WINK NEWS
We spoke to a Southwest Florida comedian Thursday who has the coronavirus. From the stage to a hospital bed, he wants community members to take precautions for COVID-19.
When the bars and restaurants opened up, I was going out every night, John Loeber told WINK News. I wasnt wearing a mask. I just didnt take it seriously at all.
Loeber is now being cared for at Gulf Coast Medical Center in south Fort Myers, undergoing test after test. Doctors told him hes going to be there for a while.
From his hospital bed in the medical center, he told us he originally believed COVID-19 was blown out of proportion. Because, with all these numbers and cases, he didnt know a single person who tested positive.
But, now, that person is him, and hes fighting or his life.
Loeber, a stand-up comedian, loves to make people burst out laughing when hes performing. But his message to all is more sobering as he deals with COVID-19 personally.
Its a serious condition, Loeber said. And, if you think that youre not gonna get it, well, I hope you dont, but I also thought I wouldnt get it.
Loeber is dealing with the coronavirus and has also been diagnosed with pneumonia. Every three hours, he has a CT scan of his lungs and has blood work done.
No one can come to visit you, Loeber said. You just sit here, and luckily you have social media to connect, but like no one can stop by, say hello. They just cant.
And Loeber says he thought social distancing was lonely. He also thought it was a joke.
I have not taken this seriously at all since the beginning, Loeber said. I thought the quarantine was overkill.
Last Thursday, hours before a comedy show, Loeber became suddenly dizzy and sweating, so he canceled the show.
I was all excited because I havent done a show in three months, Loeber said. So I was all ready to try out these new jokes about the quarantine, how much weight I gained during it, how difficult it was to online date.
Now, its difficult for him to think about all of the precautions he never took.
I see the numbers on the news every night, Loeber said. And I was like those are just numbers. How bad could this really be when the bars and restaurants opened up. I was going out every night. I wasnt wearing a mask. I just didnt take it seriously at all.
Unfortunately, I couldve exposed other people to it and I have to live with that, Loeber said.
Loeber said hes now waiting on a blood transfusion to get antibodies. But he never had a fever or a cough. He originally thought what he has was vertigo, but it turned out to be the coronavirus.
A true comedian, Loeber wants to see people smile, see people healthy and never see them go through pain like his.
I woke up today, and I was like, Oh, Im going home today. Theyre like, No, youre not going home for a while, Loeber said. My lungs are getting worse and worse, so I wont be going anywhere soon.
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Anchorage resident Tonia Baklanova, 32, was experiencing mild symptoms associated with COVID-19 a sore throat and fatigue so she decided to get a test at the drive-thru testing site on Lake Otis Parkway earlier this week.
Anchorage opened the site to more people on Tuesday, including travelers with testing vouchers and those without a doctors referral. But the site had long wait times for some seeking a test, including Baklanova.
Baklanova said she pulled into the line of the testing facility at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Then, she waited for nearly five hours.
She said she thought about leaving, but she decided to get tested because she didnt want to spread the illness to others.
It was just really frustrating sitting there and waiting in the car, Baklanova said.
The site was initially set to close down in mid-June but has been able to stay open, funded by the Municipality of Anchorage and staffed by Fairweather LLC through a contract with Providence Health & Services Alaska, which owns the physical location, according to Providence spokesman Mikal Canfield.
The municipality sent out an alert Thursday clarifying guidelines for online pre-registration and testing at the site. The city later removed a line in the alert about testing at the facility for someone who is not experiencing symptoms.
The site may be used by people who have COVID-19 symptoms, travelers and people who need a test before going back to work, according to Canfield.
Compared to when Providence was running the site, it is running slower, said Audrey Gray, public information officer for the Anchorage Emergency Operations Center. But part of that is just because of the change of how to access, how to pre-register, who was actually being tested.
Shortly after noon Thursday, a long line stretching at least 40 cars deep wound around the block.
Another source of confusion is the website app.kelvin.care where someone can register for a test ahead of time, in a form that appears to be designed for interstate travelers. Since the state of Alaska provides the testing supplies, they requested the use of that app because it makes it easier for them to get people their test results, Gray said.
But, Gray said, if someone is experiencing symptoms and hasnt traveled recently, or if they need to be tested so they can go back to work, they can still fill out that pre-registration form before going to the drive-thru testing facility. The city recommended pre-registering to reduce wait times.
I know its really confusing, but its all we have for right now until they can update the app, Gray said.
There was one worker registering people at the site Tuesday, Baklanova said, describing her experience there. She said she thought many of the people who lined up hadnt registered beforehand. It took 10 minutes to register one person, according to Baklanovas estimate.
The test itself was fast, Baklanova said. She leaned out of her window, got swabbed and then was on her way home. She registered in advance and was waiting on her results Thursday afternoon, she said.
Baklanova said she read on the state health departments website that anyone experiencing symptoms should get a test as soon as possible.
So I went there literally within an hour of reading that information, she said.
She said she was there from 2 to 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, and there were several drivers behind her who had to leave without getting tested.
Gray confirmed that on Tuesday and Wednesday, the line stretched around three blocks long and people were turned away at the site. Gray said they could still come back for a test another day.
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by: Natasha Anderson and Nexstar Media Wire
(WJW) A new study suggests that your blood type may be tied to your risk of contracting COVID-19 and the severity of your symptoms.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, compared 1,900 people undergoing treatment for severe COVID-19 and respiratory failure at seven medical centers in Italy and Spain to 1,200 healthy blood donors from the same population groups.
Researchers combed through genetic codes looking for similarities. One similarity they found among the ill patients was a DNA cluster which determines blood types. This prompted further research into which specific blood types were present in the majority of severe coronavirus cases in the sample population.
Results indicated that people with Type A blood had a 45% higher risk of infection than those with other blood types.
Similarly, researchers identified a protective effectin people with Type O blood, saying they were only two-thirds as likely to become infected.
People with O blood types appear to be less likely to be infected by and suffer severe illness from #COVID19. We're now learning more about the nature of the relationship between blood type and Covid. Bottom line: all are vulnerable, more is being learned. https://t.co/GMBNeVDm5R pic.twitter.com/LMPvcAu2sn
The results hinge from a DNA cluster observed at a specific chromosome that scientists believe is relevant to COVID-19 infection.
However, researchers state that this study cannot accurately name a causative gene based on its presented evidence. Scientists cite time constraints and confounding variables that were not controlled for, such as underlying cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, as reasons for potential inaccuracies.
Meanwhile, Roy Silverstein, a hematologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin, told MarketWatch that the aforementioned DNA cluster can be found in other parts of the body. He says blood types may not totally predict an individuals risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Those who are not Type A should not interpret this study to mean that they can let their guard down, Silverstein reportedly said. Similarly, the data are not yet convincing enough to recommend that those with Type A need to do even more than what is recommended.
Scientists say further research must still be conducted into these findings. They remind citizens that while this study shows correlation between blood types and severity of illness, it does not necessarily indicate causation.
Everyone needs to pay attention to COVID-19 prevention by following well-accepted guidelines related to social distancing, face covering, hand-washing, and self-isolation and testing in the setting of possible COVID-related symptoms, Silverstein added.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists are only starting to grasp the vast array of health problems caused by the novel coronavirus, some of which may have lingering effects on patients and health systems for years to come, according to doctors and infectious disease experts.
FILE PHOTO: A health worker takes care of a patient infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), inside an Intensive Care Unit of the University of Chile's clinical hospital in Santiago, Chile, June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo
Besides the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, the virus that causes COVID-19 attacks many organ systems, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.
We thought this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didnt appreciate that in the beginning, said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.
In addition to respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 can experience blood clotting disorders that can lead to strokes, and extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems. The virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion.
And recovery can be slow, incomplete and costly, with a huge impact on quality of life.
The broad and diverse manifestations of COVID-19 are somewhat unique, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.
With influenza, people with underlying heart conditions are also at higher risk of complications, Khan said. What is surprising about this virus is the extent of the complications occurring outside the lungs.
Kahn believes there will be a huge healthcare expenditure and burden for individuals who have survived COVID-19.
Patients who were in the intensive care unit or on a ventilator for weeks will need to spend extensive time in rehab to regain mobility and strength.
It can take up to seven days for every one day that youre hospitalized to recover that type of strength, Kahn said. Its harder the older you are, and you may never get back to the same level of function.
While much of the focus has been on the minority of patients who experience severe disease, doctors increasingly are looking to the needs of patients who were not sick enough to require hospitalization, but are still suffering months after first becoming infected.
Studies are just getting underway to understand the long-term effects of infection, Jay Butler, deputy director of infectious diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a telephone briefing on Thursday.
We hear anecdotal reports of people who have persistent fatigue, shortness of breath, Butler said. How long that will last is hard to say.
While coronavirus symptoms typically resolve in two or three weeks, an estimated 1 in 10 experience prolonged symptoms, Dr. Helen Salisbury of the University of Oxford wrote in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.
Salisbury said many of her patients have normal chest X-rays and no sign of inflammation, but they are still not back to normal.
If you previously ran 5k three times a week and now feel breathless after a single flight of stairs, or if you cough incessantly and are too exhausted to return to work, then the fear that you may never regain your previous health is very real, she wrote.
Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine, reviewed current scientific literature and found about half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had neurological complications, such as dizziness, decreased alertness, difficulty concentrating, disorders of smell and taste, seizures, strokes, weakness and muscle pain.
Koralnik, whose findings were published in the Annals of Neurology, has started an outpatient clinic for COVID-19 patients to study whether these neurological problems are temporary or permanent.
Kahn sees parallels with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Much of the early focus was on deaths.
In recent years, weve been very focused on the cardiovascular complications of HIV survivorship, Kahn said.
Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; additional reporting by Caroline Humer and Nancy Lapid in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot
It has been seven weeks since Floridas governor, Ron DeSantis, took a coronavirus victory lap, pressing ahead with a swift reopening program while berating the media for a doom and gloom approach he said bore little relation to reality.
We havent seen an explosion of new cases, DeSantis insisted during a 29 April news conference, a day on which the states Covid-19 tally increased by 347.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, DeSantis, a keen Trump ally, added.
This week, however, it became clear that the Republican governors garden of roses is wilting fast in the face of a resurgent virus.
A period that began with Floridas daily record of new cases below 1,700 saw eight consecutive days above that figure, five of them topping 2,000 and both Thursday and Friday seeing the highest numbers of all: 3,207 and 3,822 cases, respectively, eclipsing the previous recorded high by more than 35%.
The staggering figures have caused experts at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania to conclude that Florida has all the markings of the next large epicenter of coronavirus transmission. Such a consequence could be significant in a politically sensitive swing state that analysts agree Donald Trump must win in November to secure a second term as president.
Governor DeSantis has lost control of Floridas Covid-19 response, said Nikki Fried, the agricultural commissioner and only Democrat elected to statewide office, who has previously complained at being shut out of DeSantiss recovery taskforce.
His policies are simply not working and hes recklessly reopening Florida despite the data screaming for caution. Refusing to acknowledge the alarming patterns in cases, hospitalizations and positivity is not only arrogant but will cost lives, public health and our economy, Fried added.
The rise in Floridas figures, with close to 90,000 cases and deaths surpassing 3,000, comes as the majority of its 67 counties reach the end of the second week of DeSantiss safe, smart, step-by-step reopening plan.
Beaches, bars and restaurants, movie theaters and entertainment venues are mostly open again, with tighter restrictions in the hardest-hit counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Universal Orlando resort welcomed back guests on 5 June and Disney World will reopen its theme parks next month.
DeSantis, meanwhile, contends that Florida is on the right track, arguing that the rising figures can be attributed to increased testing, particularly among younger residents, and concentrated pockets of outbreaks among agricultural workers, prison inmates and even a 52% positivity rate among airport workers an unsubstantiated claim debunked by the Orlando Sentinel.
He refuses to consider calls to slow or reverse the pace of Floridas reopening. Were not shutting down. Were going to go forward. Were not rolling back. You have to have society function, DeSantis said on Tuesday.
His comments came the same day Vice-President Mike Pence wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that concerns over a second wave of coronavirus were overblown by the press, and that the White House was winning the fight against the invisible enemy.
DeSantiss critics say that although testing has increased in Florida, the number of cases has risen at a significantly higher rate. They point to other indicators, such as declining availability of intensive care and other hospital beds around the state, and a rising positivity rate in Covid-19 tests that has climbed back above 10% for the first time since April.
Public health analysts see merit in both arguments, but warn of darker days ahead if social distancing is not maintained. Already in Jacksonville some newly reopened bars have closed again after a Covid-19 outbreak.
The bulk of this is almost certainly due to testing [but] there is definitely evidence of wider community spread, typically among younger folks, said Dr Charles Lockwood, senior vice-president of USF Health in Tampa and dean of the universitys Morsani college of medicine.
There are enough signals, a drop in test negativity, a slight increase in influenza-like illnesses, bad behavior in terms of social distancing, that Im concerned.
Around the state there are rumblings that renewed closures could become necessary. Jerry Demings, the mayor of Orange county, said he would consider a lockdown if numbers continued to rise, a view echoed by Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami.
Municipalities are also tightening up restrictions because of the surge. Beginning Friday, businesses in St Petersburg must ensure employees wear masks, now a requirement for visitors to the Florida Keys under a law enacted this week.
Carol Dover, president and chief executive of the Florida restaurant and lodging association, said she remained guarded about the immediate future of the states $67bn tourism industry, even though numbers since the reopening are still going in the right direction.
Our members are doing everything they can to survive at 50% [occupancy], hoping the governor will be able to get us to 75 or 100%, she said. Im hopeful and somewhat guarded because were not completely open yet but I feel the governor has done an amazing job.
Months of lockdown and isolation across Europe have given way to impromptu parties and illicit raves, sparking fears of a surge in Covid-19 cases and prompting warnings that the progress made across the continent in fighting the pandemic could be wiped away.
In Portugal, the government said on Thursday it would tighten restrictions on several areas of Greater Lisbon from 1 July to allow residents to leave their homes only for food, medicine or to work, and to limit gatherings to five people. The measure came after reports of parties that attracted as many as 1,000 revellers.
The country of 10 million was initially hailed as one of Europes success stories, with the governments swift response credited with limiting the death toll to 1,549. But in recent weeks the number of cases has soared, resulting in a rate that ranks among the continents highest when it comes to new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Along with localised outbreaks in a handful of neighbourhoods and industrial hubs, social gatherings have proven fertile ground for the virus, with 76 cases tied to a birthday party in the Algarve attended by 100 people earlier this month and another 20 cases linked to a party held days later at a campsite in the countrys south-west.
After some 1,000 revellers descended on a beach party near Lisbon last weekend, officials began clamping down on residents in and around the capital, banning drinking in public spaces and barring restaurants from serving alcohol after 8pm. After doing everything right, were not going to ruin it now, the prime minister of Portugal, Antnio Costa, told reporters on Monday.
On Thursday the World Health Organization warned that some 30 European countries had reported a surge in new cases in the past two weeks.
Last week, Europe saw an increase in weekly cases for the first time in months, Hans Kluge, the regional director for Europe, told reporters on Thursday. He did not identify any of the countries, but added that the situation was particularly acute in 11 countries.
As countries crack down on illicit parties, the task has been largely left to police. This week saw police sporadically clash with the thousands who thronged to Pariss Canal Saint-Martin and Marais district for the annual Fte de la Musique, while in Berlin more than 100 officers broke up a demonstration that turned into a spontaneous, 3,000-person party earlier this month. In Berlin, police have also warned of a rise in illicit raves in the citys parks.
Analysis carried out this week by the Guardian suggested the total number of cases had climbed by 37% in the past week in Germany, where authorities are struggling to control an outbreak at an abattoir, while France saw a 12% rise in cases over last week.
Warmer weather and the relaxing of restrictions also fuelled gatherings in England, where police are grappling with a proliferation of parties, hastily organised on social media and held in motorway underpasses, parks and industrial estates. Earlier this month, two illegal raves in Greater Manchester attracted some 6,000 people.
In hard-hit Spain, which on Wednesday reported its highest number of cases in three weeks, health officials have long warned about the risks of social gatherings.
An outbreak brought on by a small, innocent party just one outbreak could be the start of a new, nationwide epidemic, Fernando Simn, the health official heading the countrys response to the virus, said in late May after a cluster of cases in the countrys north-east was linked to an illicit birthday party in which four of the 20 or so attendees tested positive.
Days later another illegal party made headlines around the world and saw Spain slap a 10,400 (9,400) fine on Belgiums Prince Joachim after the royal breached the countrys quarantine rules to attend a party in southern Spain. He later tested positive for the virus.
Spanish officials are now bracing themselves for the months ahead, as the countrys deeply ingrained culture of traditional fiestas faces off with the countrys new rules on physical distancing. The scope of the challenge was laid bare this week after hundreds of people few of them wearing masks spontaneously gathered in the Menorcan city of Ciutadella to mark the day of Sant Joan despite the official celebrations being called off.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, today announced that its oral COVID-19 vaccine has been selected to participate in a non-human primate (NHP) challenge study, organized and funded by Operation Warp Speed, a new national program aiming to provide substantial quantities of safe, effective vaccine for Americans by January 2021.
The study is designed to demonstrate the efficacy of Vaxarts oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
We are very pleased to be one of the few companies selected by Operation Warp Speed, and that ours is the only oral vaccine being evaluated. SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is primarily transmitted by viral particles that enter through the mucosa - nose, mouth or eyes - strongly suggesting that mucosal immunity could serve as the first line of defense, said Andrei Floroiu, Chief Executive Officer of Vaxart Inc. In addition, our vaccine is a room temperature-stable tablet, an enormous logistical advantage in large vaccination campaigns.
About VaxartVaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing oral tablet vaccines designed to generate mucosal and systemic immune responses that protect against a wide range of infectious diseases and has the potential to provide sterilizing immunity for diseases such as COVID-19. Vaxart believes that a room temperature stable tablet vaccine is easier to distribute, store and administer than injectable vaccines and may provide significantly faster response to a pandemic than injectable vaccines, enabling a greater portion of the population to be protected. Vaxarts development programs include oral tablet vaccines that are designed to protect against coronavirus, norovirus, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV). For more information, please visit www.vaxart.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding Vaxarts strategy, prospects, plans and objectives, results from pre-clinical and clinical trials, commercialization agreements and licenses, beliefs and expectations of management are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may be accompanied by such words as should, believe, could, potential, will, expected, plan and other words and terms of similar meaning. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Vaxarts ability to develop and commercialize its product candidates and clinical results and trial data (including timing for and plans with respect to the COVID-19 vaccine product candidates and Operation Warp Speed and the NHP challenge study); potential partnership opportunities; Vaxarts expectations regarding the effectiveness and convenience of any COVID-19 vaccine; and Vaxarts expectations with respect to the important advantages it believes its oral vaccine platform can offer over injectable alternatives. Vaxart may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that Vaxart makes, including uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical endpoints, commencement and/or completion dates for clinical trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and results from the clinical studies; decisions by regulatory authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, and safety that could affect the availability or commercial potential of any product candidate, including the possibility that Vaxarts product candidates may not be approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities; that, even if approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities, Vaxarts product candidates may not achieve broad market acceptance; that a Vaxart collaborator may not attain development and commercial milestones; that Vaxart may experience manufacturing issues and delays due to events within, or outside of, Vaxarts control, including the recent outbreak of COVID-19; that Vaxart may not be able to obtain, maintain and enforce necessary patent and other intellectual property protection; that Vaxarts capital resources may be inadequate; Vaxarts ability to obtain sufficient capital to fund its operations on terms acceptable to Vaxart, if at all; the impact of government healthcare proposals and policies; competitive factors; and other risks described in the Risk Factors sections of Vaxarts Quarterly and Annual Reports filed with the SEC. Vaxart does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Californias early, aggressive response to the coronavirus pandemic had earned praise from the top US health officials, and even Donald Trump. But after avoiding the scenarios faced by New York and New Jersey, the state has seen infections and hospitalizations swell in recent weeks.
As malls, museums, bars and other public spaces reopened, Governor Gavin Newsom has urged citizens to wear masks and keep their distance from one another to slow the spread of disease. I cannot impress upon people more the importance at this critical juncture, he said, to take seriously this moment.
Heres what we know about the situation.
Big. Overall, the state has reported more than 195,500 cases since the pandemic first struck, with 5,700 deaths. California marked a record 7,149 people who tested positive on Tuesday, a figure that dropped on Wednesday to 5,349.
Part of the surge were seeing is due to increased testing, said Dr Lee Riley, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. California has tested roughly 3.7 million people since the beginning of the pandemic, and more than 101,000 tests were processed on Wednesday.
But the fact that the number of hospitalizations are also increasing means that theres more going on, Riley said. As of Thursday, the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 is 32% higher than it was two weeks ago, Newsom reported. The number of patients in intensive care also increased 19% over the past fortnight more than a third of ICU beds available across the state are now occupied by coronavirus patients. Over the past two weeks, about 64 people have died of the virus each day.
I think pretty much every place has rushed to reopen, said Dr Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at UC Los Angeles. And as we reopen, of course were going to see more cases.
The number of cases appear to be increasing throughout the state, but the biggest surges in infections are in Los Angeles county and other parts of southern California.
Los Angeles now has more cases than anywhere else in the country, with more than 89,600 infections reported, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker. Rural communities like Imperial county, at the US-Mexico border, and Stanislaus, in the Central Valley, are also seeing surges in both the total number of cases recorded and the proportion of residents who are testing positive.
Bay Area communities including Santa Clara county, the first in the nation to enact a shelter-in-place order are also seeing surges, though the proportion of positive tests in the region remains far below the state average.
Officials have attributed the surge in some parts of the Bay Area to workplaces, including an outbreak at a waste management company in Marin county. Since mid-May, outbreaks at prisons have been excluded from the states Covid-19 tracking data, but it is worth noting that a devastating outbreak at San Quentin state prison, where an inmate transfer led to more than 500 new cases, and outbreaks at other facilities across the state would add about 850 more new cases logged in the past two weeks to the states totals.
Its not totally clear, though public health experts and officials blame large gatherings where people are not wearing masks and not maintaining a 6ft-radius, even as adherence to these safety measures becomes increasingly political.
Theres a group of people who go around bragging that theyre practicing individual freedom by not wearing masks, Riley said. These people are not practicing freedom theyre practicing pure selfishness.
While reopening society can never be risk free, Riley said that countries that have been most successful at containing the virus have been far more vigilant than California in mandating mask-wearing, hygiene and physical distancing. In South Korea, where fewer than 300 people have died despite reporting more cases in February than any country besides China, a second wave of infections has remained relatively small despite restaurants, schools and even nightclubs reopening, Riley noted. Small clusters of cases are much easier to contain by isolating those who are infected, notifying those who are exposed, he said. What were seeing in California is a lost opportunity to reopen carefully.
An uptick in the number of cases among young people is also a concern, Riley said. While people in their 20s, 30s and 40s are less likely to die from Covid-19, they can get seriously ill, and they can be sources of infection for older people who are most at risk: their grandmas, their grandpas, their buds with diabetes and their friends with high blood pressure. Healthy young people who show few symptoms could pass the virus on to those who are most at risk of suffering complications.
In order to safely reopen, no more than 5% of everyone in a community who gets tested for Covid-19 should receive a positive result, according to the World Health Organization.
Californias threshold for reopening is that no more than 8% of all tests should come back positive. While the positivity rate for the state overall hovers at a tenuous 5.1%, the rate in some southern California counties is nearly 9% or higher.
Governor Newsom said the state might have to revert back to tougher restrictions if the situation gets worse.
Officials and health experts are pleading with Californians to continue to wear masks, wash hands, and stay 6ft apart. Health agencies in some counties are encouraging residents to keep their social circles small limited to bubbles of no more than a dozen friends and gather outdoors.
In Imperial county, which borders Mexico and Arizona, defiance of a statewide mandate to wear face masks and lax social distancing appears to have exacerbated a crisis both within and across state and national borders. Whether people here brought infections to Yuma, Arizona and Mexicali, or whether they brought it back from those places is kind of immaterial at this point, said Dr Thomas Henderson, director of the Imperial County Medical Society. What were seeing here is craziness.
The crisis has overwhelmed local hospitals, he said. Its just a horrible time to be a physician he added, because doctors have found themselves pleading with the community to wear masks and stay safe, but its all become so political.
As Donald Trump and rightwing politicians and media outlets derided masks as unnecessary, Dr Anthony Fauci, the health official leading the US response to coronavirus, told Californians who were skeptical of covering their faces in public to forget the politics. Look at the data. A string of new research released this summer suggests that masks can reduce the risks of spreading the virus, even if theyre far from foolproof.
Its totally understandable to want to get back as quickly as possible to what you perceive as normal in your life, Fauci said at an event hosted by the Sacramento Press Club. But he urged Californians to stay vigilant, nothing that reopening isnt black or white, either no restrictions or locked down.
The U.S. is seeing a "disturbing surge" of COVID-19 infections, particularly in the Southeast and West, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday.
Playing a large part in this surge, health officials say, are increasing cases in younger people, in their 20s, 30s and 40s increases that are driven, in part, by increased testing, but even more so by large gatherings.
Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged that young people have a "pent up urge" to go out into public spaces, but stressed the need to continue physical distancing and wear face coverings to prevent spread of the virus.
"The next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges that we're seeing in Florida, Texas and Arizona," Fauci said.
The coronavirus spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing, talking and singing.
"I've seen bars and restaurants that look like it's New Year's Eve 1999 not a care in the world, nobody wearing masks, standing shoulder to shoulder," said Dr. James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The number of COVID-19 cases has begun to rise as college athletes resume training. Members of the University of Houston football team have tested positive, as have players at the University of Texas at Austin and Clemson University in South Carolina.
McDeavitt said Houston is seeing "very rapid increases" in new patients sick enough to be hospitalized, although the age range of the patients is unclear. However, most of those patients don't need intensive care or mechanical ventilation, McDeavitt said.
That suggests that current patients aren't quite as sick as those who fell ill in March and April. McDeavitt said that while it's true that doctors now have access to treatments like remdesivir and convalescent plasma, "our leading hypothesis is that we are probably seeing a slightly younger patient population."
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In general, older adults and those with chronic health problems have been more likely to develop more serious complications of COVID-19.
During a conference call Monday, Vice President Mike Pence told governors that a growing number of people under age 35 are testing positive for COVID-19, especially in hard-hit states such as Florida and Texas.
According to sources who were on the call, Pence said the White House is working with those states to address the rise in cases.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference last week that certain counties have reported that people under age 30 represent a majority of positive COVID-19 tests. On Monday, he said the spread of the coronavirus is "unacceptable."
It's a similar situation in Florida. During a news conference last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the average age of COVID-19 patients in the state had declined dramatically in recent months from the 60s to 37.
"Those under 40, in particular, who don't have any significant underlying conditions, are much, much less likely to be hospitalized or to suffer fatality," DeSantis said. However, over the weekend, the state Health Department confirmed Florida's first COVID-19 death in a minor, a 17-year-old boy in Pasco County.
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"We are starting to see younger patients coming in, more 30-, 40-year-old patients coming in, late 20s," June Ellis, an associate chief nursing officer at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, told NBC Miami.
Physicians in North Carolina, too, are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 among younger adults, even teenagers.
"As we're reopening, sports teams are getting back together and people are going to camps," said Dr. Katie Passaretti, medical director for infection prevention at Atrium Health in Charlotte. "We're starting to see some evidence of increased patients associated with that."
She echoed McDeavitt's observation that those patients don't seem to be as sick as older adults.
"We're not necessarily seeing an increase in the severity of disease. It's just that we're seeing evidence of more transmission," Passaretti said.
"Some people would like to say, well that's not a big deal because young people don't get as sick," Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said Tuesday on "TODAY." "But young people are then going to spend time with their parents and grandparents."
"Just because it starts with young people, doesn't mean it will stay with young people," Jha said.
Judith Malmgren, an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington's epidemiology department, noted a marked shift to younger COVID-19 cases in Washington in March and April in a study she co-authored. The study was posted to a preprint server and hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Malmgren said she, too, has noticed large numbers of young adults gathering in large crowds. But beyond that, people involved in essential work are more likely to be 20- to 39-year-olds, she said.
"They're also more likely to have interaction with the public, for example, packing your groceries at the grocery store," Malmgren said. "It's just the way that COVID-19 is spread, human to human, face to face."
Experts say there are ways to minimize risk as people try to get back to some level of normal life without pushing the economy back into a lockdown. They include wearing face coverings, remaining vigilant about hand hygiene, staying about 6 feet away from others in public and avoiding others if you become sick.
"Everybody needs to take personal responsibility," McDeavitt said. "If we do those things, that will replicate a lot of what a lockdown does.
"But the challenge I see," McDeavitt added, is that "some people are taking it to heart, and others are acting like they're not in the middle of the worst global pandemic of this century."
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On Olympic Day, 23 June 2020, the International Olympic Committee and WHO together with theUnited Nations launch a partnership to encourage individuals and communities around the world to be #HEALTHYTogether.The three partners and Olympic athletes will spotlight the global collaboration needed to stay healthy and reduce the spread and impact of COVID-19.
Olympic athletes will help deliver important public health information,toinspirepeople to adopt or continue behavioursthat will curtail the pandemic and provide information that promotes physical and mental health. The partnership kicks off today with Olympians around the world showcasing various exercises to stay healthy during this time.
A WHO survey showed that many people who had severe COVID-19 disease were already living with or at risk for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The results emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle including being physically active, having a healthy diet, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol.
We are pleased to partner with the International Olympic Committee to spread important health messages that will save lives. Olympians will help us advocate for healthier populations to ensure that people are as resilient as our health systems must be to fight COVID-19, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO.
Over the past six months, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every corner of the globe and every aspect ofpeopleslives.The world is looking for global institutionsto work together andfor leaders to deliverreliable, credibleinformation from sources they trust. Olympic athletes are symbols of strength that can act as trusted messengers for this information.
IOC President Thomas Bachsaid, Sport can save lives. We have seen over the last few months just how important sport and physical activity are for health and well-being. And working together with the WHO and the United Nations we can take another step together. We will ask our Olympic athletes to help share the information and best practice that the world needs now.
Antnio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, addedDuring this time of unprecedented challenges and change --from the COVID-19 pandemic to the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice, to the climate crisis --there has never been a greater need for global solidarity and hope. The Olympic movementand its athleteshavealways brought out the best in humanity, and the UnitedNationsis pleased to work with the InternationalOlympicCommitteeandtheWorldHealthOrganizationin calling on people everywhereto unite and be #HEALTHYTogether.
The global partnership will act locally, through the voices of Olympic athletes voices that symbolize perseverance, dedication and endurance qualities all individuals need during this public health challenge. WHO will work with athletes to bring tailored health messages to people who are living through various stages of the pandemic through digital platforms.
As COVID-19 forces changes to our daily routines and lives from how we interact with others to how we move and exercise we need to pay attention to our own mental and physical health and help others who may need extra support. By working together, the aim of the partnership on Olympic Day and every day is to stay Healthy Together.
For more information, please visithttps://www.who.int/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat-coronavirus/healthytogether
