Daily Archives: January 13, 2021

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) Nineteen more COVID-19 deaths were reported, as active cases in the state remain below 5,000. The last time South Dakota had fewer than 5,000 active cases was on October 8.

On Wednesday, 452 new total coronavirus cases were announced bringing the states total case count to 104,195, up from Tuesday (103,743). Total recovered cases are now at 97,829, up from Tuesday (97,407).

The death toll is now at 1,604. The new deaths were 13 men and 6 women in the following age ranges: 40-49 (1), 50-59 (1), 60-69 (3), 70-79 (5) and 80+ (9).

Active cases are now at 4,762, up from Tuesday (4,751).

Current hospitalizations are at 253, up from Tuesday (240). Total hospitalizations are at 5,978, up from Tuesday (5,943).

Total persons negative is now at 283,104, up from Tuesday (281,639).

There were 1,917 new persons tested reported on Wednesday. Wednesdays new person tested positivity rate is 23.57%.

The latest 7-day all test positivity rate reported by the DOH, is 11.7%. The DOH calculates that based on the results of the PCR test results but doesnt release total numbers for how many PCR tests are done daily. The latest 1-day PCR test positivity rate is 10.6%.

40 South Dakota counties are listed as having substantial community spread, while 17 South Dakota counties are listed as moderate community spread and 9 South Dakota counties are listed as minimal community spread.

Vaccine tracking is now being reported by the state, as of Wednesday 25,022 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 22,930 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered to 39,954 total persons. Theres been 7,998 persons completed two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and no one has completed two doses of the Moderna vaccine. Vaccine data does not include vaccine given to South Dakota Indian Reservations because that is federally allocated.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 452 total new cases; Death toll rises to 1,604; Active cases at 4,762 - KELOLAND.com

Ms. Neckelmann said she told her husbands story to make people aware of the vaccines possible side effects, and that it is not good for everyone, and in this case destroyed a beautiful life, a perfect family, and has affected so many people in the community.

Dr. Jerry L. Spivak, an expert on blood disorders at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in Dr. Michaels care, said that based on Ms. Neckelmanns description, I think it is a medical certainty that the vaccine was related.

This is going to be very rare, said Dr. Spivak, an emeritus professor of medicine. But he added, It happened and it could happen again.

Even so, he said, it should not stop people from being vaccinated.

The condition Dr. Michael developed, acute immune thrombocytopenia, occurs when the immune system attacks a patients own platelets, or attacks the cells in the bone marrow that makes platelets. Covid itself can cause the condition in some patients.

A long list of medicines, including quinine and certain antibiotics, can also cause the disorder in some people. Dr. Spivak described the reactions as idiosyncratic, meaning they strike certain individuals without rhyme or reason, possibly based on unknown genetic traits, and there is no way to predict if someone is susceptible.

If you vaccinate enough people, things will happen, he said.

Vaccines stimulate the immune system, and in theory could, in rare cases, cause it to mistakenly identify some of a patients own cells as enemy invaders that should be destroyed.

Dr. Spivak said several things made the vaccine the mostly likely suspect in Dr. Michaels case. The disorder came on quickly after the shot, and was so severe that it made his platelet count rocket down a pattern like that in some cases brought on by drugs such as quinine. In addition, Dr. Michael was healthy and young, compared with most people who develop chronic forms of the ailment from other causes. Finally, most patients 70 percent are women. A sudden case in a man, especially a relatively young, healthy one, suggests a recent trigger.

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Doctor's Death After Getting the Covid-19 Vaccine Is Investigated - The New York Times

Publix will soon offer COVID-19 vaccinations in 105 stores across 12 counties, more than tripling the size of the program since it launched last week.

The Lakeland chain had announced the number of stores would grow to 49 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it said that number would soon be 105 with new sites in Collier, Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia counties. The other counties with stores offering vaccination appointments for those 65 and older are: Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, Marion, Citrus and Hernando counties.

Publix says it will start accepting appointments at the new stores on Wednesday with inoculations beginning the following day. Appointments must be made online at publix.com/covidvaccine. No stores are offering the vaccine in Pasco, Pinellas or Hillsborough counties so far.

In a press conference Wednesday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is targeting specific counties and stores while growing the Publix vaccination program.

There are some counties that have really big health care infrastructures a lot of hospitals, DeSantis said. We looked at counties that may be more medium sized that have a lot of elderly people as a percentage.

On Jan. 5, Publix and the Florida Department of Health announced 15,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine would begin getting distributed at 22 stores in Hernando, Citrus and Marion counties.

For 90 years, Publix has served its customers and communities in times of need, Publix CEO Todd Jones said in a statement. Our ability to provide these vaccinations to Floridas 65-and-older population is a privilege. We are grateful to Governor DeSantis for his willingness to work with us to serve our communities.

DeSantis said the program will continue to grow and included more counties.

Were not stopping here, he said.

Those who are 65 and older can receive the vaccines by appointment only and at no cost. Those with health insurance need to bring their insurance card to their appointment. Those without health insurance should come prepared with their drivers license or Social Security number.

Publix said last week each participating store would get about 120 vaccinations a day while supplies last. The retailers pharmacists began administering vaccinations to customers on Jan. 7.

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Publix soon to have COVID-19 vaccinations at 105 stores - Tampa Bay Times

Acadiana coronavirus infections spread as fast as ever in the first week of 2021, with the percentages of tests resulting in new cases at all-time highs. But the states daily reports over the subsequent week were more encouraging, with new cases increasing at similar rates as new tests.

Hospitalizations appear to have stabilized for now, with the first week-over-week declines reported this week since Dec. 28.

More than 13% of Region 4 tests resulted in new cases over seven-day periods ending on Jan. 4, Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, exceeding the previous high mark by a full percentage point. That is according to the weekly date of test report, which allocates test results to the dates that tests were taken. The weekly reports are published on a seven-day lag, so it will not be known until Jan. 20 if the case-to-test ratio continued to rise.

But the daily reports which publish test results as the state receives them from labs point to a possible plateau in the second week of January, albeit a very high one. Newly reported cases declined 10% over the week ending Jan. 13, while newly reported tests increased by 10%.

That is the widest gap between new test growth and new case growth in nearly a month. It follows several days of comparable changes in rolling weekly case and test counts. In the previous week, new cases were growing at triple and quadruple the rates of new tests.

Still, the weekly Acadiana caseload in the seven-parish region remains above 2,000, a watermark that is comparable with other critical outbreak points in the summer and late fall. While COVID-19 hospitalizations have stalled in the low 200s for several days, that too is a historically high mark.

By way of comparison, on Oct. 13 three months ago, during a slower period of the pandemic in Acadiana there were 286 new cases reported over seven days, and local hospitals counted 50 COVID-19 inpatients.

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Acadiana coronavirus spread slows a bit after record-breaking start to year - The Advocate

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (NEXSTAR) Dollar General employees will receive four hours of pay if they choose to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The retailer is one of the first large employers to offer employees pay to receive the vaccine. The company has 16,720 retail locations in 47 states and more than 157,000 employees.

Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. hit another one-day high at over 4,300 with the countrys attention focused largely on the fallout from the deadly uprising at the Capitol.

The nations overall death toll from COVID-19 has eclipsed 380,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, and is closing in fast on the number of Americans killed in World War II about 407,000. Confirmed infections have topped 22.8 million.

Can employers make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory? Yes, with some exceptions.

Experts say employers can require employees to take safety measures, including vaccination. That doesnt necessarily mean you would get fired if you refuse, but you might need to sign a waiver or agree to work under specific conditions to limit any risk you might pose to yourself or others.

Employers generally have wide scope to make rules for the workplace, said Dorit Reiss, a law professor who specializes in vaccine policies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. Its their business.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has allowed companies to mandate the flu and other vaccines and has alsoindicatedthey can require COVID-19 vaccines.

There are exceptions. For example, people can request exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

And even though employers can require vaccinations, there are reasons they might not want to.

Tracking compliance with mandatory vaccination would be an administrative burden, said Michelle S. Strowhiro, an employment adviser and lawyer at McDermott Will & Emery. Employers would also have to manage exemption requests, not to mention legal claims that might arise.

As a result, many employers will likely strongly encourage vaccination without requiring it, Strowhiro said.

With the country simultaneously facing a political crisis and on edge over threats of more violence from far-right extremists, the U.S. recorded 4,327 deaths on Tuesday by Johns Hopkins count. Arizona and California have been among the hardest-hit states.

The daily figure is subject to revision, but deaths have been rising sharply over the past 2 1/2 months, and the country is now in the most lethal phase of the outbreak yet, even as the vaccine is being rolled out. New cases are running at nearly a quarter-million per day on average.

More than 9.3 million Americans have received their first shot of the vaccine, or less than 3% of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is well short of the hundreds of millions who experts say will need to be inoculated to vanquish the outbreak.

The effort is ramping up around the country. Large-scale drive-thru vaccination sites have opened at stadiums and other places, enabling people to get their shots through their car windows.

Also, an increasing number of states have begun offering vaccinations to the next group in line senior citizens with the minimum age varying from place to place at 65, 70 or 75. Up to now, health care workers and nursing home residents have been given priority in most places.

And the Trump administration announced plans Tuesday to speed up the vaccination drive by releasing the whole supply of doses instead of holding large quantities in reserve to make sure people get their second shot on time.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Dollar General will pay its workers to get COVID-19 vaccine - WAVY.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It will be up to Ohioans to call one of 800 providers and hope they can get a coronavirus vaccine.

The state and counties wont have central registries, which means the onus will be on eligible people to find the providers with vaccine and make arrangements to get it. Were talking about the mayhem this will likely create on This Week in the CLE.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editors Jane Kahoun, Kris Wernowsky and me.

Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.

Here are the questions were answering today:

Is Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines coronavirus vaccination plan coming off like the race to find Playstation 5s before Christmas last year? It sounds like a free-for-all.

Did U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, actually say Tuesday that Trump will be to blame for any violence between now and inauguration Day unless he publicly calls on his followers to stand down?

Did an elected Ohio school board member really organize a busload of people to go to the capitol to support overthrowing our election system? What does this say to school kids?

Are Ohio Republicans like diehard Donald Trump loyalist Jane Timken distancing themselves from Donald Trump after he sparked last weeks violent riots inside the U.S. Capitol?

Who officially kicked off the race for Cleveland mayor Tuesday, and what is his background?

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Whats harder to find in Ohio, a Playstation 5 or a coronavirus vaccine? The process for getting both is the - cleveland.com

With the highest incidence rate of COVID-19 in Colorado, Pitkin County will close indoor dining at restaurants Sunday and move fully into red-level restrictions.

The latest from the coronavirus outbreak in Colorado:

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Mondays unanimous decision by the seven members of the Pitkin County Board of Health also includes a 50% capacity limit on lodging in Aspen and Snowmass Village and assurances by Aspen Skiing Co. to improve COVID-19 protocols.

Ski mountains will remain open without a reservation system for the time being, though indoor dining at on-mountain restaurants will cease.

Weve communicated until our eyes are falling out, said Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman, also a member of the board of health. Yet we still have a lot of people not agreeing with us.

Its time. We have to do this. Its painful. Its not forever.

Pitkin County is the first to enter level-red restrictions since Gov. Jared Polis last month allowed counties at level red, including Denver, to move to the less restrictive level orange on the states coronavirus dial.

Read the whole story at aspentimes.com.

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Pitkin County, with Colorado's highest coronavirus incidence rate, is moving to red-level restrictions - The Colorado Sun