Category: Corona Virus

With coronavirus cases surging once again, frustrated Americans arestruggling to get testeddays before Christmas as long lines and increased demand overwhelm some facilities across the country.

The catalyst has been the rapid spread of the Omicron variant,which has become the dominant strain in the USin a matter of weeks and has led to a slew of new measures to combat the spread.

With millions traveling or planning to join large family gatherings, there is a rush to get tested and many people are running out of luck, either with getting tests at clinics or with buying at-home test kits.

Long lines were seen this week in New York City, Boston and Miami, as well as Ohio and Minnesota.

At the same time, CVS Health and Walgreens the two largest pharmaceutical chain stores in the US are limitingthe number of at-home Covid kits customers can buy due to significant demand, they announced.

The demand is only going to grow, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

And while the Biden administration plans to provide 500 million new tests by next month, the holiday test surge is happening now.

A former assistant secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department is concerned the co pledge on tests will not meet the demand, he said.

"Unless we have a billion or 2 billion a month, I think we're still going to have to be selective to make sure that we keep people who can die from the disease from dying from the disease," Adm. Dr. Brett Giroir told CNN.

Read more about Covid-19 testing in the US:

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The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and Omicron variant: Live updates - CNN

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 277.1 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.37 million. More than 8.85 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Australia reintroduced COVID-19 curbs such as mandated mask wearing indoors, capacity limits and QR code check-ins to cover most of the population on Thursday as daily infections hit a fresh record, fuelled by the highly infectious Omicron variant. The changes for 17 million people two days before Christmas mark a reversal of the country's plans for a permanent reopening.

Britain reported more than 100,000 new daily COVID-19 cases for the first time since widespread testing was introduced, with 106,122 on Wednesday compared with 90,629 on Tuesday. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has driven a surge in cases, according to government data. Britain also said it would start vaccinating vulnerable children aged five to 11 against COVID-19.

The Chinese city of Xian has imposed a new lockdown and issued travel restrictions on its 13 million residents. A new COVID-19 outbreak has seen community cases tick higher. The daily count of domestically transmitted COVID-19 infections with confirmed symptoms in Xian has increased for six consecutive days since December 17.

India's capital New Delhi has banned Christmas parties and other celebrations ahead of New Year to contain a possible surge in the Omicron coronavirus variant, as the city reported the country's highest number of cases along with Maharashtra state. India has reported no deaths from the variant so far. Its health minister has said most known cases are asymptomatic.

France has cancelled its order for Merck & Co's COVID-19 antiviral drug following disappointing trial data. It hopes instead to receive Pfizer's competing drug before the end of January, the health minister said on Wednesday.

Nigeria destroyed more than a million doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines on Wednesday in a bid to assure a wary public that they have been taken out of circulation. The destruction came more than a week after health authorities said some COVID-19 doses donated by Western nations had a shelf life that left only weeks to administer the shots.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

"Overall, we find evidence of a reduction in the risk of hospitalization for Omicron relative to Delta infections, averaging over all cases in the study period," the researchers said of the study, which analyzed data from PCR-test confirmed cases in England between December 1 and December 14.

Scientists are racing to answer questions about the virulence and severity of Omicron to help governments respond to the variant, which is spreading at breakneck speed.

The British research follows a South African study on Wednesday which found that people diagnosed with Omicron in South Africa between October 1 and November 30 were 80% less likely to be admitted to hospital than those diagnosed with another variant in the same period.

Imperial College researchers said the risk of any visit to hospital with Omicron was between 20% and 25% lower than with Delta.

The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.

As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.

To help all stakeholders communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications - a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forums annual Global Risks Report.

Companies are invited to join the Forums work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.

The United States has authorized Pfizer Inc's antiviral COVID-19 pill for people aged 12 and older at risk of severe illness, the first oral and at-home treatment as well as a new tool against the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

Pfizer's antiviral regimen, Paxlovid, was nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in patients at high risk of severe illness, according to data from the company's clinical trial. Recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against Omicron, Pfizer said.

Pfizer raised its 2022 production projections to 120 million courses of treatment from 80 million and said it was ready to start immediate delivery in the United States. The treatment's two-drug regimen includes a new medicine and a second older antiviral called ritonavir.

The US government will have 265,000 treatment courses available by January and supply will ramp up in subsequent months, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told a briefing. The government expects to receive the 10 million courses it has ordered within six months.

"Paxlovid's approval is a major milestone that marks another step towards making COVID-19 a much more manageable infection," said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Health Security.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 December - World Economic Forum

As evidence grows that the Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus are causing breakthrough infections in people who were once considered fully vaccinated, momentum seems to be growing to change the definition of that term to include booster shots.

Some workplaces and college campuses are now mandating that vaccination include boosters. The governor of New York said that state officials planned to change the definition of fully vaccinated to include receiving a booster dose, and Britains government wont be far behind. The N.F.L. last week issued a booster shot mandate for team staff members who work closely with players.

And the speculation is growing that we may have to get boosters regularly in future years as new variants emerge.

A few months ago, confirming full vaccination status was as simple as showing a card or QR code with proof that the required number of shots had been completed within six months. But in a world of multiple vaccines with varying effectiveness, and a variety of mixing and matching strategies, it will soon be harder to say who is fully vaccinated.

A consensus will eventually emerge. But here is what some health experts had to say as another year of living with the pandemic was nearing a close.

For now, U.S. health officials say you are fully vaccinated two weeks after your second shot of a two-dose vaccine like Pfizers or Modernas or after a single-dose vaccine like Johnson & Johnsons. They have not (yet) expanded that definition to include a booster shot.

At a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency is continuing to follow the science around Omicron before it decides to expand the definition. However, the agency does recommend that people get booster shots.

So does Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, who said at the same press briefing, If you are unvaccinated, get vaccinated. And particularly in the arena of Omicron, if you are fully vaccinated, get your booster shot.

Other countries, like Britain and South Africa, also do not require booster shots for someone to be considered fully vaccinated.

As it became clear that the immunity conferred by the initial rounds of vaccines was waning, Israel announced in October that it would make a booster dose a requirement for its vaccine passport. It was believed to be the first country to do so, though it wouldnt be the last.

In late November, just before Omicron fast-forwarded booster programs around the world, the European Union began to discuss adding a nine-month expiration date to its digital certificates, a move it formally adopted this week.

Some of the E.U.s member nations, like Austria, had already enacted an expiration date for their residents. In France, where the certificates expire seven months after a second dose, all adults have until Jan. 15 to receive a booster, or their passes will no longer allow them access to places like restaurants and museums.

Early research indicates that the Omicron variant is somewhat less vulnerable to the bodys immune defenses. Booster shots help bolster your antibody response, said Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University in New York.

Dec. 23, 2021, 6:12 p.m. ET

So, yes, you should get that additional jab, said Dr. Jesse L. Goodman, a former chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration.

This booster dose has really protected people better against Delta, he said. Even without Omicron, theres good reason to get the booster dose.

You can still get infected even after a booster, but the shot will probably protect you against severe illness or death, he said.

New treatments. The Food and Drug Administration authorized in short succession the firsttwo pill treatments for Covid-19 from Pfizerand Merck. The new drugs, which can be taken at home with a doctors prescription, will be available to some Covid patients who are at higher risk of becoming severely ill.

It depends on what it is youre trying to prevent, said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center who has previously advised the Biden administration.

A booster is more effective than just the first two shots at preventing hospitalization or death, she said.

Many U.S. public health experts continue to say that the two-dose regimen of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna will protect most people against severe illness or death, as the vaccines are intended to do. A preliminary study in South Africa showed that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were 70 percent effective against hospitalization, part of the early evidence cited by those supporting boosters.

The first two doses have been effective against infection with the Delta variant, but it is not yet clear how well they work against Omicron, said Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and an adviser to the Food and Drug Administration.

If the goal is protection against any form of illness, then two doses of the current mRNA vaccine will not protect you as well against mild illness, he said.

Like so much else since the pandemic started, expect a period of confusion as a patchwork of local, national and international governments evolve at different speeds. Any places that have so far required proof of vaccination offices, schools, airlines, concerts, sporting events, entire countries are likely to soon face questions about how and when to change the rules for admission.

Businesses are already facing uncertainty amid challenges to existing vaccine mandates, and the addition of boosters along with rapidly rising case counts have further confused things.

At BlackRock, an investment management company, the vaccination requirement at its New York offices has not evolved to include booster shots, Brian Beades, a company spokesman, said on Monday. But, as with vaccination policies around the world, he said, people are thinking about new considerations all the time.

Elian Peltier contributed reporting.

Read more from the original source:

What Does It Mean to Be Fully Vaccinated Against Covid-19? - The New York Times

It took Matthew Phillips four hours to get a coronavirus test.

Mr. Phillips, a 34-year-old Seattle resident, spent Wednesday morning refreshing dozens of websites on his laptop until he could find an appointment. And once he did get to a testing site, he spent another hour and a half in line before it was his turn.

He is now hoping he will get a negative result in time for his flight to Houston on Thursday to see his relatives for Christmas.

It does feel like dj vu, Mr. Phillips said. It feels like were just living in this recurring nightmare.

Indeed, a day after President Biden announced a renewed focus on testing as a way to combat the coronavirus, it was clear that the landscape for testing reflected many of the divisions and frustrations practical, political and otherwise of the nations overall response to the nearly two-year-old pandemic.

Across the country, people are preparing for out-of-state travel and indoor gatherings with multiple generations of the same family. Many are spending hours in line just to be turned away because the site ran out of tests. Some people without insurance are avoiding a test because of its hefty out-of-pocket price or fear that a positive result will mean missing work. And others, often in areas where infection runs rampant, are downplaying the viruss seriousness and avoiding testing altogether.

The fact theyre hard to come by suggests that there is a portion of people who really do put a lot of confidence in these tests, said Preeti Malani, a professor and chief health officer at the University of Michigan. But are the people who most need to be tested being tested?

With testing supply and promotion having taken a back seat amid the governments vaccine push, she said, testing remains not anywhere near where it needs to be.

A forthcoming study in South Carolina suggests that some of the same groups that were slow to embrace vaccination are also less likely to get tested. The survey of 15,000 people found that African American and Hispanic residents were less likely to get tested because of issues gaining access to testing, mistrust of the medical system, or fear of missing work and wages if they tested positive.

People who identified as conservatives were less likely to seek testing, too, because of a lack of concern about the virus, she said.

How can we get to them? said Melissa Nolan, a professor of epidemiology at the University of South Carolina and one of the authors of the study. And we cant just assume that they dont believe in testing or dont want to get tested.

In Nashville, the Metro Public Health Department is seeing long lines at its testing sites but health officials say numbers could be higher.

We want to see everybody who is going out and about and interacting with people test on a regular basis, Leslie Waller, the departments epidemiologist, said. We know that is not happening right now.

Ms. Waller noted that missing out on work, finding child care and other disruptions to daily life are making it difficult for people to show up.

Dec. 23, 2021, 8:56 p.m. ET

And if some were frustrated by the testing process, others were grateful.

At a city-run testing site in Nashville, Carol Cowart waited in line with her granddaughter, listening together to Taylor Swift songs, for about one hour.

They are moving really fast, Ms. Cowart said. Everyone seems to know what they are doing.

Ms. Cowart had been exposed after eating lunch with a friend on Saturday. She felt fine but wanted to play it safe. If I turn up positive, Ill have to eat Christmas dinner in my room, she said.

It was, she said, pretty frustrating only because people wont get vaccinated.

I mean, she continued, what is the deal about getting vaccinated?

Brian Orak, 36, a math and computer science high school teacher in New Jersey, said he had no interest in getting a test unless he started showing symptoms.

I wouldnt test because a positive test would have a profoundly negative effect on my ability to teach and go to school, said Mr. Orak, who is vaccinated and takes graduate classes in the evenings. I could miss exams, a presentation and my students would have an inferior learning experience.

Brandon Walker, 32, in Baltimore, said he regretted having to miss work to get tested.

He went to three testing sites on Wednesday to try to find a test. The first one turned him away, and the second was so swamped he could not even find a parking spot. When reached by phone on Wednesday afternoon, he had been waiting for three and a half hours, and still had not been called.

New treatments. The Food and Drug Administration authorized in short succession the firsttwo pill treatments for Covid-19 from Pfizerand Merck. The new drugs, which can be taken at home with a doctors prescription, will be available to some Covid patients who are at higher risk of becoming severely ill.

Ive done a lot of running around the city of Baltimore, trying to find somewhere to get tested at, he said. Ive used all my resources to try to beat the wave, but it doesnt work because everybodys trying to get it today.

Health officials in Livingston County, Mich., say that access to testing has not been a challenge there. Between providing tests directly to families with children in school, and the affordability of at-home tests for the countys mostly higher-income residents, testing has been at our fingertips, said Lindsay Gestro, emergency preparedness coordinator for the county.

But public health officials continue to feel frustrated by low testing numbers, she said. The countys high test positivity rate of 16 percent suggests that cases are being significantly undercounted.

I dont want to say that theyre over it theyre kind of done dealing with Covid, said Ms. Gestro, who noted that the largely conservative county never instituted Covid requirements beyond those imposed by the state. Many residents believe that Omicron is less serious than earlier variants, with some early reports from other countries suggesting that it produces milder cases.

More people have been getting tests in advance of holiday travel and gatherings, Ms. Gestro said, but she said that hesitancy to seek testing continued to contribute to the rapid spread of Covid in the county.

The effectiveness of testing at stopping the spread of the coronavirus has also been constrained, she said, by enduring confusion over quarantine protocols while waiting for test results or about when to get a test after exposure, or before potentially exposing others.

And for those who do decide to get tested, like Ashley Harper from Queens, they are still left facing hourslong wait times.

On Monday afternoon, one site ran out of tests before Ms. Harper and others who were waiting in line could get one. When she came back the next day, at 8 a.m., the line was already around the block.

After waiting for hours outside a mobile testing van on Wednesday, she finally got her test.

Its frustrating that I have to wait three hours to get tested, she said. Its frustrating that there arent more testing sites.

Still, experts stress that one negative result is not where the process ends.

Tests cant see whats in the future, said Gigi Gronvall, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Some people look at it as a get-out-of-jail-free card when in fact its just a moment in time.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Jamie McGee contributed reporting.

Excerpt from:

Americans Hunt for Virus Tests and the Assurance of Safe Holiday Gatherings - The New York Times

Some people that attended the Lamonts' holiday gathering earlier this month tested positive for Covid-19, according to the governor's director of communications, Max Reiss.

Reiss said the event was held at their private residence in Greenwich on Dec. 11.

All guests had to provide proof of full vaccination and present a negative Covid-19 test result before attending, according to Reiss.

A week after the gathering, the Lamonts were notified that a "small number" of guests had tested positive for coronavirus.

Reiss said the governor and first lady test regularly and have tested negative in each instance since the event.

In a statement, Reiss told NBC Connecticut that the governor has had a full slate of public events, including some large gatherings before, during and after their holiday gathering. This includes several events with hundreds of people in attendance, he said.

Lamont continues to urge everyone to get vaccinated and get their booster shots.

Reiss said the governor has more confidence in events he attends where he knows the vast majority of attendees are people who are vaccinated.

The governor recently rolled out the digital health record, or passport, for residents to have additional peace of mind, Reiss said.

A digital vaccine passport app was live Wednesday ahead of its expected official launch next week.

Original post:

Guests at Lamont Family Holiday Gathering Test Positive For Covid-19 - NBC Connecticut

Since Broadway returned following an 18-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, vaccination against Covid-19 has been required for eligible audiences, crews, performers and other staff.

The safety measure, among others such as mask wearing, is aimed at keeping the curtains raised as the US enters yet another Christmas marred by a rise in Covid-19 and shutdowns.

Broadway provides about 97,000 jobs in New York City, adding about $14.7 billion to the city's economy in the 2018-2019 season, according to the Broadway League.

Here's a look at the 12 Broadway shows that canceled performances due to Covid-19 outbreaks within their companies:

'The Lion King'

All matinee and evening performances for the "The Lion King" have been canceled from December 21 through December 26 after breakthrough Covid-19 cases were detected within the company at The Minskoff Theatre.

The production added that wellness and safety is its top priority, and the show will return December 27.

'Aladdin'

"Aladdin the Musical" announced that it canceled all performances from December 21 through December 24 after breakthrough cases of Covid-19 were detected through the production's "continued rigorous testing protocols," the show said in a Tweet.

It's expected to return on December 26.

In October, "Aladdin" on Broadway canceled multiple performances after Covid-19 cases were detected within the theater company, marking the first-known cancellations due to Covid-19 since Broadway theaters began reopening in September.

'Hamilton'

"We apologize for the disappointment and for any inconvenience this may cause," the show said.

Hamilton was one of the first Broadway shows to reopen in September following the pandemic shutdown.

'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'

The performances of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" were canceled from December 21 through December 27.

"We will enchant you another time," the show said. It's expected to return December 28.

'American Utopia'

A performance of David Byrne's "American Utopia" was canceled Wednesday evening due to breakthrough Covid-19 cases within the company, and the show said it's expected to return Thursday at 5 p.m.

'Dear Evan Hansen'

"The health, safety, and wellbeing of our cast, crew, and audience(s) remain our top priority," the production wrote.

It's slated for a December 27 return

'Hadestown'

At the Walter Kerr Theatre, "Hadestown" canceled shows scheduled from December 20 through December due to breakthrough cases of Covid-19.

Performances are expected to resume on December 28.

'Six'

"Six" on Broadway also canceled its shows through December 28 due to breakthrough cases of Covid-19, with a return scheduled on December 29.

'Skeleton Crew'

The Manhattan Theatre Club, which produces "Skeleton Crew," said in a Tweet that some company members tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the delay of the show's preview performances.

The premiere of Dominique Morisseau's play returns December 27, the production said in a tweet. The production's opening night has been moved to January 19.

"The health and safety of our artists, staff, and patrons is our utmost priority and MTC will continue to follow the strictest safety protocols," the production said in a tweet.

'Tina'

Performances were expected to resume December 25, according to a message on Twitter.

"We apologize for the inconvenience this causes ticket holders, but the safety of our audiences, the cast and crew remains our top priority," the production wrote.

'Waitress'

'Come From Away'

The performances of "Come From Away" that were scheduled on December 22 through Christmas Day were also canceled "due to the detection of breakthrough COVID-19 cases within the company." They are planned to resume December 26.

CNN's Sahar Akbarzai, Laura Ly, Kelly McCleary, Alison Kosik and Aparnaa Seshadri.

Read more here:

A dozen Broadway shows have been canceled as cast or crew test positive for Covid-19 - CNN

The Sundance Film Festival on Thursday outlined details about the events vaccine verification and testing hubs, locations that are keys to the events overall protocols designed to guard against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Park City officials earlier described plans for the hubs, but lease agreements between City Hall and Sundance had not been finalized. Each of the locations is on municipal land.

The locations and hours will be:

the building that once housed a Maverick gas station and convenience store at 1635 Bonanza Drive, just off the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard. The hours will run from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. from Jan. 17 until Jan. 30.

Miners Hospital at City Park. The hours will run from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. from Jan. 20 until Jan. 25 and from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. from Jan. 26 until Jan. 30.

the Galleria parking lot on the Swede Alley side of the building, close to the Old Town transit center. The hours will run from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Jan. 17 until Jan. 30.

The locations will provide complimentary testing for festival-goers and the public.

Organizers said wristbands, which will be required to enter official festival venues, will be issued at the hubs. Wristbands will be distributed once someone shows proof of vaccination status.

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Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

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Sundance outlines Park City coronavirus vaccine verification and testing hub locations - The Park Record

ST. PETERSBURG Last week I was exposed to COVID-19.

I had a group of friends over for dinner before everyone left for the holidays. Everyone was fully vaccinated and symptom-free, so we thought we were in the clear.

The next morning, one guest tested positive.

As the highly contagious omicron variant spreads across the state, its a situation that Floridians will face over the holiday season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an exposure as being within 6 feet of an infected individual for more than 15 minutes.

So sitting next to an infected dinner guest for hours, as I did, definitely counts as an exposure.

Here are some steps that you can take to avoid exposure and what you can do if youve been exposed.

The good news, according to public health experts, is that you can still see friends and family this holiday season while minimizing your risk of exposure. Some precautions may be inconvenient, but far less so than the steps youll have to take after you learn youve been exposed.

I took some steps to avoid exposure, but experts I spoke to said I could have done better. Everyone at dinner was fully vaccinated and symptom-free, and we left the windows open to increase airflow indoors. I had recently received my booster shot, which experts say offers the best protection against omicron.

But being indoors was itself a problem, said Dr. Nishant Anand, executive vice president and chief medical officer for BayCare Health System.

If you think of it on a sliding scale, the riskiest thing is to be indoors without a mask, he said. It does help whenever there are windows open and fans blowing to cycle the air out.

He added: Especially with the weather as nice as it is, I think its a much better idea for people to gather outside whenever they can.

Our dinner was Sunday, Dec. 19. One guest, who was from out of town, tested negative for the coronavirus the day before our dinner. But he was the one who ended up positive less than 48 hours later.

Going from negative to fully symptomatic in just two days would have seemed impossible with the previous variants, but its going to be a regular occurrence with omicron, said Cline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at the New York University School of Medicine.

The original variants had an incubation period of something like four to five days, Gounder said. With omicron its two to three days.

That means people have to get tested more frequently in order to catch an infection, she said. With omicron, youre probably looking at testing at least daily, particularly in high-risk settings.

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Experts suggested taking a rapid antigen test every morning if youre planning on being in close contact with people outside your immediate household.

Even with all those precautions, its inevitable that Floridians will be exposed to someone who contracts COVID-19. Heres what experts say you should do next:

The first thing to do, obviously, is contact tracing, said University of South Florida immunologist Michael Teng. People need to know that theyve been exposed so they can get tested and start monitoring for symptoms.

That means you have to contact those you were in close contact with and let them know you were exposed to COVID-19, whether youre experiencing symptoms and when you got tested.

Dont rely on the governments contact tracing. The Tampa Bay Times reported in October on the problems with the states contact tracing program, which spent millions telling infected people to call and warn those they were in contact with.

Teng suggests checking temperature regularly and using a fingertip oximeter to measure blood oxygen saturation. A change in temperature or oxygen saturation can often indicate an infection before youd see the results of an at-home antigen test, Teng said.

Letting others know that theyve been exposed is especially important at this time of year, when more people may be traveling to visit friends and family. Its incredibly easy to spread this variant, the immunologist said, so you need to know if youre at risk of infection.

If youve had an infected individual in your home, Anand said, its essential to wipe down surfaces with an antiviral cleaning agent. And you need to go back to washing your hands frequently, in case youve been slacking on that.

Household products like Lysol, Clorox, and a diluted solution of bleach work well for killing any virus particles left behind, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

We know that most infections come from airborne particles, Teng said. The best way to avoid contact with virus (particles) that you pick up from surfaces is still to wash your hands and avoid touching your face.

Once youre exposed, experts said, the most important thing is to make sure you dont spread the virus to others.

The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated individuals should isolate for 10 days after an exposure, but that time period soon may be reduced. After that period of isolation, if youre symptom-free and test negative, you should be in the clear.

During isolation, assume that youre infected and can spread the virus to others. It takes time for symptoms and tests to emerge as positive, Gounder said. But you still can spread the virus to others before you feel ill or test positive.

If you need to go out and get food or run to the drugstore, thats fine, she said. But keep it to essential activities, not going out to the bar on Friday with my friends.

And when you do go out, its essential to wear a mask to curb the potential that you might spread the virus to others. You need to wear a higher-grade mask, at bare minimum a surgical mask, Gounder said. N95 or KN95 type masks are the gold standard, especially for omicron, because cloth masks just dont cut it, she said.

Dont let the prospect of a positive result keep you from getting tested. Even the best COVID tests have some degree of uncertainty, but not testing means your uncertainty level is 100 percent, said Teng.

Dont be embarrassed to tell others if you do test positive, and remember to be kind to someone who tells you that they might have been exposed. If someone tested positive and told you, Teng said, it means they care about you.

That should be your takeaway, not that they brought COVID into your house, he said. They didnt know they were infected and now they do. By telling you, theyre trying to protect you.

Editors note: Ian Hodgson covers the COVID-19 pandemic for the Times. His last negative antigen test was on Dec. 23 and he is waiting for the results of a PCR test. He remains symptom-free.

The Florida Department of Health has tips for dealing with an exposure at: floridahealthcovid19.gov/exposure/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers tips for staying safe during the holidays: bit.ly/3FsQa24

The Food and Drug Administrations frequently asked COVID-19 questions: bit.ly/3JgX1Os

The COVID-19 vaccine for ages 5 and up and booster shots for eligible recipients are being administered at doctors offices, clinics, pharmacies, grocery stores and public vaccination sites. Many allow appointments to be booked online. Heres how to find a site near you:

Find a site: Visit vaccines.gov to find vaccination sites in your zip code.

More help: Call the National COVID-19 Vaccination Assistance Hotline.

Phone: 800-232-0233. Help is available in English, Spanish and other languages.

TTY: 888-720-7489

Disability Information and Access Line: Call 888-677-1199 or email DIAL@n4a.org.

KIDS AND VACCINES: Got questions about vaccinating your kid? Here are some answers.

BOOSTER SHOTS: Confused about which COVID booster to get? This guide will help.

BOOSTER QUESTIONS: Are there side effects? Why do I need it? Heres the answers to your questions.

PROTECTING SENIORS: Heres how seniors can stay safe from the virus.

COVID AND THE FLU: Get a flu shot and the COVID vaccine to avoid a twindemic.

GET THE DAYSTARTER MORNING UPDATE: Sign up to receive the most up-to-date information.

A TRIBUTE TO FLORIDIANS TAKEN BY THE CORONAVIRUS: They were parents and retirees, police officers and doctors, imperfect but loved deeply.

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I got exposed to COVID. Heres what I learned to do next. - Tampa Bay Times

In 2020, COVID-19 joined what had been a fairly stable list of leading causes of death in the United States, coming in at No. 3 behind heart disease and cancer. The pandemic also contributed heavily to a dip in projected lifespan compared to 2019.

Life expectancy at birth in 2020 was 77 years overall in the United States, down nearly two years from the projection for those born in 2019, according to data released Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Females are expected to live 5.7 years longer than males, at 79.9 years vs. 74.2 years. Both those numbers dropped compared to 2019 predictions.

The age-adjusted death rate for the whole population rose from 715.2 per 100,000 in 2019 to 835.4 in 2020. Increases in the age-adjusted death rate for ethnic and racial groups varied from just over 12% for non-Hispanic white females to a nearly 48% jump for Hispanic males.

Overall, age-adjusted death rates rose the most for Hispanics, followed by non-Hispanic Blacks, whose rates were double those of non-Hispanic whites. An age-adjusted death rate weights age-specific rates for each group by the proportion of each group in the population. The new report notes that the age-specific death rate increased in each age group 15 and older between 2019 and 2020.

Unintentional injuries, stroke, chronic respiratory disease, Alzheimers, diabetes, influenza/pneumonia and kidney disease rounded out the top 10 list of leading causes of death in the U.S. in 2020.

Overall, the report said, 3,383,729 resident deaths were recorded in the United States in 2020, up 528,891 compared to 2019.

The 16.8% increase in the age-adjusted death rate for the total population was the biggest single-year increase since the data collection began, and the decrease in life expectancy was the largest single-year decrease in more than 75 years.

As of Dec. 20, 2021, 804,046 deaths had been attributed to COVID-19 on death certificates. In 90% of cases, CDC reported, COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause of death, while the others listed it as a contributing cause of death. The report said the largest number of COVID-19 deaths reported in a single week came in early January of 2021, when 25,984 deaths were attributed to the pandemic.

COVID-19 changed a trajectory that had been trending toward longer life. A year ago, the final data on 2019 deaths compared to 2018 showed that life expectancy had increased for the second year in a row, despite an increase in deaths from drug overdoses and an all-time high of over 2.85 million deaths in the U.S., that earlier report said.

The CDC said that drug overdose deaths make up more than a third of all accidental deaths in the country and had increased in 2019, after they declined in 2018 for the first time in 28 years.

2020 brought other death-related challenges, as well. In July, the CDC reported that drug overdose deaths were up 30% compared to the previous year. And in October the agency reported that 2020 brought the largest one-year increase in the U.S. homicide rate.

Provisional data found that in 2020, the homicide rate in the United States was 7.8 per 100,000, compared to 6.0 the year before and the highest rate since 1995, but significantly lower than the early 1980s, which topped 10 homicides per 100,000.

The new report said 19,582 children younger than age 1 died in 2020, which was 1,339 fewer than in 2019.

Among infants, the leading causes of death were the same as in 2019: congenital malformations, low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, unintentional injuries, maternal complications, cord and placental complications, bacterial sepsis, respiratory distress, diseases of the circulatory system and neonatal hemorrhage.

There was a statistically significant increase in sudden infant death syndrome, from 33.3 to 38.4 per 100,000 live births in 2019 compared to 2020. Low birth weight was the only category where deaths among infants decreased meaningfully, from 91.9 to 86.9 per 100,000.

The CDC has an interactive web dashboard where the leading causes of death are regularly updated.

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What is the life expectancy in the U.S.? Did COVID cause it to drop? - Deseret News

President Biden said that he would set up new federal coronavirus testing sites nationwide to mitigate the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The first of those sites will open in New York City before Christmas.

The move comes after New York City officials announced that they would open an additional 23 coronavirus testing sites by the end of the week to try to meet a soaring demand as people race to learn their status before holiday travel and indoor gatherings.

Testing helps us on so many levels, Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Monday. It helps to make sure that each person knows where they stand. On the very personal level, when you get tested, you know whats going on, you know what to do.

By the end of this week, New Yorkers will have 112 city-run sites, which are spread out among all five boroughs and have been opened in various settings, including health care facilities, schools, libraries and community centers.

The city estimates that more than 130,000 people are being tested at the citys sites every day, which is double the number three weeks ago. New Yorkers also have access to hundreds of private testing sites across the city.

Heres how to be tested for Covid-19 in New York.

Essentially everyone, including people who do not live in New York, regardless of whether they have Covid-19 symptoms. But certain sites have minimum age requirements, which are listed on the citys coronavirus portal.

You can find a list of city-operated and privately run testing locations on the citys portal. You can also text COVID TEST to 855-48.

Each site is supposed to specify what tests are available and when results can be expected. The portal also lists if an appointment is needed to visit a particular location and whether there are other requirements such as a screening to see if you were recently exposed to the virus or a doctors order for a test.

The hours for each site are also listed. The N.Y.C. Health + Hospitals/Gotham Health locations and saliva self-testing sites will stop testing at 2 p.m. on Friday. All mobile testing sites will be closed Christmas Day.

While city-run sites are without cost, some private testers charge a fee. Poor weather may also force some locations to close. City officials encourage people to call a testing site before going.

Dec. 21, 2021, 8:38 p.m. ET

The New York State Health Department is in charge of regulating all private testing sites, including sites in New York City.

But certain testing sites have recently come under increased scrutiny. The New York attorney general Letitia James on Monday issued a warning to LabQ Diagnostics, a Brooklyn-based laboratory with testing sites across the city, over false advertising. The companys website advertises test results within 48 hours, but some people have reported waiting more than 96 hours.

Many New Yorkers have seen lines at testing sites snake around blocks, and the wait can sometimes exceed two hours.

The wait time at the N.Y.C. Health + Hospitals locations can be tracked using this dashboard. For example, the site lists test locations with no reported wait time as well as sites that have wait times of more than two hours. Workers aim to update the expected wait times every two hours.

New Yorkers with certain underlying health conditions or who are over 65 can schedule an in-home appointment by calling 929-298-9400, seven days a week, between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.

At-home tests can also be ordered online, through one of five different vendors: Hims & Hers, Pixel by LabCorp, QuestDirect by QuestDiagnostics, Vault Health or Zeel. The cost of the tests largely depends on what insurance carriers cover. In some cases, a screening to check if you were recently exposed to the virus must be completed before an order can be placed.

Testing kits have become hard to find in pharmacies and other stores, and some retailers are charging higher prices. The attorney generals office on Tuesday condemned price gouging and asked people to report it.

You should quarantine for 10 days and contact your medical provider or call the city at 1-212-COVID-19. The New York City Test & Trace Corps offers help to those who test positive, such as a hotel room in which to quarantine, food or medical support like medicine and mental health care.

Those infected should try to determine when they might have been exposed and reach out to people they interacted with and had close contact with during that time period. The state health department recommends reaching out to people you were in close contact with starting two days before your symptoms appeared or if you are asymptomatic, two days before taking your test.

They may hear from a contact tracer who will help notify people who might have been in contact with them and connect people with resources.

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How to Find a Coronavirus Test in New York City - The New York Times