Monthly Archives: January 2022

With the continued spread of the omicron variant and increased hospitalization rates in the state and region, West Virginia Universityis providing additional guidance on campus health and safety protocols including masking, testing, vaccines and isolation.

"Despite the recent surge in cases over the past few weeks, the high rates of vaccination in our campus community has helped to minimize serious symptoms for those who have contracted the virus, saidDr. Jeffrey Coben, dean of theSchool of Public Healthand associate vice president forHealth Affairs. We hope and anticipate that cases will begin to decline in the days ahead. However, our states hospitals are operating at or above capacity, and we must continue to follow the health and safety protocols that have been instituted to keep our communities safe.

Dr. Clay Marsh, WVU Health Sciences vice president and executive dean and West Virginias COVID-19 czar, recently shared insight on where we are in the pandemic and how we can continue to protect ourselves and our communities.

Key takeaways:

Mask policy extended through Feb. 25

Masks will continue to be required for everyone regardless of vaccination status indoors in all WVU System buildings and facilities through at least Feb. 25 when public health conditions will again be reevaluated.

Masks continue to be required for passengers on thePRTandWVU busesthrough March 18 under federal guidelines from theTransportation Security Administration.

Additionally, masks are required inside the Mountainlair, Evansdale Crossing and dining halls except when eating. Masks are also required inside the WVU Student Rec Center except when exercising.

Masks are also required in clinical and patient care areas of theHealth Sciences Campuses.

WVU Medicine has updated its mask policy and is strongly encouraging non-clinical staff who do not work in patient care areas to switch to a medical-grade mask, not cloth masks, and is also no longer allowing the use of gaiters at any of its hospitals, clinics or non-clinical work sites.

While strongly encouraged, masks are not required of individuals in private office spaces behind closed doors. With the mutual consent of the participants, masks may be removed in private meetings.

Masks are also strongly encouraged, but not required indoors at WVU Athletics venues during public events.

School of Public Healthgeneral preventive medicine residents answer some frequently asked questions about masks, including the KN95 mask, recommended by WVU, and N95 mask, used widely in patient-care settings.

Get vaccinated and boosted

Watch this video with Dr. Carmen Burrell, medical director ofWVU Medicine Student Healthand Urgent Care, as she answers important questions about COVID-19 vaccine boosters like when to get one, how long to wait after infection and which one to get.

The University continues to strongly encourage, but not require, vaccinations.According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, data from recent studies suggest that boosters significantly enhance vaccine effectiveness against infection of the omicron variant. Boosters also decrease the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death for those who are vaccinated but become infected with COVID-19.

In partnership with theMonongalia County Health Department, WVU will continue to host COVID-19 vaccine clinics throughout the spring semesterat the WVU Student Rec Center. WVU Medicine Student Healthhas walk-in appointments available for WVU students during regular business hours for the Pfizer vaccine at its clinic in the Health and Education Building.

Vaccines continue to be readily available across the state and country.

Those on the Health Sciences Campus involved in patient care, including residents, fellows and students, are required to follow separate WVU Medicine or other clinical providers policies, including those related to COVID-19 such as masks, PPE and vaccinations.

Please check WVUs Return to Campus site for the most up-to-date information on vaccine clinics and how to schedule an appointment.

Verifying a COVID-19 vaccination by Jan. 28

Prior toFriday, Jan. 28, all students, faculty and staff who are on campus should take one of the following actions to verify their vaccine status with the University.

Updated Isolation guidance

Students living in residence halls on the Morgantown campus will be isolated in Gaskins House or Lyon Tower. Those living off campus will isolate in their residences.

Testing available most days the WVU Rec Center

Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 1, free COVID-19 community testing at the WVU Student Rec Center in partnership with the Monongalia County Health Department will be available on Mondays, Tuesdays and most Thursdays and Fridays throughout February.

No appointment required, and no pre-registration is required for WVU students and employees.

Check the Return to Campus site frequently for updated information on community testing, including for WVU Techstudents and employees and those atWVU Potomac State College.

COVID-19 dashboard

Given the change in requirements for students, faculty and staff to be considered optimally vaccinated for COVID-19 at WVU, the Universityspublic dashboardwill be updated to report the vaccination verification rate on a biweekly basis beginning in early February for theMorgantown,BeckleyandKeysercampuses.

The dashboard will be available every Wednesday by 2 p.m. and will share the latest data including testing and isolation numbers.

Communications

Visit theReturn to Campuswebsite for the latest COVID-19 updates. New information also will continue to be shared inMOUNTAINEER E-Newsfor employees andUnewsfor students.

Questions related to COVID-19 and WVUs health and safety protocols can be sent via email toreturntocampus@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

UR/01/27/22

MEDIA CONTACT: April KaullExecutive Director of CommunicationsUniversity Relations304-293-3990;April.Kaull@mail.wvu.edu

Call 1-855-WVU-News for the latest West Virginia University news and information from WVUToday.

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WVU Today | COVID-19 guidance updated as omicron cases and hospitalizations climb in West Virginia - WVU Today

CHICAGO The list of Chicago-based companies that operate COVID-19 testing sites now under investigation is growing, with a third company under scrutiny after collecting more than $154 million from the federal government amid a sea of consumer complaints.

NorthShore Clinical Laboratories worked with third-party pop-ups all over the United States before closing, and its partnered with schools, nursing homes, politicians and other groups on testing and vaccinations. Its processed at least 5 million tests, according to a federal report.

But the federal agency that regulates labs has cited NorthShore at its highest level immediate jeopardy in three areas, with an inspection saying the lab failed to follow steps to ensure it got reliable results.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is investigating the lab, a spokeswoman said. The Illinois Attorney Generals Office has received more than 40 complaints about NorthShore Clinical Labs and is contacting consumers to get more information, a department spokeswoman said. Nevadas and Californias health departments are also investigating.

And the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit business watchdog group, has received 13 complaints about NorthShore Clinical Lab. The group has given the lab an F rating.

The lab is not affiliated with NorthShore HealthSystem, a local hospital and health care system.

The complaints are similar to ones lodged against two other local companies: Center For COVID Control and OHare Clinical Lab. Numerous customers said theyve had issues getting results from NorthShore, with results being delayed by weeks or never coming.

One woman said she was sent another persons results, while another woman said she was sent different results for the same test.

We have done everything we can to support public health efforts around testing and vaccination to keep the community safe, a NorthShore Clinical Labs spokesman said in an emailed statement.

NorthShore Clinical Labs has cut off its work with third-party pop-up testing sites, and it regrets customers have had delays in getting results or havent heard from the lab, the spokesman said.

The lab is working with a consultant to ensure its in compliance with the law, the spokesman said. The Omicron variant which drove up COVID-19 cases and testing around the United States and other factors have put strain on the lab, the spokesperson said.

But customers were reporting problems long before Omicron hit.

Hope Zawaski, of suburban Homewood, said she was tested at a pop-up Aug. 20 and then waited four days to get PCR results from NorthShore Clinical Lab, calling multiple times only to be told her sample was still being processed. The lab sent a result as Zawaski was sitting in the home of her mother-in-law, who was receiving treatment for cancer, putting her at higher risk from the virus. The result said Zawaskis test was positive for COVID-19.

Zawaski immediately walked out of her mother-in-laws home, contacted people with whom shed been in contact and quarantined.

Four days after the positive result, NorthShore sent another result this time saying Zawaski was negative, she said. The result was otherwise identical to the initial email sent to Zawaski, she said.

Zawaski also tested negative at her doctors office, and she did not have symptoms of COVID-19, she said. She contacted NorthShore Clinical Laboratories, concerned about the strange results, she said.

And they said, Oh, yeah, sometimes you just get a positive that turns into a negative,' Zawaski said. They just said, Have a nice day, and that was it.

I was at a point where I was like, you just have to laugh.

Getting different results from the same test concerned Zawaski, she said but the response when she called made her even more worried.

I tell everyone I know that has even mentioned maybe going there to please find somewhere else to go, she said.

NorthShore Clinical Laboratories is a Chicago-based testing company thats received more than $154 million from the federal government for testing and treatments.

The lab is headquartered at 4751 N. Kedzie Ave. in Albany Park and is registered with the state under the name of Meena Mohindra. Former employees said Meena Mohindra is the mother of Hirsh and Gaurav Mohindra, who help lead the company.

Hirsh Mohindra has a history in real estate, and Gaurav Mohindra is an attorney and blogger, according to their websites and online profiles. In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission banned the brothers from doing debt collection business, with a court finding theyd participated in deceptive and unfair acts or practices. The brothers were ordered to hand over tens of thousands of dollars, multiple properties and a 1-kilogram gold bar, with the assets worth more than $9 million.

Now, Hirsh Mohindra is NorthShore Labs director of operations, helping it partner with organizations all across the nation, while Gaurav Mohindra is its director of business development and partnerships, according to Hirsh Mohindras website.

NorthShore Clinical Laboratories partnered with a variety of independent pop-up businesses, processing the PCR tests that were gathered at sites across the United States.

The lab also partnered with summer camps, nursing homes, schools, cities, companies, shops and event venues and organizers, providing testing and vaccinations. It lined up a long list of clientele and partners: state senators, Chicago aldermen, Pride Fest, the Bulls and White Sox, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago and others.

It has worked with more than 100 summer camps for testing, according to Hirsh Mohindras website.

But there have been issues, some customers said.

The suburb of Berwyn worked with NorthShore Clinical Laboratories on testing events for residents but it cut off its partnership in December 2020 after neighbors reported issues in getting their results.

After exhausting all opportunities to resolve the delays in response to patient testing delays inquiries, NorthShore Testing Labs was dismissed from service to the Berwyn community and a testing event was canceled, the town announced in a Dec. 8, 2020, Facebook post.

At the time, NorthShore said it was facing delays due to a number of reasons, including a supply shortage.

Customers said they have had trouble getting accurate, timely results from the lab and encountered issues at the pop-ups with which NorthShore formerly partnered: dirty sites, unmasked workers, people telling them to not put down insurance or not providing instructions for correctly testing themselves.

Zawaski got her double results in August. She said the pop-up workers were not wearing masks, and when she asked for instructions on how to use a swab, a worker told her, I dont know. Put it up as far as you want.

I dont know if I ever administered it correctly, Zawaski said. I definitely know that one way or another, the results were very inaccurate.

Another woman was tested in suburban Riverside in September, and NorthShore Clinical Labs sent her another persons results allowing her to see the persons name and when and where she had tested, the Riverside woman said.

The woman called NorthShore, concerned about a potential HIPAA violation, and the lab sent her the correct result but the time of the test on the result was incorrect, she said. She said shes not confident it is actually hers.

The woman had gotten tested because she had a fever and chills, and she works in a hospital where she is exposed to COVID-19, she said.

But then, after, this, I had no confidence at all in the testing at the site, she said.

A St. Charles man was tested Dec. 28 at a pop-up where a worker told him hed get results back in two to three days, though the holidays could delay that a bit, he said. NorthShore didnt send the mans results until Jan. 18, he said; when he contacted the owner of the pop-up, the owner blamed NorthShore on the delay.

I had symptoms, but I couldnt tell whether it was Chicago winter symptoms or COVID, the St. Charles man said. I kinda plugged along. It was disheartening to be left kind of in limbo.

Joshua Bergeron said he went a testing site on Dec. 23 where workers had masks under their noses and told customers to not put down their insurance information. There was no social distancing at the facility, and a worker told Bergeron he only needed one swab to process both a rapid and PCR test, he said.

The worker read patients results out loud in front of other customers, Bergeron said. They told him hed get PCR results in about 72 hours, but he didnt get results until Jan. 5, he said.

The results said Bergerons sample had been collected in the morning, when he hadnt tested until later, he said. And the result said Bergerons sample hadnt been received by NorthShore until Jan. 4, he said.

If I went to any place I didnt recognize, I would look it up to see if they were affiliated first with that place, Bergeron said. And if they were, I would tell everyone to stay clear.

HELP US REPORT:Have you been tested at a COVID-19 pop-up? Click here to tell Block Club about your experience.

Brittany Miller, of Bridgeport, went to a pop-up that partnered with NorthShore on Dec. 2. Workers gave her swabs, but they didnt tell her how to do self-administer the rapid and PCR tests, she said. Miller asked if she should put the swab in her mouth or nose, and a worker told Miller to swab her mouth while other customers were swabbing their nose, she said.

Miller gave the workers her swabs and they put them directly on a table, then put the rapid test swab in a container with solution, she said. About 10 seconds later, they Miller her she was negative for COVID-19, she said.

Miller got her PCR results from NorthShore about four days later, and it was negative, she said. But shed taken another PCR test at a hospital the same day she went to the pop-up, and that result was positive, she said. She also had COVID-19 symptoms.

I just wasnt sure if they didnt even send them to the lab, or if the lab just sent me back anything but then I also thought it could have possibly been an issue on my end from swabbing because I didnt receive guidance, she said. While I was there, no, I didnt really have any concerns, because I thought, Oh, this place is affiliated with a lab. I should get correct results back.'

A NorthShore Clinical Labs spokesman said the company is committed to communicating with all patients, though some test samples might have been damaged or improperly stored, meaning some patients might not get a result.

Despite facing enormous challenges outside of our control, our technical and clinical teams have been working tirelessly to make things right, the spokesman said.

NorthShore is completely separate from the companies that ran pop-up testing sites, apart from its agreement to process the PCR tests they collected, the spokesman said.

The lab started working with the third-party sites in June, the spokesman said; the sites were supposed to outfit workers in personal protective equipment, have a valid business license and get a certificate from the federal agency that regulates labs, among other requirements. They were also supposed to follow proper procedures when asking patients about their insurance, the spokesman said.

NorthShore regularly audited the pop-up operators and terminated contracts with those that didnt meet NorthShores standards, the spokesman said. It audited sites by having staff randomly call 250-500 people who had been tested at a pop-up; if they had concerns about a site, the staff called more people who had been tested there.

Patients information was also reviewed daily to ensure it complied with state, federal and NorthShore requirements and all information had been collected, the spokesperson said.

NorthShore heard complaints about the pop-ups and was facing a backlog of PCR tests, so it terminated its contracts with the pop-ups Dec. 31, the spokesman said.

Its totally unacceptable to us for patients to have had those experiences, and further validation that we made the right decision in terminating our contracts with those sites, the spokesman said.

The lab does not plan on bringing back its work with those pop-ups in the foreseeable future, the spokesman said.

The spokesman declined to say how many pop-ups NorthShore had worked with.

The Illinois, California and Nevada health departments have gotten complaints about NorthShore Clinical Lab and are investigating, spokespeople said. KSNV news in Nevada first reported that states investigation.

The Illinois Attorney Generals Office has gotten more than 40 complaints about the lab and is talking with customers to learn more, a spokesperson said.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have also cited the lab for immediate jeopardy the highest level of infraction when it comes to NorthShores general laboratory systems, analytic systems and laboratory director, according to a report from Dec. 29.

The lab did not have complete, written procedures in its manual to ensure more than 1.7 million tests were processed correctly, according to the report.

And NorthShores laboratory director did not meet the federal agencys requirements like being a licensed doctor in Illinois potentially affecting 5 million tests that have been done at the lab, according to the report.

NorthShore defends its laboratory director in a Jan. 22 statement, saying he has been stewarding our lab since 1994 and previously worked as the laboratory supervisor for Cook County Hospitals before retiring in November.

A surveyor at the labs Kedzie Avenue location said staff there confirmed they did not provide training to people working at NorthShores collection sites, according to the report. An inspector also noted multiple instances where test tubes were not labeled properly with a persons information.

The lab also failed to ensure its patients information was kept confidential, as an inspector saw numerous documents with patients information kept in uncovered containers in an unsecured hallway at the lab, according to the report.

At an off-site NorthShore lab in Ohio, an inspector saw a worker improperly use a rapid test on a customer, with the worker not following the tests directions to have the customer blow their nose and not using a timer to ensure the test was checked at the right time, according to the federal report.

The inspector also saw the worker throw away testing materials in a garbage bin, and the worker verified the facility didnt have a container for hazardous waste, according to the report. The worker couldnt provide documentation people had been trained on testing, according to the report.

NorthShore has cooperated with the Illinois Department of Public Health and worked with the countrys leading lab consultancy to create a plan of correction, the labs spokesman said. The lab is working to ensure it is in total compliance, he said.

Weve already acknowledged that many patients experienced delays in getting their result or have yet to receive a result, NorthShores spokesperson said. This is the exact situation were working round-the-clock to address.

READ MORE

Another Major COVID Testing Company Which Got $186 Million From The Feds Is Under Investigation As Complaints Pile Up

Center For COVID Controls Headquarters Raided By FBI

Center For COVID Control Closed For Foreseeable Future In Illinois Amid Federal, State Investigations

Center For COVID Control Got $124 Million From Feds While Telling Workers To Lie About Results, Throw Tests In The Trash, Ex-Employees Say

Center For COVID Control Faked Test Results, Minnesota Attorney General Says In New Lawsuit

COVID Tests Seemed To Vanish Just When Chicagoans Needed Them Most And Despite Officials Predicting Surges For Months

COVID-19 Testing Chain Opened Pop-Ups Across The US. Now, Its Temporarily Closing Amid Federal Investigation And Mounting Complaints

Be Cautious Around COVID-19 Testing Pop-Ups, Illinois Attorney General Warns

Pritzker Vows To Shut Down Fly-By-Night Pop-Up COVID Testing Sites, Calling Them An Enormous Problem

COVID Test Shortage Forces Chicagoans To Hell-Hole Pop-Up Sites With Unmasked Workers, Missing Results

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Yet Another COVID-19 Testing Company That Got Millions From The Feds Being Investigated After Patients Say Their Results Were Flawed - Block Club...

The pressure on Kentucky hospitals from the COVID-19 omicron variant is unrelenting.

Hospitalization is near a record high. We are close to the height of the inpatient census we hit during the delta variant surge, Gov. Andy Beshear said at a press conference Thursday.

Beshear has already called in more than 400 Kentucky National Guard members to help alleviate the pressure in the hospitals, which comes from both an influx of patients as well as a high number of staff out with coronavirus.

As of yesterday, we had less than 100 adult ICU beds available in the state that can be staffed, Beshear said.

Even with the help of nursing students and guard members, the governor warned that people experiencing non-COVID-related emergencies might soon be affected by the dwindling number of beds available.

Folks, be careful. When this happens we dont have room or beds for people who have been hurt in car accidents or have strokes, Beshear said.

Beshear commented Thursday on the severe COVID cases young Kentuckians are experiencing.

This is killing a lot of people who arent vaccinated at ages that typically would not die from a virus, Beshear said.

Beshear showed a chart during the press conference illustrating major shifts in the age distribution of deaths in Kentucky since June.

Those in the 70 and older category went from making up three-quarters of the chart to half, as younger groups began to take up more space. Beshear related this directly to those 70 and older being among the most vaccinated with younger populations having a smaller vaccination rate.

Beshear also took a moment to reflect on the death toll.

Weve lost 12,817 Kentuckians, Beshear said. More than, I think, in any of the wars in our history, and thats in 20 months.

Despite increasing hospitalization and an ever-growing death count, officials expressed a glimmer of hope when it comes to the omicron surge.

If we follow the trends that others are, if this week is higher than last week, then next week we truly believe that we will be lower, Beshear said.

Even with the potential decline on the horizon, the numbers will still be high given the records reached during the surge.

We gotta ride the dip a couple of weeks, Beshear said. But we hope that it descends as fast as it ascended.

See the original post:

COVID-19 hospitalizations are near their record as state officials hope omicron surge is on the decline - 89.3 WFPL News Louisville

The Bruins will be without their leading scorer Thursday night against the Golden Bears.

Guard Johnny Juzang will miss UCLA men's basketball's (14-2, 6-1 Pac-12) game versus Cal (9-10, 2-6) at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night due to COVID-19 protocols, a UCLA Athletics spokesperson told All Bruins. Guard Jaylen Clark, meanwhile, will miss a second second-consecutive game while in concussion protocols.

Both players' status for Saturday's game against Stanford remains undetermined.

The Bruins had five games canceled or postponed as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak within the team in December, with more than 10 players and coaches coming down with the virus. The result was a 26-day break between games, extended somewhat by health and safety protocols on their opponents' sides, and then a recovery period that included some spotty moments against Long Beach State and Cal earlier in January.

Juzang previously told the press that he was not one of the players who contracted the virus, meaning he remains at risk of testing positive with the omicron variant. New Pac-12 policies that went into effect at the start of the month state that Juzang only needs to isolate for five days should he test positive, so while he may avoid a lengthy absence, he would be in line to miss the Stanford game over the weekend if he winds up testing positive.

With no other players set to miss Thursday's in-state showdown, it appears the rest of the roster is not facing any serious COVID issues at the moment.

The last time Juzang missed a game for the Bruins was all the way back at the end of last regular season on March 6, 2021. UCLA lost to USC on a buzzer-beater 3, as no player on either side scored more than 13 points with Juzang nursing a mildly sprained ankle.

Juzang returned from that one-game absence to lead the Bruins to the Final Four, scoring 22.8 points per game on his way through the NCAA tournament.

Clark will be missing his third game out of the Bruins' last four, the first coming as a result of a non-COVID-related illness and the next two coming as a result of a concussion. Clark was hit in the face during practice Monday and was not able to go Tuesday against Arizona, although UCLA managed just fine without their undersized defensive and rebounding ace.

UCLA, without two of its top-six rotation players, will tip off against Cal at 6 p.m. Guard David Singleton, guard/forward Peyton Watson and guard/forward Jake Kyman are all in line to pick up more minutes with Juzang and Clark missing.

The Bruins beat the Golden Bears 60-52 on Jan. 8 with Juzang scoring a season-low nine points. In the five games since then, however, Juzang is averaging 22.6 points per game on .513/.500/.862 shooting splits with 5.4 rebounds per game and a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnonFollow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruinsLike All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruinsSubscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports IllustratedRead more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated

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Johnny Juzang in COVID-19 Protocols, Will Miss UCLA Men's Basketball's Game Against Cal - CalBearsMaven

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 362.5 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.62 million. More than 9.98 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Moderna has announced a mid-stage study to test a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine specifically designed to target the Omicron variant. The news comes a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a trial of their own Omicron-specific jab. CEO Stphane Bancel discussed an Omicron-specific vaccine at the Davos Agenda last week.

COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease in England, with measures such as mask mandates and COVID passes, which were introduced in December, lapsing today.

The United States has shipped 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses as part of its earlier pledge to donate about 1.2 billion doses to low-income countries, the White House said on Wednesday.

Tunisia has extended a night curfew and banned all gatherings for another two weeks to counter the rapid spread of COVID-19, the government said on Wednesday.

Austria's lockdown for people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will end on Monday, because pressure on hospitals has eased, the government announced yesterday.

Italy will ease COVID-19 restrictions for all visitors from European Union countries starting from 1 February, the health ministry has announced.

New research suggests that hospital room surfaces pose a low risk of spreading COVID-19.

The Biden Administration is withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate for businesses, reports CNBC. The move comes after the US Supreme Court blocked the mandate earlier this month.

The BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which is dominant in Denmark, appears more contagious than the more common BA.1 sub-lineage, Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Wednesday.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

The COVID Response Alliance to Social Entrepreneurs - soon to continue its work as the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship - was launched in April 2020 in response to the devastating effects of the pandemic. Co-founded by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship together with Ashoka, Echoing Green, GHR Foundation, Skoll Foundation, and Yunus Social Business.

The Alliance provides a trusted community for the worlds leading corporations, investors, governments, intermediaries, academics, and media who share a commitment to social entrepreneurship and innovation.

Since its inception, it has since grown to become the largest multi-stakeholder coalition in the social enterprise sector: its 90+ members collectively support over 100,000 social entrepreneurs across the world. These entrepreneurs, in turn, have a direct or indirect impact on the lives of an estimated 2 billion people.

Together, they work to (i) mobilize support for social entrepreneurs and their agendas; (ii) take action on urgent global agendas using the power of social entrepreneurship, and (iii) share insights from the sector so that social entrepreneurs can flourish and lead the way in shaping an inclusive, just and sustainable world.

The Alliance works closely together with member organizations Echoing Green and GHR Foundation, as well as the Centre for the New Economy and Society on the roll out of its 2022 roadmap (soon to be announced).

New cases of COVID-19 in the Americas in the past week have been their highest since the start of the pandemic, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said yesterday.

There were more than 8 million new cases, 32% higher than the previous week, while fatalities throughout the region also increased by 37%, with 18,000 new deaths caused by COVID-19.

The United States continues to have the highest number of new infections, although cases decreased by nearly 1 million over the last week, the regional health agency said.

Mexico's southern states have seen new infections triple and Brazil has seen new cases surge 193% over the last seven days, PAHO said in weekly briefing.

The agency also warned about the impact of the pandemic on children, with millions yet to return to the classroom.

Numerous countries around Europe have reported record daily COVID-19 cases.

Germany crossed the 200,000 mark for the first time, with 203,136 confirmed infections in the previous 24 hours. This represents 69,600 more cases than the same day a week before.

Countries across Eastern Europe also set records, with Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania all reporting their highest confirmed COVID-19 cases of the pandemic on Wednesday.

Written by

Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: Top news stories about the pandemic on 27 January | World Economic Forum - World Economic Forum

Pregnancy & COVID-19 Vaccines

As you care for the health of you and your baby, you will make many important decisions. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to protect both of you against the virus.

The CDC and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommend you get vaccinated if you:

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says getting vaccinated before becoming pregnant or early in your pregnancy is the best way to reduce risk of complications from COVID-19 for you and your baby.

Vaccines Recommended for Pregnant People

When you are pregnant, your body changes in many ways. Your risk of getting severe COVID increases due to these changes, including:

The COVID-19 vaccine protects you from serious illness and keeps you healthy, so you can keep your baby healthy. Pregnant people who get COVID during their pregnancy are at higher risk for:

The CDC recommends the COVID vaccine for people who are breastfeeding. Reports have shown that breastfeeding people who have been vaccinated have antibodies in their breastmilk, which could help protect their babies.

The vaccine is safe for those who are pregnant, want to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. The vaccine does not contain any live virus, so it cannot give you or your baby COVID-19. The vaccine teaches your body to recognize COVID-19 and create an immune response.

There is no evidence that any vaccine causes fertility problems in women or men including the COVID-19 vaccines.

In addition to getting vaccinated, you can create a COVID-safe cocoon by encouraging those that come into contact with your baby to also get vaccinated.

If you have questions about COVID-19 vaccines or boosters, talk to your doctor or healthcare provider. You can also check out the CDCs Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccinationsor call the PA Health Hotline at 1-877-724-3258.

See original here:

Pregnancy & COVID-19 Vaccines - Governor Tom Wolf

Bloomington, Ind.Thirty City workers have reported positive results of COVID-19 laboratory tests since the January 20 update, including one Parks & Recreation (Parks) employee, two Bloomington Police Department (BPD) employees, seven Utilities (CBU) employees, five City Hall employees, two Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) employees, two Bloomington Transit (BT) employees, four Department of Public Works (DPW) employees, and seven employees of the Bloomington Housing Authority (BHA).

Any close contacts have been notified, but no members of the general public were identified as close contacts as a result of exposure to these employees in the course of their work.

Close contact is defined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as someone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before illness onset--or, for asymptomatic clients, two days prior to positive specimen collection--until the time the patient is isolated.

Details of each case are as follows:

A Parks employee started experiencing symptoms on January 23 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 24. There were no close contacts.

A BPD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 21, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 23. There were no close contacts.

A second BPD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 21, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 23. There were no close contacts.

A CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 13, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 16. There were no close contacts.

A second CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 20, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 24. Close contacts have been notified.

A third CBU employee, who was asymptomatic, received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 24 from a test to comply with the Citys testing policy for employees who have not submitted proof of vaccination against COVID-19. There were no close contacts.

A fourth CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 22, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 25. There were no close contacts.

A fifth CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 23, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 24. There were no close contacts.

A sixth CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 23, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 25. There were no close contacts.

A seventh CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 13, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 19. Close contacts have been notified.

A City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on January 11, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on January 18. There were no close contacts.

A second City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on January 21, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

A third City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on January 22, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on January 24. There were no close contacts.

A fourth City Hall employee, who was asymptomatic, received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 22. There were no close contacts.

A fifth City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on January 20, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on January 25. There were no close contacts.

A BFD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 25, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

A second BFD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 26, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

A BT employee started experiencing symptoms on January 24, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 25. There were no close contacts.

A second BT employee started experiencing symptoms on January 21, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 25. There were no close contacts.

A DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on January 6, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. Close contacts have been notified.

A second DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on January 11, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 15. Close contacts have been notified.

A third DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on January 12, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. Close contacts have been notified.

A fourth DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on January 19, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 120. There were no close contacts.

Seven BHA employees received a positive COVID-19 test result since the January 20 update. Further details of each case are unknown at time of this release.

Including todays report, 262 positive COVID-19 viral test results have been reported since the start of the pandemic by City workers, including those employed by the municipal corporations that operate the water utility (CBU), transit system (Bloomington Transit), and public housing (Bloomington Housing Authority). Additionally, COVID-19 was listed among the causes of death of one City worker.

Data about COVID-19 cases among City employees, in the county, the state and the nation are available at https://bton.in/SOHjE. Other City-related updates about the COVID-19 pandemic are available at bloomington.in.gov/covid19.

The City of Bloomington is committed to sharing information about how its operations and workforce are affected by this public health emergency, and will continue to provide weekly updates about confirmed cases among staff while protecting employees privacy.

Excerpt from:

City Reports Thirty New COVID-19 Cases | City of Bloomington, Indiana - City of Bloomington

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IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

Read more:

WV's school COVID-19 case tracker has re-started, after stopping amid surge. The state epidemiologist says the old version 'severely under-reported'...

Dear Campus Community,

We were very pleased to greet students as they returned to campus this week. With an extensive set of public health protocols in place to manage the impact of COVID-19, we welcome the start of the spring semester.

Vaccination continues to be the best public health measure to fight COVID-19. While vaccines do not prevent all infections, they have proven to be very effective at preventing severe illness and hospitalization.Earlier this week, we conducted two large-scale booster clinics, and we will continue to provide convenient access to vaccines.The Public Health Promotion Center (PHPC) plans to conduct vaccine clinicseach Thursday and Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Campus Center. Walk-ins are accepted, butwe encourage everyone to book an appointment.

This week we also distributed KN95 masksto departments, schools, colleges and residential halls across campus. Faculty, staff and students can also stop by the PHPC during operating hours to pick up two masks per person.We strongly urge you to use a high-grade mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94, or a double mask with a surgical mask under a cloth mask.

With the start of the semester, we have received some inquiries about testing protocols.Our approach to testing has been one of the most rigorous and effective aspects of the universitys pandemic mitigation efforts, and that commitment continues. With the development of vaccines over the past two years, our testing regimen has evolved to best address changing conditions.

Previously, the primary purpose of surveillance testing (testing everyone) was to identify individuals with COVID and isolate them from the community. In a vaccinated and boosted population, testing serves different purposes.We now employ a combination of more effective measures. These are especially valuable given how quickly the Omicron variant spreads, since the majority of people testing regularly are not identified as positive during their peak period of being contagious. Our current approach features continuous testing of wastewater on the scale of the entire campus, providing an accurate and real-time assessment of infectivity. Adaptive testing is then deployed to the populations showing increases in infectivity to identify individual cases. Meanwhile, convenient, unobserved voluntary testing is available and used regularly by the campus community. This comprehensive approach provides the PHPC enhanced tools to continuously analyze the state of the virus on our campus and enact real-time COVID-mitigation measures to keep our campus and the surrounding communities safe. These testing protocols, employed in concert with our vaccination and masking policies, are designed to create a safe environment for all, including vulnerable individuals with medical conditions, and families with young children at home who are not vaccinated.

The latest COVID-19 testing data for the UMass communityfrom Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 shows 191 new positive cases. The universitys cumulative positivity rate is 2.58%, down from last weeks rate of 6.33%.The states seven-day positivity rate is 10.37%. Most cases are of short duration resulting in mild-to-moderate illness, and there are no current hospitalizations.

Everyone must continue to monitor themselves forCOVID-19 symptomsevery day before coming to campus.If you feel unwell, stay home.

Thank you for all you are doing to care for yourselves and one another, and to support the health of our community.

Sincerely,

Co-Directors of the Public Health Promotion Center (PHPC)

Ann Becker, Public Health DirectoJeffrey Hescock, Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety

Link:

COVID-19 Update from the UMass Public Health Promotion Center - UMass News and Media Relations

The Marine Corps has approved a third religious exemption to the required COVID-19 vaccine, according to its latest statement about the forces vaccination rate.

Historically religious exemptions to vaccines were completely nonexistent, with the Corps having no history of granting one over the past ten years, Marine spokesman Capt. Andrew Wood told Marine Corps Times in October 2021.

But in mid-January, the Corps said it granted two religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine the first for the U.S. military. Now, it has approved a third.

A total of 3,428 Marines have requested religious exemptions and 3,377 have been processed through Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, leaving 51 to still be decided.

The Marine Corps, following Department of Defense policy, issued an order that all Marines were required to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 by the end of November 2021 or they would be separated.

The only way to avoid both the vaccine and separation was to get an approved medical, administrative or religious exception.

With the politicization of the current vaccine rollout, thousands of Marines have applied for religious exemptions, hoping to keep their careers and avoid the shot.

All current exemption requests are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, Wood said in the emailed statement. Each request will be given full consideration with respect to the facts and circumstances submitted in the request.

The Marine Corps is tracking 627 administrative or medical exemptions to the vaccine, most of which are temporary, Wood said.

With the third Marine receiving the exemption, the Marine Corps is approving just 0.088% of all religious exemption requests.

The Marine Corps has a compelling governmental interest in mission accomplishment at the individual, unit, and organizational levels, Wood said. Adjudication Authorities pay particular attention to how religious accommodation request determinations will impact the Marines and units ability to accomplish the mission and consider the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling government interest.

Currently 95% of the active duty Marine Corps is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 97% of active duty Marines are fully or partially vaccinated.

For the reserves, 87% of the force is fully vaccinated while 88% of the force is fully or partially vaccinated.

Holding true to its promise to separate Marines who refuse the vaccine, the Corps already has administratively separated 399 Marines, Wood said.

No other U.S. military branch has yet approved any religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine.

In the active duty Army, 2,910 permanent religious exemptions have been requested, with 266 disapproved so far and zero approved, according to data released Wednesday.

More here:

Another Marine receives a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine - Marine Corps Times