I think every groups probably trying to get assistance at this point, said Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association. The thing about this industry, though, is it has been the tip of the spear since day one, and they have sacrificed the most of any industry.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Roughly two months ago, Gov. Kristi Noem posted on her Governors Facebook page that South Dakota had peaked with COVID-19. Noem said South Dakotas COVID-19 spread peaked the latest of just about any state, on Sept. 22.
If the peak was on Sept. 22, its been a heck of a second wave.
South Dakota had 18,624 COVID-19 cases on Nov. 17. The state had 582 people in the hospital, 644 deaths, 67,284 total cases, 48,016 recovered individuals and 3,769 total people who have been hospitalized. Most deaths were in the 80 plus age range (362), followed by the 70 to 79 range (129).
But after Noems peak post on Sept. 22, South Dakota Department of Health Officials said during a Sept. 24 news briefing that it was too soon to say if the state had peaked with COVID-19.
The state had 178 people with COVID-19 in the hospital, 2,817 active cases and 202 deaths, on Sept. 22.
Fast forward to Nov. 4 when DOH epidemiologist Dr. Joshua Clayton said he expected hospitalizations to keep increasing.
With the increasing cases that weve seen, the models from CDC are a showing that were gonna be seeing level, if not short term increases in, hospital bed use and then start to decline from there, Clayton said in a Nov. 4 KELOLAND News story.
Noem will have a news conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday, but her office did not state what she will address.
The Governor has not had a COVID-19 related news conference since July 28 when she talked about the need for South Dakotas K-12 students to be in school for in person instruction.
Noem has repeatedly stressed since the pandemic started that the state goal was to flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19 to make sure hospitals have the capacity to care for sick people.
The numbers as of Nov. 17 are far below what was originally projected as possibilities in March.
On March 23, Noem said that early projections showed that up 30% of South Dakotans could get COVID-19. That would be about 265,398individuals or about the combined populations of Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
But that estimate was early in the pandemic in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control projected in March that between 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die from COVID-19. The death toll as of Nov. 17 was 248,462. The projections for the U.S. and South Dakota were made before any advances in treatment for COVID-19 or before, or just at the start, of measures such as mask wearing, crowd restrictions, shelter in place and others were required, recommended or put into practice.
The state finished August with 76 people in the hospital with COVID-19 and a total of 1,029 who had been hospitalized.
On Oct. 5, she boasted in a Facebook post that the state had met that goal and also slowed the spread of COVID-19.
While Noem said in her Oct. 5 post that the goals were met, COVID-19 kept spreading and increasing the number of deaths and hospitalizations.
On Oct. 5, the state had 241 people in the hospital with COVID-19, according to the DOH. On Oct. 9 there were 277. There were 4,274 active cases on Oct. 5.
As the number of cases increased, so did the number of recoveries. On Oct. 9, there were 27,215 total COVID-19 cases and 21,750 individuals identified as recovered.
And in an Oct. 9 post from Noem, it appeared she was claiming victory over COVID-19.
But doctors and health officials around the state were not claiming victory over COVID-19 in October.
During an Oct. 5 news briefing in Sioux Falls, David Flicek, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avera McKennan and Dr. Mike Wilde of Sanford said COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients were straining their available ICU and overall staffed beds.
The state had 241 people in the hospital with COVID-19. There were 4,274 active cases.
Surge plans had been already been activated by both health care systems.
In mid- April, doctors from Avera and Sanford said their systems had surge plans in place to handle COVID-19 patients and others. But, here was one scenario that was possibility back in April which was that Sioux Falls and the state would have different COVID-19 peaks.
In a media briefing on April 17, South Dakota Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said while the state was planning for 1,300 Intensive Care Unit beds, the most recent models showed the state would need 650 beds.
On Sept. 24, the DOH said the state had 245 ICU beds.
The DOH website lists the available capacity for ICU and general staffed beds in the state. As of Nov. 17, 38.9% of the staffed ICU beds were available, according to the state.
But, the DOH ICU staffed beds also include neonatal intensive care beds (NICU) which are designed for infants.
On Nov. 18, the DOH website broke down the adult ICU and the pediatric beds. The DOH said 18.1% of adult ICU beds were available on Nov. 18.
As of Oct. 6, the DOH said the state had 293 staffed ICU beds. Two organizations have South Dakota with 113 or 128 NICU beds which would leave 180 or 168 ICU beds for adults, based on the states 293 staffed ICU beds count.
In October, health care officials were reporting that they were using surge plans, which includes adding patient hospital beds. Health care officials said COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients needed ICU and other patient beds.
On Oct. 22, Noem posted on her Governors Facebook page that South Dakota has the hospital capacity to care for those who need it. She also highlighted that lockdowns dont stop COVID-19 from spreading but they do decimate the economy.
Deaths continued to increase in October. The state ended the month with 214 deaths.
November started with significant increases in deaths. As of Nov. 17, there have been 219 COVID-19 deaths for the month.
Active hospitalizations reached 607 on Nov. 10 and were at 582 on Nov. 17. There have been 644 total deaths.
Recoveries were at 48,016 and total cases were at 67,284 on Nov. 17.
Health officials across the state continue to sound the warning about hospital capacity in South Dakota.
On Nov. 17, the South Dakota Medical Association said it supported a statewide mask mandate.
Dr. David Basel of Avera said on Nov. 17 that Averas main campus had doubled its ICU capacity and patient levels were at historic levels.
Doctors from Sanford and Avera announced again on Nov. 17 that their systems were using surge capacity to add more beds for COVID-19 and non COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 17, Noem appeared to shift her attention to COVID-19 testing as she pointed out increased testing in the state on her Governors Twitter account.
The increased testing for Nov. 10 through Nov. 14 can be attributed in part to the U.S. Surgeon Generals office selecting South Dakota as one of the state the federal government would provide free COVID-19 testing at 10 sites around the state.
Communities across the state were selected for mass testing to augment current community testing options, South Dakota Department of Health spokesman Derrick Haskins said in an email to KELOLAND News. for a Nov. 9 story.
The mass testing organized with the help of federal officials and the South Dakota National Guard are the first such community mass testing program in the state since the pandemic started.
There was mass testing conducted in April when there was coronavirus outbreak linked to Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls. The city of Huron had a mass testing event in September related to the state fair.
When the Governor shares test records she appears to be sharing recorded total tests. The DOHs daily reports include total number of tests and positive and negatives. The total number of tests each day do not equal individuals because some individuals may be tested more than once.
The free community COVIDF-19 tests started on Nov. 10 in Pierre. KELOLAND News breaks down the number of new persons tested from the DOH Data reported each day. It is not yet known how many tests can be attributed to the community testing program.
The DOH has a news conference slated for Nov. 18.
There were 2,421 new persons tested on Nov. 11. Heres the breakdown for each days report starting with Nov. 12 and ending on Nov. 17: 2,968, 2,573, 3,162, 2,291, 2,033, and 2,212.
Keep reading
Your Guide To Coronavirus
KELOLAND News is covering the COVID-19 pandemic. This is your guide to everything you need to know to prepare. We also have the latest stories from across the globe feeding into this page.
1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 56.2 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 1.34 million.
South Asia has passed 10 million confirmed cases, according to a Reuters tally. India has the highest number of cases, where officials are concerned that Diwali celebrations could see cases rise again.
New York City has returned to at-home learning for all students, as it closed schools after a jump in COVID-19 infections.
A gauge of global stocks climbed to a record high for the third straight day, as further upbeat vaccine news outweighed concerns about rising cases and the economic impact.
US land borders with Canada and Mexico are expected to remain closed to non-essential travel until at least 21 December.
New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have fallen again in France, with 28,383 reported yesterday, compared to 45,522 on Tuesday. The number of people in intensive care units has fallen in three of the past five days.
The COVID-19 global pandemic continues to disrupt manufacturing and supply chains, with severe consequences for society, businesses, consumers and the global economy.
As the effects of coronavirus unfold, companies are asking what short-term actions they need to take to ensure business continuity and protect their employees. How should they be preparing for the rebound and increasing their manufacturing and supply systems resilience?
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Kearney, brought together senior-level executives from various industry sectors to identify the best response to the COVID-19 crisis. Their recommendations have been published in a new white paper: How to rebound stronger from COVID-19: Resilience in manufacturing and supply systems.
Source: How to rebound stronger from COVID-19: Resilience in manufacturing and supply systems.
Read the full white paper, and more information in our Impact Story.
Companies are invited to join the Forums Platform for Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Production. Through the Platforms work, companies can join with other leaders to help find solutions that support the reconfiguration of global value chains post-COVID-19.
Pfizer said Wednesdaythat the final results from the late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine showed it was 95% effective. The company also said it has the required two-months of safety data and is set to apply for emergency US authorization.
Moderna announced similar preliminary results for its own vaccine's effectiveness on Monday.
Both companies have said they could have emergency approval in the US and Europe by next month, with deliveries underway before the end of the year.
If all goes well, I could imagine that we gain approval in the second half of December and start deliveries before Christmas, but really only if all goes positively, BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters TV. BioNTech partnered with Pfizer in the development of its vaccine.
This view was supported by US Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, who said: We now have two safe and highly effective vaccines that could be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and ready to distribute within weeks.
Organizations, such as airline Air France-KLM, are gearing up for the challenge of vaccine delivery. Its going to be a major logistics challenge, said Air France cargo chief Christophe Boucher, citing the massive volume of vaccines to be distributed globally.
Another difficulty is the temperature control, Boucher said in an interview at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
3. US deaths pass 250,000
Confirmed COVID-19 deaths have passed a quarter of a million people in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The United States is reporting 1,176 daily deaths over a 7-day average - more than the daily average deaths in India and Brazil combined - the two countries next most affected, reports Reuters.
The US has recorded more COVID-19 deaths than any other country.
Image: Our World in Data
States have introduced new restrictions and measures in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, after cases accelerated in recent weeks. In Cleveland, people have been asked to stay home, while in Minnesota, all restaurants, bars, fitness centers and entertainment venues have been closed for four weeks.
As healthcare professionals grapple with soaring numbers of COVID-19 sickened people around the country, they're also combatting another quick-spreading and frustrating contagion: misinformation. Robert F. Bukaty/AP hide caption
As healthcare professionals grapple with soaring numbers of COVID-19 sickened people around the country, they're also combatting another quick-spreading and frustrating contagion: misinformation.
Signs posted at the entrance to the grocery store in northwest Montana told customers to wear a mask. Public health officials in Flathead County urged the same. Infection rates here are among the highest in the state. Infection rates in the state are among the highest in the country.
And still, Craig Mann, walked out of the grocery store, past the signs and toward his truck, maskless and resolute.
The pandemic everyone's talking about?
"It's absolute garbage," he said. "There has been plenty of proof that the coronavirus 'pandemic,' if you will, links back to Communist China. It's communist Marxism that they're trying to push on this country."
As healthcare professionals grapple with soaring numbers of COVID-19 sickened people around the country, they're also combatting another quick-spreading and frustrating contagion: misinformation.
"I don't know, I can't decide if it's a conspiracy theory or not," said shopper Shauna Unger, outside of the same grocery store. "I don't known what's really happening. It doesn't seem like it's as critical as everyone's making it out to be."
A few cars down, Marvin Loftis removed his mask to say that he thinks the virus is a joke. "It's just another cold," he said.
A survey by the Pew Research Center earlier this year found that a quarter of U.S. adults believe that there's at least some truth to a conspiracy theory, which alleges the coronavirus pandemic was intentionally started. Others allege that the outbreak isn't as bad as reported; that a quarter million Americans haven't died. Official narratives and figures are questioned.
"These conspiracy theorists and these groups who are against [masks] have been so vocal on social media that at some point, it starts to resonate with people and starts to have as big of a voice as the medical community - if not more," said Anita Kisse, the public relations manager for St. Luke's, the largest hospital network in Idaho, where coronavirus cases are also surging.
A sign at a coffee shop reminds customers that masks are required by Montana's governor. The mandate, shop owners say, helps limit confrontations. Nathan Rott/NPR hide caption
A sign at a coffee shop reminds customers that masks are required by Montana's governor. The mandate, shop owners say, helps limit confrontations.
The confusion has consequences. In one Idaho town, the city council recently voted to table an ordinance requiring people to wear masks after four hours of heated testimony, despite public health officials warnings. In Flathead County, the public health board has twice voted down proposals to limit indoor gatherings at 500 people.
Randy Zuckerman, chair of surgery at Kalispell Regional Hospital, said the vast majority of the people he interacts with in the community and hospital are taking the virus seriously. A small, vocal, minority are not.
"The whole country has fatigue. Everyone is tired of this," Zuckerman said. "The trouble is it's here. It's not going anywhere quickly, so we need to get back to the basics: social distancing, washing your hands, wearing a mask. We need to get back on that train."
'Two different realities'
For healthcare workers dealing with misinformation, it can start to feel like they're living in "two different realities," said Joy Prudek, who works for St. Luke's.
At work, they're seeing community members and colleagues get sick with COVID-19. They're seeing people die.
"And then they walk outside and they go to the store and have people look at them with disbelief and anger for wearing a mask," Prudek said.
The disconnect is frustrating, she said, and disheartening.
To try and address conspiracy theories and doubts in the community about the virus's threat, St. Luke's is using every tool at its disposal. Employees are speaking at public hearings. They're pushing out new numbers and information as soon as they get them. On social media, they've posted accounts from frontline workers about what it's like to deal with COVID-19 patients.
Healthcare workers in other parts of the country are taking a similar tack.
In South Dakota, which recently led the nation for most deaths and new cases per capita, emergency room nurse Jodi Doering went viral after posting on Twitter that she has dealt with dying patients who still believe COVID-19 isn't real.
In Nebraska, more than 1,700 healthcare workers signed a letter posted to health network Nebraska Medicine's website, asking people to limit their travel and wear a mask.
"Your frontline health care workers are exhausted. We are scared that the hospitals won't have the space and people to meet the ever-growing demand," the letter said. "We call on Nebraskans to rise up once again to do everything we can for our state's health and safety."
Back in northwest Montana, public relations workers at Kalispell Regional Hospital are distributing flyers to local businesses, buying print and radio advertising and holding Facebook Live sessions with frontline workers as part of a broader "Stop the Surge" campaign.
The hope, said Mellody Sharpton, the hospital's executive director of communications, is that by repeating the same message on multiple platforms, it will rise above all of the misinformation swirling below.
Kalispell Regional Hospital is recruiting frontline workers like Dr. Randy Zuckerman to tell personal stories of dealing with COVID-19 for their "Stop the Surge" campaign. Kalispell Regional Hospital hide caption
Clear, consistent messaging
Public health experts say the need for clear, consistent messaging from frontline workers to national leaders has never been greater.
Ruth Parker, a professor at the Emory University School of Medicine, who studies health literacy, said that part of what's fed into the "chaos of content," the nation is experiencing is the politicization of maskwearing and the virus' origins by President Donald Trump, among others, and the fact that public health officials didn't adequately express the uncertainty of COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic.
"We missed an opportunity to to really take advantage of trying to work with people to understand what happens when something is new and you don't know much about it," she said. "You have to learn as you go."
The effectiveness of masks is a good example. Scientists now know that wearing a mask protects the wearer, not just others. That point was only emphasized by the Centers for Disease Control last week.
For those in the general public who are already skeptical of the government narrative, Parker said, shifting messages without clear explanation only breeds more uncertainty into a moment already loaded with it.
"It's such a scary time and I think the climate is so ripe for being frustrated, being confused and probably not knowing what to do or how to navigate it," she said.
It makes sense that people are downplaying or denying the virus' existence, Parker said. It's a coping mechanism.
By Meagan CantwellNov. 17, 2020 , 4:00 PM
Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Two COVID-19 vaccines have scored success in big clinical trials recently, but dozens more vaccines are in development around the world. One promising contender has emerged from a biotech company that has never brought a vaccine to market. Nita Patel, a senior director in the vaccine development department at Novavax, often works 18-hour days in the lab, and says, People ask me if Im tired, I dont feel tired. Watch to learn how she has supported the development of a potential vaccine in just 10 months.
Chris Chen, chief executive officer at China's WuXi Biologics, expects approval for a Covid-19 antibody treatment either "late this year or early next year, " he told CNBC.
WuXi Biologics, which sells outsourced laboratory and manufacturing services to biotech companies, has signed several deals with clients to research antibodies for delivering coronavirus treatments.
"We are working on 10 neutralizing antibodies and also on one Covid-19 vaccine. Some major progress is going on with these treatments," he told Emily Tan, speaking to CNBC as part of the annual East Tech West conference.
Typically, it takes about 5 to 8 years to come up with vaccines or antibody treatments. Now, this year because of Covid-19, everything has come together in about 12 to 18 months.
Chris Chen
CEO, WuXi Biologics
In a reference to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent Emergency Use Authorization of Eli Lilly's antibody treatment, Chen said there's a strong chance that one of the antibody treatments WuXi is developing will receive such emergency approval "later this year or early next year."
An FDA Emergency Use Authorization permits use of an otherwise unapproved medical treatment or vaccine during a state of emergency, such as a pandemic.
As Covid-19 vaccines become more readily available, Chen said it will be a "great challenge for the industry to come together and to deliver that many doses," due to supply chain issues.
"Some of the vaccines have a storage issue and have to be stored in a minus-70 freezer, which is typically not seen in a hospital setting," he said. Some vaccines face raw-material shortages due to the pandemic, he added.
Others in the industry have voiced similar concerns about the problems to overcome before mass production and distribution can begin.
The new Covid-19 vaccine from U.S.-based Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech was found in a final data analysis to be 95% effective in preventing Covid-19, but it requires a storage temperature of minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (-34 C).
The vaccine from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna, announced this week and similarly effective, remains stable at 36 to 46 degrees F (2 to 8 C) the temperature of a standard home or medical refrigerator for up to 30 days. It can be stored for up to six months at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 C).
Despite the difficulties, Chen said recent developments have shown that "we can respond to the threat quickly."
"Typically, it takes about 5 to 8 years to come up with vaccines or antibody treatments," he said. "Now, this year because of Covid-19, everything has come together in about 12 to 18 months."
WuXi Biologics, which has operations in the United States, Europe and Singapore in addition to China, will continue to invest in global biotech companies, he said.
China has made huge strides in the health care sector, but there is "still a lot of catch-up work to be done," Chen said.
The United States "has invested a lot into research, and Europe is doing the same thing. China is still lagging behind if you look at the investment in the research infrastructure," he said. "Whether China can compete globally and effectively, that remains to be seen."
In California, a child confronts the new reality of school in the time of COVID-19.
By Gretchen Vogel, Jennifer Couzin-FrankelNov. 18, 2020 , 5:00 PM
Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Schools around the world are again the site of a large, and largely uncontrolled, experiment.
When schools from New Zealand to Norway to Japan reopened in April and May as the first wave of COVID-19 cases subsided, the virus stayed mostly at bay. Health and education officials cheered, having bet that the huge benefits of in-person schooling outweighed the risk of viral spread among children and teachersand from schools to wider communities.
As a result, many places that had moved cautiously at first threw open classroom doors in August and September. Schools in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Netherlands shifted from cycling in small groups of students to full-size classes. Cities like Montreal that had kept schools shuttered welcomed students back inside. In Manaus, Brazil, a city with a COVID-19 death toll among the worlds highest, more than 100,000 students returned to classrooms. Teenagers thronged hallways in Georgia, Iowa, and Texas. But the backdrop is very different now: In many areas, COVID-19 has surged to even higher levels than early in the year.
In July,Scienceexamined themostly encouraging lessonsfrom the first reopenings, among schools in areas with minimal COVID-19 percolating. Now, scrutiny of school openings in countries where the virus is resurgent paints a more complex picture of the risks and how they might be managed.
The virus has exposed disparities between and within countries, and among the most unsettling are in schools. In many countries, such as India, Mexico, and Indonesia, most schools remain shut. In the United States, students enrolled in urban public schools from Los Angeles to Chicago, which in normal times may struggle to provide enough soap and toilet paper, continue to learn from home, whereas wealthy private schools have installed tents for outdoor learning and hired more teachers to shrink already-small classes. The inequities from school to school are inexcusable and heart-wrenching, says Tom Kelly, head of the Horace Mann School, a private school in New York City that drew on many resources to open.
Early evidence, often gathered by researchers with children in school or a teacher spouse, suggests schools can stay open even in the face of significant community spread, given strong safety measures and political will. Many countries are closing restaurants, bars, and gyms, and begging residents to steer clear of social gatherings in bids to contain spread and keep schools open. Sometimes, that hasnt been enough: The Czech Republic, Russia, and Austria closed schools in the face of skyrocketing case numbers in October and early November.
I think schools should close last, says Michael Wagner, a microbial ecologist at the University of Vienna who is part of a consortium studying the prevalence of the virus in Austrias schools. But he cautions that its wishful thinking to suggest open schools cant fuel spread of the virus. Closing them can be one of the powerful measures we have, but also one of the most costly to children.
In Austria, schools hung on until 17 November. Butother countries, such as South Koreaand Australia, closed many schools at the first sign of rising cases as authorities worked to quash even modest community transmission. The conversation is fairly polarized right now as to whether schools should be open or should be closed, says Nisha Thampi, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at the University of Ottawa. People interpret the data one way or another to justify one end or another.
A gnawing anxiety for teachers and parents is the silent spread of virus through hallways and classrooms. Most schools have layers of protection such as mask requirements or physical distancing to impede an outbreak if a student or staff member brings COVID-19 into the building. But with virus cases surging in many communities, those guardrails are facing a stress test. Youre on pins and needles all the time, says Bradford Gioia, head of Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, an 800-person boys school that runs from seventh to 12th grade.
So far, scientists say, school outbreaks appear less common than initially feared, but data are sparse. At Duke University, Danny Benjamin and Kanecia Zimmerman, both pediatricians and epidemiologists, are collaborating with more than 50 school districts as well as local health departments to study COVID-19 in schools. The effort includes gathering data on clusters and single cases from a subset of six school districts50,000 students and staffin the first 9 weeks of in-person school. Community spread in North Carolina has been high, and the team has recorded 197 COVID-19 cases acquired outside of school and just eight confirmed to be secondary transmission, or spread from one person to another inside a school. These numbers are almost certainly missing instances of asymptomatic infections. But Benjamin thinks the data support the approach North Carolina schools are using, with small classes and masks for everyone. He estimates that for every 10,000 people in school, there will be between one and five cases of secondary transmission about every 2 months.
Students crowd the hallway of a school in Glasgow, Scotland.
Understanding why outbreaks happen can help schools shore up their protections. In Benjamins data, one outbreak traced to a group of teachers who carpooled unmasked to lunch. Inconsistent masking in a pre-K class in Tennessee was linked to a small outbreak there. Kelly, the Horace Mann head, was alarmed when three teachers tested positive in quick succession. He shut the middle and upper school for 2 weeks. But contact tracing suggested the cases were unrelated, and no one else tested positive during the closure.
Multiple cases among students rightly trigger worries about in-school spread. But young peoples lives are intertwined, and the virus has plenty of chances to infect young people outside of school. Kids have dance class, soccer class, a school bus, says Gail Carter-Hamilton, a nurse at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health who provides support to local schools.
Sequencing the virus could help show whether multiple cases in a school are related. But its almost never done, says Trevor Bedford, an expert in viral genome sequencing at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Its really frustrating, he says.
Many experts lament that although health officials often tout low school case numbers, record keeping is inconsistent, as is transparency, particularly on outbreak investigations. Show us the data, says Amy Greer, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Guelph. She acknowledges that protecting individual privacy is a mustbut deidentified data can still be studied and shared. We have to be able to understand what the data we have tell us about school transmission, she says.
Montgomery Bell Academy offers testing on-site, and on many days, a few students are at home after testing positive, with a larger number quarantined because of close contact with someone infected. Most cases have been traced to outside activities, although three boys in a six-person study hall contracted the virus. Transparency about viral reach in a school can be difficult, but more and more Gioia comes down on the side of openness. Most people appreciate honesty, he says.
Sports. Dating. Birthday parties. Orchestra practice. When schools open, students other activities may be more likely to resume. And that has researchers worried.
Families look to schools to communicate whats OK, says Jennifer Lerner, who studies the psychology of judgment and decision-making at Harvard University. Even when schools are doing all they can to mitigate COVID-19 spread inside their buildings, the mere act of opening can send an unintended message that mixing together is benignand provide more opportunities to do so.
In considering how people assess risk, Lerner points to a seminal paper published in 1987 in Science, in which psychologist Paul Slovic at the University of Oregon wrote that the more uncertain and uncontrollable something seems, the riskier people deem it. Activities associated with school feel familiar and controllable and so may seem less risky, Greer says. She found in a national survey that 40% of families have their children in at least one after-school activity, and some have kids participating in extracurriculars 5 days a week.
To many people, its especially hard to imagine school without sports. But the potential for the virus to spread there looms. In the United States, numerous outbreaks in August were traced to football practices. Early this month, the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union hosted a state volleyball championship that brought together 20,000 fans and high school players in an indoor arena, as cases in the host city, Cedar Rapids, hit record highs and hospitals filled to capacity. In Ontario, Canada, outbreaks have been linked to youth hockey; whether COVID-19 spread during play itself or gatherings with family and friends afterward is not known. Schools are going to have a really tough time with sports, Benjamin says. Its hard to make them safe.
High school athletes celebrated at a volleyball championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where cases are surging.
Parties, too, have been an issue around the world. In Cape Town, South Africa, a gathering of high schoolers at a bar sparked an outbreak that ultimately infected more than 80 people. At Lerners daughters school, all families signed a pledge that, among other points, stressed compliance with state restrictions on social gatherings. When several girls held a party, they were required to quarantine at home for 2 weeks.
For health officials, a tricky balancing act may be in order. The message to school communities, Lerner says, should be, Theres such an enormous benefit to having schools open. To sustain that, We have to make sure that we are reducing risk in all other possible places.
As temperatures drop in the Northern Hemisphere, many schools arent radiating the comforting warmth they used to. The coronavirus pandemic has created a new routine: Open windows, no matter the weather.
In Germany, students wear coats and winter hats in class. In the United Kingdom, theyre permitted to don extra clothes over uniforms. Its part of an effort to disperse any exhaled viral particles before someone can breathe them in.
The air flow patterns you have inside make a lot of difference to your potential exposure, says Paul Linden, who studies fluid mechanics at the University of Cambridge and in September published a paper on how ventilation can help prevent viral spread. But with variability in weather, ventilation systems, and window size and placement, guidance is elusive. Its very hard to be prescriptive, he says.
Rather than dive into calculations for every indoor space, scientists like Linden are embracing a simple alternative: high-quality carbon dioxide (CO2) monitors, which cost as little as $100. Because CO2 is exhaled as people breathe, it can serve as a proxy for how much exhaled air, and possible virus, has accumulated. Outdoors, the CO2concentration is about 400 parts per million (ppm). What weve been recommending for schools is that CO2be below 700 ppm, even if everyone is wearing a mask, says Jose-Luis Jimenez, an aerosol scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who models transmission risk. In a church in Washington state where a March outbreak among choir members originated, Jimenezs modeling suggests the CO2levels were about 2500 ppm.
In Bonn, Germany, children open windows to enhance the flow of outdoor airand hopefully minimize any virus-laden aerosols in the classroom.
Preliminary evidence from CO2monitors in schools suggests theres still work to be done. Linden found CO2 levels in classrooms before the pandemic were about twice as high in winter as in summer. In Madrid, Javier Ballester, a fluid dynamics expert at the University of Zaragoza, found that, when windows are closed, a standard classroom with 15 students passes 1000 ppm in just 15 to 20 minutes.
Part of the challenge is practical. If children are freezing cold, thats not going to help their learning experience, says Henry Burridge, a fluid mechanics specialist at Imperial College London. But Ballesters calculations suggest opening multiple windows by 15 centimeters each is likely sufficient. Germany is trying a different compromise: Classrooms can leave windows closed for 20 minutes and then open them wide for 5 minutes. (Berlin schools had to install tens of thousands of new handles on windows that had been locked shut.)
Some schools are adding professional-grade air filters to try to remove virus, and scientists are developing other creative solutions. Frank Helleis, a physicist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, hasdeveloped a system of fume hoodsover students and teachers desks. He and his colleagues are testing the setups at a school in Mainz, Germany, where his wife is a teacher. Cone-shaped hoods hang from the ceiling, connected to tubes that lead to a window, where a fan blows air outside. Warm air around a person rises, carrying exhaled aerosols to the hood, which collects and removes about 90% of aerosols before they can circulate, Helleis says. It happens fastwithin 10 seconds. Built from supplies available at home-improvement stores, the design isfreely available.
Ballester, whose wife is also a teacher, has tried attaching a standard air filter to a fan. Initial tests show its almost as effective as professional-grade machines. Most schools cant spend $500 per classroom, Ballester says, but if its $50 or $60, they might. Fans with filters that clean indoor air work very well, Jimenez says, and are already used in regions with forest fires or air pollution. Such solutions may be especially valuable for classrooms with few or no windowsa common setup in U.S. schools that has fueled worries about reopening.
Since May, teenagers at the Gymnasium Carolinum, a school in Neustrelitz, Germany, have swabbed their own throats twice a week. Along with students, staff, and family members at six other schools and one day care, the teens send the samples to Centogene, a biotechnology company. The companys website trumpets, School in spite of coronavirus, but safe! It has run nearly 40,000 tests so far, which Volkmar Weckesser, Centogenes chief information officer, says have identified multiple cases and no outbreaks. We cant say what would have happened if we hadnt been there, he acknowledges, but isolating the cases removed their chance to spark more infections.
Coronavirus testing in schools is scattershot, reflecting key uncertainties including how much children spread the virus and the variable accuracy of different tests. Some programs use tests for surveillance, such as New York City,which has conducted monthly tests on 10% to 20% of staff and studentsat many public schools. Wagner,of the University of Vienna, and his colleagues are testing students and teachers in Austrian schools, and this fall found that roughly one in 250 people were infected without symptoms.
Blanket testing has its uses. But it takes up potentially scarce resources and can give a false picture, Duke's Benjamin warns. Even the most accurate tests can miss early stage infections. Your public health interventions should assume that everybodys infected, he says.
A student receives a coronavirus test on the outskirts of So Paulo.
Several studies are turning to tests to probe a big unknown: whether people with no symptoms spread SARS-CoV-2 at school. At the Charit University Hospital in Berlin, a team is working with 48 schools and day cares to regularly test staff, students, and their family members for both virus and antibodies. In Nashville, a team from Vanderbilt University descends every 2 weeks on a school, where children as young as age 4 spit into a cup and hand over their sample. Does it even matter if a small percentage have detectable virus in saliva but theyre not symptomatic and theyre masked? wonders Ritu Banerjee, one of three pediatric infectious disease specialists running the study, along with Sophie Katz and Kathryn Edwards. So far, she and her colleagues have collected four batches of more than 180 samples each and run tests on three of them. One positive case turned up in each batch, and none seemed to have infected anyone at school.
In Montreal, health surveillance expert David Buckeridge and pediatric infectious disease specialist Caroline Quach-Thanh at McGill University are planning an experiment in two schools. They want to know whether its safe to shave a 14-day quarantine for close contacts to 7 days with a test before returning to school. The Montreal and Nashville researchers have something in common: Their own children attend the schools that welcomed the researchers in. That connection, Buckeridge says, was vital to making the work possible.
Early school reopenings spurred optimism about safety. But many experts caution that that experience has limited relevance to high-transmission regions today. The areas that reopened schools in the spring had very, very little circulating virus in the community, says Matthew Oughton, an infectious disease doctor at McGill. But Denmark, for example, has had more than five times as many cases per week as in spring and France more than 10 times. Officials are facing difficult decisions about whether and when schools should close.
Scientific uncertainties arent helping. Initial studies suggested children under age 10 were less likely than older ones and adults to catch and transmit SARS-CoV-2. But newer data have muddied the picture. In September, a study of families of U.K. health care workers found no difference in susceptibility by age. Antibody surveys in Brazil and southern Germany reported similar results. In a day care in Poland, five toddlers, none with symptoms, apparently infected nine family members. I think asymptomatic infections have allowed children to fly under the radar, says Zo Hyde, an epidemiologist at the University of Western Australia, Perth.
Yet some countries are finding they can suppress the virus while schools stay open. In mid-October, Ireland shut down most of public life, restricting people to within 5 kilometers of their home, but in-person instruction continued. Around the same time, the Netherlands closed restaurants, bars, and museums but also kept schools open. In both countries, new cases have fallen significantly.
Without clarity on in-school transmission, schools are hunting for signposts on when to throw in the towel and shift to remote learning. Officials in Iowa wont consider local school closures until a countys test positivity rate exceeds 15%, whereas New York City announced today it was shutting schools at 3%. Other areas analyze virus levels in neighborhoods from which a school draws. Berlin authorities focus on whats happening inside a school, assessing weekly the numbers of new cases and people in quarantine.
Hyde and David Rubin, head of the PolicyLab at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, both think schools should probably shut if there are so many cases that contact tracing in the community is no longer feasible. In the Philadelphia area, contact tracing is falling apart, Rubin says. In mid-November, with transmission rates escalating, he recommended area schools consider closing, especially for older children, until January 2021.
Although numbers can offer a guide, many say decisions around opening and closing schools are as much moral and political as they are scientific. I dont think the right question is, at what point do we close schools, says Greer, of the University of Guelph. Instead, its what do we need to do to keep schools open?
Like Ireland and the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Germany have kept students in classrooms while shutting other parts of public life. But U.S. cities including Boston and San Francisco have held off on or reversed public school openings, without major clampdowns on businesses. A lot of school districts are not getting the support they need, including funding for safety measures, says Meagan Fitzpatrick, an infectious disease modeler at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Ultimately, she says, researchers can only offer so much. Until the pandemic subsides, likely with the help of a vaccine, officials, parents, and teachers face questions that lie outside science: What do you mean by safe? And what levels of risk are you willing to accept for opening your school?
With reporting by Linda Nordling and Emiliano Rodrguez Mega.
One of Wednesday's COVID-19 deaths included a Dallas woman in her 30s who had been critically ill in an area hospital after giving birth.
DALLAS Dallas County health officials reported 17 new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total to 1,162 since the first death in March.
One of the deaths was a post-partum Dallas woman in her 30s. She had been critically ill in an area hospital after giving birth. She had underlying high-risk health conditions.
The other deaths include a Dallas man in his 40s, a Mesquite woman in her 50s, two Dallas women in their 50s, a Garland man in his 50s, three Dallas men in their 60s, a Farmers Branch man in his 60s, a Dallas man in his 70s, a Dallas woman in her 70s, a Lancaster woman in her 70s, a Richardson woman in her 80s and a Dallas man in his 80s. All had underlying high-risk health conditions.
Wednesday's deaths also included a Dallas man in his 60s and a Dallas woman in her 60s who did not have underlying high-risk health conditions.
Dallas County health officials reported 786 confirmed COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the second straight day with less than 1000 new cases.
Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted that the lower numbers the past two days are related to an issue with the state's electronic laboratory reporting system.
Tarrant County reports record-high 2,112 new COVID-19 cases
Tarrant County health officials reported 2,112 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, a new county daily record.
This is the first time a county in North Texas has reported more than 2,000 cases in a single day without a backlog.
Tarrant County has now had 85,759 COVID-19 cases reported since tracking began in March.
County health officials also reported there are 794 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday, breaking the record set on Tuesday with 778.
Here are how many new COVID-19 cases have been added in Tarrant County each day the past week:
Denton County sets record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations Wednesday
Denton County health officials reported there are currently 122 hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday, a new county record. The previous record happened on Monday with 121 hospitalizations.
Denton County has now had more than 100 hospitalizations for nine straight days, breaking the previous record of five days that happened from July 14 to July 18.
Crowley ISD suspends in-person learning due to staff shortages
Crowley Independent School District announced it will hold remote learning for all of its students until Nov. 30.
The district said it's experiencing staffing shortages due to an increase in cases and close contacts being sent into quarantine.
In efforts to protect its students, staff, and community, virtual learning for all students starting will begin on Nov. 19 and continuing through Nov. 24.
Thanksgiving break is Nov. 25-27 and then in-person students will be allowed to return to school Nov. 30, according to the district.
For a daily roundup of the latest news from around North Texas and beyond,sign up for the WFAA email newsletter.
Mayor Price's husband tests positive for coronavirus
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price's husband has tested positive for COVID-19. The mayor tweeted the news Wednesday morning.
According to her Twitter account, Price has been tested and is awaiting the results. At this time, she is in quarantine and will continue to work from home for the rest of this week.
Price also had to quarantine at the end of last monthafter coming in close contact with another person who had coronavirus. Her test results came back negative for that incident.
BA, American Airlines plan voluntary COVID-19 testing plan
British Airways says it will start testing passengers flying from the U.S. to Londons Heathrow Airport for COVID-19 in an effort to persuade the British government it should scrap rules requiring most international travelers to quarantine for 14 days.
The airline said Tuesday the pilot program will offer voluntary testing starting Nov. 25 in partnership with American Airlines for passengers flying to Heathrow from New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
Passengers will be tested 72 hours before departure, on arrival at Heathrow, and again three days after arrival.
British Airways says its goal is to show that a single test 72 hours before takeoff is enough to ensure travelers arent carrying COVID-19, allowing authorities to end the quarantine requirement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Instead, I will have an indoors dinner with my husband and kids. If the weather is nice, I may host my parents outside at a good distance (9 feet+) for a socially distanced outdoor dessert or drink but only with separate utensils, plates, cups, and so on. Im willing to miss one year of celebration to keep my relatives safe and to avoid worsening the number of cases in the community," she said in an e-mail.
Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Womens Hospital, said in an e-mail, Most years we visit my family in New York, or my wifes family in Cleveland. But this year, its just my wife, my son, and my dog Louie and cat Otto at home. Zoom meetings with extended family in New York and Cleveland, and my daughter in Arizona.
In a New England Journal of Medicine Journal Watch blog post Wednesday, however, he suggested it was unrealistic to expect everyone to strictly limit their get-togethers so he offered 10 tips for safer gatherings. He also sounded a reassuring note, saying, Remember, its likely going to be weird like this for just one year.
Dr. Howard Koh, a former top official at the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration who is now a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in an e-mail, We are celebrating with a very small gathering of some of our immediate family. Tentatively it will be 3-6 people total. We have much to be thankful for and look forward to a bigger celebration next year! In a media briefing last week, Koh, who also once served as Massachusetts public health commissioner, had warned, This cannot be Thanksgiving as usual.
Joseph Allen, a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the schools Healthy Buildings Program, tweeted Tuesday that we are not doing indoor Thanksgiving dinner this year. He said the air doesnt circulate enough in the average home to disperse the coronavirus and noted that if someone did come to visit, he would open the windows, run portable air cleaners, have everyone wear masks, stay distant from each other, and keep it brief.
Maia Majumder, a computational epidemiologist at Boston Childrens Hospital, told Buzzfeed News she and her husband would be spending Thanksgiving only with her parents and mother-in-law, even though cousins and siblings live just minutes away. We often have more than 50 people over for Thanksgiving but because risk is additive, every additional person makes the get-together less safe for everybody else. Thats why weve cut our number down to just five total this year ... Well miss the rest of our family, but everyone understands the circumstances and is willing to make the sacrifice now so that we can all eventually be together again, she said.
Melissa Hawkins, a professor of public health at American University in Washington, said in a post on The Conversation that her family had canceled their usual plans to travel to Florida for a larger celebration. Instead, she and her husband, their four kids, and her mother, aunt, and uncle will celebrate at her house. They will take a number of precautions, including limiting contact with other people before the event, getting tested before and after, and having a shorter, socially-distanced outdoor meal or an indoor meal with windows open and a number of other precautions. We will still share love, some laughs and a good meal while everyone does their part to protect one another, she said.
Last month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, said he was keeping his celebration minimal. He said in a talk hosted by the Kennedy Political Union at American University that he and his wife have three adult daughters in different parts of the country whom they would love to see, but They have said themselves, Dad, you know, youre a young vigorous guy, but youre 79 years old. We would love to be with you, but you know what we want you to do? We want you and Mommy to have a nice, quiet dinner, maybe have a neighbor next door that always comes over the house that you know thats negative, and well send our love via Zoom.
Martin Finucane can be reached at martin.finucane@globe.com.
The diminutive diva's $1 million donation to Covid-19 research was partly used to fund Moderna's promising Covid-19 vaccine -- something she didn't even know until her name appeared among other sponsors in a preliminary report on the vaccine.
In media appearances on Tuesday, Parton was beaming with pride and excitement at the news.
"Praise the lord!" she told "Today" hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. "I'm just very grateful that this is happening, and if I had anything to do with it, that's great."
"I just felt so proud to have been part of that little seed money that will hopefully grow into something great and help to heal this world," she said. "I'm a very proud girl today to know I had anything at all to do with something that's going to help us through this crazy pandemic."
