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A company that runs a testing lab in Lenexa says it will fully cooperate with the state of Kansas after being flagged by regulators for potential price gouging.
In a letter issued last week, the Kansas Insurance Department said it had been made aware of GS Labs, 15720 College Blvd., pricing a single diagnostic COVID-19 PCR test at $1,000.
The price listed on GS Labs website has since dropped to $699 per test, which state regulators say is still well above the national average of roughly $185.
These are prices that providers seek to get reimbursed by health insurers and are not typically charged to patients directly. Still, regulators say consumers could ultimately bear the burden if such exorbitant charges are allowed to go unchecked.
If these astronomical costs charged by unscrupulous providers are borne by the health plans and insurers without recompense, consumers will ultimately pay more for their health care as health insurance costs will rise, Justin McFarland, general counsel for the Kansas Insurance Department, wrote in last weeks letter.
GS Labs is a health care testing startup based in Omaha that began operations in January and now has 15 locations in 10 different states, including the Lenexa lab, which opened Nov. 28, according to company spokesman Kirk Thompson.
Johnson Countians may see billboards advertising GS Labs services, including one on southbound Interstate 35 near the Rainbow Blvd. exit.
Thompson said GS Labs offers daily testing from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with patients able to book same-day appointments and get results within 30 minutes.
We are here to help the community, he said. There is overwhelming demand for COVID-19 testing right now, and we take great pride in our services.
But he also said GS Labs is new to this and feeling this out as we go.
He said they discovered there were issues with their listed prices at the Lenexa lab when the Kansas Insurance Department sent its letter last week. Thompson said now GS Labs will fully cooperate with the state to work out its pricing.
Our ears are open, he said. The last thing we want is to be perceived as price gougers.
Thompson said individual customers are not billed at their Lenexa lab. He also said they have held back submitting any reimbursement claims to insurers while they work out their pricing with state regulators.
Like many health care costs, disputes over COVID-19 testing prices play out beyond the view of most patients. For Johnson Countians wanting to get tested, here are a few important things to note:
The first mention of the word coronavirus in a Cornell Chronicle story in 2020 came on Jan. 29, when the university designated mainland China as an elevated-risk destination, and imposed travel restrictions on students, faculty and staff.
Since then, there have been more than 300 stories or university statements that mention COVID-19 posted on news.cornell.edu. It has been the story of the year.
The most-read Chronicle story of the year was a Weill Cornell Medicine-produced research FAQ from April 20, Why is COVID-19 mild for some, deadly for others? Given the fact that so much remains unknown about this mysterious virus, its no surprise that more than 60,000 readers and counting clicked on this story.
Four of the top five most-read articles on this site this year were related to COVID-19. Other top stories included the announcement of plans to reactivate the campus; maps that showed virus vulnerability by New York county; and the announcement of the launch of the testing dashboard and alert system.
The only non-virus story in the top five? Announcement of the death Sept. 18 of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 54, which came in at No. 2 with more than 36,000 clicks.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 54 gives remarks in 2007 during the unveiling of a plaque announcing Cornell Law Schools role in establishing the Center for Documentation on American Law at the Cour de Cassation in Paris.
Research continued on campus, despite challenges brought on by COVID-19 restrictions. On Feb. 27, the university announced plans to launch a School of Public Policy, as well as superdepartments that will draw faculty from multiple colleges or schools in the disciplines of economics, psychology and sociology. And on Dec. 17, Cornell announced plans for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, established by a transformative nine-figure gift from Ann S. Bowers 59.
True to its founding principle of any person any study, Cornell made anti-racism a top priority in 2020, with President Martha E. Pollack in July outlining several new initiatives promoting racial justice, including the creation and implementation of a for-credit, educational requirement on racism, bias and equity for all Cornell students.
And over the course of the year, Cornell lost several beloved members of its vast community of administrators, professors and alumni including the aforementioned Ginsburg, as well as beloved former university president and renowned paleontologist Frank H.T. Rhodes.
Here are some notable stories from the past 12 months:
COVID-19
The novel coronavirus touched every aspect of life at Cornell, beginning on March 13, when Pollack announced in a statement that classes were suspended and would resume online April 6, following spring break.
The new normal had begun.
Volunteer Leslie Schultz works at one of the sewing tables at Bartels Hall March 25.
As hospitals across the country tried to manage a surge in COVID-19 patients while also facing a global shortage of the protective gear needed to treat them, the Cornell community banded together to donate crucial medical supplies to local health care providers. Departments and units from almost every college answered the call. The College of Veterinary Medicine alone donated 900 N95 respirators to Cayuga Medical Center (CMC); a surgical mask-sewing effort in Bartels Hall produced more than 100,000 cloth masks for the hospital.
Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), of course, lent its considerable expertise to the fight, including sending the 109 members of its Class of 2020 directly into the fray. WCM gave its fourth-year students the option of graduating early, in April, and more than half opted in.
Cornell exhibited leadership in other ways, too. On April 8, a pair of Cornell Campus-to-Campus buses rolled out of Ithaca carrying more than 60 doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from CMC to assist medical personnel in New York City, then the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic.
In Ithaca, the university launched its public health campaign on Aug. 6. Through social media feeds, inboxes, signs blanketing campus and nudges from fellow Cornellians, the campaign reinforced the need for students, faculty and staff to adhere to the three Ws: Wear your mask, watch your distance and wash your hands. ABCs Good Morning America featured Cornells public health success on Sept. 22.
One of two Campus-to-Campus buses bound for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan heads out of Ithaca April 8. They were sent off by well-wishers lining the roads out of town. Cayuga Medical Center/Provided
While maintaining safe health practices, Cornell continued its core missions: education and research. Adapting to the reality of life during a pandemic, faculty, staff and students responded with imagination and ingenuity. On April 6 the first day of virtual instruction after a three-week pause Cornell instructors led 6,600 Zoom meetings with a total of 89,000 participants. This is an amazing number of instructors and students engaged in online learning, many of them completely new to this mode of teaching and learning, saidJulia Thom-Levy, vice provost for academic innovation.
Lab instructors had to be creative in rethinking how they taught hands-on, collaborative and experiential courses. For the class Mushrooms, Molds and More, students discovered fungi in their surroundings and shared photos of them via Instagram, andused online resources to identify mushrooms.
On May 14, after six weeks of remote learning, the Cornell Chronicle told six stories of innovation and intellectual growth from the thousands of classes lectures and seminars, laboratory and performance courses, capstone projects and veterinary clinics that had transitioned entirely online.
At the start of the summer, Pollack announced plans to reactivate the Ithaca campus for the fall semester, which included a rigorous testing program for more than 25,000 students, faculty and staff. In addressing the Employee Assembly a couple of weeks later, she laid it out in plain language: Follow established public health guidelines. We are working to build this culture of challenging one another and holding one another to a high standard of mutual responsibility, Pollack said.
The Cornell COVID-19 Testing Laboratory (CCTL), based in the College of Veterinary Medicine, played a huge role in making Cornell an example of how to reactivate a college campus. The pooled-testing approach yields results within 24 hours for 5,000 to 7,000 Cornell students, staff and faculty per day.
The Cornell COVID-19 Testing Laboratory, housed in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is a cornerstone of the universitys plan to reactivate campus as safely and scientifically as possible.
Thanks to its massive testing effort, the university along with Cayuga Health System was able to donate $160,000 worth of testing capacity to the Ithaca City School District, helping the district reopen for in-person learning Oct. 5.
As a successful fall semester went on, committed leaders, expert faculty, trained staff and student hires worked tirelessly behind the scenes to create a winning strategy for keeping the community safe. Through aggressive testing and contact tracing, the number of positive test results was below even the most hopeful early estimates. Statistics can be seen on the campus COVID-19 tracking dashboard.
Research highlights
Discovery is at the heart of Cornells mission of knowledge with a public purpose. This year, research into the novel coronavirus was a priority on the Ithaca campus and at Weill Cornell Medicine, but robotics, artificial intelligence and space exploration were among the many other areas of study.
An interdisciplinary Cornell research team reported in January that as little as 10 minutes in a natural setting can help college students feel happier and lessen the effects of both physical and mental stress. It doesnt take much time for the positive benefits to kick in were talking 10 minutes outside in a space with nature,said lead author Gen Meredith, associate director of the Master of Public Health Program and lecturer at the College of Veterinary Medicine.The story attracted more than 34,000 views, making it one of the most-read Chronicle stories of the year.
Just when you thought robots couldnt get any cooler, Cornell researchers led byRob Shepherd, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering created a soft robot muscle that actually sweats to regulate its temperature. This form of thermal management is a basic building block for enabling untethered, high-powered robots to operate for long periods of time without overheating.
A Cornell team led by Rob Shepherd, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, made a 3D-printed hand with hydraulically controlled fingers that can cool itself by sweating.
Of course, Cornell researchers invested plenty of time investigating SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A Cornell study of the viruss structure, led by Gary Whittaker, professor of virology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, revealed a unique feature a structural loop in the spike protein, the area of the virus that facilitates entry into a cell that could help explain why it is so transmissible between people.
Artificial intelligence touches innumerable aspects of life, and Cornell research helped inform a new AI system that allows shoppers on Facebook to identify characteristics of items in uploaded photographs. Announced May 19 by CEO Mark Zuckerberg via Facebook Live, the product-recognition system can identify attributes across billions of photographs in dozens of categories. The click photo and search technology was first developed in 2015 byKavita Bala, professor and dean of computing and information science, and then-doctoral student Sean Bell, M.S. 15, Ph.D. 16, whos now a research scientist at Facebook.
While Ithaca is home, the work of some Cornellians is out of this world: Alex Hayes 03, M.Eng. 03, associate professor of astronomy in the College of Arts andSciences, is a co-investigator on Mastcam-Z, the NASA Perseverance rovers zoomable mast-mounted camera system, launched July 30. Cornell researchers were among the hundreds of scientists and engineers who prepared instruments for the Perseverance rover (about the size of a small car) and its accompanying helicopter Ingenuity, which took off aboard the Atlas V-541 rocket. The rover is expected to land on Mars in mid-February 2021.
NASAs Mars 2020 mission will collect rock and soil samples for future joint NASA/European Space Agency missions to ferry back to Earth. Cornell scientists will be actively involved including Alex Hayes, associate professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences.
In March the Cornell Lab of Ornithologys eBird program, the largest biodiversity citizen science project in the world, released500 animated mapsspanning the entire Western Hemisphere. The maps show in fine detail where hundreds of species of migratory birds travel, and how their numbers vary with habitat, geography and time of year. We not only have an idea of where to find a bird, but where that bird is most abundant as well, said Steve Kelling, co-director of Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab. The detail and information in the animations is breathtaking.
Notable deaths
The Chronicles In Memory page lists two dozen notable current and former professors, and prominent alumni, who left us is 2020. Among them:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 54, called by The New York Times the Supreme Courts feminist icon, died Sept. 18 in Washington, D.C., of metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87. The second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Ginsburg a government major in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell was a pioneering advocate for womens rights, helping to bring about a revolution in the legal status of women during her career as a litigator and strategist.
She earned a rock-star following with younger generations late in her life and became known as Notorious R.B.G.
Noted for her precisely worded decisions and dissenting opinions, Ginsburg acknowledged the influence of Vladimir Nabokov, Cornell professor of European literature, on her own writing. He was a man in love with the sound of words, she once said, as he taught her the importance of choosing the correct words and the most effective word order.
Frank H.T. Rhodes, Cornells ninth president, a higher education leader and an esteemed paleontologist, died Feb. 3 in Bonita Springs, Florida. He was 93.
Frank H.T. Rhodes, center, died Feb. 3 in Bonita Springs, Florida. He was 93.
During Rhodes tenure as president from 1977-95 only Jacob Gould Schurman (1892-1920) and founding president Andrew Dickson White (1865-85) served longer Cornell saw significant growth in research and academic programs that continue to shape the university. Cornell more than tripled research funding, to more than $300 million; established major initiatives in areas from astronomy to Asian studies; completed a $1.5 billion capital campaign; increased diversity among students and faculty; and strengthened the universitys international presence.
When Rhodes retired, he had become a formidable national advocate for education and research, influencing the development of national science policy during the administrations of four U.S. presidents.
Other notable deaths:
Hidalgo County announced six additional COVID-19 related deaths and 411 new cases of the virus Monday.
The deaths include two men and a woman over the age of 70 from Edinburg, a man in his 60s from McAllen, a woman in her 60s from Mission, and a man over the age of 70 from Pharr. The countys death toll now stands at 2,160.
Mondays numbers were announced on the same day that the county launched its new billboard campaign honoring those who have died due to the virus.
Before Thanksgiving, Hidalgo County residents were asked to submit photos of departed loved ones for the campaign. They will be depicted on billboards throughout the county and in a slideshow on the countys website and various social media outlets.
This is one of the most powerful images that Ive seen resulting from the pandemic, Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez said in a news release. This is a reminder to hold those we love even closer, especially as the holidays approach.
The billboards will be located at U.S. Expressway 83 East of Bridge Street in Weslaco; U.S. Expressway 281 North of Business 281 in Edinburg; and Expressway 83 West of 29th Street in McAllen.
Cortez, who tested positive for the virus recently, continued to urge social distancing amid the Christmas holiday.
Our continued message is not to gather in large groups, wear a face covering and social distance, Cortez said. But have a blessed Christmas in honor of those lives depicted in this billboard.
In accordance with the Texas Department of State Health Services 2020 Epi Case Criteria Guide, the countys new cases were sorted into three categories: confirmed, probable and suspect.
Of the countys 411 new cases, 250 were confirmed, 134 were probable and 27 were suspect. The new cases raise the countys total to 48,715, of which 34,380 are confirmed, 13,596 are probable and 739 are suspect.
There are currently 240 people in county hospitals with COVID-19 related complications, of which 81 are in intensive care units.
The county announced that 319 people were released from isolation over the weekend, raising that total to 43,748.
There are 2,807 net active cases in Hidalgo County.
The county has administered 287,906 COVID-19 tests, and 238,376 have had negative results.
Cameron County confirmed five additional COVID-19 related deaths and 361 new cases of the virus.
All five deaths were residents of Brownsville. They include women in their 20s, 40s, 70s and 80s, and a man over 90.
The deaths raise the countys death toll to 1,164.
Of the 361 new cases, 156 were from Brownsville, 90 were from Harlingen, and 55 were from San Benito. The total number of confirmed cases in Cameron County climbed to 28,613.
Additionally, 138 people have recovered from the virus, raising that total to 24,807.
Willacy County confirmed 16 additional cases of COVID-19 Monday, raising the total number of cases there to 1,514.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are warning the public about several emerging fraud schemes related to COVID-19 vaccines.
The FBI, HHS-OIG, and CMS have received complaints of scammers using the publics interest in COVID-19 vaccines to obtain personally identifiable information (PII) and money through various schemes. We continue to work diligently with law enforcement partners and the private sector to identify cyber threats and fraud in all forms.
The public should be aware of the following potential indicators of fraudulent activity:
Tips to avoid COVID-19 vaccine-related fraud:
General online/cyber fraud prevention techniques:
If you believe you have been the victim of a COVID-19 fraud, immediately report it to the FBI (ic3.gov, tips.fbi.gov, or 1-800-CALL-FBI) or HHS OIG (tips.hhs.gov or 1-800-HHS-TIPS).
View related flyer (pdf)
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) With the Christmas holiday just days away, local health officials said more people are getting tested for COVID-19.
The problem is were filled up, ETSU Health Chief Medical Officer Sheri Holmes said.
Holmes said people who are getting tested before visiting family this holiday season should know that a negative result wont necessarily prevent the person from spreading the virus to his or her family.
Lets say someone tests today, which is Monday, and they go to a holiday event on Friday, Holmes said. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they could have converted.
Holmes said if youre interested in getting an appointment, you should watch the ETSU Health site to see if a cancellation pops up.
As of Monday evening, Holmes said the drive-through testing is booked until December 28 at 1:10 p.m. and the total capacity for testing is 200 tests per day.
Sometimes it can look like its really full and then you can have 10 people cancel the morning of and spots open up, Holmes said.
Those who are tested at ETSU Health should expect to have their results within 24 hours.
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 57,098 cases, a statewide percent positivity of 15.8% 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 11 December 17 to the previous seven days, December 4 December 10.
A decrease in percent positivity this week shows that we must continue to stay the course as we prevent the spread of this virus, Gov. Wolf said. As we approach a number of holidays, we need to put Pennsylvania on pause and continue to follow the time-limited mitigation efforts announced last week. We need all Pennsylvanians to follow these measures as part of their collective responsibility to protect one another and the health system.
As of Thursday, December 17, the state has seen a seven-day case increase of 57,098 cases; the previous seven-day increase was 61,469 cases, indicating 4,371 fewer new cases across the state over the past week compared to the previous week.
The statewide percent-positivity went down to 15.82% from 16.2% last week. Every county in the state except for Sullivan County has a concerning percent positivity above five percent. This includes 20 counties with percent positivity at or above 20 percent.
While our case data shows some improvement, the continued strain COVID-19 is placing on the rate of hospitalizations and ventilator use serve as a reminder to us all of our role in protecting our health care system, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. We know that hospitalizations and deaths often lag after our case increases. Our hospitals are taxed and many locations have very few ICU beds available. We know COVID-19 does not discriminate and is affecting every county in the commonwealth. This virus knows no bounds and it is affecting all Pennsylvanians, no matter your race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status or whether you live a rural, suburban or urban area.
As of Fridays data, all 67 counties were in the substantial level of community transmission, the highest level of transmission. The departments of Education and Health will speak with school district representatives in these counties to discuss the implications of this level of transmission.
For the week ending December 17, 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 44,290 total cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds. Of that total, 5,750 occurred between December 11 December 17. For the week of November December 4 December 10, there were 6,192 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 71,341 confirmed cases reported between December 6 and December 12, 4.1 percent (2,936) 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 261, answered yes, they visited a business establishment 14 days prior to onset of symptoms:
Of the 71,341 confirmed cases, 4.2 percent (2,981) answered the question as to whether they attended a mass gathering or other large event. Of the 4.2 percent, 8 percent (246) 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 7, this weeks data saw an increase for people who reported going to a some other business (38 percent vs. 25 percent last week), going to a bar (14 percent vs. 8 percent last week) and going to a salon/barbershop (8 percent vs. 5 percent last week). The data saw a decrease for people who reported going to a restaurant (37 percent vs. 50 percent last week) and going to a gym (10 percent vs. 16 percent last week). The number of those who attended a mass gathering or other large event decreased to 8 percent from 10 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.
The Maine CDC says at least 4,000 BinaxNOW rapid test kits are now in the hands of school nurses across the state to test symptomatic students and staff.
PORTLAND, Maine As cases of COVID-19 continue to climb in Maine, some 4,000 rapid test kits have been distributed to schools statewide.
The Abbot BinaxNOW antigen test kits are now in the hands of school nurses in at least 50 Maine schools, according to the Maine CDC and Dept. of Education.
Here is a list of schools and districts that have applied and been approved:
"It's so incredibly comforting for the staff at the school," Jill Webber, a nurse at the William H. Rowe School in Yarmouth told NEWSCENTER Maine.
Rowe and other nurses across the Yarmouth School Dept. have already tested students and staff showing symptoms of the virus over the last couple of weeks.
Compared to the traditional PCR test that often takes days to get results back, the Abbott kit uses a swab, card, and reagent to produce results in minutes.
"We have a kid come down that has symptoms that are consistent with COVIDto be able to quickly do a test and know if that kid's positive or not," Webber said.
"This could be a game-changer for us," Yarmouth Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said.
He said greater access to testing for schools is critical, especially as many in the state are struggling with staffing shortages.
Dolloff said the wait for testing and results has lengthened quarantine periods in some cases, making those ongoing staffing issues even worse.
So far he has only had to cancel classes twice at the town's high school due to staffing.
"It's really worth the effort. We appreciate what the state has done to make this available to us," Dolloff said.
The Maine CDC plans to continue to distribute the kits to organizations statewide that apply.
"We have of course in Maine expanded the use of these tests beyond schools to say hospital settings and other congregate care settings for the same reason, so that administrators can get a quick sense of what's happening," CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said at Monday's press briefing.
For school nurses like Webber, this is only the start. She hopes resources are eventually available for routine surveillance testing of both staff and students.
"I think more testing, more readily available results, would be a game-changer for all school nurses in the state," she said.
Testing requires parental consent. While some schools have already started using the kits, others will start after the holidays.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine will expand a statewide program to prevent driving under the influence of alcohol, cannabis and prescription drugs. With funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the UC San Diego Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety Program (TREDS) provides education and resources to teach the public about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs in an effort to keep our roadways safe.
In addition to alcohol, driving under the influence of cannabis and certain prescription or over-the-counter medications has rapidly become a serious traffic safety issue in the United States, especially during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Linda Hill, MD, MPH, program director of TREDS and professor of family medicine at University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity.Photo Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences
An NHTSA study conducted at five hospital trauma centers between March and July of 2020 found that nearly two-thirds of seriously or fatally injured road users tested positive for at least one active drug, including alcohol, cannabis or opioids. The number of drivers that tested positive for opioids or cannabis dramatically increased after mid-March compared to the previous six months.
Stress, anxiety and depression are serious mental health concerns during the pandemic, and some are turning to alcohol, drugs and opioids to manage their emotions and then getting behind the wheel, said Linda Hill, MD, MPH, program director of TREDS and professor of family medicine at University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity. Collisions due to driving under the influence are 100 percent preventable. Our behavior profoundly influences our crash risk. We can reduce this risk by providing intervention strategies.
TREDS develops traffic safety education programs and conducts train-the-trainer workshops to prepare law enforcement and health professionals to teach classes to the public. The focus of this years program includes the following:Delivering virtual workshops on a monthly basis with the goal of training professionals in every county in California. This is a major expansion from previous years, said Hill. The workshops will feature curricula that address the topics of distracted driving, pedestrian safety, older road user safety and driving under the influence of alcohol, cannabis and medications.Linking organizations, groups and educational institutions with professionals in their communities who have received training to deliver these prevention programs.
Experts like Hill remind the public that the potency of todays cannabis has increased dramatically in recent years and affects each person differently. The peak effect for smoking THC is approximately 10 minutes after inhaling and can last four to eight hours. For edibles, the peak effect may occur up to two hours after ingesting and may last 10 hours or longer.
Impairing effects are based on the strength of THC, personal tolerance and mode of use, said Hill. It is critical that we continue to collaborate with those on the frontlines of road safety and the health professionals who see the tragic results of impaired driving in our emergency room settings, so we can have a unified message to our community to drive safely and sober, alcohol and drug free.
For more information, to request a training or locate a class instructor, contact TREDS at 858-534-8386 or treds@ucsd.edu.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
As COVID-19 cases rise daily in California with experts warning of a surge that will continue into the new year, CDA wants to ensure member dentists are aware of all the resources that CDAs Clinical Care Workgroup and Practice Support team have developed specifically to help them practice in the current environment while complying with Cal/OSHA and other regulations.
Recent calls to CDA Practice Support reveal that dentists are unclear about quarantine requirements. Members also have inquired about when they would need to close the practice due to COVID-19 exposures or outbreaks and those conversations indicate that some offices are closing prematurely.
In some phone calls, dentists are just learning about a new Cal/OSHA regulation that prohibits them from requiring their employees to provide a negative COVID-19 test prior to returning to work. Or that, beginning Jan. 1, 2021, they must provide to their employees a written notice of potential exposure to COVID-19 as required by state law.
Practice Support analysts are available to CDA members for one-one-one support, but resources are always available on-demand, 24/7, to assist dentists and their teams, including a new FAQ that answers the top five COVID-19-related questions members have now. Heres a quick summary of those resource and where to go to find them.
Members current top five COVID-19-related questions answered
Dentists can read CDAs top 5 FAQ on COVID-19 exposure for answers to all of the following:
For example, an office closure will occur only when one of three conditions is met: (1) The office cannot operate due to staff or provider shortages resulting from illness or quarantine, (2) the local health department orders the closure due to a workplace outbreak defined as fewer than three sick employees within 14 days and (3) Cal/OSHA finds dangerous conditions exist at the workplace.
In addition to the FAQ, a new flowchart shows dentist employers how to pay employees who have contracted or may have been exposed to COVID-19 in the dental office.
COVID-19 reporting requirements, training
The Reporting Symptoms/Positive COVID-19 Test Results was published in June and includes an online training module for dental team members, a reporting flowchart and related required forms and notices.
Specifically, participants will learn when to:
Identification of close contacts is a very important piece of the training, particularly when determining whether there is a need to close the practice, said CDA Regulatory Compliance Analyst Teresa Pichay.
Be sure to collect and record certain information from the reporting party, and then to do an assessment of whether there were close contacts. If there are no close contacts, it may not be necessary to close the practice, she said.
Most participants working at an average pace can complete the training module in 10 to 15 minutes.
Find all COVID-19 resources for dentists in the Back to Practice Resources Center.
Varon was the first at his hospital to get the vaccine in an effort to assure staff and the largely minority community he serves that the vaccine is safe.
Varon said those working in the Covid unit will get the vaccine first followed by staff assigned to the emergency room.
"We owe these folks an awful lot," Biden said, thanking those involved in the vaccine's development and distribution and frontline health care workers.
Biden said the Trump administration deserved "some credit" for Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's vaccine program, and their role in making coronavirus vaccinations possible.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will be vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday.
Most Americans will have to wait months before getting their inoculations.
In the meantime, new infections, hospitalizations and deaths keep soaring, prompting health experts to urge the public to stay home this Christmas week.
Now travelers risk getting infected with a variant of coronavirus that might be even more contagious.
'These viruses mutate all the time'
A variant of the virus is spreading rapidly in the UK, prompting dozens of travel bans and raising concerns about what this means for the world.
England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned Saturday that the variant "can spread more quickly" and was responsible for 60% of new infections in London.
On Monday, an epidemiologist from the World Health Organization explained why the variant might be infecting more people.
"We are hearing that it could spread up to 70% faster, but what that means is there are scientists in the UK that are evaluating the surveillance data, the genomic sequencing data, and looking at the spread in parts of England and across England," said Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for Covid-19 for the WHO.
"What they're seeing is that the reproduction number -- so this is the number of individuals that an infected person transmits to -- has increased from 1.1 to 1.5 ... I just want to put into context this up to 70% increase."
Van Kerkhove said scientists are trying to determine "how much of that is associated with the variant itself, as well as behavioral differences in individual that this variant has infected. So they're still working through that right now."
The increase is happening even as interventions are in place across England, she said.
"It does mean that we have to work a little bit harder about preventing the spread," she said. "But, what we do know is that the interventions that work about preventing the spread for this variant also work for the viruses that are circulating around."
Those interventions include physical distancing and wearing masks. "These viruses mutate all the time," Van Kerkhove said.
Operation Warp Speed chief science adviser Moncef Slaoui said while there's "clear evidence that there is more of it in the population," so far "there is no hard evidence that this virus (variant) is actually more transmissible."
There's also no evidence so far to suggest the new variant is more lethal, or that current vaccines wouldn't work against it, Whitty said.
But a virus that spreads more easily could result in more infections, which in turn might lead to more hospitalizations and deaths.
Backward tracing using genetic evidence suggests the new UK variant emerged in September and then circulated at very low levels in the population until mid-November, according to Public Health England.
As of Monday morning, there are no plans to enact a US travel ban against the UK, US Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said.
British Airways, Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have agreed to require a Covid-19 test before allowing passengers to board planes traveling from the UK to New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN.
Gounder said a travel ban might not do much good now. "We have seen this virus circulating within the UK for at least a few months now," Gounder said. "Because this virus has been circulating for some period of time in the UK already, the cat's out of the bag. It has spread elsewhere, including the United States."
Travel bans can also backfire, Gounder said.
"As we saw when there were efforts to ban travel from China before, people rushed to travel. So the likelihood (is) that that could backfire -- that people will actually travel more, all of a sudden, in advance of impending bans."
Will the vaccines work against the new variant?
Both the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine have shown efficacy rates of around 95% in clinical trials. But many are questioning whether the vaccines would work on variants of the virus -- like one that is spreading in the UK.
"Up to now, I don't think there has been a single variant that would be resistant to the vaccine," Slaoui sad. "We can't exclude it, but it's not there now."
He said the novel coronavirus may be prone to variance. But critical aspects of the virus, such as the spike protein involved in a vaccine, are very specific to the novel coronavirus and unlikely to mutate much.
Giroir also said he thinks the current vaccines will work against the variant.
"Remember, our vaccines develop antibodies against multiple parts of that spike protein -- not just one that's the mutated one," he said.
Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are examining the variant and expect to know in the next few days whether vaccines might not work against it.
But most Americans can't get vaccinated for months.
"So I think what we really need to be doing is focusing on the things we know will prevent spread of this new variant -- which is the same thing that works against spread of the coronavirus in general," Gounder said.
"That is masks, social distancing. If you're going to be around other people, do it outdoors. And with the holidays coming up, this is really not the time to be traveling."
No more ICU capacity
Health officials Monday reported the nation reached an all-time high of 115,351 current patients.
In Los Angeles County, an estimated one in every 64 residents is infected with coronavirus and "actively infecting others," county health services director Christina Ghaly said Monday.
The county's hospitals are full. About half of all intensive care unit patients are suffering from Covid-19 and about a third of regular hospital beds are filled with coronavirus patients, Ghaly said.
ICU capacity in Southern California and in the San Joaquin Valley remains at zero, with just 2.1% of ICU beds available statewide.
"It's heartbreaking, really, to see where we're at," Ghaly said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story and headline incorrectly described Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir's comments on vaccine distribution. Health officials are working to have enough doses for 20 million people distributed by the first week of January. He did not promise that 20 million people would be inoculated by that time.
