Geneology International

Tag: Coronavirus

  • Indiana coronavirus COVID-19 updates Sunday January 9, 2022

    Indiana coronavirus COVID-19 updates Sunday January 9, 2022

    The latest Indiana headlines in the coronavirus pandemic for Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022.

    INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Sunday’s latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.

    Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 5 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.

    RELATED: Here’s everything we know about the COVID-19 vaccine

    RELATED: Here are the most common omicron symptoms being reported

    MCPHD hosting vaccine, rapid testing clinic downtown Monday

    The Marion County Public Health Department is partnering with the College Football Playoff Host Committee to provide free COVID-19 vaccines and rapid testing on Monday, Jan. 10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on the north side of Washington Street between Pennsylvania and Meridian streets.

    The walk-in clinic near Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis will take place using two MCPHD mobile units.

    The vaccine clinic will offer both initial and booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those ages 12 and over, as well as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for those ages 18 and older. Those receiving a second or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are asked to bring their vaccine card or a photo of the card. Parental or guardian consent is required for a minor to be administered the vaccine.

    Rapid test results will be provided on-site within about 15 minutes of getting a test.

    Warren Township students in grades 5-12 move to e-learning for entire week

    Some students in the MSD of Warren Township will continue e-learning for a week.

    Superintendent Dr. Tim Hanson originally notified families last week that students in grades 5 through 12 will have e-learning days Friday, Jan. 7 and Monday, Jan. 10  due to a “large number of staffing needs” that arose from positive COVID cases and other illnesses.

    On Sunday, Hanson said students in grades 5 through 12 will learn virtually through Friday, Jan. 14.

    According to Hanson, COVID-19 cases are impacting staff in the intermediate middle schools in the district, as well as Warren Central High School. The transportation department has also been affected.

    The change does not affect students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

    Purdue vs. Michigan game postponed due to COVID-19 protocols

    The Purdue vs. Michigan men’s basketball game has been postponed because the Wolverines have fewer than seven scholarship players cleared to play due to COVID-19 protocols. 

    The third-ranked Boilermakers (13-2) were scheduled to play at Michigan (7-6) Tuesday, Jan. 11. 

    The Wolverines also had to postpone their game against No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday because they didn’t have enough scholarship players available.

    Purdue’s next scheduled game is Friday, Jan. 14 at home against Nebraska (6-10). Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.

    Deal reached on US military curbs to halt COVID

    Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says “a basic agreement” has been reached with the U.S. on banning the U.S. military from leaving base grounds in Japan, a step to curb the spread of coronavirus infections. 

    He says details of the deal are being worked out. 

    New daily cases have surged in what medical experts call “the sixth wave,” topping 8,000 lately, a four-month record. That’s been blamed on the U.S. military because the jump is most pronounced near the bases. 

    Southwestern Okinawa, which houses most of the 55,000 U.S. troops, is among the three prefectures where new restrictions have kicked in.

    Latest US, world numbers

    There have been more than 59.76 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 5:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 837,250 deaths recorded in the U.S.

    Worldwide, there have been more than 305.24 million confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 5.48 million deaths and more than 9.4 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide.


    For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.

    Fishers Health Department to offer COVID-19 testing for students beginning Monday

    The Fishers Health Department announced it will open priority rapid COVID-19 testing appointments for students and staff of Fishers-based schools beginning Monday, Jan. 10.

    The department said the measure is an effort to help ensure schools remain open and in-person while keeping students and staff safe.

    The testing will take place at the existing drive-thru location, located at 3 Municipal Drive in Fishers.

    Kindergarten through grade 12 Fishers-based school staff and children who want a PCR test must register online. The department said they’re only able to offer rapid tests to people 18 and younger, and 50 and older.

    Registration information and testing hours can be found at this link.

    Chicago mayor, teachers still at odds over COVID protocols

    Closed-door negotiations resumed Saturday to resolve a standoff between Chicago school officials and the city’s teachers union over COVID-19 precautions that canceled three days of classes this week. But the public war-of-words between union leaders and Chicago’s mayor showed little sign of an imminent resolution. 

    The Chicago Teachers Union wants remote learning until there’s an agreement or the latest COVID-19 surge subsides, but district leaders say remote instruction was devastating for children and their well-being. 

    Both sides have been negotiating a pandemic safety plan, including more standards for testing and metrics that could trigger school closures.

    Pfizer vaccine appears to protect kids against MIS-C

    Among 102 kids ages 12 to 18 who were hospitalized with the condition, none who had received two Pfizer shots at least 28 days earlier needed ventilators or other advanced life support. By contrast, 40{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of unvaccinated children required such treatment.

    The condition, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, causes symptoms that may include persistent fever, abdominal pain and rashes. Most children recover, but 55 deaths have been reported. 

    The report comes as hospitalizations of U.S. children under 5 with COVID-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine. 

    Since mid-December, with the highly contagious omicron variant spreading furiously around the country, the hospitalization rate in these youngest kids has surged to more than 4 in 100,000 children, up from 2.5 per 100,000.

    The rate among children ages 5 to 17 is about 1 per 100,000, according to the CDC data, which is drawn from over 250 hospitals in 14 states.

    Moderna COVID-19 booster shot timing shortened to 5 months

    U.S. regulators on Friday shortened the time that people who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine have to wait for a booster — to five months rather than six.

    The two-dose Moderna vaccine is open to Americans 18 and older. The Food and Drug Administration’s decision Friday means Moderna recipients are eligible for a booster after at least five months have passed since their last shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed.

    That’s in line with new recommendations for recipients of the Pfizer vaccine. Initial Pfizer vaccinations are open to anyone 5 or older. But only Pfizer recipients 12 and older are eligible for boosters, and earlier this week, U.S. health authorities said they can get one five months after their last shot.

    In a statement, FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks called vaccination “our best defense against COVID-19” and said a shortened wait for a booster may help as the country battles a surge of the highly contagious omicron variant.

    A booster after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine already is urged two months later.

    Indianapolis Public Library canceling all programs, meeting room reservations beginning Monday

    The Indianapolis Public Library announced Friday it is canceling all in-branch library programs and community meeting room reservations as of Monday, Jan. 10 due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.

    The library shared the announcement on Twitter and said all library branches, online programs, computers, curbside pickups and vaccine clinics will still be open and available.

  • Coronavirus Today – Jan 4

    Coronavirus Today – Jan 4


    By Anne Blythe

    As public health officials predicted in late December, North Carolina is seeing the Omicron variant of COVID-19 bring record-high cases counts and putting strains on systems across the state.

    Finding COVID-19 tests has become difficult again. Rapid tests are in short supply. Many testing sites have long lines and time-consuming waits.

    On Tuesday, during his first briefing with reporters as the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kody Kinsley acknowledged the aggravation that many are experiencing while sometimes waiting for more than an hour to get swabbed and tested for COVID-19.

    “Last week, we set a single-day record for COVID-19 cases. The next day we broke it, and the next day we broke it again, topping out at 19,620,” Kinsley said at the briefing with Gov. Roy Cooper and Susan Kansagra, the DHHS acting senior deputy director of public health. “We are not alone. The highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 is setting record case numbers across the country, putting a strain on testing services and creating concern about hospital capacity.”

    North Carolina’s daily case count had a downward tick this week after last week’s record highs. There were 10,276 new cases of lab-confirmed COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to the DHHS dashboard, but even that number was one of the ten highest daily case counts since the beginning of the pandemic. 

    There were 3,008 people in the hospital with disease related to COVID-19, 603 of those were in intensive care unit beds, taking up 80 percent of the state’s hospital beds and 83 percent of the ICU beds, Kinsley said.

    “Most people in the hospital are unvaccinated,” Kinsley said. “More than 80 percent of the people in the ICU are unvaccinated.” 

    North Carolina has lost 19,494 people to COVID deaths, a sober reminder of the deadly scourge of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Kinsley, Cooper and Kasangra urged North Carolinians to get vaccinated and boosted when eligible to help slow the spread of Omicron and any other COVID-19 variants that might come along.

    “Vaccines are our way out of this,” Kinsley said. “They provide the best protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. Boosters are critical. Early evidence shows that boosters provide a significant level of protection against Omicron.”

    “You can still decide to get vaccinated and help us save lives, protect hospital capacity and keep kids in school,” Kinsley added.

    DHHS is taking steps to make sure hospitals do not become overwhelmed by the surge in COVID cases, and Kinsley said he is in frequent contact with hospital administrators, keeping track of what they’re seeing and planning ahead for any shifts in resources that are needed.

    The hospital systems still have capacity according to Kinsley and Cooper, but that could change quickly if the case counts continue to soar.

    Each of North Carolina’s 100 counties has a high level of community COVID-19 transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID tracking map, putting the state back in the red zone.

    “As the new year unfolds before us, I have so many reasons to be hopeful about our state’s progress in dealing with this pandemic, educating our children and growing our state’s economy, all at the same time,” Cooper said. “But we have to do what works, and I know we will.”

    Talks with the White House

    One thing Cooper plans to do is to require state employees who are subject to his executive order requiring vaccination or routine testing if they want to continue their employment to also get boosted once the CDC updates the definition of full vaccination to include a booster shot.

    “We want to make sure that our state employees are vaccinated and that they are protected,” Cooper said. “One of the things we are seeing more and more is that really keeping up with your vaccination is making sure you get boosted because more and more with this Omicron variant we are seeing so much more protection because the booster ramps up the immune system.”

    While working to get more North Carolinians vaccinated and boosted across the state, Kinsley and Cooper have been talking with the Biden administration and vendors about how they can increase testing supplies during the Omicron surge.

    “We’ve had a record number of tests over the holidays and that’s a positive thing,” Cooper said. North Carolinians are doing the right thing, he added, by getting tested before gathering with families or going back to school or work.

    The positivity rate for those tests is nearly 30 percent, according to Kinsley, nearly six times as high as the 5 percent mark that DHHS sets as a goal to be at or below.

    Cooper said he was on the phone with the White House this week trying to find out how his administration could get more tests distributed to counties and sites during this time of high demand. This was going on as complaints came from across the state that testing sites were having to close because they ran out of supplies.

    The Food and Drug Administration recently authorized two more rapid tests for emergency use so that some 15 brands of antigen tests will soon be available for distribution in the U.S. market. One test is manufactured by SD Biosensor and distributed by Roche, according to a Health and Human Services press release. The other is manufactured by Siemens.

    “That will help put millions more tests on the market for people,” said Cooper.

    Additionally, the Biden administration plans to get half a billion tests out to states in the next couple of weeks, further increasing the supply.

    In the meantime, the state, which provides only 10 percent of the testing, according to Kinsley, has been using its resources to open additional testing sites and thousands of appointments each day.

    Before the holidays, DHHS distributed about 500,000 test kits across the state, Kinsley said, and stands ready to fill other requests.

    “We are taking several steps guided by our laser focus on saving lives, ensuring that hospitals can provide care to people who need it and keeping kids in the classroom,” Kinsley said. “The first thing on everyone’s mind is testing. We set records there as well. On New Year’s Eve, more than 91,000 tests were reported to the state. I know many people felt the frustration of this increase and had to endure long lines.”

    Kinsley said he expects the demand for tests to remain high throughout the coming weeks.

    ‘Test-to-stay’ in school

    The surge in cases comes as millions of children and college students return to classrooms after a winter break.

    The ABC Science Collaborative, a Duke group that pairs physicians and scientists with school and community leaders to help them understand current and relevant COVID data, recently shared the results of a study with DHHS about a “test-to-stay” program that allows children to stay in the classroom even after exposure to the virus.

    The children and school staff would have to be tested for COVID-19 at specified intervals, continue to wear masks properly, not have any symptoms and remain negative on the rapid antigen tests.

    Kinsley said DHHS plans to talk with state school board members and others toward the end of this week to discuss whether this is something North Carolina schools should and could do.

    Such a program would mean children no longer would have to quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID, easing child care issues for many working parents and offering students an option to be in the classroom instead of isolated from their classmates.

    Prison cases start to tick up

    In just the past day, the number of inmates in the North Carolina prison system with COVID rose sharply, according to the dashboard, going from 84 on Monday to 116 on Tuesday. 

    Researchers who have tracked what’s happened in prisons around the country say the Omicron variant is likely to rip through prison populations, who live in close contact and who often have pre-existing conditions. 

    Tim Moose, the Department of Public Safety Director of Adult Corrections, said at the briefing with the governor and others that 74 percent of inmates throughout the system currently are vaccinated with two shots. Of that number, a third have chosen to get boosters, according to Moose.

    Inmates should be able to request boosters through their case managers or during medical appointments, Moose added, but he could provide no further details during the briefing about which facilities had more boosted inmates. 

    According to the DPS spokesman, John Bull, the department does not perform genetic sequencing on the positive tests from inmates.

    That makes it difficult to track Omicron, which is fast-moving. While Omicron appears to result in milder disease, it still can land an unvaccinated person in a hospital bed or worse.

    Coronavirus by the numbers

    According to NCDHHS data, as of Tuesday afternoon:

    • 19,457 people total in North Carolina have died of coronavirus.
    • 1,742,844 have been diagnosed with the disease. Of those, 3,008 are in the hospital, an 84 percent increase since Dec. 20, 2021, more than half of the admissions are of people between the ages of 50 and 79. The hospitalization figure is a snapshot of people hospitalized with COVID-19 infections on a given day. The hardest hit areas are the Charlotte Metropolitan area, with 813 patients, and the Triad area, with 764 patients. 
    • As of Tuesday, 603 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units across the state. 
    • North Carolina tracked COVID-19 re-infections in the case counts from March 1, 2021 through Sept. 20, 2021. All told, North Carolina tracked 10,812 reinfections, 200 of those were in people who were previously vaccinated. Ninety-four people who were reinfected with COVID-19 have died. 
    • As of Dec. 20, 2021, 1,538,231 people who had COVID-19 are presumed to have recovered. This weekly estimate does not denote how many of the diagnosed cases in the state are still infectious. Nor does it reflect the number of so-called “long-COVID” survivors who continue to feel the effects of the disease beyond the defined “recovery” period.
    • To date, 22,067,976 tests have been completed in North Carolina. As of July 2020, all labs in the state are required to report both their positive and negative test results to the lab, so that figure includes all of the COVID-19 tests performed in the state. Most recently, 29.7 percent of those testing were testing positive. That doesn’t include home-based antigen tests that are reading as positives.
    • People ages 25-49 make up the largest group of cases (39 percent). While 12 percent of the positive diagnoses were in people ages 65 and older, seniors make up 74 percent of coronavirus deaths in the state. 
    • 338 outbreaks are ongoing in group facilities across the state, including nursing homes and correctional and residential care facilities.
    • As of Dec. 20, 6,607,890 North Carolinians have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Ninety-two percent of people over the age of 65 have been completely vaccinated, while 59 percent of the total population is fully vaccinated. 2,542,000 boosters have been administered.
    • Children between the ages of 5 and 11 became eligible for vaccination during November. A total of 186,226 first doses have been given to those children, a total of 21 percent of that population.

    Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

    X

    Republish this article

    As of late 2019, we’re changing our policy about reprinting our content.

    You are free to use NC Health News content under the following conditions:

     

    You can copy and paste this html tracking code into articles of ours that you use, this little snippet of code allows us to track how many people read our story.

    Please do not reprint our stories without our bylines, and please include a live link to NC Health News under the byline, like this:

     

    By Jane Doe

     

    North Carolina Health News

     

    Finally, at the bottom of the story (whether web or print), please include the text:

     

    North Carolina Health News is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, statewide news organization dedicated to covering all things health care in North Carolina. Visit NCHN at northcarolinahealthnews.org. (on the web, this can be hyperlinked)

    by Anne Blythe, North Carolina Health News
    January 4, 2022

    1

  • COVID-19 update for Dec. 24-26: Here’s the latest on coronavirus in BC

    COVID-19 update for Dec. 24-26: Here’s the latest on coronavirus in BC

    Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C.

    Author of the article:

    David Carrigg, Cayley Dobie

    Publishing date:

    Dec 25, 2021  •  13 hours ago  •  7 minute read  •  69 Comments

    Here's your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C.
    Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. Photo by Gilnature /iStock/Getty Images

    Here’s your daily update with everything you need to know on the novel coronavirus situation in B.C. for Dec. 24-26, 2021.

    We’ll provide summaries of what’s going on in B.C. right here so you can get the latest news at a glance. This page will be updated regularly throughout the day, with developments added as they happen.

    Check back here for more updates throughout the day. You can also get the latest COVID-19 news delivered to your inbox weeknights at 7 p.m. by subscribing to our newsletter here.

    B.C.’S COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS

    As of the latest figures given on Dec. 24:

    • Total number of confirmed cases: 235,658 (10,415 active)
    • New cases since Dec. 24: 2,441
    • Total deaths: 2,414 (four deaths)
    • Hospitalized cases: 192
    • Intensive care: 71
    • Total vaccinations: 4,377,551 received first dose; 4,126,279 second doses; 807,057 third doses
    • Recovered from acute infection: 222,604
    • Long-term care and assisted-living homes, and acute care facilities currently affected: Two

    IN-DEPTH:   Here are all the B.C. cases of the novel coronavirus in 2021 | in 2020

    B.C. GUIDES AND LINKS

    • COVID-19: Here’s everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus

    • COVID-19: B.C.’s vaccine passport is here and this is how it works

    • COVID-19: Here’s how to get your vaccination shot in B.C.

    • COVID-19: Look up your neighbourhood in our interactive map of case and vaccination rates in B.C.

    • COVID-19: Afraid of needles? Here’s how to overcome your fear and get vaccinated

    • COVID-19: Five things to know about the P1 variant spreading in B.C.

    • COVID-19: Here’s where to get tested in Metro Vancouver

    • B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

    LATEST NEWS on COVID-19 in B.C.

    Saturday, Dec. 25

    Vancouver Coastal Health closes St. Vincent testing site temporarily

    St. Vincent’s COVID-19 testing site is temporarily closed due to winter weather conditions and people seeking tests are asked to visit the new site at UBC’s Life Sciences Centre.

    Starting today, Vancouver Coastal Health will be diverting anyone needing a test to the UBC location. The health authority will also be redeploying staff and resources from the St. Vincent’s site to UBC to help with testing.

    “This is a precautionary measure to ensure the safe operations of testing services for both staff and people accessing care during the inclement weather,” according to a notice from Vancouver Coastal Health .

    The UBC testing site, located at 2350 Health Sciences Mall in Vancouver, is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will also remain open when the St. Vincent’s site reopens.

    For more information about COVID-19 testing, click here .

    Because of a recent surge in testing, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is asking people with symptoms and who are not at risk of serious illness are asked to assume they have COVID-19 and stay and isolate.

    — Cayley Dobie

    Friday, Dec. 24

    B.C. sets another COVID-19 record with 2,441 new cases

    Health officials reported 2,441 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, setting another pandemic record for highest number of new cases in one day.

    Fraser Health led today’s case count with 1,001 new cases while Vancouver Coastal Health was a close second with 967 new cases. Island Health reported 219 new cases, Interior Health had 188 and there were 66 new cases in Northern Health, according to today’s COVID-19 update.

    There are currently 10,415 active cases of the virus in the province — another pandemic record.

    The majority of active cases are in Vancouver Coastal Health (4,517) followed by Fraser Health (3,554), Island Health (1,274), Interior Health (778) and Northern Health (236).

    Officials also updated the number of cases where the Omicron variant of concern has been detected. So far that number is 1,613.

    There are now two health-care facility outbreaks with a new outbreak being reported at Ridgeview Lodge in Interior Health. The outbreak at Lions Gate Hospital is ongoing.

    — Cayley Dobie

    New testing site opens at UBC

    Vancouver Coastal Health announced Friday that it opened a new COVID-19 testing site at the UBC Life Sciences Centre “in response to increasing demand for COVID-19 testing across the region.”

    The site, located at 2350 Health Sciences Mall in Vancouver, will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.

    The location will also be providing rapid antigen tests to those with symptoms.

    In a press conference Friday morning, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province hit its testing capacity Thursday when it administered 20,000 COVID-19 PCR tests.

    Henry is asking that only people with symptoms go get tested and encouraging those who are not at high risk of severe illness to assume they have COVID-19 and stay home and isolate.

    — Cayley Dobie

    B.C. health officer asks residents to change holiday plans if feeling unwell

    British Columbia has hit its COVID-19 testing capacity as the provincial health officer asked residents to not get tested unless they have symptoms.

    Dr. Bonnie Henry says the province administered 20,000 COVID-19 PCR tests on Thursday.

    She says if someone develops symptoms then they need to adjust holiday plans and self-isolate.

    As a result of hitting the testing capacity, Henry says health staff are prioritizing those most at risk and giving take-home antigen tests to younger people at less risk.

    She says B.C. is in a “different pandemic” as a result of the Omicron variant.

    Health Minister Adrian Dix says the province expects to give out 147,371 vaccinations from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2.

    Watch the press conference below:

    We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

    — Canadian Press

    Simon Fraser, UVic, UNBC plan virtual start to university term as pandemic surges

    Simon Fraser University and the universities of Victoria and Northern B.C. have followed the University of British Columbia and announced plans to start the upcoming term with online instruction for most courses.

    SFU and UVic says classes will begin Jan. 10 with two weeks of online classes, although labs, clinical and performance courses will continue in-person with safety protocols.

    UNBC says the semester will begin as scheduled on Jan. 5, and all first classes of any course between Jan. 5 and Jan. 11 will be delivered online.

    All three universities say campus resources, including libraries, student housing and dining services will remain open with current safety plans in place.

    The University of B.C. said earlier this week that most of its classes will be offered online between Jan. 10 and 24.

    Numerous other post-secondary institutions across the country have either delayed the start of their terms or announced virtual classes to launch the new year.

    — Canadian Press

    B.C. reports more than 2,000 new cases in 24 hours

    B.C. health officials reported 2,046 new cases of COVID-19 today, the highest one-day increase since the beginning of the pandemic.

    The majority of new cases were reported in Vancouver Coastal Health, with 880 new cases, and Fraser Health, with 741 new cases. Island Health reported 248 new cases, Interior Health had 123 new cases and Northern Health had 53, according to a statement from health officials. There was one new case in someone who normally resides outside Canada.

    The number of active cases also jumped to 8,739, with Vancouver Coastal Health leading the way with 3,729 active cases followed by Fraser Health with 2,825, Island Health with 1,267, Interior Health with 699 and Northern Health with 217. There are two active cases in people who normally reside outside Canada.

    One more COVID-related death was also reported today in Island Health for a total of 2,410 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

    There have been 975 cases of the Omicron variant reported in B.C. so far.

    — Cayley Dobie

    B.C. businesses get a max $10,000 boost from province to battle Omicron restrictions

    The B.C. government has announced a onetime support program offering up to $10,000 to businesses ordered closed as a result of the Omicron shutdown.

    Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said Thursday the supports are aimed at complementing what was announced by the federal government yesterday, while acknowledging the closure orders come “at a very challenging time of year” for many businesses.

    “It’s fair to say that we’re all exhausted by COVID-19, but COVID-19 is not done with us,” he said.

    B.C.’s top doctor Bonnie Henry announced earlier in the week that gyms, fitness studios, dance studios, yoga centres, bars and nightclubs will be ordered closed until at least Jan. 18 because of the swift rise of cases sparked by the infectious Omicron variant.

    The federal government followed up with a support program as B.C., Ontario and several other provinces announced lockdown orders or capacity limits at certain types of businesses.

    — Joe Ruttle

    B.C. MAP OF WEEKLY COVID CASE COUNTS, VACCINATION RATES

    Find out how your neighbourhood is doing in the battle against COVID-19 with the latest number of new cases, positivity rates, and vaccination rates:

    B.C. VACCINE TRACKER

    LOCAL RESOURCES for COVID-19 information

    Here are a number of information and landing pages for COVID-19 from various health and government agencies.

    • B.C. COVID-19 Symptom Self-Assessment Tool

    • Vancouver Coastal Health – Information on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

    • HealthLink B.C. – Coronavirus (COVID-19) information page

    • B.C. Centre for Disease Control – Novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

    • Government of Canada – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update

    • World Health Organization – Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak

    –with files from The Canadian Press

    Comments

    Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

  • Coronavirus Today – Dec 20

    Coronavirus Today – Dec 20


    By Anne Blythe

    The message was dire from Gov. Roy Cooper and Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

    “Get boosted,” they repeatedly told North Carolinians on Monday during a briefing with reporters broadcast on PBS North Carolina.

    In anticipation of a tremendous surge in COVID-19 cases in early January as the Omicron variant looms large on the horizon, Cohen returned to the Emergency Operations Center podium with a sense of urgency in her last days on the job.

    Just a week earlier, Cohen told North Carolinians that she thought her update on the state’s COVID trends, metrics and data would be her final press conference. At the end of the month, she plans to resign from her job and turn over leadership of the state’s pandemic response to Kody Kinsley, the chief deputy secretary at DHHS tapped by Cooper to lead the department as the next secretary of health.

    “We thought last week might be your last time at the podium, but this pandemic continues to throw us curveballs,” Cooper told Cohen on Monday after she laid out what she wants North Carolinians to do immediately before Omicron becomes as prevalent here as it is in New York and other parts of the world. 

    Cohen issued a secretarial advisory on Monday urging all this winter and holiday season to get vaccinated, boosted and tested, and mask up in public places.

    COVID cases are on the rise, and North Carolina health care systems are starting to show strain as influenza circulates and the Delta and Omicron variants pose threats. 

    Cohen and Kinsley said they expected to see record numbers of cases in the peak of the expected Omicron surge. Though Cohen was reluctant to put a specific number on what that record might be, she estimated that it could be as high as 10,000 cases a day. She also declined to speculate what peak hospitalization might look like as a result of the Omicron wave. 

    North Carolina reported 10,541 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID since Friday, Cooper said. There were 1,630 people hospitalized with severe illness related to COVID, 437 of whom were in intensive care unit beds.

    Three days ago, New York reported its highest number of daily COVID cases since the start of the pandemic. North Carolina public health officials are preparing for a similar trend to take hold here in the weeks ahead.

    “I have two messages for North Carolinians today,” Cohen said with a more urgent tone in her voice than typical at press briefings. “First, the newest variant of COVID-19, Omicron, is the most contagious we’ve seen yet and will likely set record-high, daily case numbers in the coming weeks. Second, and most importantly. You can act now to best protect yourself and family and friends.”

    People who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago are eligible for a booster and should get one as soon as possible. Those who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible for a booster two months after receiving their shot. They can also get a Pfizer or Moderna shot to boost their immunity.

    ‘Do not wait’

    The Omicron variant, which has been detected in “most” hospital labs across the state, according to Cohen, is two to three times as contagious as the Delta variant, currently the dominant variant in North Carolina.

    “Fortunately, early evidence suggests that illness from the Omicron variant may be less severe,” Cohen said. “However, it still can pose a danger for people who are not vaccinated, and particularly those who are at higher risk of severe disease.”

    During the week ending Dec. 11, Omicron accounted for 12.9 percent of all cases in the U.S. and 37 percent of cases in the Southeast. By the conclusion of the week ending Dec. 18, updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Omicron was accounting for 73.2 percent of all cases in the U.S. and 95.2 percent of all cases in the Southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee).

    Instead of throwing hands up in the air, frustrated that the Omicron variant has shown the strength and adaptability of the coronavirus that has disrupted life for 22 months during the pandemic, Cohen urged North Carolinians to take action.

    “Do not wait,” Cohen said, stressing each word.

    Researchers from Hong Kong found that Omicron reproduces itself up to 70 times more effectively in the upper airway of an infected person than Delta did, making it spread that much more widely when that person coughs or sneezes. The good news is that Omicron doesn’t reproduce as effectively in the lungs, those researchers found. That could be why Omicron appears to cause less severe disease overall, the researchers speculated.

    Public health officials in this country, though, say Omicron is too new to the states to predict whether that will remain the case in the weeks ahead.

    As health care systems prepare to treat anyone sickened by the Omicron variant, drugs they’ve used in recent months to help stave off severe illness from the previous variants are not likely to offer much help.

    ‘Diminished’ COVID therapies

    Regeneron, a drug company that created monoclonal antibody therapies that can be used for patients at risk of progressing to severe illness, put out a statement that its current drug has “diminished potency versus Omicron.”

    New drugs are being developed, but they might not be readily available if an Omicron surge comes as expected in the weeks ahead.

    Cohen was asked whether the record number of cases that she expected in North Carolina starting in early January would also mean a record number of hospitalizations.

    “I do not yet know what that will translate into in terms of hospitalizations,” Cohen responded. “What we are seeing with Omicron is, it does seem to be less severe. What we don’t know yet is how it’s going to behave here in the United States. With the level of vaccinations that we’ve had, with the kinds of vaccination that we’ve seen before, I don’t know what that will mean. We are certainly planning to see additional strain on our hospitals. That’s why we are working with our hospitals to be ready, and the more we can act right now, that’s what will protect folks.”

    “Right now,” though, is four days before Christmas Eve, when many families plan to gather to celebrate the holiday together after being forced to spend it apart in 2020 because of COVID. Some families are reconsidering how they might celebrate the holidays ahead, while others have opted to gather despite the variant. 

    “I know people are frustrated and dismayed by this wave of infection right here at Christmas, but it’s important to remember how far we have come in our fight against this disease,” Cooper said. “We know what works. Vaccines, boosters, testing and masks when needed. With every dose, we’re getting closer to turning the tide on this sickness and death brought on by the pandemic.”

    Cooper said his family is vaccinated and boosted. They plan to get tested, “then gather for food, prayer, presents and hugs and time with each other.”

    Testing in the spotlight again

    Kinsley outlined what the state has done in anticipation of Omicron. They have gotten boosters to state-run nursing homes and worked with hospitals to build systems to support them as weary workers and understaffed nursing teams add an even thornier layer for health care systems.

    At-home COVID-19 tests. Photo credit: Rose Hoban

    Kinsley also said the state is looking ahead to make sure that enough testing supplies are available during the expected surge. Testing for COVID will be a crucial element in schools, businesses and other places.

    During the high-water mark of the Delta surge, which occurred in the late summer, North Carolina saw as many as 86,000 tests administered some days.

    With public health leaders advising people who plan to gather for the holidays to get tested in advance, a spotlight has been cast again on whether tests are as easy to find as they should be.

    Many pharmacies have empty shelves where rapid at-home antigen tests once were stocked. Even if the shelves were stocked, at nearly $25 a box for some brands with only two tests included, the cost of home testing can add up quickly. 

    Kinsley stressed that free home-testing is available in North Carolina through DHHS. They’re not the rapid antigen tests, though. The swabs must be sent to a lab to get PCR results, adding a step that could lead to a delay in results.

    “Over the last several weeks we’ve pushed out several hundreds of thousands of tests, rapid tests, to our local health departments to make them available in local communities,” Kinsley said. “Of course we have statewide testing vendors that are providing testing in schools.”

    Coronavirus by the numbers

    According to NCDHHS data, as of Monday afternoon:

    • 19,167 people total in North Carolina have died of coronavirus.
    • 1,599,595 have been diagnosed with the disease. Of those, 1,630 are in the hospital. The hospitalization figure is a snapshot of people hospitalized with COVID-19 infections on a given day and does not represent all of the North Carolinians who may have been in the hospital throughout the course of the epidemic.
    • As of Tuesday, 437 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units across the state. 
    • North Carolina tracked COVID-19 re-infections in the case counts from March 1, 2021 through Sept. 20, 2021. All told, North Carolina tracked 10,812 reinfections, 200 of those were in people who were previously vaccinated. Ninety-four people who were reinfected with COVID-19 have died. 
    • 1,538,231 people who had COVID-19 are presumed to have recovered. This weekly estimate does not denote how many of the diagnosed cases in the state are still infectious. Nor does it reflect the number of so-called “long-COVID” survivors who continue to feel the effects of the disease beyond the defined “recovery” period.
    • To date, 21,190,766 tests have been completed in North Carolina. As of July 2020, all labs in the state are required to report both their positive and negative test results to the lab, so that figure includes all of the COVID-19 tests performed in the state. Most recently, 9.3 percent of those testing were testing positive. 
    • People ages 25-49 make up the largest group of cases (39 percent). While 12 percent of the positive diagnoses were in people ages 65 and older, seniors make up 74 percent of coronavirus deaths in the state. 
    • 263 outbreaks are ongoing in group facilities across the state, including nursing homes and correctional and residential care facilities.
    • As of Dec. 20, 6,539,752 North Carolinians have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Ninety-one percent of people over the age of 65 have been completely vaccinated, while 58 percent of the total population is fully vaccinated. 2,184,783 boosters have been administered.
    • Children between the ages of 5 and 11 became eligible for vaccination during November. A total of 161,410 first doses have been given to those children, a total of 18 percent of that population.

    This story has been updated with new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

    X

    Republish this article

    As of late 2019, we’re changing our policy about reprinting our content.

    You are free to use NC Health News content under the following conditions:

     

    You can copy and paste this html tracking code into articles of ours that you use, this little snippet of code allows us to track how many people read our story.

    Please do not reprint our stories without our bylines, and please include a live link to NC Health News under the byline, like this:

     

    By Jane Doe

     

    North Carolina Health News

     

    Finally, at the bottom of the story (whether web or print), please include the text:

     

    North Carolina Health News is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, statewide news organization dedicated to covering all things health care in North Carolina. Visit NCHN at northcarolinahealthnews.org. (on the web, this can be hyperlinked)

    by Anne Blythe, North Carolina Health News
    December 20, 2021

    1

  • ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AS A WAY OF DEALING WITH “CORONAVIRUS FEARS”

    ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE AS A WAY OF DEALING WITH “CORONAVIRUS FEARS”


    Laura Bottini, the founder and practitioner of Our System Intelligent

    The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on all of us in quite a few, lots of distinct ways. We all are anxious with the spectacular reduction of human everyday living around the world and an unprecedented problem to general public health and fitness, financial system and the world of do the job. The financial and social disruption prompted by the pandemic is devastating: according to WHO, tens of thousands and thousands of persons are slipping into intense poverty going through an existential risk. Without having the means to gain an cash flow all through lockdowns, a lot of have been unable to feed themselves and their households. These who have been luckier are still going through a number of worries — economic, own or well being relevant.

    These problems can be stress filled, mind-boggling, and result in potent thoughts in adults and kids. In accordance to the US Heart for Condition Regulate and Avoidance, during the pandemic people today have been going through psychological worry caused by panic and anxiety due to the large transmission and mortality charge of the disease, the social isolation, economic difficulties, and troubles in achieving overall health solutions. Public overall health steps, these types of as social distancing, are required to lessen the distribute of COVID-19, but they can make us feel isolated and lonely and can raise anxiety and anxiety. Fears connected to COVID-19 (“coronavirus fears”) have emerged as a new psychological outcome of the pandemic and have been connected with psychological distress and impairment. Other adverse consequences consist of an raise in stress and anxiety and despair signs and symptoms and the respective issues. 

    Above the previous several months concern has been continually topping the list of reasons why individuals check with for psychological support. This anxiety can cause a number of similar problems, these types of as anger, sadness, be concerned, numbness, or annoyance some individuals practical experience improvements in urge for food, vitality, needs, and passions, others – problem sleeping or nightmares. It is purely natural to really feel worry, anxiety, grief, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dilemma is, how do we decide on to deal with it and how we can can help ourself and other individuals.

    Though some men and women turn to prescription drugs, other individuals are naturally hesitant to just take prescription products to offer with their mental disorders. For individuals who desire other techniques of addressing their fears and anxiousness there are choice methods to therapeutic not only psychological health but also psychological and bodily ailments. I myself definitely think that we are so considerably a lot more than our mind and system we are multidimensional beings, and as a result I favor the holistic technique of substitute drugs. My conviction comes from travelling overseas and researching with global academics and healers as effectively from comprehension the want for relationship we all have. 

    Just after around 12 years of practical experience operating in holistic medicine and far more than 18 several years of expertise educating and performing with people today of all ages, I learned different healing modalities. I understood how vitality works, and the way it influences our overall body, thoughts, and spirit as properly. Every single mobile of our human body is crammed with all our recollections, activities, emotions, and views. And every time there is an imbalance, by utilizing the right equipment, we can get to the root of the situation and I can assist to detect what needs to be reviewed or prevail over.

    I have always been curious about how we can the natural way get over actual physical and psychological issues, and although I was residing in the UAE, I identified PKP Kinesiology. Then I figured out to not only muscle test but to “listen to the body” on a entire new level. PKP Kinesiology is the art and science of power balancing, grounded in the examine of anatomy and physiology, Chinese medication, and coaching. Next an power model which acknowledges that persons are much much more than just indicators kinesiology assessments clients’ muscles to detect and launch strain and power imbalances in their bodies, restore the move of purely natural energies, and assist them realize their whole possible.

    Kinesiology has confirmed to be incredibly efficient in encouraging people offer with dread and nervousness. In my encounter, when kinesiology is mixed with other methods, this kind of as Pranic Healing, Audio Remedy, or Cleaning and Consecrating Actual physical destinations, the results are notably impressive. In Our Human body Wise we mix distinctive techniques centered on a holistic technique, that supplies with a huge assortment of option drugs disciplines and preventative actions. 

    It is astounding to see how by way of holistic drugs we can not only assist defeat anxiety, but also improve power harmony and alignment, recharge and restore human body, mind, and spirit. Around and about again I see proof of how by producing new neural pathways that aid us at all amounts we can make improvements to our electrical power concentrations and increase our feeling of link and belonging. This is substantially much more than just dealing with COVID-similar panic — it is a way to preserve your body in the very best shape at all degrees.

  • The World Health Organization warns of very high risk posed by omicron variant : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

    The World Health Organization warns of very high risk posed by omicron variant : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

    People stage off a tram in Nottingham, England, a city the place a circumstance of the omicron variant of the coronavirus was determined past week.

    Joe Giddens/PA Visuals through Getty Visuals


    hide caption

    toggle caption

    Joe Giddens/PA Images by using Getty Visuals

    Folks stage off a tram in Nottingham, England, a town in which a case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus was discovered very last 7 days.

    Joe Giddens/PA Pictures by using Getty Photographs

    The Globe Wellness Group is warning that the new omicron variant of the coronavirus poses a “extremely higher” world possibility simply because of the possibility that it spreads more simply and might resist vaccines and immunity in people who were infected with former strains.

    In a technical short issued Sunday, the WHO warned its 194 member states that the new variant’s many mutations “may perhaps confer immune escape potential and possibly transmissibility gain,” and as a final result “the probability of likely even more spread of omicron at the world amount is high.”

    Omicron variant spreads to North America, Australia and more of Europe

    It claims that the risk to susceptible populations — especially in nations around the world with very low vaccination prices — could be “substantial.”

    On the other hand, it cautions that there’s nonetheless substantial uncertainty about the virus, together with how conveniently it spreads, how dangerous it is, irrespective of whether it can evade vaccines and immunity, how it responds to diagnostic checks and therapeutics, and even its precise signs and symptoms.

    “The vaccines have been designed, basically, to retain people out of hospital, and they’ve stood up and they’ve finished that extremely nicely,” Dr. Margaret Harris, a general public health and fitness doctor and WHO spokesperson, instructed NPR’s Early morning Version on Monday. “So we really have to have to know no matter whether this unique variation is heading to change that photograph.”

    The omicron variant was first claimed very last week in South Africa, exactly where bacterial infections attributed to the new pressure have risen sharply in latest times. Since then, it has been located in more than a dozen international locations, which includes Botswana, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong.

    So far, there have been no documented deaths joined to the omicron variant. Meanwhile, a lot of nations around the world together with the U.S. have reimposed some vacation limitations in an effort to stem the distribute of the new variant.

    The Centers for Ailment Control and Prevention has nevertheless to announce any omicron instances in the U.S., while the White Property chief clinical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci has claimed that he thinks it truly is unavoidable at some stage.

    In response to omicron, the CDC on Monday strengthened and simplified its suggestions on who should get a COVID-19 vaccine booster.

    “Anyone ages 18 and older should really get a booster shot either when they are 6 months following their original Pfizer or Moderna series or 2 months immediately after their initial J&J vaccine,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in an statement.

    This replaces steering that said persons ages 18 and older but youthful than 50 could acquire a booster and others in selected at-possibility categories or 50 and more mature should get a booster.

    The WHO on Sunday warned of doable “potential surges of COVID-19, which could have extreme implications, relying on a quantity of things like wherever surges might consider position.”

    The brief advises nations to enrich surveillance and sequencing initiatives and speed up COVID-19 vaccination protection. It also advises renewed social distancing constraints and speak to tracing.

    “In anticipation of amplified COVID-19 caseloads and associated pressure on the health procedure, guarantee mitigation options are in position to sustain crucial overall health solutions and needed wellbeing care resources are in position to respond to opportunity surges,” it advises.

    Talking on Monday, the WHO Director-Basic Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus claimed: “World health protection is way too essential to be remaining to prospect, or goodwill, or shifting geopolitical currents, or the vested pursuits of companies and shareholders.”

    “Omicron demonstrates just why the planet desires a new accord on pandemics,” he claimed, noting that the new variant’s emergence reveals how “perilous and precarious” the existing problem is.