The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of November 29, 2021, there are currently 5,991 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been 20 deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 4,837 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 60-year old female from Raleigh County, a 48-year old male from Nicholas County, a 69-year old male from Kanawha County, a 69-year old male from Preston County, a 53-year old female from Taylor County, a 55-year old male from Kanawha County, a 74-year old female from Fayette County, a 63-year old male from Greenbrier County, a 64-year old male from Lincoln County, a 72-year old male from Raleigh County, a 49-year old female from Kanawha County, a 64-year old male from Berkeley County, a 54-year old female from Jefferson County, a 97-year old female from Kanawha County, a 75-year old male from Logan County, an 88-year old female from Randolph County, a 68-year old male from Raleigh County, a 95-year old male from Kanawha County, a 60-year old female from Jefferson County, and an 89-year old female from Preston County.
"The COVID-19 vaccine is life-saving and available to all West Virginians ages five and older," said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. "Please make the decision to be vaccinated."
CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (51), Berkeley (526), Boone (84), Braxton (41), Brooke (76), Cabell (253), Calhoun (27), Clay (21), Doddridge (28), Fayette (196), Gilmer (12), Grant (56), Greenbrier (72), Hampshire (84), Hancock (101), Hardy (61), Harrison (263), Jackson (66), Jefferson (236), Kanawha (399), Lewis (92), Lincoln (59), Logan (89), Marion (180), Marshall (117), Mason (86), McDowell (81), Mercer (287), Mineral (96), Mingo (101), Monongalia (177), Monroe (37), Morgan (88), Nicholas (162), Ohio (174), Pendleton (39), Pleasants (18), Pocahontas (23), Preston (115), Putnam (181), Raleigh (263), Randolph (48), Ritchie (18), Roane (37), Summers (34), Taylor (78), Tucker (6), Tyler (34), Upshur (84), Wayne (90), Webster (60), Wetzel (57), Wirt (26), Wood (258), Wyoming (43). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Please visit www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
West Virginians ages 5 years and older are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Boosters are also available. To learn more about the vaccine, or to find a vaccine site near you, visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call 1-833-734-0965.
Online registration is open for the third round of the Do it for Babydog: Save a life, Change your life vaccination sweepstakes. Registration is open to all West Virginians ages 5-18 who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Please visit https://doitforbabydog.wv.gov/ to register and for more information.
Free pop-up COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Fayette, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Jefferson, Lincoln, Logan, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Summers, Taylor, Tyler/Wetzel, Upshur, Wayne, and Wood counties.
Barbour County
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, Community Market, 107 South Main Street (across the street from Walgreens), Philippi, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVBBC)
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Berkeley County
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Boone County
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Boone County Health Department, 213 Kenmore Drive, Danville, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Braxton County
7:30 AM - 1:30 PM, Braxton County Memorial Hospital parking lot, 100 Hoylman Drive, Gassaway, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=Braxton)
Cabell County
8:00 AM- 4:00 PM, Marshall University Campus (parking lot), 1801 6th Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Cabell-Huntington Health Department (parking lot), 703 Seventh Avenue, Huntington, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavCabell)
Fayette County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Fayette County Health Department, 5495 Maple Lane, Fayetteville, WV
Greenbrier County
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, State Fair of WV, 891 Maplewood Avenue, Lewisburg, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVGBC)
Hampshire County
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hampshire Memorial Hospital, 363 Sunrise Boulevard, Romney, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Jefferson County
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Lincoln County
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Lincoln County Health Department, 8008 Court Avenue, Hamlin, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Logan County
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Old 84 Lumber Building, 100 Recovery Road, Peach Creek, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Mineral County
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Potomac State College, Church McKee Art Center, 101 Fort Avenue, Keyser, WV
Mingo County
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Matewan Volunteer Fire Department, 306 McCoy Street, Matewan, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMGC)
Monongalia County
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM, WVU Recreation Center (lower level), 2001 Rec Center Drive, Morgantown, WV
Monroe County
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Appalachian Christian Center, 2812 Seneca Trail South, Peterstown, WV (optional registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMRC)
Morgan County
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, War Memorial Hospital, 1 Health Way, Berkeley Springs, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Ohio County
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Ohio Valley Medical Center (parking lot of former VPC South Building at the top of 22nd Street), 2000 Eoff Street, Wheeling, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)
Putnam County
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Liberty Square Shopping Center, parking lot, 613 Putnam Village, Hurricane, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Raleigh County
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Beckley-Raleigh County Health Department, 1602 Harper Road, Beckley, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=MavBeckleyRaleigh)
Randolph County
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM, parking lot across from Randolph-Elkins Health Department, 32 Randolph Avenue, Elkins, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVRDC)
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Davis Health Center, 812 Gorman Avenue, Elkins, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Ritchie County
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Ritchie Regional, 135 South Penn Avenue, Harrisville, WV
Summers County
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Kroger (parking lot beside Kroger), 302 Stokes Drive, Hinton, WV
Taylor County
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Grafton-Taylor County Health Department, 718 West Main Street (parking lot at Operations Trailer), Grafton, WV (optional pre-registration: https://wv.getmycovidresult.com/)
Tyler/Wetzel Counties
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Wetzel-Tyler County Health Department, 425 South Fourth Avenue, Paden City, WV (optional pre-registration: https://roxbylabs.dendisoftware.com/patient_registration/)
Upshur County
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM, Buckhannon Fire Department (parking lot), 22 South Florida Street, Buckhannon, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVUSC)
Wayne County
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, Wayne County Health Department, 217 Kenova, Avenue, Wayne, WV (optional pre-registration: https://unityphr.com/campaigns/wvlabs/covid)
Wood County
7:30 AM - 3:00 PM, Vienna Baptist Church, 3401 Grand Central Avenue, Vienna, WV (optional pre-registration: https://labpass.com/en/registration?access_code=WVMavWood1)
Swiss citizens will vote tomorrow on whether to eliminate some COVID-19 restrictions including the neutral nations controversial COVID certificate, according to reports.
The certificate restricts many public places to those who can provide proof of vaccination, a recent negative test, or recovery from a past infection, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.
It has been the subject of protests especially since the Swiss government stopped providing free COVID-19 tests. Critics have alleged its effectively a vaccine passport.
Sundays referendum is the second time COVID controls in the country will be put to voters. In a summer referendum, 60 percent backed the governments COVID law, according to the SBC.
Turnout is expected to be higher for this weekends vote.
A poll by Swiss broadcaster SRG found the COVID-19 law was expected to survive again, with 61 percent of likely voters in favor, 38 percent opposed, and one percent undecided, according to Bloomberg.
Fewer than 65 percent of Swiss are fully-vaccinated a lower percentage than in most of Western Europe, the outlet reported.
Farah Hannoun| MMA Junkie
Diego Sanchez's struggle with COVID-19 has left him hospitalized.
Sanchez, a UFC Hall of Famer, posted an update last week, saying that he was doing better after qualifying for Regeneron monoclonal antibodies.
But since then, it appears that things have taken a turn for the worse, leaving him with low oxygen levels, blood clots in both legs and pneumonia that has attacked his respiratory system.
"Low oxygen numbers and a pneumonia. This has been some tying times," he posted on social media.
Despite experiencing severe symptoms from COVID-19, Sanchez said he hasn't taken his vaccination shots yet.
"I'm going thru it but I can't say I'm sold on the vax at the current moment in time," he tweeted.
Sanchez, who parted ways with the UFC in April, is currently a free agent. In August, Bare Knuckle FC president David Feldman told MMA Junkie that a deal to sign Sanchez was almost finalized but not until he was medically cleared to compete.
Sanchez's departure from the UFC came after a dispute between his then-manager, Joshua Fabia, and the promotion's brass over Sanchez's medicals. Sanchez later separated from Fabia as his manager and business partner.
Scientists are sharing insight into how vitamin D could help in severe COVID-19 cases by revealing how the vitamin functions to reduce hyper-inflammation caused by immune cells.
A new joint study by Purdue University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) demonstrates how an active metabolite of vitamin D not a form sold OTC is involved in switching off inflammation in the body during infections such as COVID-19.
Since inflammation in severe cases of COVID-19 is a key reason for morbidity and mortality, we decided to take a closer look at lung cells from COVID-19 patients, said lead authors Dr. Behdad (Ben) Afzali, chief of the Immunoregulation Section of the NIHs National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and Dr. Majid Kazemian, assistant professor of biochemistry and computer science at Purdue University.
The study appears in the journal Nature Immunology.
As part of the study, researchers analyzed individual lung cells from eight people with COVID-19.
They found that in these cells, part of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19 was going into overdrive and exacerbating inflammation in the lungs.
After administering vitamin D in test-tube experiments, they observed reduced lung cell inflammation.
They then dove further into how the vitamin achieved this.
They did this by turning to T helper cells also known as CD4+ cells which are a type of immune cell that stimulate the killer T cells and other white blood cells to mount an immune response.
T cells are known to play a role in severe and dangerous cases of COVID-19 by going into overdrive and leading to an often fatal phenomenon known as a cytokine storm.
The scientists found that in normal infections, Th1 cells, which are a subset of helper T cells that fights microbes within the cell, go through a pro-inflammatory phase. During this phase, the body clears the infection.
Shortly after, the system shuts down to move onto the anti-inflammatory phase.
The scientists discovered that vitamin D is key in speeding up this transition.
We found that in healthy T cells, the activation of the inflammatory gene program coincided with the activation of a vitamin D system within these cells. We, therefore, investigated how this vitamin D system works and what it does for healthy T cells before we tried to relate it back to COVID-19, Dr. Afzali and Dr. Kazemian told Medical News Today.
Whereas in COVID-19 infections, the scientists saw that the pro-inflammatory phase of Th1 cells did not switch off. They attributed this to either a vitamin D deficiency or an abnormality in the cells response to vitamin D.
As expected, by studying which genes were switched on in the immune cells from the lungs of eight patients, we found that their cells were in an inflammatory state, said the co-authors.
Dr. Afzali and Dr. Kazemian said they were somewhat surprised to identify the intracellular vitamin D system.
[T]raditionally vitamin D has been thought of as depending on the kidneys to activate it before it becomes functional. We found that T cells had a self-contained system to both fully activate and respond to vitamin D, independently of the kidneys, they said.
The researchers hypothesized that adding a highly concentrated intravenous vitamin D metabolite to existing treatments could further help people recover from COVID-19. But they have not yet tested this theory in clinical trials.
Previous studies establish links between vitamin Ds ability to reduce the inflammation caused by T cells and the severity of COVID-19.
But the authors stress that people should not take these results as a treatment recommendation, and much more work is needed.
[I]ts crucially important to note that this study did not test vitamin D treatment in people but analyzed lung cells from eight people who had severe COVID-19, said Dr. Afzali and Dr. Kazemian.
The results, although interesting, should not be taken to indicate that vitamin D is beneficial for either the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 or that its a substitute for other preventive and effective means of COVID-19 prevention, including vaccines, masks, and social distancing.
Dr. Ben Afzali and Dr. Majid Kazemian
Dr. Donald J. Alcendor, associate professor of pathology, microbiology, and immunology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the study offered clues to a possible mechanism that will need validation on a larger scale.
There is widespread belief among the general public that taking megadoses of vitamin D can protect you prior to or following testing positive for COVID-19. The science supporting these claims is still evolving and will require a large-scale control clinical trial going forward. Even more, the mechanism for how vitamin D affects COVID-19 is still unknown, he said.
Dr. Alcendor said that even though vitamin D is known to have immune-modulatory functions, it does not justify its use as a protective measure against COVID-19 infection, especially if one ignores COVID-19 mitigation practices.
He warned that attempting to take higher doses of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin D could be problematic for some people.
A normal diet with a daily generic multivitamin will provide you with the necessary vitamin D needed, he said.
The study suggests that vitamin D could be a therapeutic option for COVID-19 thanks to its role in hyper-inflammation.
This study reveals a potentially unique role that vitamin D plays in the activation of T-cell functions that regulate inflammation in COVID-19, and understanding these regulatory pathways may provide information that will lead to the development of novel therapies for the treatment of acute COVID-19, said Dr. Alcendor.
This key finding could lead to the development of novel therapies for multiple respiratory viruses. The potential for this study could be groundbreaking.
Dr. Donald Alcendor
Dr. Kazemian and Dr. Afzali maintain that we will have to wait for clinical trials for results.
There are a number of clinical trials actively studying the potential of vitamin D as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of COVID-19. When these studies have reported in, we will have a much better idea of the therapeutic role that vitamin D could play in inflammation caused by COVID-19, they said.
However, Dr. Alcendor said future research would need to answer a slew of questions:
[I]s this mechanism specific to COVID-19, or is it true for other respiratory infections? If this study was performed with specimens from influenza patients, would you get a similar result? Could this key finding provide information that would lead to novel therapies for multiple respiratory viruses?
Investors piled into government bonds and quickly recalibrated their expectations for interest-rate increases in response to the new Covid-19 variant first identified in South Africa.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note dropped to 1.484% Friday, according to Tradeweb, from 1.644% at Wednesdays close. That marks the largest trading-session decline since March 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Yields fall as bond prices rise.
Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP said a final analysis of their experimental Covid-19 pill found the drug less effective than an early look, prompting U.S. health regulators to continue a staff review of the drugs application days before an outside panel meets.
The Food and Drug Administration made public Friday their initial review of the drugs application, including an analysis of clinical-trial data for the drug, molnupiravir. Agency staff said the drug was effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and death, but they didnt take a position on whether the agency should authorize the drug. The agency also said no major safety concerns turned up in late-stage testing.
As of Friday, the variant was found in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Friday there was a "high to very high" risk the new variant would spread in Europe.
By Saturday afternoon, two cases were confirmed in the United Kingdom, two others in Germany and one in Italy. Dozens more are suspected in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The top infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also said it was possible the new variant was already in his country but was yet to be detected.
UK's Secretary of State for Health Sajid Javid said the two cases detected in the UK were linked to travel to southern Africa, the region where the Omicron variant was first detected. "These individuals are self-isolating with their households while further testing and contact tracing is underway," he added.
The German cases, identified in Munich, are two passengers who arrived from Cape Town on November 24, the Bavarian Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday.
"The individuals have been in domestic isolation since Nov. 25 following a positive PCR test. Following reports of the new variant, the two individuals had the foresight to arrange for themselves to be tested for the variant," authorities said.
The Italian case is in the southwestern region of Campania, a passenger who arrived from Mozambique, Italy's health ministry said in a statement. It didn't disclose the date of the passenger's arrival or nationality.
Earlier on Saturday, German authorities had identified a "suspected" case of the Omicron variant in Frankfurt from another passenger who returned from South Africa. The local health department said it should be able to confirm the full sequencing of the virus in this patient on Monday.
Similarly, health authorities in the Czech Republic are investigating a suspected case of the Omicron variant in a traveller who has recently arrived from Namibia, the Czech National Institute of Public Healthsaid in a statement emailed to CNN.
The institute said that that a PCR test indicated the infection could have been caused by the Omicron variant, but added that a full sequencing of the sample needs to be completed in order to confirm this. It said the sequencing work is underway.
Dutch health authorities are investigating whether 61 people traveling from South Africa who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday were infected with the new variant.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that to date no known Omicron cases have been identified in the United States, and that if the variant emerges, the agency expects that cases would be quickly identified through the nation's variant surveillance system.
Fauci, the CDC Director, told NBC Saturday, "I would not be surprised if it is [in the US], we have not detected it yet, but when you have a virus that is showing this degree of transmissibility and you're having travel-related cases they've noted in other places already, when you have a virus like this, it almost invariably is going to go all over."
GGD Kennemerland, the municipal health service responsible for the Amsterdam Schiphol airport, said the positive test results would be examined as soon as possible. Those who tested positive were sent into isolation at a nearby hotel, the Dutch authorities added.
But while WHO designated the Omicron a "variant of concern" on Friday, it stressed that more research is needed to determine whether the variant is more contagious, whether it causes more severe disease, and whether it could evade vaccines.
"This variant has a large number of mutations and some of these mutations have some worrying characteristics," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, said in a statement on Friday.
"Right now there are many studies that are underway ... so far there's little information but those studies are underway so we need researchers to have the time to carry those out and WHO will inform the public and our partners and our member states as soon as we have more information," she added.
Lawrence Young, a virologist and a professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom, said the Omicron variant was "very worrying."
"It is the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen to date. This variant carries some changes we've seen previously in other variants but never all together in one virus. It also has novel mutations," Young said in a statement.
South Africa cut off
The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, the Philippines, Thailand and a number of other countries already announced or proposed bans on flights from the region.
Most, including the US, have restricted travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
The South African government has taken an issue with the travel bans, pointing out in a statement that the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention "strongly discourages" travel bans for people originating from countries that have reported the variant.
"Over the duration of this pandemic, we have observed that imposing bans on travelers from countries where a new variant is reported has not yielded a meaningful outcome," the statement said.
Scientists have praised South African health authorities for their quick reaction to a Covid-19 outbreak in the country's Gauteng province, which led to the discovery of the new variant.
When cases in the province started to rise at a higher rate than elsewhere, health experts focused on sequencing samples from those who tested positive, which allowed them to quickly identify the B.1.1.529 variant.
Peacock said the South African health ministry and its scientists "are to be applauded in their response, their science, and in sounding the alarm to the world."
She added the development shows how important it is to have excellent sequencing capabilities and to share expertise with others. That message was reinforced by WHO, which has on Friday called on countries to enhance their surveillance and sequencing efforts to better understand coronavirus variants.
But Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban said South Africa was being "punished" for its transparency and ability to pick up the variant quickly and flag the issue to the international health authorities.
"What I found disgusting and really distressing ... was not just the travel ban being implemented by the UK and Europe but that that was the only reaction or the strongest reaction. There was no word of support that they're going to offer to African countries to help us control the pandemic," he told CNN.
CNN's Martin Goillandeau, David McKenzie, Ghazi Balkiz, Laura Smith-Spark, Sharon Braithwaite, Antonia Mortensen, Tim Lister and Lauren Lau contributed reporting.
Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Black Friday. Stocks dropped after a coronavirus variant appears to be spreading across the globe. Richard Drew/AP hide caption
Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Black Friday. Stocks dropped after a coronavirus variant appears to be spreading across the globe.
Stock markets around the world tumbled on Friday after scientists in South Africa identified a new, fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording its biggest single-day drop of the year.
At one point, the Dow fell more than 1,000 points before recovering slightly to close down 905 points, or about 2.5%, for the session. Oil prices dropped more than 10%, their steepest one-day decline since early in the pandemic.
Virologists are rushing to learn more about the variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 that was first identified in Botswana, and which is rapidly outcompeting other versions of the virus in the region of South Africa that includes Johannesburg.
The United States said it will restrict travelers from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday. It joined at least 10 other countries restricting travel from the region, including Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Singapore, The New York Times reported.
The variant, currently denominated B.1.1.529, reportedly could have far more mutations than those displayed by the delta variant, which became the dominant variant in most of the world over the summer.
It's not clear yet whether the mutations make this variant more infectious or whether it causes more severe illness, but researchers say the high number of mutations to the "spike proteins" the focus of a body's immune response may make it more able to get past the body's defenses.
Despite the spread of this variant, the number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa is still well below the delta surge earlier this year. But numbers are beginning to tick up again.
The European Commission recommended its members block travel from countries where the variant has been found, as Belgium reported a case, according to the BBC. The broadcaster said in addition to Botswana and South Africa, cases have also shown up in Hong Kong and Israel.
The World Health Organization called an emergency meeting on Friday, where it named the new variant omicron, after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, and designated it a "Variant of Concern."
"This news is putting the handbrake on markets," Peter Rutter, the head of equities at Royal London Asset Management, told Reuters.
"There is a huge range of outcomes that can happen. We could have serious lockdowns or we get no lockdowns and a booming economy," Rutter said. "The very fact we don't know, is what's concerning the market."
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were also down more than 2% on Friday, as U.S. markets closed early for the holiday.
Even after the global selloff, U.S. stock markets remain in positive territory for the year. The Dow is up more than 15% since the beginning of 2021, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both up more than 20%.
Daily coronavirus data for Colorado, BVSD and the University of Colorado Boulder, reported Nov. 26, 2021 The Daily Camera
Despite its remote location, the Peruvian city of Iquitos on the Amazon River was one of the first parts of the country to be hard hit by COVID-19. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Despite its remote location, the Peruvian city of Iquitos on the Amazon River was one of the first parts of the country to be hard hit by COVID-19.
People in Iquitos, Peru, refer to their city as "una isla," an island, even though it's not an island. Iquitos is a port city of roughly 400,000 people on the Amazon River in northeastern Peru. Residents proudly note that it's the largest city in the world that's unreachable by road. You can only get there by boat or by plane.
In the early days of the COVID pandemic being isolated seemed like an advantage. It might delay the arrival of the virus. It might make it easier to contain. But that didn't turn out to be the case for Iquitos.
The first COVID cases appeared in Iquitos in March of 2020 at a time when cases were starting to pop up in many parts of the world.
Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, in his office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. In the early days of the pandemic, he says he wasn't too worried about this new coronavirus. But his early optimism would quickly evaporate. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, in his office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. In the early days of the pandemic, he says he wasn't too worried about this new coronavirus. But his early optimism would quickly evaporate.
"We were hearing news about the pandemic in other countries," says Catholic priest Raymond Portelli, who is also a physician. "But sincerely, we thought it wasn't going to be that disastrous and it wasn't going to come to Iquitos."
The disaster unfolding in Iquitos would quickly play out across the South American nation. Peru's death toll from COVID is now the worst in the world, far higher than any of its neighbors and twice the rate of the United States. In Peru COVID officially caused nearly 6,000 deaths for every 1 million Peruvians. In neighboring Ecuador the mortality rate is just over 1,800 per million. In the U.S. the COVID death rate is roughly 2,400 per million.
Mariana Leguia, an infectious disease expert in Lima, says a combination of factors made COVID so deadly in Peru. "It was sort of a perfect storm," says Leguia, who directs the genomics laboratory at the Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per.
Padre Raymundo, as he's known, runs a medical clinic in Iquitos on the ground floor of his church 6 days a week.
"In the morning, I'm a doctor. And in the evening I'm a priest," he says with a laugh.
In July 2020, priest and physician Raymond Portelli held a mass paying homage to local educators who died of COVID-19. Cesar Von Bancels/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
In July 2020, priest and physician Raymond Portelli held a mass paying homage to local educators who died of COVID-19.
Portelli, who's originally from Malta, has been in Iquitos for the last 25 years.
He says that in those early days of the pandemic, he wasn't too worried about this new coronavirus that was causing such a ruckus elsewhere in the world.
But that early optimism would quickly evaporate. On March 15, 2020, just as the first coronavirus cases started appearing in Iquitos, Peru went into a strict nationwide lockdown.
Flights linking Iquitos back to the capital were cancelled. Boat navigation on the Amazon River, the main source of traffic in and out of Iquitos, was also officially banned although some boats still moved surreptitiously on the massive murky brown waterway.
Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, treats a patient in his clinic inside the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Raymond Portelli, priest and doctor, treats a patient in his clinic inside the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru.
Portelli says part of the problem at that point was that the region was also being hit with a spike in dengue cases.
"We were kind of like, 'Is it dengue or is it something else?'" the doctor-priest says. "Then the whole thing erupted."
Like much of the rest of Peru, Iquitos was ill-equipped to deal with an eruption of COVID cases. Doctors had no way to test for the virus. There was no known treatment.
Juan Carlos Celis Salinas, a doctor at the Loreto Regional Hospital, stands by a memorial to the medical staff who died from COVID-19 during the first wave in Iquitos, Peru. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Juan Carlos Celis Salinas, a doctor at the Loreto Regional Hospital, stands by a memorial to the medical staff who died from COVID-19 during the first wave in Iquitos, Peru.
And at the time there were only 12 ICU beds in the vast Loreto Province, where Iquitos is the capital an astonishingly low number for a region that stretches across 500 miles of rainforest, pushing up against Ecuador, Colombia and the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
Seven of those beds were at the Loreto Regional Hospital in Iquitos, which was designated as the hospital for treating COVID.
By mid-May of 2020 that hospital was on the verge of collapse. The hallways were filled with patients on Army cots.
Dr. Juan Carlos Celis Salinas inside a now empty COVID ward at the Iquitos Regional Hospital. In the early days of the pandemic, he says, that hospital was on the verge of collapse. Hallways were filled with patients on cots. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Dr. Juan Carlos Celis Salinas inside a now empty COVID ward at the Iquitos Regional Hospital. In the early days of the pandemic, he says, that hospital was on the verge of collapse. Hallways were filled with patients on cots.
Dr. Juan Carlos Celis Salinas, the head of infectious diseases at the hospital, says the facility was completely full. "Beds, beds, beds, beds," Celis says, pointing out where cots had been set up in the main lobby of the hospital. Some people were even lying on cardboard on the floor.
Mariana Leguia, the infectious disease expert at the Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per, says part of the perfect storm that made COVID so bad in Peru was its dependence on imports. Like many middle-income countries, Peru doesn't produce much of its own medical supplies.
"That means that all the PPE, all the tests, all the molecular tests, all the antibody tests, absolutely everything comes from someplace else," she says. "At the beginning of the pandemic, it was basically impossible to compete for these things because everybody wanted them."
Every country in the world was scrambling to buy up masks, protective gear, ventilators. Peru was not only competing against neighboring South American nations for pandemic supplies but against wealthy nations like Germany, the United States, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. Peru didn't have the cash or the clout to compete in that frantic market.
Other factors in Peru's COVID storm were an underfunded public health-care system, overcrowded living conditions and a huge informal economy. An estimated 70% of Peruvians survive off informal jobs, making it nearly impossible for them to adhere to the nationwide lockdown. Nearly a quarter of Peru's 33 million citizens live below the poverty line.
Boats anchored in the port of Indiana down the Amazon river from Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is only accessible by air or water. Residents thought that that isolation might slow the arrival of COVID-19, but that didn't prove to be the case. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Boats anchored in the port of Indiana down the Amazon river from Iquitos, Peru. Iquitos is only accessible by air or water. Residents thought that that isolation might slow the arrival of COVID-19, but that didn't prove to be the case.
"So when the shutdown came, these people are completely out of a job," notes Leguia. "In a situation like that, your priority becomes having something to eat for the day, not staying at home and trying not to get the virus."
During the pandemic Peru also lacked the stable political leadership needed to address the crisis at home and negotiate for medical supplies from abroad.
"Last year, I think we had four presidents, five presidents. I lose count," Leguia says. The correct number was four. But whether it was four or five, she says the political situation made it nearly impossible for the government to effectively respond to this huge medical, economic and social crisis. "Because there's massive turnover of the authorities happening every three months," she says.
The coup de grce for Peru was a lack of oxygen. Peru not only didn't have sufficient supplies of medical oxygen to treat patients, it had restrictive, cumbersome regulations on bottling oxygen that had limited the market to just a few local companies.
A shortage of oxygen contributed to Peru's high death rate. Above: empty oxygen tanks in the medical office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
A shortage of oxygen contributed to Peru's high death rate. Above: empty oxygen tanks in the medical office in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos.
"In the context of the pandemic, the main driver of deaths was actually lack of oxygen," says Leguia.
And that's also what led to the avalanche of deaths in Iquitos, she says.
In Iquitos in early May of 2020, the sole oxygen plant at the regional hospital broke down.
Dr. Celis says it was the darkest moment of the pandemic.
"When a patient is without oxygen," he says. "They don't scream. They die as if a candle were being blown out."
Patients who probably could have been saved just with supplemental oxygen instead slipped away, says Celis.
The surge in deaths led to chaos. The hospital's morgue was full. The city's crematorium also couldn't keep up and eventually shut down. Mortuaries had been taking in bodies but then in the midst of the lockdown couldn't schedule funerals. In addition, several funeral directors got infected and died.
A relative of a COVID-19 patient waits to try to refill a medical oxygen tank in Iquitos in mid-May of 2020. The main oxygen plant in the city broke down days earlier leading to a surge in COVID deaths. Cesar Von Bancels/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A relative of a COVID-19 patient waits to try to refill a medical oxygen tank in Iquitos in mid-May of 2020. The main oxygen plant in the city broke down days earlier leading to a surge in COVID deaths.
Meanwhile, staff at the hospital were working long shifts, sweating in the tropical heat with only a single mask. Doctors and nurses, including Celis, started getting infected. Sixteen staff members including 6 doctors from the hospital didn't survive.
As oxygen tanks drained with no way to refill them, Celis says all his staff could do was try to make patients comfortable.
"You weren't doing something heroic," he says. "You were just resisting because you had to do your job. You felt responsible to be there but with this immense fear for your children, your wife, your family."
In Iquitos, the story of an isolation center captures the mounting tragedy and a possible path forward.
At that same time that the main hospital in Iquitos was overrun with COVID patients, Padre Raymundo Portelli was overseeing a church-run isolation center for what were supposed to be mild to moderate COVID cases.
"I was attending nearly 70 to 80 patients hospitalized there," the doctor-priest says.
But more and more people kept testing positive. And many the patients in the isolation center were getting progressively sicker. Given that services at the main hospital had collapsed Portelli had nowhere to transfer them.
People wait outside the medical clinic of the priest and doctor, Raymond Portelli, located in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. Portelli sees 30 patients a day and says he now rarely sees COVID cases. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
People wait outside the medical clinic of the priest and doctor, Raymond Portelli, located in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. Portelli sees 30 patients a day and says he now rarely sees COVID cases.
"Patients were dying for lack of oxygen," he says. "And I was sitting here, I remember I'd said mass for them. But I didn't know what to do."
Then a friend in Lima suggested that Portelli should take up a collection to buy a new oxygen plant and bring it to Iquitos. Portelli laughs as he recalls the conversation. He was skeptical. He didn't know how much an oxygen bottling plant would cost, or even if he could get hold of the industrial compressors and other materials needed for one as it was becoming clear around the world that oxygen was a key treatment for COVID. Nonetheless, he posted a request for donations on his Facebook page.
"And in one day, one day! there was a million soles in my accounts." Portelli was amazed.
Volunteers sort medicines that are distributed free of charge at a medical clinic in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. The pastor of the church was instrumental in bringing in a desperately-needed oxygen plant to the city in the worst days of the COVID pandemic. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
Volunteers sort medicines that are distributed free of charge at a medical clinic in the San Martin de Porres church in Iquitos, Peru. The pastor of the church was instrumental in bringing in a desperately-needed oxygen plant to the city in the worst days of the COVID pandemic.
A million Peruvian soles is about $250,000. Within two weeks Padre Raymundo along with the local health department had bought the equipment in Lima for a new bottling plant, arranged to fly it to Iquitos and assembled it at the regional hospital. At first the demand for oxygen was so great from health workers and citizens lining up with cannisters for a sick family member that the city had to station police officers at the plant to keep a semblance of order.
Padre Raymundo's fundraiser continued, and he eventually raised enough money for four more plants for Iquitos.
Health authorities also built a temporary 150-bed COVID ward on what used to be a soccer field behind the regional hospital. It wasn't finished until after the first wave of the pandemic had subsided over several months, hitting a low in November. But Dr. Celis says it was literally a lifesaver during the second wave that swept in to the Amazon region in January 2021.
Peru's second wave of cases peaked in April of this year. Cases and deaths have now plateaued at relatively levels. Health officials say they've been bracing for a third wave that so far hasn't arrived. The problem now, Dr. Celis says, is that the regional hospital is once again packed ... but not with COVID patients. People with cancer, HIV, TB and other medical issues who'd put off seeking care for months are streaming in for care.
Yet the hospital has far fewer staff to treat them.
"Medical staff is not something that's increased," Celis says. "It's decreased. Doctors have died. Nurses have died. And people are exhausted. Some don't want to be in high risk areas anymore. So instead of more health personnel, you have less."
The problem isn't just in Iquitos. The first two waves of COVID were incredibly lethal in Peru. Despite having a population that's less than half the size of the United Kingdom, Peru's registered 50,000 more deaths than the U.K. The pandemic so far has killed more than 200,000 people in the South American nation.
The Violeta Carrera neighborhood in Iquitos, Peru. Crowded living conditions contributed to the rapid spread of the coronavirus across Peru. Angela Ponce for NPR hide caption
The Violeta Carrera neighborhood in Iquitos, Peru. Crowded living conditions contributed to the rapid spread of the coronavirus across Peru.
The impact of the pandemic on families who lost loved ones and on Peru as a whole will likely be felt for years. The novel coronavirus exposed and exploited the vulnerabilities in the emerging South American country.
Despite this, Padre Raymundo says people are eager to move on.
"They want to forget," he says. Forget the wave of death that arrived just a matter of weeks after many people in the city first heard about a disease called COVID-19 that was spreading thousands of miles away in Asia.
