Daily Archives: December 29, 2021

Bradley Beal has been one of the few and most notable NBA players to resist getting the COVID-19 vaccine shot(s). Until recently, other than Beal being subject to stricter NBA protocols, that hadn't been an issue in Washington D.C., where there were previously no vaccine mandates.

That will not be the case for much longer.

Amid the latest COVID-19 surge, Washington D.C. has mandated a citywide vaccine requirement for indoor entertainment facilities, which includes Capital One Arena, where the Wizards play.

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The mandate, which will require all patrons aged 12 or older who enter these facilities to have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, will take effect on Jan. 15, 2022.

That means Beal, like Kyrie Irving in New York, wouldn't have been permitted to play or even enter the building for home games had he chosen to remain unvaccinated. Fortunately for the Wizards, Beal has reportedly flipped his stance and received his first dose of the vaccine, per Ava Wallace of the Washington Post.

Beal entered the league's COVID health and safety protocols on December 23, but it is not clear whether he actually contracted the virus or was merely exposed, which is enough to land unvaccinated players in protocols.

There is no indication when Beal actually received his first dose of the vaccine.

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Bradley Beal reportedly receives first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, keeping him clear of Washington D.C. mandate - CBS Sports

COVID-19: A look at the most startling pandemic numbers from 2021

From vaccinations to variants, here are some of the most shocking pandemic stats from 2021.

Staff video, USA TODAY

Iowa is among a group of about a dozenstates that tookaction in 2021 to ban employer mandates or require exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Republicans, who control both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, have indicated that a push for more legislation to push back against potential coronavirus vaccine requirements is likely.But Republican leadersdon't appear as eager to revisit other requirements, such as immunizationrequirements for students.

Some groups in Iowa thatare pushing back against COVID-19 vaccinerequirements have also pushed for broader exemptions for childhood vaccinationsand gathering more information on childhood vaccines.

Across the U.S., Republicans are likely to take more steps to oppose mandates while Democrats could try to strengthen vaccine requirements. Some national political observerssay they don't expect to see it translateintoa significant push to alter other vaccination requirements like childhood immunization rules.

"I don't expect itto spill over into childhood immunizations and vaccinations for school," said Tim Storey, CEO of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For subscribers: Learn more about what Iowa Republicans plan to do with COVID-19 mandates in this subscriber-only story.

State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who chairs the House State Government Committee, said he's looking to keep thefocus on vaccine mandates narrow.

"I've not had a single human being approachme otherwise," Kaufmann said.

And Informed Choice Iowa vice president Brei Johnson, who has helped lead the fight against COVID-19 vaccine mandates,also said she sees COVID-19 vaccine mandates as the morepressing issue.

"I feel like people first need to be alleviated (of) that," she said."You know, secure their job, keep their job, apply for a jobwithout the medical discrimination that we're seeinghappening, and exposure to their personal health information."

More: A year after the first COVID shot, nearly 1.8M Iowans are fully vaccinated. But more work remains to end the pandemic

That doesn't mean legislation couldn't appear like it has in years past.Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, didnt rule out additional proposals. However, healso didn't indicate it is a high priority for Senate Republicans.

I would say that the COVID vaccine ... shined a light on all the vaccine policy,Whitvertold the Des Moines Registerin mid-December. We'll certainlytake a look at that as people file different bills. But I don't have a billin particular thatI'm looking at."

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.

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Iowa Republicans are pushing back against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Will they take on the measles too? - Des Moines Register

MEXICO CITY, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Mexico on Tuesday allowed a cruise ship to dock and disembark tourists in spite of an outbreak of COVID-19 on board, as the government vowed to keep the country open to cruise vessels provided sanitary precautions are met.

The ship, Ms Zuiderdam, with some 2,000 passengers and crew, docked in the port of Guaymas in the northern state of state of Sonora, state and federal authorities said.

In a statement, the Mexican government said it would accept cruise ships that sought permission to dock as long as World Health Organization international regulations are followed.

Register

People infected with COVID-19 on cruise ships who need medical attention will receive it, and milder or asymptomatic cases will be isolated from others on board, it added.

Holland America Line, which operates the Zuiderdam, said in a statement that a small number of fully vaccinated crew and passengers on Zuiderdam had tested positive for COVID-19.

All showed mild or no symptoms and are in isolation, while their close contacts have been quarantined, it added.

Zuiderdam is on a 10-day cruise and would return to San Diego as scheduled on Jan. 2, the statement said.

Sonora health minister Jose Luis Alomia told a news conference 30 people had tested COVID-19 positive on the Zuiderdam - 28 crew and two passengers - and were in isolation.

Around 400 people had disembarked from the vessel during the morning after proceeding through sanitary filters set up to identify suspected cases of infection, Alomia said.

The minister said there were some 1,200 passengers and almost 800 crew on board the Zuiderdam.

The government of Mexico, whose economy relies substantially on visitors from abroad for foreign exchange income, has been determined to keep the country open during the pandemic, imposing relatively few restrictions on tourism.

Register

Reporting by Dave Graham;Editing by Sandra Maler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Cruise ship with COVID-19 outbreak docks in northern Mexico - Reuters

Multiple student-athletes from Princeton High School tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a track meet at the Toms River Bubble on Dec. 20.

The meet at the Toms River Bubble, an indoor athletic complex, was attended by the high schools sprint and throw group.

This meet involved far more teams and athletes than advertised, and unfortunately we received reports today of multiple positive COVID-19 cases from athletes on our team who attended that meet, head high school track and field coach Ben Samara wrote to track parents in an email on Christmas Eve.

While it is, of course, not a certainty that the positive cases resulted from this meet, we are taking this news very seriously. As a result, and out of an abundance of caution, the sprint group will be shutting down over winter break, Samara wrote.

The sprint group will begin normal practice again when school is back in session on Jan. 3. In the email, Samara encouraged students who attended the meet to get tested for COVID over the break. The distance runners group did not attend the meet and will continue normal activities over break, but with masks in place as a precaution. Distance runners are still slated to compete in the CVD Relays on Jan. 2.

Moving forward, we will be reaching out to meet directors to confirm the number of teams, athletes, and spectators anticipated at each meet, Samara wrote, adding that school officials will determine whether or not the track team participates on a case-by-case basis.

We will also disclose this information to athletes and families so you can make an informed decision about whether or not you want your child to attend each meet, Samara wrote. It is our promise to do everything in our power to not put our athletes and your children in a compromising position.

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Multiple student COVID-19 cases in Princeton possibly linked to indoor track meet in Toms River Princeton, NJ local news % - Planet Princeton

New York City, home to the nations largest school system, will eliminate its current policy of quarantining entire classrooms exposed to Covid, and will instead use a ramped-up testing program to allow students who test negative for the coronavirus and do not have symptoms to remain in school.

The new policy, which Mayor Bill de Blasio referred to as Stay Safe and Stay Open during his announcement on Tuesday, will take effect on Jan. 3, when the nearly one million students who attend the citys public schools are scheduled to return from holiday break. More than 27,000 new virus cases were reported in New York City on Tuesday, and more than 2,300 people were hospitalized with Covid-19, according to the states most recent count.

Mr. de Blasio, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who takes office on Saturday, appeared together at a news conference to present a united front against school closures, despite an enormous surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant that has only worsened in the days since city schools closed for winter break last week.

Your children are safer in school, the numbers speak for themselves, Mr. Adams said.

Instead of delaying the start of in-person school and pivoting to remote learning, the city will double the amount of random surveillance testing it conducts, in hopes of detecting more infections while mitigating disruptions.

Ms. Hochul on Tuesday called remote learning a failed experiment, while lauding the very best efforts of incredibly hardworking, passionate teachers who did their very best with remote teaching and the parents who were just pulling their hair out at kitchen tables, trying to make sure that it worked successfully.

New Yorks new schools policy is the latest example of how the country is trying to respond to the Omicron variant without implementing disruptive and unpopular large-scale shutdowns. Officials are walking a tightrope as cases increase at an alarming rate: On Tuesday, the United States record for daily coronavirus cases was broken, with the seven-day average topping 267,000.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday shortened the amount of time that people who test positive need to isolate from 10 days to five, as long as they are asymptomatic and wear high-quality masks while around others.

Many school districts have sought to limit disruption and prevent outbreaks by increasing testing. That model, known as test to stay, was endorsed by the C.D.C. earlier this month. States including Illinois, Kansas, California and Massachusetts have test-to-stay strategies, and the United Kingdom loosened quarantine rules for exposed students earlier this year.

In the Granite School District near Salt Lake City, a significantly smaller school district than New Yorks made up of 90 schools and 63,000 students, the test-to-stay program has worked well, according to the districts spokesman, Ben Horsley, and is now being adopted in Utah statewide.

Youd be in a situation, you might have 1,800 students in a high school and all 1,800 would be dismissed once the case count reached a certain threshold, Mr. Horsley said. As you can imagine, sending everybody home when only 10 to 12 other kids might be sick seemed pretty ridiculous.

In New York City, hundreds of classrooms were either entirely closed or partially closed last week because of Covid exposures. The citys previous policy was to quarantine unvaccinated close contacts of infected students for 10 days. Many elementary school children in particular have not been vaccinated, even though they are eligible, and fewer than half of all city children aged 5 to 17 are fully vaccinated.

City officials are expecting Omicron to continue surging in New York over the next few weeks, which will certainly be felt in classrooms. To avoid frequent closures and disruption, the city will provide students with rapid at-home tests to take if someone in their classroom tests positive.

If the students are not showing symptoms and test negative, they will be allowed to return the next day. They will then be given a second at-home test within five days of their exposure. Students or parents will self-report test results to schools.

Students will also receive rapid tests if their classmates or teachers are displaying symptoms. Those who test positive will have to quarantine for 10 days.

New York still plans to close entire schools when there is evidence of major in-school spread.

Schools remain among the safest settings in our communities, Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, the citys health commissioner, said on Tuesday.

He said that even if virus rates continued to rise, we estimate that in schools about 98 percent of close contacts do not end up developing Covid-19.

Ms. Hochul said Monday that she would send one million rapid at-home test kits, each containing two tests, to New York City schools, and those are set to arrive this week. In all, the city expects to have roughly six million rapid tests on hand by the time school starts.

Dr. Michael Mina, a former Harvard University epidemiologist, is a leading expert on rapid tests and has been a forceful advocate of using testing to keep classrooms open.

But Dr. Mina, who is now the chief science officer for eMed, which distributes at-home tests, said that testing children twice a week in classrooms where an infection was detected would simply not do enough to dramatically reduce transmission. Instead, he said, those who have been exposed should be tested every day.

By testing just twice, youre very likely to miss when someone becomes infectious and potentially becomes a superspreader, he said. This virus goes from zero to a hundred easily in a day or maybe two days.

He considered what would happen if a child tests positive on Monday after having exposed his classmates that day at school. They get exposed on Monday, test on Tuesday or Wednesday, and then they dont test on Friday, but they could be an absolute superspreader on Friday, Dr. Mina said.

Brad Lander, the incoming city comptroller, recently called on the mayor to make rapid tests available to all students and staff before Jan. 3, to help prevent a major outbreak. Mr. de Blasio said Tuesday his team had decided that plan was not feasible, but the city is still encouraging students and staff to try to get tested this weekend.

That could prove difficult for many families, because of the extremely long lines at many testing sites across the city as demand has surged.

The citys teachers union is not yet fully on board with the reopening plan.

We are moving closer to a safe reopening of school next week. But we are not there yet, Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, said.

Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University, said the city should prioritize getting more young children vaccinated. But the testing plan, she said, is a sound approach moving forward.

Police Commissioner: Keechant Sewell. The Nassau County chief of detectives will becomeNew York Citys first female police commissioner, taking over the nations largest police force amid a crisis of trust in American policing and a troubling rise in violence.

Commissioner of Correction Department: Louis Molina. The former N.Y.P.D. officerwho currently oversees a public safety department in Las Vegas will be tasked with leading the citys embattled Correction Departmentand restoring order at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex.

Chief Counsel: Brendan McGuire. After a stint as a partner in a law firms white-collar practice, the former federal prosecutor will return to the public sector to advise the mayor on legal mattersinvolving City Hall, the executive staff and administrative matters.

Deputies. Lorraine Grillo will be the top deputy mayor, Meera Joshi will be deputy mayor for operations, Maria Torres-Springer deputy mayor for economic development, Anne Williams-Isom deputy mayor for health and human services and Sheena Wright deputy mayor for strategic operations.

The number of staff members assigned to the citys virus-tracing system for schools will be doubled, officials said Tuesday. The system, known as the situation room, was completely overwhelmed with cases during the last week of school before break, with some positive cases never reported to parents or reported days late.

After months of relatively little disruption, more than 400 classrooms were fully closed at the end of last week because of positive cases. Seventeen of the citys roughly 1,600 schools closed temporarily during the fall semester, with more than half of the closures taking place during its final two weeks.

The school system has been conducting surveillance P.C.R. testing of random groups of students, aimed at catching positive cases before they turn into outbreaks.

But following intense criticism that the city was conducting far too few tests, it plans to ramp up testing from 10 percent of consenting students in each school each week to 20 percent.

In another shift, the city will now test both vaccinated and unvaccinated students under its surveillance program, whereas for months it only tested unvaccinated students. Omicron is extremely contagious, even among vaccinated people.

There is a catch: Only students whose parents have allowed them to be tested are eligible.

Mr. de Blasio said Tuesday that about 330,000 students had consented to testing, about a third of the total school population. He expects that number to increase significantly now that vaccinated children are eligible.

City officials plan to encourage more parents to opt their children into the testing pool, but have rejected calls to require parents to opt out of random testing for their children, rather than actively consent to it.

Children in prekindergarten programs are not eligible for random testing, which has frustrated parents of those students, who are not yet eligible for vaccines.

The mayor said the city never had a problem getting the number of kids and adults tested we needed to.

That contradicts the experience of some parents, who have said in interviews that their children were tested nearly every week even if they were vaccinated because so few students in a given school had consented to testing.

And while the city has recently begun to offer testing to staff members, all of whom must be vaccinated, many educators have said there are not enough tests for everyone who wants one.

City and state officials have also emphasized in recent days that many more eligible young children in particular need to get vaccinated to keep schools safe amid Omicron. The city sent vaccination trucks to schools when the shots were first authorized for young children this fall.

But now that its clear that the new variant is driving breakthrough cases, some parents of vaccinated students said they were concerned about the new semester and that people returning from holiday gatherings would spread the virus.

Im just worried because of everyones holiday plans, said Rafael Lena, the parent of a fourth grader in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens. Im worried that theyre basically leaving it up to us to determine are we sick or not. Were just trying to navigate all of this.

Joseph Goldstein, Dana Rubinstein and Stephanie Saul contributed reporting.

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NYC Schools Will Reopen with More Covid-19 Testing to Limit Closures - The New York Times

After a roller coaster year, the COVID-19 pandemic is still taking a massive toll on Maine and the path it will take from here is uncertain.

The first half of this year was marked by hope from the emerging COVID-19 vaccines. High cases last winter slowed to a relative crawl by the summer, when Maine wound down the last remaining business restrictions. The more contagious delta variant then dominated cases, fueling a surge that has persisted since the late summer. Maine is entering the new year with near record case and hospitalization levelsas the new omicron variant takes hold.

The Bangor Daily News talked to three experts to get a sense of what next year may bring. While they expressed hope about vaccines that could further dampen the virus spread, they saw continued risk among unvaccinated people that could stress the states response.

Here is what Mainers can expect from the pandemic next year.

As the virus grew more contagious, Maine saw an increasing amount of breakthrough cases in vaccinated people over the course of 2021. Omicron is likely to lead to far more, though the emerging consensusis that cases being caused by the new variant are more mild. The vaccines are still widely successful at preventing serious illness and deaths.

That is why each health expert who spoke with the BDN agreed they were game changers for the course of the pandemic and will continue to be so going forward. The advent of more drugsthat can treat severe COVID-19 symptoms is another bright spot.

The importance of vaccines was driven home when the delta variant became prominent in Maine, pushing cases up and largely unvaccinated people into hospitals, said Charles Pattavina, an emergency room doctor at St. Josephs Hospital in Bangor. The effect from vaccination is evident in the differences between case rates in Cumberland County Maines most vaccinated ones and its more rural regions.

The arrival of omicron could make things worse, Pattavina worried, with the effects likely to be felt by January. While cases generally appear to be mild, the transmissibilityof omicron could increase cases so much that hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, he said.

State officials are not interested in bringing back restrictions that marked the first year and a half of the pandemic, such as masking requirements, indoor business capacity limits and others. They have said that the best way to end the pandemic is through encouraging vaccinations.

Mills pushed that message hardest through her controversial mandate for health care employees, though she has not said much about a wider private-sector requirement from President Joe Biden for employers with over 100 employees that will take effect for now after ping-ponging through the courts.

Any further increase in cases could spark debate in health circles about whether the state should do more as communities including Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City put in place pandemic mitigation efforts. Last week, the Maine Medical Association put the onus on businesses, recommending they require masks indoors for both customers and employees.

The association had discussed whether to push Mills to reinstate a mask requirement, said Dr. Lani Graham, who sits on the associations public health committee and is a former director of Maines public health agency. While there were concerns about whether the backlash against such a provision would do more harm than good, there are still splits on that issue.

When you look at other public health interventions, it is only when we are quite aggressive with requirements that we are successful, she said.

The regular record-setting case numbers reported by the Maine CDC are dispiriting, but they are quickly becoming a less-useful metric as the surge continues due to sustained community spread in all 16 counties, lagging testingand the states struggle to processall the tests they are getting in a timely manner.

Hospitalizations will increasingly become a better indicator of whether people are experiencing more drastic cases. Graham said while much about omicron is uncertain, it will quickly be apparent in how many people need a high level of care, regardless of their vaccination status.

We are now coming into a time when people who are vaccinated with boosters may not be protected, she said.

Hospitals have been near capacity in recent weeksbefore COVID-19 inpatients dipped around Christmas, but any sustained stress on hospitals will continue to reverberate through the rest of a health care system that is suffering from a worker shortage at all levels. Continued serious case levels will continue to make it hard to find solutions.

Hospitals never had that volume of capacity, and you cant just ramp it up suddenly, said Patty Hamilton, Bangors public health director.

More articles from the BDN

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3 experts say what the COVID-19 pandemic will look like in Maine in 2022 - Bangor Daily News

TORONTO The NBA has responded to surging COVID-19 cases by keeping games on the schedule and playing in front of fans even while scrambling to fill rosters with able bodies.

But with more than 100 players and coaches entering the leagues coronavirus protocols in December alone, games have resembled preseason or summer league events. Teams are filling holes in their rosters with players who were either in the NBA G League or out of the NBA altogether.

On Monday night, former Sixer Greg Monroe made history by becoming the 541st player used in the league this season. He set the NBA record when he checked in for the Minnesota Timberwolves during their victory over the Boston Celtics.

Monroe last played in the NBA in April 2019 as a Sixer before signing a 10-day replacement contract with the Timberwolves on Monday.

READ MORE: Joel Embiids journey to the NBA and his latest Sixers record are unbelievable even to him

Sixers guard Tyler Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas, and Boston Celtics guard Joe Johnson are among the notable players picked up under similar circumstances. But in a lot of instances, the replacement players were out of the NBA for a reason. Many either werent good enough or were past their prime.

With that, the leagues talent level has been a little watered down. Not only are replacement players contributing, end-of-the bench and two-way players are finding spots in the rotation.

That and the uncertainty of who is available to play on any given night amid protocols creates preparation and motivation problems.

A prime example was the Sixers 114-109 victory against the Toronto Raptors, or The Replacement Raptors, Tuesday night. This was Torontos second game after being sidelined for eight days because of a COVID outbreak.

On Sunday, the Raptors or better yet, the eight players dressed in Raptors uniforms were throttled, 144-99, by the Cleveland Cavaliers. That was Torontos second-worst loss in franchise history. None of that was surprising, with the eight players meeting for the first time for on-court instructions as a group 75 minutes before the game.

Chris Boucher, Yuta Watanabe, Svi Mykhailiuk, and Dalano Banton were Torontos four regular players. But none of them are regular starters when the Raptors are at full strength.

READ MORE: The NFL and NBA are doing the right thing. The rest of us need to accept that well always live with COVID-19. | David Murphy

The other four players Juwan Morgan, Tremont Waters, D.J. Wilson, and Daniel Oturu were replacement players from various G League teams.

We met them on [the] bus on the way to the arena, Watanabe told reporters of the newcomers after the game.

On Tuesday, the Raptors welcomed back Pascal Siakam, Malachi Flynn, and Gary Trent Jr. after they cleared protocols.

However, Precious Achiuwa, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Isaac Bonga, Justin Champagnie, Khem Birch, and Fred VanVleet all remained sidelined because of protocols. Goran Dragic (not with the team) and David Johnson (left calf strain) are also sidelined.

The Sixers are without Shake Milton, Danny Green, and Andre Drummond because of COVID. Milton and Drummond are expected to clear protocols Wednesday and could be available for Thursdays game at the Brooklyn Nets, depending on their conditioning.

Because of human nature, the mental preparation is at least a little bit different when facing a decimated squad like the Raptors.

But the rule of thumb with the game is always respect your opponent, Tobias Harris said. Obviously different guys are coming from different places and have an opportunity. But right now, its just part of the game that were in because of the situation of COVID and outbreak.

But at some point, I hope that guys bounce back and not have as many cases.

Dont we all.

Its hard watching recently signed players be depended on to make major contributions. Sure, there are a lot of great stories to write about young players getting chances to prove themselves and veterans showing they still have skill.

To their credit, the Sixers will tell you basketball is basketball. Coach Doc Rivers is more optimistic than most.

READ MORE: COVID cripples Sixers schedule as NFL, NBA, NHL resume protocols they shouldve never quit | Marcus Hayes

Its good basketball, he said. Its still a competition. I think what it proves is theres a lot of guys that can play basketball. Obviously, theyre not Kevin Durants or Joel Embiids, but theyre still very talented players. Greg Monroe comes in last night and plays great. Tyler is playing great for us.

It just says theres still guys out there that can play.

As Rivers points out, most of the guys have experience in the league.

But the overall product has taken a hit. How many times can you watch a player, through no fault of his own, glance over at a teammate or the bench to ask for instructions?

And the situation is dismal in Toronto.

The Raptors reduced fan capacity by 50% at their arena earlier this month after new restrictions were announced by the province of Ontario.

Combining a half-empty arena with the Raptors decimated roster, Tuesdays contest lacked the normal pregame excitement.

For our group, its such a focus on getting us right and ready, Harris said, and building our chemistry and finding our flow as a team and our identity and how were going to play. So thats what our main focus is on, not really on the excitement of the game.

Those things are always going to be exciting. But our biggest goal is to figure out how we can be better.

Perhaps.

But things will be better for everyone involved when rosters are close to being back at full strength. The question is when will that be.

It appears that most of the NBA news on Twitter these is centered on the next player being placed in protocols. With the coronavirus showing no signs of going away, it could be while before we see teams back at full strength.

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COVID-19 absences have affected the NBA product and Sixers-Raptors wasnt exempt | Keith Pompey - The Philadelphia Inquirer