New infections drop more than 50% as delta wave wanes: COVID updates
New coronavirus infections are down 56.8% nationwide because the delta variant surge peaked within the first week of September, a USA TODAY evaluation of Johns Hopkins College knowledge reveals.
Instances are down in each area – the South, within the Mid-Atlantic, most of New England, the Midwest, the West. Among the states hit hardest within the delta wave – Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, South Carolina and Tennessee – are reporting instances at a price about one-sixth of the place they have been lower than two months in the past. Arkansas and Louisiana instances have fallen by greater than three-quarters since then, too.
However there are some warning indicators from states, principally in colder climes and sometimes with low vaccination charges in some communities. In comparison with the week of Sept. 4, the tempo of recent instances is up about 85% in Alaska, 63% in Michigan and 56% in Montana. They’re even up 39% in Vermont, which was an early chief in vaccination.
The U.S. has seen sharp declines previously, solely to see instances rise once more. Winter may drive social gatherings indoors, the place infections can unfold extra simply.
Melissa Nolan, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics on the College of South Carolina Arnold College of Public Well being, stays cautiously optimistic.
“Our fashions proceed to foretell a decline and stabilization of instances via the remainder of the calendar yr,” Nolan stated. “That’s assuming we don’t see one other new variant take maintain in our inhabitants.”
– Mike Stucka
Additionally within the information:
►An order barring the president of the Chicago police union from making public statements encouraging members to disobey the town’s vaccine mandate expired after a choose denied a request to increase it.
►The North Dakota Division of Well being on Tuesday switched off feedback on its social media accounts, saying it was doing so to fight the unfold of misinformation. The remark ban “can be utilized to all posts, and never be particular to any specific matter,” the company stated.
►Maine well being care facilities are going through a staffing crunch, however vaccination mandates usually are not the trigger, the chief of the state’s largest well being community stated Tuesday. Maine Well being CEO Andrew Mueller blamed an growing older workforce and staff leaving the business because of the stress of working through the pandemic.
►Inexperienced Bay Packers large receiver Davante Adams, who ranks second within the NFL in catches and third in receiving yards, tested positive for COVID-19 and can probably miss Thursday’s recreation towards the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals. Adams says he is vaccinated.
📈 In the present day’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded greater than 45 million confirmed COVID-19 instances and almost 738,000 deaths, in accordance to Johns Hopkins University data. World totals: Greater than 244 million instances and 4.9 million deaths. Greater than 190 million Individuals – 57% of the inhabitants – are totally vaccinated, in accordance with the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: Analysis through the pandemic has proven these with mental health disorders are more vulnerable to COVID-19, nevertheless it wasn’t till final week that the CDC added them to the listing of underlying medical circumstances related to a better threat of extreme illness
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COVID extra harmful than flu for youths, however RSV could also be worse
COVID-19 isn’t the one viral illness youngsters are catching this yr. Influenza, which sends hundreds of youngsters to the hospital every season, is predicted to ramp up within the coming months. USA TODAY analyzed knowledge and spoke to pediatric specialists across the nation to grasp the dangers of COVID-19 in youngsters relative to different widespread viral illnesses.
Dr. David Buchholz, a professor of pediatrics at Columbia College’s Irving Medical Heart, says the flu, which is dormant via the summer season, isn’t a easy comparability to COVID-19, which infects year-round. What’s clear, he says, is that the chance of COVID-19 outweighs that of the flu throughout a typical season. Buchholz provides that respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which he says can kill 100 to 500 youngsters a yr.
“You probably have an toddler or toddler you have to be much more fearful about RSV than COVID. Much more youngsters die of RSV than COVID, significantly youngsters beneath 2.”
Councilwoman says Lyft driver pulled gun on her husband over masks concern
A St. Louis County councilwoman says a Lyft driver pulled a gun on her husband when he requested the driving force to put on a masks. Councilwoman Lisa Clancy tweeted at Lyft saying, “certainly one of your drivers simply cocked a gun on my husband when he requested him to put on a masks (which is your coverage).” Clancy stated her husband needed to report the incident however the driver canceled the journey and erased information of the transaction.
“Lyft is working with police and likewise has suspended the driving force,” she tweeted and Lyft and police confirmed. “We’re glad with how Lyft is dealing with this.”
FDA panel to weigh in on Pfizer vaccine for ages 5-11 as we speak
A panel of Meals and Drug Administration advisers will vote Tuesday on whether or not to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be used in youngsters 5 to 11. As soon as the advisory committee has permitted the vaccine, three steps stay earlier than it could be accessible to youngsters: The FDA should log out, an impartial CDC advisory panel will overview the info, after which the CDC director must log out. Youngsters are far much less probably than adults to be hospitalized with COVID-19 or undergo long-term penalties from the illness, placing a better burden on the vaccines to show protected and efficient to justify their dangers.
In the meantime, Moderna introduced Monday that its vaccine for youngsters ages 6 to 11 reveals a “strong” immune response in a research of greater than 4,500 youths. Moderna stated it plans to submit the info to the FDA “within the close to time period.”
Alabama governor says she will not implement federal vaccine mandate
In response to Auburn College’s just lately introduced vaccine mandate for all staff, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an executive order of her personal Monday, instructing all state companies to not implement the federal vaccine mandate issued by President Joe Biden that applies to firms using 100 or extra folks.
In a tweet, Ivey stated: “The federal authorities’s overreach has given us no different possibility.” Auburn introduced Friday that each one college staff need to be vaccinated by Dec. 8.
First-year Auburn soccer coach Bryan Harsin, who contracted COVID in August and missed 10 days of preseason apply, declined to answer reporters’ questions Monday on whether or not he was vaccinated. The college stated as of Oct. 21, at the very least 82% of staff with university-sponsored advantages have been totally or partially vaccinated.
– Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser
Unvaccinated Individuals will face more durable guidelines for reentry into US
Unvaccinated Americans reentering the country will face stricter rules starting Nov. 8, when the U.S. will once more open its doorways to overseas vacationers – so long as they’re totally vaccinated towards COVID-19. American residents with out proof of vaccination “should produce documentation of a adverse check inside at some point of departure” to be allowed again within the U.S., the White Home stated Monday. The present rule permits the check to be carried out inside three days of journey.
Absolutely vaccinated Individuals will nonetheless have a three-day window for COVID-19 testing with adverse outcomes so long as they’ll present proof of vaccination.
– Bailey Schulz and Eve Chen
Lengthy-term aspect impact of coronavirus, contains ‘mind fog,’ research says
Lengthy-term COVID-19 uncomfortable side effects could include memory loss and other cognitive dysfunctions generally labeled as “mind fog,” in accordance with a research that examined 740 sufferers within the Mount Sinai Well being System. The research was printed within the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Community Open.
One other research that documented “mind fog” was printed by Oxford College and the Nationwide Institute for Well being Analysis earlier this month. Cognitive signs have been seen in about 8% of sufferers and are extra widespread among the many aged. The research additionally discovered widespread lingering signs, equivalent to bother respiratory, stomach illnesses, fatigue, ache, anxiousness and melancholy.
– Michelle Shen
Gov. DeSantis needs $5K bonuses to lure unvaccinated police to Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing for the state Legislature to authorize $5,000 bonuses and different incentives to lure police officers from different states. Extra particularly, DeSantis is aiming to recruit these from jurisdictions with vaccine necessities who do not wish to comply, encouraging them to relocate to the mandate-less Sunshine State. In lots of elements of the nation, police officers and their unions have steadfastly resisted the requirement. DeSantis has raised his nationwide profile, significantly among the many Republican base, by fiercely opposing masks and vaccine mandates all through the pandemic.
“Within the subsequent legislative session, I’ll hopefully signal laws that provides a $5,000 bonus to any out-of-state regulation enforcement that relocates in Florida,” DeSantis stated Sunday in a Fox interview. “So NYPD, Minneapolis, Seattle, when you’re not being handled nicely, we’ll deal with you higher right here.”
Contributing: The Related Press