Pregnant women; vaccinations; CDC; masks; French nun
Wearing a tight-fitting masks or a double masks can dramatically decrease exposure to and spread of COVID-19, a vital protection in opposition to rising new variations of the virus, the CDC reported Wednesday.
In lab exams with dummies, publicity to doubtlessly infectious aerosols decreased by greater than 90% when tight or double masks had been used, the CDC mentioned.
“Cases hospitalizations and deaths are still very high,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a White House coronavirus briefing. “Now is not the time to roll back mask requirements.”
The White House also announced three new mass vaccination sites at sports stadiums in Texas that could deliver a total of 10,000 shots per day. The sites in Dallas, Arlington and Houston will be operated by local health officials supported by federal troops starting Feb. 22. The action comes days after the National Football League said it was working with public health officials to allow use of its stadiums for mass vaccinations.
White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said the administration plans to open similar sites in more states in the coming weeks.
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In the headlines:
►Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. The foreign-made knockoffs are becoming increasingly difficult to spot and could put health care workers at grave risk for the coronavirus. These masks are giving first responders “a false sense of security,” mentioned Steve Francis, who works for the Homeland Security Department’s principal investigative arm.
►About 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is discouraging news if the U.S. hopes to achieve herd immunity and vanquish the outbreak. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that while 67% of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15% are certain they won’t and 17% say probably not. Many expressed doubts about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.
►The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrated their victory Wednesday with a boat parade amid continued concern over the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor Jane Castor emphasized that people attending the parade must wear masks outdoors and observe social distancing rules. It appeared many were abiding by the mask order but many others were not. This follows the controversy that ensued following the game on Sunday, when revelers in Tampa, many maskless and ignoring social distancing guidance, celebrated in the streets.
►About 20,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated for COVID-19 with no “pink flags” so far, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday. Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said pregnant women and children were not included in initial clinical trials. But he said studies involving them are underway with the focus on ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for these groups.
►Two-thirds of Americans still believe that returning to a pre-COVID life represents a moderate or large risk, according to the Axios-Ipsos poll. That’s the lowest percentage since October. One in three Americans, 34%, now know someone who has died from COVID-19, according to the survey.
►A French nun who is Europe’s oldest person has survived COVID-19, simply days earlier than her 117th birthday. Lucile Randon, or Sister Andre, examined optimistic for the coronavirus Jan. 16 in Toulon however did not develop signs, telling native media she “did not even understand I had it.” She isolated separately from other residents in her retirement home in Toulon, southern France but is now considered fully recovered.
►The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 therapy from Eli Lilly that combines two monoclonal antibody drugs, giving doctors another option to help high-risk patients.
►After weeks of vaccine distribution being largely restricted to hospitals, well being programs and native well being departments, COVID-19 vaccines will roll out Friday at major pharmacies, together with the nation’s two largest chains, CVS and Walgreens.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has more than 27.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 471,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 107.2 million cases and 2.35 million deaths. More than 65.9 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and about 44.7 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: How a lot rent relief will you get? You’re extra more likely to get assist when you’re white and dwell in rural America.
Ohio to add up to 4K previously unreported COVID-19 deaths to tally
Ohio will add as many as 4,000 beforehand unreported COVID-19 deaths to the state’s tally throughout the subsequent week after the Ohio Department of Health discovered errors in how coronavirus deaths are confirmed. Most of those deaths occurred in November and December, the company mentioned in a information launch.
State officials were still determining the cause of the problem but released some information Wednesday evening to be transparent, Gov. Mike DeWine’s spokesman Dan Tierney said.
“When there’s been points, whether or not it is spoilage with the vaccine or reporting points like this, we’ve disclosed it to the general public,” Tierney mentioned.
As of Wednesday, Ohio has reported 11,856 deaths due to COVID-19. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts 17,222 deaths in Ohio involving COVID-19.
– Jackie Borchardt and Randy Ludlow, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Colleges struggle to contain virus
The University of Massachusetts Amherst announced this week that the campus is now considered “excessive danger” and all students, whether in campus residences halls or in off-campus housing in the surrounding area, are directed to self-sequester. Students must stay in their residences except to get meals, undergo twice-weekly COVID testing, or to attend medical appointments.
At the University of California Berkeley, a self-sequester mandate was extended through least Feb. 15. The rate of new cases is declining, but a “important” number of students remain in quarantine, the school said on its website. It is too early to be sure this current surge is contained, the school said.
South Africa to use J&J vaccine while it’s still being tested
South Africa’s well being minister says the nation will start administering the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to its front-line well being staff subsequent week. The staff might be monitored to see what safety the J&J shot supplies from COVID-19, notably in opposition to the variant dominant within the nation. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize mentioned Wednesday that South Africa scrapped its plans to make use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a result of it “does not prevent mild to moderate disease” of the variant dominant in South Africa. In the U.S., Johnson & Johnson has utilized to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its vaccine.
Chicago teachers vote to return to classrooms
The Chicago teachers union grudgingly approved a deal Wednesday that will let the nation’s third-largest school district return to classrooms amid the pandemic. The major issues included widespread vaccinations for the district’s 25,000 educators, metrics to gauge school infections and accommodations for teachers who have a person in their household who’s more susceptible to the coronavirus.
“We didn’t get what we wished or what we deserved,” union President Jesse Sharkey said. “The undeniable fact that CPS couldn’t delay reopening a couple of brief weeks to ramp up vaccinations and preparations in colleges is a shame.”
Pre-K and special education programs could return as soon as Thursday under the plan. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade would go back to school March 1 and middle schoolers a week later. No return date has been set for high schoolers. The union and district have been arguing for months over a plan to gradually reopen the roughly 340,000-student district.
British transport secretary issues ominous travel warning
Britons will not be allowed to trip overseas till “everybody” within the nation has been vaccinated, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps mentioned Wednesday. Shapps mentioned about 13 million of the U.K’s 67 million individuals have been vaccinated up to now. Shapps additionally instructed BBC Radio 4’s Today present that “people shouldn’t be booking holidays right now – not domestically or internationally.” That drew sharp responses from the travel industry.
“Airlines are drowning, but rather than throwing us a life raft, @grantshapps has just thrown a bucket of cold water at us,” the British Airline Pilots’ Association tweeted. “The UK aviation sector cannot survive another summer with hardly any flying.”
California to surge past New York in deaths – but situation is improving
California will soon overtake New York as the state with the most coronavirus-related deaths. The most populous state in the nation’s COVID-19 death toll was at 44,494 late Tuesday, closing in on New York’s 44,969 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The news comes as California health officials lift regional stay-at-home orders across the state, even as most counties have a widespread risk of infection and transmission. It also comes as the Golden State struggles with its vaccine plan and contends with a new variant that appears to have originated in the San Francisco Bay Area.
But hope is on the horizon: The numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care unit patients have steadily declined since early January. More mass vaccination sites are opening, including Levi’s Stadium near San Francisco on Tuesday, and California has put insurance giant Blue Shield in charge of a more streamlined vaccine rollout.
Variant cases in US spike by 73%; Florida leads the way
The number of known coronavirus variant cases in the U.S. has surged 73% in the last week alone, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The country now reports 944 cases of variants that spread more easily, bypass treatments and immunities, or both. Nowhere has the increase been more noticeable than in Florida, which now has 343 cases of a fast-spreading variant – up from 201 cases reported during Sunday’s Super Bowl, which was hosted in Tampa. Florida now has more than twice as many known variant cases as any other state; California is a distant second.
The vast majority of the country’s known variant cases, and all of Florida’s, are of the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first detected in the U.K. and has run rampant there. The CDC has said it may become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. Last month, U.K. researchers said there’s evidence the variant may be more deadly than others, and it’s also considered at least 50% more transmissible than the original strain.
– Mike Stucka
Biden administration pledges 1M doses for community health centers
The Biden administration will begin sending coronavirus vaccines directly to community health centers as it boosts distribution and reaches out to underserved communities, the White House announced. At least one center in every state and territory will get vaccines as the program ramps up to include 250 of the more than 1,300 such facilities in the country. The participating centers will receive a combined 1 million doses, starting as soon as next week. In later phases, vaccines will become available to all community health centers. The majority of the patients served by the centers are living at or below the federal poverty line. Most are also minorities, according to the administration.
“This effort … really is about connecting with those hard-to-reach populations across the country,” mentioned Marcella Nunez-Smith, who heads the COVID-19 well being fairness activity pressure.
– Maureen Groppe
Contributing: The Associated Press
