In April 2020, as microbiologist Cameron Myhrvold had just finished his second interview to join Princetons faculty, his paper was publishedin Natureintroducing the revolutionary CARMEN system that simultaneously tests for the 170 most prevalent human-infecting viruses including the then-novel coronavirus. At the time, only 39 of those viruses had FDA-approved diagnostic tests.
Myhrvold, a 2011 alumnus, was working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where hed been neck-deep in coronavirus research for years before the pandemic brought his work into global significance.
His fascination with viruses started young, he said. His dad, Nathan Myhrvold, a 1983 Ph.D. alumnus from Princeton, had told him about Ebola. I was really fascinated by viruses how they could make us so sick, but theyre so simple, with so few genes, he said. And Ive always had an interest in technology, so I think it was inevitable that there would be a technology component to the work that I was doing.
In January 2021, Myhrvold joined the department of molecular biology as one of Princeton's newest COVID-19 experts and part of agrowing cohort of researchers who straddle the boundary between fundamental research and groundbreaking technological developments.
Myhrvold uses CRISPR-Cas13 to detect and cut RNA (DNAs lesser-known, single-helix cousin).
Photo by
Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications
Cameron uses genome editing technologies to learn about, monitor, diagnose and destroy viral pathogens with pandemic potential, said Bonnie Bassler, the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the department. His spectacular new technologies enable him and his collaborators to solve fundamentally important problems of current biomedical urgency.
A key weapon in his arsenal is CRISPR-Cas13. If that sounds familiar, its probably because in 2020, the Nobel Prize in chemistry went to the scientists behind CRISPR-Cas9, a gene-editing tool that allows precise cuts in DNA. Not as muchattention has been paid to CRISPR-Cas13, the tool that Myhrvold uses to detect and cleave RNA (DNAs lesser-known, single-helix cousin).
Myhrvold and others in the field have identified four technologies based on Cas13 that work in slightly different ways. One works like a scalpel, carefully snipping single RNA strands much like Cas9 cuts DNA. Another variant tags RNA strands with other proteins, including a fluorescent protein that can track RNA. A third one uses a protein called ADAR to edit one letter at a time in RNA a very exciting biomedical development, as so many diseases arise from a single letter misspelled in the genetic code.
The fourth variant is more like a ninja star than a pair of scissors; it has an overdrive mode that can destroy all nearby strands of a harmful RNA. I often use the analogy of a paper shredder, because you feed in specific things that you want to get destroyed, and then boom, they get thrashed, said Myhrvold.
Some simple organisms, including many viruses, encode their blueprints in RNA. This means that Myhrvolds paper-shredding Cas13 application could become an antiviral treatment for diseases including HIV, the common cold, influenza and COVID-19.
A Cas13-based antiviral medication is still many years away, but thats definitely an area were excited about, said Myhrvold. Its an exciting approach because, as long as we can deliver it to the right parts of your body to be effective, we can eventually treat any virus thats infecting that part of your body. Maybe the next outbreak is a flu again, like in 1918, or maybe its Ebola or something else entirely different. We want to have versatile tools at our disposal.
The secret to the versatility is RNA itself. Unlike DNA, which maintains a constant size and shape, RNA occurs in a variety of lengths and shapes, to perform its many roles to build and maintain your bodys various systems.
DNA, the double-helixed strands holding the blueprint for every tiny component of your body and brain, has captivated geneticists for years. But a growing number of biologists are shifting their focus to single-stranded RNA. If DNA is your bodys blueprint, proteins are the contractors and bricklayers and plumbers bringing the blueprint to life. For decades, RNA was seen as a simple translator, delivering the DNA instructions in a form that the proteins can read. Now, scientists are discovering a host of other jobs RNA can perform, including doing the work of some proteins.
If you look at the last decade or so, we have all these great tools for studying DNA that have been really transformative, including Cas9. I would like to see us say, Lets do all that again, but at the RNA level, said Myhrvold. And then maybe in a few decades, well be talking about doing this for proteins.
That technology doesnt yet exist for proteins, but Myhrvold hints that that may change. His career has been marked by his refusal to be stymied by the limitations of technology; he holds seven patents and has another three pending.
Myhrvolds lab already has people working on technology development, and hes looking for students and researchers with wide-ranging expertise to build that out.
A lot of the best science we do at Princeton is interdisciplinary, he said. When I studied here, I was part of the Integrated Science Curriculum, and that has very much shaped how I like to operate as a scientist. I love these interdisciplinary, collaborative projects.
In addition to his primary placement in the Department of Molecular Biology, Myhrvold is affiliated with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as well as the Department of Chemistry. As he builds his lab, Myhrvold is looking for students and researchers from any or all of those departments, as well as quantitative and computational biology, the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, even physics, he said.
"Cameron is a great mentor," said Shruti Sharma (right), a graduate student in Myhrvold's lab. "You really feel that someones there to champion you and help you succeed."
Photo by
Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications
Myhrvold described himself as super excited to develop collaborations with his former mentors as well as new faculty within and beyond his departments. He has begun collaborations with two other molecular biology professors Zemer Gitai, the Edwin Grant Conklin Professor of Biology, and Elizabeth Gavis, the Damon B. Pfeiffer Professor in the Life Sciences and he is in conversations with several potential research partners from departments and programs across the University. He is co-advising graduate student Shruti Sharma with Antoine Kahn, the vice dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Stephen C. Macaleer '63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science.
Cameron is a great mentor, and you feel confident with his guidance to reach success, Sharma said. I appreciate that Cameron is well versed in the physical sciences in addition to the biological sciences. His projects are thus wide-ranging, from understanding new science to designing technology that serves a larger purpose. And I was looking for that. I was thinking, I've studied physics, and I want to apply my knowledge to something more humanitarian.
During his own years as a Princeton student, Myhrvold concentrated in molecular biology and completed a certificate in quantitative and computational biology before winning a $250,000, no-strings-attached fellowship from the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation that paid his way to graduate school at Harvard. He then did postdoctoral work at the Broad Institute under the leadership of fellow Princeton alumnus Eric Lander of the Class of 1978, before coming back to Princeton to set up his research lab.
It makes me very proud and a little sentimental that an undergraduate from our department is now my colleague, said Bassler, the department chair and Myhrvolds former senior thesis adviser. No other member of our faculty was an undergraduate here. It's quite a trajectory from when he was learning to pipette in my lab.
She recalled that when Myhrvold was working on his junior paper and senior thesis with her, he was always extremely entrepreneurial and creative. And now, a decade later, his portfolio is a remarkably interesting mix of technology development and basic science.
In many ways, Myhrvolds research journey is a textbook example of how pure, curiosity-driven science can evolve into something with very specific biomedical applications. I think thats always going to be a part of what I do, he said. I love the fact that I get to work on so many different basic science questions here, in collaboration with so many amazing people, and Im also going continue this viral threat work, with its concrete applications, because RNA viruses are such a threat to human health.
Even after 18 months, hes still losing sleep over the pandemic, he said. In so many countries, vaccination is almost nonexistent, and Im worried that thats going to come back to bite us in the coming months. So many Americans are acting like COVID is in the rearview mirror, but its really not. That mentality is whats going to allow it to make a comeback. Its not just the Delta or Lambda variants its the rest of the Greek alphabet that Im worried about. I think were going to run out of Greek letters. And then what? This is a going to be an arms race, and hopefully the world will get to a point where we can make and distribute enough vaccine quickly enough that this will be okay, but Im worried.
As he builds the team that will continue this work, Myhrvold is committed to keeping students at the forefront of his labs research. Obviously Im a little biased, but I love the undergrads here, Myhrvold said. I loved doing research as an undergrad, and its important to me to always have undergrads as members of the lab in the future. It was a little tricky the first year, especially because of COVID logistics, but its already been a lot of fun.
Christopher Guan of the Class of 2022 was the first undergraduate to join Myhrvolds lab.
I first reached out to Cameron because I found his research very interesting and unique, said Guan. He gives me an incredible amount of creative freedom in tackling new designs, and he will always choose to guide my thinking rather than dictating a correct approach. I definitely feel like an independent researcher that is always learning in his lab.
I gave Chris a very ambitious project, Myhrvold said. I thought, If it doesnt work, its not the end of the world, but if it does, Im really excited to see where it goes.
Myhrvolds Princeton connections reach in several directions. His parents met while they were graduate students at the University his father was pursuing applied mathematics and his mother was studying romance languages and literature and as an undergraduate, he was joined by his twin brother Conor in the Class of 2011.
Its great to be back, he said.
The poorest and most underserved areas of New Jersey were the hardest hit by the pandemic, according to a new analysis by the New Jersey Hospital Association, underscoring the heightened risks vulnerable communities face as yet another COVID-19 surge looms.
The examination, based on a database the NJHA created in 2019 to measure the impact of social and environmental factors on health by ZIP code, shows that seven of the 10 areas that rank the worst socioeconomically had the highest per capita rate of coronavirus cases.
They are Atlantic City (08401), Paterson (07505), Trenton (08608), two areas of Camden (08102 and 08105), and two areas of Newark (07102 and 07108).
The data used 20 health and social indicators to identify the most disadvantaged of New Jerseys 537 ZIP codes. Those factors included chronic medical conditions, lack of prenatal care, premature death, employment status, high school graduation rates and access to food.
If you overlay a map of the most vulnerable ZIP codes identified by this data, they are very much aligned with the areas that suffered the highest toll of illness during COVID, said NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett in a statement. This data reinforces a critical lesson: When it comes to population health, the health of the entire state is inextricably linked to the health of our most vulnerable.
Coronavirus cases had steadily declined this fall, before ticking up recently as the cold weather sent residents indoors. The states seven-day average for new positive tests increased to 1,762, the highest number since Sept. 28. Its a 24% jump from a week ago and a 52% spike from a month ago.
New Jersey reported another 1,953 COVID-19 cases and 30 confirmed deaths Tuesday. There were 841 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 70 of the states 71 hospitals as of Monday night.
The COVID-19 rates the report cited referred to cases from April 1, 2020 through this past Oct. 31 in which people went to a hospital emergency room or were admitted to a hospital after being diagnosed with the virus or after seeking care for another reason and then were found to have the disease, the NJHA said.
Experiencing just one of the factors it measured such as high unemployment or low high school graduation rate can be detrimental to a communitys overall wellbeing, the report said. ZIP codes that have multiple indicators are more likely to suffer lasting and profound health vulnerability for entire communities, the authors said.
Common traits among the most vulnerable ZIP codes included being insured by Medicaid or having no insurance, lacking a high school diploma, being unemployed, struggling to obtain food or accessing healthy options, and a life expectancy that is nearly four years shorter than the statewide average, according to the analysis by NJHAs research hub, the Center for Health Analytics, Research & Transformation (CHART).
Thats a critical reminder for public health, policymakers and the provider community, Bennett said, but theres also a message for each of us on a personal and local level. Everyone can help us emerge from this pandemic stronger by volunteering their time, donating to a food pantry, contributing to a coat drive or supporting any number of worthy causes that help build up communities.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Elizabeth Llorente may be reached at ELlorente@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Liz_Llorente
Staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
The father of an unvaccinated 27-year-old woman who died from COVID has called for fines to be issued to people who refuse to have the jab.
Steve Baird told Sky News he believes his daughter Rashelle would still be alive if she had received the coronavirus vaccine and wants it to be made mandatory.
The mother-of-three died on Friday after she put off getting the jab because she was busy caring for her young children, her family say.
Live COVID updates from across the UK and around the world
Mr Baird insists Rashelle, from Brechin in Scotland, was not an anti-vaxxer and believes she would have had the vaccine if she knew she faced a fine for not doing so.
He told Sky News: "I'm angry she didn't get her injections. I'm angry because I've lost her.
"The doctor said to me 'if she'd had the injections, she'd still be here'. It's tragic.
"In hindsight, I would go back and kick her backside (to get the vaccine) - and say 'you've got three wee kids'."
"It's absolutely crazy not getting vaccinated," he added.
"Fines, I think, is the way to go because people don't want to pay a fine. They don't want to be hit with a 1,000 fine.
"How are they going to pay that? Well, you should have been vaccinated."
Rashelle, who had asthma, was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties at the start of the month and tested positive for COVID.
She was placed in an induced coma on 3 November and spent 16 days on a ventilator, her sister Lani said.
After her condition suddenly worsened, she died in the early hours on 19 November.
Mr Baird said the family rushed to the hospital to be at her bedside but she had already died when they arrived.
"I never got to say goodbye to her," he told Sky News.
"I whispered in her ear. I talked to her. She was still warm.
"I wouldn't wish it on anybody. It's a horrible, horrible thing."
Mr Baird said his daughter's cause of death was recorded as multiple organ failure caused by COVID-19, a year after her uncle had also died with the virus.
Rashelle last spoke to her children - aged two, six and eight - and her partner Scott on the phone shortly before she was went into a coma, her father added.
Rashelle's sister Lani said she encouraged her to get the COVID jab before she fell ill but she "always put her kids first".
"She was being a mum," Ms Baird told Sky News.
"Now we're in a situation that she put it off so many times that the kids don't have a mum.
"She wasn't an anti-vaxxer. She wanted to get the vaccine. She was determined to get it.
"It was timing. It always clashed with something she needed to get done with the kids."
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Mr Baird, who is a delivery driver, said he is now "scared to go outside" as he called for tougher rules on the wearing of face masks.
"It's infuriating when you go in the supermarket and you see a lot of people walking about, no masks, not giving a damn, thinking 'we're invincible'," he said.
"COVID can hit you so fast.
"All I would say to people is: please, please get that injection.
"(COVID) has ruined my family. My family's never going to be the same."
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The U.S. has already suffered more deaths from the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 in 2021 than in 2020, even though vaccines that prevent serious illness and death have been widely available since April, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With more than a month to go to close out the year, the CDC has recorded 386,233 COVID deaths in 2021 through Tuesday, more than the 385,343 counted in 2020, as the New York Times reported.
The paper cited experts as saying the cause was not just persistently low vaccine uptake but also the relaxation of safety measures such as wearing face masks and avoiding indoor gatherings, with many people wrongly assuming that vaccines alone had effectively ended the crisis.
That has also led to a fresh rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks after all three metrics had fallen from their early September peaks. New cases are averaging 94,335 a day, according to a New York Times tracker, up 25% from two weeks ago. Hospitalizations are up 9% from two weeks ago to an average of 50,942 and deaths continue to average more than 1,100 a day, meaning the U.S. is seeing casualties equal to those suffered in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, every three days.
The CDCs vaccine tracker is showing that almost 196 million people living in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, equal to 59% of the overall population, well below the 70% threshold experts say is needed to stop the spread. That threshold may be understated, according to Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious-disease expert at Bellevue Hospital Center, cited by the New York Times as saying that an 85% to 90% vaccination rate may be required to make the virus endemic, meaning one that still exists but at a lower level and without the spikes that have repeatedly emerged in the last two years.
See: Dr. Fauci says enjoy the holiday by following these Thanksgiving safety guidelines
The unvaccinated continue to account for most new cases, hospitalizations and deaths, a trend that shows no signs of ending. In the latest example, seven doctors who attended an anti-vaccine conference in Florida tested positive for COVID or experiences an onset of symptoms in the days after the event, according to the Daily Beast.
The event, held on Nov. 6 and called The Day the Earth Listened, drew as many as 900 participants, none of whom wore face masks or attempted to distance. Attending doctors recommended using ivermectin to both treat and prevent COVID, despite there being no evidence for its validity. Ivermectin is a treatment for parasites and head lice in humans, as well as a horse dewormer, and can have serious side effects including death, as the FDA has repeatedly warned.
From the archives (August 2021): CDC: Overdoses of ivermectin are rising
A group of Russian doctors, fed up with misinformation and conspiracy theorizing, invited anti-vaxx celebrities and politicians to visit the countrys worst-hit COVID hospital wards and see firsthand the devastating effects of the virus, AFP reported.
In an open letter published by state news agency TASS, 11 doctors from a number of cities told singers, actors, TV personalities and others that they would take the time to show them around COVID treatment centers.
Given how many people read and listen to you, we will find time to escort you through the red zones, intensive-care units and pathology departments of our hospitals, the doctors said. Maybe after that you will change your position and fewer people will die.
The World Health Organization said that Europe, yet again, is the sole region where COVID cases are rising on a weekly basis, and not either declining or stabilizing as in the rest of the world. In its latest epidemiological update, the agency highlighted Germany, the U.K., Russia and Turkey as countries with the highest weekly incidence of new cases. Russia reported the highest number of new deaths from COVID. Russia has inoculated just 37% of its population, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he had taken an experimental nasal vaccine against the coronavirus, three days after he received his booster shot.
See: Putin tests experimental Russian nasal vaccine against COVID-19
The European CDC, fearing a very high burden of COVID in December and January, has called for public health measures to be enforced immediately in combination with continued efforts to increase vaccine uptake in the total population.
See: WHO warns Europe COVID death toll could exceed 2.2 million by March, and U.S. warns against travel to Germany and Denmark
Also: Germany faces grim COVID milestone with leadership in flux
There are still too many individuals at risk of severe COVID-19 infection whom we need to protect as soon as possible., the agency said in a statement. We need to urgently focus on closing this immunity gap, offer booster doses to all adults, and reintroduce nonpharmaceutical measures.
In other news: Johnson & Johnson JNJ, -0.28% said its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has been granted full approval by Health Canada, marking its first major regulatory approval. The vaccine has been distributed since February under an emergency-use authorization in the U.S.
So far, only the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.37% and German partner BioNTech SE BNTX, -1.32% has gained full approval from the U.S. regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, in an August decision.
New Zealand will reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers starting in 2022, after restrictions had been in place for 18 months, CNN reported.
President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning Jan. 22, the Associated Press reported.
Read: Biden administration asks court to allow employee vaccine mandate
The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness climbed above 259 million on Wednesday, while the death toll edged above 5.17 million, according todata aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. continues to lead the world with a total of 47.9 million cases and 773,887 deaths.
India is second by cases after the U.S. at 34.5 million and has suffered 466,584 deaths. Brazil has the second highest death toll at 613,066 and 22 million cases.
In Europe, Russia has recorded the most fatalities at 262,733, followed by the U.K. at 144,579.
China,where the virus was first discovered late in 2019,has had 111,034 confirmed cases and 4,809 deaths, according to its official numbers, which are widely held to be massively understated.
Several peoplewho attendedaconference in Floridaearlier this month where ivermectin was promoted as treatment against COVID-19 have since contracted the virus.
Dr. John Littell,the Ocala-based physician who organized the Florida Summit on COVID at an equestrian center Nov. 6, said one physician got sick and that a "handful of others" had mild cases.
The Food and Drug Administration says ivermectin is approved to treator prevent parasites in animals. For humans, ivermectin tablets are approved to treat some parasitic worms, and there are topical formulations for head lice and skin conditions. The FDA has not authorized ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals.
Littell, who is unvaccinated and believes ivermectin is effective at treating and preventing the virus, said he does not believe the infections were spread at the conference.
"Only one physician got sick and that's because his father had been ill in the Florida Keys before he came," Littell said. "In each case, everyone is healthy now and back in the saddle. And all were given early treatment and ivermectin and the usual combination of therapies."
Dustin Wyatt,The Ledger
Also in the news:
Boston'stemporary outdoor dining program designed to help boost struggling restaurants has been extended to Dec. 31, Mayor Michelle Wu announced Wednesday.The extension applies to private patios and many public streets.
Maryland will distribute 500,000 at-home COVID testing kits to health departments across the state. Gov.Hogan said the kits will give "Marylanders more options and more peace of mind as we head into the holiday season."
Honolulu and Maui counties will allow restaurants and bars to operate at 100% capacity and eliminate a requirement that groups sit 6 feet apart at restaurants when Hawaiieases some statewide restrictions at month's end.
Social distancing became mandatory again across the Netherlands on Wednesday. The countrys leading intensive care physician, Diederik Gommers, called for even tougher measures including closing schools to rein in soaring infection rates.
Malaysia and Singapore said Wednesday they will partially reopen their borders next week to fully vaccinated citizens and some others, after nearly two years of closure.
Today's numbers:The U.S. has recorded more than 48million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 775,300 deaths,accordingtoJohns Hopkins Universitydata. Global totals: More than 259.3 million cases and 5.17 million deaths. More than 196 millionAmericans 59% of the populationare fully vaccinated,according to theCDC.
What we're reading:COVID-19 has pushed a decadeslong Michigan emergency medical service workers shortage into a crisis. How much longer before people call 911 and it'll take too long for help to arrive, if it ever does at all?
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more?Sign up forUSA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch free newsletterto receive updates directly to your inboxandjoin ourFacebook group.
The majority of cities and towns in Connecticut are now in the red alert level, the state's highest of four levels for COVID-19 infections, according to state data released Wednesday.
Of the state's 169 municipalities, 110, or 65%, were in the red zone the most since April 22.
Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday urged residents to take steps to protect themselves, noting New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont had higher rates of infection than Connecticut.
That's just a reminder that we're not an island. That's why we've got to continue to be very cautious, he said.
As families prepare to gather over the Thanksgiving holiday, some hospitals across the country are being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases and staffing shortages, and surges tied to holiday gatherings could make it worse.A potentially weekslong closure of a New York emergency department Monday was sparked by a staffing shortageafter unvaccinated health care workers were not allowed to continue work due to a state rule.Mount Sinai South Nassau's emergency room will direct patients to its Oceanside emergency department.
Officials in Denver said hospitals are filling up, with about 80% of those hospitalized for COVID-19 being unvaccinated,9News reported.Dr. Robin Wittenstein, CEO of Denver Health, told the outlet their system is on the "brink of collapse."
The University of Iowa's hospital is also worried about hardship as COVID and flu cases are on the rise. In Dubuque County, hospitalizations for COVID-19 are as high as they were a year ago before vaccines were available.
"It's cold now, and people are going to be indoors, and everyone's tired of this," Chief Medical Officer Theresa Brennan said. "People are hungry for human contact. And because of that, it's likelypeople are going to be less strict about gathering, about masking, about distancing than they were last year."
Thousands of people traveling for the holidays this week will first testthemselves for COVID-19 without a doctor, lab or any medical oversight.While these quickhome tests are hailed as a major convenience and a smart way to protect loved ones, theyve also raised a significant challenge for public health officials.It's unclear how often customers report results from the dozen authorizedhome coronavirus tests that typicallydeliver results in 15 minutesoutside a lab or doctors office.Private test manufacturers already make more home antigen tests than standard laboratory tests and the gap couldnearly double next monthas new home tests flood the market. Read more here.
The whole issue of us tracking every single case is just notgoing to be possible anymore with these (home)tests, said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. We need to move to a different approach.
Ken Alltucker
Dozens of Tennessee health care, higher education and consulting entities applied for an official exemption last week from the states new law that strictly curtails businesses from enacting COVID-19 restrictions.
The legislation, signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Bill Lee, prohibits most private businesses from requiring COVID-19 vaccines or proof of vaccination. But the bill carved out a provision for entities at risk of losing major federal funds if they followed the new Tennessee law, such as federal contractors, transportation authorities and health care providers that treat Medicare or Medicaid patients.
The Tennessee comptroller began accepting exemption applications Nov. 15 and received 76 by the end of the week, though legitimate applications were slightly less due to some duplicate and errant submissions.So far, denials have been rare.
Of the 76 applications, five were denied and 44 are awaiting approval.
Melissa Brown, The Nashville Tennessean
Contributing: The Associated Press
As the U.S. prepares for a potential winter coronavirus surge, many states are proving how safety is a priority by keeping cases down and taking continued precautions to help prevent spreading the virus. But others haven't done such a great job at keeping the pandemic under control. WalletHub did a recent survey that ranks the safest states and the District of Columbia. According to the site, "In order to identify the safest states during the COVID-19 pandemic, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics: 1) Vaccination Rate, 2) Positive Testing Rate, 3) Hospitalization Rate, 4) Death Rate, and 5) Transmission Rate Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the safest conditions." Read below to find out the 7 least safest states according to WalletHub. Read onand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID.
Ohio ranked 45 out of 51 for safest states in the WalletHub survey and is experiencing a rise in cases and deaths. Cleveland.com reports, "COVID-19 activity is 'exceptionally high' in Northwest Ohio, which has the highest case rate per 100,000 residents in the state, coming in at 742.4 cases per 100,000 residents, Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said in a press briefing. "The lowest region by comparison, is southwest Ohio at 401.9 cases per 100,000 residents." Vanderhoff added, "While you can still see the cases are high in all of Ohio's counties, it's clear that a higher vaccination rate is correlated with a lower case rate. Simply put, it's a further demonstration of the protective impact of vaccination."
North Dakota ranked 46 out of 51 for safest states in the WalletHub survey and can't shake the Delta variant. The Dickinson Press reports "The delta wave, which started in North Dakota this summer, peaked at 4,604 active cases on Oct. 6 and since has generally edged down along a zig-zagging trend line. Active cases were as high as 3,904 on Nov. 10 but fell to 2,841 as of Sunday, Nov. 21, according to figures from the North Dakota Department of Health." But officials are worried about a holiday surge. Dr. Avish Nagpal, the chief infectious disease specialist at Sanford Health in Fargo said, "Holidays always bring an unpredictable factor with them. We may see cases go up again.
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Idaho ranked 47 out of 51 for safest states in the WalletHub survey. There's a decline in cases in some counties in Idaho, but there's still too many Covid cases in other areas. Big County News reports, Dave Jeppesen, Idaho Department of Health & Welfare director told local press, "Cases have even begun declining in North Idaho, but every county in that region remains above the 25 per 100,000 incidence rate, and test positivity up there remains above 10%. "The hospitals are still stretched." In addition, Jeppesen said, "What we see is that the vast, vast majority of deaths come from those that are unvaccinated. If somebody gets vaccinated, the likelihood of catching COVID goes dramatically down, and then even if that person still catches COVID," in what's called a "breakthrough" case, their likelihood of dying is "four times or five times lessThe vaccines actually are very effective at preventing death."
According to WalletHub, "Note: *No. 1 = Safest **Idaho provides vaccine data only for vaccine recipients who are 18 years and older, in line with state laws. COVID-19 vaccination administration data is unavailable for the Vaccinations in the US and Vaccinations by County pages for the population aged less than 18 years. Since no individuals under 18 from Idaho are included in the vaccination totals, CDC is working to subtract Census figures for the Idaho population under the age of 18 from the total US and ID population denominators and from the US and ID populations denominators for people aged 12 years and older."
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Kentucky ranked 48 out of 51 for safest states in the WalletHub survey and the state has a 6.56 percent positivity rate according to the Lexington Herald Leader. The local outlet reports, "For the last three days have been the highest for each day in four weeks 2,048 with 42 deaths on Saturday, 1,018 with 15 deaths on Sunday and 822 with 44 new deaths on Monday." Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear addressed the situation, "Saying "this pandemic isn't done with us," and that "COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the state are "not just creeping up, they are moving up."
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West Virginia ranked 49 out of 51 for safest states in the WalletHub survey and the state is seeing an increase in cases. Metro News reports officials are worried about a surge in cases this winter. "We're headed into another upward trend, but this time will be different in that we have a much more infectious variant. And we're already starting out with hospitalizations above 500," said Jim Hoyer, who leads West Virginia's interagency task force. Governor Jim Justice acknowledged the issue in a recent briefing and said, "Surely we can't put up with this. Surely we can't sit back and say this is the new normalThe only thing we can do is just keep encouraging people to get vaccinated." In addition, he said "more and more people are going to die," when admitting the state has hit a "plateau" with Covid cases.
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Montana ranked 50 out of 51 for safest states in the WalletHub survey and is seeing new cases daily. The number of hospitalizations due to COVID is currently 258, which is down from 262 earlier this week, but there were 497 new COVID cases reported in Montana on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 bringing the total of active cases in the state to 5,665 according to the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services.
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Wyoming ranks last in for safest states in the WalletHub survey and a Jackson Hole outlet reveals how alarming the situation is. "Looking at the last surge and the delta variant surge, the curves are nearly identical," Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin told the News&Guide. "They're the same height, they're the same slope, the same breadth. But I think there's been a definite change in the public's attitude towards this." COVID is so rampant in Wyoming, that's is quickly becoming one of the leading causes of death in the state. The Jackson Hole News&Guide reports, "Meanwhile, COVID is close to becoming the leading cause of death in Wyoming, surpassing heart disease and cancer. Since September 2020, 1,300 Wyoming residents have died from the virus. That's one out of every 460 residents." Billin told the outlet, "Unfortunately, people are no longer taking the steps to protect the vulnerable, if they ever were. People are just tired and over it."
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Follow the public health fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you liveget vaccinated ASAP; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, wear an N95 face mask, don't travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 258.9 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.16 million. More than 7.77 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
South Korea has reported a new daily record number of confirmed COVID-19 cases - 4,116.
France has recorded more than 30,000 new daily COVID-19 infections for the first time since August.
Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said yesterday that the vast majority of Americans who've been vaccinated against COVID-19 should receive a booster shot.
Germany is considering introducing further restrictions in response to rising COVID-19 cases, outgoing Health Minister Jens Spahn said yesterday.
Spain's Catalonia region is planning to ask for proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test for entry to bars, restaurants and stadiums. Other regions are also pushing for similar restrictions.
A global licence for serological technology that detects COVID-19 antibodies will be provided royalty-free to poor and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced yesterday. The agreement is a first-of-its-kind and designed to boost production.
The Czech Republic is considering making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for those aged over 60, as well as workers in some sectors, such as health and social care.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.
Image: Our World in Data
New Zealand has outlined a plan to ease border restrictions introduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The timeline will see the country's borders closed to most international travellers for at least another five months.
Fully vaccinated international travellers will be allowed to enter the country from 30 April, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told a news conference. The travellers will have to self-isolate for seven days on arrival.
Vaccinated New Zealanders and residence visa holders in neighbouring Australia can travel to New Zealand from 16 January, while vaccinated New Zealanders and residence visa holders from most other countries will be allowed in from 13 February.
"A phased approach to reconnecting with the world is the safest approach to ensure risk is carefully managed," Hipkins said.
The WHO warned yesterday that a further 700,000 people could die from COVID-19 in Europe by March - taking the total above 2.2 million. The organization urged people to get vaccinated and have booster shots.
Total cumulative deaths from the disease in the 53 countries of the WHO's European region have already surpassed 1.5 million, it said, with the daily rate doubling from late September to 4,200 a day.
The WHO's European region also includes Russia and other former Soviet republics, as well as Turkey.
"Cumulative reported deaths are projected to reach over 2.2 million by spring next year, based on current trends," it said, adding that COVID-19 is now the top regional cause of death.
Cumulative confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Europe.
Image: Our World in Data
Written by
Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
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As Texans head into the holiday season, there is much to celebrate when it comes to addressing the pandemic. But health experts say the state is not out of the woods just yet.
First, the good news. The number of residents here hospitalized with COVID-19 is at one of its lowest points since the beginning of the pandemic, while average daily deaths from the virus are also dropping and vaccines are finally after a year of parents anxiously waiting for approval flowing into the arms of the states elementary age children.
After a miserable summer when the delta variant caused a surge that rivaled the worst moments of the coronavirus pandemic, state health officials and experts say they are grateful for signs of relief. But they're wary of being too optimistic about a pandemic that has, more than once, had this state in a stranglehold.
People are just kind of happy or relieved that the most recent surge is done with, but I dont think anybodys celebrating anything yet, said Dr. James Castillo, public health authority in Cameron County. In that county, the share of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients has dropped to 3% percent, down from over 25% during the summer surge.
Still, health officials are now watching a recent increase in the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases and a small uptick in the rate of COVID-19 tests coming back positive as potential warning signs.
Theyre also keeping an eye on a troubling new surge in the nations Western states that has hit El Paso, a region that was spared the deadly delta surge that rocked the rest of the state in August and September.
Were certainly in a better place right now than we have been in quite a while, said Chris Van Deusen, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. But we are sort of starting to see things change again. And you know, if theres one thing we know about this pandemic, it's that its going to keep changing.
The holiday season brings fresh opportunities for COVID-19 to spread, as families gather many of them for their first Thanksgiving together in two years, Van Deusen said.
We arent expecting to see another peak as high as we saw it in late summer, but I think it's just that we're kind of watchful and concerned, Van Deusen said. As people mix more, it's an inevitable thing.
Meanwhile, a continuing shortage of vaccines in the rest of the world means that a virus variant could still emerge and contribute to another surge here.
And while hospital intensive care units have more available beds than theyve reported in several months, the return of flu season and a rash of respiratory outbreaks could put new pressure on hospitals that are already decimated by staffing shortages and three coronavirus surges leaving precious few beds, potentially, available should another COVID-19 surge hit.
Every day of good news, it seems, carries with it a note of caution.
At highest risk, officials say, are the millions of Texans who have not been vaccinated. During the month of September, at the height of the surge when about half of Texans had been fully vaccinated, unvaccinated people were 20 times more likely to die from the virus than those who had been vaccinated.
What that means, scientists say, is that a surge among the unvaccinated could still happen.
Overall, our projections right now are fairly optimistic for the state of Texas, said Spencer Fox, associate director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. But when we look at the winter, were still fairly concerned about what might happen in the future. Our models suggest that theres still enough susceptibility in our population to see another pandemic surge if we remove all precautions. I think Thanksgiving will be a lead indicator of whats to come.
As Texas and states to the north and east see similar signs of slowdowns after the summer surge, hospitals in Western states like New Mexico and Colorado and north to Michigan are filling up with COVID-19 patients as the region experiences the surge it largely missed in late summer.
People ages 5-17 are eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. People age 18 and older are eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
All vaccines in the United States must go through three phases of clinical trials to make sure they are safe and effective. During the development of COVID-19 vaccines, phases overlapped to speed up the process, but all phases were completed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State data shows that unvaccinated Texans made up 85% of coronavirus cases and deaths from Jan. 15 to Oct. 1, 2021.
Yes. Research has not yet shown how long you are protected from getting COVID-19 again after recovering from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccination will boost protection. If you were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you are unsure what treatments you received or if you have more questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Most chain pharmacies and many independent ones have a ready supply of the vaccine, and many private doctors' offices also have it. Texas has compiled other options for finding vaccine appointments here, and businesses or civic organizations can set up vaccine clinics to offer it to employees, visitors, customers or members. The vaccine is free, and you dont need health insurance to get it.
Anyone who's age 18 and older is now eligible for a booster shot. People who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as their primary dose can receive any of the three approved COVID-19 vaccines as their booster shot at least two months after they first got vaccinated. People who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are allowed to get a booster shot at least six months after completing their initial two-shot vaccination series.
This is the prevailing theory behind rising new cases, hospitalizations and deaths in El Paso, which officials say is more susceptible to community spread in Western states than it is to trends in the rest of Texas.
Geographically, they're much closer to Santa Fe and the cities that are just below the border in Mexico, and in areas of New Mexico, than to other areas of the state of Texas, said Dr. David Lakey, the states former health commissioner and now chief medical officer of the University of Texas System. And so they seem to be tracking more like those areas.
State health data shows that the El Paso region has seen a 76% increase in the number of daily new confirmed cases in the last two weeks, compared with decreases in most other large counties in the state.
Drops in new cases are being seen in Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties. Cameron County has seen a 21% decrease in cases.
Hospitals in El Paso and surrounding areas are reporting that about 13% of their beds are being used by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, that number is 4%.
On Saturday, Nov. 13, El Paso County reported 627 new confirmed cases, the highest one-day number since early February.
At least some of that is likely due to overconfidence by El Pasoans who believed that they were out of the woods after avoiding the summers surge in the rest of the state and recording high vaccination numbers, said El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego.
But locals have high rates of diabetes and cancer that make them more likely to get sick when they do catch the virus, so a surge among those who havent been vaccinated is likely to end in worse illness and more hospitalizations than in a more typical population, Samaniego said.
I think what happened is we got pretty cocky, he said. We said, Were vaccinated, were number one, we dont have to worry. Its human nature. Youre about two feet from the goal line, and you just relax. Were so much in a rush to leave it behind us, thats going to be our downfall.
The Panhandle is also seeing an upswing in hospitalizations, with 10% of area hospital beds being occupied by COVID-19 patients. New cases are up in that area as well, particularly around Amarillo, which is just over 100 miles from the state's border with New Mexico.
Lakey said that other areas susceptible to another surge are the ones with the lowest vaccination rates, which include a lot of rural counties.
I think things are much better now than they were in September, Lakey said. But it depends on where in the state you are. I wouldn't be surprised if out in East Texas, an area that has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, they get hit hard again.
But while health experts caution that the pandemic is still far from over, they also point to some reasons for optimism.
Two new medicines are about to hit the market that Lakey said could mute the impact of the virus. Antiviral pills from Pfizer and Merck are on the verge of being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, having been shown to drastically reduce hospitalization and death from the virus.
More than 72,000 Texans have died from COVID-19, but the seven-day average of daily deaths is down drastically in comparison with earlier this summer. In late September, the state was averaging about 300 deaths a day. Now, that number is around 80 a day.
More than 90% of the states older residents, who are most vulnerable to hospitalization and death from the vaccine, have gotten at least one shot, Lakey said. Some 2.5 million Texans have gotten their booster, according to state health numbers.
Another encouraging sign is that while the vaccination rate of children ages 5-11 is still below national figures, more than a quarter-million Texas children in that age group have gotten at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, Van Deusen said.
I think we always want to see that higher than it is, but that is progress, he said. And of course, the concern over health effects is less for that population, but there is still a concern about kids being able to get the virus and transmit it to others, particularly if theyre gathering with grandparents and older relatives over the holidays.
Van Deusen and others said that taking precautions such as masking around particularly vulnerable people and limiting, when possible, extended close contact with them along with getting vaccinations and booster shots can help avoid another winter surge.
I think those kinds of basic precautions still have a place, even as more and more people are getting vaccinated, until we can really get a better lid on this thing, he said.
Samaniego said Texas is at a critical juncture now, on the edge of the holiday season, and he challenged residents to stay vigilant rather than ignore the warning signs.
Were at that point, and which way do we go? Samaniego said. If you kill the dragons while theyre babies, its a lot easier than when theyre so big theyre spewing fire.
Chris Essig contributed to this report.
Disclosure: University of Texas System has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
San Diego County continues to receive good news on the coronavirus vaccination front, with an additional 16,712 children ages five to 11 receiving their first doses over the past week, bringing the total to more than 44,000 in just three weeks, according to the latest county report.
But while the increasing numbers help plug a previously wide-open gap in the regions wall of immunity, the overall COVID-19 situation remains mixed as Thanksgiving arrives.
One year ago, everyone surely believed that a widely available vaccine would make the fourth Thursday in November 2021 the first post-COVID turkey day.
But, encouraging vaccination among younger kids notwithstanding, the vaccine still has not delivered a clean win, meaning that the virus is still in play at a moment when, last year, things got very bad very quickly.
At the moment, the C in COVID-19 might as well stand for caveat.
Wednesdays countywide update indicates that there were 255 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in local hospitals Tuesday, significantly less than the 518 listed on Nov. 23, 2020.
That lower hospitalization total is despite the fact that the Delta variant version of the virus that is now dominant is more than twice as transmissible as the types that dominated during the holidays last year.
Though it has not prevented infection in all cases, the vaccine has reduced the odds of severe consequences. And yet, the number of positive tests arriving daily remains elevated, even compared to where it was this time last year when there were significantly more COVID-related hospitalizations.
But a comparison of the countys 13 coronavirus triggers a list adopted in 2020 as a kind of early warning system of viral transmission shows thats not the case. As of Wednesdays weekly update, the region averaged 13.1 new positive tests for every 100,000 residents. That number was 10.7 on the same day one year ago.
This year, unlike last year, flu activity, another closely watched trigger, also appears in red. With stay-at-home orders removed since June, and much less masking and distancing than was previously the case, most experts expect a more significant flu season this winter.
All-in-all, this Thanksgiving has a bit of a yin-yang character. Vaccination, which was not yet a thing in November 2020, has clearly made COVID-19 less likely to fill hospitals. And yet the virus itself, now present in its more transmissible Delta variant form, has kept this from being the post-COVID turkey day many hoped for.
It seems that for every gain, there is a corresponding setback.
Sure, the vaccine, though it is not able to prevent all illness outright, has significantly reduced the number of people who end up sick enough to end up in hospital beds. Simultaneously, though, health care is caught in a labor shortage, with many burning out and leaving their jobs over the summer and a few later deciding to walk away rather than comply with statewide vaccination mandates for health care workers.
A post-holiday increase in cases and hospital stays is widely predicted, noted Chris Van Gorder, chief executive officer of Scripps Health.
Our projections indicate we will see a rise in both infections and hospitalizations after the holidays and because of an increase in indoor activities once again, but not to the extent we had last year due to the large number of vaccinated, Van Gorder said.
Last year, Thanksgiving was the jumping off point for the deadliest COVID-19 surge of the pandemic. The number of COVID-19 residents in hospitals passed the 1,000 mark by Dec. 12, peaking at more than 1,800 one month later and nearly forcing health care facilities to begin rationing intensive care resources.
Its not just that vaccination is expected to keep things from getting that bad this winter. Van Gorder said that needs to be the case because the system simply is not ready for a similar surge.
Staffing is tight everywhere, and at every hospital in San Diego, Van Gorder said. Our people are tired of COVID-19 like everyone else, and our hospitals remain very busy.
I think its fair to say we could not handle a surge like last year because none of us have the staff, nor do we have the beds.
For his part, the executive said he plans to host Thanksgiving outdoors and make sure all who attend are vaccinated. He hoped for a similar approach countywide.
Every day for the last 20 months, Ive seen what COVID can do and the heartbreak it brings to families, Van Gorder said. A little extra precaution is still warranted in my opinion.
The idea is to have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.
It seems clear, though, that the sheer size of gatherings will increase significantly.
Holiday travel is expected to be not far off a record set in 2019, and grocery stores across the nation report significant demand for traditional turkey and trimmings in recent weeks.
John Sparkenbach, district manager for Ralphs grocery stores throughout San Diego County, said customer counts are up about 5 percent over last year, indicating that more families are doing their Thanksgiving shopping in person this year than last.
The size of orders has also increased.
You can tell that, definitely, customers are buying more, Sparkenbach said. You can see that theyre definitely going to have much larger gatherings than they did last year.
Just whos coming to Thanksgiving dinner and whos not creates its own tension.
About 25 percent of the 3.1 million people age 5 and older eligible to be vaccinated are not yet fully inoculated, and the issue has become the latest polarization point in the nations long-running culture war.
Many families are struggling with whether or not to restrict Thursdays gatherings to those who are vaccinated and that creates family fault lines, said Dr. Michelle Carcel, a San Diego psychologist. Just as the vaccine, and the recent approval of booster shots for those at greatest risk, provides an elevated level of confidence to gather, it simultaneously highlights divisions that follow long-running divides around issues such as politics that most try hard to avoid when sitting around the same table.
The vaccine, Carcel said, is a particularly difficult divide because it literally involves the health of everyone who attends.
For a lot of people, the vaccine is very important and significant as a health measure that, based on what were seeing in the research, has fantastic efficacy in comparison to those who are unvaccinated and catch COVID, Carcel said.
Bending on vaccination, then, feels a little different than on, say, political disagreement. Those who insist on vaccinated-only gatherings must find ways to avoid judgment even as they make a decision.
Even if we dont agree with that other persons perspective, we need to be able to say, I may not agree with you, but I love you, and even if we cant see each other in this setting, we can find an alternative in the future that might work, Carcel said.
