ATLANTA As the COVID-19 omicron variant continues to pop up across Georgia, that means that more and more cases are also popping up inside metro hospitals.
As of Tuesday, about 85% of inpatient beds are in use in our state, and 82% of ICU beds are currently full.
The rate of increase of admission of patients with COVID is now exponential, and that is very concerning, said Dr. Robert Jansen, chief medical officer of Grady Memorial Hospital.
Jansen told Channel 2s Lori Wilson that hes seeing more COVID-19 positive patients in his ER a worrying sign of what could be coming.
We have seen a doubling of our patients in the hospital with COVID in the last week, Jansen said.
That rise is due in large part to the now dominant and highly infectious omicron variant that is making its way across the state.
CDC data from this morning shows that (for) the region, that (for) Georgia, 95% of the cases are omicron, Jansen said.
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Piedmont Healthcare sent Wilson a statement that read in part that, while many of its hospitals are near capacity, we ask all patients who need medical attention to seek care without delay.
Northside Hospital said it has seen a slight increase in COVID-positive patients recently. About 13% of their current patients are COVID-positive.
In the Northeast Georgia Health System, Gainesville is stressed the most, with 19 people waiting for a bed there.
At Grady, the regions only Level 1 trauma center, 60 patients are currently waiting for a bed.
We can talk a lot about whether it is as severe of a disease. Nonetheless, when you have so many people getting infected, the number of people requiring hospitalization is going up significantly, Jansen said.
Jansen said its a numbers game. The more people infected, the more hospitalizations there will be.
And while he said hes seeing more people that are vaccinated in the hospital, he says the majority of those people are patients with serious existing health conditions.
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Join us for Christmas Eve! read the homepage for the District Church in Washington, DC, as the congregation planned to gather for the holiday for the first time since 2019.
The District Church, a multiethnic, nondenominational church in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, had scheduled three in-person services for Friday. But last Sunday, lead pastor Aaron Graham announced that due to the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19, Christmas Eve would be filmed and shared online instead.
We had not planned this, but we just didnt really know who was going to be in town [Christmas] week, and we just had a lot of people gone, said Graham. The District Church had already made plans to briefly go virtual online for the two Sundays following Christmas to give their 20-member staff time to unwind for the Christmas and New Year season.
With cases increasing in DCthe last two days have been higher, we just said, You know what? Let's just pivot online. We can go online and not lose momentum in the church overall. The pandemic taught us that.
Fellow church leaders, especially in major cities where coronavirus cases are taking off, have made similar announcements, while others are weighing the risks as public health officials project record-high cases levels coinciding with holiday travel and gatherings.
This isnt the scenario pastors expected. Months ago, nearly all US churches had finally returned to in-person worship, and countries had lifted church lockdowns. Even as Advent began just four weeks back, the rapid availability of COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots made it seem like this Christmas would be different than last year and churches would be able to celebrate together in person. But then came omicron.
The variant took off earlier in the United Kingdom, with record case loads reported last week. Days ago, Christmas gatherings at two of Londons biggest evangelical churches were rescheduled. Holy Trinity Brompton Church (HTB) and Hillsong Church London postponed their popular carol services. HTB will not be holding in-person or online services for the rest of the year.
Hillsong issued a statement saying that several church staff and volunteers had already tested positive.
The steps we are taking are to help keep our staff, volunteers, you and your families safe, read the statement. We want to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved is our main priority so people can enjoy Christmas together with friends and family.
In most churches, Christmas is one of the best-attended celebrations of the year. Plus, annual festivities like carol services, dinners, pageants, and other celebrations draw big crowds.
The cancellations prompted by omicron take on a weightier significance than missing one special service. Theyre an indicator thatdespite the hopes and prayers and precautions of the past yearthe pandemic continues to take its toll.
As a pastor, Im actually becoming more concerned with the spiritual/mental health and social isolation risk that Im seeing, said Graham at the District Church.
There are a lot of other pandemics that are also happening right now. While we, as DC-educated people, value our physical health, we can sometimes be less aware of what this prolonged pandemic is doing to our spiritual life, our intimacy with God, our relationships with other people in community, and our mental health.
His church, which averaged 800 in weekly attendance prior to the pandemic, has seen in-person attendance cut in half since reopening last July, while the rest of the congregation still attends virtually. The church still plans to return to an in-person format in January.
In New York, where record-high infections have led some to call off Broadway shows and temporarily close restaurants, churches have to weigh whether in-person services can continue safely as omicron takes over as the dominant variant.
The New York Times reported that St. John the Divine, the Episcopal Cathedral in Manhattan, was the first major house of worship in New York to cancel in-person services before Christmas, calling off holiday services, regular weekend services, and special concerts until further notice.
Most churches in Manhattan had already planned to celebrate Christmas at December 19 services, since a significant portion of their flocks would be leaving New York for the holiday itself, according to Drew Hyun, pastor of Hope Church Midtown. Because of the concern surrounding the omicron cases, many congregations went virtual that week.
Leaders at Hope Midtownwhich saw its attendance drop by half, down to around 150, during the pandemicdecided on Saturday night to go online for December 19. The church still plans to hold an in-person and digital Christmas Eve service in conjunction with another partnering church, contingent on new information and data coming in.
For Hyun and Hope Midtown, the pandemic has made them more agile in preparing for the unexpected.
Were more obviously ready for some of these transitions than ever, Hyun said. We know that, just as we got through it last year, that will get through it this year. In many ways, thats what the Christmas story is about, like God working in against-all-odds kinds of circumstances.
Even with rates rising, many churches are keeping in-person services but reiterating the need to take precautions and reminding people to stay home if theyre sick or have been in contact with a sick person.
As for Graham, despite the challenges caused by the omicron variant, he remains hopeful for the upcoming new year in 2022.
I believe that there are times that we go through, like moments found throughout Scripture, for instance, that refine us and prepare us for a move of God, said Graham. And I really believe that we're on the cusp of a spiritual awakeningthat the church is, in some ways, getting smaller so that we can figure out whos radically committed to being a disciple of Jesus. And I think what comes out of that is going to be absolutely beautiful.
More than one-third of Milwaukee County House of Correction inmates test positive for COVID-19 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Thirty-six states and Washington, D.C., are closely monitoring rising COVID-19 case numbers as the Christmas holiday approaches.
COVID-19 outbreaks at several schools, upcoming holiday gatherings and the appearance of the omicron coronavirus variant in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, are spurring concerns.
The numbers show a worsening situation in the D.C. area. Health experts say you can protect yourself by taking measures including getting a COVID vaccine or booster shot, wearing a mask in public and limiting gatherings.
Heres a look at the COVID-19 data for D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak and how it impacts you and our communities
Cases are up 98.8% in Washington, D.C. and nearly 60% in Virginia, according to NBC News data (A technical issue has prevented Maryland from reporting).
An average of 1,654 Virginians and 201 Washingtonians were diagnosed with COVID-19 every day in the past week.
The Maryland Department of Healths COVID-19 case metrics havent been updated since Dec. 3.
MDH says a security breach has prevented some data reporting at the state-wide level and counties including Montgomery and Prince Georges.
Deaths have spiked in the District by 600% over the past two weeks. Virginia has reported steady fatalities, according to NBC News.
D.C.s number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals was at 47 a month ago and has doubled to 113, according to city data. Hospital capacity, which includes COVID and other patients, has been above 80% since December began.
In Maryland, hospitalizations are trending upward, and the governor has instructed hospitals to update pandemic plans and take further action to respond.
As of Wednesday, 1,167 people were hospitalized with COVID in Maryland, a 57% increase over two weeks.
Our emergency room (ER) has been overwhelmed with people young and old, CalvertHealth hospital Chief of Medical Staff Dr. Wilfred Ehrmantraut said in a press release.
Virginia has reported a 56% uptick in average hospitalizations in the past month.
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Staff Video, USA TODAY
As the omicron variantspreads across the country, some online claim young adults are more at risk from COVID-19 vaccines than the virus itself.
"People in Their Twenties Have 7 Times Higher Risk of Death After Vaccination Than From COVID,"reads the headline on a Dec. 3 article from RAIR Foundation USA,a right-wingactivist organization that has previously made false claims about COVID-19 vaccines.
The article accumulated about 200 shares on Facebook within two weeks, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. Similar claims have been promoted on other conservative websites.
Due to a small number of rare but dangerous blood clots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended American adults get vaccinated with shots from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna instead of Johnson & Johnson.But that doesn't mean any of the vaccines are more dangerous for 20-somethingsthan COVID-19 itself.
Fact check: No evidence Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines cause miscarriage
"This 'article'is a click-bait opinion news piece and not an article grounded in actual science," Aimee Bernard, an assistant professor of immunology and microbiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, said in an email.
USA TODAY reached out to RAIR Foundation USA for comment.
While COVID-19 can kill people in their 20s, there is no evidence showing vaccines have caused deaths in that age group.
Young adults are less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, but they can still develop severe symptoms. Data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statisticsshows nearly 5,000 Americans ages 18-29 have died from the virus since the pandemic began.
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Meanwhile, as USA TODAY has previously reported, there is no evidence the COVID-19 vaccines cause death.
"There is no evidence to support the vaccine being more dangerous than COVID for 20-year-olds,"Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at theJohns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said in an email."While it is true that 20-year-olds have a very low risk of death from COVID-19, they also have a very low risk of vaccine complications."
As evidence, RAIR Foundation USAcitedan articlefrom the Non-Profit Organization Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance, agroup based in Osaka. The article, published in the organization's English-language Med Check bulletin, claims the "mortality risk of vaccination is 7 times higher than that of COVID-19 in 20s."
Fact check: COVID-19 vaccines safe for children, not linked to deaths
"It is a ridiculous (sic) to consider vaccination for school children," the article concludes.
To back up its claim, Med Check listed three "reported death cases" purportedly involving COVID-19 vaccination.
Two cases involved 26-year-olds who reportedly died a few days after receiving the vaccine. The other case involved a 24-year-old who initially was thought to have committed suicide, but actually "accidentally died following abnormal behavior" after vaccination,according to the bulletin.
Med Check used those cases, as well as age data from preliminary vaccination surveysin Japan, to estimate a COVID-19 vaccine mortality rate for people in their 20s. But that approach is flawed.
Similar tothe U.S., Japankeeps track of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. As USA TODAY has previously reported, such tracking does not prove causality. An adverse event occurring after vaccination doesn't prove vaccination caused it.
Adverse event reports published by Japan'sMinistry of Health, Labor and Welfare in May, and translated to English using Google Translate,do show the deaths listed in the bulletin. However, in each case, the ministry wrote that a causal relationship to the vaccine was "unevaluable."
COVID-19 vaccines from three companies Pfizer, Takeda/Moderna and AstraZenecaare authorized in Japan. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has said serious side effects are rare, and that the"effectiveness and safety of vaccines for COVID-19 has been verified based on clinical trials and scientific findings."
In the U.S., the same can be said for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
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"If you look at the clinical trial data for children and adolescents, there have been no deaths due to the vaccine. Zero," Bernard said."The scientific community also knows that the risk of cardiovascular issues and death is much higher in the unvaccinated compared to the vaccinated."
USA TODAY reached out to theNon-Profit Organization Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance for comment.
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that people in their 20s have a"7 times higher risk of death after vaccination than from COVID." The COVID-19 vaccines have not been proven to cause death. While young adults are less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, thousands have died due to the virus.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app, or electronic newspaper replica here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
CHICAGO The city will require some businesses including bars, restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues to start checking patrons COVID-19 vaccination status starting Jan. 3, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday.
The move, which mimics requirements in other major cities, comes as Chicago is facing a COVID-19 surge. Officials hope the measure will slow the spread of the Omicron variant, which now makes up the majority of new COVID cases throughout the country.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said his group pushed for as business-friendly mitigations as they could get amid the surge since the industry is still in a fragile recovery, he said.
Capacity limits would kill the the industry, but vaccine passports would keep businesses in operation, Toia said.
Heres what you need to know:
Indoor dining spots
Indoor fitness establishments
Indoor entertainment and recreation venues where food and drinks are served
The order will go into effect Jan. 3.
Everyone 5 and older must show proof of full vaccination at eligible businesses and establishments.
People 16 and older will also have to provide an ID that matches their vaccination record.
Patrons will have to show one of the following as proof of vaccine:
Employees at eligible venues who are not fully vaccinated must continue to wear a mask when interacting with patrons and must provide their employer with proof of a negative COVID-19 test every week.
Officials didnt put a deadline on the vaccine proof requirement. It will remain in effect until the city is through this Omicron-driven surge and the risk of overwhelming hospital capacity has passed, according to the Mayors Office.
According to the mayors order, business owners and employees who dont enforce the vaccine proof requirement could be subject to arrests and fines.
The order does not mention potential punishments for patrons who do not comply. Businesses can deny service to patrons who refuse to comply.
Businesses covered under the order must develop and keep a written record describing their protocol for implementing and enforcing the vaccine requirement, according to the city.
Businesses must also prominently post signs at each entrance and at least one sign inside the location informing patrons of the requirement.
And businesses covered under the order must check eligible patrons vaccination status.
Businesses can get more information and guidance at Chicago.gov/COVID.
The city will also hold information webinars 11 a.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. Dec. 29 and 2 p.m. Jan. 4. To register, click here.
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Virginia Department of Health said the COVID-19 Vaccine is available for everyone ages 5 and up.
VIRGINIA, USA Author's Note: The above video is on file from Dec. 13, 2021.
As COVID-19 cases begin surging again, health officials in Virginia are working to make sure people can be protected from the virus.
It's been a year since the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered, on Dec. 15, 2020. Now, people are lining up to get their booster dose (third shot if they received Pfizer or Moderna) of the vaccines.
The Virginia Department of Health said people over the age of 5 were eligible to get a COVID-19 Vaccine. Although pre-registration is not necessary, appointments are required for the Pfizer shot at most vaccination sites.
Where can you get vaccinated in Hampton Roads?
Click here to enter the street address where you live to find your nearest vaccination center.
Oakland will require proof of COVID-19 vaccines at restaurants, other indoor places The Mercury News
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