Category: Covid-19

Below is the full COVID-19 report for Jan. 27.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Case counts, test positivity rates and hospitalizations are all trending downward as the weekend begins all signs that the COVID-19 numbers will continue to decline in Clark County and across the state.

Hopes that the omicron variant has reached its peak continue to see evidence in the numbers released today. The delta variant remains as a source of concern after several weeks that brought soaring numbers of omicron cases.

Deaths often reported days or even weeks after they actually occur will continue in the wake of the latest surge. In todays reports, of the 39 deaths reported statewide, 33 occurred in Clark County.

COVID-19 patients in hospitals declined by 68 in Clark County (now 1,524 total) and by 69 statewide (now 1,797 total).

Clark County reports 2,566 new COVID-19 cases about 250 fewer than yesterday while the state reported 3,999 new cases. Omicron accounts for 99% of the cases statewide, with the remaining 1% caused by the delta variant.

Test positivity rates continue to fall, with Clark County reporting 34.3% and the state reporting 34.0%. Its a long way to the states goal of 8% (or lower) test positivity, but the rate has now dropped for five straight days.

The lower infection rate doesnt mean the virus isnt still circulating. The omicron variant is highly contagious, and vaccines have proven to reduce the chance of severe illness. Health officials emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated and wearing a mask indoors in public places.

In a report on breakthrough cases, the Southern Nevada Health District said that the delta variant not omicron is responsible for 94% of all breakthrough cases. Omicron hasnt caused any hospitalizations or deaths, SNHD said in a recent report, and it is causing only 1% of breakthrough cases to date.

The graphs below show the test positivity for the state (first image), followed by Clark Countys test positivity rate.

A total of 15,339 tests were reported in the county, and 20,242 across Nevada. People can now begin ordering four COVID-19 home tests from the post office for free delivery (https://www.covidtests.gov/). At-home tests are not even counted in the states figures.

Information from the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory indicates that 100% of the recently tested samples in Clark County were from the omicron variant. Omicron accounts for 99% of the recent cases across the state. About 5% of all tests are analyzed to determine which strain of COVID-19 is present, according to the labs website.

A look at current COVID-19 numbers:

As of Jan. 20, the Southern Nevada Health District reports there are 282 breakthrough deaths (+12), 919 breakthrough hospitalizations (+23) and 50,443 breakthrough cases (+11,342). (Increases are compared to numbers reported on Jan. 13.) Breakthrough cases now account for almost 42% of all new COVID-19 cases.

SNHD notes that the delta variant accounts for 86% of all breakthrough deaths, 92% of breakthrough hospitalizations and 94% of breakthrough cases. Omicron hasnt caused any hospitalizations or deaths, SNHD said, and it is causing only 1% of breakthrough cases to date.

*NOTE: Daily lab data from DHHS and SNHD reports is updated every morning for theprevious day.

The test positivity rate in Clark County is at 35.0%, which keeps the county on the states watch list for elevated transmission risk. The rate must be below 8% and a separate measure of the countys case rate currently high at 702.7 cases (per 100,000 population over the past seven days) needs to drop below 50 for two straight weeks before the mask mandate can end.

In todays report, all of Nevadas 17 counties are flagged for high transmission.

Clark Countys case rate (4,427 per 100,000 over the past 30 days) and test positivity rate (34.3%) are flagged in data reported today. Testing (639 tests per day per 100,000) is within the states acceptable range.

Thestates health department reports4,184,649 dosesof the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nevada,as of Jan. 27.

As of yesterday, 55.70% of Nevadans currently eligible for the vaccine are fully vaccinated, and 66.33% of the eligible population has initiated vaccinations. Clark County reports that 55.08% of its eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

NOTE: The state is not updating hospitalization dataonweekendsor holidays.

According to the statesDepartment of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada wasdown (-69) since yesterday. The number of patients dropped by 68 in Clark County.

The current number of hospitalizations is1,797 confirmed/suspected cases statewide. Hospitals reported 325 of those patients were in intensive care units, and 169 were on ventilators.To give some perspective, the state set a record high for hospitalized patients on Dec. 13, 2020, with 2,025 patients.

A weekly update from the Nevada Hospital Association notes that the sheer volume of omicron cases has overwhelmed hospitals in Clark County.

While omicron appears to be less virulent than other variants, the sheer volume of cases is stressing the hospitals combined with employee illness and required isolation days, NHA said.

The graphs below show hospitalizations in Nevada (first image) and in Clark County:

The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Southern Nevada continues to increase. The latest county update estimates a total of 430,339 recovered cases; thats 91.7% of all reported cases in the county, according toSNHDs latest report.

Nevadareopened to 100% capacity on June 1and social distancing guidelines lifted, helping the state return to mostly pre-pandemic times, with some exceptions.

The CDC reversed course on July 27, saying fully vaccinated Americans in areas with substantial and high transmission should wear masks indoors when in public as COVID-19 cases rise. Most of Nevada falls into those two risk categories.

Nevada said it would adopt the CDCs guidance with the new mask guidelinethat went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 30. Thisoverrides Clark Countys employee mask mandate, which went into effect in mid-July.

On Aug. 16, Gov. Sisolak signed a new directivethat allows fully vaccinated attendees at large gatherings to remove their masks, but only if the venue chooses to require everyone in attendance to provide proof of vaccination. Those who have just one shot and are not fully vaccinated would still be allowed to attend, as would children under 12, but both would need to wear masks.

Masks still must be worn when required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local businesses and workplace guidance.

State approval for vaccinating children 5-11 years old was given on Nov. 3, with plans by the Southern Nevada Health District to begin vaccinations on Nov. 10. The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine approved for children at this time.

SEE ALSO:Previous days report

Originally posted here:

NEW: COVID-19 numbers trending lower in Clark County headed into the weekend - KLAS - 8 News Now

Vehicle wait in line at the Capstone Clinic drive-thru COVID-19 test site at the Alaska Airlines Center parking lot on the UAA Campus on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Alaska reported rising virus hospitalization numbers Friday and the highest case rate in the nation as the omicron variant continues to snarl staffing at health care facilities that have had to adapt to the ups and downs of the pandemic.

The state on Friday reported 5,897 cases of COVID-19 over the past two days and a seven-day case rate of 2,360.4 cases per 100,000 higher than any other U.S. state, according to a CDC tracker.

Meanwhile, cases and hospitalizations in many other states and countries continued to fall. Alaskas omicron surge began a few weeks after other states, which is likely why cases here have not yet begun to slow, Dr. Anne Zink, Alaskas chief medical officer, said Thursday during a call with reporters.

Alaska, Oklahoma and Washington are currently leading the pack, she said, while many of the East Coast states such as Maryland and Washington, D.C., have really started to come down significantly after these large peaks. So just different places at different times with this virus.

The latest case count included 5,699 cases among Alaska residents and 198 among nonresidents in the state.

[Coronavirus Q&A: Facts and tips for Alaskans as omicron drives up case counts]

Around the world, omicron surges have been marked by less severe disease in many cases, along with fewer hospitalizations and deaths. However, in Alaska, a combination of staff shortages and rising patient counts are continuing to strain the states health care system.

By Friday, there were 156 COVID-positive patients hospitalized up from 129 reported Wednesday and 139 reported Monday, but still well below the more than 230 hospitalizations reported during a peak last fall. About 15% of all hospitalizations in the state involved people with COVID-19.

At Providence Alaska Medical Center, the states largest hospital, there were somewhere between 80 and 100 staff members who had called out on Friday due to illness or possible exposure, according to Mikal Canfield, hospital spokesman. Just one ICU bed remained available by Friday at noon.

One hopeful sign, Canfield said, was that it appeared as though staff callouts at the hospital had somewhat plateaued by the end of week they were neither decreasing or increasing.

At Alaska Native Medical Center, our COVID inpatient numbers have gradually increased, but we do have beds available, said Fiona Brosnan, a hospital spokeswoman. She said that staffing continued to be challenging with high numbers of callouts.

Despite the surge in cases and hospitalizations, Zink said she thinks that in some ways, Alaskas pandemic response feels smoother this time around.

Unfortunately, we had a bad delta surge here in this state, and what happened was the team got really good at being able to record a lot of cases quickly. The health care sector started to meet on a regular basis, she explained. We figured out how to get additional nurses.

[At-home COVID-19 tests that freeze in transit are likely still usable just make sure theyre thawed out]

Other states hit less hard by delta are now very underwater trying to figure out how to respond during omicron, she said. So I think we just have to use a lot of caution when we look directly at state-to-state comparisons, to have a full sense of whats happening.

Public health officials continue to emphasize vaccination, as well as social distancing and masking, as the best ways to combat the omicron variant. As of Friday, just over 61% of residents over 5 and military members or veterans had completed their primary series of vaccinations. Only about a quarter of eligible residents had received booster shots.

The national average for fully vaccinated people is 63%. Alaska ranks 33rd among states for its vaccination rate.

Alaska on Friday also reported four more deaths from the virus, all involving Anchorage residents: three men in their 40s, 60s and 70s, respectively, plus a woman in her 70s.

Since March 2020, there have been 1,052 COVID-19 deaths among Alaska residents and 33 nonresident deaths.

View original post here:

Alaska's COVID-19 case rate is again the highest in the nation as hospitalizations tick up - Anchorage Daily News

COVID-19 is already throwing a wrench into plans for Team USA, a week before the 2022 Winter Olympics begin.

Multiple members of the United States bobsled and skeleton team have tested positive for the virus, Yahoo Sports reported on Friday night.

Bobsledder Josh Williamson announced Wednesday in an Instagram post that he had tested positive for COVID-19 last Sunday, but he is reportedly not the only one. There is at least one other athlete, in addition to multiple coaches and support staff, who tested positive, according to Yahoo. A team official confirmed to the website that there were multiple positive tests but did not specify details.

Its all a nightmare, one athlete told Yahoo Sports.

Williamson said in his Instagram post that while he was not able to fly to Beijing with Team USA, there were later flights that he could get on once he returns multiple negative tests. The Olympics officially begin Friday but bobsled training runs dont begin until Feb. 10.

The team official told Yahoo that at this time, [the federation] still expect[s] everyone to go to Beijing. What could complicate matters is anyone who tested positive will need four straight days of negative PCR tests and a fifth-day buffer before they can depart for Beijing.

Team USA won the silver medal in two-woman bobsled in 2018. Elana Meyers Taylor, who won the silver with Lauren Gibbs, tweeted on Thursday that she had made it to Beijing and passed her first COVID-19 test.

More here:

US Olympic bobsled team already facing COVID-19 'nightmare' - New York Post

The Flathead City-County Health Department is planning on distributing free COVID-19 antigen tests Feb. 1 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

The tests will be available at the Expo Building from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until supplies run out. Test kits will be limited to one kit per individual per household. Each kit contains two tests.

Businesses can also request COVID-19 test kits, and the health department asks that businesses fill out and submit a form, after which businesses are asked to send someone to pick up their requested supply at the fairgrounds during the distribution event. In a press release announcing the test distribution event, the health department notes that allocations will depend on the number of employees and the current test kit supply, and that businesses will be allowed a maximum of one test kit per employee.

The tests kits include CareStart tests, which are self-administered and provide results in 10 minutes.

Health Officer Joe Russell told the Beacon recently that the health department had requested 5,000 kits from the state, which he said amounted to about a quarter of the test kits allocated for Flathead County out of the recent shipment.

The test distribution marks a turnaround from the testing shortage that has plagued the health department since Jan. 7. Up until that point, the health department had been requesting about 1,000 tests a week from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). The new testing kits are drawn from a shipment of 650,000 ordered by the state arrived this week.

In a press release announcing the distribution of the tests to county and tribal health departments, DPHHS notes that those entities are required to provide an information page with each test kit, and that Montanans can report positive tests to DPHHS by scanning the QR code located on that information page, or by going online and filling out a DPHHS COVID-19 at-home test result reporting form.

COVID-19 testing is also available elsewhere in Flathead County, including at Logan Health. Hospital representatives earlier this month told the Beacon they had seen an increase in testing demand. By midway through January about 90% of tests conducted at Logan were PCR tests.

See the article here:

Health Department to Distribute COVID-19 Tests at Fairgrounds - Flathead Beacon

A military medical team is coming to Maryland to support health care workers treating COVID-19 patients.

A military medical team is coming to Maryland to support health care workers treating COVID-19 patients.

The 40-person team from the U.S. Navy will help at the Adventist HealthCare Alternate Care Site in Takoma Park.

This comes at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is sending some 115 doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists in five teams to five states to support civilian health care workers.

Maine is also getting the beginning support of a 15-person team, while its being expanded in Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio, a U.S. Army news release said.

The Secretary of Defense approved the activation of 1,000 military medical personnel to support the federal COVID-19 response mission last December. The first five hundred became available earlier this month and the next 500 will be available at the end of January.

They will join 400 other military medical personnel who have already been activated to help civilian hospitals.

More Coronavirus news

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Military medical personnel to support Md. health care workers treating COVID-19 - WTOP

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) Health experts say they are seeing a new tendency, an increase in false-negative COVID-19 rapid tests. This week KSN News talked with a local advanced nurse to learn more.

Luisa Taylor works for Free State Health Care and says since winter break the spike in false-negative rapid tests has increased significantly.

What happens is patients go get tested at a health clinic or a local COVID-19 testing site. Those rapid tests come back negative, but the PCR test comes back positive within a few days. The negative part about this is some people continue socializing with others during their infectious period and increase the spread of COVID-19.

We have a little bit of everything going on not just COVID so it is hard to know when to isolate but I would air on the side of caution. If you are sick enough or symptomatic enough that you are going to test yourself even with a rapid test, I would go ahead and recommend quarantining yourself for the 5 days that the CDC recommends, Taylor said.

Taylor suggests people go back and get tested after 3 days with a PCR test if results were negative but they are still having symptoms of a cold, flu, or COVID-19.

See the rest here:

Local health experts see an increase in false-negative COVID-19 rapid tests - KSN-TV

Young woman faces amputation after COVID-19 complications

Josh Cascio reports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Claire Bridges, a 20-year-old, bubbly kavatender at the Grassroots Kava House in St. Pete, is sitting in a hospital room facing the unthinkable reality that she might have both legs amputated after getting sick with COVID-19.

Claire was vaccinated, but due to a congenital heart condition, she developed a complication that could change her life forever.

"She wasnt getting circulation to her legs and, because of that, there was a lot of muscle damage," said her best friend and roommate, Heather Valdes.

Claire nearly died multiple times, but somehow kept her spirits up.

"Claire is just a positive ray of light and she's a wonderful woman," Valdes said."When she woke up and they told her about it, she was very calm and very peaceful and said, I want bionic legs," she noted.

Friends and family have raised tens of thousands of dollars through online fundraisers for her medical bills and future expenses.Though her prognosis is dire, her best friend says Claire's future remains bright, even if it seems dark in the moment.

"I think she's going to make the best out of this and have many opportunities to come into her life," Valdes said. "Just take [COVID] seriously and realize it is not a joke."

https://www.gofundme.com/f/care-for-claire4

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-claires-medical-and-ongoing-expenses

Link:

St. Pete woman born with heart condition faces amputation after COVID-19 infection - FOX 13 Tampa Bay

By Michael Savitt

Updated: 3 hours ago Published: 3 hours ago

FILE - This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. (NIAID-RML via AP)

Good news, bad news. We have new therapeutics under emergency use authorization by the FDA for treating non-hospitalized people with the omicron variant of COVID-19, but they are not readily available. These medications are used in non-hospitalized patients, early in the illness, when they work best against viral replication to prevent hospitalizations or death.

As most folks know by now, there are monoclonal antibody treatments used to treat COVID-19. There are three different ones that have been widely used up until now. Bamlanivimab/etesevimab and casirivamab/imdevmab are not working against omicron. Sotrovimab is the only one that is, and it is in short supply. It is being used to treat high-risk, non-hospitalized patients with mild to moderate omicron infections. The National Institutes of Health has published risk group prioritizations based on four key elements: age, vaccination status, immune status and clinical risk factors. If you are having difficulty getting monoclonal antibody treatment, this is the reason. It is not lack of planning by the State of Alaska or Municipality of Anchorage.

Other treatment options include the antiviral medications Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, also under FDA emergency use authorization. These are also not readily available. Paxlovid has many drug-to-drug interactions that may limit its use, but when used judiciously, it has shown 88% reduction in hospitalizations or deaths. Remdesivir has been used in the hospital setting, given intravenously. NIH and Infectious Diseases Society guidelines have suggested its use for non-hospitalized patients. Molnupiravir, another oral antiviral medication, has shown a 30% reduction in hospitalization or deaths. The FDA emergency use authorization is only if other authorized treatment options are not available or clinically appropriate, due to concerns that it may cause human DNA mutations.

We expect to see more supplies of these medications become available in the next few weeks and months.

It is important to remember that vaccinations, while not 100% effective, are still important to prevent severe illness and death. Even with so many breakthough cases, unvaccinated patients and those with no prior COVID-19 infection remain the most vulnerable.

The CDC has modified its guidelines on isolation and quarantine. Non-pharmaceutical mitigation measures are still being recommended. New information on mask usage has changed as well. The most effective facial barrier is the N95 mask, followed by the KN95. Cloth masks provide very little if any protection. Surgical and medical masks are not much better. Hand-washing for 20 seconds or more, physical distancing now recommended at three feet, and adequate room ventilation with room air turnover at least two times or more per hour to prevent accumulation of aerosolized viral particles. These four measures must all be used together to be effective.

Keep in mind that omicron, though extremely contagious and spreading rapidly, is still less virulent than previous COVID-19 variants. We have more therapeutic tools at our disposal than ever before, with more being developed.

Michael B. Savitt, M.D., F.A.A.P., serves as chief medical officer for the Anchorage Health Department.

The views expressed here are the writers and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.

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Adapting to the changing reality of the COVID-19 pandemic - Anchorage Daily News

The omicron surge is on its decline, as new cases are plummeting as fast as they climbed, providing hope for relief from the record-breaking wave of infection. As the country begins to relax, the question is: Whats next?

In the last two weeks, Pennsylvanias average daily number of new infections has dropped to about 14,000 from a peak of more than 28,000. The case numbers are now similar to where they were on Dec. 31 though they still remain higher than in any previous wave.

The Northeast, including New Jersey, has seen a similar drop, while the nationwide case numbers have peaked but are falling more slowly, according to data analyzed by the New York Times.

As the surge wanes, the country is likely to get a reprieve from high COVID-19 spread, particularly once the winter ends. The lull will provide an opportunity to prepare for the potential next wave, using lessons learned from the omicron surge.

Omicron is not the end, said Temple University chief medical officer Tony Reed. This virus is still out there [and] will mutate. So itll be back.

READ MORE: Declining omicron surge is a promising sign for Pa. and N.J. hospitals. But its not over yet.

Federal and state governments found themselves reacting to the omicron surge after it had begun. In some cases, including in Pennsylvania, aid is now coming to residents or hospitals but not arriving until weeks after the peak.

The lag, experts say, is because the infrastructure for it wasnt in place. Pennsylvanias acting health secretary, too, noted at a news briefing last week that it had taken some time to get funding in place for the states recent initiatives.

My hope is that the next time, we dont wait until were mid-surge, said Courtney Boen, a University of Pennsylvania professor and sociologist.

To meet the challenge, hospital officials around Pennsylvania used strategies developed throughout the pandemic, pivoting frequently and moving staff between jobs. In the next few weeks, some that have been overwhelmed hope to restart elective procedures, see patients who delayed care, and examine their responses.

In interviews, public health experts and hospital leaders talked about what hospitals and the public need before the next surge. Here are some of those steps:

Continuing the push for vaccination is key, experts said, both in the United States and globally, because new variants will be able to emerge until most of the population is vaccinated.

Data from the omicron surge show that people who had received booster shots were highly protected from severe cases and hospitalization. A lull will provide an important window for vaccination efforts, allowing people time to complete immunizations before the next wave. It takes several months to get all three shots, so people who need first, second, or third doses should start now, experts said.

READ MORE: Omicrons toughest foe is a booster shot, yet many in the Philly region are skipping theirs

County, state, and federal governments efforts to improve vaccine access and outreach and employer vaccine requirements remain key, experts said. Some also recommended state or federal vaccine mandates.

When you have unvaccinated people, you have variants, said Jennifer Kolker, a public health professor at Drexel University. [Some people] are nearer to getting vaccinated, and we need to stay with them and continue to talk to them.

As omicron infected even people who were vaccinated, wearing masks again became paramount. Now, experts said, communication is essential to help the public better understand when to wear masks and to combat confusion and fatigue.

The public should view taking precautions as good not just for me as an individual, but its good for the community that Im around every day, and its good for my region, said Jack Lynch, CEO of Main Line Health.

And states should consider imposing mask policies tied to virus transmission levels, experts suggested. That would mean a mask mandate would automatically go into effect if another surge arrived but would be dropped as soon as case spread improved.

If the state wants to be serious about protecting health-care infrastructure, Boen said, they really have to take mask mandates seriously.

During the surge, hospitals often had nowhere to send patients who needed further recovery but were ready to be moved out of acute care wards. Not being able to transfer patients to nursing homes and rehabs because of a lack of available beds or staff can cause a backlog of patients in emergency rooms.

Strengthening that system, known as post-acute care, before the next wave is critical, said several hospital officials.

Pennsylvania is aiming to address that temporarily with eight overflow sites that will take patients from hospitals. The sites will be at existing skilled nursing facilities; theyll open sometime in February and operate for about two months, a spokesperson said. Up to four more sites will open later in February.

That type of aid really would be a big help, said Donald Yealy chief medical officer at UPMC.

But hospitals needed the aid a few weeks ago, Geisinger Health chief medical officer Gerald Maloney said last week. We will still have people in the hospital three weeks from now who would benefit from that, so well take it if thats what we get. But if we could get it today, that would be even better.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health defended its timing, with a spokesperson saying the impact on hospitals will continue for weeks and asserting the aid is not specifically tied to the surge in cases caused by the omicron variant.

The department is working aggressively to support our health-care facilities, said spokesperson Mark ONeill.

Increasing access to testing, masks, and other supplies is also critical.

During the lull, a plan should be established, experts said, that would allow measures like the federal governments plan to provide free at-home tests to households to take effect more quickly. And after omicron, it may be more politically palatable, Penns Boen suggested.

Within the last two or three weeks, things that at one time felt like there was a lot of political resistance against, like providing free masks, like providing free tests to people, all of a sudden became doable, Boen said.

READ MORE: How to get free COVID-19 tests from the federal government

Having already seen an influx of patients who put off medical care earlier in the pandemic, doctors will also use the coming months to treat patients who need overdue care. That also includes hospitals resuming elective surgeries that were delayed during the surge.

If there are patients who put off general care, Reed said, its incumbent on our primary care groups to make sure theres nobody outstanding.

Solving the health-care staffing crisis that is impairing hospitals nationwide is one of the most urgent needs, short- and long-term, but possibly among the toughest to address. Hospitals are hoping to hire over the next several months, but with so many workers having left, that pipeline is going to take time to rebuild, said Yealy of UPMC.

And hospitals, which have partly weathered the surge by moving workers between jobs, could potentially reconsider how they use their workforce, Yealy said. They also may craft new contingency staffing plans or seek ways to relieve exhausted workers.

READ MORE: Pa. nurses after 22 months of COVID-19 and a new surge: It is so defeating

Were running folks ragged because we dont have the systems in place to efficiently transition people, said Matthew Ferrari, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University.

Meanwhile, Gov. Tom Wolfs administration offered what acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter called a short-term fix last week, launching a strike team program allowing hospitals to request extra workers for seven- to 14-day periods.

Since its start, the pandemic has laid bare the gaps in public health investment and infrastructure. More government funding would put public health entities in a stronger position for the next crisis, experts say whether it means they have better capacity to open testing sites or more funding to cover higher supply costs and salary increases.

Theres going to have to be relief from the federal and state governments, like they did in 20 and 21, said Lynch of Main Line Health. Were losing money.

Wolf and a bipartisan group of lawmakers last week announced the passage of a law that would inject $225 million of federal COVID-19 relief funds into hospitals and behavioral health centers for recruiting and retaining staff, as well as helping nurses repay student loan debt.

Federal funding is also key for the production of treatments and supplies and continued research.

Unlike the past, where we didnt know what the future was and we didnt know how bad it could be, said Ferrari, of Penn State, now we dont know what the future could be, but we know how bad it can be. We learned the downside of inaction.

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What can we learn from omicron? Here are 7 steps public health leaders say we should take before the next surge. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) When the coronavirus began spreading around the world, the remote Pacific archipelago of Kiribati closed its borders, ensuring the disease didnt reach its shores for nearly two full years.

Kiribati finally began reopening this month, allowing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to charter a plane to bring home 54 of the island nations citizens. Many of those aboard were missionaries who had left Kiribati before the border closure to spread the faith abroad for what is commonly known as the Mormon church.

Officials tested each returning passenger three times in nearby Fiji, required that they be vaccinated, and put them in quarantine with additional testing when they arrived home.

It wasnt enough.

More than half the passengers tested positive for the virus, which has now slipped out into the community and prompted the government to declare a state of disaster. An initial 36 positive cases from the flight had ballooned to 181 cases by Friday.

Kiribati and several other small Pacific nations were among the last places on the planet to have avoided any virus outbreaks, thanks to their remote locations and strict border controls. But their defenses appear no match against the highly contagious omicron variant.

Generally speaking, its inevitable. It will get to every corner of the world, said Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Its a matter of buying enough time to prepare and getting as many people vaccinated as possible.

Only 33% of Kiribatis 113,000 people are fully vaccinated, while 59% have had at least one dose, according to the online scientific publication Our World in Data. And like many other Pacific nations, Kiribati offers only basic health services.

Dr. Api Talemaitoga, who chairs a network of Indigenous Pacific Island doctors in New Zealand, said Kiribati had only a couple of intensive care beds in the entire nation, and in the past relied on sending its sickest patients to Fiji or New Zealand for treatment.

He said that given the limitations of Kiribatis health system, his first reaction when he heard about the outbreak was, Oh, my lord.

Kiribati has now opened multiple quarantine sites, declared a curfew and imposed lockdowns. President Taneti Maamau said on social media that the government is using all its resources to manage the situation, and urged people to get vaccinated.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in the U.S. state of Utah, has a strong presence in many Pacific nations, including Kiribati, where its 20,000 members make it the third-largest Christian denomination. The church has about 53,000 missionaries serving full time around the world, working to convert people.

The pandemic has presented challenges for their missionary work, which is considered a rite of passage for men as young as 18 and women as young as 19.

As the pandemic ebbed and flowed, the church responded. Itrecalled about 26,000 missionaries who were serving overseasin June 2020, reassigning them to proselytize online from home before sending some back out into the field five months later.

When COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in many countries in April 2021, church officialsencouraged all missionaries to get inoculated and required it of those serving outside their home countries.

Church spokesperson Sam Penrod said the returning missionaries remained in quarantine, were cooperating with local health authorities and would be released from their service upon completion of their quarantine.

With Kiribatis borders being closed since the onset of the pandemic, many of these individuals have continued as missionaries well beyond their 18 to 24 months of anticipated service, with some serving as long as 44 months, he said.

Before this months outbreak, Kiribati had reported just two virus cases: crew members on an incoming cargo ship that ultimately wasnt permitted to dock.

But the Kiribati charter flight wasnt the first time missionaries returning home to a Pacific island nation tested positive for COVID-19.

In October, a missionary returning to Tonga from service in Africa wasreported as the countrys first and so far only positive case after flying home via New Zealand. Like those returning to Kiribati, he also was vaccinated and quarantined.

Tonga is desperately trying to prevent any outbreaks as it recovers from adevastating volcanic eruptionandtsunamiearlier this month. The nation of 105,000 has been receiving aid from around the world but has requested that crews from incoming military ships and planes drop their supplies andleave without having any contactwith those on the ground.

Theyve got enough on their hands without compounding it with the spread of COVID, said Petousis-Harris, the vaccine expert. Anything they can do to keep it out is going to be important. COVID would be just compounding that disaster.

In the long term, however, it is going to be impossible to stop the virus from entering Tonga or any other community, Petousis-Harris said.

Nearby Samoa, with a population of 205,000, is also trying to prevent its first outbreak. It imposed a lockdown through until Friday evening after 15 passengers on an incoming flight from Australia last week tested positive.

By Thursday, that number had grown to 27, including five front-line nurses who had treated the passengers. Officials said all those infected had been isolated and there was no community outbreak so far.

While the incursion of the virus into the Pacific has prompted lockdowns and other restrictions, there were signs that not all traditional aspects of island life would be lost for long.

Government has decided to allow fishing, Kiribati declared on Thursday while listing certain restrictions on times and places. Only four people will be allowed to be on a boat or part of a group fishing near shore.

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COVID-19 hits one of the planets last uninfected places - KFOR Oklahoma City