Daily Archives: March 8, 2022

Find an updated count of COVID-19 cases in California and by county on our tracker here.

Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows

WHO says booster shots are now needed, in reverse from last years stance

Hong Kong experiences COVID-19 surge, could lead to lockdowns again

Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 6 million

NFL and NFL Players Association drop face masking rules

10:02 a.m.: Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows

Recent research from UC Santa Cruz shows a dramatic drop in small businesses early in the pandemic, especially those owned by people of color.

In particular, there was a loss of about 450,000 Black-owned businesses, a 41% drop.

The Inclusivity Project aims to raise $100 million to help 1,000 Black entrepreneurs in California.

Jay King, president and CEO of the California Black Chamber of Commerce,, is involved in this effort.

My hope is that what it does is, it starts to build those micro and mini-micro businesses into a small business that can house two to four employees and then scale it up, King said on CapRadios Insight.

He said the goal of the Inclusivity Project is to provide mentorship and business development expertise.

9:56 a.m.: WHO says booster shots are now needed, in reverse from last years stance

An expert group convened by the World Health Organization said it strongly supports urgent and broad access to coronavirus vaccines, including booster doses, according to the Associated Press.

The call caps a reversal from the U.N. health agencys previous insistence that booster doses werent necessary and contributing to vaccine inequity.

In a statement on Tuesday, WHO said its expert group concluded that immunization with authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide high levels of protection against severe disease and death amid the global circulation of the hugely contagious omicron variant.

Last year, WHOs director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on booster doses, pleading with rich countries to donate their vaccines instead.

9:32 a.m.: Hong Kong experiences COVID-19 surge, could lead to lockdowns again

Hong Kong has reported more than 34,000 new coronavirus infections on Monday a record as authorities assess the possibilities of locking down the city.

According to the Associated Press, Hong Kong is grappling with a coronavirus surge driven primarily by the omicron variant. Daily cases have more than quadrupled from a week ago.

Health authorities say the government could implement measures that may involve asking people to stay at home.

Several supermarkets' shelves were wiped bare as residents stockpiled daily necessities after rumors of a lockdown circulated on social media. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has called for calm, saying that food supplies were normal.

9:47 a.m.: Global COVID-19 death toll surpasses 6 million

The death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 6 million, according to the Associated Press.

The tragic number confirmed on Monday is believed to be a vast undercount and shows that the pandemic in its third year is far from done. Its also a reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic, even as people are shedding masks, traveling and moving around the globe.

The last million deaths of the tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University were recorded over the previous four months.

Thats slightly slower than the previous million but highlights that many countries are still struggling with the coronavirus. Overall, some 450 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded.

9:39 a.m.: NFL and NFL Players Association drop face masking rules

The NFL and NFL Players Association recently announced that they have agreed to suspend all COVID-19 protocols going into the 2022 football season, effective immediately.

NPR reports that both the NFL and the players association announced the suspension, which means the NFL will no longer conduct mandatory testing for any of its players or staff.

With the change in protocols, players and staff will no longer have to wear face coverings at team facilities, regardless of vaccination status. However, each club can require face coverings if they elect to do so.

While no NFL games were canceled during the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID-19, many teams ended up moving games during the 2020 schedule, according to the Associated Press. Nearly 95% of NFL players and about 100% of NFL staff were fully vaccinated.

9:23 a.m.: China sees new COVID-19 cases despite 'zero-tolerance policy'

China is seeing a new surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, despite its zero tolerance approach to dealing with outbreaks.

According to the Associated Press, the mainland reported 214 new cases in 24 hours on Monday. The southern province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, reported the most cases at 69.

Hong Kong has been recording tens of thousands of cases per day. No new cases were reported in Beijing, which was essentially back to normal.

In his annual report to the national legislature on Saturday, Premier Li Keqiang said China needs to constantly refine epidemic containment but gave no indication that Beijing may switch up its current zero tolerance strategy.

10:59 a.m.: UC Davis will no longer require masks in most indoor settings

On March 19, UC Davis will drop their current masking policies and follow the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions guidelines to no longer require masking in most indoor settings.

This change will apply to both the Davis and Sacramento campuses. However, masks will still be required in clinical settings and on public transit, following federal, state and local guidelines.

Despite this change, masks are still strongly recommended by public health officials and by the school for vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike. The school said it will support those who continue to wear masks indoors for any reason.

Employees and students who are not fully vaccinated must continue testing every four days. Davis campus employees and fully vaccinated students must continue testing every 14 days.

As a reminder, people who are up to date on their vaccinations have a much lower risk to their health.

Further updates will be provided in Chancellor Gary S. Mays next letter to the community on March 11.

10:50 a.m.: Senators introduce bill to fund research into long COVID

Nearly two years after getting COVID-19, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said he still has mild symptoms, according to the Associated Press.

The Washington Post reports thats why Kaine joined fellow Democratic senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois in introducing a bill to fund research aimed at better understanding long COVID.

The little-understood phenomenon in which symptoms linger for weeks or months after a coronavirus infection could affect thousands.

The Comprehensive Access to Resources and Education (CARE) for Long COVID Act would centralize data about patient experiences and fund research into the effectiveness of treatments.

It would also expand resources to help those with lingering symptoms.

10:44 a.m.: Heres why vaccine rates are still low in some countries.

Experts say there are several reasons why COVID-19 vaccination rates are still low in some countries, in addition to limited supplies.

Other challenges now include unpredictable deliveries, weak health care systems and vaccine hesitancy. According to the Associated Press, many countries with low vaccination rates in Africa. Other places include Yemen, Syria and Haiti.

For most of last year, developing nations were struggling with a lack of supplies, but other setbacks have emerged, such as poor infrastructure to distribute the shots and a lack of materials like syringes.

At the same time, rich countries were hoarding doses, while many countries didnt have the facilities to make their own vaccines. COVAX, the initiative to distribute vaccines equally around the world, faltered in delivering shots to countries that needed them.

Vaccine hesitancy has also contributed to low uptake.

9:43 a.m.: Some of Nevadas school districts have lowered the bar for substitute teacher hiring during states of emergency

In a move prompted by the pandemic, the state has cleared the way for Nevadas largest school districts to hire substitute teachers with only a high school diploma during states of emergency.

According to the Associated Press, the Legislative Commission on Monday unanimously approved a permanent rule change covering school districts with over 9,000 students attending district schools or public charter schools within a districts geographic boundaries.

The covered districts include Las Vegas, Clark and Washoe counties.

The new permanent regulation replaces a temporary measure that expired Nov. 1. It was put in place during the pandemic because of Clark Countys severe staffing shortage.

9:39 a.m.: As demand for COVID-19 vaccines drop, states scramble to figure out what to do with soon-to-expire doses

As demand to get COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. collapses in many areas, states are scrambling to use stockpiles of doses before they expire.

Millions of doses have already gone to waste across the nation, as reported by the Associated Press.

From the least vaccinated states like Indiana and North Dakota to some of the most vaccinated states like New Jersey and Vermont, public health departments are shuffling doses around their states in hopes of finding providers that can use them.

In California, the percentage of wasted doses is only about 1.8%, but in a state thats received 84 million doses and administered more than 71 million of them, that's about 1.4 million wasted doses.

All this comes only about a year after the vaccines were released, and people such as hospital board members, their trustees and donors jumped the line to get early access before those deemed a higher priority.

9:34 a.m.: Pfizers COVID-19 pill treatment takes months to produce

Pfizers new COVID-19 treatment came with a catch when it debuted late last year it can take months to make tablets.

According to the Associated Press, company leaders said they have since expanded production and expect big gains in the next several months. That could help if another wave of cases develops later this year.

The drugmaker uses more than 20 different sites in over 10 countries to produce Paxlovid, however making the complex drug involves chemical reactions that need time to develop. Pfizer said it has reduced production time from nearly nine months to about seven.

9:56 a.m.: California man allegedly stole $1 million in COVID-19 tests

Authorities say they are seeking a Southern California warehouse manager who is accused of stealing more than $1 million worth of COVID-19 tests from his employers clinic.

Santa Ana police say 33-year-old Carlitos Peralta had access to his employers shipping and delivery system, according to the Associated Press.

His employer has seven warehouses nationwide that are used to store and ship COVDI-19 tests to customers, including clinics, pop-up testing sites, schools, and hotels.

Police say Peralta diverted nearly 100 separate shipments from multiple warehouses to his home.

The police department asked the public on Thursday to contact the agency with information about his whereabouts.

9:51 a.m.: Pfizers COVID-19 vaccines protect young kids against omicron, report shows

A new government report shows Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine gave children 5 and older strong protection against hospitalization and death even during the omicron surge.

As reported by the Associated Press, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the new data on Tuesday.

A day earlier, a study from New York raised the question of whether the vaccine is less effective in children ages 5 to 11, especially against milder infections, particularly since younger kids get an even smaller dose than teens.

However, CDC data from additional states doesnt suggest any age-related issues with the vaccine. While vaccines are generally less effective against omicron, they still protect against severe outcomes.

9:40 a.m.: Los Angeles County set to drop indoor mask mandate this week

Los Angeles County is set to lift its indoor mask mandate this week as coronavirus case rates and hospitalizations plummet, according to the Associated Press.

Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday that California's most populous county would likely issue a revised health order that would take effect Friday and along with new state guidelines.

Ferrer told the county's Board of Supervisors that it would still be recommended but not required for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents to wear face coverings in public indoor settings.

9:41 a.m.: Sacramento County public health officer to virtually attend State of the Union

Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye will be a virtual guest, due to safety protocols, at tonights State of the Union address.

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) made the announcement Monday night. The address will cover some of the achievements of the Biden presidency, from the economy to the government's COVID-19 response.

I am thrilled to have Dr. Olivia Kasirye join as my virtual guest and thank her for her guidance, vigilance and service for the Sacramento community, Matsui said in a press release.

Kasirye said that shes worked together with Matusi to provide the people of the Sacramento region with timely and accurate information and the resources they need to stay safe during the battle with COVID-19.

CapRadio will broadcast the speech live at 6 p.m. You can also watch it live on our website.

9:06 a.m.: US Treasury Department says overwhelming amount of federal rental assistance during pandemic went to low-income tenants

The U.S. Treasury Department has concluded that more than 80% of the billions of dollars in federal rental assistance went to low-income tenants during the pandemic.

According to the Associated Press, the Treasury also found that the largest percentage of tenants receiving pandemic aid were Black households, in which many were led by women.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Treasury also found that more than 40% of tenants getting help were Black and 20% were Latino, while two-thirds were woman-headed households.

Lawmakers approved $6.5 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance last year, and through 2021, the government body said more than $25 billion has been spent or allocated, representing 3.8 million payments to households.

Find older coronavirus updates on our previous blog page here

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California coronavirus updates: Black-owned businesses dropped 41% during the start of the pandemic, study shows - Capital Public Radio News

Few of Covid-19s peculiarities have piqued as much interest as anosmia, the abrupt loss of smell that has become a well-known hallmark of the disease. Covid patients lose this sense even without a stuffy nose; the loss can make food taste like cardboard and coffee smell noxious, occasionally persisting after other symptoms have resolved.

Scientists are now beginning to unravel the biological mechanisms, which have been something of a mystery: The neurons that detect odors lack the receptors that the coronavirus uses to enter cells, prompting a long debate about whether they can be infected at all.

Insights gleaned from new research could shed new light on how the coronavirus might affect other types of brain cells, leading to conditions like brain fog, and possibly help explain the biological mechanisms behind long Covid symptoms that linger for weeks or months after the initial infection.

The new work, along with earlier studies, settles the debate over whether the coronavirus infects the nerve cells that detect odors: It does not. But the virus does attack other supporting cells that line the nasal cavity, the researchers found.

The infected cells shed virus and die, while immune cells flood the region to fight the virus. The subsequent inflammation wreaks havoc on smell receptors, proteins on the surface of the nerve cells in the nose that detect and transmit information about odors.

The process alters the sophisticated organization of genes in those neurons, essentially short-circuiting them, the researchers reported.

Their paper significantly advances the understanding of how cells critical to the sense of smell are affected by the virus, despite the fact that they are not directly infected, said Dr. Sandeep Robert Datta, an associate professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the study.

Its clear that indirectly, if you affect the support cells in the nose, lots of bad things happen, Dr. Datta said. The inflammation in the adjacent cells triggers changes in the sensory neurons that prevent them from working properly.

Indeed, many complications of Covid appear to be caused by the immune systems friendly fire as it responds to infection by flooding the bloodstream with inflammatory proteins called cytokines, which can damage tissue and organs.

This might be a general principle: that a lot of what the virus is doing to us is a consequence of its ability to generate inflammation, Dr. Datta said.

March 8, 2022, 6:53 p.m. ET

The new study is based on research carried out at Zuckerman Institute and Irving Medical Center at Columbia University in New York; the New York University Grossman School of Medicine; the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York; Baylor Genetics in Houston; and the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis. The research was published online in Cell in early February.

The scientists examined golden hamsters and human tissue specimens from 23 patients who succumbed to Covid. After the hamsters were infected with the original coronavirus, scientists tracked the damage to their olfactory systems over time.

(How do you know a golden hamster has lost its sense of smell? You dont feed it for several hours and then bury Cocoa Puffs in its bedding, said Benjamin tenOever, a professor of microbiology at NYU Langone Health and an author of the new research. Hamsters that can smell will find the cereal in seconds.)

The virus did not invade neurons, the researchers learned, only the cells that play supporting roles in the olfactory system. But that was enough to alter the function of the nearby neurons, leading to a loss of smell.

The immune response altered the architecture of genes in the neurons, disrupting production of odor receptors, said Marianna Zazhytska, a postdoctoral fellow at the Zuckerman Institute and one of the papers first authors, along with a graduate student, Albana Kodra.

It is not the virus itself causing all this reorganization its the systemic inflammatory response, Dr. Zazhytska said. The nerve cells are not hosting the virus, but they are not doing what they did before.

The ability of the olfactory receptors to send and receive messages is disrupted. But the neurons dont die, and so the system can recover after the illness resolves.

Earlier work at the Zuckerman Institute showed that neurons that detect smells have complex genomic organizational structures that are essential to the creation of odor receptors, and the receptor genes communicate among themselves very intensively, said Stavros Lomvardas, one of the papers corresponding authors.

We saw early on that upon infection, the genomic organization of these neurons changes completely theyre unrecognizable compared to how they normally are, Dr. Lomvardas said.

There is a signal released from the infected cells that is received by the neurons that normally detect odors, and tells them to reorganize and stop expression of olfactory receptor genes, he said.

He suggested this may represent an evolutionary adaptation that offers a form of antiviral resistance and whose main purpose may be to prevent the virus from entering the brain. That was a relief for us, he said. That was one piece of good news.

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How the Coronavirus Steals the Sense of Smell - The New York Times

On Tuesdays, MinnPost provides weekly updates that cover COVID-19 developments in Minnesota from the previous Wednesday to present.

Well, we are officially two years into this pandemic: Two years ago on Sunday, Minnesota marked its first case of COVID-19.

Do you remember what you were doing when you found out about the first Minnesota case? I do. It was an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon, at 3:26 p.m. when the press release announcing the first case landed in my inbox.

I was on my way to happy hour with friends at Stellas Fish Cafe in Uptown. Over drinks, we talked about booking tickets to a festival John Prine was headlining in the summer. None of us knew this would be our last happy hour in a long time, or that Prine would die of COVID-19 a month later.

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In brighter news: Two years in, data suggest COVID-19 transmission rates continue to decline in Minnesota. Both case counts and wastewater concentrations of the virus are down.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced a new coronavirus response plan that would take steps toward living with the virus as well as preparing for variants. Requiring funding from Congress, the plan includes measures for protecting against and treating Covid-19; preparing for new variants; avoiding shutdowns; and fighting the virus abroad, the New York Times reported.

U.S. households can order more free COVID-19 tests. Households can order eight tests, so households that have ordered none so far can order eight, while households that have already ordered four can get an additional four, delivered via the U.S. Postal Service, per NPR.

In a reversal of opinion, the World Health Organization is now supporting wider access to COVID-19 booster shots. Previously, the global health organization held that they werent necessary for people who were healthy and had concerns that booster shots were contributing to vaccine inequity, the Associated Press reports.

Amid lower community transmission and updated CDC masking guidelines, Duluth Public Schools, where masks had been required, have shifted to a masks-optional approach, says Dan Kraker of MPR. Last week, Kraker said Duluth schools were the largest district in the state to switch to a masks-optional policy.

Data from the Minnesota Department of Health show the state added 4,497 new COVID-19 cases between March 2 and March 8, averaging 642 new cases per day. Last week (which included 10 days worth of data due to reporting delays over Presidents Day), the average was 900 cases per day.

The most recent seven-day case positivity average or the average share of positive cases out of total COVID-19 tests is 4.0 percent, down from 5.6 percent the week prior. You can find the seven-day case positivity average here.

Minnesota has reported 90 COVID-19 deaths since last Wednesday. (Deaths did not necessarily occur in the week in which they were reported because deaths are not always reported and confirmed immediately.)

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COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop in Minnesota. As of Tuesday, 44 people are in intensive care with COVID-19, while 322 are hospitalized and not in intensive care. Last Tuesday, 75 were in intensive care and 437 were hospitalized and not in intensive care. More information on Minnesotas current hospitalizations here.

The most recent data show 65.9 percent of Minnesotans, (3.7 million people), had completed a COVID-19 primary vaccine series. A week ago, 65.8 percent of Minnesotans had completed the vaccine series. This week, MDH added data on the number of people who are up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines, meaning they have completed the primary series and received a booster if recommended. That stands at 2.5 million people, or 45.7 percent of the population. More data on the states vaccination efforts can be found here.

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Coronavirus in Minnesota: Cases dropping as Minnesota passes two years of the COVID-19 pandemic - MinnPost

(WXYZ) The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Michigan is now below 1,000, less than two months after the state set a record.

According to the latest information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, there are 777 adults hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and another 64 with suspected cases of COVID-19. That's as of March 7.

The state dropped below 1,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 last Friday, and the numbers have continued to decrease.

Compare that to Jan. 10, when the state set a record with 4,580 people in the hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19. In less than two months, the number of hospitalizations has dropped more than 80%.

According to the state, metro Detroit still has the most people hospitalized with 120 people hospitalized in Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties and 234 people hospitalized in Detroit, Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.

The number of children in the hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 29 cases. It peaked at 117 on Jan. 14.

COVID-19 cases have continued to drop significantly from the peak earlier this year with the omicron surge. On Monday, the state reported an average of 552 new cases per day over the weekend, the lowest daily case average since the summer of 2020.

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

Originally posted here:

Number of Michiganders hospitalized with COVID-19 drops below 1,000 - WXYZ 7 Action News Detroit

Public health experts are warning local leaders to prepare for a future COVID-19 outbreak as cases continue to drop.

Whats happening: The seven-day average for COVID-19 cases in the United States hovered around 59,000 cases per day last week, a sign that the coronavirus outbreak is still here, though dropping compared to winter peaks.

What to expect: Public health experts recently told The Guardian that leaders should use the ongoing lull period to prepare for future outbreaks.

What theyre saying: Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University, told The Guardian the pandemic isnt over and that officials should use the time right now to prepare for the next COVID-19 variant, which could be more transmissible.

The bottom line: Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, told The Guardian: We need to expect the unexpected with COVID-19.

More here:

New COVID variant: Will the next COVID outbreak happen soon? - Deseret News

GRAND RAPIDS, MI In the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping trial, COVID-19 and Whitmers pandemic response, which allegedly set off the would-be kidnappers wasnt far from prospective jurors thoughts.

There was a man struggling with its after-effects after he was hospitalized around Thanksgiving. There was another who lost his 46-year-old brother to the coronavirus.

And there was a woman whose husband lost his job during the pandemic. She sobbed as she told a judge that a previous illness left him unable to find new work.

Whos going to hire him? she asked.

Related: Man who admits Gov. Whitmer kidnap plan says co-defendants claims of FBI entrapment are false

After a long day of jury questioning, attorneys on Tuesday, March 8, settled on a dozen jurors and six alternates to hear the case against four men suspected of plotting to kidnap the governor.

Opening statements are set for Wednesday morning.

The defendants, Brandon Michael-Ray Caserta of Canton, Barry Croft Jr. of Bear, Delaware, Adam Fox of Wyoming and Daniel Harris of Lake Orion, are accused of plotting the governors kidnapping over her shutdown orders.

They had sympathizers among those in the jury pool.

Several said they were so upset by Whitmers pandemic orders they could not be fair judges.

Related: I think theyre guilty: Prospective jurors share thoughts on Gov. Whitmer kidnap case

COVID started everything, lets face it, a prospective juror, who was later dismissed, told Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker.

And I think people enjoyed the little power they got from COVID.

The judge said the focus of the trial will be the defendants alleged actions. COVID-19 will only play a part.

It was a triggering event that brings us here, but its not the issue, the judge said.

Related: FBI agents must reveal true names at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot trial, judge rules

Caserta, Croft, Fox and Harris were charged in October 2020. Two others, Ty Garbin of Livingston Countys Heartland Township and Kaleb James Franks of Waterford, have pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy.

Garbin has been sentenced to seven years, three months in prison, while Franks awaits sentencing. In their plea deals, they agreed to testify against the others.

The government says they were part of a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, whose members conspired to kidnap the governor at her Northern Michigan summer home.

Eight others are facing state charges.

The defendants say that undercover FBI special agents and paid informants pushed the defendants to take part in crimes.

Read more:

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COVID started everything: Jury set in trial of 4 men accused of plotting Gov. Whitmers kidnapping over cor - MLive.com

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 446.2 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.99 million. More than 10.85 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday that 93% of the US population now live in areas where COVID-19 levels are low enough that people do not need to wear masks indoors.

Pfizer is expected to provide around 10 million courses of its COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid to low- and middle-income countries this year, according to an official with the Global Fund, a healthcare NGO working to buy the pills from the drugmaker.

Germany will provide a further $1.5 billion to a global initiative for better access to COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said last Tuesday.

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).

Countries around the world continue to ease their COVID-19 restrictions.

Belgium will relax almost all its remaining restrictions from today, including requirements to wear masks indoors and the need to show a COVID-19 pass for indoor venues from cafes to sports halls.

"I think it is an important page that we are turning. It is a symbol principally of our resilience and perseverance faced with a pandemic that gave us little chance to rest," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference.

Turkey also eased similar restrictions last Wednesday, ending the need to wear masks indoors or outdoors where there is enough ventilation. A contact tracing app code will no longer be needed when entering places such as shopping malls or public institutions.

In France, rules requiring people to show a COVID-19 vaccine passport to access venues will be lifted from 14 March. However, it will remain in place for access to elderly home care centres.

And in Greece, a requirement to wear masks outdoors was lifted from Saturday.

Almost a third of people report at least one ongoing symptom between six and 12 months after their COVID-19 infection, a survey of 152,000 people in Denmark has found.

The study which is yet to be peer-reviewed includes one of the largest groups yet of people who were not hospitalized with COVID, and followed them for longer than other major studies, the researchers from Denmark's State Serum Institute said.

The questionnaire-based study suggests that the most commonly reported long-term symptoms are changes in sense of smell and taste, as well as fatigue.

Separately, a small US study of patients suffering from persistent symptoms long after COVID-19 found that nearly 60% had nerve damage possibly caused by a defective immune response a finding that could point to new treatments.

The study involved in-depth examinations of 17 people with so-called long COVID, a condition that arises within three months of a COVID-19 infection and lasts at least two months.

"I think what's going on here is that the nerves that control things like our breathing, blood vessels and our digestion in some cases are damaged in these long COVID patients," said Dr Anne Louise Oaklander, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a lead author on the study published in Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation.

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 - World Economic Forum

State health officials are looking ahead to the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Long COVID is a condition that can cause ongoing physical, neurological and mental health issues. Medical experts say it could be impacting hundreds of thousands of Californians.

A new study out of the United Kingdom found that nearly one out of 50 people reported long COVID symptoms.

'If we extrapolate that to nearly 40 million Californians, that could be close to 800,000 persons self-reporting long COVID symptoms in our state," said California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan. "So, it is no wonder that the COVID pandemic is also referred to as a mass disabling event."

Long COVID is a condition that sticks around after the virus is gone.

Symptoms include fatigue, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and brain fog. That can include short-term memory loss and difficulty doing normal tasks.

"Brain fog is really debilitating and from a societal level, this is one of the symptoms that's really preventing people from going back to work full-time, from kind of re-engaging in their daily lives," said Dr. Lucy Foster, Infectious Disease Specialist for UC San Diego Health.

Doctors say that experiencing symptoms for 12 weeks or longer is considered true long COVID.

Other signs include increased anxiety and depression, all symptoms that can have various causes.

"A lot of the symptoms, especially the neurologic and the mental health symptoms, it's impossible to tease out what is truly caused by long COVID and what is caused by the collective trauma that everyone's experienced from two years of living in the pandemic," Dr. Foster said. "I don't know that we'll ever truly sort that out."

Medical experts are now working on a unified response.

The California Senate will discuss how to deal with the ongoing impacts of long COVID during a senate committee hearing on Wednesday.

Original post:

California health officials working to address "Long COVID" - KSBY News

BOISE, Idaho Idaho Gov. Brad Little says he will lift the states public health emergency disaster declaration on April 15, just over two years since it was put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Little made the announcement Tuesday, saying it came after weeks of thoughtful deliberation with stakeholders.

Were hopeful the recent decrease in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths means we are on a downward trend with the pandemic, Little said in a statement. The April 15 timeframe provides an important bridge for hospitals and other healthcare providers to plan for the transition.

The rate of new coronavirus cases has dropped significantly in Idaho over the past two weeks, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Still, one out of every 219 residents tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, making the state second in the country for new cases per capita. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have also dropped dramatically statewide.

Emergency declarations serve as a legal foundation that allows government officials to streamline the response to disasters. Such declarations can make the state eligible for increased federal and state funding, allow red tape and regulations to be lifted for a more nimble disaster response, and create the framework for emergency orders to be issued for things like social distancing, business closures and mask mandates.

Some other states have also lifted COVID-19-related emergency declarations in recent weeks, though many are still in place across the U.S. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced last month that her states emergency declaration would be lifted on April 1. Washington states disaster declaration remains in place, though Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the states indoor mask mandate would lift the same day as Oregons: March 12.

Little first issued a proactive emergency declaration for the pandemic on March 13, 2020, noting that the coronavirus had been detected in neighboring states and accurately predicting that Idaho cases would soon be identified.

A little over a week later, with a major coronavirus outbreak underway in Blaine County, Little increased the urgency of the states response by signing an extreme emergency declaration. That declaration was accompanied by a stay-home order requiring residents to isolate at home when possible, limiting gathering sizes and temporarily closing some businesses like hair salons, bars and convention centers.

Those steps were lifted and replaced with lighter restrictions over the next several weeks and months. Little never issued mask orders, though some local government entities did. He touted his lack of statewide mandates when announcing that the emergency declaration would be lifted.

I kept Idaho open, banned vaccine mandates, never issued mandates for vaccines or masks, and successfully challenged Bidens overreaching vaccine mandates in court, Little said.

Some Idaho lawmakers have pushed legislation that would end the disaster declaration without the governors sign-off. The Idaho House voted on Monday in favor of a resolution ending the disaster declaration. If the resolution passes the Senate, it could end the declaration before April 15.

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Idaho governor: COVID-19 disaster declaration ends in April - The Columbian