Category: Covid-19

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COVID-19 home test kits to be distributed in Jupiter – WPTV.com

January 7, 2022

JUPITER, Fla. COVID-19 home test kits will be distributed in Jupiter Friday, Jan. 7, the Town of Jupiter said in a tweet.

Distribution will begin at 10 a.m. at the Jupiter Community Park located at 3377 Church Street.

To obtain the test kits, individuals should access the park via Church Street. Island Way park entrance will be closed.

Proof of Palm Beach County residency must be provided.

A maximum of two test kits per household.

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COVID-19 home test kits to be distributed in Jupiter - WPTV.com

Take Five: Earnings, yields and COVID-19 – Reuters

January 7, 2022

Employees wearing face masks work at a factory of the component maker SMC during a government organised tour of its facility following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Beijing, China May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

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It didn't take long for speedbumps to appear as markets rev up for 2022. Rising U.S. Treasury yields, sparked by growing speculation the Federal Reserve could start its rate hike cycle as early as March have doused early enthusiasm, just as the U.S. earnings season is about to kick off.

And unrest in Kazakhstan has put geopolitical risks back on the agenda, while China battles to keep its zero COVID strategy on track ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Here's your week ahead in markets from Tom Westbrook in Singapore, Lewis Krauskopf in New York and Dhara Ranasinghe, Tom Wilson and Karin Strohecker in London.

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1/QUARTERLY CHECK UP

Massive profit increases from U.S. companies helped fuel last year's 27% gain in the S&P 500. As the earnings season kicks off in coming days, companies will likely have a difficult time posting similar numbers for the fourth quarter.

Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to jump 22.3%, according to Refinitiv IBES -- a robust increase, though a lower clip than in the first, second and third quarters.

Big Wall Street banks JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will be first in line to report. Investors are keen to hear about inflation, whether companies believe the supply chain bottlenecks that helped drive prices up last year will ease in coming months and forecasts for 2022. S&P 500 profit growth is expected to slow to 8.4% from 49.7% in 2021.

2/HOW HIGH?

The first week of trading in 2022 has been anything but dull for the world's biggest bond markets. Short-dated Treasury yields shot up to highs not seen since early 2020, 10-year yields are up over 20 bps, Germany's -0.06% Bund yield is lurching closer to 0% and sovereign borrowing costs from Britain to Australia are at multi-month highs.

The message is clear: tighter monetary policy is likely sooner than anticipated, with the United States leading the way. Until data or central bank speak contradicts this, 10-year Treasury yields could reach the 2% milestone soon.

Investors will also keep a close on real yields since a view that inflation-adjusted yields will remain low has fueled the risk asset rally. The first week's 30 bps jump in U.S. real yields , may not make for a happy new year for some.

3/NEW YEAR, OLD RULES

For millions in China the new year began as the old ended - under lockdown. COVID-19 cases are few, particularly of the Omicron variant, but restrictions are spreading fast as authorities keep a zero-tolerance policy before next month's Winter Olympics.

Xian is more than two weeks into a lockdown and harsh rules are rolling out across central China. All 400,000 residents of Yongji, in Shanxi Province, were ordered to remain indoors this week after the virus was detected on a railway turnstile.

The measures could render moot any further easing of zooming producer prices in December data due on Wednesday, especially if they trigger fresh supply-chain disruption around the world.

4/KAZAKHSTAN AND BEYOND

Deadly protests in Kazakhstan - the worst violence in its 30 years of independence - have added to the list of flare ups in the region being felt well beyond its borders.

Once again, Russia plays a key role. The Kremlin deploying troops is widely seen as a gamble to secure its interests in the oil and uranium-producing Central Asian nation.

Reverberations are felt throughout commodity markets and weighed on the rouble as Russia finds itself again in the limelight -- tensions over Ukraine have loomed large over its markets. The outcome of unrest in Kazakhstan is yet unclear, but markets will have to sift through the fallout for geopolitical risk and diplomatic alignments for some time to come.

5/BITCOIN HANGOVER

After a wild 2021, bitcoin's new year hangover has lingered into the first week of 2022 - and might get worse.

The computing power of its network dropped sharply this week as Kazakhstan's internet was shut down during its uprising, hitting its cryptocurrency mining industry - the second biggest in the world.

The drop in bitcoin "hashrate" might, in theory, hit its price. The more miners on the network, the greater the amount of computing power needed to mine new bitcoin. If miners drop off the network, it becomes easier for the remaining miners to produce new coins - in theory boosting supply.

Bitcoin has fallen below $41,000 to its lowest since late September with hawkish signs from the Fed adding to the malaise. Some see it slipping further into the $30,000-range. Crypto investors will be searching for signs bitcoin can get off the ropes.

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Compiled by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Toby Chopra

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Take Five: Earnings, yields and COVID-19 - Reuters

J&J says its single dose protects against breakthrough COVID-19 for up to 6 months – Reuters

January 7, 2022

Vials labeled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and syringe are seen in front of displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken, February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Jan 6 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) said on Thursday that a real-world study showed its single shot COVID-19 vaccine protects against breakthrough infections and hospitalizations for up to six months.

The study, sponsored by the vaccine developer, was conducted between Jan. 1 and Sept. 7 last year, before the Omicron variant was discovered. It is also yet to be peer-reviewed.

J&J said protection against infection from its single dose vaccine starts to wane only from the fourth month compared to the second month in the case of two-dose vaccines from rivals Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech's (22UAy.DE) as well as Moderna (MRNA.O).

No waning of protection was found for ICU admissions for all the three vaccines, J&J said.

The company said the study was carried out by collecting claims and laboratory data covering 168 million people.

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Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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J&J says its single dose protects against breakthrough COVID-19 for up to 6 months - Reuters

How the latest COVID-19 spike will impact the rest of the 2021-22 college basketball season – ESPN

January 7, 2022

The cancellations, postponements and team pauses that have permeated college basketball in recent weeks have yielded to a new round of questions for the sport. One year after the coronavirus pandemic produced the most unusual season (and postseason) in the modern era, the rise of the COVID-19 omicron variant has caused the game's stakeholders to revisit many of those same 2020-21 questions.

Will teams and leagues be able to play something resembling full schedules? Will conference tournaments be played? What are the implications if those answers are "no," and what will the consequences be for an NCAA tournament that was expected to proceed as normal in 2022? Which leagues have had the most issues, and is there a consensus within the game on how best to move forward?

As those questions continue to be raised, we looked at the biggest issues for college basketball, and the most significant questions being asked as the game attempts to resume in the coming days and weeks.

One look at the daily college basketball schedule gives a pretty good idea of which teams are currently out of action. People who track that sort of thing have said more than 70 programs have been forced to pause because of COVID-19 so far this season. That number is only rising, too. No. 2 Duke had two games postponed last week; No. 4 Gonzaga is currently on a pause; No. 5 UCLA hasn't played since Dec. 11, while crosstown rival No. 7 USC hasn't hit the court since Dec. 19. Even No. 6 Kansas had games postponed last week due to opponents having COVID-19 issues, but the Jayhawks quickly pivoted and scheduled replacement games.

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Every conference in the country is attempting to push through and get as many games in as possible, despite circumstances seemingly making that more challenging with every week. When San Francisco's game at Saint Mary's was postponed over the weekend due to COVID-19 concerns within the Gaels' program, it marked a first: Every single men's and women's basketball game in the West Coast Conference scheduled for last weekend was postponed because of COVID-19. The WCC isn't alone, of course. The Atlantic 10, too, has been hit hard by the virus; the league had four games on Wednesday postponed, after having four called off last weekend and five in one day last week. At one point last week, there were only four teams in the MAAC not on a COVID-19 pause.

There are no signs of any league fully pausing or taking a break amid the rising case numbers, however. Even the Ivy League, which was the first to cancel competition a few times during the pandemic, was not discussing a temporary pause as recently as late December.

At this rate, it's hard to see every conference playing its full allotment of league games. Some teams in the Big East have already played three games, some teams have played zero. The Pac-12 has teams that have played four games and teams with one game. Entering Wednesday, the Atlantic 10 had nine teams that hadn't played a single conference game. Most leagues will not want teams playing three or four games in a single week, although the proliferation of back-to-backs last season makes it a bit more palatable if necessary in the coming months.

There was more pressure last season to get a certain number of games in, however. The NCAA set the minimum number of games to be eligible for the tournament at 13, which was difficult in a season that didn't start until Nov. 25 and included lengthy pauses when outbreaks hit teams. With the quarantine time being cut in half this season, teams aren't necessarily forced to sit out for weeks on end now.

In an article for NCAA.com last week, Andy Katz wrote that the selection committees will discuss game minimums later in January. He also pointed out that Division I teams have played an average of 12 games this season.

Each of the seven major conferences (Power 5 + Big East and AAC) adjusted their forfeiture rules in late December, making forfeits the last possible resort. Six of the seven conferences made their minimum threshold seven players and one coach, while the Big 12 made its threshold six players and one coach. Only a very select few leagues have kept forfeits as an option. The Missouri Valley had opted to maintain its forfeiture policy prior to Christmas, but it reversed course a week later and went in the same direction as most of the rest of the sport.

The Big East and Pac-12 had already run into forfeiture issues in the first few weeks of the season. Washington was the first to suffer a forfeit loss in conference play, when the Huskies couldn't find a new date for their game against UCLA. It raised eyebrows, however, when Washington's postponed game against Arizona was simply rescheduled for later in the season. The Big East standings had become borderline farcical due to a slew of forfeits; for example, DePaul was 9-1 overall with an 0-2 league record at one point.

While the NCAA doesn't recognize forfeits as part of overall records or NCAA tournament rsums, removing them simply offers more flexibility from a scheduling perspective. It provides more options in terms of filling out a league schedule and could be important when it comes to giving bubble teams more opportunities for key wins. Just to use the Big East as another example: A team that badly needs marquee wins in conference play is St. John's. Had the Red Storm kept their forfeit win over Seton Hall, they would have eliminated a chance to actually boost their rsum in league play. For potential one-bid leagues like the Missouri Valley, it likely prevents heavy favorite Loyola Chicago from racking up two or three forfeit losses and putting them in a worse position for the conference tournament.

Based on last year's precedent, it would be a surprise if the plug was completely pulled on any conference tournaments. Every Division I conference but the Ivy League (which didn't have a season at all) held a tournament in 2021. High-profile teams including Duke and Kansas were forced to pull out due to COVID-19 issues during those tourneys, but 31 leagues were ultimately able to crown champions, and at a time before widespread vaccine availability. Leagues are nearly certain to do everything possible to make sure their events go forward in 2022.

Late last Wednesday, the NCAA released quotes from Dan Gavitt, senior vice president of basketball, indicating that there had been no discussions about playing in a bubble like last year.

"At this point, we are continuing the planning for the NCAA basketball championships with the normal format, schedule and multiple host sites," Gavitt said. "Despite the current challenges we're experiencing in college basketball, the solutions to these problems during this phase of the pandemic are likely quite different than the dramatic championship format changes we had to adopt last year."

Last year, the NCAA held the entire men's NCAA tournament in Indianapolis, with 66 games played at one of several arenas in and around the city. The women's tournament was similarly held in San Antonio and its surrounding areas. The NCAA began its discussions with Indianapolis in November 2020 and officially announced its plans in early January 2021. We're already past those dates on this year's calendar, but the women's tournament location wasn't announced until early February 2021, so there would theoretically be time to move into action if necessary.

It's unclear whether last season's rules about replacement teams and forfeitures would still be observed. In 2021, the NCAA had the first teams left out of the NCAA tournament on standby in case one of the original 68 teams was unable to get cleared and reach the bubble. Louisville was the first team in the First Four Out, and therefore the first standby team.

VCU's first-round game against Oregon was the lone game in the 2021 NCAA tournament to be declared a no-contest after the Rams had multiple positive COVID-19 tests. However, because it happened hours before tipoff, Oregon simply advanced as there was no time to mobilize a replacement team.

The NCAA provided the following statement to ESPN regarding the NCAA's potential logistic discussions in the coming weeks: "Dan Gavitt has calls with our committee chair and vice-chair (Tom Burnett of the Southland Conference and Chris Reynolds of Bradley) at least once a week. The full committee will meet in person in two weeks (at the NCAA Convention in Indy) and again in Indy in mid-February. We also have other calls with the full committee, as well as joint calls with the women's basketball committee scheduled periodically over the next several weeks. We could discuss postseason logistics, if deemed necessary, during those meetings."

Much of the discussion among coaches and decision-makers in the middle of December centered around testing protocols and quarantine periods. As the NFL and NBA were taking steps to limit their testing of vaccinated, asymptomatic players and cutting quarantine periods, some wondered if college basketball would be next. But there's obviously a huge difference between college hoops and pro leagues: There's not one person or group making medical decisions for all 358 schools.

Schools and local health officials have the final say on testing mandates. Some schools were testing every player, vaccinated or unvaccinated; some schools tested only players with symptoms. Some schools tested every player coming back from Christmas break; others, only the unvaccinated or players with symptoms.

The lack of consensus about how to proceed was apparent.

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski said in mid-December: "I don't like the fact that the two teams are not tested the day before, the night before, like we did last year."

That same week, South Carolina's Frank Martin made his stance clear, an opinion shared by most in the sport: "If you're vaccinated and you're asymptomatic, you should not get tested. If you're asymptomatic, why are we testing? ... I don't know how we're going to play a season, with policies that were in place pre-vaccination."

The CDC's decision on Dec. 27 to cut isolation time for positive tests and quarantine time for close contacts from 10 days to five has been viewed as a game-changer, though. The ACC quickly followed with a shorter isolation option for vaccinated individuals, going from a mandatory 10 days to two negative tests at least 24 hours apart, or improving symptoms and one negative test at least seven days from the first positive test. The Pac-12 and other leagues followed with similar recommendations.

What this does is potentially allow for shorter pauses, fewer postponements and less disruption to the conference season. Getting entire teams boosted to protect against the omicron variant -- as Kentucky and Purdue did and then publicly announced -- is another step in the right direction.

If you're looking for a sign of optimism, here's a potential trend: Last Tuesday, Dec. 28, 16 of 29 scheduled games were postponed or canceled. This past Tuesday, Jan. 4, only nine of 38 were postponed or canceled.

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How the latest COVID-19 spike will impact the rest of the 2021-22 college basketball season - ESPN

Iowa COVID-19 hospitalizations reach highest since 2020, nearly 25K positive tests reported in last 7 days – WHO TV 13 Des Moines News & Weather

January 7, 2022

DES MOINES, Iowa The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting another dramatic jump in post-holiday COVID-19 cases in the state and we are also seeing the highest number of patients hospitalized with the virus since early December of 2020.

According to the IDPHs Friday update, 24,935 positive COVID-19 tests have been reported over the last seven days. Thats an average of more than 3,500 tests per day.

The 14-day positivity rate has also jumped from 14.9% on Wednesday to 17.5%.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen to 898. That is the highest number since December 7 of 2020, when there were 900 patients reported hospitalized.

There are 176 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in intensive care. The IDPH says those not fully vaccinated account for 81.3% of those patients.

Two more long-term care facilities in the state have reported outbreaks of the coronavirus, bringing the total to 27.

On Wednesday, the IDPH reported the total number of Iowans who have died from COVID-19 so far is 8,019.

You can find information on how to get vaccinated against COVID-19 here.

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Iowa COVID-19 hospitalizations reach highest since 2020, nearly 25K positive tests reported in last 7 days - WHO TV 13 Des Moines News & Weather

Hard-charging midcoast lawmaker is in the ICU with COVID-19 and cancer – Bangor Daily News

January 7, 2022

Rep. Jeff Evangelos was heading to the Maine State House on Wednesday when he became so weak he could barely walk.

The Friendship independent, who is living with advanced stage 4 prostate cancer and leukemia, was determined to make the first day of the emergency session. One of his flagship bills, an effort to study restoring paroleto Maine that Gov. Janet Mills has held for months, was to be recalled from her desk to prevent it from dying.

But it quickly became obvious that Evangelos was unable to make the trip. He called the Maine House of Representatives clerk to let them know of his absence, and then called his wife, Harolyn York, to let her know he needed to be hospitalized.

Evangelos has been at the LincolnHealth hospital in Damariscotta ever since, suffering from COVID-19. Despite being fully vaccinated and boosted, his immune system is compromised from the rounds of chemotherapy he takes to manage his cancer.

He did not know he was sick with the virus until diagnosed at the hospital. His is perhaps the most serious case of COVID-19 to affect a Maine lawmaker so far and drives home the challenges at-risk people face in navigating the pandemic.

I said, Wait a minute, mister, youre not going up there, he said Fridayof attending the session. You might have COVID, and youre not going to risk your seatmates.

Evangelos, known for his fiery speeches, battles with the last two governors and criticism of the criminal justice system, was undeterred by his illness in a phone interview from the intensive care unit, where he had a briefcase and laptop and was taking constituent calls.

Rep. Thom Harnett, D-Gardiner, made the motion on Evangelos behalf to recall the parole bill from Mills desk. The Democratic governor, a former attorney general, gave no indication of her feelings about the bill on Tuesday, saying she had not looked at it this week.

Additionally, Evangelos has said this session will be his lastin Augusta, as he is term-limited and not looking to run for the Maine Senate. He said he plans to continue his work on criminal justice reform outside the State House. For now, he plans to be there by the next House session on Jan. 26 to make a key amendment to the parole bill himself.

Im going to be ready to rock and roll later this month, he said.

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Hard-charging midcoast lawmaker is in the ICU with COVID-19 and cancer - Bangor Daily News

Gwinnett schools record 641 COVID-19 cases over winter break – The Atlanta Journal Constitution

January 7, 2022

Six metro Atlanta school districts held online-only classes this week because of surging coronavirus cases in the state. On Wednesday, Georgia reported a new daily high of more than 25,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases statewide.

Ahead of last months winter break, multiple metro Atlanta school districts reported their highest number of coronavirus cases in weeks.

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Gwinnett schools record 641 COVID-19 cases over winter break - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

We are in crisis mode: With COVID-19 sick calls on the rise, shelter needs help placing pets in homes – KXAN.com

January 7, 2022

AUSTIN (KXAN) Some businesses are having to close down because of so many people calling out with COVID-19, and its also causing problems at local animal shelters.

Austin Pets Alive! is making an urgent plea to get as many of their dogs and puppies adopted or fostered by Friday.

The shelter is dealing with sick calls because of COVID-19, and that means there are fewer people to take care of the animals.

We are in crisis mode, said Suzie Chase, Austin Pets Alive! spokesperson. Right now, it is an emergency at Austin Pets Alive! making sure every dog gets the medication they need, food, water, walks, everything they need. We have to make sure we get at least 50 of them in homes, so that the remaining dogs we have get the excellent care they need with the staffing we have.

The original call was to get 50 dogs moved into homes in two days. The latest update was they still needed 37 dogs moved from the shelter. The shelter is also looking for volunteers.

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We are in crisis mode: With COVID-19 sick calls on the rise, shelter needs help placing pets in homes - KXAN.com

Here’s what to do if you test positive for COVID-19 in the DMV – Axios

January 5, 2022

With many public health experts predicting that the current wave of Omicron will peak later this month, its not a time to let your guard down. Get vaccinated and boosted and encourage your loved ones to do the same to protect from severe illness and hospitalization.

And, if you do test positive, heres what to know:

For D.C. residents:

Start by reporting. If you used an at-home rapid test, whether one you bought or you picked one up from the library, you should report your results in D.C.s portal.

You can also self-report via DC CAN, D.C.s contact tracing app, to let others know.

Then, isolate:

If you live with other people who are not positive for COVID-19, health authorities say to isolate yourself to a different room and wear a mask. Surgical, KN95, or N95 masks are better than cloth masks, but if you dont have those, try a double mask.

DC Healths guidance for people with COVID-19 does not include information on accessing food and other necessities, although contact tracers may ask you if you have access to food and can isolate. D.C. has a portal to streamline applications for SNAP, TANF, and other medical benefits.

D.C. residents can expect an initial outreach interview with a contact tracer and a follow-up call at the end of the isolation period.

If youre seeking monoclonal antibodies:

For Maryland residents:

Maryland residents who test positive using at-home antigen tests can report their results using the NAVICA app available in the app store on smartphones.

For Montgomery County residents:

For Virginia residents:

For Arlington County residents:

For Alexandria residents:

For Fairfax County residents:

This guide will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Here's what to do if you test positive for COVID-19 in the DMV - Axios

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