of tests completed statewide in recent weeks has also been down.

In total, 205 Alaskans and one nonresident with COVID-19 have died this year. Alaskas overall death rate per capita is among the lowest in the country, but officials say the states vast geography and vulnerable health care system make it difficult to compare with other states.

The state was promised more than 60,000 doses when Alaska received its first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December. Hospital workers, emergency personnel, and residents and staff at long-term care facilities were prioritized to receive the first doses. State officials said they expect more than 50,000 doses next month and on Thursday announced that the next group of people eligible to receive the vaccine would include Alaskans over 65, followed by frontline essential workers.

By Thursday morning, 13,271 Alaskans had received vaccinations, according to the states vaccine information site, which has not been updated since Monday. Health officials say they expect the pace of vaccine distribution will pick up in next month.

Around the state, 73 Alaskans with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of Thursday and another six were suspected to have the virus. Just over 8% of adults in Alaska hospitals have COVID-19. In Anchorage, where the sickest patients are often treated, there were 18 intensive care unit beds available out of 69.

Of the 367 infections reported Wednesday among Alaska residents, there were 130 in Anchorage plus six in Chugiak, seven in Eagle River and one in Girdwood; 27 in Fairbanks; 20 in Wasilla; 10 in Palmer; 10 in Juneau; 10 in Bethel; seven in North Pole; six in Kodiak; four in Utqiagvik; three in Soldotna; two in Homer; two in Kenai; two in Houston; two in Petersburg; two in Unalaska; one in Sterling; one in Delta Junction; one in Sutton-Alpine; and one in Ketchikan.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 people not named to protect privacy, there were 51 in the Bethel Census Area; 50 in the Kusilvak Census Area; three in the Fairbanks North Star Borough; two 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 Northwest Arctic Borough; one in the Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon region; and one in the Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula boroughs.

There were seven cases reported among nonresidents, including one in Anchorage, one in Utqiagvik and five in Unalaska.

While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

It is not clear how many of the people who tested positive for the virus were showing symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about a third of people with COVID-19 are asymptomatic.

The statewide test positivity rate as of Thursday was 4.92% over a seven-day average. Health experts say anything above 5% can indicate inadequate testing and potentially widespread community transmission. The state reached a peak of over 9% test positivity in mid-November.

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Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 3 deaths, 374 infections reported Thursday - Anchorage Daily News

The state identified its first case of the novel coronavirus back in mid-March. Fortunately, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

BOISE, Idaho 2020 has been an unforgettable year. From March on, millions of Americans have adjusted to telecommuting, mask-wearing, social distancing, and other practices that have become second nature for many people over the last 10 months.

A year ago, the coronavirus had only been identified in China, and people across the country were ringing in the New Year with large groups, and no masks to be seen.

By January, health experts in Idaho knew the coronavirus would likely come to the Gem State after cases started appearing in the neighboring state of Washington.

It was only a matter of identifying that first case which came on March 13.

I wasn't terribly surprised; I knew it was a matter of time, said Dr. David Pate, retired St. Lukes CEO and member of Idaho Gov. Brad Little's coronavirus working group.

Health experts were worried about how bad it was going to get, especially when community spread was identified in Ada County.

In response, Gov. Little issued a stay-at-home order that lasted through the end of April.

Its unarguable that it worked, Dr. Pate said. At the peak, we had about 222 cases that were recorded in one day, and then after he put in the stay-at-home order, the cases did fall.

It wasn't until May when the economy started to re-open amid low case rates. The state was seeing around 20 to 40 new cases every day.

Since that time, practically all businesses in the Gem State are open for business. Many are taking precautions to stay open to this day.

Idaho then saw a large spike of cases in July following Independence Day. That concerned public health experts, but not to the extent the spike in the fall did.

Hospitals started to get dangerously full and the state was getting close to initiating crisis standards of care.

I was starting to get terrified," Pate said. If this happens, this means we may not be able to take care of someone with a stroke or heart attack or a car accident.

Fortunately, crisis standards of care were never activated and over the last few weeks, case rates have been declining along with hospitalizations.

Now the focus is on distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to enough Americans to get the chance of getting back what life was at the very beginning of the year with crowds and no masks.

If sufficient numbers of people get vaccinated then yes, we can get back to that and it could be by next fall, Pate said.

Until enough people are vaccinated though, while the year will change, the recommended precautions will not.

I don't think things let up until March or April probably, Pate said. I hope this is the light at the end of the tunnel and we can say, okay, we can sacrifice that long, if its just a few months. We can do that.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released a timeline this week that is an estimate of when people could get vaccinated. According to the timeline, the general public will likely be eligible to get their vaccinations by May.

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COVID-19 in Idaho: How it started and where it's going in 2021 - KTVB.com