Coronavirus updates August 1, 2021

[Dancing Fire]

Sorry about this @Dancing Fire I hope her case is very mild. Did she fly to Seattle? Perhaps she caught it on the plane. Hope she recovers quickly.

Yes, and I'm sure mask was required.

 

[missy]

Yes, and I'm sure mask was required.

True social distancing on the airplane is impossible.

And the airplane air cannot be 100% filtered/safe. It is recirculated and despite the HEPA filters used in commercial aviation they can’t capture every respiratory droplet or viral aerosol before someone else inhales it. You're in a confined space with a lot of other people.

Plus if someone isn't wearing their mask correctly (not just your niece but other passengers) that sets everyone up for greater vulnerability.

Many airports are not designed to mitigate the airborne spread of respiratory pathogens.
The challenge isn’t just on a plane, it's the airport and the entire journey too.

Even with appropriate precautions airplane travel carries moderate risks during the pandemic.

I am glad your niece is vaccinated and hope she will be fine.

This is why we all must continue doing everything possible to prevent catching/transmitting Covid.

1, Vaccination
2. Physical distancing
3. Proper wearing/use of masks.
4. Frequent hand washing
5. Staying home to stop the spread

 

[Dancing Fire]

I am glad your niece is vaccinated and hope she will be fine.

Thanks Missy. My niece will be fine. I spoke with my sister last night and she said her daughter just have a mild case of the virus. My niece did a home test and it showed positive then she when to a clinic to do another test and now waiting for the result.

 

[Arcadian]

In other news, The Mr. is Negative for Coronavirus. he WAS vaccinated later than I so, I am only assuming that may have something to do with it. Or maybe it just liked me more, don't know....

 

[Lookinagain]

In other news, The Mr. is Negative for Coronavirus. he WAS vaccinated later than I so, I am only assuming that may have something to do with it. Or maybe it just liked me more, don't know....

That's very interesting.
Are you feeling better today? Hoping you are still improving.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

In other news, The Mr. is Negative for Coronavirus. he WAS vaccinated later than I so, I am only assuming that may have something to do with it. Or maybe it just liked me more, don't know....

Good news, arcadian!! Continued well wishes!

 

[Arcadian]

That's very interesting.
Are you feeling better today? Hoping you are still improving.

I know!! I'm doing well. I can def. smell because I started cleaning out the refrigerator and there was a few things that needed to be tossed (way in the back) wow....

I can only reason that he was vaccinated later. It might mean something, might mean nothing. But it can apparently happen. I've come to accept where covid is concerned what should make sense sometimes won't.

He'd have to take a more in depth test to see if he ever had it, and the way he's going on, I don't think he wants to know.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

I know!! I'm doing well. I can def. smell because I started cleaning out the refrigerator and there was a few things that needed to be tossed (way in the back) wow....

I can only reason that he was vaccinated later. It might mean something, might mean nothing. But it can apparently happen. I've come to accept where covid is concerned what should make sense sometimes won't.

He'd have to take a more in depth test to see if he ever had it, and the way he's going on, I don't think he wants to know.

It seems to be a thing with C19... All the spouses of people I know who had it didn't get it ... In one case our friend drove several hours in the same car with his family right before he had symptoms and got tested... Nobody got it... And then there's the mass spreaders who literally infect people from across a room. It doesn't follow logic sometimes.

Glad you can smell again... Even unpleasant smells... My sister still hasn't fully gotten her sense of smell back over 3 months later and she finds it very hard to adjust...

 

[missy]

What we now know about how to fight the delta variant of COVID | Column

An expert explains why vaccines — and masks — are so important, and why delta is different and more dangerous.

www.tampabay.com

 

[missy]

We’re on the same wavelength @MamaBee

 

[Lookinagain]

I can only reason that he was vaccinated later. It might mean something, might mean nothing. But it can apparently happen. I've come to accept where covid is concerned what should make sense sometimes won't.

Curious, did he get Moderna like you did? And how much after you got vaccinated, was he?

 

[MamaBee]

In other news, The Mr. is Negative for Coronavirus. he WAS vaccinated later than I so, I am only assuming that may have something to do with it. Or maybe it just liked me more, don't know....

Great news!!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thing's really bad in Australia

Aussie outbreaks: Horror day in NSW, Darwin lockdown, clusters grow in Canberra, Melbourne

A police operation across Sydney is now in effect to enforce lockdown compliance.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Arcadian]

Curious, did he get Moderna like you did? And how much after you got vaccinated, was he?

He got Phfizer and I know his last shot was roughly late April but not the exact date. My last shot was February so this might make sense!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Hubby was sailing through absolutely fine after his first dose of AZ ... until the nosebleed this morning which led to me having a meltdown.

But that was the only thing that has been "weird" with him since the shot so we are not keen to run to hospital as Sydney is pretty Covid ridden right now.

I'm just very stressed!!!!!

 

[MamaBee]

Hubby was sailing through absolutely fine after his first dose of AZ ... until the nosebleed this morning which led to me having a meltdown.

But that was the only thing that has been "weird" with him since the shot so we are not keen to run to hospital as Sydney is pretty Covid ridden right now.

I'm just very stressed!!!!!

@mellowyellowgirl He’s probably fine but just call
his doctor. It may just be a coincidence. Nosebleeds are very common even without getting a vaccine. Big hugs.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Thank you so much @MamaBee

I really appreciate your kind words. I did ring his doctor, my pharmacist best friend, the health hotline who told us to go to the doctor if there are more nosebleeds or any other warning symptoms but that he's likely fine if that was it. Haha they did ask me to ring another hotline to report the symptom so they can track side effects.

I don't know what is worse! My bestie's husband has a persistent headache that's gone on for a week (he got his first dose of AZ too)! That would have set me right off too!

It will be much easier if we can pass 30 days!!!! I suspect I'll be on these boards fretting quite a bit until then.

 

[missy]

@mellowyellowgirl sending your DH healing vibes and hoping everything will be OK.

@Arcadian glad you continue to feel better and better!
And glad Mr Arcadian is A OK.

 

[missy]

"
How likely is it for a vaccinated person to catch delta and pass it on to another vaccinated person?

As the delta variant spreads rapidly throughout the U.S. and our Covid-19 rates climb, this question has been the subject of much discussion. It’s clear that breakthrough cases are happening, and to a certain extent, that was to be expected. No vaccine is 100% effective. That’s why it’s important for everyone to get vaccinated. The fewer hosts available to a virus, the less likely it is to spread.

The question now is whether those breakthrough cases are happening more frequently than we expected.

The short answer, says Monica Gandhi, an expert in infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco, is that the jury is still out.

“We don’t’ know exactly how likely it is for a vaccinated person to catch delta and pass it on to a vaccinated person,” she says. “But the risk is likely very small.”

Gandhi says there has been a lot of confusing messaging. For example, take the outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which garnered a lot of attention because the vast majority of the people who got Covid were vaccinated.

“The rate of mild symptomatic outbreaks in this population was higher because of a lot of indoor activity (including intimacy), rain that weekend, not much outside time and a mixture of people with different vax status,” says Gandhi. She also points out that the Provincetown outbreak provided further evidence that the vaccines are very good at preventing severe cases of illness.

More studies will be needed to get a clearer picture of the how easy it is for vaccinated people to get and transmit Covid-19.

In the meantime, says Gandhi, “although we do not know the exact quantification of a vaccinated person being able to pass on delta to another vaccinated person, simple microbiologic principles indicate that it is likely a low risk.”

"

 

[missy]

Can the Vaccinated Develop Long Covid After a Breakthrough Infection? (Published 2021)

While the vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness and death, the risk of developing post-Covid health problems after a breakthrough infection isn’t known.

www.nytimes.com

"

Can the Vaccinated Develop Long Covid After a Breakthrough Infection?​

While the vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness and death, the risk of developing post-Covid health problems after a breakthrough infection isn’t known.

By Tara Parker-Pope
Aug. 16, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
While some breakthrough cases among those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are inevitable, they are unlikely to result in hospitalization or death. But one important question about breakthrough infection that remains unanswered is: Can the vaccinated develop so-called long Covid?
Long Covid refers to a set of symptoms — such as severe fatigue, brain fog, headache, muscle pain and sleep problems — that can persist for weeks or months after the active infection has ended. The syndrome is poorly understood, but studies suggest that between 10 and 30 percent of adults who catch the virus may experience long Covid, including those who experienced only mild illness or no symptoms at all.
But the vast majority of data collected about long Covid has been in the unvaccinated population. The risk of developing long Covid for the fully vaccinated who get infected after vaccination hasn’t been studied.
While preliminary research suggests that it is, in fact, possible for a breakthrough case to lead to symptoms that can persist for weeks to months, there are still more questions than answers. What percent of breakthrough cases result in lingering symptoms? How many of those people recover? Are the persistent symptoms after breakthrough infection as severe as those that occur in the unvaccinated?
“I just don’t think there is enough data,” said Dr. Zijian Chen, medical director at the Center for Post-Covid Care at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. “It’s too early to tell. The population of people getting sick post vaccination isn’t that high right now, and there’s no good tracking mechanism for these patients.”
One recent study of Israeli health care workers published in the New England Journal of Medicine offers a glimpse of the risk of long Covid after a breakthrough infection. Among 1,497 fully vaccinated health care workers, 39 of them — about 2.6 percent — developed breakthrough infections. (All of the workers were believed to be infected after contact with an unvaccinated person, and the study was conducted before the Delta variant became dominant.)
While most of the breakthrough cases were mild or asymptomatic, seven out of 36 workers tracked at six weeks (19 percent) still had persistent symptoms. These long Covid symptoms included a mix of prolonged loss of smell, persistent cough, fatigue, weakness, labored breathing or muscle pain.
But the study’s authors caution against drawing too many conclusions from the research. The sample size — just seven patients — is small. And the research was designed to study antibody levels in the infected, said Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, director of the infectious disease epidemiology unit at Sheba Medical Center. It was not designed to study the risk of long Covid after a breakthrough infection,
“It was not the scope of this paper,” Dr. Regev-Yochay said. “I don’t think we have an answer to that.”
Even so, the fact that one in five of the health care workers who had breakthrough infections still had lingering symptoms after six weeks appears to be the first indication from a peer-reviewed study that long Covid is possible after a breakthrough infection.

“People have said to me, ‘You’re fully vaccinated. Why are you being so careful?’” said Dr. Robert M. Wachter, professor and chair of the department of medicine at the University California San Francisco. “I’m still in the camp of I don’t want to get Covid. I don’t want to get a breakthrough infection.”

Dr. Wachter said that despite the many limitations of the Israeli study, the data offer more evidence that the vaccinated should keep taking reasonable precautions to avoid the virus.

“I’m going to take it at face value that one in five people, six weeks after a breakthrough case, continued to feel crummy,” Dr. Wachter said. “That’s enough to make me want to wear two masks when I go into the grocery store, which is not that burdensome anyway.”

Complicating the study of breakthrough infections is the fact that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only tracks post-vaccination infections that result in hospitalization or death. While the C.D.C. does continue to study breakthrough infections in several large cohorts, the lack of data on all breakthrough cases remains a source of frustration among scientists and patient advocacy groups.
“It’s very frustrating not to have data at this point in the pandemic to know what happens to breakthrough cases,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale School of Medicine who is conducting studies of long Covid. “If mild breakthrough infection is turning into long Covid, we don’t have a grasp of that number.”
Diana Berrent, founder of Survivor Corps, a Facebook group for people affected by Covid-19 that has about 171,000 members, took an informal poll and found 24 people who said they had lingering symptoms after a breakthrough infection. It’s not a scientific sample, and the cases haven’t been validated, but the poll shows the need for more data on breakthrough cases, Ms. Berrent said.
“You can’t extrapolate it to the general population, but it’s a very strong signal that the C.D.C. needs to be mandating reporting of every breakthrough case,” Ms. Berrent said. “We can’t know what we’re not counting.”
But some experts predict the surge of new cases caused by the spread of the Delta variant will, unfortunately, lead to more breakthrough cases in the coming months. Dr. Chen of Mount Sinai said it will take several months before patients with long Covid from a breakthrough infection are enrolled in studies.
“We’re waiting for these patients to show up at our doors,” Dr. Chen said.
Despite the lack of data, one thing is clear: Getting vaccinated will reduce the risk of getting infected and getting long Covid, said Athena Akrami, a neuroscientist at University College London who collected and published data from nearly 4,000 long Covid patientsafter developing long Covid herself after a March 2020 bout with Covid-19
“It’s simple math,” said Dr. Akrami. “If you reduce infections, then the likelihood of long Covid will drop automatically.”

"

 

[TooPatient]

The at home COVID tests are easy! I had been coughing for a week and was sure it was just smoke from the fires. I wasn't quite sure enough to visit my grandparents and fly to visit family in their late 70s or better! I was able to get two test kits at the second place I called. $20/kit and each kit has two. Test doesn't go deep inside like the ones they use at Dr offices (a year ago, not sure what they use now) so not even uncomfortable. 15 minutes later and my negative results were clear.

I definitely recommend it as easy for anyone who is thinking it is just allergies or a cold or whatever. Super easy and the more we are aware sooner, the less likely to accidentally spread it.

 

[MamaBee]

Thank you so much @MamaBee

I really appreciate your kind words. I did ring his doctor, my pharmacist best friend, the health hotline who told us to go to the doctor if there are more nosebleeds or any other warning symptoms but that he's likely fine if that was it. Haha they did ask me to ring another hotline to report the symptom so they can track side effects.

I don't know what is worse! My bestie's husband has a persistent headache that's gone on for a week (he got his first dose of AZ too)! That would have set me right off too!

It will be much easier if we can pass 30 days!!!! I suspect I'll be on these boards fretting quite a bit until then.

Big hugs @mellowyellowgirl Its definitely a stressful time! I think once two weeks go by he should be absolutely fine!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Big hugs @mellowyellowgirl Its definitely a stressful time! I think once two weeks go by he should be absolutely fine!

I don't know why, but I'm finding this exchange with you incredibly comforting!!!! I'll take what I can get these days. Thank you so much for your kindness!!!!!!

 

[MamaBee]

I don't know why, but I'm finding this exchange with you incredibly comforting!!!! I'll take what I can get these days. Thank you so much for your kindness!!!!!!

I’m so happy to hear that @mellowyellowgirl!

 

[missy]

Good for NYC.

New York City Vaccine Mandate for Indoor Entertainment Venues to Launch on Tuesday

Spike Lee and top execs at the city's indoor entertainment locations have begun reacting to plans and enforcement of Mayor de Blasio's Key to NYC vaccine pass mandate to get underway on Sept. 13.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

"

NYC begins requiring proof of vaccination starting today to dine indoors​

New York City led the way among large U.S. cities when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that public indoor venues — such as restaurants, bars, gyms, and performance and entertainment facilities — would require proof of vaccination. (San Francisco and New Orleans have since followed suit. ) While full enforcement won’t kick in until September 13, today is the first day of what the city has called the Key to NYC Pass mandate, which requires diners to show proof of at least one vaccination dose in order to eat indoors.

The move comes as the delta variant continues to spread throughout the country, and the battered hospitality industry figures out a way to recover from a year of shutdowns and countless regulatory changes. While the number of COVID-19 cases has surged in some parts of U.S., NYC officials chosen to focus on vaccination versus reinstating mask-wearing requirements like Los Angeles and San Francisco have in recent weeks.

While many NYC businesses have been in support of the mandate, some restaurateurs have expressed concerns over losing customers as well as fake vaccination cards with the proof-of-vaccination requirement.

"


"
People attending indoor live events and performances across New York City will be expected to show proof of COVID vaccination along with a photo ID starting Aug. 17, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday.

De Blasio, during a morning press conference, announced he will sign an executive order and the city will begin educating New Yorkers on how the “Key to NYC” vaccine mandate will work from its official launch a day later, on Aug. 17. That rollout will come ahead of inspections and enforcement at indoor city venues starting on Sept. 13.



To show proof of vaccination, New Yorkers will have to show a New York State Excelsior app, a NYC COVID Safe app, a photo or hard copy of their CDC vaccination card or another official vaccine record. “Whatever works, all you have to do is show that proof and have ID as well,” de Blasio said.

And non-New Yorkers will have to show a photo or hard copy of an official vaccination record of a dose administered outside the U.S. for either of the AstraZeneca/SK Bioscience, Serum Institute of India/COVISHIELD and Vaxzevria, Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines.

Before any enforcement, the city will mount an aggressive outreach and education campaign to include $10 million in paid media advertising, including on radio, TV, digital and social media platforms.

And around 600 canvassers will go door to door for impacted businesses, which includes movie theaters, music and concert venues, performing arts theaters and professional sports teams and arenas. There’s an exclusion for performing artists from outside New York City and who don’t regularly work in the city.

The New York Mayor said city businesses welcomed the vaccine mandate for providing certainty: “They believe this creates an environment that they can depend on, for their employees and customers.”

On Monday, Mayor de Blasio got a vote of confidence from New Yorker and veteran director Spike Lee, who will debut his HBO four-part documentary NYC Epicenters: 9/11→2021½ on Aug. 22 with an outdoor screening at Battery Park as part of the NYC Homecoming Week program of events. “We lead and a lot of people are adopting measures that you and your administration have put in place,” Lee said while appearing alongside de Blasio at the press conference.

Lee’s eight-hour documentary essay weaves together the stories, memories and insights of those who were eyewitnesses to New York’s greatest challenges, including the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the current pandemic. The final two hours of his HBO documentary will launch on Sept. 11, on the 20th anniversary of the Twin Towers terrorist attack on New York City. “New Yorkers are my people, from Harlem to Howard Beach. One love. I’m getting New Yorkers to tell their stories. There’s many eyewitness accounts of what happened at the Towers, and today as people lost loved ones due to COVID,” Lee explained.






The city’s vaccine mandate initiative arrives as the delta variant complicates New York City’s efforts to deal with the COVID pandemic. The New York City mayor said the vaccine mandate is aimed to keep New Yorkers safe during the pandemic, not to punish local indoor businesses that did not comply. “Our goal is not to penalize restaurants and indoor entertainment and fitness businesses. We want to get everyone clear about what they need to do and just make sure people do it,” de Blasio said.

The mayor at one point discussed unspecified rules to verify vaccinations set for citywide arts organizations from Sept. 13. “Cultural institutions clearly have a capacity for checking people as they arrive. This is an additional step for sure because it’s one that they can navigate and we’re going to work with them on,” de Blasio said of patrons having to show proof of vaccination and ID to enter indoor entertainment venues.

He added that ensuring the safety of arts and cultural organizations was key to helping end the pandemic in New York City. “Defeating the delta variant is the best way to support cultural institutions because it brings us all back,” de Blasio said.

Penalties for non-compliance, to start on Sept. 13, will begin at $1,000 and escalate up to $5000 for repeat violators, especially as New York City battles the delta variant surge. The New York City Department of Health reported that the total confirmed and probable COVID cases are up across the last seven days, for a total of 1,782, with the hospitalization rate also on the rise. As of Aug. 11, the seven-day average for the percent of residents who have tested positive was 3.89 — an increase from the 3.03 percent reported on July 29.

The city mayor first announced the requirement that patrons show they’ve been immunized against COVID-19 for indoor activities citywide on Aug. 3. At the time, de Blasio suggested the first major indoor vaccine mandate in the nation — following similar efforts in the EU, Israel and China — would “be a model that’ll be picked up on a lot of other places as we prove that it can work right here.”

But as ever with implementing a vaccination mandate as part of ongoing COVID protocols and safety plans — especially with the delta variant surge among the unvaccinated — the devil is in the details. So until the release of guidelines for the vaccine mandate, which will include specific stipulations on how a patron’s proof of vaccination for entry can be verified, top execs at indoor New York City entertainment venues have given away little about their specific plans as they begin a delicate logistical minuet to comply with Mayor de Blasio’s Key to NYC vaccine pass mandate and keep New Yorkers comfortable with leaving their homes to be entertained.

“We are monitoring the evolving situation surrounding COVID-19 and the delta variant, focusing on the safety of our team and our audiences as we prepare to reopen our doors and welcome everyone back to Metrograph,” Christian Grass, CEO of Metrograph, an indie movie house on the Lower East Side set to reopen shortly, told THR. “We look forward to seeing everyone soon, and to following all New York City and State health and safety protocols.”






As of Monday’s announcement, at least 50 New York City businesses had already implemented the city’s Key to NYC vaccination pass, including City Winery, Union Hall, The Bell House and Stand Up NY. The mayor attributed at least part of the decision to begin using a vaccination program to efforts within the city’s private sector, including the Broadway community.

Broadway has been among the most proactive when it comes to ensuring productions, crews and attendees are ready and safe for fall performances in the midst of rising delta variant cases and the CDC reversing its stance on indoor masking for vaccinated Americans.

While shows like Springsteen on Broadway at the St. James Theatre have been requiring proof of vaccination, on July 30, The Broadway League mandated it for performers, backstage crew, theater staff and audiences at all of Broadway’s 41 theaters through at least October 2021, along with an additional mask requirement for all audience members. The news came only a day after a deal between Actors’ Equity and the Broadway League requiring vaccination for Broadway’s workforce, weekly testing for theater employees and improved HVAC standards for venues.

By Aug. 11, Actors’ Equity and Off-Broadway League had reached a new collective bargaining agreement that included COVID-19 protocols and other safety requirements to meet the disparate needs of actors, stage managers and producers.

“This agreement puts everyone on the path to recovery after an unprecedented period of uncertainty for our industry,” said Casey York, president of the Off-Broadway League. “Our goal heading into these sessions was always to secure a long-term deal that would provide members with clarity and stability coming out of the pandemic, and we have achieved that with a new three-year agreement.”

Individual cinema owners in New York City remained largely silent on the city’s introduction of a vaccine pass from Aug. 16 in the face of an alarming surge in COVID infection cases that could threaten the summer’s box office recovery as major chains and indie cinema houses continue to reopen.

“Most scientific experts tell you the virus will increase in winter compared with summer, but the big change between this winter and last winter is vaccinations. And fortunately, the number of vaccinations, especially among the most vulnerable populations, has been so extensive that we’re optimistic that we won’t see the kind of lockdown of society this winter that we saw last,” AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron, whose circuit has 13 theaters in NYC, told an Aug. 9 analyst call.

The National Association of Theatre Owners also told The Hollywood Reporterexclusively that it wouldn’t object to the ordinance. “Working through how we implement it and how we deal with the economics are challenges, but we’re not going to oppose it, because people need to get vaccinated,” John Fithian, NATO president, said.

Though smaller music and comedy venues, as well as some of the city’s larger multi-purpose venues, were hesitant to confirm shifting plans ahead of the mayor’s Monday press conference, the Met Opera’s established policy requiring attendees’ proof of vaccination and to sign a COVID waiver stands. Children under the age of 12 — who are currently ineligible to get vaccinated — are also not permitted to attend performances.






Brooklyn’s Barclays Center confirmed on Aug. 13 that it will be requiring guests 12 and up to show proof of at least one vaccine dose, with masks mandated for all patrons over the age of 2 unless otherwise noted, with testing protocols currently a possibility dependent on the event.

Meanwhile, the country’s biggest music festivals and individual artists have begun updating their vaccination and COVID safety protocols for indoor and outdoor performances. On Aug. 6, Live Nation confirmed that they would allow artists to require full vaccination or a negative COVID test for attendees and staff at their live events.

In an interview on Sunday, Aug. 15, music mogul Clive Davis told CBS Sunday Morning‘s Kelefa Sanneh that proof of vaccination will be required and that crowd capacities have been reduced for the star-studded Aug. 21 Central Park event We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert. The performance was announced on July 1 and is part of a week of more than 100 entertainment, community, and arts and culture events across the city’s five boroughs.

“They’re assuring us the environment will be totally safe, that they’re taking every precaution,” Davis said. “And that proof of vaccination will have to be shown. And the maximum — yes, Simon and Garfunkel had 500,000 in that space. We are not having 500,000. The maximum is 60,000 so that it will be a much more spread-out situation.”

On June 15, Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose just-announced resignation takes effect on Aug. 25, lifted restrictions across the state. Social gathering limits, capacity restrictions, social distancing, cleaning and disinfection, health screening and contact tracing became optional for commercial settings, including entertainment and performance venues.


"

 

[missy]

US Pediatric Hospitals in Peril as Delta Hits Children

While it remains true that children are at less risk from COVID-19 than adults, Delta has changed the rules, both for the kids affected and the hospitals that treat them.

www.medscape.com

"
Over the course of the pandemic, COVID-19 has been a less serious illness for children than it has been for adults, and that continues to be true. But with the arrival of Delta, the risk for kids is rising, and that's creating a perilous situation for hospitals across the United States that treat them.

Roughly 1800 kids were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States last week, a 500% increase in the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations for children since early July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Emerging data from a large study in Canada suggest that children who test positive for COVID-19 during the Delta wave may be more than twice as likely to be hospitalized as they were when previous variants were dominating transmission. The new data support what many pediatric infectious disease experts say they've been seeing: younger kids with more serious symptoms.

That may sound concerning, but keep in mind that the overall risk of hospitalization for kids who have COVID-19 is still very low — about one child for every hundred who test positive for the virus will end up needing hospital care for their symptoms, according to current statistics maintained by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"This Is Different"​

At Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, they saw Delta coming.


Since last year, every kid that comes to the emergency department at the hospital gets a screening test for COVID-19.

In past waves, doctors usually found kids who were infected by accident — they tested positive after coming in for some other problem, a broken leg or appendicitis, said Nick Hysmith, MD, medical director of infection prevention at the hospital. But within the last few weeks, kids with fevers, sore throats, coughs, and runny noses started testing positive for COVID-19.

"We have seen our positive numbers go from, you know, close to about 8%-10% jump up to 20%, and then in recent weeks, we can get as high as 26% or 30%," Hysmith said. "Then we started seeing kids sick enough to be admitted."

"Over the last week, we've really seen an increase," he said. As of August 16, the hospital had 24 children with COVID-19 admitted. Seven of the children were in the PICU, and two were on ventilators.


Arkansas Children's Hospital had 23 young COVID-19 patients, 10 in intensive care, and five on ventilators, as of Friday, according to the Washington Post. At Children's of Mississippi, the only hospital for kids in that state, 22 youth were hospitalized as of Monday, with three in intensive care as of August 16, according to the hospital. The nonprofit relief organization Samaritan's Purse is setting up a second field hospital in the basement of Children's to expand the hospital's capacity.


"This is different," Hysmith said. "What we're seeing now is previously healthy kids coming in with symptomatic infection."


This increased virulence is happening at a bad time. Schools around the United States are reopening for in-person classes, some for the first time in more than a year. Eight states have blocked districts from requiring masks, while many more have made them optional.

Children under 12 still have no access to a vaccine, so they are facing increased exposure to a germ that's become more dangerous with little protection, especially in schools that have eschewed masks.

More Than Just COVID-19​

Then there are the latent effects of the virus to contend with.


"We're not only seeing more children now with acute SARS-CoV-2 in the hospital, we're starting also to see an uptick of MISC — or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children," said Charlotte Hobbs, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Mississippi Children's Hospital. "We are just beginning to start seeing those cases and we anticipate that's going to get worse."


Adding to COVID-19's misery, another virus is also capitalizing on this increased mixing of kids back into the community. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalizes about 58,000 children under age 5 in the United States each year. The typical RSV season starts in the fall and peaks in February, along with influenza. This year, the RSV season is early, and it is ferocious.


The combination of the two infections is hitting children's hospitals hard, and it's layered on top of the indirect effects of the pandemic, such as the increased population of kids and teens who need mental health care in the wake of the crisis.


"It's all these things happening at the same time," said Mark Wietecha, CEO of the Children's Hospital Association. "To have our hospitals this crowded in August is unusual.


And children's hospitals are grappling with the same workforce shortages as hospitals that treat adults, while their pool of potential staff is much smaller.


"We can't easily recruit physicians and nurses from adult hospitals in any practical way to staff a kids' hospital," Wietecha said.


Although pediatric doctors and nurses were trained to care for adults before they specialized, clinicians who primarily care for adults typically haven't been taught how to care for kids.


Clinicians have fewer tools to fight COVID-19 infections in children than are available for adults.


"There have been many studies in terms of therapies and treatments for acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults. We have less data and information in children, and on top of that, some of these treatments aren't even available under an EUA [emergency use authorization] to children, for example the monoclonal antibodies," Hobbs said.

This isn't a political issue. It's a public health issue. Period.

Antibody treatments are being widely deployed to ease the pressure on hospitals that treat adults. But these therapies aren't available for kids.


That means children's hospitals could quickly become overwhelmed, especially in areas where community transmission is high, vaccination rates are low, and parents are screaming about masks.


"So we really have this constellation of events that really doesn't favor children under the age of 12," Hobbs said.


"Universal masking shouldn't be a debate, because it's the one thing, with adult vaccination, that can be done to protect this vulnerable population," she said. "This isn't a political issue. It's a public health issue. Period."


Brenda Goodman, MA, is an award-winning staff writer for WebMD and Medscape. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Psychology Today, The Boston Globe, Self, Shape, Parade, U.S. News and World Report, and Atlanta Magazine. She has a master's degree in science and environmental reporting from New York University.

 

[missy]

As the delta variant rages and Covid-19 deaths surge yet again, the U.S. is expected to make vaccine booster shots available to all adults as soon as next month. Biden administration officials are finalizing a plan expected to recommend a booster eight months after Americans received their last dose. Florida parents are hitting back at Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s mask mandate ban. Meanwhile, New Zealand will enter a nationwide lockdown over a single case. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

 

[missy]

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Meanwhile, New Zealand will enter a nationwide lockdown over a single case. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

 

[telephone89]

NZ has has 26 deaths from Covid. Twenty. Six. How many did your country have?

Have several seats.