Category Archives: Corona Virus

In his first public appearance since testing positive for the coronavirus last week, Gov. Phil Murphy urged people Wednesday to remember COVID-19 is still here and to be cautious.

The governor spoke in Jersey City at St. Peters Universitys 150th Anniversary Founders Week Celebration. He had been isolated at his home for five days prior.

Allow my experience to be a reminder that even though we may be past the worst of COVID, we are not entirely past COVID, Murphy said. Allow me to be your proof that the virus is still among us and please use me as your example of the need to continue to be smart and safe, and continue to use common sense and common courtesy.

Murphy credited being vaccinated and boosted for being able to make it through COVID with nothing more than mild symptoms.

The 64-year-old governor added he was planning to get his second booster recommended for people over 50 years old around the time he tested positive for the virus.

Murphys office said Friday the governor was experiencing minor symptoms a day after he tested positive. He took a rapid antigen test Thursday afternoon as part of his regularly scheduled testing regime, and it came back positive, his office said. Murphy then took a PCR test, which also came back positive, the office said. PCR tests are more reliable.

Murphy is considered high risk because he had a cancerous tumor removed from his kidney on March 4, 2020, the same day the state reported its first known case of the virus.

New Jerseys COVID-19 numbers plummeted in recent months after a record spike in December and January fueled by the omicron variant. Murphys diagnosis comes as the state is seeing its COVID-19 cases begin to tick up slightly again, though they are still relatively low.

BA.2, also known as the omicron stealth variant, now makes up the majority of cases in North America. Officials have said the strain appears to spread more easily but does not cause more severe illness.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.

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Allow me to be your proof that the virus is still among us, Murphy says in first post-COVID appearance - NJ.com

NHS chiefs have issued an extraordinary plea for families to help them discharge loved ones even if they are Covid-19 positive as the health service faces a perfect storm fuelled by heavy demand, severe staff shortages and soaring Covid cases.

Hospitals and ambulance services across England are under enormous strain, health leaders have warned, after NHS trusts covering millions of patients declared critical incidents or issued stark warnings to residents.

Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, which represents the whole healthcare system, said the situation had become so serious that all parts of the health service were now becoming weighed down. This will have a direct knock-on effect on the ability of staff to tackle the care backlog, she added, as well as the current provision of urgent and emergency care.

On Wednesday evening, the crisis became so acute in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight that its chief medical officer urged relatives of patients well enough to be discharged to collect them immediately even if they were still testing positive for coronavirus.

Dr Derek Sandeman, of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System, revealed that almost every hospital in the two counties was full, and said the number of people with Covid-19 being cared for in hospitals across the area was 650 more than 2.5 times higher than in early January. He added that 2,800 staff working for local NHS organisations were off sick, half of which absences were due to Covid-19.

With staff sickness rates well above average, rising cases of Covid-19 and very high numbers of people needing treatment, we face a perfect storm but there are some very specific ways in which people can help the frontline NHS and care teams, said Sandeman.

If you have a loved one who is in hospital, please help staff to help get them home quickly when they are well enough even if they are still testing positive for Covid. That is enormously important to help us make beds available for those in greatest need.

Earlier on Wednesday, a major ambulance trust, South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), which covers 7 million people across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Sussex and Surrey, declared a critical incident after extreme pressures forced it to prioritise patients with life-threatening illnesses.

At the same time, six hospitals across Yorkshire issued a joint warning for people to stay away from emergency departments except for in genuine, life-threatening situations after a surge in numbers left some patients waiting for up to 12 hours.

With nearly 20,000 people in hospital with coronavirus in England, these latest critical incidents highlight how once again the pressure on our health service is mounting, McCay said. Ambulances, A&E departments and frontline providers of care across all parts of the NHS are weighed down by heavy demand.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said NHS trusts right across England were under enormous strain caused by rising numbers of people with Covid-19 in hospital, a very high number of beds being occupied, staff absences and severe workforce shortages. Trust leaders and everybody in the NHS are keenly aware of the impact of delays and addressing them is an absolute priority, she added.

SCAS declared a critical incident on Wednesday after a huge volume of callouts the previous day and asked people to call 999 only in life-threatening or serious emergencies.

Meanwhile, hospital trusts across West Yorkshire and Harrogate in North Yorkshire an area covering more than 2.5 million people said the current pressures had left them with no choice but to prioritise patients presenting with acute illness or injuries.

West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT) said its most recent emergency department figures showed a 14.2% increase in attendances compared with the same week last year.

Dr Andrew Lockey, emergency medicine consultant with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said: Our hospitals are extremely busy, and people are having to wait a long time to be seen.

An NHS England spokesperson said: NHS staff remain under significant pressure on many fronts as they deal with high numbers of ambulance callouts and increasing numbers of people in hospital with Covid-19, while the latest weekly figures also show a spike in the number of staff off sick due to the virus.

Despite this, NHS teams across the country are working hard to deliver as much routine care as possible as well as rolling out the spring booster programme, so if you have a health concern, please come forward for the care you need and if invited, get your vaccine at the earliest opportunity.

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Families asked to take in Covid-positive loved ones as NHS faces perfect storm - The Guardian

MIAMI (AP) (2010s)

The NBA suspends the season ''until further notice'' after Rudy Goebert of the Utah Jazz tests positive for the coronavirus. The move comes hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas. The stoppage is expected to last a couple weeks. But the NBA does not resume play again until the end of July with a scaled-down version involving 22 teams inside a bubble created at the Disney World complex in Florida. The Associated Press is republishing verbatim the story of the NBA suspending the season March 12, 2020.

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By TIM REYNOLDS

By AP Basketball Writer

MIAMI - The NBA has suspended its season ''until further notice'' after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

''The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice,'' the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT. ''The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.''

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed ''due to unforeseen circumstances.''

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now - a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that timeframe is very fluid.

Story continues

''It's a very serious time right now,'' Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we'll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here.''

The Jazz released a statement saying a player - they did not identify Gobert - tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. That player's symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.

''The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City,'' the Jazz said, adding that updates would come as appropriate.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, which declared a pandemic on Wednesday, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.

It has been a worldwide issue for several weeks. And now, it has hit the NBA.

''This is crazy,'' Cleveland forward Tristan Thompson said on Twitter.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he was stunned when the news came down, adding that ''this is much bigger than basketball.''

''This is a global pandemic where people's lives are at stake,'' Cuban said. ''I'm a lot more worried about my kids, and my mom is 82 years old, and talking to her, and telling her to stay in the house, than I am about when we play our next game.''

Charlotte Hornets coach James Borrego, speaking before his team's game at Miami, said ''these are scary times.''

Rapidly evolving times, as well. Around 7 p.m., a person with knowledge of the situation told AP that owners - who met by teleconference Wednesday - were largely in support of a plan to play games in empty arenas on a short-term basis.

About an hour later, the Thunder-Jazz game was halted before tip-off. And about 90 minutes after that, the season was called off, effective when the last whistle was to blow Wednesday night.

That came even earlier than planned: The last game of the night's six-game slate, New Orleans at Sacramento, was called off as well because one of the referees assigned to work that Pelicans-Kings game, Courtney Kirkland, worked a Utah game on Monday.

''The game was canceled out of an abundance of caution,'' the NBA said.

There are 259 games, roughly 21% of the schedule, left to play this season - and no one knows if, or when, things will resume.

''We believe in the leadership of the league,'' Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand said.

The shutdown is the latest major development in a season filled with unspeakably hard challenges. The league lost as much as $400 million in revenue after a rift with China was started in October when Houston general manager Daryl Morey tweeted out support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. Former NBA Commissioner David Stern died in January, the same month that soon-to-be Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash.

And now, a pandemic - which could also cost the league hundreds of millions in lost revenue, depending on how long it lasts. Cuban said he expected his team to remain in Dallas, rehabbing and working and being ready to return whenever the league re-opens.

''As we've said from the beginning, the health and safety of our fans, employees, players and partners is our top priority and thus we fully support the NBA's decision to postpone games,'' Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins said. ''We will continue to stay in contact with the league, and local, state and federal health experts as we closely monitor this public health crisis.''

If the regular season ends here, it would be the end of Atlanta guard Vince Carter's 22-year playing career. And just in case this was it, the Hawks put Carter in with 19.5 seconds left in overtime in what was already clearly going to be a loss to New York.

Carter took an open 3-pointer and made it - the Knicks, aware of the moment, didn't defend him either - and celebrated with Hawks teammates afterward after what may be the final shot of his career.

''A weird, but cool memory,'' Carter said.

Also shut down: The G League, the NBA's minor league where teams have somewhere between six and nine games left on their 50-game schedules.

The NBA's movement toward empty arenas in the short term came on the same day that the NCAA announced that the men's and women's Division I tournaments would be played without fans - except for a few family members - permitted inside to watch.

''People are clearly taking the measures that they feel they need to take for safety,'' said Heat guard Duncan Robinson, who played in both the Division I and Division III national championship games during his college days at Michigan and Williams.

Robinson added, ''but at the same time the NBA has to protect its players in the league and the fans.''

Things were trending toward games in empty arenas for some time, and it was abundantly clear Wednesday morning when the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told a Congressional committee that he would recommend the NBA not allow fans at games in response to the coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was responding to a question asked by Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, ''is the NBA underreacting or is the Ivy League overreacting?'' Grothman was referencing how the Ivy League recently canceled its basketball tournaments, instead of having them without fans or keeping the status quo.

''We would recommend that there not be large crowds,'' Fauci said. ''If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it. But as a public health official, anything that has crowds is something that would give a risk to spread.''

That was when the concern was about crowds and containment.

By the close of business Wednesday in the NBA, the concern was so much more.

''This is surreal,'' Borrego said. ''This is reality for us now. It's no longer just on TV somewhere. This is now home.''

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More on the NBA At 75: https://apnews.com/hub/nba-at-75

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AP Was There: NBA suspends season over coronavirus pandemic - Yahoo Sports

Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most popular health beverages around the world.

Originating from China, green tea is lauded for many health benefits due to its potential antioxidant, antiviral and immune-boosting properties (1, 2).

Its recently been investigated for a possible role in managing the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes illness from COVID-19. You may have heard that drinking green tea prevents or cures the disease.

In this article, we explain whether green tea affects COVID-19 and offer some immune-boosting tips.

Green tea is rich in health-promoting polyphenols, such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which has anti-viral effects against single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) viruses like Zika, hepatitis C, influenza (flu), dengue, and others (1, 3, 4, 5).

Like these, the SARS-CoV-2 is an ssRNA virus. Thus, green tea extracts continue to be investigated for their potential role in treating the virus and managing the COVID-19 pandemic (1, 2).

Test-tube research shows that green tea extracts may combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus by damaging the spike protein, preventing its entry into human cells and reducing the overall volume of the virus (3, 4, 5, 6).

Treatment of the test tube cells with EGCG was most effective during early stages of infection (3).

However, its important to understand that drinking green tea itself cant prevent or cure COVID-19. Most studies showing an effect used single green tea extracts like EGCG in concentrated amounts much higher than whats found in the natural tea.

Furthermore, EGCG is poorly absorbed when consumed orally from teas (4).

Nonetheless, green tea extracts may have potential to be used for natural treatment of COVID-19 after further human research and testing.

Remember, the best way to prevent serious illness from COVID-19 is by getting vaccinated, maintaining physical distancing, and washing your hands often. You can learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.

Drinking green tea cannot prevent, treat, or cure the COVID-19 virus, but concentrated extracts like EGCG may have potential to be used for natural treatment after further human research and testing.

A COVID-19 infection can cause inflammation, which is linked to symptoms like fatigue, muscle pain, and achy joints (7).

Green tea may have anti-inflammatory properties. Its shown to reduce damaging inflammation associated with the COVID-19 virus, potentially easing these symptoms (8).

The EGCG found in green tea may also shorten infection periods by suppressing viral activity, although this effect has only been observed in test-tube studies. We need human research before we can draw conclusions (9).

Green tea is also a source of other immune-supportive nutrients like zinc, iron, and selenium albeit in small amounts (10).

Regardless, you may find that sipping on a warm cup of green tea during your COVID-19 infection is simply soothing.

Green tea may reduce damaging inflammation associated with COVID-19, potentially improving negative symptoms induced by the virus, such as muscle pains. Its also a source of immune-supportive nutrients, though theyre present only in small amounts.

Green tea contains small amounts of the following immune-boosting micronutrients (10):

Nutrient deficiencies impair immune health. For instance, research suggests that selenium deficiency may contribute to more severe illness from COVID-19 (11).

Green tea infusions made by steeping dried green tea leaves or a tea bag in hot water contain varying levels of these micronutrients, dependening on the quality of soil it was grown in (10).

Overall, concentrations of micronutrients in green tea appear low.

Green tea contains small amounts of the micronutrients zinc, copper, selenium, and vitamins B2 and B12, all of which are shown to boost immune health.

Green tea contains only small amounts of immune-boosting micronutrients. Enjoy infused green tea along with these tips to better support your overall immune health:

Increase fruit and vegetable intake, exercise regularly, avoid smoking, practice handwashing and hand hygiene, and aim for 7-9 hours per night to boost your immune health.

Green tea is a popular drink often touted as a health beverage. Some claims may hold true: it has proven antiviral effects against single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) viruses like Zika, hepatitis C, influenza, and dengue.

Its potential role in combatting SARS-CoV-2 continues to be investigated, but drinking green tea is not proven to prevent or cure COVID-19.

Increase fruit and vegetable intake, exercise regularly, avoid smoking, practice hand-washing and hand hygiene, and aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night to boost your immune health.

Vaccination against COVID-19, in conjunction with physical distancing and masking when appropriate, remains the best way to protect yourself and others from severe illness.

Originally posted here:

Green Tea and Covid: Is There a Relationship? - Healthline

Republicans are eyeing an attempt to link a Trump-era immigration policy to a coronavirus relief deal that senators are hoping to pass by the end of the week.

GOP senators are pushing for a vote targeting the Biden administrations decision to end Title 42 which allowed migrants at the border to besummarily expelled from the country instead of being processed under regular immigration rules and allowed to exercise their right to claim asylum as part of a debate over a $10 billion coronavirus relief deal announced earlier Monday.

In order to pass the $10 billion coronavirus aid deal before the chamber leaves for a two-week break, Senate leadership is going to need cooperation from all 100 senators. That could give Republicans leverage to push for an amendment vote.

It seems like theres kind of critical mass behind that idea. How the Democrats want to handle that issue may have some bearing on how and when the COVID bill proceeds, said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican.

Thune added that if Democrats want to pass the coronavirus bill this week, they are going to have to negotiate with Republicans to speed things up.

Republicans would need a decision by the Senate parliamentarian but think an amendment related to Title 42 would qualify for getting a simple majority vote if Democrats let it come up.

That could put Democrats in a politically awkward spot. Several Senate Democrats have been critical of the administrations decision to end the Trump-era policy. Because of the 50-50 Senate, Republicans would need only one of those Democrats to vote for their amendment to get it added into a coronavirus relief bill.

In addition to trying to get changes into the coronavirus bill, Republicans are expected to focus on the border heading into November.

The administration onFriday rescinded Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border and blocks them from seeking asylum.

The order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifts Title 42 on May 23.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) called its striking a frightening decision for an administration nowhere near prepared for an influx at the border.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who is up for reelection, called it the wrong decision.

Its unacceptable to end Title 42 without a plan and coordination in place to ensure a secure, orderly, and humane process at the border, Kelly wrote.

More here:

GOP eyes linking Title 42 to coronavirus deal - The Hill

By Sarah Cobey, Jesse Bloom, Tyler Starr and Nathaniel Lash

Dr. Cobey studies the interaction of immunity, virus evolution and transmission at the University of Chicago. Dr. Bloom and Dr. Starr study virus evolution at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Mr. Lash is a graphics editor for Opinion.

As scientists who study how viruses evolve, we are often asked about the future of the coronavirus. Will it go away? Get worse? Fade into the background of our lives? Become seasonal like the flu?

Heres what we know: The viruss Omicron variant was significantly more infectious and more resistant to vaccines than the original strain that first emerged in Wuhan, China. Theres no reason, at least biologically, that the virus wont continue to evolve. The coronavirus variants that have emerged thus far sample only a fraction of the genetic space that is most likely available for evolutionary exploration.

A virus like SARS-CoV-2 faces one overriding pressure: to become better at spreading. Viruses that cause more infections will be more successful. The virus can do this by becoming more contagious and by skirting the immune system. This coronavirus has undergone several adaptations that make it better at spreading in humans.

But although many scientists, including us, expected SARS-CoV-2 would be under evolutionary pressure to transmit better, its been remarkable just how well the virus has responded to that pressure. Recent variants like Omicron and Delta are several times more transmissible than the strain that first spread around the globe in early 2020. Thats a huge increase, and makes SARS-CoV-2 more contagious than many other human respiratory viruses. These big jumps in contagiousness have played a major role in driving the pandemic so far.

Chart showing properties of certain SARS-CoV-2 variants. Along the X axis, reductions in antibody effectiveness for variants is shown. Along the Y axis are figures on how much more contagious the variant is compared to the original SARS-CoV-2.

How the coronavirus has changed

Comparing coronavirus variants to early 2020 strains.

Antibodies are

less effective

Estimated reduction in antibody effectiveness

How the coronavirus has mutated

Comparing coronavirus variants to early 2020 strains.

Antibodies are

less effective

Estimated reduction in antibody effectiveness

How the coronavirus has changed

Comparing coronavirus variants to early 2020 strains.

Antibodies are

less effective

Estimated reduction in antibody effectiveness

How much more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 can become is an open question, but there are limits. Even evolution is constrained: a cheetah cant evolve to be infinitely fast, and SARS-CoV-2 wont become infinitely transmissible.

Other viruses have reached plateaus in their ability to spread. Some respiratory viruses such as measles are more contagious than todays SARS-CoV-2. Others, such as influenza, are generally not as contagious as SARS-CoV-2. We dont know when this coronavirus will hit its transmissibility plateau, but it will happen eventually.

Viruses such as this one can also spread better by escaping immunity to prior variants. Early in the pandemic, few people had immunity to SARS-CoV-2. But now much of the world has antibodies from vaccination or prior infection. Because these antibodies can block infection, variants with mutations that skirt them have an increasing advantage.

The importance of immune escape has become apparent with Omicron. Prior variants like Delta were only modestly able to sidestep antibodies, but Omicron has many mutations that reduce the ability of antibodies to recognize it. This, coupled with how contagious Omicron is, has enabled it to cause a huge wave of infections.

The fact that the virus developed the ability to infect people who had been vaccinated or previously infected shouldnt have been a surprise, but how it happened with Omicron certainly was. Evolution often proceeds stepwise, with new successful variants descended from recent successful ones. Thats why six months ago many scientists, including us, thought the next variant would descend from Delta, which was dominant at the time. But evolution defied our expectations, and we got Omicron, which has a huge number of mutations and isnt descended from Delta. Its not known exactly how the virus made the big evolutionary jump that led to Omicron, although many scientists (including us) suspect the variant may have emerged from someone who couldnt fight off the virus well, allowing it time to mutate.

Its impossible to say whether future variants will have more big Omicron-like jumps or more typical stepwise changes, but we are confident SARS-CoV-2 will continue to evolve to escape immunity.

While transmissibility of viruses does plateau at a certain point, other human viruses that escape immunity keep doing so. The influenza vaccine has been updated annually for decades to chase viral evolution, and some influenza viruses show no sign of slowing down. Immune escape is an endless evolutionary arms race, because the immune system can always make new antibodies and the virus has a vast set of mutations to explore in response. For instance, Omicron has just a tiny fraction of the many mutations that have been observed in SARS-CoV-2 or related bat viruses, which are in turn just a small fraction of what lab experiments suggest the virus could potentially explore.

Taking all this together, we expect SARS-CoV-2 will continue to cause new epidemics, but they will increasingly be driven by the ability to skirt the immune system. In this sense, the future may look something like the seasonal flu, where new variants cause waves of cases each year. If this happens, which we expect it will, vaccines may need to be updated regularly similar to the flu vaccines unless we develop broader variant-proof vaccines.

And of course, how much all this matters for public health depends on how sick the virus makes us. That is the hardest prediction to make, because evolution selects for viruses that spread well, and whether that makes disease severity go up or down is mostly a matter of luck. But we do know that immunity reduces disease severity even when it doesnt fully block infections and spread, and immunity gained from vaccination and prior infections has helped blunt the impact of the Omicron wave in many countries. Updated or improved vaccines and other measures that slow transmission remain our best strategies for handling an uncertain evolutionary future.

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Opinion | We Study Virus Evolution. Here's Where We Think the Coronavirus Is Going. - The New York Times

The World Health Organization said Wednesday its increasingly concerned at the reduction in COVID-19 testing, surveillance and overall monitoring among its member countries, reminding the public that the coronavirus is still circulating at high levels.

COVID-19 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and it is too early to reduce the quality of surveillance, the agency said in its weekly epidemiological update.

Data are becoming progressively less representative, less timely and less robust, as many countries start to behave as if the pandemic has reached an endemic phase, where the virus is still present but is no longer infecting so many people that its overwhelming healthcare systems.

Until we reach the end of the acute phase of the pandemic, countries must maintain sufficient epidemiologic surveillance to inform evidence-based operational decision-making on crucial parameters, including vaccination strategies, vaccine composition, use of therapeutics, and tailored and appropriate public health and social measures, said the update.

The global tally of new cases fell in the week through March 27, a welcome trend after it rose in the two preceding weeks. But global deaths climbed to more than 45,000, up 43% from a week earlier, although that might be due to changes in how they are defined in some countries in the Americas and Asia.

The WHO also offered another update on some of the recombinant variants of the virus, includingone that has been unofficially named deltacronbecause it combines features of the delta and omicron variants.

Just last week, the agency assigned that variant Pango lineage designation XD under the system used to name and track variants as they emerge. It reiterated that, for now, there is no new evidence to suggest XD is associated with higher transmissibility or more severe outcomes but said it would continue to keep close tabs on that and other variants.

See: U.S. average daily deaths from COVID fall below 800 to lowest level since mid-August, and FDA allows second booster shot for people 50 and older

The news comes a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the BA.2 subvariant of omicron accounted for 55% of new U.S. cases in the week through Saturday. The subvariant is more infectious than the original omicron but appears to be no more lethal.

The average number of deaths in the U.S. fell again after dipping below 800 on Tuesday for the first time since omicron took hold,according to a New York Times tracker.

The seven-day average death tally stands at 716, down 42% from two weeks ago.

New cases are averaging 29,253, down 9% from two weeks ago, and hospitalizations are down 34% at an average of 17,464.

But cases have started to climb again in states in the Northeast and South, and the pace of improvement in places where they are falling has slowed.

Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver remarks later Wednesday on the rollout of a new website to offer Americans help in accessing vaccines, tests, treatments and masks, according to a White House official. Biden will outline the infrastructure and tools and the systems the government has put in place to help the country battle COVID.Biden is also expected to urge Congress to allocate the funding needed for the next part of the program and to highlight the risks if lawmakers fail to act.

See: Biden to receive second COVID vaccine booster shot: White House

A sharp rise in COVID deaths during Hong Kongs fifth wave has led to a shortage of coffins, the South China Morning Post reported. In some instances, coffins are understood to have been stolen or the subject of mix-ups in funeral homes.

Adagio Therapeutics Inc. ADGI, +30.39% said its experimental COVID-19 monoclonal antibody worked as a treatment and for pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial. Adagio said it plans to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter of this year. The drug, adintrevimab, was put into clinical trials before the emergence of the omicron variant, the company said; however, Adagio noted that it then conducted a pre-specified exploratory analysis among a group of participants in the pre-exposure cohort, and when compared to placebo, a clinically meaningful reduction in cases of symptomatic COVID-19 was reported.

See now: BioNTech reports soaring earnings, revenue on COVID vaccine, plans $1.5 billion in buybacks

CureVac CVAC, +0.52% said it dosed the first participant in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the new mRNA COVID-19 vaccine its developing with GlaxoSmithKline GSK, +0.95% GSK, +1.18%. The study is being conducted in the U.S. and is set to enroll 210 adults. The company said it expects to have data in the second half of this year. Continued innovation and progress in the development of mRNA-based vaccines is a critical prerequisite to combat the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Klaus Edvardsen, CureVacs chief development officer, said in a news release.

Heres what the numbers say

The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 485.8 million on Tuesday, while the death toll rose above 6.13 million,according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. leads the world with 80 million cases and 978,842 fatalities.

TheCenters for Disease Control and Preventions trackershows that 217.5 million people living in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, equal to 65.5% of the population. But just 97.4 million are boosted, equal to 44.8% of the vaccinated population.

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WHO urges countries to keep up COVID-19 testing and surveillance as the viral outbreak remains a global pandemic - MarketWatch

Just over two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are still unraveling the mysterious impacts the coronavirus has on almost every part of the body from the heart, lungs, and brain to the eyes, skin, and reproductive organs.

While most studies on COVID-19s effect on fertility have focused on women, emerging research on men is starting to show that the infection may lead to a temporary dip in male fertility and sexual function.

A study published in November 2021 in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation found that men whod had COVID-19 were over 3 times more likely to experience erectile dysfunction than men whod not had COVID-19. Still, this accounted for less than 5 percent of people in the study whod been infected.

According to Kevin Chu, MD, an andrology fellow at the University of Miami, the discovery of the coronavirus in penile and testicular tissue raised questions that required answers.

Finding virus in this tissue is what first drove researchers to look at certain parts of the body that werent initially looked at, says Dr. Chu. There is still so much we dont know.

For astudy published in February 2022 in the journal Sexual Medicine, Chu and his coauthors hypothesized that because COVID-19 can result in the constriction of blood vessels around the heart, it might affect a mans ability to have an erection.

You need good blood flow into the penis to get good erections, and if thats impacted, that could cause erectile dysfunction, says Chu.

He and his team reviewed electronic medical records of millions of patients in the United States, identifying over 230,000 adult men who had COVID-19 and comparing them with a similar number of men who were not infected. Their conclusion: COVID-19 can be linked to erectile dysfunction.

According to Chu, experts should continue to review new data as it comes out.

Looking for associations is an important first step, but we need to then identify these cause-and-effect correlations, he says.

Its important to note that erections are not purely biological. They require psychosocial factors and that needs to be looked at, too, Chu says, explaining that the mental strain from being sick or even the stress of the pandemic might come into play.

Scientists have long documented the toll that stress takes on libido and sexual function, but the research on how pandemic-related stress is affecting peoples sex lives has produced mixed results.

A meta-analysis published in January 2022 in the journal BMC Public Health looked at 26 studies involving nearly 2,500 women and 3,800 men. Overall, the researchers found that there was an association between the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced sexual activity, especially in women, and that fear of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 had the greatest impact on the occurrence of sexual dysfunction.

But a small study published in February 2021 in the journal Sexual Medicine, which included 76 male cannabis users, found that the pandemic didnt appear to influence sexual function and actually increased sexual activity.

The research on how COVID-19 may impact male fertility is also new, but a growing body of evidence suggests it might have a negative effect, at least in the short term.

A study of 120 men published in February 2022 in the journal Fertility and Sterility found that 60 percent of those whod had COVID-19 experienced reduced sperm motility (referring to sperms ability to move) in the month following infection, even though the virus was not detected in the sperm itself.

Because the research is still new, its not clear how long this drop in fertility lasts, though the authors estimated around three months.

A separate study, published in January 2022 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, included more than 2,100 couples. Researchers found that while COVID-19 in women didnt appear to impair their ability to get pregnant, COVID-19 in men did seem to reduce fertility. Compared with males who did not have COVID-19 within the last 60 days, men who did were almost 20 percent less likely to conceive during that time frame.

We assume that the effects wont be permanent but we dont know that yet, says Chas Easley, PhD, an associate professor of environmental health science at the University of Georgia School of Public Health in Athens, who was not involved with the research.

According to Dr. Easley, all viruses target different receptors, or proteins, to gain entry into cells. The coronavirus behind COVID-19 targets two proteins: ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Easley and some other experts hypothesize that organs that contain both these proteins are particularly susceptible to infection by the COVID-19 virus. The testes, which are the organs responsible for making sperm, contain both.

Sertoli cells, a type of cell in the testes, also contain these proteins. These cells form a physical barrier that separates blood vessels from the testes, called the blood-testis barrier. When the virus latches onto these proteins, it disrupts the function of Sertoli cells in multiple ways.

If you screw up the Sertoli cells, you lose the ability to promote the spermiogenesis required to create real sperm, says Easley.

He advises people whove had COVID-19 and are having difficulty conceiving to consider testing to evaluate sperm count and sperm motility.

According to Easley, none of the COVID-19 vaccines reduce male fertility. The vaccine cant cause infertility but the virus can, he says.

The study published in January 2022 in the American Journal of Epidemiology found no difference in male or female fertility among uninfected people who were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines compared with uninfected people who were not vaccinated.

The new study backs up prior research on mRNA vaccines. An investigation published in June 2021 in JAMA, which included 45 men who received two doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, found that the vaccine did not lower sperm counts. In fact, sperm counts increased, from a median count of 26 million per milliliter at baseline to 30 million per milliliter after the second shot.

According to Easley, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is an important way for men to protect their fertility.

"Even mild cases of COVID can lead to decreased sperm counts, lower sperm motility, and increased DNA fragmentation in sperm, and we predict that vaccines will prevent this damage," he says.

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COVID-19 and Sex: What Men Need to Know - Everyday Health

Starting Friday, most Utahns will no longer have access to free COVID-19 testing and theres no limit on how much the companies hired by the state to run testing sites can start charging patients, according to the Utah Department of Health.

Prices for testing are set by the market, Nate Checketts, the departments executive director, told reporters Wednesday during a virtual news conference on Utahs move to a steady state pandemic response announced earlier this month by Gov. Spencer Cox.

Utahns are encouraged to check between multiple companies to find the one thats the best fit for an individual, and that may include the cost of the services provided because they can vary, just as they might for other medical services, he said.

When it comes to COVID-19 tests, the price tag to get testing needed for travel ranges from $60 to $350, depending on the type of test required before a trip and the company providing it, the state health department says on its coronavirus.utah.gov website, pointing out that insurance may not be accepted.

Checketts said signs and other materials should be posted at sites that are transitioning to for-profit testing to alert Utahns that when April starts, it will be a company seeking to make money rather than the state vendor offering the service.

But its not clear which sites will be privately run after the governors Thursday deadline for shifting COVID-19 testing and treatment to private providers, or whether there will be new for-profit locations opened, although Checketts said he doesnt expect new companies to start offering testing in Utah.

We dont know that, state health department spokeswoman Jenny Johnson told the Deseret News, since the vendors Nomi Health, Mako Medical and TourHealth have not provided lists of sites theyll operate privately after Thursday. When they do, those sites will be included on the state website, Johnson said.

She said the agreements for the remaining testing sites were with the state, so companies that wanted to continue for-profit testing in the same location would have to secure new agreements with the property owners on their own.

Orem-based Nomi Health will continue offering COVID-19 testing at the Provo Towne Center and in the next few days, more sites will be announced, spokeswoman Jenny Olson said. She said state sites operated by the company in Logan and Ogden are set to remain open at least until April 15, as for-profit sites.

The Nomi Health sites will be requesting insurance for both rapid antigen and PCR tests, but wont turn any patients away, Olson said. She did not know what insurers would be billed for those tests. Rapid PCR tests widely used for travel will be offered for $179, Olson said, and an invoice provided so patients can seek reimbursement.

A marketing company associated with TourHealth, which provides testing at sites in South Carolina and in mobile vans in Utah, did not respond to questions. A spokeswoman for MAKO Medical in North Carolina, Heather Matthews, said, At this time, MAKO will not be offering for-profit testing in Utah.

MAKO, which ran state testing sites in Grand, San Juan and Sanpete counties, has been honored to serve the citizens of Utah and we stand ready to re-engage should state leaders request our assistance, Ryan Dienst, executive vice president of strategy and business development, said in a statement.

Our contract will remain in place, so we are able to re-engage and provide COVID-19 testing at any time, Dienst said.

Checketts said Utah is ready to ramp up services like testing again should there be another surge. But neither he nor state epidemiologist Dr. Leisha Nolen were able to spell out specifically what would have to happen to trigger a resumption of state testing and treatments for COVID-19.

Nolen said while there will certainly be future waves of the virus coming, ramping up is something to look at when we have severe disease that overwhelms the health care system. Going forward, the state will focus more on measures like emergency room visits for the virus and its presence in wastewater, she said.

The states coronavirus website will now update once a week, on Thursdays, rather than daily, Nolen said, and Utahns will need to look to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to see what community transmission levels are in the state.

The changes come as so-called stealth omicron, a subvariant of omicron known as BA.2 by scientists thats even more highly transmissible, is now the dominant type of COVID-19 in the U.S. after driving up cases overseas, especially in Europe.

So far, Nolen said BA.2 has not caused an increase in cases in Utah. She said because so many Utahns were infected with the original omicron variant that sent cases skyrocketing to record levels in January, theres hope the state has enough immunity to stave off a surge from the subvariant.

The best way Utahns can protect themselves against COVID-19 is by getting a booster shot, including the second booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine that was authorized Tuesday by federal authorities. Studies have shown the shots greatly increase the effectiveness of the vaccine against hospitalization or death.

Free state testing, including at-home testing kits, will remain available in vulnerable communities, Checketts said, with more self-testing kiosks expected in the coming months. As for treatments, he said federal funding has been discontinued, and the states monoclonal antibody infusion site in Millcreek has already closed.

Asked about the stalemate between the White House and Congress over new COVID-19 funding, Checketts said many of the treatments are covered by insurance. For the uninsured, he said the state is considering expanding Medicaid coverage quickly to include vaccinations and treatments along with testing.

The state health department, which is set to merge in July with the Utah Department of Human Services, has some money available to restore COVID-19 services without a new appropriation from the Utah Legislature, but whether thats enough would really depend on how large a ramp-up would need to occur.

If COVID-19 explodes again in Utah like it did in January, when cases exceeded 13,000 in a single day compared to the 133 reported Wednesday, numbers so high the governor urged most Utahns to skip testing, Checketts said, that would mean a significant increase in testing that would likely require additional funding.

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Need a COVID test in Utah? Be prepared to pay the price - Deseret News

Delivery workers passed food over a barrier at the edge of a locked-down Shanghai neighborhood on Wednesday.Credit...Aly Song/Reuters

The surge of Covid cases across China, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, is straining hospitals and prompting lockdowns of neighborhoods in Shanghai, which until recently had been held up as a crown jewel in the governments strategy for fighting the pandemic.

Shanghai, Chinas largest city, has seen few cases until recently. Now, it is reporting more than 1,500 a day, and many residents are expressing anguish and dismay over Chinas zero-tolerance approach to the virus.

On Friday, anger and grief welled up online after a Shanghai hospital confirmed reports that a nurse who worked there, Zhou Shengni, had died from an asthma attack after finding the doors of its emergency department shut because of Covid restrictions.

Due to pandemic prevention needs, the emergency department of our hospitals southern campus had been temporarily closed, Shanghai East Hospital said on its website. Ms. Zhous family rushed her to another hospital, but she died late Wednesday after attempts to save her failed, Shanghai East said.

Just think, this happened in Shanghai, and it was a medical worker treated like this, read one of many comments about Ms. Zhous death on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform. What about regular folks? Not just in Shanghai, but other parts too.

The outbreak has fanned a rising debate in China over whether the government should rethink its stringent zero Covid strategy of eliminating all infections with relentless force, rather than finding a way to cope with higher levels of infection, as most countries have.

But officials across China have given no indications that the government is reworking its strategy. Instead, they insist that any easing of restrictions could exacerbate the surge of infections and further strain the medical system.

We hope that everyone slows down their life at this time, cutting down on outings and moving around, Wu Jinglei, the director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, said at a news conference on Thursday. Pandemic prevention in our city has entered the most critical stage.

On Friday, Shanghais health commission reported that it had identified 1,609 Covid cases the previous day, 1,580 of which were asymptomatic. China has recorded over 29,000 cases so far in March. That represents a significant spike for the country, which has kept cases low since quashing the worlds first outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan, in 2020.

The current outbreak has strained Shanghais medical system as hospitals and isolation hotels are crowded with patients, residents have said on social media. The city government has started issuing a daily list of hospital clinics that have suspended outpatient and elective treatments and surgeries in order to cope with the Covid cases.

Zhang Wenhong, one of Shanghais leading infectious disease experts, told residents on Thursday to be patient while the authorities worked to curb the outbreak.

All of a sudden medical resources are under strain in Shanghai, Dr. Zhang wrote in a long post on Weibo. If we dont counter its speed with our own, we wont have a chance to beat the Omicron race, he wrote, adding that the government would need to ramp up its vaccination campaign.

Beneath his post, many commenters insisted that China rethink its approach to the virus.

Exhausting social resources, degrading the quality of life and existence, dragging down economic development and urban vitality wheres the sense in this pandemic prevention, one commenter wrote. The zero-infection strategy needs thinking over.

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Covid Updates: Glaxo Antibody Drug Is Restricted in the Northeast - The New York Times