Category Archives: Corona Virus

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) There were three new COVID-19 deaths reported in Wednesdays update from the South Dakota Department of Health, bringing the total to 2,297, up from 2,294 on Tuesday.

The new deaths include one man and two women in the following age groups: 2 in the 70-79 age group, 1 in the 60-69 age group.

There were 482 new total COVID-19 cases reported on Wednesday, bringing the states total case count to 161,474, up from Tuesday (160,992).

The number of active cases reported on Wednesday is at 6,663, up from Tuesday (6,534).

Current hospitalizations are at 239, up from Tuesday (236). Total hospitalizations are at 8,211, up from 8,188 on Tuesday.

Total recovered cases are now at 152,514, up from Tuesday (152,164).

The DOH currently reports total tests each day. There have been 1,668,747 total tests reported as of Wednesday, up 4,112 from 1,664,635, total tests reported as of Tuesday.

The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate for the state is 15.5% for Nov. 9 15.

Of South Dakotas 66 counties, 63 are listed as having high or substantial community spread. High community spread is 100 cases or greater per 100,000 or a 10% or greater PCR test positivity rate.

There have been 830 Delta variant cases (B.1.617.2, AY.1-AY.25) detected in South Dakota through sentinel monitoring, an increase of 39 over the previous report.

There have been 172 cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), 3 cases of P.1. (Gamma variant) and 2 cases of the B.1.351 (Beta variant).

The DOH announced changes to how it reports vaccinations on the COVID-19 dashboard as of Monday, October 14. It now includes a breakout of how many people have received booster doses. Due to data clean-up efforts, the percentages of people whove received one dose or completed the series have changed. Findthe DOH explanation in this story.

As of Wednesday, 69.86% the population 12-years-old and above has received at least one dose while 58.83% have completed the vaccination series. XX13.09% of those eligible have completed their booster dose.

There have been 541,239 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered, 384,810 of the Moderna vaccine and 32,519 doses of the Janssen vaccine.

There have been 164,875 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna. There have been 226,343 persons who have received two doses of Pfizer.

As for booster doses, 58,535 people have received a 3rd Pfizer shot, 37,416 have received a 3rd Moderna dose and 940 have received a Janssen booster.

The state is also reporting updated numbers for the number of children under 12 years of age who have received a vaccine. It shows 6,188 have gotten the vaccine, which is 4.22% of that population.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 482 total new cases; Death toll at 2,297; Active cases at 6,663 - KELOLAND.com

With the advent of the worldwide SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, clinicians and researchers scrambled to find effective therapies for the life threatening complications of COVID-19. Early clinical experience suggested that administering powerful steroids improves outcomes in people with COVID-19 who require oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

However, steroids have adverse side effects, including elevated blood glucose levels. In individuals with and without a history of diabetes, this can result in short- and long-term complications, such as an increased risk of infection or metabolic imbalance.

Researchers released results at the November 2021 Society for Endocrinology meeting after observing a large group of people with COVID-19 receiving treatment with dexamethasone, a steroid that doctors use to treat patients with lung inflammation.

Dr. Victoria Salem, a principal investigator, shared with Medical News Today: Dexamethasone is now standard of care in patients hospitalized with [COVID-19] requiring oxygen based on the RECOVERY trial. We looked at over 2,000 patients hospitalized with [COVID-19] in our London hospital and performed a multivariate analysis of risk factors for death.

Its already known that diabetes is a risk factor for severe COVID. High blood sugars are also a predictor of poor outcomes. Since dexamethasone pushes up blood sugars, we were worried that dexamethasone might have been a double-edged sword for patients with diabetes, but, in fact, it turned out to be just as effective.

To understand dexamethasones effects, researchers looked at the number of ICU admissions, reduced mortality, and steroid-related complications in 2,261 patients admitted to the Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust hospitals.

The team divided data from individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 into two groups: wave one and wave two. Wave one consisted of 889 people admitted to the hospital between March and April 2020, when doctors did not routinely prescribe dexamethasone. Wave two comprised 1,372 individuals admitted between November 2020 and January 2021 who took prescription dexamethasone routinely.

The study found that people were less likely to be admitted to the ICU in wave two (18.8%) compared to 27.6% in wave one. There was also a reduction in mortality in wave two, with a 31.8% reduced risk of death. Additional risk factors for ICU admittance and reduced mortality included having high blood pressure, increased frailty, reduced kidney function, and being male.

For Medical News Today, Dr. Salem elaborated:

In wave two, [d]examethasone was used in 68% of patients in our hospital with a diagnosis of [COVID-19], 35% of whom had diabetes.

[O]f the patients treated with dexamethasone for COVID, 19% developed hyperglycemia (high blood sugars) that required additional treatment. [A]nd, of this group, 12% were new diagnoses of diabetes the [r]emainder of patients experienced worsening preexisting diabetes.

[D]r. Salem clarified that this real world figure is much higher than the result that the original RECOVERY study reported.

So, 21 people out of 935 (2%) given dexamethasone for [COVID-19] developed steroid-induced diabetes.

Dexamethasone treatment reduced the risk of death or ICU admission in study participants by 56%. Dr. Salem explained to Medical News Today:

Dexamethasone was independently associated with a decreased risk of death/ICU admission to the same extent in people with [d]iabetes and those without diabetes.

Dexamethasone-induced diabetes often resolves when the treatment is stopped. It adds an extra burden in terms of management and follow-up but [is] worth it given the overall benefits in terms of recovering from [COVID-19]. Given the current obesity epidemic, many of the patients may already have had undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, and this was a wake-up call.

The studys take-home message is that dexamethasone treatment reduced the risk of death and ICU admission. Additionally, patients with diabetes are more likely to develop steroid-induced glucose control complications, but this did not increase death rates.

For live updates on the latest developments regarding the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, click here.

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Treating severe COVID-19: Study assesses risks of dexamethasone - Medical News Today

There are two things you might call principles here. The first is that people like your friend ought to get vaccinated because it contributes to the common good. Even if youve had Covid, vaccination further lowers your chances of reinfection and helps slow the spread of the disease. This is a practice that we all benefit from and that we should do our fair share to sustain. Thats a principle I agree with.

The second principle is that one shouldnt dine with people who ignore principles like the first one. For you, this is mainly an expressive act. Your friend must know that you think shes mistaken; refusing to dine with her is presumably a way to underline your disagreement. You would be a better judge than I am of whether this is likely to encourage her to get vaccinated as well or whether you would be damaging your friendship to no effect. That matters, because when our friends do something wrong, our aim should be to encourage them to do better, not to make them indignant or resentful.

Another approach might be more effective. Vaccines dont always work well in people who are immunocompromised. If you feel safe, I hope its because your doctor was able to make that assessment in your case. Still, even if the risks to you are low, they would be even lower if she were vaccinated, too. Asking her to get vaccinated for your sake might be more effective than telling her that you so disapprove of her position that you dont want to spend time in her company.

I am a teacher at a public elementary school. I taught in person last year and was vaccinated as soon as the shots were available to teachers. Im now eligible for a booster, based on the C.D.C.s decision to allow teachers to get a third shot. However, Im on sabbatical and not interacting with large groups of children. I am 49 and quite healthy overall. Would it be ethical for me to get a booster shot? Im eager to protect myself, as well as those around me, but I am unsure if getting the booster would prevent someone who is needier from getting one. Miriam, New York

Get the booster: There is a reasonable rule in place, and under that rule, you are eligible. Given the widespread availability of the vaccine here, you wont be depriving someone in greater need of it. And plenty of people who are less in need than you including young, healthy teachers in their 20s will be getting the booster. I cant help adding that your letter presents a painful paradox: While some people may forgo a jab because they care so much about the larger community, others skip getting vaccinated because they dont care enough.

Kwame Anthony Appiah teaches philosophy at N.Y.U. His books include Cosmopolitanism, The Honor Code and The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity. To submit a query: Send an email to ethicist@nytimes.com; or send mail to The Ethicist, The New York Times Magazine, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018. (Include a daytime phone number.)

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Should Our Supervisor Have Told us That a Work Colleague Had Covid? - The New York Times

**Related Video Above: Pfizer antiviral covid-19 pill latest.**

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla (AP) A Florida teacher hospitalized with COVID-19 has died after her husband unsuccessfully sued to force doctors to treat her with ivermectin, a drug popular among some skeptics of accepted coronavirus treatments despite a lack of studies proving its effectiveness.

Tamara Drocks husband told the Palm Beach Post that she died on Friday, 12 weeks after being admitted to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

Ryan Drock sued trying to require doctors to administer ivermectin, a drug approved to treat conditions caused by parasitic worms. The FDA has not approved the drug as a COVID treatment.

A judge said it would be dangerous to allow judges to overturn doctors decisions.

The Post says the hospital system did not immediately respond to its requests for comment.

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Woman whose husband sued to get her ivermectin dies from COVID-19 - fox8.com

A look at some of the top headlines trending online today around the world including holiday worries, coronavirus updates and much more.

Major storm could throw wrench into early Thanksgiving travel (UPI)

Some Thanksgiving essentials are out of stock (CNN)

Businesses worried about cyberattacks during the holidays, report finds (CBS News)

Democrats rebrand Build Back Better bill to counter inflation concerns (NBC)

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Hints At Another Run For President (CBS NY)

Fauci says boosters for all key to U.S. reaching COVID-19 endemic level (Reuters)

COVID vaccine can be bundled with a childs routine shots, doctors say (ABC News)

Demand grows for digital vaccine passports as borders reopen (NBC)

Pfizer asks FDA to grant emergency authorization for its COVID-19 pill (CBS)

Times Square is back open on New Years Eve with vax proof (AP)

Jurors to begin second day of deliberations in Kyle Rittenhouses homicide trial (CNN)

Harry Potter stars reunite for magical 20th anniversary special, without J.K. Rowling (Washington Post)

Grandmother accidentally invited stranger to Thanksgiving. Years later hes still a welcomed guest (USA Today)

McDonalds Egg McMuffin will sell for 63 cents on Thursday in celebration of the sandwichs 50th anniversary (MassLive)

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Holiday shopping, Thanksgiving travel, coronavirus & more: What's trending today - cleveland.com

Felicia Moore draws a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 while working at the Anchorage School District Education Center vaccine clinic on Nov. 3. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Alaska reported 1,089 new COVID-19 infections and two additional deaths from Saturday to Monday.

COVID-19 cases in the state started declining recently after weeks of high daily counts. Alaska experienced a surge for much of September and October that squeezed hospital capacity and brought hundreds of deaths.

Cases over the weekend included 427 reported Saturday, 349 on Sunday and 313 Monday.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Alaska has the fourth highest seven-day rolling case rate in the nation, following Minnesota, New Mexico and North Dakota. Alaska previously led the nation for weeks. The states seven-day case rate of 412 per 100,000 people Monday was still much higher than the national average of 170.

There were 146 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide by Monday, a decrease from a high of more than 200 people hospitalized on average since September, though up from the week before, when around 130 people were hospitalized statewide.

Last week, the head of the states hospital association said the situation in Alaskas hospitals was becoming more manageable.

On Monday, Alaska also reported an additional two COVID-19 deaths among two Anchorage women in their 80s or older.

Alaskas most recent surge made September and October the states deadliest stretch of the pandemic, with 255 deaths, roughly 31% of the 803 COVID-19 deaths among residents since the start of the pandemic. The state has also reported an additional 30 COVID-19 deaths among nonresidents.

Around 59% of Alaskans ages 5 and older had received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 54% were considered fully vaccinated by Monday.

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Alaska reports 1,089 new coronavirus infections and two COVID-19 deaths over weekend - Anchorage Daily News

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on November 04, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Chief White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a new interview that there is a "very disconcerting" politically partisan divide over science in the United States, which has hampered the nation's response to the Covid pandemic.

Fauci noted that "because I am representing science" in telling people to get coronavirus vaccinations and to continue to wear masks, "I get attacked" in the form of death threats which require him to have protection by federal agents.

"What we're seeing is a public health issue which requires synergy among all elements of our government, where we realize that the common enemy is the virus," he told Dr. Bill Frist, a former Senate majority leader who conducted the interview shown online Monday during a coronavirus outlook event hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

"Sometimes, when you listen to people speak, it's almost that the enemy is each other," Fauci told Frist, a Republican who represented Tennessee in the Senate. "And we have public health decisions that are based on [ideological] considerations. You should never have that."

Fauci, without mentioning political party affiliations or the names of his two most recent bosses, then referred to markedly higher Covid-19 vaccination rates among people who live in counties that voted for President Joe Biden, a Democrat, than people who live in counties which former Republican President Donald Trump won in the 2020 election.

"You should never have, looking at a map, and seeing that people who are vaccinated fall heavily into one group and people who are unvaccinated fall heavily into another group," Fauci said. "That is so antithetical with what public health should be, which should be a concerted effort on the part of the entire population."

Frist noted that when he served in the Senate and Republicans held a majority, Congress doubled funding for the National Institutes of Health, whose allergy and infectious disease division Fauci has led since 1984.

Now, Frist said, "It seems like a lot of those same people are questioning science."

"It's become more of a partisan divide around science," said Frist, who, without naming names or parties, appeared to be referencing widespread opposition to vaccine and mask mandates by a number of leading Republican politicians.

Fauci quipped, "I think if you were back in the Senate right now, you would have heartburn."

Fauci later said, "You're right. There is an anti-science element right now that has a very strong political twinge to it, which is very disconcerting."

"I hope that when we get out of this, people will look back and realize we don't ever want to do that again because it really hindered our response to this pandemic," he said.

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Dr. Fauci troubled by political divide over Covid science, says it's hampered pandemic response - CNBC

A doctor was suspended by a Houston hospital for spreading misinformation about Covid-19.

Houston Methodist hospital said Dr Mary Bowden, an ear, throat, and nose specialist, spread dangerous misinformation about Covid and shared personal and professional opinions the hospital deemed harmful to the community.

Bowden, a recent hire, posted several tweets stating that she was against Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

She also used Twitter to promote Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19, despite several public health officials having warned the public not to use the anti-parasitic drug, which has uses in humans and animals, as a coronavirus treatment.

Resistance to vaccinations, mandates and other public health measures has spread, particularly in Republican-run states, despite a Covid death toll of nearly 763,000.

Texas has the second-highest death toll of any state, with nearly 73,000, behind only California. Alternative treatments for Covid, some potentially dangerous, have also spread via social media.

Patti Muck, a spokesperson for Houston Methodist, told the Washington Post that Bowdens privileges at Houston Methodist have been suspended.

Bowdens lawyer, Steve Mitby, told the paper she was not against vaccines and had treated more than 2,000 Covid-19 patients.

Like many Americans, Dr Bowden believes that people should have a choice and believes that all people, regardless of vaccine status, should have access to the same high-quality healthcare, Mitby said.

Bowden is vaccinated, a requirement for all employees at Houston Methodist.

In an interview on Monday with a local radio station, she said she was surprised and disappointed by her suspension, saying she found out about it when the Houston Chronicle contacted her for comment.

She also said she would be sending Houston Methodist a letter of resignation, and planned to send patients to other hospitals.

Like many hospitals in the US, Houston Methodist has dealt with medical practitioners and healthcare workers spreading Covid-19 misinformation or opposing vaccination mandates.

More than 150 workers were either fired or resigned over a hospital-wide vaccine mandate, one of the first such requirements in a healthcare setting.

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Houston doctor suspended from hospital for spreading Covid misinformation - The Guardian

Tag yourself. (Im the one getting COVID-19.) Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Lots of fathers are testifying about their experiences getting COVID these days.

My wife and kids and friends keep phoning to make sure Im still breathing, though secretly Im delighted that I have an ironclad excuse to see nobody, do nothing, go nowhere, wrote Bret Stephens in the New York Times today. He has a mild illness and is at home taking care of that illness! This is a very reasonable and rational response to a health situation.

There are other ways to be, though. Do not try them yourself!

Maybe reading about my mistakes can help you with your decisionmaking, wrote Alexis Madrigal on social media, introducing his recent story in The Atlantic about getting COVID. It certainly has! I am now further committed to hanging out with friends, going to awesome parties, and seeing terrible movies like Eternals, which was really awful, and if I got COVID in that theater, Im going to be so pissed.

Brother Madrigal writes that he went to a wedding, he came home and tested positive, his spouse took up the work of dealing with the kids alone while he isolated, he was mildly ill, then everything was fine, just as the vaccines hath foretold.

And yet he felt bad. He had failed his family by getting ill.I blame no one but myself for this, Madrigal wrote.

Other heterosexual family men are presenting their tales of health infidelity and failure with less blame assigned to themselves because, in their cases, the coronavirus came home via their very young children and the children are always innocent.

T.J. Muehleman, a data technologist in Seattle who also works on COVID projects, recently told his story on Twitter; Will Oremus, a tech writer, told his too but began with a reasonable point: that he hoped it would push parents to get their kids vaccinated and to get booster shots themselves. (Children ages 5 to 11 are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.)

If we learned nothing from the AIDS pandemic and we did learn maybe a couple things, which made possible a speedier treatment pipeline, for one its that even those of us who are wildly, delightedly promiscuous dont deserve diseases. Yet were still incapable of making sane assessments about risks, fault, cause, and blame.

Every disease has its associations The tubercular is someone consumed by ardor, wrote Susan Sontag in Illness As Metaphor. COVID, it looks like, is mostly associated with incaution. If you were just even a bit more careful, more responsible, then your spouse wouldnt have to pick up the slack while you isolate and your kids would be safer.

But 5 million people didnt die because they werent responsible enough. (I will hear arguments about the relatively small number who had access to vaccines and chose not to get them, however.) Many of them did die because weve made bad decisions about wealth, poverty, global warming, and health care. Why isnt anyone feeling ashamed about that?

Madrigals confessions, at least, make for a real hate-read. A brilliant satire of the widespread COVID psychosis that grips many wealthy American liberals, wrote one of Murdochs Australian wackos, who is, unfortunately, quite rude but correct.

Im not happy about the fact that Im going to get COVID. I love smelling dumb food. Mostly, I hope that when it happens to me, I dont harm any of my immunocompromised friends, because this endless slog is really messing up their lives and its not fair to them. I will absolutely work to protect them, and you all should get your kids vaccinated and get yourself boostered so they can have a fuller life sooner.

But very preliminary data from one state suggests I have a .004 percent chance of dying if I get COVID. Thats about the chance I take of dying every time I eat a hot dog. Maybe I have COVID right now!Just two months ago, I was never going to shake hands again. A friend showed me her move clasp the hands in front of your chest and do a little namaste head nod. This is not a good look for a middle-aged white man, and now I am shaking hands with vigor like Buddy Garrity on Friday Night Lights.

Nearly every member of Americas favorite Evangelical Republican Texan real-estate-broker, milk-consuming family you remember them from last week, when everyone lost their minds because they told CNN they bought 12 gallons of milk a week for their nine children had COVID, save one of the kiddos.

To protect this last of their children from the disease, when the father of the milk-loving pack had extremely severe and extended COVID symptoms not long ago, the family members did what any real American family would do: They simply isolated Dad in their pool house until he was better. No shame there.

Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world.

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Some Ways to Have COVID - New York Magazine

Dr. Anthony Fauci said the coronavirus pandemic is about to end as long as everyone keeps fighting against the coronavirus.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a Bipartisan Policy Center event Monday that the pandemic is not permanent and that it will end eventually if everyone does their part, according to The Hill.

In a similar light, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told Fox News Sunday this week that the cold weather could bring more cases, which might delay the end of the pandemic for now.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said during Face the Nation on CBS last weekend that the U.S. is close to the pandemics end. Cases may pick up, but it doesnt mean theres a major outbreak happening.

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Is the COVID over? Dr. Fauci reveals the end of coronavirus is near - Deseret News