Category: Corona Virus

Los Angeles annual parade honoring Martin Luther King Jr. has been canceled for the second year in a row because of COVID-19 concerns, but numerous other events are planned across the city on Monday to celebrate the legacy of the late civil rights leader.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, is observed each year on the third Monday of January and is designated as a national day of public service. This years festivities include free pop-up coronavirus testing and vaccination sites, clothing drives, virtual handwritten letter events and more.

As celebrations take place throughout the area, L.A. county and city government offices, courts and libraries will be closed. Los Angeles Unified School District students have the day off. Post offices will also be closed, and mail will not be delivered. Some banks may be closed for in-person services.

Here are some Los Angeles-area events scheduled for Monday:

In-car COVID-19 rapid-testing: The Congress of Racial Equality Kingdom Day Parade Committee will sponsor a free in-car COVID-19 rapid-testing event. Five hundred rapid tests will be on tap, and vehicles can begin lining up on West 43rd Street off Degnan Boulevard from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Hope Clinic: The First African Methodist Episcopal Church, in partnership with Fulgent Genetics, will host a COVID-19 vaccination and testing event at 2270 S. Harvard Blvd. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Seventh annual MLK Day Clothing Collection & Community Breakfast: The nonprofit Big Sunday is hosting its annual clothing collection drive and community breakfast from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 6111 Melrose Ave. Only new clothes business, casual and athletic wear will be accepted. There will also be arts and crafts for sale to benefit local nonprofits and live music from the Blue Breeze Band.

Caravan for social justice: To honor MLKs legacy, the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice will hold a caravan to fight against systemic racism and voter suppression. Organizers encourage participants to decorate their vehicles and join in beginning at 10 a.m. at Western Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. There are no fees to participate, and the caravan begins at 11 a.m.

MLK Day of Service: Those interested in completing virtual service projects can participate in two events organized by Leadership Long Beach: writing handwritten letters to seniors in local care facilities or putting together a community care package with hygiene items and everyday household products to help a family in need. To sign up, visit leadershiplb.org/mlk/ .

Unity Skate & Walk Event: LAUSD second-grader Isabella Blue, Unite L.A. Foundation and other organizations will host Unity Skate and Walk with giveaways, music, birthday cake and COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. at Metro Rosa Parks Station, 11611 Willowbrook Ave.

King Day reading and discussion: A reading and online discussion of Kings 1967 speech A Christmas Sermon on Peace is part of the California African American Museums virtual program. Members of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles will sing spiritual and original music. To RSVP, visit: http://www.caamuseum.org/programs/kids-teens-and-families/king-day-2022.

37th annual MLK Celebration: In Santa Monica, MLK Westside Coalition shifted its in-person festivities to a virtual gathering featuring music by Linda Alvarez Trio, spoken word by Get Lit Words Ignite, and a keynote speech by Los Angeles Times columnist LZ Granderson. The livestream begins at 9 a.m. on http://www.mlkjrwestside.org.

MLK The Legacy: Beginning at 7 p.m., the city of Carson will livestream its virtual MLK tribute. To watch, visit http://www.ci.carson.ca.us/.

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COVID tests, other public service events on MLK Day in L.A. - Los Angeles Times

Coronavirus loses 90% of its ability to infect us within 20 minutes of becoming airborne with most of the loss occurring within the first five minutes, the worlds first simulations of how the virus survives in exhaled air suggest.

The findings re-emphasise the importance of short-range Covid transmission, with physical distancing and mask-wearing likely to be the most effective means of preventing infection. Ventilation, though still worthwhile, is likely to have a lesser impact.

People have been focused on poorly ventilated spaces and thinking about airborne transmission over metres or across a room. Im not saying that doesnt happen, but I think still the greatest risk of exposure is when youre close to someone, said Prof Jonathan Reid, director of the University of Bristols Aerosol Research Centre and the studys lead author.

When you move further away, not only is the aerosol diluted down, theres also less infectious virus because the virus has lost infectivity [as a result of time].

Until now, our assumptions about how long the virus survives in tiny airborne droplets have been based on studies that involved spraying virus into sealed vessels called Goldberg drums, which rotate to keep the droplets airborne. Using this method, US researchers found that infectious virus could still be detected after three hours. Yet such experiments do not accurately replicate what happens when we cough or breathe.

Instead, researchers from the University of Bristol developed apparatus that allowed them to generate any number of tiny, virus-containing particles and gently levitate them between two electric rings for anywhere between five seconds to 20 minutes, while tightly controlling the temperature, humidity and UV light intensity of their surroundings. This is the first time anyone has been able to actually simulate what happens to the aerosol during the exhalation process, Reid said.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggested that as the viral particles leave the relatively moist and carbon dioxide-rich conditions of the lungs, they rapidly lose water and dry out, while the transition to lower levels of carbon dioxide is associated with a rapid increase in pH. Both of these factors disrupt the viruss ability to infect human cells, but the speed at which the particles dry out varies according to the relative humidity of the surrounding air.

When this was lower than 50% similar to the relatively dry air found in many offices the virus had lost around half of its infectivity within five seconds, after which the decline was slower and more steady, with a further 19% loss over the next five minutes. At 90% humidity roughly equivalent to a steam or shower room the decline in infectivity was more gradual, with 52% of particles remaining infectious after five minutes, dropping to about 10% after 20 minutes, after which these was no difference between the two conditions.

However, the temperature of the air made no difference to viral infectivity, contradicting the widely held belief that viral transmission is lower at high temperatures.

It means that if Im meeting friends for lunch in a pub today, the primary [risk] is likely to be me transmitting it to my friends, or my friends transmitting it to me, rather than it being transmitted from someone on the other side of the room, said Reid. This highlights the importance of wearing a mask in situations where people cannot physically distance, he added.

The findings support what epidemiologists have been observing on the ground, said Dr Julian Tang, a clinical virologist at the University of Leicester, adding that masks are very effective as well as social distancing. Improved ventilation will also help particularly if this is close to the source.

Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor of virology at the University of Leeds, emphasised the importance of ventilation, saying: Aerosols will fill up indoor spaces rapidly in the absence of proper ventilation, so assuming the infected individual remains within the room, the levels of virus will be replenished.

The same effects were seen across all three Sars-CoV-2 variants the team has tested so far, including Alpha. They hope to start experiments with the Omicron variant in the coming weeks.

This article was amended on 11 and 12 January 2022. In an earlier version, we said Covid loses 90% of ability to infect within five minutes. It is actually within the first 20 minutes with most of the loss occurring within the first 5 minutes. The article and headline have been corrected for clarity.

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Covid loses 90% of ability to infect within 20 minutes in air study - The Guardian

WASHINGTON, D.C. More Americans will be able to obtain their free at-home COVID-19 tests starting later this week.

An announcement from the White House says a website designed to help distribute those tests will be launched on Wednesday.

People can use the site to order up to four tests per household.

A phone line will also be created for people who don't have computer access.

Officials estimate the tests will take seven to 12 days to be delivered.

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Federal at-home COVID-19 tests will be available this week - KRIS Corpus Christi News

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) Each day we learn more about the COVID-19 virus and its impact on those who have it, but one thing we do know about the virus is that the impact it has on each person can be very different.

7 News anchor Katie Morse spoke with two women more than a year after they battled the virus to hear their experience and what symptoms they're still dealing with today.

Almost one year after her release from Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, Talia Kalisiak says she's feeling much better, but still has lingering impacts of the virus.

"Pretty much my whole memory from November 11th until I woke up, there's just nothing," Kalisiak said. "Most of the lasting symptoms now are still like muscle weakness, and I'm trying to gain that back."

Talia lost feeling in her legs and arms as she battled the virus.

She spent time in a rehab facility and has been doing physical therapy ever since.

"Now I'm feeling pretty good," Kalisiak said. "I'm able to drive myself around in the car which is a big improvement."

It was spring of 2021 -when Bernadette Singer-Kreitzbender shared her COVID-19 story with 7 News.The mom from Lakeview told us then that the virus altered her senses of smell and taste to the point where foods she used to love, disgusted her.

"Imagine a rat that's been dead for three weeks," Singer-Kreitzbender said. "Everything smells like that. Everything tastes like that."

Seven months later Bernadette says 90 percent of her senses are back.

She practiced smell training, where you actively smell different scents each day to help recover your sense of smell.

But she says some foods like yogurt, sour cream, and cream cheese still don't taste like they used to.

The range of symptoms is something that makes this virus unique and so unpredictable.

Talia says as we move into 2022, she wants people to remember what the disease can do.

"Know for sure that COVID-19 is not the flu," Kalisiak said. "I see people say COVID-19 is the flu, and if you haven't gotten the vaccine, if you haven't gotten the booster, go get it. Don't get the chance of having to deal with what I did."

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One year later: What symptoms do some COVID-19 patients still have? - WKBW-TV

Provisional name given to any recently discovered coronavirus of medical significance

Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused by human coronaviruses in ~15% of cases), cross-species transmission has produced some unusually virulent strains which can cause viral pneumonia and in serious cases even acute respiratory distress syndrome and death.[1][2][3]

The following viruses could initially be referred to as "novel coronavirus", before being formally named:

All four viruses are part of the Betacoronavirus genus within the coronavirus family.

The word "novel" indicates a "new pathogen of a previously known type" (i.e. known family) of virus. Use of the word conforms to best practices for naming new infectious diseases published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015. Historically, pathogens have sometimes been named after locations, individuals, or specific species.[12] However, this practice is now explicitly discouraged by the WHO.[13]

The official permanent names for viruses and for diseases are determined by the ICTV and the WHO's ICD, respectively.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei a 2020 study from Alabama University found a more than ten-fold increase in use of expressions such as "Chinese virus" or "Wu flu virus" on Twitter compared to before the outbreak. The researchers voiced concerns whether such terminology could hinder public health efforts or be stigmatizing. No such effects were observed in the wake of the MERS outbreaks being referred to as "Camel flu virus" or "Middle East virus".[14]

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Novel coronavirus - Wikipedia

We're tracking the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and the global response. Sign up here for our daily newsletter on what you need to know.

The number of new people getting the Covid-19 vaccine is at one of the lowest points since the rollout began, according to a review of the latest U.S. government data, even as average daily infections approach 800,000.

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Virus Outbreak: Covid (Coronavirus) News and Analysis From Jan. 15 - Bloomberg

SAFE LEISURE TIME What is currently possible, and what is not

Do you have questions about events or want to know which leisure facilities are open in SalzburgerLand? Here, we give you an overview.

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Corona Virus SalzburgerLand.com

AMSTERDAM, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters packed Amsterdam's streets on Sunday in opposition to the government-imposed COVID-19 measures and vaccination campaign as virus infections hit a new record.

Authorities were granted stop and search powers at several locations across the city and scores of riot police vans patrolled neighbourhoods where the demonstrators marched with banners and yellow umbrellas.

Regular anti-coronavirus protests are held across the country and Sunday's large gathering was joined by farmers who drove to the capital and parked tractors along the central Museum Square.

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The crowd played music, chanted anti-government slogans and then marched along thoroughfares, blocking traffic.

The Netherlands had one of Europe's toughest lockdowns for a month through the end-of-year holidays.

Amid growing public opposition, Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday announced the reopening of stores, hairdressers and gyms, partially lifting a lockdown despite record numbers of new COVIC-19 cases. read more

Infections reached another record high above 36,000 on Sunday, data published by the Netherlands Institute for Health (RIVM) showed. The Netherlands has recorded more than 3.5 million infections and 21,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Rutte's government ordered the lockdown in mid-December as a wave of the Delta variant forced the health system to cancel all but the most urgent care and it appeared rising Omicron cases would overwhelm it. read more

Non-essential stores, hairdressers, beauty salons and other service providers were allowed to reopen on Saturday under strict conditions.

Bars, restaurants and cultural venues have been instructed to remain closed until at least Jan. 25 due to uncertainty about how the Omicron wave will impact hospital capacity.

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Reporting by Piroschka van de Wouw, Writing by Anthony Deutsch, Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Protest in Netherlands against coronavirus measures - Reuters

The complications

Saliva also has trade-offs. While the virus appears to build up in saliva early, the nose may be a better place to detect it later in the course of infection.

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology found that while the virus often spiked first in saliva, it ultimately rose to higher levels in the nose. Their results suggest that highly sensitive tests, like P.C.R. tests, may be able to pick up infections in saliva days earlier than they do in nasal swabs, but that less-sensitive tests, like antigen tests, might not.

The data on saliva are still mixed, some experts noted.

There are these few studies that I have found really very interesting, said Dr. Mary K. Hayden, an infectious disease doctor and clinical microbiologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

But Dr. Hayden said she was interpreting the new studies cautiously because for years and years and years, research has suggested that nasopharyngeal specimens are best for detecting respiratory viruses.

Some scientists also have practical concerns. The mouth is a little more of an uncontrolled environment compared to the nasal passages, said Joseph DeRisi, a biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco, who is a president of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub and an author of the cheek swab paper. Did you drink a Coke right before you took the test? The pH will be different. And those things matter.

Saliva can be viscous and difficult to work with, especially when patients are sick and dehydrated, Dr. Marie-Louise Landry, director of the clinical virology laboratory at Yale New Haven Hospital, said in an email.

Ultimately, different approaches may be required in different circumstances. For people who have had symptoms for several days, nasal swabs might be a good choice, while saliva might be best suited for the large-scale surveillance screening of asymptomatic people, Dr. Hansen suggested. We need to get the right test into the right places, he said.

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For Coronavirus Testing, the Nose May Not Always Be Best - The New York Times

Fourteenmore Mainers have died and another 1,359coronavirus cases reported across the state, Maine health officials said Saturday.

Saturdays report brings the total number of coronavirus cases in Maine to 160,857,according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats up from 159,498 on Friday.

Of those, 117,814have been confirmed positive, while 40,043were classified as probable cases, the Maine CDC reported.

Eight men and six women have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 1,658.

One was from Androscoggin County, one from Cumberland County, one from Franklin County, two from Kennebec County, two from Penobscot County, one from Sagadahoc County, one from Somerset County, one from Waldo County, one from Washington County and three from York County.

Of those, nine were 80 or older, three were in their 60s and two in their 50s.

The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 14,121. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. Thats up from 12,762 on Friday.

The new case rate statewide Saturday was 10.15 cases per 10,000 residents, and the total case rate statewide was 1,201.86.

Maines seven-day average for new coronavirus cases is 1,070.1, up from 1,049.3 the day before, up from 775.3 a week ago and down from 1,071.4 a month ago.

The most cases have been detected in Mainers younger than 20, while Mainers over 80 years old make up the majority of deaths. More cases have been recorded in women and more deaths in men.

So far, 3,698 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Of those, 418 are currently hospitalized, with 108 in critical care and 57 on a ventilator. Overall, 54 out of 384 critical care beds and 214 out of 321 ventilators are available.

The total statewide hospitalization rate on Saturday was 27.63 patients per 10,000 residents.

Cases have been reported in Androscoggin (16,636), Aroostook (7,840), Cumberland (31,865), Franklin (4,140), Hancock (4,805), Kennebec (15,656), Knox (3,679), Lincoln (3,335), Oxford (8,212), Penobscot (18,734), Piscataquis (2,121), Sagadahoc (3,272), Somerset (6,919), Waldo (4,074), Washington (2,945) and York (26,714) counties. Information about where an additional 10 cases were reported wasnt immediately available.

An additional 3,457 vaccine doses were administered in the previous 24 hours. As of Saturday, 969,927 Mainers are fully vaccinated, or about 75.7 percent of eligible Mainers, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Saturday afternoon, the coronavirus had sickened 65,195,602 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 849,748 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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14 more Mainers have died and another 1,359 coronavirus cases reported across the state - Bangor Daily News