Erdogan said on Twitter that the couple had contracted the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and were experiencing mild symptoms.
"We will continue our work at home. We look forward to your prayers," he said.
Erdogan had traveled to Ukraine on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the ongoing tensions with Russia in the area, before returning home to Turkey.
The Turkish President said he was willing to serve as a mediator and host a summit between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Erdogan had his third dose of the coronavirus vaccine in June, he said in an interview last year.
Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Turkey since the Omicron variant become the dominant strain in the country in January.
More than 100,000 new cases were reported Tuesday, a new record, according to government data.
CNN's Maija Ehlinger contributed to this report
Vincent Zhou of Team United States skates on Sunday. Zhou tested positive for COVID-19 and may not be able to take the ice in time for his second competition on Tuesday. Harry How/Getty Images hide caption
Vincent Zhou of Team United States skates on Sunday. Zhou tested positive for COVID-19 and may not be able to take the ice in time for his second competition on Tuesday.
BEIJING U.S. men's figure skater Vincent Zhou has tested positive for COVID-19 putting his chance for another Olympic medal at risk.
"As part of yesterday's regular COVID-19 screening, Vincent Zhou tested positive," a U.S. figure skating representative said in a statement. "Under the guidance of the [U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee] medical staff, Zhou is undergoing additional testing to confirm his status."
The announcement comes on the day the U.S. figure skating won silver in the team competition. Zhou competed on Sunday in the team event as a substitute for three-time world champion Nathan Chen.
Zhou is supposed to compete again on Tuesday in the men's short program. If he tests negative in subsequent COVID tests, Zhou would still be able to compete.
If not, he will be placed in isolation, like other athletes who tested positive in Beijing, until he tests negative on two consecutive PCR tests.
This is the 21-year-old's second appearance at the Winter Olympic Games. He competed in Pyeongchang in 2018, but did not medal.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. New data from the Arkansas Department of Health shows that hospitalizations have continued to fall over the last 11 days as omicron appears to show a push past its peak over the past week.
Data from ADH shows the total number of active cases in the state fell by 2,754 in just 24 hours, making that number 38,314. The figures show there have now been 794,342 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with new cases increasing by 981.
The ADH also reported there are 1,493 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19, falling by 19 from the day before. The figures show 229 patients currently on ventilators, one less than the previous day and 460 patients in ICU which is three more than Saturday.
The data reported on Sunday shows there are now 9,831 Arkansans who have died because of COVID-19, an increase of 38 from the previous day.
Hospitalizations have declined for the 11th day in a row, Gov. Hutchinson said in a message on social media. Were continuing to come down from the Omicron peak, but we still need to be mindful of the virus. Vaccines prevent serious illness and hospitalizations.
According to the Arkansas Department of Health, 917 doses of the vaccine were given in the last 24 hours, changing the total number of doses given to 3,899,719. There are now 1,550,402 Arkansans who are fully immunized and 371,324 partially immunized.
The United Teachers of Richmond have approved a tentative agreement that negotiators reached Jan. 29 with the West Contra Costa Unified School District on additional COVID-19 safety protocols.
A union news release reported Friday that 93 percent of the members had approved the agreement, which centered around personal protective equipment and staff at school sites.
The agreement highlights the following:
-The district shall provide N95, KN95, and/or KF94 masks daily for students and staff, depending on supply. Medical grade or three-ply masks shall be required for all students.
-When there is a positive case in a classroom, all registered students and staff in the class are to be tested twice per week for two weeks.
-Testing will be provided for all students and staff before the return from President's Week and Spring Recess in February and April.
-The district shall increase its substitute pay rate and period subbing rate at the secondary level.
-Testing at school sites will continue for the remainder of the school year.
-All educators and service providers at the school site shall be notified of a confirmed positive case on-site within 24 hours.
WATERLOO, Ontario (StudyFinds.org) COVID-19 has disrupted countless lives around the globe and still serves as a daily, unavoidable stressor. Now, researchers from the University of Waterloo are revealing just how detrimental the pandemic has been for multi-child families.
To start, the study finds that within a multi-child family, one child typically tends to be more affected by the pandemic than their siblings experiencing more stress, anxiety, anger, and depression. Unfortunately, this development appears to create a negative feedback loop of poor parenting decisions. Stressed out parents trying to navigate these uncertain timesend up reacting harshlyto the child in need of additional support.
Our study shows that parents tend to be most reactive and least positive to the child showing the highest levels of mental health difficulties, says lead study author Dillon Browne, a professor of clinical psychology, in auniversityrelease.
Struggles with mental health among family members exacerbate each other in a feedback loop, he continues. Our study suggests that the direction of influence appears to go from the childs mental health to parenting, not parenting to child mental health.
Data was collected on over 500 caregivers and 1,000 siblings for this study. More specifically, caregivers with at least two children (ages 5-18) filled out surveys asking about their COVID stress,overall family functioning, and mental health on numerous occasions during a two-month tracking period.
Understanding childrens mental health difficulties during COVID-19 requires a family system lens because of the numerous ways thepandemic affects the familyas a unit. Comprehensive interventions for childrens mental health require an examination of caregiver, sibling, and whole-family dynamics, explains Prof. Browne, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Clinical Psychology.
In light of these results, study authors believe countless families and households will likely benefit from some familytherapy sessions. Moreover, individual psychotherapy sessions for both children and adults may be a useful tool as the world continues to endure the ongoing pandemic.
A lot of research studies have pointed to mental-health challenges associated with the pandemic for children and parents. This work adds insight into how pandemic-related disruption goes beyond the individual and infiltrates the relational environment of the family unit, Prof. Brown concludes.
Thestudyis published in the journalDevelopmental Psychology.
Cara Pritchettlights up when she talks about family memberswho have helped hernavigatelife withcerebral palsy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The oldest of four siblings, Pritchett, 25, of Upper Arlington, said she was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy shortly after she beingborn. The congenital disordercausedherto losefunction ofthe right side of her body and ledto other developmental and medical issues later in life.
Despite beingmore likely to be infected by COVID-19 andcontract severe illnesses from the virus, many people with disabilities and their advocates say they feel likethe community has been overlooked and pushed aside during the pandemic.
"The pandemic has not been very good to me," she said.
Without family, Pritchett said she doesn't know how she would have made it through the past two year being in and out of the hospital withulcerative colitis, having difficulties finding a job willing toaccommodateher conditions, and losingher best friend in a hit-and-run crash.
"They've been through it all with me," Pritchettsaid of her family.
Disabilities:Dublin woman, a self-advocate, named to county board of developmental disabilities
There are about 2.6 millionadults like Pritchett in Ohiowho have a disabilityand are more likely to develop other chronic conditions and lack access to health care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last month, some 150 disability advocacy groups spoke out after CDC director Rochelle Walensky sharedin an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" what she called the "encouraging news"thatmost COVID-19 deaths among vaccinated individuals in a small studyhadother health problemsand were "unwell to begin with."
Afterward, disability rights activistImani Barbarin started the viral "#MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy" to call out Walensky's remarks,and she's been joined bypeople fromacross the world.
The CDC director apologized andmet with a group of disability activists after what she acknowledged was ahurtful, yet unintentional, statement, according to a CDC press release.Walenskyalsocommitted the CDC to regular engagements with the disability community.
The disability community is often overlooked ormade to feel devalued and dehumanized, saidSue Hetrick, executive director of theCenter for Disability Empowerment, aColumbus nonprofit that helps connect people with disabilities to housing, jobs, transportation and other service in Franklin, Licking, Delaware and Union counties.
"A lot of time policies or decisions are made without the input of people with disabilities," Hetrick said. "There isn't the awareness of the non-disabled community about who they are as people, not just what their needs are."
Opinion:People with disabilities are struggling to survive the pandemic
People like Hetrick andKerstinSjoberg, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy organizationDisability Rights Ohio,have fought discrimination and a lack of awareness throughout the pandemic.
As hospitals decide how to ration ventilators, medication and beds during a crisis, people with disabilitiescould be given lower priority based on stereotypes about their quality of life and how effective treatment might be,Sjoberg said.
Disability Rights Ohio worked with the Ohio Department of Health to create crisis standards of care for hospitals and doctors that are inclusive of the disabled community, but they're only recommendations, shesaid.
Sjobergadded thatthe new state budget gives the health department more influence in hospital policy, and she hopesdisability-inclusiverecommendations will be incorporated into hospital care guidelines.
The discrimination already exists in our system, and its not just doctors. Its part of our society, Sjoberg said.
'We made it through today': Coronavirus adds to issues for those with developmental disabilities
Some people with disabilities require aides and other workers who help them at home or in facilities to navigate daily life. This presented a problem during the pandemic, Hetrick said, becausesocial distancing and slowing the spread of the virus became next to impossible, making it harder to protect vulnerable populations.
The pandemic also mayhave isolated people with disabilities or prevented loved ones from visiting or keeping in touch, Sjoberg said. Without these natural support systems, it also became harder for people in institutionsor congregate settings to report neglect and abuse.
So Disability Rights Ohiocreated a virtual abuse and neglect reporting system and Q &A section where people canget information on personal protective equipment, safe housing, accurate information about COVID-19 vaccinations and more.
It's, of course, better to have it face-to-face, Sjoberg said. "We've been able to keep that core function operating very effectively during this process."
People with disabilities also often face the most barriers trying to getvaccinations, Hetrick said.Accessibility issues, concerns about reactions with existingmedications or conditions or fear about poor treatment can get in the way, she said.
"Information is not always accessible to people with disabilities, whether that's written information that's given to them, the kind of language that's used to inform them," Hetrick said. "Transportation is a huge barrier."
To help with these issues, theCenter for Disability Empowerment (CDE) and the Ohio Department of Health willhost pop-up vaccinationclinicsin late-February or March and provide scheduling assistance and transportation for those who need it, she said.
Other news:Some Ohioans will move on from COVID, but those most impacted may never be able to forget
Pritchett struggled to find a job in child careas the pandemic shrank opportunities and shut down schools and day cares.
She turned to the CDE for help last year, and even though she found a job she loves at Riverside Methodist Childcare Center in Upper Arlington,the group still checks in with her today.
"I've always said that people with disabilities are some of the strongest people I've ever met, because of the barriers that we're always facing," said Shari Veleba, a CDEinformation and referral coordinator.
Pritchett's parents and younger siblings also helped her deal with the boredom of having to isolate at home andthe challenges of having to deal with new health issues.
Even now, her parents continue to support herby doing such things as sending her TikToks showingdisability activists, she said.
And Pritchett said heryounger siblings Jake, John, Madison and Taylorare some of her biggest supporters in life, with Jake being especially encouraging as Pritchett dealt with the grief over the death of her friend.
She said he took her to the cemetery and wrote anessay about how strong she's been this past yearas his college applicationessay.
"He wrote the paper without me or anyone knowing what it was about, so when I read it, I was shocked and emotional,"Pritchett said. "Knowing that those were his words makes it really special."
AWright1@gannett.com
@aubreymwright
by: Braley Dodson, Nexstar Media Wire
Posted: Feb 6, 2022 / 06:00 AM MST
Updated: Feb 4, 2022 / 06:25 AM MST
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) Can you throw your at-home, rapid COVID-19 test in the trash, or is it considered hazardous biological waste?
Unlike at hospitals, at-home tests can be thrown in the normal trash, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Miami Herald in January. However, some states have taken different stances.
In Delaware, schools should treat the kits as infectious waste, according to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Schools have been directed to place used test materials in red bags, mark the bags with the biohazard symbol and tie them closed. The bags must be stored away from people and be protected from the weather, rodents and insects. The state must then remove the bags, and schools must keep a copy of the manifests for at least three years.
As for South Carolina, the Department of Health and Environmental Control said that residents should follow the instructions on the at-home tests they use.
Were not aware of any stipulations preventing an individual organization, business, school, or provider from developing their own disposal policies, but we encourage them to follow practical safety and health protocols when doing so, the agency said.
Lucira at-home COVID-19 test kits include a plastic bag for the test to be placed in and disposed of in the trash. Instructions for the QuickVue, BinaxNOW and IHealth at-home tests also say the used tests can be placed in the trash.
In California, disposal of BinaxNow test cards depends on whether or not the result was positive. For negative results, the test cards can go in the trash, while positive tests along with used swabs and other test components must be disposed of in a biohazard container according to regulated medical waste guidelines.
The CDC says tests from labs and testing sites should be treated as biohazardous waste. Rules on how to dispose of the waste vary by state, contact your local health department or COVID task force with any questions.
Lockdowns during the first COVID-19 wave in the spring of 2020 only reduced COVID-19 mortality by .2% in the U.S. and Europe, according to a Johns Hopkins University meta-analysis of several studies.
"While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted," the researchers wrote. "In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument."
The researchers Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen's Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby analyzed the effects of lockdown measures such as school shutdowns, business closures, and mask mandates on COVID-19 deaths.
"We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates," the researchers wrote.
A man crosses an empty expressway during a complete lockdown amid growing concerns of coronavirus on March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
The researchers also examined shelter-in-place orders, finding that they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 2.9%.
Studies that looked at only shelter-in-place orders found they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 5.1%, but studies that looked at shelter-in-place orders along with other lockdown measures found that shelter-in-place orders actually increased COVID-19 mortality by 2.8%.
CHICAGO GUNSHOP SEES SKYROCKETING SALES FOLLOWING LOCKDOWNS, CRIME SPIKE
The researchers concluded that limiting gatherings may have actually increased COVID-19 mortality.
"[Shelter-in-place orders] may isolate an infected person at home with his/her family where he/she risks infecting family members with a higher viral load, causing more severe illness," the researchers wrote.
"But often, lockdowns have limited peoples access to safe (outdoor) places such as beaches, parks, and zoos, or included outdoor mask mandates or strict outdoor gathering restrictions, pushing people to meet at less safe (indoor) places."
The researchers also examined studies that focused on specific lockdown measures and found that the only intervention that reduced COVID-19 mortality was the closure of non-essential businesses, which reduced mortality by 10.6%, but this effect was likely driven by the closure of bars.
A man living on the streets displays what he says is the synthetic drug fentanyl in the Tenderloin section of San Francisco, California. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Researchers also pointed out other unintended consequences of lockdowns, such as rising unemployment, reduced schooling, an increase in domestic violence incidents, and surging drug overdoses.
From May 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. recorded 100,306 drug overdose deaths, a 28.5% increase from the 78,056 deaths that were recorded in the previous 12-month period, according to CDC data.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S AT-HOME COVID TEST WEBSITE LAUNCHES
A study from the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice last year found that domestic violence incidents increased 8.1% in the U.S. after lockdown orders were issued.
A sign taped to the front door of Pulaski International School of Chicago reads, 'School Closed,' after Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district, said it would cancel classes. (REUTERS/Jim Vondruska)
About 97% of U.S. teachers said that their students have experienced learning loss during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Horace Mann survey last year.
The unemployment rate peaked nationwide at 14.8% in April 2020, but declined to 3.9% in December, which is still slightly higher than the 3.5% rate it was at in February 2020.
"These costs to society must be compared to the benefits of lockdowns, which our meta-analysis has shown are marginal at best," the researchers in the Johns Hopkins University study wrote.
"Such a standard benefit-cost calculation leads to a strong conclusion: lockdowns should be rejected out of hand as a pandemic policy instrument."
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the administration's coronavirus surge response in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
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President Biden has pledged to focus on testing and vaccinations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 instead of the lockdowns that characterized the earlier part of the pandemic.
"It doesnt include shutdowns or lockdowns, but widespread vaccinations and boosters and testing a lot more," Biden said in December about his winter plans for fighting the pandemic.
Several cities and states around the country still have mask mandates, remote learning, and other measures in place.
Originally published by The 19th
New research shows the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines do not reduce the likelihood of becoming pregnant, adding even more evidence against one of the most pervasive myths cited by people who are hesitant or unwilling to get vaccinated.
The research, published Tuesday in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology one of the premier medical journals covering birth-related medicine followed almost 3,000 people undergoing in vitro fertilization.
The researchers identified almost 440 people who were fully vaccinated against the virus with a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine who completed in vitro treatment during the study period, which lasted from February to September 2021. About 1,740 completed the in vitro fertilization process and were completely unvaccinated.
The findings were overwhelming. The study found that the vaccine did not impact a patients ability to conceive or affect the health of the pregnancy, even after controlling for any variation in age or health between patients. While the study followed IVF patients, the authors said its findings can be applied to anyone trying to get pregnant or who has recently become pregnant.
This provides reassuring data for women who specifically are undergoing fertility treatment, but also for all patients who are trying to conceive or are in the early stages of pregnancy, said Dr. Devora Aharon, a reproductive endocrinologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the studys lead author. COVID-19 vaccines should have no effect.
A big advantage of this kind of study is you can look at each individual step in the reproductive process, because everything with IVF is so closely monitored, said Amelia Wesselink, an epidemiologist at Boston University, who was not affiliated with the study but who has also researched the vaccines effects on fertility.
The paper builds on a growing body of research that shows the COVID-19 vaccines in particular, the messenger RNA-based vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, which are the most widely used COVID shots in the United States have no negative consequences on ones ability to get pregnant and to have a healthy birth. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which used a different immunization mechanism and which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is not a preferred vaccine in the United States, was not included in the study.
This is a really nice complement to whats already known on this topic, and its really reassuring, Wesselink said.
Data published in January from the CDC found no negative side effects among people who were already pregnant and got vaccinated.
Another study published earlier this month, headed by Wesselink, also suggested that a COVID-19 vaccine had no effect on fertility. That paper also found that a COVID-19 infection can lower sperm quality for about 60 days, making it temporarily harder to conceive.
Meanwhile, other evidence shows that unvaccinated pregnant people who contract COVID-19 are more likely to suffer severe complications and even require intensive hospital care,outcomes that could also affect the health of the pregnancy.
Its just adding to the evidence that we have that the vaccine is safe and protects patients from severe infection and harmful impacts during pregnancy, Aharon said.
None of the current research tracks the effect of a COVID-19 vaccine years down the line, because the vaccines themself have only been widely available for less than a year. But based on the science of how the vaccines work, side-effects, on fertility or anything else, should have likely emerged by now.
Any adverse effects or benefits of the vaccine should appear in the first couple of months, Wesselink said. Its extremely unlikely anything would emerge beyond a few months after vaccination.
Concerns about the vaccines potential impact on fertility have abounded since the shots first became available, persisting even as research builds an ever-clearer picture that getting vaccinated poses no risk to the ability to conceive. Polling from last October showed that about 3 in 10 adults had heard the vaccines could harm fertility, and either believed it to be true or werent sure. (For comparison, 3 in 10 is roughly the same number of adults who had either believed Ivermectin an anti-parasitic pill with no proven benefits in fighting COVID-19 was a safe treatment for the virus, or were open to the idea.)
Studies like this one could help address those fertility concerns. But convincing unvaccinated people to get the shots remains an uphill battle.
Currently, about 67.4 percent of eligible people in the United States anyone 5 or older are fully vaccinated against the virus. (The percentage of people with a third booster shot remains far lower.) The contagious Omicron variant so far has not spurred a sizable increase in unvaccinated people getting shots.
Polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that unvaccinated people still say they are unlikely to get the shots. The large majority identify as Republican, suggesting that political affiliation plays a sizable role in vaccine decision-making. But not every unvaccinated person has opted out for political reasons.
With regards to fertility, specifically, Wesselink pointed to a historic oversight among vaccine researchers. Typically, clinical trials do not initially collect data on pregnancy-related issues or side effects. For the COVID-19 vaccines, she said, that oversight may have sowed the seeds for skepticism.
Initially, the COVID-19 vaccines did not include pregnant people in their trials. Researchers also did not initially track where the vaccines had any implications for menstrual health. (Since then, one study has shown a temporary and small effect on the length of ones menstrual cycle.)
Now, given the role fertility-related health has played in some peoples decision not to get vaccinated, she hopes that vaccine development will pay greater attention to those issues, too.
Its been pretty well recognized that concerns about fertility and pregnancy and menstrual health, all these things are really having an effect on peoples decision-making around vaccination, she said. We need to be focusing on studying these outcomes for future vaccines and future health innovations and medicines, so we can have rapid, high-quality data that will provide people with what they need to make informed choices.
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