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Excerpt from:
Covid-19 Vaccines Are Saving The US Healthcare System Billions - Forbes
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Newly elected Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has announced that, starting on January 15, 2022, individuals will be required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to enter certain indoor spaces in Boston. People working in those locations also will be required to have received their vaccines.
This new policy is in addition to the Citys existingindoor mask mandate.
The new policy, dubbed B Together, covers certain indoor locations offering indoor dining, indoor fitness, and indoor entertainment.
Indoor Dining (portions of food service establishments offering food and drink, including those identified below)*
Indoor Entertainment, Recreational, and Event Venues (including those listed below)
Indoor Gyms and Fitness Settings (including those listed below)
Restaurants
Movie theaters
Commercial gyms and fitness centers
Bars
Music or concert venues
Yoga, Pilates, barre, and dance studios
All indoor dining areas of food service establishments
Commercial event and party venues
Boxing and kickboxing gyms
Museums and galleries
Fitness boot camps
Professional sports arenas and indoor stadiums
Indoor pools
Convention centers and exhibition halls
Other facilities used for conducting group fitness classes
Performing arts theaters
Bowling alleys
Other recreational centers
*Excludes (1) food service establishments offering food or drink exclusively for off-premises or outdoor consumption, and (2) food service establishments providing charitable food services, such as soup kitchens.
Employees working in these covered locations also must be vaccinated. Covered businesses are responsible for checking proof of vaccination and posting a notice (availablehere) about the COVID-19 vaccine requirement at their entrance.
The policy excludes pre-kindergarten through grade 12 public and non-public schools and programs, child care programs, senior centers, and community centers. The policy does not apply to indoor college and university spaces that already require vaccination for all members of the community.
Individuals may demonstrate their vaccination status with any of the following:
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination card;
A digital image of their CDC vaccination card;
An image or printout of any official immunization record;
A City of Boston-designated app containing a digital image of any official immunization record; or
Another COVID-19 vaccine verification app.
There is no requirement in the policy to have a vaccine booster to enter indoor establishments. However, the Boston Public Health Commission, in consultation with public health data and guidance from the CDC, may modify this provision in the future.
Covered businesses must require proof of vaccination. If a customer requests an exemption from the vaccine requirement due to a disability, the Cityswebsiteadvises the covered business to:
engage with them in a cooperative dialogue to see if a reasonable accommodation is possible. A business does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation if doing so would create a direct threat (including contact with an unvaccinated individual) for other customers or employees of the business, or impose an undue hardship on the business.
Covered businesses do not have to check vaccination status for entry for a quick and limited purpose, such as using the bathroom, placing an order, or making a delivery. Individuals entering a venue for these limited purposes must wear a face mask.
The timeline for compliance with the B Together policy is:
Date
Requirement
January 15, 2022
People age 12 and over must show proof of one dose of vaccine
February 15, 2022
People age 12 and over must show proof of full vaccination
March 1, 2022
Children ages 5-11 must show proof of one dose of vaccine
May 1, 2022
People ages 5 and over must show proof of full vaccination
City inspectors will check for compliance. Businesses that are found not in compliance will receive a warning. If businesses continue not to comply, they may be fined or face other enforcement action.
Jackson Lewis P.C. 2021National Law Review, Volume XI, Number 355
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Boston Requiring Proof of Vaccination for Indoor Venues - The National Law Review
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Africa: a call to action The Lancet
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COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Africa: a call to action - The Lancet
Public health experts have urged pregnant women to get vaccinated.
CARLISLE, Pa. Abigail Martin and her 9-month-old daughter Sophie Jo will be celebrating Christmas with extended family this year, a marked change from 2020.
It was really stressful at first. I was very scared, Abigail said. We didnt do family gatherings. Work was shut down. So we were just living inside all the time.
The choice to get vaccinated wasnt easy at first. Already in her second trimester of pregnancy, Abigail became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania on Jan. 20. But she was worried about potential side effects due to being pregnant.
I was a little bit unsure about it. I didnt really know what to think, which way to go. Ive heard bad things. I was hearing really good things, she said.
Public health experts have urged pregnant women to get vaccinated. According to a CDC study released in November, unvaccinated pregnant individuals were 70 percent more likely to die from COVID-19, as well as having higher risk of getting admitted into the ICU and being put on a ventilator or an ECMO machine.
Women who get COVID in pregnancy have a significant increase of developing moderate to severe disease, subsequently requiring hospitalization, said Dr. Chavone Momon-Nelson, an OB-GYN at UMPC.
Late one night, Abigail made a call from a hotel room to a dependable source: her family doctor.
Shes been my doctor since I was 14 or 15 and I really trust her opinion, Abigail said.
Her doctor informed her the vaccine could help protect her, as well as pass antibodies on to her unborn baby.
So at 34 weeks pregnant, Abigail got the shot.
At this point now, if I could do it all over again, I would have gotten it earlier, she said.
Her daughter Sophie Jo is 9-months-old now and healthy.
I think in the end it was just the best decision I could have made for my family and my daughter, Abigail said.
The rest is here:
Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma and now Omicron.
Different variants of COVID-19 have been identified over the last two years by the World Health Organization, but could Omicron be the last?
>> Ohio sees highest 24-hour COVID-19 case count of entire pandemic
At some point this virus might mutate to a form that is no longer severe, said Dr. Jeffrey Weinstein, Patient Safety Officer with Kettering Health Network. This strain, Omicron, may not be that one. Its really looking more and more like it is not the one
Weinstein said viruses can work in two ways when they become mutated.
You can see a virus mutate and become more severe and you can see a virus mutate and lose what we call pathogenicity, its ability to cause disease, Weinstein said.
Omicron became a variant of concern for the World Health Organization in late November, when it was first identified in South Africa. In a matter of weeks, Omicron has spread quickly.
I suspect that in our region many, if not most of our cases, are Omicron by now, Weinstein said.
>> Coronavirus: Biden lays out plan to curb omicron surge, focuses on vaccinations
A variant of concern is identified by the WHO when it shows an increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation or a decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics.
But many are asking if Omicron is a more severe version of COVID-19 than the variants that came before?
We certainly are seeing hospitalizations from Omicron, but we see that it looks like a smaller percentage of the people who get infected, Weinstein said. Its a smaller percentage, but if that totally number is much, much higher youre going to end up with the result of more people in the hospital rather than fewer.
When Delta was first detected it was determined that it was 50 percent more contagious than the original version of COVID-19, Weinstein said Omicron appears to be significantly more contagious than Delta.
When you see it get into a community it takes over very fast, Weinstein said.
Health experts in South Africa have reported that cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 there tended to be quite mild, Weinstein said. He said when a virus moves to another part of the world their can be a lot of variability with it, meaning it impacts different demographics and people with different comorbidities.
Initial data shows the current vaccines appear to be effective against the virus, but Weinstein said getting a booster may increase your ability to fight off the virus if you get it.
A booster looks to give you pretty good protection, Weinstein said. You are much, much less likely to get very sick and end up in a hospital or die from COVID than if you were not vaccinated or boosted.
2021 Cox Media Group
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(The Conversation) SinceCOVID-19 vaccines became availablefor children ages 5 to 11 in early November 2021, many families have been lining up to get their school-age kids vaccinated prior to holiday travel and gatherings.
As of Dec. 14,5.6 million U.S. children ages 5 to 11 or about 19% of this age group have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. And 2.9 million, or about 10% of this age group, are fully vaccinated.
However, thepace has begun to slow. Vaccination rates in this age groupvary widely across the country, and the U.S. is still far from reaching a threshold that would help keep COVID-19 infections in check.
We are a team ofmedicalandpublic healthprofessionals at the University of Pittsburgh. We haveextensive experienceresearchingvaccine misinformation on social mediaandworking with community partnerstoaddress vaccine hesitancy, counter misinformation, andpromote vaccine equity.
Through this work, we have seen and studied the ways that anti-vaccine activists on social media target vulnerable parents who are trying to navigate the challenges of digesting health information to make appropriate choices for their children.
Anti-vaccine activists are a small but vocal group. According to research conducted by the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate,just 12 social media accounts the disinformation dozen arebehind the majorityof anti-vaccine posts on Facebook. Studies also show that onlyabout 2% of parentsreject all vaccines for their children.A larger group, or about 20% of parents, can more accurately be described as vaccine hesitant, which means they are undecided about having their children receive vaccinesas recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.
With regard to COVID-19 vaccines specifically, as of October 2021, about one-third of parents with children ages 5 to 11 years said they would get their child vaccinated right away. Another one-third said they would wait to see how the vaccine is working, and the last one-third said they would definitely not get their child vaccinated.
It can be difficult for parents to sort through the large amount of information available about COVID-19 vaccines both true and untrue. In their search for answers,some parents turn to social media platforms. The problem is, these parents are often targeted by anti-vaccine activists who are better organized andmore skilled at tailoring their messagesto thevaried concerns of people who are vaccine hesitantin comparison to pro-vaccine activists.
Social media, in particular, has beena primary vehiclefor the spread of misinformation. Although sometimes misinformation is blatantly false,other times it is more like a game of telephone. A kernel of truth gets modified slightly as it is retold, which ends up becoming something untrue. Unfortunately, exposure to COVID-19 misinformation has been shown toreduce peoples intent to get vaccinated.
So how can pediatricians and other health care professionals empower parents to feel confident in the choice to get their children vaccinated for COVID-19?
The answer may lie in working with communities to promote the vaccine as trustworthy instead of simply asking communities to trust it. We are part of the Pittsburgh Community Vaccine Collaborative, which is a community-academic partnership that seeks to ensure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines. Through that effort, we have focused onbuilding trustworthiness of the vaccinesand of the providers and health systems that are offering the vaccines in their communities.
Health care providers are a trusted source of informationfor COVID-19 vaccine information, but they are not the only sources.Research has foundthat it is important to lean on the expertise and voices of community partners, community health workers and religious leaders.
Our research suggests that pediatricians and public health professionalscan effectively use social mediato promote vaccination and provide families with reputable scientific information to address their questions and concerns. Results of a survey that wasrecently published in Academic Pediatricsfound that 96% of parents used social media. Of those, 68% reported using it for health information.
For example,a pediatric groupwe partner withuses comedy combined with informationto combat myths and answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6940691573801749765?lang=en-US
Social media is also an effective way to reach adolescents who can decide for themselves if they wantto get a COVID-19 vaccinewithout their parents consent (in some cities and states). Adolescents may also be able to influence their parents.
Research showsthat parents who report high COVID-19 vaccine intention for themselves also report high COVID-19 vaccine intention for their children. Therefore, talking about vaccines as a family may be helpful in combating misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, parents who have had their children vaccinated can use social media to share their experiences andmake it feel more normaland accepted among their peers.
We have also learned that promotingmedia literacy, which encourages people to question the media information they come into contact with, can empower parents to sift through theinfodemicof COVID-19 vaccine information. While social media platforms have announced policies of removing vaccine misinformation,research suggeststhis is not always effective at reducing the influence of such misinformation. Learning how to find the source of a piece of information and thinking about who are the intended targets may help people determine whether the information is true or distorted.
Addressing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation can feel overwhelming. TheAmerican Academy of Pediatricshashelpful information for parentsto support making decisions around the COVID-19 vaccine. Parents can also have conversations with their children about media literacy and evaluating information. And they can talk to their children especially adolescent-age children about how getting the COVID-19 vaccine can protect them and others.
Increasing COVID-19 vaccine rates for children and young people is important to promote their health and wellness, as well as to move closer to ending the pandemic.
Read the rest here:
AUSTIN (KXAN) If youre planning to gather for the holidays, health experts are reminding that now is the time to get vaccinated not just for COVID-19, which has been making headlines, but for other transmittable diseases too.
While much attention has been paid to the COVID-19 vaccine this year, the Texas Medical Association (TMA) is reminding that flu is also a threat, especially this year, and for infants, pertussis, or whooping cough is always a big concern.
Certainly, you need to make sure that youre up to date on all your vaccines, particularly if were talking about pregnant women or if were talking about people who will be in contact with young infants, said Dr. C. Mary Healy, an associate professor of pediatrics specializing in infectious disease at the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Childrens Hospital and a member of the Texas Medical Association.
Whooping cough can cause severe illness and be fatal for infants who are too young to be immunized. Babies under 1-year-old are at the greatest risk.
Heres whats recommended under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect against it:
They really should be vaccinated against everything that they can be vaccinated, Healy said.
As the COVID-19 vaccine has become a political topic, health leaders are concerned about hesitancy as they make this plea for people get their general vaccines this year.
But I think really we need to think about caring for others and that means getting vaccinated, Healy said. Get your vaccines, get your boosters and do everything you can to protect your loved ones.
Read the rest here:
Covid-19 cases are surging upward again in the United States, and public health experts are warning the fast-spreading omicron variant may push the number of infections to their highest level yet. Whether this surge will be followed by an unprecedented level of hospitalization and death is uncertain, but researchers say its possible the most devastating phase of the pandemic is yet to come.
Already, countries like South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Denmark have seen sharp spikes in new Covid-19 cases, with some areas reaching record highs. South Africa has reported far fewer hospitalizations from omicron compared to previous waves, but the UK is is in the midst of a sharp rise in hospitalizations, about 30 percent higher week over week.
The big reason is that omicron appears to spread far more readily than the delta variant that has been dominant worldwide since the summer omicron is 25 to 50 percent more transmissible, according to some UK estimates.
The current moment is an eerie echo of December 2020, when the first major variant of Covid-19 began infecting people around the world. But a key difference now is that there are effective vaccines that have been widely deployed in some countries. In the US, more than 70 percent of the population have had at least one dose of a vaccine and 30 percent of those vaccinated have received two doses and a booster, which should absorb some of the impact of omicron.
Yet epidemiologists and health officials are sounding the alarm about another tsunami of infections in hopes people will take more precautions, and to help hospitals and health workers prepare to care for the sickest patients. Omicron could be just as deadly as delta even if it causes milder disease, Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist who has advised the White House, told reporters this week. Considering the potential impact on the health care system is also crucial as decision-makers weigh another round of restrictions closing schools, banning large gatherings, reimposing mask mandates.
In one of the most comprehensive forecasts to date, researchers from the Covid-19 Modeling Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin on Friday chalked out 18 different scenarios for omicron. Their study was not peer-reviewed, but the findings show that the US is facing yet another dangerous variant while the conditions for spreading it the holiday season are at their most favorable.
The most optimistic pathway in the study would lead to more than 50 percent fewer deaths compared to last year the six-month period spanning December 1, 2020, to May 1, 2021 while the most pessimistic route would end with 20 percent more fatalities than that grim period last winter and spring.
Everything weve seen so far growth in Denmark, growth were seeing in the United States, in Canada, in the UK suggests that these scenarios are actually very plausible ... for our country, said Spencer Fox, associate director of the UT Covid-19 Modeling Consortium.
A lot depends on the mutated virus itself, particularly how badly it sickens unvaccinated (and vaccinated) people. While some early reports have hinted that omicron causes a lower rate of severe Covid-19 illness compared to prior variants, theres still not enough data to be sure. Its too uncertain right now to say that, Fox said. (The UT model currently assumes that omicrons severity is the same as with delta in unvaccinated people with no prior infection, and that protection against severe illness from prior infection and vaccines may be similar or reduced.)
Getting a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine is the most effective action an already-vaccinated individual can take to protect against the variant, and if enough people get an extra shot, thousands of deaths could be averted this winter, according to the models.
However, communities around the US have so far responded in drastically different ways to the Covid-19 pandemic some imposing policies that have slowed transmission, and others rejecting those policies and suffering terrible consequences in the form of overwhelmed hospitals and thousands of preventable deaths. So its likely that both the best and worst scenarios could play out in parallel over the coming months, in different places.
As people head indoors to warm up from the cold and celebrate the winter holidays, omicron will find ample opportunities to jump from lung to lung. In addition to its greater transmissibility, early results also show omicron can better evade the shielding provided by the immune system thats built up from vaccines or from prior infections. One recent study suggests that antibodies produced to counter past versions of the virus are far less effective at curbing omicron, which could make the variant more likely to cause a breakthrough infection or reinfection.
At the same time, the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is continuing to wreak havoc, having recently pushed the US death toll above 800,000. Flu could come roaring back this winter, as well, generating a fresh wave of hospitalizations among the most vulnerable to that infection, too. The combined threats of all these respiratory illnesses could push some hospitals to horrific new levels of overcapacity especially those already stretched thin from staffing shortages and other strains after two years of crisis.
Specifically, experts worry that hospitals will have to ration care or turn patients who need life-saving care away something many hospitals had to do in earlier Covid-19 surges if a a lot of new severely ill patients come flooding through the doors.
Besides the toll of suffering and death which will inevitably go up if, in fact, we have that convergence in the winter months of flu and omicron and delta, we could get our hospital systems overwhelmed, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Thursday.
But how bad, exactly, could it get?
Fox and his colleagues modeled Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths through the winter and into May 2022. For their 18 scenarios, they tweaked factors like the transmissibility of omicron, differing degrees of severity of the virus, the level of immunity in the US population, the likelihood of reinfection among Covid-19 survivors and breakthrough infections among those vaccinated, and the number of people who topped up their vaccine doses with a booster.
Under all the scenarios they modeled, omicron supplanted delta and became the main driver of Covid-19 infections, pushing case counts higher. The first key finding is that unless significant transmission reduction happens in our communities, were likely to see an omicron surge that rivals the previous peak that we saw in January 2021, Fox said.
The most optimistic scenario emerged when omicron was 50 percent more transmissible than delta and 10 percent better at eluding immunity from vaccines and previous infections, yet led to equally severe illnesses. That scenario also presumed many people will get boosters at 80 percent uptake by March 2022 but that no other policy or behavior changes are made to reduce transmission. It predicted a Covid-19 peak in mid-January 2022, but with 8 percent fewer cases and 43 percent fewer hospitalizations than the same six-month period the year before. It also led to 54 percent fewer deaths, totaling 152,000 (still a grim result).
The worst outcome arose when the model assumed omicron was just as transmissible as delta, but far more evasive of prior immunity and much more likely to cause severe disease. In this scenario, prior immunity was 85 percent less effective at preventing infection from omicron, and protection against death was 22 percent lower. In this worst case, vaccine booster uptake remained fairly low, reaching only 57 percent by the end of March 2022. This resulted in Covid-19 cases peaking in early February 2022 and 342,000 deaths over six months, a 20 percent increase from 2021.
That Covid-19s devastation could be even worse in an era of vaccines and treatments is tragic, a stark consequence of failing to get the pandemic under control across the country.
However, if the booster uptake rate increased to 80 percent, Covid-19 cases in this scenario dropped by 5 percent, hospitalizations by 12 percent, and deaths by 13 percent. That translates to 1.3 million averted infections and 39,000 lives saved between December 2021 and May 2022.
The scenarios show that there is a bit of luck involved in how harsh the next few months will be, but specific actions like getting booster doses of vaccines rolled out can vastly improve the outlook.
For millions of Americans, now two years into the pandemic, omicron is triggering an exasperating episode of dj vu.
However, the question of the variants severity is still unclear. And researchers warn that even if omicron turns out to be less dangerous for individuals, it could still cause widespread damage if it continues to spread out of control.
The context for the omicron surge also varies throughout the country, something not accounted for in the UT Austin simulation. This analysis is really just looking at an average across the whole country, said Fox.
There are things it doesnt factor in: the rate of preexisting health conditions, access to health care, exposure to prior waves of infection, adherence to mask-wearing, and vaccine uptake which can be radically different around the country. Around 72 percent of the US population have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine, but in states like Idaho and Mississippi, only half have gotten it. New Hampshire, meanwhile, is above 90 percent. There are around 90 million people who are unvaccinated against Covid-19 throughout the country, but many are concentrated in distinct regions, often aligned with political views.
That means omicron could play out quite differently in different parts of the country, with some places facing far more hospitalizations and deaths than others with high vaccination rates. And given how readily omicron can spread, the regions with lower vaccination rates that have so far lucked out of previous waves may now be vulnerable.
People who have not been previously infected or immunized against Covid-19 face the greatest risk of omicron infection. But omicron has also shown that vaccinations are not an impermeable shield against infection.
Many omicron cases have been detected in people who completed their course of Covid-19 vaccines, even in some people who received booster doses. Its a disheartening prospect for people who have rigorously followed public health advice throughout the pandemic, eager for it to be over.
I share the frustration, said Justin Feldman, a research fellow and social epidemiologist at Harvard University. Unfortunately, I dont think that [the coming omicron wave is] something that individuals can solve with their own personal behaviors.
The most impactful measures for dealing with Covid-19 have to happen at the policy level, according to Feldman. That includes easily accessible widespread testing for Covid-19 to detect infections early so people can isolate from others and seek treatment, something the US is still struggling to do. It also includes mandates for vaccines, quarantine and isolation rules for workers, regulations for indoor ventilation, making high-quality masks widely available, and training a corps of pandemic responders to administer tests, treatments, and vaccines.
These are things Biden should have been trying to build since January 20, but largely hasnt because the administration went with a very vaccine-centric approach, Feldman said.
While the White House has taken some steps to implement some of these policies, like purchasing and distributing millions of rapid Covid-19 tests, its becoming clear there is little political will to implement more restrictions even as another towering wave of Covid-19 infections crests. Mask mandates are lapsing, travel is increasing, businesses are reopening, and large indoor gatherings are resuming.
But that doesnt mean apathy is the solution, wrote Voxs Dylan Scott.
The pandemic playbook of maintaining social distancing, rigorous hand-washing, wearing face coverings, getting tested for Covid-19 after a possible exposure, and getting vaccinated remains useful, even if it doesnt completely solve the problem.
With omicron, there are some tweaks to this; namely, for eligible vaccinated people to get boosters and for people to ditch cloth face masks for higher-quality options, like N95 respirators and KN95 masks.
We are really recommending that people up their mask game, especially now with omicron, Gounder said.
Regardless of what course omicron takes throughout the country, health officials are bracing for a situation that will get far worse before it gets better. I think we really do need to anticipate there probably will be a surge and increase in hospitalizations over the coming months, Gounder said. Just how dangerous it will be is partly in our hands.
Original post:
How many cases and deaths could the Covid-19 omicron variant bring in the US? - Vox.com
(WTRF) As COVID-19 is still very much a part of our daily lives, the Ohio Valley marked the anniversary of a pandemic milestone; one year since the first Coronavirus vaccine was administered in the area.
> A year of COVID-19 vaccines: The anniversary of the Ohio Valleys first shots <
Wheeling Hospital became the first local hospital to give out doses of the vaccine.Health officials say at the time they were hopeful it was the beginning of the end to the pandemic.More than 800,000 people have now died from COVID complications in the United States. After more than two months being held hostage, the remaining members of a missionary group kidnapped in Haiti have been released.
> Ex-hostages doing well, have left Haiti, mission agency says <
The group of 17 people from Christian Aid Ministries included some individuals from Ohio and five children.
Schools were on high alert this week and plans were announced to increase security in response to threatening posts on the social media app TikTok.
> TikTok threats cause fear in schools across the nation <
West Virginia State Police posted about the concerns, but officials said they found no credible threats in the state.However, they worked with the department of education and emergency management to handle the situation.
After severe tornadoes ripped through several states last weekend, Wheeling Firefighters traveled to one of the most devasted areas in Kentucky to assist.
> Wheeling Firefighters return from assisting with tornado relief in Kentucky <
The five firefighters said the damages was shocking.They spent several days in Bowling Green, assisting local emergency officials search through the rubble of collapsed homes and businesses.Also in Wheeling-Changes are coming to the I-70 construction.
> I-70 exit to Downtown Wheeling to open next week <
WVDOT said Exit IA on I-70 Eastbound that connects to Main Street in downtown will open this week.All lanes of traffic near Exit 5 in Elm Grove will also be open.We will let you know when that happens.
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