Twomore Mainers have died as health officials on Friday reported another 738coronavirus cases across the state.
Fridays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 90,727,according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats up from 89,989 on Thursday.
Of those, 64,782have been confirmed positive, while 25,945were classified as probable cases, the Maine CDC reported.
Two men in their 80s and 70s from Penobscot and Waldo counties have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 1,024.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 7,405. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. Thats up from 7,382 on Thursday.
The new case rate statewide Friday was 5.51 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 677.87.
Maines seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 593.4, up from 589.4 the day before, up from 465.4 a week ago and up from 260.3 a month ago. That average peaked on Jan. 14 at 625.3.
The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases and deaths have been recorded in women than men.
So far, 2,503 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Of those, 211 are currently hospitalized, with 67 in critical care and 27 on a ventilator. Overall, 41 out of 336 critical care beds and 191 out of 302 ventilators are available.
The total statewide hospitalization rate on Friday was 18.70 patients per 10,000 residents.
Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (9,747), Aroostook (3,333), Cumberland (20,217), Franklin (1,878), Hancock (2,284), Kennebec (8,540), Knox (1,655), Lincoln (1,599), Oxford (4,470), Penobscot (10,519), Piscataquis (1,146), Sagadahoc (1,761), Somerset (3,634), Waldo (2,084), Washington (1,466) and York (16,392) counties. Information about where an additional two cases were reported wasnt immediately available.
An additional 2,382 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Friday, 873,722 Mainers are fully vaccinated, or about 73.8 percent of eligible Mainers, according to the Maine CDC.
New Hampshire reported 548 new cases on Friday and two deaths. Vermont reported 224 new cases and no deaths, while Massachusetts reported 1,632 new cases and 27 deaths.
As of Friday morning, the coronavirus had sickened 43,481,064 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 698,301 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) There were 456 new total COVID-19 cases reported on Friday, bringing the states total case count to 145,474, up from Thursday (145,018).
Active cases are now at 7,325, down from Thursday (7,388).
The death toll from COVID-19 is now at 2,145. The three deaths are two men and one woman in the following age ranges: 60-69 (2) and 80+ (1). New deaths were reported in Codington, Corson and Pennington Counties.
Current hospitalizations are at 213, down from Thursday (214). Total hospitalizations are now at 7,444, up from Thursday (7,411).
Total recovered cases are now at 136,004, up from Thursday (135,488). The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate for the state is 13.9% for Sept. 23 through Sept. 29.
The DOH currently reports total tests each day. There have been 1,503,163 total tests reported as of Friday, up 2,152 from 1,501,011 total tests reported Thursday.
Of South Dakotas 66 counties, 59 are listed as having high community spread. High community spread is 100 cases or greater per 100,000 or a 10% or greater PCR test positivity rate.
There were more than 150 confirmed cases of the Delta variant added on Friday. The total is now at 491 Delta variant cases (B.1.617.2, AY.1-AY.3) detected in South Dakota through sentinel monitoring.
There have been 172 cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), three cases of P.1. (Gamma variant) and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta variant).
As of Friday, 64.27% of the population 12-years-old and above has received at least one dose while 58.69% have completed the vaccination series.
There have been 439,079 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered, 317,471 of the Moderna vaccine and 28,140 doses of the Janssen vaccine.
There have been 152,997 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna, an increase of 101 over the previous report. Theres been 209,392 persons have received doses of Pfizer, up 354 people.
Coronavirus: L.A. County reported 1,535 new cases and 28 more deaths, Sept. 30 The Daily Breeze
COLUMBUS (WCMH) The Ohio Department of Health has released the latest number of COVID-19 cases in the state.
As of Thursday, Sept. 30, a total of 1,413,972 (+6,530) cases have been reported since the start of the pandemic, leading to 73,083 (+300) hospitalizations and 9,491 (+38) ICU admissions. A total of 6,308,295 Ohioans 53.97% of the states population has started the vaccination process. Thats an increase of 6,938 from the previous day.
The Department of Health reported 125 new deaths Tuesday, bringing the total to 21,945. The state is updating the number only after death certificates have been processed, usually twice a week.
On Saturday, the Ohio Department of Healthreleased guidance on vaccine booster doses. ODH gave the following recommendations:
Ohio recorded9,019coronavirus cases Sept. 10, the most during the Delta wave. It was the highest one-day total since Jan. 8 (9,535). Just 17 days in the entire pandemic has Ohio seen 9,000 cases, and only 10 days have seen more than 10,000. The states highest one-day total was set on Nov. 23 with 11,885 cases.
CLEVELAND The number of businesses, organizations and events requiring a COVID-19 vaccination or negative test result is growing. So too, is the demand for results in 72 hours, creating a flood of tests at local labs.
News 5 Cleveland spoke with two local labs, both of which issued statements on how theyre adjusting to the increased demand to get results on time. However, even with this safety measure in place, local doctors still have some concerns.
In the last four months, libraries across Northeast Ohio started handing out free rapid COVID-19 tests from the state.
For months, pharmacies have sold at-home COVID-19 testing kits and due to the demand, places like CVS are limiting how many you can buy at a time.
As much as we can keep COVID cases down, life will just be easier for everyone, said Dr. Claudia Hoyen, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Childrens Hospital.
In September alone, testing kits were flying off the shelves in thousands as more venues and even schools started requiring them.
Those places include Playhouse Square, Severance Hall, The House of Blues, The Grog Shop, Beachland Ballroom, Happy Dog, Music Box and others.
Beginning Monday, October 4th, both artists and fans at local Live Nation venues will have to be fully vaccinated or show a negative test.
I would hope that if somebody is required to have a test to attend something that after they've had the test, they would ensure that they're doing the right thing in terms of masking so that the chances of them staying negative up until that time are important, said Hoyen.
Quest Diagnostics sent News 5 a statement saying they have performed over 57 million COVID-19 tests since it started services in 2020 and it continues to provide most results within one day.
Meanwhile, Labcorp responded to News 5s inquiry saying in part, despite declines in testing early this year, it did not reduce testing capacity. Labcorp can perform 300,000 tests per day with a one to two-day turnaround.
Hoyen worries receiving delayed test results could lead to further spread if a patient turns out to be positive and didnt know it.
People who are not vaccinated are going to be better transmitters than people that who are vaccinated, Hoyen said. But we do know that even people who are vaccinated can spread.
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The Covid-19 pandemic is finally losing its severity thanks to vaccines that have been created against CoronaVirus. With the Vaccination procedure going on globally, there are many people who are spreading misleading knowledge which is stopping people from getting vaccinated.
To counter such actions that can put lives at risk, the video sharing hub YouTube has also announced that the platform will be taking strict actions to stop the spread of any kind of anti-vax moment. According to YouTube, vaccines have always received such backlash from specific groups and this time the platform wont allow anyone to spread any misinformation in light of their new policies.
The policy strictly states that any video which talks about vaccines for not being safe to the injected body or misleads people with the efficacy or misguide by misrepresenting the ingredients used for the vaccine preparation , will not be tolerated.
If someone posts any such content, the video will be taken down by the moderators and a warning will be issued to the uploader. Later strikes will be sent and if the uploader receives three strikes in 3 months, their YouTube account will be terminated completely.
Back in 2020, YouTube took down over 130,000 videos that were found to be promoting anti Vaccination movement. They introduced policies through which they can control the content being uploaded . These measures were taken to prevent the platform to be used as a source of misinformation.
According to a survey conducted by the renowned University of Oxford and Southampton, those who viewed content related to Corona Virus Vaccine decided not to get vaccinated and urged media houses and governmental bodies to take measures against these vaccines.
While YouTube has been working to protect people from getting misinformation, the platform also came in a conflict where the Russian Government wanted the moderators to restore the terminated accounts of RT media. These accounts were found to be spreading information against the vaccine and were terminated by the company.
YouTube is a global platform and as a result it is not only linked with regional government and their health care system but even the World Health Organization is also using the platform to spread guidance to its users, this is why the company may not be pleasing everyone with its measures but they are taking steps by making more strict regulatory policies so misinformation can be stopped from reachingthe general public.
Read next:YouTube's Latest Shorts Report Offers Up Information For Content Creators Looking To Get Into The Format
Oct 1 (Reuters) - Positive clinical trial results for Merck & Co's (MRK.N) experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill reverberated through the healthcare sector on Friday, sending the drugmaker's stock price soaring while denting high-flying shares of vaccine companies and makers of other coronavirus therapies.
Merck shares jumped as much as 12.3% and hit their highest level since February 2020 after data showed the company's pill molnupiravir could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19. Experts hailed the news as potentially a huge advance in the fight against COVID-19.
At the same time, shares of vaccine makers such as Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and partner BioNTech SE were hit, with some analysts saying the promise of an oral drug that can be taken at home could change the public perception of risks associated with COVID-19.
"We see modest perceived headwind to vaccine stocks such as MRNA (Moderna) if the market thinks people will be less afraid of COVID-19 and less inclined to get vaccines, if there is a simple pill that can treat COVID-19," Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a client note.
Moderna shares tumbled 13% in midday trading, while Pfizer, which is developing a COVID-19 pill of its own, fell 1.3%. U.S. shares of BioNTech dropped 11%.
For Moderna investors, the Merck news presented an opportunity to lock in gains after an already stunning run. Shares of Moderna, which were added to the S&P 500 in mid July, remain up some 220% in 2021 despite Friday's declines. BioNTech's shares were also still up about 200% for the year, even with Friday's fall.
The Merck news is a "great reason for folks to be taking profits off the table in Moderna and BioNTech shares, said Sahak Manuelian, head of equity trading at Wedbush Securities. "These moves can get exacerbated to the downside given the momentum they have had to the upside."
FILE PHOTO: Vials of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are seen in the town of Ricany near Prague, Czech Republic, February 25, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny
Read More
Shares of other companies with COVID-19 vaccines also fell, with AstraZeneca (AZN.L) down 2% and Novavax (NVAX.O) falling 16%.
Companies with other COVID-19 therapies that are administered intravenously or through injection also traded lower, with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals In (REGN.O) down nearly 5% and Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) off about 2%.
Healthcare (.SPXHC) was the only one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors in negative territory in mid-day trading, falling 0.5%.
"We see molnupiravir, with its oral format as a clear game changer that is likely to meaningfully impact not just the treatment paradigm for COVID-19 but also has potential utility in the prevention setting," Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond said in a research note.
Merck is conducting a late-stage trial to see if its antiviral pill can prevent COVID-19 infection, in addition to the study that showed it can significantly cut hospitalization and death in those already infected.
Merck, whose shares were last up about 9%, leads the race in developing the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19. Rivals such as Pfizer and Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.S) with partner Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc (AVIR.O) are running late-stage trials of their pills. Atea shares were up 19%. read more
Merck, which discontinued its own COVID-19 vaccineprogram, had seen its shares fall about 4% for the year through Thursday, before they moved into positive territory for 2021 on Friday.
"Merck has kind of been dead in the water to investors for the past couple of quarters," said Kevin Gade, portfolio manager with Bahl & Gaynor, which owns Merck shares. "This shows their R&D engine is not dead and they were first ... in what could be a multi-billion dollar opportunity."
Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York and Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students wearing masks, working in Elizabeth Kunz's second grade class at Neil Armstrong Academy in West Valley City on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021.
| Oct. 1, 2021, 7:22 p.m.
Editors note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
Eleven more Utahns have died of COVID-19 in the past day, the Utah Department of Health announced Wednesday. Four of those who died were between the ages of 25 and 44, and two were between 45 and 64.
UDOH reported 1,715 new cases on Friday, which brought the total number of cases recorded statewide to 510,209 since the pandemic began.
Intensive care units in Utah hospitals are at 91.2% capacity, and 45% of patients in ICU beds are hospitalized with COVID-19.
School-age children accounted for 21% of new coronavirus cases, UDOH announced a total of 362. There were 172 cases in children aged 5 to 10; 94 cases in children 11 to 13; and 96 cases in children 14 to 18.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests stands at 1,360 per day.
In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 5.9 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a UDOH analysis. The unvaccinated also were 7.3 times more likely to be hospitalized and 6.5 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
An additional 2,044 Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past day, bringing the total to 1,685,709 51.5% of Utahs total population.
Vaccine doses administered in past day / total doses administered 6,924 / 3,478,625.
Utahns fully vaccinated 1,685,709.
Cases reported in past day 1,715.
Deaths reported in past day 11.
Three Salt Lake County residents died: A man and a woman between the ages of 25-44, and a man 45-64. Utah County also reported three deaths: A woman 25-44, a man 65-84, and a man 85-plus.
Other deaths were a Davis County man 45-64, an Iron County woman 65-84, a Millard County woman 85-plus, a Uintah County man 25-44, and a Weber County man 65-84.
Tests reported in past day 10,525 people were tested for the first time. A total of 19,152 people were tested.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day 580. Thats 14 more than reported on Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 214 are in intensive care three more than reported on Thursday.
Percentage of positive tests Under the states original method, the rate was 16.3% over the past day. Thats higher than the seven-day average of 14.3%.
The states new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. The rate reported Tuesday was 9% lower than the seven-day average of 9.8%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Heres what that means.]
Totals to date 510,209 cases; 2,943 deaths; 22,222 hospitalizations; 3,453,791 people tested.
HAVANA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Cuba is speeding up its COVID-19 vaccination program as it aims to fully inoculate 90% of its population against the coronavirus by December, an ambitious goal that has yet to be reached by even wealthier nations.
The health ministry reported on Thursday that more than 80% of Cuba's 11.3 million people had received at least a first shot of a three-dose immunization regimen with Cuban-made vaccines Abdala, Soberana-2 or Soberana-plus.
Close to 50% were fully vaccinated, it said - well ahead of the global average of 34%, according to the Our World In Data website.
The government has said Cuba is on track to become the first country to inoculate so much of its population with its own vaccines. It is administering them to those as young as two years old after clinical trials testing them on children. The United States by comparison has yet to authorize COVID-19 vaccines for anyone younger than 12.
Currently Cuba is lagging China, which has fully inoculated an estimated 79% of its population with its own vaccines. But Cuban authorities are vaccinating at a faster clip per capita.
"We will be the first in the world to reach everyone with our own vaccines, Ileana Morales, director of science and innovation at the health ministry, said on state television.
State developer BioCubaFarma said its vaccines reduce serious illness and death by 90%, even if breakthrough infections are possible.
It has not yet published data supporting that claim for the scientific community to review.
The World Health Organization recently launched the process to evaluate all three Cuban vaccines.
"It will be a unique case in the world," said Jose Moya Medina, the Pan American Health Organization's representative in Cuba. "I hope and think Cuba will be an example for all countries in the world as only full vaccination can stop the pandemic and possible emergence of more dangerous variants."
Cuba missed its early vaccination targets - partly due to U.S. sanctions hampering production, the government said - and suffered one of the world's worst COVID-19 outbreaks in July and August, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.
But the government said this month that BioCubaFarma had produced enough shots to fully vaccinate the entire population.
GETTING READY FOR TOURISM
The cash-strapped country, which boasts pristine beaches and towns with colonial-era architecture, is banking on success to fully open its borders by mid-November for the tourism high-season.
Its vaccination campaign could give it an advantage over other countries in the region - one of the world's most reliant on tourism - which is struggling with surging cases in part due to vaccine scepticism and low uptake.
Cuba is already lifting domestic restrictions in heavily vaccinated provinces, including Havana, as it tries to revitalize an economy severely battered by the pandemic, U.S. sanctions and domestic inefficiencies.
Shortages of food, medicine and just about every consumer good have led to severe hardship for many, on top of pandemic lockdowns, layoffs and inflation.
Cases and deaths per 100,000 residents in Havana, where around 80% of adults are vaccinated, are less than 20% of what they were two months ago, according to official data, and far below the rest of the country.
In 2020, Cubas pandemic response outperformed most countries. This year, however, the Delta variant swept through the populace and, in some provinces, overwhelmed its much acclaimed health services. At one point, Cuba had the highest per capita infection rate in the world, as daily cases peaked at nearly 10,000 in July and 98 deaths.
The health ministry reported a pandemic total of 11,863 cases and 146 deaths as of Dec. 31, 2020. Those tallies skyrocketed this year and stood at 877,428 cases and 7,436 deaths as of Wednesday.
Reporting by Marc Frank and Nelson Acosta in Havana; Additonal Reporting by Brenda Goh in Beijing and Sarah Marsh in Havana; Editing by Grant McCool and Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Friday said that weekly COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the United States were down 15% from the previous week.
The United States had a daily average of 106,400 COVID-19 cases, 8,300 hospitalizations and more than 1,476 deaths in its most recent seven-day period, Walensky told reporters at a White House briefing.
The U.S. is on track to double the number of COVID-19 rapid-scale tests on the market over the next 60 says, said White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients.
Health officials welcomed news that a pill developed by U.S. drugmaker Merck (MRK.N) could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19, but would not provide a timeline for when it could be approved by regulators.
"The news of the efficacy of this particular antiviral is obviously very good news. The company when they briefed us last night, had mentioned that they will be submitting their data to the FDA imminently. The data are impressive," said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Ahmed Aboulenein, and Jeff Mason
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
