A patient receives a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test at Sparrow Laboratories Drive-Thru Services in Lansing, Michigan, U.S., December 27, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin
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Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Omicron variant was estimated to be 95.4% of the coronavirus strains circulating in the United States as of Jan. 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.
The variant has swiftly spread across the country since its detection on Dec. 1, replacing Delta as the dominant strain and sparking a new wave of infections that pushed daily cases near the 1 million mark on Monday.
The CDC said the variant accounted for an estimated 77% of cases in the week ended Dec. 25, up from the 58.6% projection it had disclosed last week.
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The fast-spreading variant was first detected in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November and has since swept through the globe at lightning speed, although signs that it may cause milder symptoms than previous strains have offered some relief.
The CDC had last week lowered its estimate for cases Omicron accounted for in the week ended Dec. 18 to 22% from 73%, citing additional data and discrepancies caused by the variant's rapid spread. read more
The Delta variant accounts for 4.6% of all U.S. COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 1, the CDC data showed.
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Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Hospital workers and other healthcare employees have been getting infected with the coronavirus in rising numbers as cases skyrocket in Los Angeles County, compounding staff shortages at medical centers amid the latest wave of the pandemic.
We have a very sophisticated healthcare system, but it is made up of people, said Dr. Kimberly Shriner, medical director of infection prevention and control at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. And right now, people are getting COVID.
Roughly 100 front-line workers at the Pasadena hospital are now out because of COVID-19, Shriner said. As cases soar, Huntington has been seeing wait times exceeding five hours at its emergency room. On Tuesday, it started putting elective surgeries on hold.
Staffing shortfalls have pervaded the healthcare system, not just at hospitals and clinics but also all of the other parts of the healthcare system that need to work in a tightly connected puzzle, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of the L.A. County Department of Health Services.
Dialysis centers that are thin on employees are sending patients to hospitals instead, Ghaly said. Care facilities where DHS-run hospitals would ordinarily send discharged patients are unable to take them in because of staff shortfalls. And ambulances have been delayed getting to 911 callers and face longer waits at hospitals to unload patients, county officials said.
Emergency medical technicians call it holding the wall waiting for a patient to be unloaded from an ambulance. In L.A. County, shortages of hospital staff have led to some ambulances waiting hours to unload patients, which makes them unavailable for other emergency calls.
In cases involving patients with less severe symptoms, weve had ambulances tied up at hospitals up to eight hours over the weekend while patients wait for open beds, said Jeff Lucia, communications director for the ambulance provider Falck. To free up ambulances to respond to emergency calls, weve brought in camping cots and placed them at some hospitals, but clearly more needs to be done.
Response times for ambulances, which are supposed to reach people in less than nine minutes, are currently ranging more at about 12 minutes, with some as long as 30 minutes, the L.A. County Department of Health Services said Tuesday.
Lucia said that if Falcks units werent tied up at hospitals, they would have enough resources to reach callers quicker. But EMT Ryan Walters, president of the International Assn. of EMTs and Paramedics Local R12-370, called the situation a predictable outcome of the pandemic and the wages and working conditions of our members.
Walters, who works in L.A. County for Falck, faulted not only rising COVID-19 cases Falck said 5% of its workforce in L.A. County is now out for COVID-19 quarantine but also pay levels and workloads that have made it harder to retain EMTs and paramedics.
Ambulance workers are just being pushed to the limit, said James Webb, treasurer for the same union.
The booming numbers of COVID-19 cases in L.A. County have not resulted, so far, in hospitalization numbers as dire as last winter. Health authorities believe that is the result of more people being vaccinated than in earlier waves of the virus, and they have also been hopeful about early signs that Omicron may cause milder illness than other variants.
Healthcare workers in L.A. County are vaccinated at high rates, which makes them much less likely to suffer severe illness and be hospitalized.
But big surges in cases can nonetheless wreak havoc on hospitals if lots of healthcare workers get infected even with mild cases and have to stay home to keep others from getting sick.
In L.A. County, the number of hospital workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 began to surge in December, hitting numbers not seen since last January, when the region was emerging from its wintertime surge, county data show.
The rise in coronavirus cases is not unique to healthcare workers but reflects the rapid spread of the highly contagious new variant throughout L.A. County, where the transmission rate has been estimated to be greater than at any point since the early months of the pandemic.
In the week leading up to Christmas, 323 hospital workers in L.A. County tested positive for the virus, along with 426 health workers in other settings, including people working in nursing facilities and first responders a total of 749 healthcare workers.
That was still well below the wintertime surge a year ago, when more than 2,800 healthcare workers tested positive in a single week. But the latest rise in infections comes as L.A. County hospitals were already raising concerns about staff shortfalls. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has calculated that nationally, employment in the healthcare sector fell by 450,000 between February 2020 and November 2021.
Weve been at this now for two years and healthcare workers are fatigued. Exhausted, said Adam Blackstone, vice president of external affairs and strategic communications for the Hospital Assn. of Southern California. Many who were approaching retirement age have retired, which has contributed to the workforce shortage.
Hospitals can try to hire traveling nurses from agencies, but everybodys searching in the same pool, Blackstone said.
Besides having to isolate if they test positive, healthcare workers also have to stay home to care for family members, said Larry Kidd, chief clinical officer at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
Many hospitals are seeing an increase in COVID infections among children so parents have to be home to take care of them as well, Kidd said.
Nurses make up the biggest category among L.A. County healthcare workers and first responders who have tested positive over the course of the pandemic, county data show. Catherine Kennedy, one of the presidents of the California Nurses Assn., said that even before the latest surge, the staffing issues among nurses are a crisis that the healthcare industry created.
Can it be remedied? I think so, Kennedy said. She argued that hospitals need to improve working conditions and ensure nurses are properly supplied. Provide us with optimal PPE. Ensure that theres testing.
Huntington and some other local hospitals now warn on their websites to expect longer waits at the emergency room. Palms resident Megan Talmadge said she dislocated her elbow in the afternoon on New Years Day and waited five hours at a Culver City ER before getting an X-ray. After the X-ray, Talmadge said she asked for medication because the pain was becoming excruciating.
They said, No, sorry, theres no nurses available, and just sent me back out to the waiting room, Talmadge said.
It took roughly two more hours to get pain medication, Talmadge said. The 30-year-old eventually got a bed, was treated for her injury and left after 1 a.m. more than nine hours after arriving, she said.
They were clearly understaffed, Talmadge said. There were times when it just seemed like no one was there.
Shortages also show up in smaller ways: Lisa Berry Blackstock, a private patient advocate, said that in the San Fernando Valley, one of her clients was recently supposed to be moved into a different room closer to the nurses station after falling out of bed. When she phoned to confirm the patient had been moved, Blackstock said she was told that they didnt have enough staff members to accommodate the transfer.
At Kaiser Permanente Southern California, swelling demand for coronavirus testing has collided with a shrinking number of staffers to handle them, slowing down turnaround times, said Dr. Nancy Gin, its regional medical director for quality.
As more of its workers have tested positive for the virus, it impacts the number of personnel who are available to process the tests, Gin said. That, combined with the Great Resignation of workers both inside and outside the healthcare field, means that there are not as many individuals who are available, even on a seasonal basis, as there have been in the past, Gin said.
Testing positive generally means health workers should stay home, although federal and state officials recently cut back the minimum recommended period for many coronavirus-infected people to isolate. The federal move alarmed some public health officials and labor unions, including National Nurses United.
California set out its own recommendations for healthcare workers to go back to work, which differ depending on whether they have gotten booster shots, and permit the isolation period to be truncated if there is a critical staffing shortage.
At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where nurses are picking up additional shifts and traveling nurses have been hired in anticipation of the surge, the revised rules are expected to help get employees back to work safely, said Dr. Jeff Smith, its chief operating officer.
We want to make sure were doing it appropriately and not putting our staff or our patients at risk, Smith said. He noted that with the newest variant of the virus, infectiousness is shown to peak within the first couple days and then drop off relatively rapidly.
Health officials have urged people without symptoms to not head to the emergency room or urgent care for COVID tests that can be found elsewhere. But Ghaly urged patients not to delay medical care that they need.
Despite the growing pressure on hospitals, her department has surge sites to expand capacity and can call on the state for help with staffing, she said.
Were not in a crisis situation in Los Angeles County, Ghaly said.
Times staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.
Seth Meyers and host Jimmy Fallon appear on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 28, 2014, in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images hide caption
Seth Meyers and host Jimmy Fallon appear on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Jan. 28, 2014, in New York City.
As the omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S., both of NBC's late-night talk show hosts, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, have announced they've tested positive for COVID-19.
"The bad news is, I tested positive for COVID (thanks, 2022!)," Meyers said in a tweet Monday. "The good news is, I feel fine (thanks vaccines and booster!)."
Meyers said the network had canceled the remainder of shows scheduled from Tuesday to Friday.
"Tune in next Monday to see what cool location we will try and pass off as a studio!!!" Meyers added.
News of Meyers' positive case comes a day after Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus right before Christmas.
In his latest Instagram post, Fallon, who appears to have recovered, says he had received a COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot and experienced only mild symptoms.
"Thank you to the doctors and nurses who work so hard around the clock to get everyone vaxxed," Fallon wrote. "Thank you to NBC for taking the testing protocols so seriously and doing a great job - and also thanks for putting me in the 'What 'chu talkin' about Willis?' isolation room when they told me the news."
Other celebrities who've recently tested positive for the coronavirus include Whoopi Goldberg, Hugh Jackman, Debra Messing and LL Cool J.
The U.S. reported a record 1,082,549 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University that probably includes numbers from the holiday weekend. The seven-day daily average for infections is currently 480,273.
(NEXSTAR) With omicron cases rocketing upward in what Dr. Anthony Fauci has called a vertical spike, many may be considering a COVID-19 test after meeting with friends and relatives during the holidays.
For those who know they have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus, or are just feeling a bit ill, its unfortunately not quite as straightforward a process as it could be.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, told Nexstar that its better to wait 3-5 days after exposure before going for a test. That rule of thumb applies to both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and at-home rapid tests.
A PCR test will take longer because a lab has to process the sample, but it is more sensitive when it comes to detection of early disease. Genetic tests, which use nasal swabs or saliva, can register bits of the coronavirus genetic material as long as there is a good sample to work from.
Rapid antigen tests, such as the Abbott Labs product that has been flying off drugstore shelves across the country, give results in minutes but arent as accurate as a genetic test. The widespread use of at-home tests also has experts worried that the results which are often not reported to health officials may skew national tracking data.
If youre planning on getting tested but are still waiting for the optimal window, Dr. Chin-Hong suggests wearing a mask to avoid inadvertently infecting others. CDC guidelines also state you should self-quarantine after an exposure if you havent gotten a booster shot (and are eligible) or arent fully vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday explained the scientific rationale for shortening its COVID-19 isolation and quarantine recommendations, and clarified that the guidance applies to kids as well as adults.
The CDC also maintained that, for people who catch COVID-19, testing is not required to emerge from five days of isolation despite hints from other federal officials that the agency was reconsidering that.
The agencyannounced the changeslast week, halving the isolation time for Americans who catch the coronavirus and have no symptoms or only brief illnesses. Isolation should only end if a person has been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and if other symptoms are resolving, the CDC added.
It similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine, from 10 days to five.
CDC officials previously said the changes were in keeping with evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.
Some experts have questioned howthe new recommendationswere crafted and why they were changed amid a spike in cases driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant. Some alsoexpressed dismaythat the guidelines allowed people to leave isolation without getting tested to see if they were still infectious.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It follows a record-high number of new cases among children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The US had more than 325,000 new cases among children during the week ending December 30, according to data published this week by the AAP, marking a 64% increase in new childhood cases compared to the previous week, the AAP said.
And across all age groups, Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a new milestone.
On Tuesday, 112,941 Americans were hospitalized with Covid-19, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The new figure far exceeds peak hospitalizations during the Delta variant surge -- nearly 104,000 in early September. It's also creeping toward the pandemic-high number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized in a single day -- 142,246, on January 14 of last year.
"Unfortunately, this is the consequence of a highly transmissible variant, the Omicron variant," US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Tuesday.
The Omicron variant is up to three times more infectious than the Delta variant, the CDC said.
Now, more hospital intensive care units are nearing capacity.
Nationwide, 1 in 5 hospitals with an ICU said its beds in that unit were at least 95% full last week, according to DHHS data. And more than a quarter of ICU beds nationwide were occupied by Covid-19 patients.
The surgeon general reiterated what many doctors have reported this winter: The vast majority of hospitalized Covid-19 patients are not vaccinated and boosted.
"Remember, those vaccines work. Those boosters are more important than ever before," Murthy said.
And millions more children heading back to school may soon be able to get a booster shot.
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday "nobody has suffered, I think, the social isolation from not being in school more than children."
"I think we want kids to be in school. But if we want them to be in school, then we have to do everything we can to keep them in school," Offit said. "With masking and social distancing and vaccination, I think we can really get on top of it."
"If the teachers have to be vaccinated, the bus drivers have to be vaccinated and the children over 5 should be vaccinated, and then we can have the thing we all want, the precious thing we all want, which is to have our children back in school. But we should do it in a responsible way," Offit said.
Dr. Leana Wen, medical analyst, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday the pandemic looks different at this point for those who are vaccinated and imposing restrictions on vaccinated people "is not reasonable."
"At the same time, we can't say 'let everyone have Omicron' because we're going to overwhelm our health care systems. So there is this practical middle ground that we need to figure out," she said. One example she used included not closing things down, "but requiring indoor masking with high-quality masks."
CDC updates guidance on masks and isolation
Cloth masks are still OK to use to protect against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, so long as they are well-fitted and filter the air properly, the CDC said.
People should wear masks after testing positive and isolating for five days to protect others, because people may remain infectious for up to 14 days after a positive test, the guidance states.
"Masks are designed to contain your respiratory droplets and particles. They also provide you some protection from particles expelled by others," the CDC noted in Tuesday's update.
All masks should fit snugly, so air does not escape around the edges of the mask but is filtered through the material, the CDC said. All masks should have wire to fit the mask tightly across the bridge of the nose. Cloth masks should have multiple layers of fabric, the CDC said.
Using a cloth mask over a disposable surgical style mask can provide good protection, the CDC said. The CDC recommends holding cloth masks up to the light and said if light shines through, it's too thin.
For everyone ages 12 and up, the FDA shortened the time needed between the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and the booster dose, from six months to five months.
The FDA has also authorized booster doses for some children ages 5 to 11 who are immunocompromised, including those who have received an organ transplant.
'Staggering numbers' of Omicron cases at pediatric hospital
At the nation's largest pediatric hospital, Covid-19 hospitalizations have quadrupled in just the past two weeks -- fueled by the Omicron variant, the most contagious strain of novel coronavirus to hit the US.
"We have staggering numbers here from this Omicron surge already," said Dr. Jim Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
"We shattered prior records that were established during the Delta surge in August."
Sequencing showed 90% of the hospital's recent Covid-19 patients had been infected with the Omicron variant, Versalovic said.
Like the surgeon general, Versalovic said vaccinations are critical to minimizing Covid-19 hospitalizations.
Yet more than 80% of school-age children in the Houston area are unvaccinated, Versalovic said.
And more than a third of the hospital's recent Covid-19 patients have been under age 5. "Unfortunately, those children still do not have access to a vaccine," Versalovic said.
In New York, "We are seeing more Covid now than we have seen in previous waves," pediatrician Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez said.
"And it's worrisome that the worst of the winter here has not passed. And we are bracing for what is still to come."
Doctors: Don't underestimate the impact on children
Pediatricians have acknowledged some patients with Covid-19 may have actually sought treatment for another condition and happened to test positive for coronavirus.
But "it's clear that the majority of cases either have Covid-19 as a primary factor or as a significant contributing factor to their hospitalization," said Versalovic, the pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children's.
"We would be foolish to keep minimizing Covid-19 in children at this point in the pandemic," Bracho-Sanchez said.
And early research suggested Omicron may cause more upper-airway problems, unlike previous strains causing lower-airway problems.
Upper airway complications can be more dangerous for young children than for adults, Bracho-Sanchez said.
"We cannot treat the airways of children like they are the airways of adults," she said.
"And for us pediatricians, we know that respiratory viruses can lead to ... croup and bronchiolitis, that inflammation of the upper airways that does get in children in trouble."
Novak Djokovic, the worlds No. 1-ranked male tennis player and his sports most prominent vaccination skeptic, said on Tuesday that he would play in this months Australian Open after receiving a medical exemption.
Djokovic, the mens tournaments defending champion, revealed his plans in a post on his Instagram account alongside a photograph of himself with luggage on an airport tarmac. Im heading Down Under with an exemption permission, he wrote. Lets go 2022.
Tournament officials confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that Djokovic had received a medical exemption after a review of his application by two independent panels, a procedure that strongly suggests he remains unvaccinated.
Djokovics participation in the Australian Open, the tennis seasons first major, was in doubt as recently as last week, when he reportedly withdrew from an event in Sydney. Djokovic, who has had Covid, has consistently refused to say whether he has been inoculated or intends to be.
According to the rules for the Australian Open, all participants must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or apply for and receive a medical exemption from an independent panel of experts.
In December, Djokovics father, Srdjan Djokovic, raised new questions about his sons participation, and his vaccination status, when he suggested that Djokovic was unlikely to play in Australia under these blackmails and conditions.
Those comments came only days before Novak Djokovic was named as a participant in the Australian Open by the tournaments organizers when they released the entry list for the main draw.
Defending champion Djokovic will play for an incredible 10th Australian Open trophy and a mens record 21st major singles title and will be the favorite in a draw which showcases 49 of the worlds top 50, the tournament said in a statement announcing the field.
But Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia, which hosts the tournament, quickly moved to clarify that Djokovics inclusion in the entry list was not a confirmation that he had agreed to be vaccinated, or that he would be allowed to enter Australia, which has some of the worlds most strict coronavirus protocols for foreigners.
As a matter of course, everyone goes on the entry list, Tiley said in a local television interview at the time. Its not a commitment list about whos exactly in the draw. That comes in several weeks time, when the actual list, and draw, gets finalized for the Australian Open.
The Opens draw will be held Jan. 10. The tournament begins on Jan. 17.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio The new year is bringing a lot of new resolutions to work out and maybe even sign up for a fitness membership but with the COVID-19 omicron variant spreading quickly, can you still go to the gym safely with more people starting to attend?
University Hospitals Dr. Claudia Hoyen said it all depends on the environment and your personal health circumstances, such as being vaccinated and boosted.
But above all, don't give up exercising.
"We know that people who are obese have a much higher chance of developing more severe COVID," Hoyen said. "We want to stay as healthy as we can for COVID and be as in as good a shape as possible."
If you feel protected enough to go to the gym, here are some things you can do to stay safe:
"It's just so highly transmissible. And even if you're vaccinated and booster, there's still a chance that you can get it or you can spread it," Hoyen said.
If you're having trouble breathing with a mask, step outside for a break or try exercising outside instead.
Philly Weeden, owner of Voltage Training and Fitness in Cleveland Heights, said he's reminding members his place is an outlet for stress and mental health.
"Working out at home sometimes can be tough and be difficult. But when you're surrounded by, you know, people who are doing the same things as you, it is encouraging," Weeden said.
Weeden is also doing what he can to keep members safe, like extra sanitizer stations and mask requirements.
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Vaccinating Ohio - Find the latest news on the COVID-19 vaccines, Ohio's phased vaccination process, a map of vaccination clinics around the state, and links to sign up for a vaccination appointment through Ohio's online portal.
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Visit Ohio's Coronavirus website for the latest updates from the Ohio Department of Health.
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AKRON, Ohio There are available appointments to receive a COVID-19 test at the drive-thru site hosted by Summa Health, Summit County Public Health said Wednesday.
At the time of publishing this story, there were appointments available Wednesday and Thursday at Summa Health Corporate Office, located at 1077 Gorge Blvd, in Akron. Depending on when you read this article, spots may be filled up.
The site administers PCR tests with results in 2 to 3 days.
Click here to view available appointments.
The testing site is a collaboration with Summit County Public Health, the Ohio National Guard, Akron Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital and Summa Health.
Anyone with questions can contact the COVID-19 Call Line for more information at 330-926-5795. The line is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Download the News 5 app for free to easily access local coronavirus coverage, and to receive timely and limited news alerts on major COVID-19 developments. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
Vaccinating Ohio - Find the latest news on the COVID-19 vaccines, Ohio's phased vaccination process, a map of vaccination clinics around the state, and links to sign up for a vaccination appointment through Ohio's online portal.
See data visualizations showing the impact of coronavirus in Ohio, including county-by-county maps, charts showing the spread of the disease, and more.
Rebound Northeast Ohio News 5's initiative to help people through the financial impact of the coronavirus by offering one place to go for information on everything available to help and how to access it. We're providing resources on:
Getting Back to Work - Learn about the latest job openings, how to file for benefits and succeed in the job market.
Making Ends Meet - Find help on topics from rent to food to new belt-tightening techniques.
Managing the Stress - Feeling isolated or frustrated? Learn ways to connect with people virtually, get counseling or manage your stress.
Doing What's Right - Keep track of the way people are spending your tax dollars and treating your community.
We're Open! Northeast Ohio is place created by News 5 to open us up to new ways of thinking, new ways of gathering and new ways of supporting each other.
View a map of COVID-19 testing locations here.
Visit Ohio's Coronavirus website for the latest updates from the Ohio Department of Health.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
Passengers look out from the Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Thousands of passengers were being held on the ship for coronavirus testing after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to a recent omicron cluster and ordered the ship to turn back. Vincent Yu/AP hide caption
Passengers look out from the Spectrum of the Seas cruise ship docked in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Thousands of passengers were being held on the ship for coronavirus testing after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to a recent omicron cluster and ordered the ship to turn back.
HONG KONG Hong Kong authorities announced a two-week ban on flights from the United States and seven other countries and held 2,500 passengers on a cruise ship for coronavirus testing Wednesday as the city attempted to stem an emerging omicron outbreak.
The two-week ban on passenger flights from Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Britain and the United States will take effect Sunday and continue until Jan. 21.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam also announced that restaurant dining will be forbidden after 6 p.m. for two weeks starting Friday. Game arcades, bars and beauty salons must also close during that period.
"We have to contain the pandemic to ensure that there will not be a major outbreak in the community again," Lam said at a news conference, adding that the city is "on the verge" of another surge.
The measures came as new omicron clusters have emerged over the past week, many linked to several Cathay Pacific crew members who broke isolation rules and dined at restaurants and bars in the city before testing positive.
Hong Kong has reported 114 omicron variant cases as of Tuesday, with most being imported. On Tuesday, it reported its first untraceable case in nearly three months, which authorities said was likely caused by the omicron variant.
Hong Kong officials have moved swiftly to block the spread of the variant, locking down residential buildings where people have tested positive and mass-testing thousands of people.
That includes about 2,500 passengers who were being held Wednesday on a cruise ship in Hong Kong for coronavirus tests, after health authorities said nine passengers were linked to an omicron cluster and ordered the ship to turn back.
Authorities forced the Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas ship, which departed Sunday on a "cruise to nowhere," to return a day early on Wednesday, according to a government statement.
The ship returned to Hong Kong on Wednesday morning and passengers were held onboard for most of the day while they awaited testing.
One passenger, Claudy Wong, said Royal Caribbean had tried its best to follow pandemic regulations.
"The pandemic has gone on for so long, actually passengers like us who board the cruise are already prepared for such situations to happen," Wong said.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement that the nine guests were immediately isolated and all tested negative, and that the company was working closely with authorities to comply with epidemic prevention policies and regulations.
It said guests who were on the affected ship would receive a 25% refund on their cruise fare. The ship's next sailing on Thursday was also canceled because the crew must undergo testing, and those guests will receive a full refund.
The city has reported a total of 12,690 confirmed coronavirus infections as of Tuesday, including 213 deaths.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) There has been a recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Virginia and nationwide, especially with the contagious Omicron variant of the virus spreading.
Many local college and universities have altered their calendars and COVID-19 policies in response.
WAVY.com compiled a list of the announced changes so you know what to expect before you return to campus for the Spring semester.
On December 23, an email was sent out announcing the delay in the start of classes from January 5 to January 10 and the move to telework and flexible work schedules for the week of January 3.
On December 31, the university announced it would be requiring all students to receive a COVID-19 booster by February 15. In the message, the school wrote, The booster requirement will help us protect our campus community and the community around us, and it will give us the best chance at delivering the highest quality in-person, in-classroom educational experience.
Faculty and staff are not required to receive a booster, but are strongly encouraged to get one.
Face masks will continue to be required indoors.
The date of Commencement has been moved from May 7 to May 14. This change also means the exam schedule will be pushed back.
Those who are not fully vaccinated will continue to be tested weekly.
To learn more about CNUs vaccination and masking policies, click here.
Classes will begin remotely on Monday, January 10, 2022. In-person classes will resume on Monday, January 24, 2022. All in-person activities are cancelled through January 24,2022.
Hampton University has decided to require the COVID-19 booster vaccine. Students will be required to receive the booster by Friday, January 14 and must upload a copy of their updated vaccination card to MedProctor by that date.
The University confirmed several students have suspended or expelled for submitting fraudulent vaccination cards.
Only those who have met this additional requirement may continue their enrollment at the University AND move into their residence hall. You must upload an updated vaccination card prior to movinginto your residence hall.
Everyone must wear required face coverings in all public spaces and practice physical distancing.
Mitigation Strategies include: Increasing routine cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting of all campus buildings. Electrostatic and ultraviolet light cleaning. Installation of hand sanitizer stations, disinfecting wipes and air purifiers. Daily temperature scans. Installation of plexiglass partitions in residence halls.
To learn more about HUs vaccination and masking policies, click here.
The start of spring classes has been moved to January 18, 2022. Move-in is now scheduled to begin on January 12-13, 2022 from 8:30 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. for new students and Spartan Suites residents. Returning students will be able to move in on January 13-16, 2022 from 8:30 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. All residents can move in immediately after being tested for COVID-19. Walk-In testing will be available on January 16, 2022.
All students, staff, and faculty are required to show proof of having received a booster shot no later than Feb. 4.
All students who will be on campus during the Spring 2022 semester must complete return testing prior to the start of classes. Please see the updated information below for details:
Commuter Students
Online Students
To learn more about NSUs vaccination and masking policies, click here.
Old Dominion University will begin the spring 2022 semester as planned, with in-person classes.
Eligible students, faculty and staff will be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster and upload proof in the Monarch Wellness Portal by February 10, 2022. The deadline to upload proof of vaccination for those who are not yet eligible is within seven days of receiving the booster.
COVID-19 vaccine exemptions can be requested for medical reasons or religious beliefs. All unvaccinated individuals, including those requesting exemptions, will be subject to required weekly testing.
Students living on campus are required to show a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 72 hours before arrival. All other students, faculty and staff are encouraged to test in order to know their health status before returning to campus for classes and/or work.
The University will continue following the latest public health best practices in accordance with recent guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies, while also following similar actions being taken across many sectors of our society.
Effective August 16, 2021 and until further notice, Old Dominion University will require everyone two years or older to wear face masks that cover both the mouth and nose fully in all indoor public spaces, including classrooms, facilities and buildings, except when eating or drinking. This is regardless of vaccination status.
To learn more about ODUs latest vaccination and masking policies, click here.
Regent University will not require students and employees to be vaccinated prior to returning to campus for Spring 2022. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) strongly encourages individuals to be vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.
Completion of the daily self-screening questionnaire will not be required. However, if students or employees have symptoms, or believe they have been exposed to COVID-19, they should navigate to the MyRegent portal, complete the questionnaire, and remain in place until the Office of Student Services or the Human Resources Department contacts them, respectively.
Regent University students and employees are strongly encouraged to wear face masks indoors in areas where social distancing is not possible. Face masks are not required outdoors.
To learn more about Regent Universitys vaccination and masking policies, click here.
At this time, students are not required to be vaccinated at TNCC.
Employees are required to get vaccinated per Governors orders. They are required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated or be tested for COVID-19 every week.
Faculty and staff seeking a religious and/or medical exemption are required to coordinate with Human Resources to ensure the appropriate documentation is available for review and consideration of exemption status.
There is a vaccination reporting tool. To access the tool:
1. log into my.vccs.edu orMyTNCCusing your login credentials.2. Next click on theSISTile3. Click onHealth Formtile.4. Click Fill out a New Form
TNCC has an indoor mask requirement for all students, faculty, staff, and visitors in college-owned or leased spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
To learn more about TNCCs vaccination and masking policies, click here.
Virginia Wesleyan is requiring all faculty, staff and students to receive the COVID-19 booster shot and to submit proof of receiving COVID-19 booster shots on or before February 28, 2022.
Students must submit one of the following tocovidsafe@vwu.eduno later thanFebruary 28:
All University employees must submit proof of the COVID-19 booster with the same above requirements tohumanresources@vwu.eduno later thanFebruary 28. This requirement applies to all full-time and part-time employees, University volunteers, and all primary contract service providers (Aramark, Sodexo, and Sentara).
Faculty and staff who are unable to submit proof of the booster should NOT report to campus on or after February 28, until their updated vaccine record is submitted.
Regardless of vaccination status, all students, faculty/staff, and visitors must wear face coverings/masks while indoors on campus. This includes classrooms, labs, residence halls, and other communal areas. Masks are not required outdoors as long as 6 of social distance is maintained. Residential students do not need to wear masks in their own rooms.
To learn more about Virginia Wesleyans vaccination and masking policies, click here.
All eligible William & Mary students and employees will be required to show proof of a COVID-19 booster vaccination on or before January 18, 2022. The CDC currently defines eligibility as six months past the Pfizer or Moderna series or two months past the J&J series.
Students who are not in compliance face being disenrolled for the spring semester. Employees who are not in compliance will be placed on 30 days leave without pay followed by termination if they remain out of compliance.
If you are not yet eligible, you will be required to obtain and record aboosterwithin one month of your eligibility date, based on your vaccination dates recorded in the Kallaco portal.
If you already have an approved deferral for the spring semester or a disability or religious exemption on file, you are exempt from theboosterrequirement, but you will be required to comply with W&Ms testing protocols.
W&M continues to require masks indoors for all members of the community and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.
View the William and Mary COVID-19 dashboard here. You can also visit the William & MaryCOVID-19 pageandPath Forwardfor the most current information on coronavirus protocols.
Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases, with the spread of the omicron variant, TCC has decided to implement a remote work and learning environment until January 18, 2022.
Now until January 18:
Virtual resourceswill continue to be available:
