News Release
Monday, December 28, 2020
NIH- and BARDA-funded trial will enroll up to 30,000 volunteers.
The Phase 3 trial of another investigational coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine has begun enrolling adult volunteers. The randomized, placebo-controlled trial will enroll approximately 30,000 people at approximately 115 sites in the United States and Mexico. It will evaluate the safety and efficacy of NVX-CoV2373, a vaccine candidate developed by Novavax, Inc., of Gaithersburg, Maryland. Novavax is leading the trial as the regulatory sponsor. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, are funding the trial.
Addressing the unprecedented health crisis of COVID-19 has required extraordinary efforts on the part of government, academia, industry and the community, said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. The launch of this study the fifth investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be tested in a Phase 3 trial in the United States demonstrates our resolve to end the pandemic through development of multiple safe and effective vaccines.
The trial is being conducted in collaboration with Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a multi-agency collaboration overseen by HHS and the Department of Defense that aims to accelerate development, manufacture and distribution of medical countermeasures for COVID-19. Some of the U.S. trial sites participating are part of the NIAID-supported COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN). The CoVPN includes existing NIAID-supported clinical research networks with infectious disease expertise and was designed for rapid and thorough evaluation of vaccine candidates and monoclonal antibodiesfor preventing COVID-19.
Volunteers will be asked to give informed consent prior to their participation in the trial. They will be grouped into two cohorts: individuals 18 through 64 years old and those aged 65 and older, with a goal of enrolling at least 25% of all volunteers who are 65 years old or older. Trial organizers also are emphasizing recruitment of people who are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease, including those who are Black (including African Americans), Native American, or of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity, and people who have underlying health conditions such as obesity, chronic kidney disease or diabetes.
Weve come this far, this fast, but we need to get to the finish line, said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. That will require multiple vaccines using different approaches to ensure everyone is protected safely and effectively from this deadly disease.
After providing a baseline nasopharyngeal and blood sample, participants will be assigned at random to receive an intramuscular injection of either the investigational vaccine or a saline placebo. Randomization will be in a 2:1 ratio with two volunteers receiving the investigational vaccine for each one who receives placebo. Because the trial is blinded, neither investigators nor participants will know who is receiving the candidate vaccine. A second injection will be administered 21 days after the first.
Participants will be followed closely for potential vaccine side effects and will be asked to provide blood samples at specified time points after each injection and during the following two years. Scientists will analyze the blood samples to detect and quantify immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Of note, specialized assays will be used to distinguish between immunity as a result of natural infection and vaccine-induced immunity. The trials primary endpoint is to determine whether NVX-CoV2373 can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 disease seven or more days after the second injection relative to placebo.
Novavaxs investigational vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, is made from a stabilized form of the coronavirus spike protein using the companys recombinant protein nanoparticle technology. The purified protein antigens in the vaccine cannot replicate and cannot cause COVID-19. The vaccine also contains a proprietary adjuvant, MatrixM. Adjuvants are additives that enhance desired immune system responses to vaccine. NVX-CoV2373 is administered in liquid form and can be stored, handled and distributed at above-freezing temperatures (35 to 46F). A single vaccine dose contains 5 micrograms (mcg) of protein and 50 mcg of adjuvant.
In animal tests, NVX-CoV2373 vaccination produced antibodies that blocked the coronavirus spike protein from binding to the cell surface receptors targeted by the virus, preventing viral infection. In results of a Phase 1 clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NVX-CoV2373 was generally well-tolerated and elicited higher levels of antibodies than those seen in blood samples drawn from people who had recovered from clinically significant COVID-19. NVX-CoV2373 also is being evaluated in a Phase 2b trial in South Africa, now fully enrolled with 4,422volunteers, and data from a Phase 1/2 continuation trial in the United States and Australia is expected as early as first quarter 2021. Novavax also recently completed enrollment of more than 15,000 volunteers in a Phase 3 trial of the candidate vaccine in the United Kingdom, which is also testing two injections of 5 mcg of protein and 50 mcg of Matrix-M adjuvant administered 21 days apart.
An independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) will provide oversight to ensure the safe and ethical conduct of the study. All Phase 3 clinical trials of candidate vaccines supported through OWS are overseen by a common DSMB developed in consultation with the NIH Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) initiative.
Adults who are interested in joining this study can visit Coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org, Novavax.com/PREVENT-19 or ClinicalTrials.gov and search identifier NCT04611802.
About the COVID-19 Prevention Network: The COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) was formed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health to respond to the global pandemic. Through the CoVPN, NIAID is leveraging the infectious disease expertise of its existing research networks and global partners to address the pressing need for vaccines and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. CoVPN will work to develop and conduct studies to ensure rapid and thorough evaluation of vaccines and antibodies for the prevention of COVID-19. The CoVPN is headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. For more information about the CoVPN, visit: coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org.
About HHS, ASPR, and BARDA: HHS works to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans, providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. The mission of ASPR is to save lives and protect Americans from 21st century health security threats. Within ASPR, BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats. To date, BARDA-supported products have achieved 55 FDA approvals, licensures or clearances. To learn more about federal support for the nationwide COVID-19 response, visit www.coronavirus.gov.
About Operation Warp Speed:OWS is a partnership among components of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, engaging with private firms and other federal agencies, and coordinating among existing HHS-wide efforts to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
About the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:NIAID conducts and supports research at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on theNIAID website.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIHTurning Discovery Into Health
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A shove and a death threat: How the Serb Hall incident set back COVID-19 inspections in Milwaukee Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
As the latest coronavirus surge continues in the Bay Area, many people are turning to testing -- not only those who feel sick but also those who want to see if they're in the clear to celebrate New Year's Eve with family and friends.
A new pop-up, self-testing site is scheduled to open Tuesday morning at the Mitchell Park Library in Palo Alto. Starting at 10 a.m., people can show up for a free test they administer themselves under the supervision of a trained observer.
The Palo Alto testing site, one of a number of sites launching this week, gets results within 24 to 48 hours, except during high demand. And there is a lot of demand this week.
Bay Area hosptials are seeing a surge in patients who were likely exposed over Thanksgiving, pushing intensive care units to the brink. And whole many people are counting on testing to feel safe to gather with friends and family for New Years celebrations, doctors repeatedly have stressed that strategy is flawed.
"There is an incubation period, and there are these superspreader events, and there are asymptomatic people that can spread it too," pulmonologist Dr. Peter Chen said. "We dont know what the peaks going to be, and were already overwhelmed with the number of patients coming in."
Meanwhile, public health leaders and other first responders are reminding people that the emergency room is for emergencies and shouldnt be used as a testing site.
Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Department of Health today confirmed as of 12:00 a.m., December 29, that there were 8,545 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 622,349.
There are 5,995 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, near double the peak in the spring. Of that number, 1,174 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older. More data is availablehere.
The trend in the 14-day moving average of number of hospitalized patients per day has increased by nearly 5,600 since the end of September.
Statewide percent positivity for the week of December 18 December 24 stood at 15.1%.
The most accurate daily data is available on the website, with archived data also available.
As of 11:59 p.m. Monday, December 28, there were 267 new deaths reported for a total of 15,353 deaths attributed to COVID-19. County-specific information and a statewide map are available on the COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
Mask-wearing is required in all businesses and whenever leaving home. Consistent mask-wearing is critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19.
There are 51,443 individualswho have a positive viral antigen test and are considered probable casesand 639 individualswho have a positive serology test and either COVID-19 symptoms or a high-risk exposure.
There are 3,244,103 individuals who have tested negative to date.
In nursing and personal care homes, there are 51,999 resident cases of COVID-19, and 9,410 cases among employees, for a total of 61,409 at 1,457 distinct facilities in all 67 counties. Out of our total deaths, 8,633 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities. A county breakdown can be found here.
Approximately 18,820 of our total cases are among health care workers.
COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
Pennsylvania hospitals began receiving shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine the week of Dec. 14 and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine the week of Dec. 21.
Through Dec. 29:
A spreadsheet of facilities that have received vaccine can be found here.
Statewide The Wolf Administration has since noon, Dec. 28:
The Wolf Administration stresses the role Pennsylvanians play in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19:
Updated Coronavirus Links: Press Releases, State Lab Photos, Graphics
All Pennsylvania residents are encouraged to sign up for AlertPA, a text notification system for health, weather, and other important alerts like COVID-19 updates from commonwealth agencies. Residents can sign up online at www.ready.pa.gov/BeInformed/Signup-For-Alerts.
MEDIA CONTACT: April Hutcheson - RA-DHpressoffice@pa.gov
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SALT LAKE CITY It's refreshing to see Utah's COVID-19 epidemiological curve drop in the recent weeks after months of case increases; however, there are signs that recent case counts don't show a complete picture of COVID-19 in the state.
In a conventional sense, the spread of COVID-19 can be determined by simply looking at new cases discovered through testing. But what happens when testing for the coronavirus isn't exactly consistent?
That's where other statistics help piece together how COVID-19 is currently impacting the state.
The Utah Department of Health reported 972 new cases of COVID-19 from tests taken on Friday and 802 on Saturday. Those figures were the lowest single-day increases reported since early October. In fact, it snapped a stretch of 1,000 or more new daily cases announced by the health department that dated back to Oct. 12. The department reported another 1,700 cases from tests Sunday, which is also well below the seven-day rolling average ahead of Christmas.
The state's COVID-19 epidemiological curve and seven-day rolling average of new cases have also been in decline since around Dec. 10.
That said, testing is another figure that's fallen off in that same time. For example, more than 15,000 people were tested for COVID-19 on Dec. 9 the most tests conducted after Thanksgiving, according to health department data. Aside from a few outliers, the state has mostly reported days with fewer than 10,000 tests conducted since then. Testing was not conducted on Christmas Day and testing sites closed early on Christmas Eve, but the downward trend is visible on a graph before the holiday.
Meanwhile, the percentage of positive tests to tests conducted, commonly referred to as positivity rate, has only increased since about the time that cases declined. As of Monday, Utah's seven-day rolling average positivity rate is 24.4% through that backdate of Dec. 22. Preliminary data from over the weekend indicated positivity rates closer to 30%, which means the number will rise in the coming days.
Experts have said that positivity rate is an important statistic because it can provide a better assessment of how prevalent a virus is in a community when testing numbers widely fluctuate and become unreliable. In this case, the positivity rate is the largest sign that COVID-19 isn't quite leaving Utah, even if case counts are falling.
"We're certainly concerned because it represents high level of community transmission," said Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease physician for Intermountain Healthcare. "Hence, it's why we're constantly monitoring the situation to see if there's any additional measures that we need to take to address that."
Vento said health officials don't know exactly why testing is currently down; however, they have seen trends throughout the pandemic and from illnesses different from COVID-19. On a smaller scale, some days like Sunday and Monday yield fewer testing than other days. Those are believed to be tied to when someone is expected to be out in public for any reason, such as work.
"The same sort of concept after holidays," Vento said. "We've seen in the past where the numbers were down right away. The numbers yesterday were very low, which folks kind of for a lack of better word are waking from their slumber from the holidays and maybe on, say, Tuesday or Wednesday they'll start thinking 'OK, I'm going to go get tested.' That's not unusual for other respiratory illness as well."
Since testing was down, he said the epidemiological curve and seven-day running average of case counts will be "maybe not as accurately reflecting what's out there in the community" especially when it takes into account days where testing was limited.
That's where the positivity rate comes into play.
"You can't look at just the cases and the case seven-day rolling average because it won't accurately reflect a same number of tests that were done," he added.
As for Utah's positivity rate, it's been a roller coaster over the past few weeks. After climbing to 25.4% on Nov. 10, it fell 21.8% on Nov. 22 a few days before Thanksgiving. It rose again to a current all-time high of 27.2% on Dec. 1 before it fell back down to 22.3% on Dec. 13. It's steadily climbed since then but at a much slower rate.
Of course, the biggest concern with COVID-19 is any impact it has on hospitals and deaths. Vento said that Utah hospitalizations due to the coronavirus have stabilized and even fallen a little bit. That's a welcome sign for a statewide hospital system that was on the brink of full capacity.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 typically lag behind new cases, so the state's current peak of 606 hospitalizations on Dec. 4 was primarily the result of climbing COVID-19 cases prior to Thanksgiving. Public health experts warned about holiday gatherings with the fear that hospitalizations would only grow.
It appears Utahns heeded the pandemic recommendations for at least Thanksgiving. While many new cases were still reported, it wasn't nearly as many as feared. As a result, the state health department reported just before Christmas fewer than 500 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 for the first time since mid-November.
"While the nation had a surge within a surge (there was) a fall surge and then a post-Thanksgiving surge for the United States we didn't see quite that level of increasing cases after Thanksgiving as we were figuring or concerned about, which is very good," he said.
He added that hospitals have also learned to shorten stays for patients who don't require ICU care by providing at-home recovery models so people are able to leave the hospital sooner.
Data might show that COVID-19 hasn't left the state even as new cases decline, but one positive sign is that new hospitalizations due to the coronavirus are on the decline.
The state health department recently began to report the seven-day rolling average of new hospitalizations per day on top of current hospitalization figures. Utah reached a seven-day average of 92.4 hospitalizations per day on Nov. 18. That was the day a record 116 new Utahns were admitted to a hospital due to COVID-19.
The average fell to 71.2 new hospitalizations per day as of Dec. 22, which is the first day beyond the department's period of incomplete new hospitalization data. These figures are still high, especially compared to numbers before November. Nevertheless, it shows that following guidelines for Thanksgiving gatherings helped not just lower the growth of new cases but also helped lessen the impact on hospitals.
The jury is still out on whether December holiday gatherings will have factored in any way as the holiday season doesn't really conclude until after New Year's Day, Friday.
All the health recommendations for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa apply to New Year's. That means health officials advise that people celebrate the holiday at home and connect with other households virtually.
Intermountain Healthcare even promoted a do-it-yourself New Year's Eve ball drop out of a styrofoam ball and a wood dowel as one way to celebrate the holiday at home in a fun and safe way.
Looking for a fun way to celebrate New Year's Eve safely? Try creating your own ball dropping experience at home!#DIY #IMTNCovid19
Vento's colleague, Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, another infectious disease physician for Intermountain Healthcare, said last week he anticipated COVID-19 testing will increase after New Year's Day. One of the main reasons for that, he said, is that Utah colleges will begin their mass weekly testing of students who remain on campus for the spring semester.
Once that begins, the positivity rate will be another key factor as testing numbers may exceed previous testing norms.
One of the myriad challenges facing Southern Californias medical system, which is overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, involves one of the most basic staples of any hospital.
Oxygen.
Officials are having problems getting the amount of oxygen needed by critically ill COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe as their inflamed lungs are being damaged or destroyed.
Problems on Sunday caused at least five hospitals in L.A. County to declare an internal disaster, which closed the facilities to all ambulance traffic not just certain types of ambulance patients, as is more typical.
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Its not simply a shortage of oxygen itself, county and hospital officials say. Theres a shortage of canisters, which patients need to return home, and aging hospital pipes are breaking down due to the huge amounts of oxygen needed to be distributed around the hospital.
There are two problems with the distribution of oxygen at aging hospitals.
First, there are so many patients needing a high rate of oxygen that the system cannot maintain the sufficient pressure needed in the pipes.
The second is that there is such high flow through the pipes that they freeze, and obviously, if it freezes, then you cant have good flow of oxygen, said Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County health services director.
Some hospitals are forced to move patients to lower floors, because its easier to deliver oxygen there without needing the pressure to push it up to higher floors, Ghaly said.
Memorial Hospital of Gardena is one of the centers facing oxygen issues. Chief Executive Kevan Metcalfe said the hospital has run low on oxygen.
If it runs out, the hospital would be in deep, deep trouble, he said.
Doctors and nurses have learned since the early days of the pandemic to, as much as possible, avoid placing patients on ventilators, which involves sticking a breathing tube down the throat.
Many patients instead receive a high-flow oxygen treatment, in which oxygen is sent through plastic tubes placed in the nose.
While a non-COVID patient may receive six liters of oxygen per minute, COVID-19 patients need 60 to 80 liters a minute. So now, hospitals need far more oxygen than they did before.
One of the biggest concerns facing hospitals is that more patients are on the way.
The COVID-19 patients in the hospital now reflect coronavirus cases diagnosed two weeks earlier a time at which L.A. County was averaging 11,000 new cases a day. That number has swelled since then up to nearly 14,800 new cases a day for the seven-day period that ended Dec. 22 before declining slightly to 14,000 cases a day as of Monday night.
That means hospitals are still expecting to see increasing demand into the new year because of infections that took place before Christmas. About 10% of people who test positive for the coronavirus in L.A. County end up needing hospital treatment.
Barbara Ferrer, L.A. Countys public health director, said all indicators tell us that our situation may only get worse as we begin 2021. The rate of community transmission remains extraordinarily high. As cases continue to remain at these alarmingly high levels, hundreds more people are likely to die.
She added: We all need to give our hospitals a fighting chance to handle the flood of COVID-19 patients that are arriving every single day.
The pace of the fall and winter surge has been staggering. On Nov. 1, L.A. County was averaging about 1,300 coronavirus cases a day on a weekly basis; L.A. County is now averaging 14,000 cases a day. The daily rate at which coronavirus test results are coming back positive is now 17% in L.A. County, more than quadruple the comparable figure Nov. 1, when the positivity rate was less than 4%.
L.A. County is now averaging about 90 COVID-19 deaths a day over the last week, one of the highest such numbers during the pandemic. The county death toll as of Monday night was 9,564, according to an independent Times count of local health jurisdictions; Ferrer said Monday that her agency is still sorting through a reporting backlog and it expects to add 432 deaths, pushing the death toll closer to 10,000.
County Supervisor Hilda Solis urged people against thinking that nothing could be done about the pandemic, and she asked people to stay home. A coronavirus test that shows up negative can easily become meaningless as a person can be infected and contagious by the time the results come back.
I understand the futility that so many people are feeling right now the idea that some people just want to throw their hands up. But we cant think like that, Solis said. Its squarely within our control to limit how many people are infected and how many people can die.
To be more blunt, each one of us has the power to cause or prevent death and illness among our family members, our co-workers and even strangers.
It isnt just older people who can suffer from COVID-19, Solis said; a child this month died of the coronavirus-linked multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, known as MIS-C, in L.A. County. There have been at least 51 cases of MIS-C in the county all requiring hospitalization, with half treated in intensive care units. Latino children accounted for nearly three-quarters of those cases.
Ferrer said L.A. County has run 29 coronavirus samples for a genetic analysis, and none have been positive for the potentially more contagious variant of the coronavirus identified in Britain. Although theres a high probability the variant is here, she said, it doesnt appear to be dominant.
Whether the variant is here or isnt here, the steps we need to take are exactly the same, Ferrer said.
Times staff writers Sean Greene and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.
Each county's COVID-19 risk level dictates what restrictions will be in place beginning Jan. 1, 2021.
PORTLAND, Ore. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday announced updates to each county's COVID-19 risk level, which dictates what restrictions will be in place at the start of the new year.
Starting Friday, Jan. 1, there will be 24 counties in the Extreme Risk level, five counties in the High Risk level, zero at Moderate Risk and seven at Lower Risk.
Five counties (Clatsop, Coos, Douglas, Lincoln, Morrow) have been moved from the Extreme Risk category to the High Risk category. Lake County was also moved from Moderate Risk to Lower Risk.
"After weeks of diligent work by local leaders and public health officials to implement health and safety measures in their communities, this week's county data is a welcome sign that we are making progress in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon," Brown said.
Here's the full list of county risk levels.
Extreme Risk (24 counties)
Moderate Risk (0 counties)
Counties will remain at these risk levels from Jan. 1 to Jan. 14. The Oregon Health Authority will reassign county risk levels every two weeks based on the most recent coronavirus data available.
Here's a look at which metrics determine the risk level for each county:
In counties with extreme risk, the following activities will be allowed, with health and safety protocols in place:
High Risk is the first level in which some businesses and facilities can resume offering indoor services with health and safety measures and capacity limits in place. Here's a look at what activities will be offered under each risk category:
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Some people were looking to get tested Monday for COVID-19 after they visited families for the holidays.
22News crews went to the Eastfield Mall in Springfield to see who was getting tested after the holidays. There was a large line of cars with people waiting to get tested.
Massachusetts health officials have been urging people to avoid holiday celebrations with others from outside of their household, In efforts to not overwhelm hospitals and stop the spread of CVOID-19. One person said he quarantined for the holidays this year, but still wanted to get tested.
Yes get tested more often, just for your safety and the safety of those around you, you know? I do this about every three or two weeks just for my safety and my daughters safety as well.
The AMR testing site at the Eastfield Mall will be closed again for December 30th , New Years Eve, and New Years Day.
Harrisburg, PA The Department of Health today shared its weekly update on Pennsylvanias COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing data and encouraged Pennsylvanians to download theCOVID Alert PA app, as more than 720,000 have already done, to aid in contact tracing efforts. All 67 counties have substantial COVID-19 transmission rates.
Last week we launched the Connect & Protect Form to reach many more Pennsylvanians for a digital case investigation, but that still requires residents to answer the call. We continue to ask all Pennsylvanians to answer the call answer the call when a public health professional is calling and answer the call to do your part to control the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding gatherings, downloading the COVID Alert PA, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. Together, by using these tools, we can stand united in the fight against COVID-19.
Contact tracing is the process of identifying, notifying, and monitoring anyone who came in close contact with an individual who has COVID-19 while that individual was infectious. Thecontact tracing processis not possible without a case investigation by a public health professional.
Across the commonwealth, there are 266 case investigators who reach out to incoming cases who are younger than 19 and older than 64 to find out where they went and who they came in contact with in order to prevent outbreaks while infectious. This case investigation typically takes between 30 and 60 minutes to complete. For those who are between 19 and 64 years old and reside in an area without their own county of municipal health department, they will be contacted by a contact tracer to complete a Connect & Protect Form as a digital case investigation.
Between Sunday, December 13 and Saturday, December 19, there were 63,870 COVID-19 cases statewide and 15 percent, or 9,581 cases, had a case investigation started within 24 hours of receiving the positive report. Public health professionals will continue calling to complete the case investigation after the 24-hour period. An additional three percent, or 1,916 cases, had a case investigation started within 48 hours.
Although public health professionals may call to start the case investigation, not all cases to obtain additional information are successful. The Department of Health leaves voicemails, texts, and sends a letter to the home requesting a return call. There were 8,303 people, or 13 percent of cases, in this reported week that were successfully contacted by a public health professional statewide.
After the initial case investigation is complete, contact tracing begins. Within the same time period of December 13 to December 19, there were 1,682contact tracing staff working with local and county health entities, partner organizations and the Regional Response Health Collaboration Program within the Department of Human Services as well as volunteers from Co-County Wellness in Berks County and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. These staff monitored 8,747 contacts who were identified during the case investigations.
Currently, all of the allotted 1,090 people have been hired through Insight Global. Some of these staff have been promoted to perform case investigations to meet the immediate needs of increased caseloads. There are 50 case investigators, 40 supervisors, and 10 resource coordinators who will help to refer Pennsylvanians to services during quarantine across the commonwealth.
Since the implementation of the Contact Tracing Management System in early October through December 19 in those areas of the state where Pennsylvania Department of Health is responsible for contact tracing, there have been:
On September 22, the department launchedCOVID Alert PA, a free mobile app that uses Bluetooth technology to let a person know that they have been exposed to COVID-19 without compromising the identity or location of either the person using the app, or of the person to whom they may have been exposed.
The Department of Health has made updates the COVID Alert PA app to include 13- through 17-year-old residents with parental consent to download the app and four new languages. This app is interoperable with16 other states that also utilize the same notification exposure app technology.
In addition to the traditional case investigations and contact tracing process, there have been 584 cases that confirmed their positivity and uploaded their random IDs through the app. These uploads generated 283 exposure alerts to persons who have downloaded the app on their phones and who were in close contact (six feet for 15 minutes or more) to the case. Of those who received the alerts, 44 individuals requested a call back for further assistance from a trained contact tracer.
As the contact tracing program expands, the Department of Health continues to work in partnership with over 150 organizations, in addition to the county and municipal health departments, through regional partnerships to help gather and answer questions, identify problems and find solutions to improve contact tracing efforts within the region.
Each regional partnership has met at least once, and includes public health staff, health providers, academic institutions, community organizations, and other stakeholders interested in helping to coordinate and engage around contact tracing efforts.
Organizations and entities interested in partnering in these efforts should reach out toRA-DHCONTACTTRACING@pa.gov.
You can find more information on the states contact tracing efforts at the Department of Healths websitehere.
The Wolf Administration stresses the role Pennsylvanians play in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19:
Updated Coronavirus Links: Press Releases, State Lab Photos, Graphics
MEDIA CONTACT: April Hutcheson, 717-787-1783 or ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov
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Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine today released a weekly status update detailing the states mitigation efforts based on the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard, highlighting a seven-day case increase of 46,777, a statewide percent positivity of 15.1% and all 67 counties with substantial transmission status.
The update includes the following:
The dashboard is designed to provide early warning signs of factors that affect the states mitigation efforts. The data available on the early warning monitoring dashboard includes week-over-week case differences, incidence rates, test percent-positivity, and rates of hospitalizations, ventilations and emergency room visits tied to COVID-19. This weeks update compares the period of December 18 December 25 to the previous seven days, December 11 December 18.
This is the second consecutive week that we see a decrease in percent positivity, providing us with data that our efforts to reduce and mitigate the spread are working, Gov. Wolf said. Although this is encouraging, we need to stay the course in our fight against COVID-19. We need Pennsylvanians to continue efforts to stay safe, stay home as much as possible, wear a mask when out of our homes, and avoid gatherings with those outside our households.
As of Thursday, December 24, the state has seen a seven-day case increase of 46,777 cases; the previous seven-day increase was 57,098 cases, indicating 10,321 fewer new cases across the state over the past week compared to the previous week.
The statewide percent-positivity went down to 15.1% from 15.82% last week. Every county in the state has a concerning percent positivity above five percent. This includes 19 counties with percent positivity at or above 20 percent.
The decisions we make over the holiday season will continue to impact the effect of COVID-19 across the state, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. We need to continue our efforts to practice social distancing, avoid gatherings, download the COVID Alert PA app, and answer the call when a public health professional is calling you. By using all the tools in our toolbox, we can unite to stop the spread of COVID-19 across the state and further protect our health care system.
As of Fridays data, all 67 counties were in the substantial level of community transmission, the highest level of transmission.
For the week ending December 24, 67 counties were in the substantial level of transmission.
The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of statewide cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds.
Throughout the pandemic, there have been 48,988 total cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds. Of that total, 4,698 cases occurred between December 18 December 25. For the week of December 11 December 17, there were 5,750 cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds.
Cases by demographic group is available on the DOH website.
The Department of Health is providing weekly data on the number of individuals who responded to case investigators that they spent time at business establishments (restaurants, bars, gym/fitness centers, salon/barbershops) and at mass gatherings 14 days prior to the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.
It is important to note that due to the recent number of cases, the department is prioritizing case investigations to prevent outbreak. In addition to the need for people to answer the call, the significant number of cases helps contribute to the low percentages in case investigation data. All of this reinforces the need for Pennsylvanians to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Of the 63,870 confirmed cases reported between December 13 and December 19, 4.6 percent (2,952) provided an answer to the question as to whether they spent time at a business establishment.
Of those who did provide an answer, 0.4 percent, or 274, answered yes, they visited a business establishment 14 days prior to onset of symptoms:
Of the 63,870 confirmed cases, 4.6 percent (2,961) answered the question as to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event. Of the 4.6 percent of cases, 7 percent (194) answered yes to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event 14 days prior to onset of symptoms.
Compared to data reported on December 21, this weeks data saw an increase for people who reported going to a restaurant (41 percent vs. 37 percent last week) and going to a gym (12 percent vs. 10 percent last week). The data saw an decrease for people who reported going to a some other business (34 percent vs. 38 percent last week), going to a bar (13 percent vs. 14 percent last week) and going to a salon/barbershop (7 percent vs. 8 percent last week). The number of those who attended a mass gathering or other large event decreased to 7 percent from 8 percent last week.
The numbers above highlight business settings and mass gatherings as possible sites for transmission. With less than half of those asked about what types of businesses they visited or if they attended a mass gathering responding to the question, the department is reminding Pennsylvanians that it is essential that people answer the phone when case investigators call and to provide full and complete information to these clinical professionals.
In November, the Department of Health provided an updated travel order requiring anyone over the age of 11 who visits from another state to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test or place themselves in a travel quarantine for 14 days upon entering Pennsylvania. Travel quarantine guidance was changed to 10 days on Dec. 5 based on new CDC guidance.
This order does not apply to people who commute to and from another state for work or medical treatment, those who left the state for less than 24 hours, and those complying with a court order, including child custody.
It is important that people understand that this Order is in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. A concerning number of recent cases have been linked to travel, and if people are going to travel, we need them to take steps to protect themselves, their loved ones and their community, and that involves having either a negative test, or placing themselves in a quarantine.
Gov. Wolf continues to prioritize the health and safety of all Pennsylvanians through the COVID-19 pandemic. Pennsylvanians should continue to take actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, regardless of in what county they live. This includes wearing a mask or face covering anytime they are in public. COVID-19 has been shown to spread easily in the air and contagious carriers can be asymptomatic. Pennsylvanians are encouraged to wash their hands, social distance, avoid gatherings and download COVID Alert PA.
