Daily Archives: May 4, 2021

Austin, Texas Austin Public Health (APH) updatedthe COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelinestoday, May 4, to clarify personal behavior recommendations for those who are fully vaccinated versus those who are partially or not vaccinated.

Individuals who are vaccinated may:

Individuals who are partially or not vaccinated may:

Regardless of vaccination status or stage, individuals need to continue to follow the additional requirements of local businesses, venues and schools, as theHealth Authority Rulesremain in place through May 18.

We want people to getvaccinated, said Dr. Mark Escott, Interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority. Now andcertainly in the future asthe vaccination rate improves,there will be improved freedom associated withvaccination. In other words, the need to continue masking and the other necessary precautionswill continue to decrease for those who are vaccinated.

Additionally, the threshold to enter Stage 2 has been updated to 5-14 new hospital admissions on the 7-day moving average. The threshold to enter Stage 1 has also been updated to less than 5 new hospital admissions on the 7-day moving average or 70%-90% herd immunity is achieved through vaccination.

While APH monitors the 7-day moving average of COVID-19 new hospital admissions as the primary key indicator for the Risk-Based Guidelines, additional key indicators, including positivity rate, the doubling time of new cases and current ICU and ventilator patients, are monitored to determine the current staging.

As a result of both declining length of hospital stays and declining mortality rates, we feel comfortable reassessing the transition of stages, added Dr. Escott. We expect that there isgoing to be a long tail interms of achieving vaccine herdimmunity or completely getting COVID-19 out of our community. So, we expect that we may seea slow decliningplateau of cases, and as thevaccination rate improves inthe community, and we hit70% to 90% vaccinated we could lookat transitioning to Stage 1 safely.

Austin-Travis County remains in Stage 3 of the Risk-Based Guidelines, with acurrent 7-day moving average of new hospital admissions of 17.

For additional COVID-19 information and updates, visitwww.AustinTexas.gov/COVID19.

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COVID-19 Risk-Based Guidelines Updated to Factor in Vaccination - AustinTexas.gov

Rajat Arora, an interventional cardiologist, is the managing director of the Yashoda Hospital and Research Centre, a medical system that operates several hospitals in and around New Delhi. For the past year, Arora and his team have designated two specific hospitals for their systems COVID-19 patients. Situated in the city of Ghaziabad, just east of Delhi, the hospital that Arora looks after is large and modern, with a full range of subspecialties; it has two hundred and forty COVID beds, including sixty-five in the adult I.C.U. and fifteen in a pediatric I.C.U.

India, like the rest of the world, has struggled with the coronavirus. The number of patients at the COVID hospital reached a hundred and thirty in the fall. Still, by December of 2020, life in Delhi had almost returned to normal. Temples had been opened for worship, political rallies had resumed, and Indias famously large wedding celebrations were back on. Aroras COVID hospital was never stretched beyond capacity and was always flush with supplies and medications; in February, it was caring for fewer than ten coronavirus patients at a time, and many had symptoms of long COVID, not acute infection. The rest of the hospital provided cardiac care, elective surgeries, and labor and delivery services. It came as a surprise to Arora, therefore, when he contracted the virus, in late January. Everyone said, COVID is gonewhere the hell did you get COVID? This is such a random time to get COVID, he told me. All around him, he recalled, a sense of triumph had settled in: people asked, Are we immune to this disease? and Did we win the war?

For Arora, as for many Indians, the apocalyptic COVID-19 surge the country now faces was unexpected. In March, cases started to rise in the western state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai. We thought it would be like the first wave, Arora said. We thought things would pick up but pretty much be manageable. You always reason from your past experience. Today, India is home to the worst coronavirus outbreak in the worlda medical and humanitarian crisis on a scale not yet seen during the pandemic. Though the reported case numbers are in the hundreds of thousands, some experts estimate that millions of Indians are infected each day; thousands are dying, with more deaths going uncounted or unreported. More than one in every five coronavirus tests returns positivea marker of insufficient testing and rampant viral spread. Hospitals are running out of oxygen, staff, and beds; makeshift funeral pyres burn through the night as crematoriums are flooded with dead bodies.

Arora, like leaders at other Indian hospitals, now regularly hears that critical supplies and medications could run out at his hospital in days or hours, if they havent already. He is constantly working the phones to procure whats needed for basic COVID-19 care: oxygen, ventilators, immunosuppressive medications, antiviral drugs, and the like. Day and night, these calls are interspersed with pleas from increasingly desperate patients or their families, who ask and sometimes beg for admission. Almost always, Arora has to refuse. His hospital can admit around thirty patients per day, based on the number of discharges and deaths; he estimates that he and other hospital administrators receive upward of a thousand requests daily. Aroras cousin, a woman in her thirties, is currently admitted. After arriving, she required escalating doses of oxygen and needed I.C.U.-level care, but Arora was unable to get a bed for her until nearly half a day had gone by. Theres nothing we can do until someone gets better or someone dies, he said. If I put up a thousand-bed hospital today, it would be full in an hour.

Not infrequently, Arora receives messages from families of patients to whom he refused admission and who later died. The other day, a loved one of a previously healthy, thirty-nine-year-old man texted Arora that if he had given her just two minutes of his time the man would have survived. Not long afterward, Arora received a message from another mans son: My father left us, he wrote. I begged you Doctor. Last week, a young girl called him in the middle of the night on behalf of her father, whose breathing was rapidly deteriorating. The I.C.U. was filled past capacity, and Arora couldnt admit him. The next day, the girl told Arora that her father had died and that now her mother was struggling to breathe. Arora treated the mother in the emergency room, and she survived.

In addition to a shortage of beds, Aroras hospital doesnt have enough medications. Supplies of the immunomodulator drug tocilizumab, which is given to patients to treat the immune-system storm that can devastate the lungs and other organs, are in short supply. The scarcity of the antiviral drug remdesivir has given it an almost mythic status. Some studies have found that the medication confers a modest benefitshortening the duration of COVID-19 symptoms by a few daysbut others suggest that its no better than a placebo. (Its routinely given in the U.S., but the W.H.O. recommends against it.) Nonetheless, everyone is desperate for it, Arora said. We dont have much else in our armamentarium. He estimates that his hospital has enough remdesivir for about a fourth of eligible patients. At some Indian hospitals, patients are ableeven encouragedto bring in scarce medications and supplies, if they can procure them. Some of Aroras patients have turned to the black market, paying thousands of dollars for a vial of remdesivir, only to learn that its counterfeit. Families buy these vials, desperate to save their loved ones, Arora said. Then we find out theyre filled with coconut water and milk.

The tale of the Indian pandemic is both mysterious and familiar. For much of the past year, the worlds largest democracywith a population of some 1.4 billion living on a landmass a third the size of the U.S.escaped the worst. Researchers have advanced all sorts of theories to explain this outcome. They point out that India is a young country, with a median age of twenty-eight; that it instituted an early and strict lockdown; that it has undercounted cases and deaths; and that Indians may have had some level of prexisting immunity to the novel coronavirus, owing to exposure to similar viruses in the past. Studies have indicated, perplexingly, that more than half of the residents in some dense urban centers had previously been infected, even though their hospitals hadn't filled up. None of these explanations have been fully proved, and, separately or in combination, they may not account for why India was spared last year. That debate will likely continue for a long time to come.

The reasons for the countrys current surge, on the other hand, appear straightforward. Since the New Year, theres been a substantial relaxing of public-health precautions. Mask-wearing declined; sporting events, political rallies, and religious festivals brought large numbers of people close together. Lacking a sense of urgency, the countrys vaccination campaign proceeded slowly: India is the worlds leading manufacturer of vaccines for a wide range of diseases, but has fully immunized roughly two per cent of its population against COVID-19.

Many assume that the rise of more contagious variants is accelerating the damage. Almost certainly, B.1.1.7originally identified in the U.K. and now dominant in many countries, including the U.S.is contributing to Indias viral spread. But a new variant, known as B.1.617, has also captured headlines and the attention of scientists and the general public. The predominant form of the variant, misleadingly referred to as the double-mutantit has at least thirteen mutationswas first detected in December. B.1.617 has several mutations on its spike protein, including E484Q and L452R, which seem to increase the viruss ability to bind to and enter human cells, and which may improve its capacity for evading the immune system. Some scientists have hypothesized that another mutation, P681R, could improve the variants ability to infect cells.

Still, the role played by B.1.617 in Indias crisis is uncertain. India has sequenced only about one per cent of positive coronavirus tests, rendering claims about the relative contribution of variants hard to disentangle from other factors, such as a rise in unrestricted gatherings in a densely populated country with limited health-system capacity. In any case, CovaxinIndias domestically developed COVID-19 vaccineappears to work against both B.1.1.7 and B.1.617. Arora told me that, although several fully vaccinated clinicians at his hospital have recently contracted the virus, none went on to develop severe diseaseexactly the kind of protection the vaccines are designed to deliver.

Last week, the Biden Administration announced that the U.S. would send a hundred-million-dollar aid package to India, including testing kits, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, and P.P.E. The U.S. has also removed restrictions on exporting raw materials for vaccines so that India can increase its production. Last weekend, syringes, oxygen generators, and ventilators poured in from across Europe, and a hundred and fifty thousand doses of Sputnik V, Russias vaccine, landed in Hyderabad. The Indian diaspora has committed tens of millions of dollars in aid.

Whether these interventions will be enough remains to be seen. In a country as large, diverse, and bureaucratically complex as India, the logistical challenges of converting aid into impact cannot be overestimated. Meanwhile, the Indian experience holds a deeper lesson for the worldespecially for wealthy countries that have hoarded vaccines and supplies. The constellation of forces that led to Indias crisispandemic fatigue, the premature relaxation of precautions, more transmissible variants, limited vaccine supplies, weak health-care infrastructureis not unique; its the default in most of the world. Absent a paradigm shift in our approach, theres no reason to believe that whats happening in India today wont happen somewhere else tomorrow.

When we spoke, Arora told me that most patients arrive at his hospital in taxis or in vehicles driven by their families. Few can afford the luxury of an ambulance, either because none are available or because private companies have raised prices amid endless demand. When they arrive, many patients linger in emergency rooms, where they can receive some oxygenand a modicum of reliefeven if they are ultimately refused admission to the hospital. At other hospitals, people have died in the parking lot.

As hospitals, emergency rooms, and the streets fill with younger and younger COVID-19 patients, Arora said, an all-consuming, unrelenting despair has taken hold among health-care workers. At Aroras hospital, even the pediatric I.C.U. is now full, with children as young as six struggling to breathe. (In India, more children than in the first wave now seem to be falling ill; data is limited, and its not clear whether there is a higher proportion of children getting sick or just a higher over-all number.) Many of the deceased are people middle-aged or younger.

Our staff is struggling, Arora said. Many are on the brink of a complete breakdown. Every day, they come to work and see nothing but death. They go home, and their own family has gotten COVID and cant breathe or have died. This is the situation. Theres no end in sight.

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Inside Indias COVID-19 Surge - The New Yorker

We recently estimated that the U.S. was close to its COVID-19 vaccine tipping point that is, the point at which vaccine supply may start to outstrip demand. We also noted that national averages may mask important differences by state. We therefore sought to understand where states fall along this spectrum; such differences are important for understanding how best to target efforts to increase vaccine coverage throughout the country.

To do so, we looked at the share of adults with at least one vaccine dose by state, daily rates of first doses administered (using a 7-day rolling average), and how this rate has changed in the last week (see methods). We were particularly interested in identifying states that may still have relatively low vaccine coverage (i.e., below 50% of adults 18 or older) coupled with evidence of a decline in the uptake of first doses, as these states may present the biggest challenges for achieving sufficient vaccine coverage in the U.S.

As of April 29, among the 50 states and DC, we find that:

The share of adults who had received at least one vaccine dose was 55% overall, and ranged significantly across the country from a low of 41% (Alabama) to a high of 74% (New Hampshire). In addition, there is evidence of a decline in the pace of new uptake in most states. The daily rate of first dose administration at the national level is 451 per 100,000, ranging from 136 per 100,000 (Mississippi) to 889 (Rhode Island). Most states (31 of 51) are vaccinating below the national rate, reflecting the fact that vaccination rates are generally higher in larger states (e.g., California and Pennsylvania). Furthermore, the rate of first dose administration per 100,000 in the last week dropped for the U.S. overall (-27%) and for almost every state (45 of 51) (see Table 1).

At the higher end of the vaccine coverage spectrum, more than 60% of the adult population has received at least one dose in 12 states. These states are primarily in the Northeast (8 of 12). Seven have vaccination coverage of at least 65% and all but 2 (New Hampshire and New Mexico) are administering first doses at well above the U.S. rate. Eight of the 12 states have seen declines in first dose administration rates over the past week, suggesting that these states may be approaching or have reached demand saturation, albeit at relatively high vaccination coverage levels and rates of administration.

At the lower end of the vaccine coverage spectrum, less than 50% of the adult population has received at least one dose in 13 states, including 6 that are below 45%. Nine of these states are in the South and in all, the daily rate of first vaccination per 100,000 is below the national rate. Moreover, most are experiencing declines in the rate of first doses administered. This suggests that these states may not only be approaching or have reached their tipping points, they have done so at relatively low levels of vaccine coverage.

The remainder of the states, which fall in between these two extremes, are primarily in the Midwest and, to a lesser extent, the South and West. In about half of these states, between 55% and 60% of adults have received at least once dose. All but one experienced declines in the rate of first doses administered in the last week.

States that demonstrate a combination of low overall vaccination coverage along with slow and declining vaccine uptake raise the greatest concerns. There are the 13 states with less than 50% coverage with at least one dose, all of which are vaccinating their adult populations below the national rate. Twelve of these states also saw declines in the rate at which they were vaccinating adults over the past week. These include 3 states (Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi) with vaccination coverage at or below 42%, the lowest in the nation, each of which is vaccinating at about half the rate of the U.S. overall. These are the states that are potentially the greatest distance from reaching sufficient levels of vaccine coverage and might be at risk for future outbreaks if levels are not increased significantly.

As with the U.S. overall, most states appear to be at or near their COVID-19 vaccine tipping points the point at which their supply is outstripping demand. While this may not be as big a concern for states that have already vaccinated large shares (> 60%) of their adult populations with at least one dose, about one in four states have not yet reached 50%, which is well below coverage levels likely to be needed to drive down the risk of outbreaks going forward. Furthermore, in these states, the pace of vaccination is below the national rate. The fact that most of these states are also seeing declines in the rate of first dose administration suggests that they will be important targets for focused efforts to generate increasing vaccine demand.

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Supply vs Demand: Which States are Reaching their COVID-19 Vaccine Tipping Points? - Kaiser Family Foundation

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On Friday, White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci had a vital message for Americans who have gotten their first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer coronavirus vaccine: Don't skip your second shot.

About 8% of people nationwide who have received one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine have not returned for their second dose, Fauci said Friday. That's normal compared to what health experts have seen with other multidose vaccines. But skipping a second dose will not be as effective in preventing the spread and providing the complete protection needed against the virus that has killed more than 576,000 people in the U.S. and more than 49,000 people in Texas.

"Bottom line of my message: Get vaccinated. And if you're having a two-dose regimen, make sure you get that second dose, too," Fauci said.

A lower percentage of people vaccinated in Texas are skipping their second dose relative to the rest of the country. As of April 25, about 5% or 570,399 of Texans who had received the first dose were 43 days or more past due for their second dose, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Health experts say fears of side effects, an inability to take time off of work or incorrectly thinking that a single dose is enough all might be contributing factors to why some are skipping their second dose.

A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 64% effective at preventing hospitalizations in the elderly after the first dose. But they are 94% effective after two doses.

"Everything is showing us that you need two doses to get good protection against the virus," said Dr. John Carlo, CEO of Prism Health North Texas and a member of the state medical association's COVID-19 task force.

Carlo said another issue some Texans had earlier this year was finding a second dose, as the number of people eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine surpassed the number of vaccines available. However, he said, that's no longer an issue.

Texas is seeing its first dip in vaccine demand and a surplus in supplies since the states vaccinations began last winter, leading local and state officials to brainstorm ways to get people to their regional vaccination hub. Strategies have included trucks driving through small rural towns with LED signs, a $1.5 million TV and digital ad campaign and even possibly offering bobblehead or gift card incentives.

Since skipping second doses isn't unique to any part of Texas, both state and local officials are trying to spread the word of the second dose's importance, said DSHS spokesperson Douglas Loveday.

"DSHS has launched new TV, radio and digital ads about these important issues, but we're not the only ones carrying the message," Loveday said in an email. "The governor posted a new video ... on his Twitter account about the importance of getting a second vaccine dose, and our region and local partners continue to message about getting fully vaccinated."

Loveday said the second vaccine dose is also essential in preventing the creation and spread of new COVID-19 variants a mutation of the original virus.

While new variants have not yet been identified as deadlier than the original coronavirus strain, according to the CDC, they can be more contagious. This can lead to more cases, more hospitalizations and, potentially, more deaths.

Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston, said the first dose primes your immune system. The second dose cements the protection.

"The first dose of the vaccine may protect you from the original virus, but there are variants out there," Troisi said. "Because your immune response isn't as strong without your second dose, variants can replicate and spread. The second dose lowers the odds of that happening."

Health experts say Texans who have missed an appointment for a second dose shouldn't worry about having to start the process over again. While getting the second dose should happen within two to six weeks after the first one and not any sooner than that it's always better to get it late than never. If someone has missed their appointment for their second vaccine dose, they can contact their vaccine distributor to reschedule their appointment.

"There isn't going to be any shaming if you get the vaccine months later," said Dr. Diana Cervantes, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. "I know people might be hesitant if they missed their second dose. But it's never too late."

Disclosure: The University of North Texas and UTHealth School of Public Health have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Don't skip your second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, health experts warn - The Texas Tribune

COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio Department of Health reported 1,285 new COVID-19 cases in the state today, bringing the total number of cases to 1,077,284.

Key Metrics

As of last Thursday, statewide, Ohio reported 155.6 cases per 100,000 residents over the preceding two weeks, the metric being used to determine when state health orders will be lifted.

The chart below shows the progress over time toward the 50 case-per-100,000-people threshold that must be met.

RELATED: Are we below 50 cases per 100,000? Heres how close Ohio is to lifting statewide health orders

The number of new cases today is lower than the rolling 21-day average of daily cases, which is 1,598. These numbers include both cases confirmed by a viral test and cases that meet the CDC's definition of probable. There have been 904,769 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, which account for 84% of total cases.

To date, there have been 111,094 total coronavirus cases reported in Cuyahoga County.

There have now been 19,344 coronavirus-related deaths across the state; 60 new deaths were reported.

As other states do not send the death certificates for Ohioans who die out of state to ODH's Bureau of Vital Statistics on a regular schedule, the mortality data provided by Ohio will continue to fluctuate and those deaths will be assigned to their appropriate dates.

As of today, 1,026,498 Ohioans are presumed recovered from the disease, according to the ODH.

The median age of patients is 41 with the age range for infected patients from younger than 1 year old to 111 years old.

WEWS

Hospitalizations

The ODH reported 204 new hospitalizations today, with 20 ICU admissions, both of which were higher than the 21-day average. There are currently 1,157 COVID-19 patients in Ohio's hospitals, and 329 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

Non-COVID patients are currently occupying 70% of the state's hospital beds, according to ODH. COVID-positive patients account for 4%, leaving 26% of beds currently available. COVID patients make up 7% of the state's ICU beds, non-COVID patients are occupying 65% of ICU beds, and 28% of ICU beds are currently open.

Vaccinations

Here's how Ohio's vaccination rate compares to other states:

To date, the COVID-19 vaccine has been started in 4,737,400 people in Ohio, which is 40.53% of the state's population. The vaccine has been started in 17,435 people in the last 24 hours.

ODH

The COVID-19 vaccination has been completed in a total of 3,892,823 people, which is 33.30% of the state's population. In the last 24 hours, the vaccine has been completed in 27,476 people.

ODH

This chart shows the vaccination rates of each Ohio county:

Testing

There were 15,868 tests done on May 3, the latest day this data from the ODH was available. Of those tests, 4.7% were positive, compared to the rolling 7-day average positivity rate, which is 3.8%. Click here for details on where to get a COVID-19 test in your area.

View more COVID-19 data visualizations from News 5 here.

View more data from the ODH on their COVID-19 dashboard here.

Note: The charts above are updated from a variety of sources, and may or may not reflect the latest COVID-19 data released by the state. These charts are regularly updated with new data and may not reflect the statistics in the text of this story at the time it was published.

Download the News 5 app for free to easily access local coronavirus coverage, and to receive timely and limited news alerts on major COVID-19 developments. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

Vaccinating Ohio - Find the latest news on the COVID-19 vaccines, Ohio's phased vaccination process, a map of vaccination clinics around the state, and links to sign up for a vaccination appointment through Ohio's online portal.

See data visualizations showing the impact of coronavirus in Ohio, including county-by-county maps, charts showing the spread of the disease, and more.

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View a map of COVID-19 testing locations here.

Visit Ohio's Coronavirus website for the latest updates from the Ohio Department of Health.

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

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May 4: COVID-19 hospitalizations surge in Ohio, 204 reported in last 24 hours - News 5 Cleveland

A healthcare worker adjusts medical equipment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Centre Cardiologique du Nord private hospital in Saint-Denis, near Paris, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in France, May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

The number of daily new COVID-19 infections in France slowed again on Tuesday, continuing a three-week trend, with the week-on-week increase in cases below 3% for the third day in a row.

The health ministry reported 24,371 new cases, taking the total to 5.68 million, an increase of 2.64% from last Tuesday and down from week-on-week increases of more than 6% before and during the third lockdown in April.

After the first strict lockdown in spring 2020, week-on-week increases fell below 2% in June and remained below 3% until the end of July.

But after the less strict second lockdown in November, the rate has stubbornly remained above 3% and new cases spiked, forcing President Emmanuel Macron to impose a third lockdown in April, this time including a three-week closure of the schools.

The government is now gradually unwinding lockdown and curfew measures by end June, hoping that a stepped-up vaccination drive and continued social distancing will bring the epidemic under control.

The seven-day moving average of new infections is now down to 20,866, less than half the more than 42,000 seen mid-April.

"20,000 is still a high level, but what matters is the momentum," Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday.

The number of people in hospitals with COVID-19 also fell again after two days of increases and was down by 523 to 28,427, health ministry data showed. The number of people in intensive care units with COVID-19 fell by 126 to 5,504 but remains close to a recent high over 6,000.

France also reported 257 new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, including 243 in hospitals - down from 311 on the previous day.

Following the vaccination of nearly 100% of care home residents, the weekly average of deaths there has dropped to six, from more than 100 around Christmas, when the vaccination campaign started.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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New COVID-19 infections in France slow down further - Reuters

Posted: May 4, 2021 / 12:56 PM CDT / Updated: May 4, 2021 / 02:28 PM CDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Governor Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday afternoon a new goal to have half of Arkansans that are eligible forCOVID-19 vaccinationsreceive at least one shot in the next 90 days.

The governor said there are currently1,038,556Arkansans that have received at least one shot.

According to state officials, 467,206 more Arkansans would need to receive a shot to reach the goal by the deadline of July 31.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration set a goal that 70% of American adults receive at least one shot by July 4.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, therewereanadditional296 COVID-19 cases, 20 hospitalizationsand five COVID-19 related deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

Of the 296 cases announced Tuesday, 174 are confirmed cases and 122 are considered probable cases.

Of the five deaths announced Tuesday, four are among confirmed cases and one isconsidered a probable COVID-19 case.

Dr. Jos Romero said health officials are keeping an eye on the increases in active cases and hospitalizations.

State officials say as of Monday, there are 29 counties with reported COVID-19 variants. Arkansas has seen an increase in the number of UK variant cases, which makes up 75% of the variant cases in the state.

The State of Arkansas recommends anyone who travels to India quarantine for 14 days after they return.

State officials also noted there is an increase in coronavirus cases in children.

ADH officials noted 700 additional COVID-19 vaccine doses were received and 10,982 were given Tuesday.

According to officials with the department of health, 270,426 Arkansans are partially immunized and 768,130 are fully immunized.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 336,462 COVID-19 cases, 2,043 active casesand 5,752 COVID-19 related deaths in Arkansas.

Governor Hutchinson announced Tuesday this would be the last COVID-19 weekly update, but he will continue to have weekly media availability on a variety of topics.

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COVID-19 in Arkansas: Gov. Hutchinson sets goal to have 50% of Arkansans receive at least one shot in next 90 days - KARK

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday issued an executive order immediately suspending county- or city-ordered mask mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions.

The announcement left local officials scrambling and residents wondering exactly what would change as a result.

Executive order 21-102 says that all local COVID-19 restrictions and mandates on individuals and businesses are immediately suspended. It says that no county or municipality may renew or enact an emergency order or ordinance, using a local state of emergency ... that imposes restrictions or mandates upon businesses or individuals due to the COVID-19 emergency.

The order is intended to supersede any local orders requiring masks or limiting hours or capacity at bars and restaurants, said Andrea Zelman, deputy attorney for the city of Tampa.

A related executive order, also issued Monday, invalidates any remaining emergency orders still in place on July 1 that were issued by a political subdivision due to the COVID-19 emergency which restricts the rights or liberties of individuals or their businesses.

In general, the order does away with county and city governments emergency mask orders and other pandemic-related restrictions.

Pinellas County announced Tuesday that it was rescinding a county ordinance that required people to wear face coverings in most indoor public places except while eating and drinking. It also said it was rescinding an order requiring organizations to provide safety plans for large events.

Tampa interpreted the governors executive order to mean that, effective Monday, our local face covering order is no longer in effect, Zelman said.

DeSantis had previously waived pandemic-related fines against individuals and businesses from March 1, 2020, through March 10, 2021, effectively rendering some county and city restrictions toothless. DeSantis said Monday that, at the next state clemency board hearing, any outstanding fines on individuals or businesses will be waived, too.

Yes. DeSantis made clear Monday that the executive orders apply only to local government-mandated orders, not mask requirements or social distancing policies enforced by businesses.

That means a restaurant or store can still require patrons to wear face coverings or follow other safety procedures if it wants to do so.

In terms of what a supermarket or some of them choose to do, a Disney theme park, this does not deal with that one way or another, he said. Its simply emergency orders and emergency penalties on individual businesses.

Yes.

The Florida Department of Education issued a clarification late Monday following confusion from parents and school officials, saying DeSantis order only impacts city and county governments, and does NOT impact school districts and individual schools. It noted that the order only impacts orders or ordinances restricting individuals or businesses that were adopted through emergency enactment.

The Pinellas County School District said Tuesday it will rescind its mask mandate effective 5 p.m. June 9, which is the last day of school for students. Pascos school district also plans to rescind its mask order at the end of the school year. The Hillsborough district also sent a message to parents advising it would keep its protocols in place through the end of the school year, including the use of facial coverings for students and staff while on campus.

Its not yet clear whether the governors executive order impacts any limitations that government agencies can impose on visitors to their own buildings.

Zelman, with the city of Tampa, said her office was still looking into whether the city can require masks on its own premises.

We cant order anyone else to require masks, but its not crystal clear to us yet whether we could require them within certain parts of city buildings, Zelman said. She said she expects to have an answer soon.

A spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said Tuesday morning that her office would follow up soon about whether drivers license offices and others would continue to require masks. On Tuesday morning, the departments website still said customers must wear facial coverings and would have their temperature taken before entering the office, with people with a fever not permitted to enter; by the afternoon, that language appeared to have been removed.

The Florida Capitol, which had been largely closed to the public for more than a year including during this years legislative session will fully reopen ahead of a special session on gambling, Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, announced Monday at the same event where DeSantis announced the executive order.

The Capitol is expected to reopen Friday, according to a memo from Simpsons office. That memo said weekly coronavirus testing would no longer be required and masks would be optional.

The executive order doesnt impact local courthouses, which currently requires masks. Rules and procedures around the virus are set by the Florida Supreme Court and chief judges of the states 20 judicial circuits.

DeSantis has pushed for months to reopen the state and return to pre-pandemic normalcy. On Monday, he declared the states pandemic emergency to be over, citing the availability of coronavirus vaccines, and said ending pandemic-related restrictions was the evidence-based thing to do. (Florida is still under an emergency order; DeSantis last week extended the states emergency declaration for another 60 days.)

Mondays executive order points to DeSantis mindset, noting that Florida now has enough COVID-19 vaccines for any eligible resident who wants one and stating that a select number of local governments continue to impose mandates and business restrictions, without proper consideration of improving conditions and with no end in sight.

The signing of the executive order was also done at the same time DeSantis signed Senate Bill 2006 into law. That legislation, which goes into effect July 1, is intended to update the states emergency powers, including limiting local governments to extend most emergency orders only in seven-day increments for a total of 42 days and giving the governor the ability to override local emergency orders.

The legislation also makes permanent DeSantis ban on so-called vaccine passports by prohibiting businesses, schools and government agencies from requiring people to show documentation of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Florida has at least partially vaccinated nearly 9 million people, or roughly half of the eligible population, and has seen coronavirus cases and deaths drop among its older residents, who are more likely to have been vaccinated.

But experts have warned that coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths are continuing and the vaccination rate is slowing, while fewer people appear to be adhering to mask and social distancing recommendations. Worries about mutated strains of the virus add more pressure to the situation.

Florida is slightly below the nationwide average in percent of people vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Monday, the state reported more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases and 41 more deaths.

Times staff writers Jeffrey S. Solochek and Kathryn Varn contributed to this report.

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What we know about DeSantis executive order suspending local COVID-19 restrictions - Tampa Bay Times