Category Archives: Corona Virus

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.

Article continues after advertisement

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.)

Article continues after advertisement

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.

Article continues after advertisement

MinnPost's in-depth, independent news is free for all to access no paywall or subscriptions. Will you help us keep it this way by supporting our nonprofit newsroom with a tax-deductible donation today?

See original here:

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:

Irish on Ionia canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

Grand Rapids Public Schools lowers graduation requirements to help seniors impacted by pandemic

This coming week brings strongest warming rate of year, history shows

More:

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.

Continue reading here:

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.

Read more:

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

Each week, we answer frequently asked questions about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." See an archive of our FAQs here.

Lots of people are giving up masks in public places maybe they think the pandemic is over, maybe they're putting their faith in vaccines, maybe they're just tired of masking. But I still want to mask up when I'm around others omicron is out there, infections can happen if you're vaccinated. Is one-way masking wearing a mask helpful in any way?

It can be lonely out there as the solo masker in a sea of exposed chins and noses.

And there's no getting around the fact that having everyone wear a mask cuts down the risk of spreading the coronavirus in a public space much more effectively than a scattershot approach.

"One-way masking isn't doing that," says Kristen Coleman, an assistant research professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. "We're not maximizing the benefits of masks [if] only a proportion of the population" wears them.

But it looks as if an end to mask mandates will increasingly be the reality, given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidance that much of the public can forgo masks if local hospitals are not dealing with a high level of disease.

But if you plan to continue wearing a mask, you can still get substantial protection as the sole mask-wearer what's being called "one-way masking" if you do it right.

If it's pouring outside, would you throw on a cotton hoodie and expect to stay dry?

The same principle applies to masks and pathogens.

Unlike a cloth or surgical mask, an N95 respirator (as well as similar products, like a KN95 or KF94) is specifically designed to filter out the tiny viral particles that stay suspended in the air when exhaled by someone who's infected and not just the larger respiratory droplets that spray out like cannonballs and fall to the ground at close range.

(These models are often referred to as masks but are technically known as respirators.)

"The only thing I recommend is something like an N95 respirator," says Lisa Brosseau, a bioaerosol scientist and industrial hygienist who's a consultant for the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Lots of studies dating well before the coronavirus pandemic, in the laboratory and in workplaces, demonstrate that fit-tested respirators protect the wearer from hazardous airborne contaminants, she says.

"From Day 1, we have collectively done a poor job at communicating the strong efficacy of N95 respirators," adds Coleman.

Of course, any kind of protection is better than nothing at all. If you have no other options, surgical masks are better than cloth masks because the material has electrostatic charge to trap incoming particles, says Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician at Stanford University but if you're serious, don't count on them to keep you safe when most people nearby are unmasked.

Karan has taken care of hundreds of COVID-19 patients over the past two years and knows how well N95s work, even if you're face-to-face with a contagious unmasked person.

"I've been very close to them while they were coughing and weren't able to wear masks and never got COVID from a patient," he says.

The only real downside of wearing an N95 is that some models can compress your face, pinch your nose and make it hard to breathe. The key is to find one that you can tolerate wearing, while making sure there aren't big gaps around your nose or chin (if your nostrils are showing, forget about it!).

"They all feel slightly differently," says Karan, who personally prefers a model made by 3M called the VFlex.

But keep in mind that an N95 on its own isn't foolproof.

Health care workers go through fit tests to ensure the ones they're wearing are sealed properly. Even so, Brosseau says research shows that about 10% of particles will leak through during the normal wear and tear of the day.

Of course, most of the N95-wearing public will not undergo a rigorous fit test. Brosseau had studied this scenario people who had no prior experience or assistance putting on a respirator. She found that the majority of them could get a fit that would result in about 20% leakage.

This drop in effectiveness should not deter you, she stresses.

"It just means that it doesn't offer that 95% protection that's been advertised, but it's still going to be providing more protection than a surgical mask or a cloth mask," says Coleman.

Even with a solid choice like an N95, you need to calculate the risks you'll face as a one-way masker.

"Just wearing a mask it helps, but it is not going to turn being indoors into something that has no risk," says Jose-Luis Jimenez, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and an aerosols scientist.

Many of the considerations should feel familiar at this point, if not hard-wired into our pandemic-weary brains.

Poorly ventilated indoor spaces, especially where people are talking loudly, singing or exercising, carry the highest risk. If you do go inside, the safest situation is an uncrowded venue. And the longer you spend indoors, the more you open yourself up to infection.

The final big risk consideration comes down to how many people are contagious in your community. Dr. Lisa Maragakis says you can look at the number of new cases per capita in your community over the past week.

"That number needs to be in the single digits somewhere between one to five cases per 100,000 before we've reached that low level where the probability is such that you're less likely to encounter someone with the virus," says Maragakis, who's senior director of infection prevention at the Johns Hopkins Health System.

And remember: There are no hard-and-fast rules.

For example, you can spend the same amount of time in similar indoor spaces, but the chance of infection can go up enormously depending on what people are doing.

"We've seen tons of outbreaks in choirs, none in libraries and movie theaters that I know of," says Jimenez, who has developed a tool that estimates risk in different scenarios.

Some researchers have tried to specifically quantify the risk of being infected when one person is wearing a mask and the other isn't i.e., one-way masking. But many factors come into play.

One recent modeling study found a 90% risk of being infected after 30 minutes when a person wears a surgical mask and is about 5 feet away from an infected unmasked person. Switching to a respirator drops that risk to 20% over the course of an hour. And if both people are wearing a respirator, it's under 1% in an hour.

Brosseau has also analyzed this kind of scenario, although with a different approach that looks at how long it would take to get a big enough "dose" of the virus that you'd likely be infected. She found it would be about an hour and 15 minutes for someone wearing an N95 (not fit tested) to get infected when in close contact with a contagious person.

Of course, all these estimates are based on certain assumptions and can't be taken as a strict guide. Brosseau's relies on the idea that there's a high risk of infection for two unmasked people in close proximity for 15 minutes but that time span comes from contact-tracing guidance used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not data about the virus.

"These are not bright lines between safe and unsafe," she says.

Even among experts, there's considerable variation in how much they're going to rely on one-way masking when infection rates are high in their community.

Karan feels comfortable going into places that would be considered riskier if he's wearing the N95 he likes: "I use that to work out in the gym. I wear it everywhere. I wear it in the hospital or just out and about."

Others play it much safer. Jimenez says he isn't going back to the grocery store yet, even with a high-quality respirator.

Brosseau is back to shopping for groceries but avoids busy times and still rules out certain destinations. "I haven't gone back to church since the beginning of the pandemic," she says.

The decision to be a one-way masker can also add to your pandemic stress. It can be awkward to be the only person in a public place who's wearing one. And given the way that masks have been politicized, you may feel that your decision to be a one-way masker could be taken as a confrontational action.

As a one-way masker, epidemiology professor Charlotte Baker at Virginia Tech often finds herself one of the few people wearing a mask. And she recognizes that it can be a lonely road.

She suggests giving yourself a little pep talk to strengthen your resolve: "I'm doing this so I can see my parents," or "I'm doing this so I can keep my kids safe." In her case, she is immunocompromised and reminds herself, "I don't want to die" but notes "that might be a bit too on the nose for many people."

And don't obsess about the non-maskers around you, she says: "I suggest ignoring people, focusing on the task at hand and getting out of there."

Here is the original post:

Will one-way masking protect you from COVID in public spaces? : Goats and Soda - NPR

England begins living with the virus

This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he was scrapping the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England, saying it was time to live with the virus.

While he did not declare the nations health crisis over, the move put his country ahead of most others in Europe regarding the speed with which it hopes to return to normal life.

For insight into the approach, I spoke with Claire Moses, a writer for The Morning in London.

What happened in this latest round of lifting restrictions?

Basically, everything has been lifted. A lot of things had been open already restaurants, pubs, movie theaters, you name it but now the final restrictions are also gone. That includes mask requirements, even on Londons public transportation, and legal isolation requirements, even if you have the virus.

We also have access to free rapid tests, which we get through the National Health Service, but those wont be free anymore after April 1. My guess is that will mean that people will stop testing, unless theyre very ill, because no one is going to say, Lets buy tests before we see each other. Its just not realistic.

What does lifting isolation requirements mean?

So if I test positive, I no longer have to isolate. Im still encouraged to stay home, but its no longer legally required. If you get Covid or a nasty flu, youre probably going to do the responsible thing and stay home anyway. But since you essentially no longer have to tell anyone if you test positive and after April, you may not even know if you are infected unless you pay for a test it may change the calculation for some people. Maybe you have a trip planned and youre not going to cancel it. Or maybe you have a party or a dinner you really want to go to, so you do. This makes everyones personal risk assessment very, very difficult.

Why is Boris Johnson doing this?

On the one hand, hes saying the virus is here to stay and we need to accept that and adopt it into our daily lives. But hes also in the middle of a major political scandal here. There is a police inquiry into whether he broke his own governments lockdown rules by attending multiple parties. So his critics are saying that lifting the remaining restrictions is a way to distract attention from that.

What are health experts saying?

Health officials are extremely wary, and N.H.S. leaders have also said theyre against the end of the free testing. Something else to keep in mind is that the lifting of all restrictions doesnt protect vulnerable people. They have warned that politicians shouldnt say the pandemic is over, because it isnt Covid is still among us, and while cases have been dropping dramatically, tens of thousands of people around the country still test positive every day.

The N.H.S. is also dealing with another crisis: The pandemic has worsened delays and backlogs. Millions of procedures have been delayed, including cancer screenings and essential care.

Whats the latest on Queen Elizabeth?

The queen, who is 95, seems to be having a mild case of Covid with coldlike symptoms. But she did cancel her virtual appearances. According to the media here, shes still performing some light duties. One of those duties, as the BBC reported, is reading state papers.

Whats life like in London these days?

Everything is open. More and more people are starting to return to the office. I was on the tube, what we call the subway here, during rush hour this week, and it was crowded. Even if it wasnt quite as crowded as two years ago. Nightlife is up and running. Theaters are full and the audiences seem extremely happy to be there. People are back in pubs. In many places in town, it looks like we are living with Covid.

How does that feel?

On the one hand it feels great, because who doesnt love normalcy? We love the theater. We love the pub. We love hugging each other. We love going to work sometimes. But on the other hand, this pandemic has been very scary for everyone in different ways, and especially so for people who are older or more vulnerable. So, going back to a world where it seemingly doesnt exist feels abrupt.

The World Health Organization announced plans to establish a training hub in South Korea to teach low- and middle-income countries to produce their own mRNA vaccines. The effort, which aims to train 370 people from around the world starting in July, would help to mitigate global vaccine inequality and the shortage of skilled workers in the vaccine manufacturing industry, the agency said.

The announcement followed the organizations ongoing effort in South Africa to reverse-engineer existing mRNA vaccines and share the technology with low-income countries, after attempts to cooperate with Pfizer and Moderna to share the technology had been unsuccessful.

The W.H.O. also said that African countries would be able to accelerate their vaccination programs because of a change in the system of vaccine distribution.

Whats at stake. The crisis has stoked speculations thatthe political future of Mr. Johnson might be at risk. Though few Conservatives in Parliament have publicly called on him to quit, if the investigation determines that he misled Parliament, it could cost him his job.

Previously, the agency would send vaccine doses to African countries as they became available. But since January, countries have been able to request the vaccines they need from the W.H.O. directly, specifying in what quantity and when. As a result, they have been able to significantly ramp up vaccination efforts.

The continent had been expected to reach the target of vaccinating 70 percent of the population by August 2024. But now, the W.H.O. said, it seemed like that target could be met by early 2023.

An average of about 90,000 Americans are being vaccinated per day, the lowest point since the early days of the campaign, The Associated Press reported.

Moderna said it expected to make at least $19 billion in Covid vaccine sales this year, CNBC reported.

The pandemic has increased reliance on pills for abortions in the U.S.

Is the BA.2 version of Omicron worse? Heres what you need to know.

A truck caravan, planned as an American version of the past months chaotic protest in Canada, left California for Washington, D.C.

Hopeful business executives are again planning for workers to return in person (fingers crossed).

A celebrated Broadway composer, who has suffered from long Covid for two years, is reclaiming his old life, breath by breath.

Well, we did EVERYTHING right. We wore masks, we ate all our meals with friends outdoors, we got vaccinated twice and then boosted. We made it just about two years without getting infected. We got the virus skiing in Park City in January 2022, where we again did everything outdoors and wore our masks indoors. It was a super frustrating experience to have played by the rules and still gotten sick. That experience definitely makes us feel more willing to live life a little bit more, because not doing so didnt really pay the expected dividends.

Ilene Winters, West Dover, Vt.

Let us know how youre dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

Sign up here to get the briefing by email.

Email your thoughts to briefing@nytimes.com.

Read the original:

Coronavirus Briefing: England is Living with the Virus - The New York Times

Take a deep breath, Parkites.

COVID-19 case numbers have plunged in recent weeks following the omicron-fueled surge that pushed coronavirus transmission to never-before-seen levels in Summit County and the rest of the state. For the first time since last summer, prior to the emergence of the delta and omicron variants, there is a sense of optimism that we may be nearing a point where the coronavirus recedes into the background of daily life.

State officials announced recently that they plan to close mass testing sites at the end of March and begin treating the coronavirus as endemic rather than as a pandemic. And the Summit County Health Department has indicated that it intends shortly to take a similar tack.

The current situation is particularly promising for people who are vaccinated or better yet, boosted. With case numbers similar to where they were in the early fall and hopefully continuing to decline, its reasonable for people whove been inoculated or have a measure of immunity through infection to let their guards down a bit as long as they abide by common-sense COVID guidelines.

The prospect of a time when we can learn to live with the virus like we do other diseases such as the flu is welcome as we near the two-year anniversary of the pandemic striking Summit County. It represents a kind of freedom that weve been largely living without since March 2020.

As weve seen time and again, though, predicting the course of the pandemic is tricky. There are simply too many variables to say with certainty whether we are at a turning point. It felt like we were there in the late spring and summer last year, but then the variants plunged us back into crisis.

The optimism many people are feeling as spring approaches is justified. But another variant could arrive and wash it away.

Are we truly entering a new, less dangerous phase of the pandemic, or even the long-awaited transition to the coronavirus becoming endemic? Or is this merely another brief period of calm before the disease returns with a vengeance?

Its far too early to know. But for the first time in months, a return to normalcy appears close. Heres to hoping it actually arrives.

Link:

Record editorial: A return to normalcy appears close. But the coronavirus has proven unpredictable. - The Park Record