The federal Bureau of Prisons said Sunday that a staff member involved in preparing for the first federal executions in nearly two decades has tested positive for coronavirus.

The Justice Department said the development will not mean an additional delay in the governments timetable.

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The government saidthe worker had not been in the execution chamber and had not come into contact with anyone on the specialized team sent to the prison to handle the execution.

The agency made the disclosure in court filings in response to lawsuits that have sought to halt executions, which are scheduled to resume Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Terre Haute.

An attorney for the Bureau of Prisons said the staff member learned on Wednesday that the staffer had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member immediately left work and notified the bureau on Saturday about the positive test, according to the court filing.

The staff member did not wear a mask at all times during meetings with other Bureau of Prisons employees and other law enforcement officials in the days before learning of the exposure, the agency said.

The bureau says the staff member did not enter the execution facility or the prisons command center and left the facility before the dozens of Bureau of Prisons employees who are part of the team handling the executions arrived.The bureau said it started contact tracing to identify other staff members who may have had contact.

The disclosure comes as the Justice Department is fighting to proceed with the first federal execution since 2003.

U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson, chief of the U.S. Southern District of Indiana, has halted the execution of Daniel Lee, which had been scheduled for Monday, after concerns were raised by the victims family that they would be at high risk for the virus if they had to travel to attend the execution.

The Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to overturn that ruling and immediately allow the execution to move forward. Two other executions are also scheduled for later in the week -- although the execution set for Wednesday has been at least temporarily stayed by an appeals court.

The Justice Department also filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday afternoon seeking to vacate the injunction and allow the execution to move forward even though the appeals court didnt issue its ruling.

For the duration of the execution or until a negative test is obtained, BOP will ensure that those staff members identified as having had contact with the infected staff member do not have contact with the inmates scheduled for execution, ministers of record, witnesses of the execution, attorneys, or press, the filing said.

In response to the filing, an attorney for the victims' family said that while the employee may not have been in the execution chamber or in direct contact with the execution team, it does not account for the many people that the staff person encountered before learning of his positive test.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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Execution staffer tests positive for COVID-19 | News | tribstar.com - Terre Haute Tribune Star

TACOMA, Wash. Down a gravel pathway, past a scattering of needle caps and food wrappers and beneath a graffiti-sprayed overpass for Tacomas East 32nd Street, lies a portal into the publics health.

For millennia, sewer systems have carried off waste and disease. More recently, they've drawn coronavirus-searching scientists in their wake.

On a Friday last month, Chad Atkinson, a senior environmental technician for Tacoma, lifted up a maintenance hole cover with a metal hook.

The stench of decomposition pricked the nostrils as a flashlight beam illuminated a stream of untreated wastewater flowing past globs of fatty muck below. The waste of some 17,000 Tacoma residents drains through this site, including sewage from several retirement communities and the nearby Emerald Queen Casino.

Senior environmental specialist Steve Shortencarrier jabbed an extendible pole into the sanitary sewer, rubbed an attached shop towel on the sludge and pulled it to the surface.

Then, Gina Chang, a student intern volunteering with a nearby biotech laboratory, dabbed and twisted a pair of swabs on the soiled towel, before snapping the samples off into vials with preservative liquid for testing.

"The nastier, the better," Chang said of the samples. "If it's ripe, it's good."

Chang is one of many researchers involved in an international and fast-developing hunt for sewer system clues to the virus that causes COVID-19. Scientists say developing methods to test and track remnants of the virus in wastewater and sewer sludge could help build an early warning system for future COVID-19 outbreaks, help epidemiologists understand trends in infection and lead to a better understanding of the virus's reach in communities with less access to clinical testing.

Researchers have monitored for viruses like polio in wastewater for years, but the coronavirus is new, and while studies indicate scientists can find its genetic fingerprints, they're still sorting out what that means and how it could help contain the disease.

"COVID-19 is in our community and circulating the drainage in our sewer," said David Hirschberg, founder of the RAIN Incubator for biotechnology, which is leading the testing in Tacoma. With that information, "What do you do now?"

Scientists sampling and testing the sewers are not, necessarily, finding live virus or even enough virus to infect humans.

Rather, they're identifying the presence of the genetic signal of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, through ribonucleic acid (RNA), which ultimately breaks down in the environment.

"RNA doesn't last very long outside of a host or a body or a cell," Hirschberg said. But in sewage, "there's enough fat in there or organic material that allows parts of it to exist without being degraded."

The virus's genes, of course, are transported into wastewater by human feces, where they intermingle with everything else in the system.

"It shows up and sheds pretty commonly and sheds in pretty high concentrations in human stool," said Jordan Peccia, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University who is examining wastewater sludge for remnants of the coronavirus in Connecticut.

That makes sewage a convenient method for sampling communities broadly and at once.

"Everybody on average passes a stool sample each day that is conveniently flushed down a toilet and transported, within typically two hours, to a wastewater treatment plant," Peccia said, referencing his work in Connecticut. "It's a low-cost, pretty easy surveillance method."

And there might be nothing more egalitarian than the sewer system.

"When you measure the sewage, you measure everybody not just the wealthy," Hirschberg said, noting that inequalities in the health care system have created disparities in access to clinical testing and that COVID-19 disproportionately affects people of color. "Sewage is a way to unbiasedly test populations."

The nascent scientific work produced by sewer sleuths across the world is emerging quickly, but it remains messy, and these promising ideas offer as many questions as answers.

Are samples representative of upstream populations? Could the concentration of RNA detected indicate how many infections are spreading in a community? How precise are sewer tests? How much, and how quickly, does the genetic material decay in water?

Scientists don't yet know for sure.

"It's the wild West right now," said Scott Meschke, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington who specializes in environmental pathogens and has been testing samples of raw wastewater from King County's treatment plants each week to determine the most consistent analytical methods for detecting the virus. "Everything is happening in parallel."

A peer-reviewed study conducted in the Netherlands, which began sampling before COVID-19 had spread to some Dutch communities, identified the virus's RNA six days before the first clinical cases were reported in one Dutch town.

Peccia's team at Yale published a paper, which has yet to be peer-reviewed by other scientists, that suggests the concentration of viral RNA in samples taken from a central wastewater plant in New Haven, Connecticut, was a "leading indicator" of an outbreak's course.

Peccia said the rise and fall of clinical testing data and hospitalizations correlated to sample concentration data collected days earlier.

A Barcelona scientist suggested COVID-19 emerged earlier than thought after his preliminary study reported he had found the virus in a March 2019 wastewater sample, according to The New York Times. Independent experts doubted the claim, the newspaper reported.

Other scientists have attempted to extrapolate the number of COVID-19 cases in communities based on wastewater samples, which has drawn skepticism.

"Some folks are over-interpreting," Meschke said of the research. "The peer review process will help."

The Tacoma researchers are exploring a novel approach they hope could inform public health decisions.

About an hour after the sewer sample was plucked from beneath the Tacoma overpass, research technician Darrell Lockhart sat before a biosafety hood and gingerly used a pipette to mix samples with a solvent solution and begin analytical testing that targets genetic sequences.

Workers and volunteers at the RAIN Incubator laboratory in Tacoma, a nonprofit hub Hirschberg founded in hopes of sparking a biotech renaissance in Tacoma, each week gather and process about eight samples five from nearby sewer sites and three from Tacoma's wastewater plants.

The RAIN scientists are skeptical that wastewater data can foretell how many people are infected with COVID-19, and merely seek to determine the presence or absence of the virus.

"This is a binary signal," said Stanley Langevin, a virologist and principal scientist at the incubator. "That's why you have to go into sewers for resolution."

Central wastewater plants process tens of thousands of people's waste, but increasingly small branches in the sewer system offer a more specific and narrow perspective.

"Some drain neighborhoods, some drain shopping malls, some drain from schools, hospitals," Hirschberg said.

The smallest branch the team is currently sampling comprises about 1,500 residents, Hirschberg said.

"The more signals we have, the more likely we can understand the parameters of the outbreak to put prevention measures to stop it," Langevin said.

Langevin harbors doubts over whether a vaccine can be developed for COVID-19, and believes Washington state does not perform enough clinical testing nor contract tracing to contain the outbreak. (Hirschberg is more bullish on a vaccine, but skeptical it will be developed soon.)

The RAIN scientists believe public health officials could use wastewater data to marshal resources to affected areas before people start showing up sick at hospitals.

"We have to have a way to narrow the population," Langevin said. "This can be an early warning."

As U.S. case numbers rise quickly and as many expect a worldwide second wave of COVID-19 cases, the Water Research Foundation has asked some 30 laboratories pursuing this research to share and compare methodology for a study it's leading.

"We want to have greater confidence in the methods," said Peter Grevatt, chief executive officer of the international nonprofit research foundation. Grevatt said the organization will lead a second study that focuses on how and when to sample, and how the genetic material moves or degrades in sewers.

"It needs to be reined in a bit to make good public health use," Meschke said of the research environment.

Could what's flowing through the sewers one day drive governments' COVID-19 responses?

By fall, the Netherlands plans to establish a COVID-19 sampling program for every wastewater treatment facility in the country, Grevatt said.

Washington state is not moving with the Netherlands' haste.

The state Department of Health did create an informal group to look into wastewater monitoring for the virus that causes COVID-19, said Ginny Streeter, a spokesperson for the department.

"There is definitely an interest in this type of testing at the agency and more broadly, the state response. That being said, the current priorities are really on more established tools such as clinical testing and contact tracing," Streeter said. "We do have constraints on resources."

To Grevatt, the promise of testing the pulse of an entire community at once with only a handful of samples is worth pursuing.

"Wastewater has a story to tell," he said.

By Evan Bush, The Seattle Times.

See the original post here:

How our sewage could warn us of future outbreaks of COVID-19 - Tampa Bay Times

Wait. I can catch Covid twice? my 50-year-old patient asked in disbelief. It was the beginning of July, and he had just tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, for a second time three months after a previous infection.

While theres still much we dont understand about immunity to this new illness, a small but growing number of cases like his suggest the answer is yes.

Covid-19 may also be much worse the second time around. During his first infection, my patient experienced a mild cough and sore throat. His second infection, in contrast, was marked by a high fever, shortness of breath, and hypoxia, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital.

Recent reports and conversations with physician colleagues suggest my patient is not alone. Two patients in New Jersey, for instance, appear to have contracted Covid-19 a second time almost two months after fully recovering from their first infection. Daniel Griffin, a physician and researcher at Columbia in New York, recently described a case of presumed reinfection on the This Week in Virology podcast.

It is possible, but unlikely, that my patient had a single infection that lasted three months. Some Covid-19 patients (now dubbed long haulers) do appear to suffer persistent infections and symptoms.

My patient, however, cleared his infection he had two negative PCR tests after his first infection and felt healthy for nearly six weeks.

I believe it is far more likely that my patient fully recovered from his first infection, then caught Covid-19 a second time after being exposed to a young adult family member with the virus. He was unable to get an antibody test after his first infection, so we do not know whether his immune system mounted an effective antibody response or not.

Regardless, the limited research so far on recovered Covid-19 patients shows that not all patients develop antibodies after infection. Some patients, and particularly those who never develop symptoms, mount an antibody response immediately after infection only to have it wane quickly afterward an issue of increasing scientific concern.

Whats more, repeat infections in a short time period are a feature of many viruses, including other coronaviruses. So if some Covid-19 patients are getting reinfected after a second exposure, it would not be particularly unusual.

In general, the unknowns of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 currently outweigh the knowns. We do not know how much immunity to expect once someone is infected with the virus, we do not know how long that immunity may last, and we do not know how many antibodies are needed to mount an effective response. And although there is some hope regarding cellular immunity (including T-cell responses) in the absence of a durable antibody response, the early evidence of reinfections puts the effectiveness of these immune responses in question as well.

Also troubling is that my patients case, and others like his, may dim the hope for natural herd immunity. Herd immunity depends on the theory that our immune systems, once exposed to a pathogen, will collectively protect us as a community from reinfection and further spread.

There are several pathways out of this pandemic, including safe, effective, and available therapeutics and vaccines, as well as herd immunity (or some combination thereof).

Experts generally consider natural herd immunity a worst-case scenario back-up plan. It requires mass infection (and, in the case of Covid-19, massive loss of life because of the diseases fatality rate) before protection takes hold. Herd immunity was promoted by experts in Sweden and (early on in the pandemic) in the UK, with devastating results.

Still, the dream of herd immunity, and the protection that a Covid-19 infection, or a positive antibody test, promises to provide, have taken hold among the public. As the collective reasoning has gone, the silver lining of surviving a Covid-19 infection (without debilitating side effects) is twofold: Survivors will not get infected again, nor will they pose a threat of passing the virus to their communities, workplaces, and loved ones.

While recent studies and reports have already questioned our ability to achieve herd immunity, our national discourse retains an implicit hope that herd immunity is possible. In recent weeks, leading medical experts have implied that the current surge in cases might lead to herd immunity by early 2021, and a July 6 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal was similarly optimistic.

This wishful thinking is harmful. It risks incentivizing bad behavior. The rare but concerning Covid parties, where people are gathering to deliberately get infected with the virus, and large gatherings without masks, are considered by some to be the fastest way out of the pandemic, personally and as a community. Rather than trying to wish ourselves out of scientific realities, we must acknowledge the mounting evidence that challenges these ideas.

In my opinion, my patients experience serves as a warning sign on several fronts.

First, the trajectory of a moderate initial infection followed by a severe reinfection suggests that this novel coronavirus might share some tendencies of other viruses such as dengue fever, where you can suffer more severe illness each time you contract the disease.

Second, despite scientific hopes for either antibody-mediated or cellular immunity, the severity of my patients second bout with Covid-19 suggests that such responses may not be as robust as we hope.

Third, many people may let their guard down after being infected, because they believe they are either immune or incapable of contributing to community spread. As my patients case demonstrates, these assumptions risk both their own health and the health of those near them.

Last, if reinfection is possible on such a short timeline, there are implications for the efficacy and durability of vaccines developed to fight the disease.

I am aware that my patient represents a sample size of one, but taken together with other emerging examples, outlier stories like his are a warning sign of a potential pattern. If my patient is not, in fact, an exception, but instead proves the rule, then many people could catch Covid-19 more than once, and with unpredictable severity.

With no certainty of personal immunity nor relief through herd immunity, the hard work of beating this pandemic together continues. Our efforts must go beyond simply waiting for effective treatments and vaccines. They must include continued prevention through the use of medically proven face masks, face shields, hand-washing, and physical distancing, as well as wide-scale testing, tracing, and isolation of new cases.

This is a novel disease: Learning curves are steep, and we must pay attention to the inconvenient truths as they arise. Natural herd immunity is almost certainly beyond our grasp. We cannot place our hopes on it.

D. Clay Ackerly, MD, MSc, is an internal medicine and primary care physician practicing in Washington, DC. He has served both as a faculty member of Harvard Medical School and as Assistant Chief Medical Officer at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has also held positions in the government and private sector, including the White House, the Food and Drug Administration, and, most recently, as Chief Medical Officer of Privia Health. He can be reached at dclayackerly@gmail.com.

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Getting Covid-19 twice: Why I think my patient was reinfected - Vox.com

COVID-19 New Cases per 100K Population in Tuolumne County

Sonora, CA Nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to Toulumne County Public Health this weekend.

Todays daily coronavirus update included a reminder/caution to the public that Tuolumne County is experiencing community transmission, and everyone should act as if anyone they come into contact with could have COVID-19.

Public Health spokesperson Michelle Jachetta tells Clarke Broadcasting, We are close to triggering the number of cases section of the states county data monitoring list. That could force closures in the county.

These latest cases bring the total number for the county to 73. Jachetta relays that they learned of three on Saturday and six more Sunday. She adds that none of the cases are related to the Avalon Care Center or the jail outbreaks. Jachetta details that all of those reported this weekend are isolating at home.

There was also some uplifting news, as another six cases have been moved from isolation to recovered. Of the 73 cases, 25 are active with all insolating, and 48 have recovered. A total of 6,649 tests have been administered in the county. Those infected include 44 females and 29 males. The new cases involve 3 individuals in their 40s, 4 in their 50s, 1 in their 60s, and 1 in their 70s.

Written by Tracey Petersen.

Report breaking news, traffic or weather to our News Hotline 532-6397. Send Mother Lode News Story photos tonews@clarkebroadcasting.com. Sign up for our FREE myMotherLode.com Daily Newsletters by clicking here.

Visit our Health Section, under the Community tab or keyword: health. All of our Coronavirus updates are here.

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Nine Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Over Weekend In Tuolumne County - MyMotherLode.com

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Officials with the Barry Robinson Center confirmed on Sunday that a resident tested positive for COVID-19.

The non-profit, behavioral healthcenterfor childrensaid that the resident is in isolation, doing well, and showing no symptoms.

Center officials also said that all residents staying in the same dorm have been seen by the facilitys pediatrician, tested for COVID-19, and results have come back negative.

Staff members who may have had direct contact with the resident have been notified and advised to follow VDH guidelines.

The center said that the facility is undergoing deep cleaning and sanitizing of the dorm.

Our number one priority is keeping our employees and residents safe. That priority focus guides our decision-making above all else, said staff with the center.

Since February, we have been andwill continue to follow the guidance of the CDC and other federal, state and local health officials. We have rigorous hygiene, infection-control and other practices in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Continue reading here:

Resident tests positive for COVID-19 at Barry Robinson Center - WAVY.com

COVID-19 Test Results

Results listed are from the previous day.

COUNTIES WITH NEW POSITIVE CASES REPORTED TODAY

Benson County 3

Burleigh County 21

Cass County 21

Cavalier County 1

Grand Forks County 16

Kidder County 1

Logan County 1

McIntosh County 1

Morton County 5

Mountrail County 3

Ramsey County 1

Renville County 2

Sargent County 1

Sioux County 1

Stark County 5

Traill County 1

Walsh County 2

Ward County 2

Williams County 4

BY THE NUMBERS

228,535 Total Number of Tests Completed* (+4,489 total tests from yesterday)

122,479 Total Unique Individuals Tested* (+1,628 unique individuals from yesterday)

118,145 Total Negative (+1,537 unique individuals from yesterday)

4,334 Total Positive (+92 unique individuals from yesterday)

After investigation it was determined that a previous case from Burleigh County was from out of state.

2.0% Daily Positivity Rate**

271 Total Hospitalized (+8 individual from yesterday)

38 Currently Hospitalized (+7 individuals from yesterday)

3,570 Total Recovered (+37 individuals from yesterday)

87 Total Deaths*** (+0 individual from yesterday)

* Note that this does not include individuals from out of state and has been updated to reflect the most recent information discovered after cases were investigated.

**Because the serial tests completed and added to the total number of tests completed can result in new individuals who test positive, the daily positivity rate will be calculated using the total positives for the day by the daily number of tests completed instead of the daily number of unique individuals tested.

*** Number of individuals who tested positive and died from any cause while infected with COVID-19.

For descriptions of these categories, visit the NDDoH dashboard.

For the most updated and timely information and updates related to COVID-19, visit the NDDoH website at http://www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus, follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and visit the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

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ND COVID-19 numbers announced on July 12 | News, Sports, Jobs - Minot Daily News

There are a lot of unknowns about Covid-19. This makes sense, because despite six months of the most amazing scientific effort of our lifetimes, the coronavirus is a novel disease which means that we are constantly finding out new things about it. Even now, the debate about the most likely method of spread of the disease rages on, in part because the idea of masks has in many places become somehow a political decision rather than a scientific one.

Sometimes 2020 feels like living in the Bad Place (but with less frozen yoghurt).

But the worry about unknowns doesnt end at whether you should be sporting pandemic chic. One claim that has been flying around the airwaves, as we move from the early stages of Covid-19 to the endless ennui of an ongoing outbreak, is the idea that, since only a small proportion of people die from the disease, the rest of us should stop worrying about it and carry on. The idea is pervasive, and has been repeated worldwide since only 1% of people are going to be killed by the coronavirus, the 99% of us who arent going to die will be totally fine.

This is, unfortunately, completely off the mark.

Firstly, lets look at the facts. A colleague and I have looked into the infection-fatality rate of Covid-19, using data from dozens of studies, and our conclusion is that about 0.7% of people who catch the disease will die. So broadly speaking, saying that only 1% of people who get the disease will die isnt entirely wrong.

But theres a problem. Dying isnt the only issue that a disease can cause. Measles kills about 0.2% of people who catch it, but it leaves some people deaf, others with brain damage, and may cause permanent immune system damage to boot. Polio, the disease that causes terrifying paralysis, is entirely asymptomatic in upwards of 70% of people who catch it.

Similarly, the impact of Covid-19 cant be boiled down to a single number. For some, it causes death. For others, it causes lengthy ICU stays, which are themselves dangerous. Long-term mechanical ventilation, while hailed as the saviour of humanity early in this crisis, is associated with a host of serious health problems such as bacterial infections, ulcers and more. Even for those not admitted to ICU, there are worrying trends emerging indicating the potential for long-term organ damage such as kidney injury, or severe psychiatric issues.

Worse still, there are increasingly reports that these impacts are not wholly confined to people with severe infections. Some patients with mild symptoms are saying that they have had symptoms for weeks or months, a far cry from our usual ideas of mild disease. There is some evidence that symptoms like fatigue, which can be very long-lasting, are hitting people who barely had any issue earlier on in their affliction.

All in all, its not a pretty picture. Death may be the most easily identifiable outcome of coronavirus infection, but its certainly not the only one.

Which brings us back to that 99% figure. As the threat of a second wave looms, people are beginning to get tired of the ongoing government action. Wouldnt it be easier, they say to just let the disease roll through the population? Its only going to kill 1% anyway.

Perhaps, although its worth noting that in Australia and the UK a death rate of 1% would imply hundreds of thousands of deaths before the virus burned itself out. Moreover, those who are hospitalised a significant proportion of Covid-19 patients will certainly suffer. And even those with more mild disease may not be exempt from long-term harm. While government restrictions are starting to feel onerous, the fact is that we simply do not know enough about this disease to be sure that even the lowest risk is acceptable. Weve got a handle on short-term, acute issues the things that we see in a hospital but were still only just discovering what the long-term issues that this disease causes might be.

Unfortunately, the damage that Covid-19 causes is almost certainly not confined entirely to the death rate. We may not know for some time exactly what else it causes, but even now we have enough evidence to know that there are other problems out there. Letting everyone get infected is a strategy that, even ignoring the enormous death toll, could leave us much worse off as a society.

I wish I could end with an uplifting message, but really all theres left to say is simple: were in this for the long haul. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems like thats what 2020 is about for epidemiologists.

Original post:

As Covid-19 persists around the world, death is not the only outcome to fear - The Guardian

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 6, 2020, there have been 188,875 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 3,442 total cases and 95 deaths.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASES PER COUNTY (Caseconfirmed by lab test/Probable case): Barbour(17/0), Berkeley (474/18), Boone (24/0), Braxton (3/0), Brooke (14/1), Cabell(161/6), Calhoun (2/0), Clay (11/0), Fayette (72/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant(15/1), Greenbrier (66/0), Hampshire (42/0), Hancock (29/3), Hardy (44/1),Harrison (79/0), Jackson (145/0), Jefferson (240/5), Kanawha (346/9), Lewis(19/1), Lincoln (9/0), Logan (26/0), Marion (85/3), Marshall (43/1), Mason(21/0), McDowell (6/0), Mercer (57/0), Mineral (56/2), Mingo (20/3), Monongalia(285/14), Monroe (15/1), Morgan (19/1), Nicholas (14/1), Ohio (109/1),Pendleton (13/1), Pleasants (4/1), Pocahontas (30/1), Preston (73/16), Putnam(68/1), Raleigh (62/1), Randolph (169/2), Ritchie (2/0), Roane (11/0), Summers(2/0), Taylor (16/1), Tucker (6/0), Tyler (5/0), Upshur (20/1), Wayne (119/1),Webster (1/0), Wetzel (18/0), Wirt (5/0), Wood (124/8), Wyoming (7/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is the case of Monroe and Nicholas counties in this report.

Please visit thedashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more information.

Original post:

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-6-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Press release from the County of Mendocino:

Today, Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan confirmed 19 new cases of COVID-19 reported to the County over the last 2 days. County staff has been working all weekend conducting case investigation and contact tracing. The number of Mendocino County COVID-19 cases is now 132 (91 Recovered; 1 hospitalized; 40 on home isolation).

Region

Number in Isolation

6

0

2

24

8

40

Mendocino County is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases and its important every resident help slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our community safe by wearing a facial covering that covering the nose and mouth; practicing social distancing; avoiding gatherings, confined spaces and close contact with others. COVID-19 incubation period is up to 14 days and Public Health is concerned we may experience an additional spike in cases resulting from increased activity county-wide over the 4thof July holiday weekend.

Of the 19 new cases, 3 are residents at Sherwood Oaks Skilled Nursing Facility in Fort Bragg. On July 7 an employee of the facility tested positive for COVID-19 and was promptly placed into isolation. Following the positive case an immediate plan was made in collaboration with Public Health to test all the employees and residents. The results of these tests included 3 positive test for COVID-19, all of whom were residents of the facility. These results were reported to Public Health on July 11. Once the COVID-19 status of the employee was reported to the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) on July 7, the facility went immediately into outbreak response with full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all staff and isolation of residents in their rooms. In addition, the facility was following theHealth Officers Medical Masking Orderwhich provides additional protections to SNFs.

The 3 new cases in the SNF were identified through testing conducted by the SNF on July 8 and processed at the Public Health Viral and Rickettsial Disease Lab (VRDL) in Richmond. The VRDL is available to the County for COVID-19 outbreak testing. All 3 individuals are currently asymptomatic. Case investigation and contract tracing was immediately initiated. The recent death at the facility tested negative for COVID-19 and the cause of death at this time is presumed to be unrelated to COVID-19. Public Health is doing further investigation and awaiting the death certificate. In addition, Public Health has reported this outbreak to the State as required and will be working with the State in support and review of the actions to contain the outbreak. Thus far Mendocino County is not on the State watch list. Additional testing will be conducted Monday, July 13, in effort to monitor and continue timely response to this outbreak.

Public Health and the SNFs throughout the County have been meeting weekly for months, led by our Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC), to allow a coordinated response to potential outbreaks and to ensure SNFs have sufficient PPE and prevention protection protocols in place. The County and SNFs follow all the State guidelines including; using Optum Serve to do surveillance testing for 100% of SNF staff monthly and offering SNF surveillance testing to residents through Public Health. The preparation, planning, frequently testing and adherence to State guidelines were a key factor in the quick and coordinated response to this outbreak.

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Mendocino County Health Officer Confirms 19 New COVID-19 Cases and First Outbreak at a Skilled Nursing Facility - Redheaded Blackbelt

Yesterday US officials reported 62,751 new cases of COVID-19, setting yet another record in a summertime surge that has swept across much of the South and West.

Though Florida, Arizona, and Texas still lead in the number of new cases, Oklahoma and Louisiana are reporting spikes. And according to the Washington Post five statesAlabama, Iowa, Missouri, Montana and Wisconsinhit daily records today.

In total, the country has 3,088,913 cases of the novel coronavirus, including 132,934 deaths, by far the most infections and fatalities of any country.

Today on a podcast produced by the Wall Street Journal, Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he thinks states seeing a spike in cases should consider shutting down local economies.

"Be mindful of what happens when you open up and throw caution to the wind," Fauci said.

In Tulsa, health officials said the increase in cases is likely at least partially tied to a Jun 20 campaign rally for President Trump and accompanying protests. The rally was held indoors with no enforced social distancing or mask use.

"In the past few days, we've seen almost 500 new cases, and we had several large events just over two weeks ago, so I guess we just connect the dots," Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Bruce Dart, MD, said yesterday.

Houston has seen an increase in the number of people dying at home, ProPublica reports, which could be an indicator that these deaths are caused by untested COVD-19 infections.

The uptick in the number of people dying before they can even reach a hospital in Houston parallels what happened in New York City in March and April.

Data collected by ProPublica from the Houston Fire Department show a 45% jump since February in the number of cardiac arrest calls that ended with paramedics declaring people dead upon arrival. In June, dead-on-arrival calls grew to nearly 300, more than 75 in excess of either of the previous two Junes.

Yesterday Texas reported 9,979 new cases of COVID-19, and said a record number of people were hospitalized: 9,610. Harris County, which includes most of Houston, has 39,311 cases and 407 deaths.

The Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) will revise its guidance on reopening of schools, according to Vice President Mike Pence. Pence made the comments yesterday during a news conferences at the US Department of Education.

"The president said today we just don't want the guidance to be too tough," Pence said. "That's the reason why, next week, CDC is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward."

Public health officials, however, are concerned that the president's tweeted threats to withhold federal aid to schools that do not reopen are behind the CDC's new effort to update guidelines.

"The CDC has been saying that schools must open cautiously and follow science-based guidelines such as physical distancing, physical barriers and cleaning to help thwart COVID-19," American Public Health Association (APHA) Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD, said in an APHA news release. "The Trump administration has no justification for overruling science-backed information that the CDC has initiated in school opening plans."

Today on "Good Morning America," CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, clarified the agency's position on reopening guidelines.

"Our guidelines are our guidelines, but we are going to provide additional reference documents to aid basically communities that are trying to open K-through-12s," Redfield said. "It's not a revision of the guidelines; it's just to provide additional information to help schools be able to use the guidance we put forward."

In other US pandemic news:

See more here:

US notes 62000 COVID cases in another record-breaking day - CIDRAP

A scientist at work at the Serum Institute of India, which is working on COVID-19 vaccines. Two Indian companies have received the green light to start human trials of their candidate vaccines.

By Sanjay KumarJul. 6, 2020 , 4:55 PM

Science's COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.

NEW DELHIThe apparent speed at which an Indian government agency aims to test and approve a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine has created an uproar among scientists both in India, which is increasingly overwhelmed by the new coronavirus, and abroad. A letter leaked on Twitter on Friday suggests the first vaccines could be rolled out by 15 August, which would leave far too little time for proper testing, critics say. The Indian Academy of Sciences calls the timeline unreasonable and without precedent.

Six Indian companies are developing vaccines against COVID-19. Last week, the Indian government gave two of them, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila, permission to start phase I and II human clinical trials of their most advanced vaccines, named covaxin and ZyCov-D respectively.

For covaxin, Bharat Biotech has joined with the National Institute of Virology, which is part of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). (The company is separately developing COVID-19 vaccine candidates in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.)

ICMR Director-General Balram Bhargava revealed the extremely tight deadline in a letter to hospitals designated to be involved in the Covaxin studies. It is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by 15 August 2020 after completion of all clinical trials, Bhargava wrote. He asked the hospitals to fast-track all approvals for the vaccine and be ready to enroll participants no later than 7 July 2020, adding that noncompliance will be viewed very seriously.

But its absurd to think studies could show a vaccine to be safe and effective in less than 2 months, many scientists say. In my knowledge, such an accelerated development pathway has never ever been done for any kind of vaccine, says Anant Bhan, an independent ethics and policy researcher and past president of the International Association of Bioethics. This seems really, really rushed. The timeline carries potential risks and provides inadequate attention to required safety procedures, Bhan adds.

Clinical trials cannot be rushed, concurs Indian virologist and veteran vaccine researcher Thekkekara Jacob John, formerly of the Christian Medical College in Vellore. Even when expedited, phase I and phase II trials will take a minimum of 5 months, he says. The duration of a phase III trial would depend on several factors, including the number of subjects enrolled and decisions by a data safety monitoring board, but would probably add at least another 6 months, Jacob John says. ICMRs intentions may be good but the processes have been vitiated and the risk is it can derail the vaccine, he says.

Critics believe the target date is political: 15 August is Indias Independence Day, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi traditionally climbs the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi to give a long speech touting his governments achievements and make major announcements.

In a statement on Saturday, ICMR said Bhargava's letter was meant to cut unnecessary red tape, without bypassing any necessary process, and speed up recruitment of participants.

Faced with the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequent dislocation of the normal life, all other vaccine candidates across the globe have been similarly fast-tracked, the agency claimed. In reality, no other country has announced plans to roll out a vaccine this fast, and ICMR did not explain how it thinks it can accelerate the process. Bharat Biotech declined Sciences request for comment.

India is eagerly awaiting a COVID-19 vaccine. It just surpassed Russia as the country with the third-highest number of cases, after the United States and Brazil. There were 24,000 confirmed new cases on Sunday; the national tally stands at 697,413 cases and 19,693 deaths.

But India should keep in mind that most vaccine candidates fail, says Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Normally, the probability of success for a vaccine in the preclinical phase is around 7%, rising to 15% to 20% for vaccines that reach clinical tests, such as Covaxin and ZyCov-D, Berkley says.

ICMRs actions lower the credibility of Indian science, says T. Sundararaman, global coordinator of the Peoples Health Movement, a network of grassroots health activists, civil society organizations, and academic institutions. Its not about getting there first but to be able to do it well and it is good that India has been able to come up with candidate vaccines, which is not a small achievement.

Excerpt from:

Scientists scoff at Indian agency's plan to have COVID-19 vaccine ready for use next month - Science Magazine

In over 120 days, lives have done a 180 in Knox County. Looking back over the last four months reveals what the community has experienced in that time.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. It's been exactly four months since the first COVID-19 diagnosis in Knox County.

The CDC marked Knoxville and Knox County as hot spots after positive cases nearly tripled in the last month.

As hospitalizations continue to rise, it's important to take a look back at where everything started.

Four months ago on a calendar seems like just yesterday, but four months living in a pandemic feels like a lifetime. March 12, 2020, is the day Knox County reported its first positive case of COVID-19.

At that point, Dr. Martha Buchanan, the director of the Knox County Health Department, said there was no community spread.

In over 120 days since then, life has done a 180. Cases have nearly tripled in the last month, and the Knox County Health Department reports 10 people have died from the virus.

But, how did we get here? Let's take a look back.

Not long after the virus started to spread in the community, Knox County officials implemented a "safer at home" order, closing nonessential businesses and asking families to stay inside and only go out for essentials.

"We understand the significant and in some cases devastating impact this will have on local businesses," Buchanan said, announcing the order in March.

The terms "flatten the curve" and "new normal" became household sayings. Families sacrificed parts of their lives to slow the spread. Churches found a new way to worship.

Volunteers made masks for the public, healthcare workers were celebrated. Education took on a new form, and employees worked from home.

The state reported nearly 700,000 unemployment claims were filed since March 15.

Slowly, businesses started to reopen.

"For the good of our state, social distancing must continue, but our economic shutdown cannot," Governor Bill Lee said in April.

The lingering health crisis is still here and cases aren't going away. Now, masks are required for indoor public spaces in Knox County and survivors are stressing the importance of taking it seriously.

Take precautions now, so the next four months' COVID-19 cases go down and the quality of life goes up.

See the original post here:

It's been four months since the first COVID-19 case in Knox County - WBIR.com

Presented by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

At this point, everyone is familiar with the steps to take to guard against COVID-19: Wash your hands well with soap and water. Stay six feet from others outside your home. Cover your cough. Avoid touching your face.

Heres one that you dont hear as much: Stop smoking.

While some COVID-19 risk factors have to do with age, chronic illness or immunocompromisation, theres one thats tied directly to a different kind of medical concern -- addiction to cigarettes. While smoking cigarettes doesnt necessarily make you more likely to become infected with the novel coronavirus, smokers who do contract COVID-19 may be more likely to have serious or fatal cases than non-smokers.

Why might COVID be harder on smokers? The answer lies in the lungs.

COVID-19 and your breathing health

Not everyone is affected equally by COVID-19, said Dr. Thomas Kelley, a pulmonologist at the Alaska Native Medical Center.

While about 80 percent of patients experience mild to moderate symptoms, others develop a devastating lung infection, according to Kelley. These infections inflame the alveoli, fine sacs in the deepest portions of the lungs. This inflammation interferes with the bodys ability to take in the oxygen it needs and expel the carbon dioxide it doesnt.

This can cause the development of viral pneumonia that may show up as ground-glass opacities on chest X-rays and CAT scans of the lungs, Kelley said. Ground-glass opacities, which indicate that a lung is sick, are often also seen in scans of patients with diseases like congestive heart failure and viral pneumonia.

About 14 percent of COVID-19 patients come down with severe cases, usually affecting both lungs. When this happens, the alveoli can fill with fluid and debris. And about 5 percent of patients develop critical cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which can damage lungs -- extensively, permanently, and sometimes fatally.

Patients this sick usually require admission to an intensive care unit, where they are often provided higher concentrations of supplemental oxygen and closely monitored for further deterioration, Kelley said. If they do get worse, they may be placed on mechanical ventilation.

This is where the danger to smokers comes in.

What it comes down to is: COVID-19 is a disease that attacks your respiratory system, said Crystal Meade, program manager for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortiums Tobacco Prevention Program. So if youre a tobacco user or vaper, youre already at increased risk of respiratory infections.

Preliminary research also suggests that smoking provides COVID-19 additional points of entry into the lungs. COVID-19 infections start when the virus binds itself to the ACE2 receptor, a protein found on the surface of the lung. Researchers have found that smokers have more ACE2 receptors -- meaning a smokers lungs have more spots where the virus can attach and begin its destructive work.

Think of your immune system, Meade said. Think of it being weakened by tobacco use already. With COVID-19, there are certain populations that are at higher risk. If you take these comorbidities and then you add them together and take COVID-19 and put it on top of that When you start adding in all these health disparities, its definitely harder to fight it off.

Even for patients who survive severe cases, the damage from ARDS can be lasting or even permanent.

Some patients likely will experience some recovery to their lung function over time and others may not, Kelley said. We do know that patients with ARDS often require weeks to months of rehabilitation to get their strength back. These patients often experience shortness of breath and fatigue months and even years out from their original infection.

Additionally, while there is currently no evidence about the relationship between electronic cigarettes and COVID-19, what we already know about vaping is enough to indicate that vape users are probably also at higher risk for harm from the virus, according to Kelley.

Intuitively, given that existing evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are harmful and increase the risk of heart disease and lung disorders, (it) would appear that their use also increases the risk of developing severe infection and death in vapers exposed to the COVID-19 virus, Kelley said.

No better time than now to quit

Its definitely on peoples minds, she said. Weve had comments like, Ive been contemplating quitting for a while, but this was the motivation I needed.

In response to hunker down orders this spring, ANTHCs free tobacco cessation program adapted quickly to ensure it would still be able to help anyone who is ready to quit.

Weve had to make quite a bit of adjustments in how we offer our treatment, but we are super lucky that we have the technology and the means to offer the treatment still, Meade said. We are able to do consultations over the phone, and then were actually in the process of being able to do virtual consultations using telehealth.

Whether or not the motivation to quit comes from the threat of COVID, its important that it comes from the smoker themselves, Kelley said.

The bottom line is that despite all the evidence of the dangers of smoking and how smoking may increase the risk of COVID-19 infection severity and death related to it, smokers will quit when they feel that they are ready to quit, he said. As physicians, we can and should encourage them to quit at every visit.

Some patients may find that the choice is made for them. During the weeks or even months that an ARDS patient is in the ICU and then a rehabilitation center, they wont be able to smoke at all -- a sort of forced smoking cessation, as Kelley described it.

This is not the kind of approach I would want to take to smoking cessation if I were a smoker, he added.

For Meade, the motivation -- and empathy -- to help others try to quit is rooted in a personal loss. Her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014 and passed away the following spring, seven years after she defeated a cigarette addiction that had lasted more than four decades.

That was her way of dealing with stress, Meade said. It was her outlet. It was her break. I get that now.

That experience helps Meade stay driven to help Alaskans quit -- and stay quit. The yearlong program she leads at ANTHC is designed to help participants develop strategies for the times when theyre likely to struggle.

Maybe sometimes you can quit cold turkey, and youre quit a month or two and something happens, she said. All of a sudden you have a very stressful situation that you havent prepared for as far as your tobacco use. What we really aim to do is talk with the patient and come up with what we call a quit plan.

Nationally, less than 10 percent of smokers successfully quit each year, but ANTHCs program typically sees about 40 percent of participants make it to the six-month mark, according to Meade.

With COVID-19 still circulating in Alaska, she said she hopes more smokers will use the virus as motivation to kick the habit for good.

Theres really no better time than now to quit your tobacco use, Meade said.

ANTHCs Tobacco Prevention Program offers free tobacco cessation services to ANTHC employees and patients of the Alaska Native Medical Center. To enroll in the program, call (907) 729-4343. If you are not enrolled in the Tribal health system, you can find free smoking cessation resources through Alaskas Tobacco Quit Line at AlaskaQuitLine.com or by phone at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

This story was sponsored by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, a statewide nonprofit Tribal health organization designed to meet the unique health needs of more than 175,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska.

This story was produced by the creative services department of the Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. The ADN newsroom was not involved in its production.

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The science of smoking and COVID-19 - Anchorage Daily News

SAN QUENTIN (CBS SF) The COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin State Prison continued to escalate Sunday with more than 1,600 active cases among inmates and staff.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation COVID-19 tracker, the number of active cases among inmates had increased to 1,485 by Sunday. Another 27 inmates had been released from the facility while infected, 372 inmates once infected had recovered and seven inmates have died.

While many inmates had been refusing to be tested, prison officials said 1,290 have now been tested within the last 14 days.

Dozens of critically ill inmates many the old and frail from San Quentins Death Row remain in local hospitals. Some are under ICU care with ventilators.

Since the San Quentin COVID-19 outbreak began last month, six inmates sentenced to Californias death row have died. Three death row inmates Dewayne Carey, Scott Erskine and Manuel Alvarez have been confirmed as victims of the illness.

David Reed and Joseph S. Cordova, who had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in San Pablo, died while being treated in an outside hospital for COVID-19 complications. The Marin County coroners office has yet to confirmed that COVID-19 was the cause of death.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that roughly 8,000 prisoners will be released to try to contain the COVID-19 outbreak at state prisons.

Those who have been advocating for early release of certain inmates say this is a step in the right direction but only a hundred or so are expected to be released from San Quentin, where more than 1,750 inmates have been infected since coronavirus outbreak began weeks ago.

Jacques Verduin, the founder of GRIP Guiding Rage Into Power helps inmates transition to life on the outside. Over the past eight years, GRIP has graduated 913 with 321 of them being released. Only one has returned to prison.

So far, not one GRIP graduate has been granted early release. The governors plan does specify low-level offenders with 180 days or less remaining in their sentences and those who are at risk of COVID-19-related complications.

We are evaluating every prisoner for release that they are on a pathway to rehabilitation that they are non violent, non-sex-offenders, non-serious-offender that have a place to go, said assemblyman Marc Levine.

Levine, whose district includes Marin County, feels it took too long for the governor to take action, especially at San Quentin.

I asked for this in April, its something that must be done, Levine added.

Those who have connections to inmates serving at San Quentin agree. Many describe dire conditions with inadequate medical care.

One of my dearest friends a mentor of mine is in a ventilator right now, said James King, a former San Quentin inmate.

See the original post here:

San Quentin COVID-19 Outbreak Continues To Grow; More Than 1,600 Active Cases Among Inmates, Staff - CBS San Francisco

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 56,485, probable cases to 163, confirmed deaths to 950 and 11 probable deaths.

COLUMBIA, S.C. South Carolina health officials say they've recorded the two cases of a coronavirus related child illness in the state, the first time this complication has been seen in the state since the pandemic began. The news comes a day after the state recorded its first child death from COVID-19.

The state also recorded its second-highest total of coronavirus cases since the outbreak began in March and a record number of hospitalizations.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) confirmed Sunday cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). Two children are the first in the state with a confirmed diagnosis of MIS-C, a rare health condition recently recognized to occur in some children and teenagers who have contracted COVID-19 or been in contact with someone infected with the virus.

One child is from the Midlands region and one is from the PeeDee region. Both are under the age of 10. To protect the privacy of the children and their families, no other information will be disclosed at this time.

We continue to see more and more young people, especially those under 20, contracting and spreading COVID-19, and we know MIS-C is a threat to our youngest South Carolinians, said Dr. Linda Bell, State Epidemiologist. MIS-C is a serious health complication linked to COVID-19 and is all the more reason why we must stop the spread of this virus. Anyone and everyone is susceptible to COVID-19 as well as additional health risks associated with it, which is why all of us must stop the virus by wearing a mask and stay six feet away from others. These simple actions are how we protect ourselves and others, including our children.

The first reports of this syndrome came from the United Kingdom in late April. Cases in the United States were first reported in New York City in early May.

On May 15, 2020, DHEC sent a health alert informing healthcare providers and facilities of the condition and requesting that all providers report suspected cases of MIS-C to the agency. Symptoms of MIS-C include fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, and feeling tired.

DHEC recommends parents and caregivers learn and watch for the signs for MIS-C in their children. Emergency warning signs of MIS-C include trouble breathing, chest pain or pressure that does not go away, confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, bluish lips or face, and severe abdominal pain. For more information about MIS-C, click here.

Latest Overall Numbers:

There were 1,952 new confirmed cases and no new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 10 additional confirmed deaths and no new probable deaths. There are currently 1,472 hospital beds occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19, and 188 of those patients are on ventilators.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 56,485, probable cases to 163, confirmed deaths to 950 and 11 probable deaths.

Eight of the deaths occurred in elderly individuals from Anderson (1), Charleston (1), Chester (1), Clarendon (1), Greenville (2), Horry (1), and Lexington (1) counties, and two of the deaths occurred in middle-aged individuals from Lee (1) and Lexington (1), counties.

The number of new confirmed cases by county are listed below.

Abbeville (3), Aiken (62), Allendale (2), Anderson (19), Bamberg (13), Barnwell (3), Beaufort (66), Berkeley (93), Calhoun (8), Charleston (282), Cherokee (9), Chester (12), Chesterfield (11), Clarendon (6), Colleton (15), Darlington (16), Dillon (8), Dorchester (83), Edgefield (4), Fairfield (9), Florence (51), Georgetown (23), Greenville (216), Greenwood (32), Hampton (5), Horry (213), Jasper (7), Kershaw (13), Lancaster (23), Laurens (23), Lee (8), Lexington (109), Marion (17), Marlboro (5), McCormick (6), Newberry (26), Oconee (15), Orangeburg (36), Pickens (31), Richland (152), Saluda (9), Spartanburg (97), Sumter (51), Union (1), Williamsburg (6), York (53)

The graphic below shows the total number of daily cases since the virus began.

Testing in South CarolinaAs of Saturday, atotal of 538,022 tests have been conducted in the state. See a detailed breakdown of tests in South Carolina on the Data and Projections webpage.DHECs Public Health Laboratory is operating extended hours and is testing specimens seven days a week, and the Public Health Laboratorys current timeframe for providing results to health care providers is 24-48 hours.

Percent Positive Test Trends among Reported COVID-19 CasesThe total number of individual test results reported to DHEC Saturday statewide was 8,769 (not including antibody tests) and the percent positive of those tests was 22.3%.

More than 75 Mobile Testing Clinics Scheduled StatewideAs part of our ongoing efforts to increase testing in underserved and rural communities across the state, DHEC is working with community partners to set up mobile testing clinics that bring testing to these communities. Currently, there are 79 mobile testing events scheduled through August 1 with new testing events added regularly. Find a mobile testing clinic event near you at scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics.

Residents can also get tested at one of 180 permanent COVID-19 testing facilities across the state. Visit scdhec.gov/covid19testing for more information.

Hospital Bed OccupancyAs of Sunday morning, 2,890 inpatient hospital beds are available and 7,721 are in use, which is a 72.76% statewide hospital bed utilization rate. Of the 7,721 inpatient beds currently used, 1,472 are occupied by patients who have either tested positive or are under investigation for COVID-19.

This graphic below shows the daily hospital bed use related to COVID-19 in South Carolina.

For the latest information related to COVID-19 visit scdhec.gov/COVID-19. Visit scdmh.net for stress, anxiety and mental health resources from the S.C. Department of Mental Health.

*As new information is provided to the department, some changes in cases may occur. Cases are reported based on the persons county of residence, as it is provided to the department. DHECs COVID-19 map will adjust to reflect any reclassified cases.

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First confirmed cases of COVID-related child illness in SC; 1,952 new confirmed cases - WLTX.com

Sundays announced COVID-19 numbers included the addition of 86 deaths to the states total.

The Arizona Department of Health Services statistics show that since July 1, there have been 517 Arizonans added to the list of those who have died of COVID-19.

ADHS says a total of 2,237 Arizona residents have died of the disease.

This past week, ADHS announced its largest one-day death total to date when 117 deaths were announced Tuesday; the previous high had been less than a week prior, when 88 deaths were announced July 1.

The Sunday, July 12 total of 86 new deaths marked the third time 80 or more deaths had been announced by ADHS in a single day.

The states oldest residents continue to be the segment of Arizona population most vulnerable to COVID-19. Almost 1,650 of the 2,237 deaths so far have been from the 65-and-older age group, despite that group accounting for only 11% of the states COVID-19 cases.

The 20-44 age group has about half of the states COVID-19 diagnoses, with more than 61,000.

Sunday, the agency also announced 2,537 new diagnoses of the disease among Arizona residents. While thats the lowest total from any of the first 12 days of July, the Sunday tally brings the statewide total to 122,467 Arizonans who have tested positive for COVID-19.

So far in July, the Arizona Department of Health Services has confirmed more than 38,000 new cases.

The positive test rate, which had been climbing consistently over the past two weeks, crept up to 11.8% with Sundays numbers. There have been almost 900,000 people tested in Arizona for COVID-19, or more than one-eighth of the entire population of Arizona.

Also, Sundays ADHS numbers show the state is using about 90 percent of its 1,700 intensive-care hospital beds.

Arizona crossed the 100,000-case mark earlier this week, according to the ADHS website, azdhs.gov.

Yavapai County and the Verde Valley area

Yavapai County Community Health Services has not been reporting numbers on weekends, and this weekend was no exception.

Fridays YCCHS report shows 14 more cases than Thursdays report for a total of 1,070.

There have been more than 22,000 county residents tested, with the positive rate holding steady at 4.9%.

There have been 420 recoveries in the county and 11 deaths. One death was newly reported this week.

YCCHS reported Friday that there are two new diagnoses in the City of Cottonwood since its last report on Thursday, bringing the total for the city to 135.

Camp Verde has one new case for a total of 67 cases. Sedona is unchanged at 61.

Clarkdale is unchanged at 28 cases; Rimrock is unchanged at 14; Cornville is unchanged at 17 and there is one "Verde Valley other" case.

Verde Valley Medical Center reported Sunday that 14 COVID-19 hospitalizations and zero persons under investigation, or PUI, and overall census that has decreased to 48 at the 100-bed facility. The Cottonwood hos-pital is using five of its 13 critical care (ICU) beds.

Flagstaff Medical Center reports slightly more COVID-19-positive patients than VVMC, at 22, with six pend-ing tests. That facility is using 187 of its 300 beds, and is also using 37 of its 55 ICU beds.

Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott reports 26 COVID-19 patients on the West Campus and one PUI as well as three COVID hospitalizations on the East Campus with five PUI.

The VA facility in Prescott is caring for five COVID-19 patients with zero PUI.

Positive test rate

The Sunday morning report from ADHS shows 2,537 new cases, with the states positive test ratio continuing its upward climb, moving up 0.1 percent Sunday to 11.8%.

The Sunday morning ADHS COVID-19 report shows 122,467 positive cases from 892,480 tests. About one-eighth of all Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19.

Arizona hospital Intensive Care Units are currently at 90% capacity, according to ADHS.

So far in July, in only 12 days, there have already been more than 38,000 new positive results in the state, as well as 517 deaths.

ADHS reported 63,920 new COVID-19 cases and 803 coronavirus-related deaths in June, so July is looking to be a worse month for Arizona in those categories.

In May, Arizona had 12,475 new cases and 597 deaths.

Demographic breakdown of Arizona cases

The states oldest residents continue to be the segment of Arizona population most vulnerable to COVID-19. Almost 1,650 of the 2,237 deaths so far have been from the 65-and-older age group, despite that group accounting for only 11% of the states COVID-19 cases.

There have been 312 deaths reported among people 55-64 years of age.

ADHS reports women contract the virus in higher numbers than men in Arizona (52%), but more men than women die from COVID-19 (55%).

Location of cases

Maricopa County has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Arizona with more than 80,000, as of Sun-day, with more than 1,100 deaths.

Pima County has more than 11,000 cases and 327 deaths.

The next-highest total is in Yuma County, which has more than 8,300.

Pinal County has more than 5,600 cases. Navajo County has passed the 4,000 mark; Apache County has more than 2,500; Coconino County has 2,457, with 30 new cases announced Sunday, and Santa Cruz County has almost 2,200 documented cases.

Testing data

ADHS reports almost 900,000 Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19, with the states rising positive test ratio currently standing at 11.8%. More one-eighth of all Arizonans have been tested for COVID-19.

People between the ages of 20 and 44 have had the highest number of positive tests (more than 61,000) with 125 deaths. Seniors in the 65-and-older age group have had more than 16,000 people test positive with 1,645 deaths.

See azdhs.gov for more testing data.

Hospital Reports

ADHS reports 5,795 Arizonans have been hospitalized for coronavirus. That represents about 5% of the people who have tested positive for the virus.

The Sunday ADHS report shows there are currently more than 1,500 patients in Intensive Care Units in Arizona hospitals, which represents 90% of the states ICU capacity.

U.S. and global totals

This weeks estimates of U.S. and global cases of COVID-19 put the U.S. caseload past the three-million mark, as of Sunday morning. The U.S. death tally is at 136,621, the highest of any nation in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 970,000 Americans have recovered from COVID-19.

The virus is present in all 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the CDC.

There have been more than 12.5 million cases confirmed worldwide, with 560,000 deaths and 6.9 million re-coveries.

COVID-19 confirmed cases in Arizona

July 12 122,467 cases

July 11 119,930 cases

July 10 116,892 cases

July 9 112,671 cases

July 8 108,614 cases

July 7 105,094 cases

July 6 101,441 cases

July 5 98,089 cases

July 4 94,553 cases

July 3 91,858 cases

July 2 87,425 cases

July 1 84,092 cases

June 30 79,215 cases

June 29 74,533 cases

June 28 73,908 cases

June 27 70,051 cases

June 26 66,458 cases

June 25 63,030 cases

June 24 59,974 cases

June 23 58,179 cases

June 22 54,586 cases

June 21 52,390 cases

June 20 49,798 cases

June 19 46,689 cases

June 18 43,443 cases

June 17 40,924 cases

June 16 39,097 cases

June 15 36,705 cases

June 14 35,691 cases

June 13 34,458 cases

June 12 32,918 cases

June 11 31,264 cases

June 10 29,852 cases

June 9 28,296 cases

June 8 27,678 cases

June 7 26,889 cases

June 6 25,451 cases

June 5 24,332 cases

June 3 22,223 cases

June 2 21,250 cases

June 1 20,123 cases

May 30 19,255 cases

May 29 18,465 cases

May 27 17,262 cases

May 23 16,039 cases

May 21 15,315 cases

May 18 14,170 cases

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More than 500 Arizona COVID-19 deaths announced in July - Verde Independent

The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR) reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 11,2020, there have been 204,914 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 4,146 totalcases and 96 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the death of a 68-yearold female from Ohio County. Itis with great sadness that we report the loss of this West Virginian and sendcondolences to her family, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.

Inalignment with updated definitions from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, the dashboard includes probable cases which are individuals that havesymptoms and either serologic (antibody) or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to aconfirmed case) evidence of disease, but no confirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour(19/0), Berkeley (512/19), Boone (33/0), Braxton (5/0), Brooke (23/1), Cabell(192/6), Calhoun (4/0), Clay (12/0), Fayette (79/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant(18/1), Greenbrier (71/0), Hampshire (42/0), Hancock (38/3), Hardy (45/1),Harrison (115/0), Jackson (148/0), Jefferson (248/5), Kanawha (398/12), Lewis(21/1), Lincoln (9/0), Logan (36/0), Marion (105/3), Marshall (62/1), Mason(24/0), McDowell (8/0), Mercer (62/0), Mineral (63/2), Mingo (28/2), Monongalia(510/14), Monroe (14/1), Morgan (19/1), Nicholas (20/1), Ohio (140/0),Pendleton (15/1), Pleasants (4/1), Pocahontas (36/1), Preston (77/16), Putnam(85/1), Raleigh (73/3), Randolph (185/2), Ritchie (2/0), Roane (12/0), Summers(2/0), Taylor (22/1), Tucker (6/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (24/1), Wayne (123/1),Webster (1/0), Wetzel (34/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (175/9), Wyoming (7/0).

Ascase surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may revealthat those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, oreven the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state borderto be tested. Such is the case of Brooke, Jefferson,McDowell, and Preston counties in this report.

Please visit the dashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

Additional report:

Toincrease COVID-19 testing opportunities, the Governor's Office, the HerbertHenderson Office of Minority Affairs, WV Department of Health and HumanResources, WV National Guard, local health departments, and community partners providedfree COVID-19 testing for residents in counties with high minority populationsand evidence of COVID-19 transmission.

The two-day testing resulted in 5,826 individuals tested: 807in Marshall County; 262 in Mercer County; 2,955 in Monongalia County; 730 inPreston County; 301 in Wayne County; and 771 in Upshur County. Please notethese are considered preliminary numbers.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 7-11-2020 - 5 PM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

The website will handle registration for the four large vaccine studies that are expected to start this summer and fall, and any others that follow.

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced the website Wednesday, along with the appointment of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle as the coordinating center for vaccine clinical trials run by the Covid-19 Prevention Network, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"That's the target, but those target dates move up and down. They won't let a site start until they're absolutely ready. Some could start on July 27, and others on August 8," del Rio said.

Despite the delay, the Covid-19 vaccine trials are moving at an unprecedented speed, as researchers try to accomplish in months what usually takes years.

Del Rio said he enrolls six or seven study subjects a week in a typical clinical trial, but for the Covid vaccine trial he'll try to enroll that number in a day. Eventually, he aims to have a total of 750 study subjects at three Atlanta-area sites.

He noted that he still has not yet received approval from Emory's Institutional Review Board to begin the trial, a requirement before moving forward.

"This is the most complicated research study I've ever done, and we need to do it in record time," del Rio said, noting that he is still hiring staff and securing facilities for the trial.

Dr. Richard Novak, another clinical trial veteran agrees.

"I've been doing vaccine trials for 25 years, but this is the largest I've ever committed to and I just don't have enough staff and I don't have enough space," said Novak, who will be leading the Moderna trial at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

What researchers are looking for

On the new website, anyone interested in joining a vaccine study can fill out a quick questionnaire.

There will be more than 100 sites in the United States and abroad, and after registering on the website, your information will be sent to the study site closest to you.

Several of the questions are designed to assess how likely you are to become infected and sick with Covid-19, including your race, what kind of work you do and how many people you come into contact with on a daily basis.

Based on those answers, you might be rejected. People who don't get out much, and who wear a mask when they do leave home, would not make the best study subjects.

That's because the point of the study is to see if the vaccine protects people from getting sick with Covid-19. If people who mostly stay home get vaccinated, and they don't get sick with Covid-19, it's hard to know if the vaccine protected them or if their lifestyle kept them away from the virus in the first place.

That's why researchers are looking for people in communities that have been hardest hit by coronavirus.

"We need people who are black and brown and representative of harder hit communities by the pandemic," said Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, medical director of the Moderna trial at University of Cincinnati Health.

The doctors say they'll recruit at churches and other organizations in those communities, as well as in workplaces such as factories and meatpacking plants where workers are at high risk of getting sick with Covid-19.

The researchers are also aiming to have 40% of the study subjects over age 65 or with underlying conditions, such as hypertension, lung disease, diabetes and morbid obesity, since they're more likely to become ill with Covid-19, Novak said.

Tens of thousands of volunteers needed

Moderna has finished a safety trial with more than 100 study subjects, but it has not yet published the results. These later phase trials monitor safety and focus on whether the vaccine protects against becoming ill from the coronavirus.

Novak said volunteers for the Moderna trial will receive two injections spaced a month apart. About half the study volunteers will receive two doses of the vaccine, and the other half will receive placebos -- a shot that has no therapeutic value. Neither the doctors nor the volunteers will know who's getting which shot.

The volunteers will have appointments seven times throughout the two-year course of the study, where they will have blood drawn and their noses swabbed to check for Covid-19 infection.

Volunteers will keep a weekly diary of their symptoms and will speak on the phone with study staff to discuss how they're feeling.

"It has to be done really meticulously, because that's a key part of clinical research," Novak said. "The data has to be impeccable."

Either way, tens of thousands of volunteers will need to step up for the studies.

"I want to emphasize to people that you will be part of something special, even if the answer is that this does not work," Fichtenbaum said. "That's a very important scientific answer because we need to know what works [and] what won't work."

CNN's John Bonifield and Dana Vigue contributed to this story.

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Covid-19 vaccine trials: Here's how to volunteer - CNN

Michigan confirmed 28 coronavirus deaths Saturday and 653 new cases.

The deaths announced Saturday include22 prior deaths identified during a record review, the state said.

Michigan has seen growth in the number of new cases of the disease COVID-19 in the last three weeks. Saturdaywas the third time this week the single-day case count topped 600, which hadn't happened since May.

The average number of new cases for the past seven days ending Friday is up to 451 a day from an average of 349 a day for the previous seven-day period, according to state data.

The state recorded 15 deaths Friday and 612 new cases Friday, as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a mask mandatein an attempt to stem the virus' spread in the state.

While reported deaths and hospitalizations due to the disease remain relatively low, that could change in the coming weeks, health leaders warned Thursday.

Michigan had a six-week high for newly confirmed infections last week, surpassing 2,500 cases during the week ending July 4. In addition to the 612 cases confirmed Friday, the state reported 10 probable cases.

The state health department had confirmed 68,948 cases of COVID-19. When probable cases are added, Michigan's case total reaches 75,685, and the death toll is 6,313.

The 3,415 new cases reported this week are a seven-week high. The last time Michigan reported more than 3,000 new cases in a week was May 17-23 when 3,861 cases were reported.

While more testing is being done to help confirm new cases, the rate of positive tests continues to trend upward. About 3.5% of the tests done this week have come back positive, according to data through Saturday. It's the highest percentage for positive tests since the beginning of June, but still well below the positive percentages in April, when the virus peaked in Michigan.

This weeks reported death toll is a four-week high, according to the states data.

The state's hardest-hit city, Detroit, has a total of 11,936 confirmed cases and 1,461 deaths, according to city-data released Saturday.

The statewide death rate from the virus is 8.8%, dropping from 9.8% last week.

As of Friday,53,867 have recovered from the virus.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_

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Michigan tops 600 new COVID-19 cases for 3rd time this week - The Detroit News

For the third day in a row, Wisconsin health officials reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases.

The state Department of Health Services reported 926 new cases on Saturday, following two previous record-setting days. On Friday, 845 new cases were reported and on Thursday, the state announced 754 new cases. Last Saturday, July 4, kicked off the record-setting week when738 cases were reported.

The926positive cases reported Saturday account for 7.7% of the 12,019tests processed since Friday, according to the state health department. As of Saturday,35,679 Wisconsinites have tested positive for COVID-19.

The state health department also reported seven more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the state's total to 821.

Statewide, 264people with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of Saturday morning, which is 29 morepeople than last Saturday, according to theWisconsin Hospital Association. Of those patients, 75are in the intensive care unit. Another 155hospitalized patients are waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test.

In total, 3,793 people in Wisconsin have had to be hospitalized due to COVID-19, or around 11% of all cases.

RELATED:Bars and coronavirus don't mix. Will Wisconsin's drinking culture ever be the same?

RELATED:Claire Hornby is 10, has brain cancer; now COVID is complicating the ordeal

As of Saturday, there are 6,944active COVID-19 casesin Wisconsin, or 19% of all confirmed cases. Another 79%of people have recovered and the remaining 2% of people have died, according to the state health department.

County activity ratings as of Wednesday, July 8, are as follows. Parentheses reflect a change in the activity level from last week's ratings.

Globally, there have been more than 12.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, with the United States accounting for around 3.2 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 134,000 people in the U.S. have died.

Contact Natalie Brophy at (715) 216-5452 or nbrophy@gannett.com. Followher on Twitter @brophy_natalie.

Read or Share this story: https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2020/07/11/wisconsin-coronavirus-926-covid-19-cases-reported-new-record/5420928002/

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Wisconsin reports record number of COVID-19 cases for third day in a row at 926 new cases - Post-Crescent