Category Archives: Corona Virus

More than 72% of Illinois adults have received at least one vaccine dose and 57% are fully vaccinated

SPRINGFIELD The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 2,945 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 53 additional deaths since reporting last Friday, July 2, 2021. More than 72% of Illinois adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 57% of Illinois adults are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,395,497 cases, including 23,297 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since reporting on Friday, July 2, 2021, laboratories have reported 195,694 specimens for a total of 26,064,549. As of last night, 430 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 91 patients were in the ICU and 35 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 2-8, 2021 is 1.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from July 2-8, 2021 is 1.7%.

A total of 12,768,842 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 17,239 doses. Since reporting on Friday, July 2, 2021, 120,675 doses were reported administered in Illinois.

*All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19.

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Public Health Officials Announce 2,945 New Cases of Coronavirus Disease Over the Past Week | IDPH - IDPH

The coronavirus pandemic is not over. The trending Twitter hashtag #CovidisNotOver and fresh waves of outbreaks around the world have sent a strong message.

With increasingly transmissible COVID-19 variants including the delta and delta plus variants and the newer lambda variant becoming more prevalent and faltering vaccination campaigns, many places around the world are experiencing renewed outbreaks, reported the Deseret News.

Even previous pandemic success stories have begun to falter.

Currently, these are the top five worst outbreaks in the world.

Last week, the Southern African country of Namibia recorded the highest average rate of infections in the world, reported The Telegraph. Almost half of Namibias total COVID-19 cases have come in the last two months.

Mohammed Patel, a local paramedic, spoke to CNN about the straining health care system.

Delta has caused a whole lot of chaos, a whole lot of patients are suffering, their oxygen levels are dropping drastically daily there are patients that are suffering and there is no space in hospital, there is no ventilators available, Patel said. Its complete chaos.

According to Dr. Yakub Essack, the medical coordinator of a charity called Gift of Givers, the situation in Namibia is unlike any emergency situation hes ever dealt with.

In Thailand, coronavirus cases and deaths have more than doubled this week compared to last week, said Newsweek. Friday, the country reported more than 9,000 new cases and 72 new deaths, per Yahoo News. The health care system has begun to buckle under the increased demand.

The archipelago nation has now imposed a partial lockdown, but the restrictions are too little too late, said Newsweek. Cases are expected to continue rising.

Over the last two weeks, COVID-19 cases in Tunisia have increased by 138% to hit all-time highs, according to Our World in Data. Friday, Tunisia reported 9,823 new cases and 134 new deaths Thursday, per WHO data.

We are in a catastrophic situation, Nisaf Ben Alaya, a Tunisia health ministry spokesperson, said, per Al Jazeera. The health system collapsed.

The country has reimposed a total lockdown across most of the country and a partial lockdown on the capital, according to Al Jazeera. So far, only 4% of the population has received a coronavirus vaccination.

By absolute numbers, Indonesias outbreak is large and deadly. Previously called a coronavirus time bomb, the worlds fourth most populous country is being devastated by the current surge in cases, reported the Deseret News.

Hospitals have begun running low on or completely out of necessary oxygen. Some hospitals have temporarily closed or turned patients away due to staff and supply shortages, said The Guardian. One hospital even began using the front yard to treat emergency patients while using the building to isolate COVID-19 patients.

Thursday, Brazil reported the highest number of new COVID-19 cases and new deaths in the world, per WHO data. The country currently has the second-highest death toll in the world after the U.S., but experts predict that fatalities in Brazil will soon surpass the U.S., said BBC.

Professor Pedro Hallal, an epidemiologist leading the largest COVID-19 research study in Brazil, spoke to BBC about the outbreaks.

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COVID outbreaks: Where are the worst COVID-19 surges in the world? - Deseret News

PeopleImages | E+ | Getty Images

LONDON When the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in early 2020, governments quickly put out information on what symptoms to look out for, little knowing then that much of the transmission was asymptomatic.

The public was told to look out for a high temperature and a new continuous cough, with a loss of taste or smell, fatigue and a sore throat also named as possible symptoms (some added at different points of the pandemic).

Fast forward to the present day and more symptoms are being reported and recognized. The variation in symptoms has happened over time as several variants of the virus such as the alpha strain and now the highly transmissible delta variant have gone on to replace the "original" strain of Covid-19 first discovered in China in late 2019.

Read more: Covid delta variant: Symptoms, spread and what to look out for

Now, an ongoing U.K.-based study which enables the public to enter their Covid symptoms on an app which enables scientists to then analyze the data says there are new coronavirus symptoms being widely reported.

TheZoe Covid Symptom study has identified the current top five symptoms that have emerged in recent weeks which seemingly differ depending on whether you've been vaccinated, and how many doses you've had.

The symptoms highlighted below were first published in late June but still represent the top five symptoms being reported, the Zoe Covid Symptom study told CNBC Wednesday.

The symptoms rankings are based on members of the public's reports in the app alone and do not take into account which variant caused the virus or demographic information.

These are the top five symptoms being reported by people who are fully-vaccinated, have had one dose of a vaccine or are unvaccinated.

The Zoe Covid Symptom study says that, generally, it has seen similar symptoms of Covid-19 being reported overall in the app by people who had and hadn't been vaccinated.

However, fewer symptoms were reported over a shorter period of time by those who had already had the shot, suggesting that they were falling less seriously ill and getting better more quickly.

Here is the current ranking of Covid symptoms after two vaccinations:

The study noted that "traditional" Covid symptoms such asanosmia(loss of smell),fever and shortness of breathranked way down the list, at five, 12 and 29 respectively. "Apersistent coughnow ranks at number 8 if you've had two vaccine doses, so is no longer the top indicator of having Covid."

The ranking changes again after one dose of the vaccination as observed below:

With the protection from only one vaccine dose, one of the original indicators of a persistent cough has made the top five symptoms, Zoe noted.

If you've not yet been vaccinated then the symptoms are more recognizable to the traditional ranking, Zoe said, "however we can still observe some changes from when Covid-19 first appeared over a year ago."

"Loss of smell comes in at number 9 and shortness of breath comes far down the list at number 30, indicating the symptoms as recorded previously are changing with the evolving variants of the virus," the study found.

Covid cases attributed to the much more contagious delta variant are surging in parts of Europe, the U.K. and the U.S., particularly among young people and the partially vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Read more: The delta variant is spreading in Europe and can't be stopped

While two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provide protection against the delta variant,both were significantly less effective after only one shot.

The latest research from Israel on Monday found a decrease in the effectiveness of thePfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness, coinciding with the spread of delta, but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness.

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Headache? Runny nose? These are among the new top 5 Covid symptoms, study says - CNBC

A medical staffer wearing protective gear gestures after collecting a swab from a visitor to test for the coronavirus at a temporary testing station in Seoul in December 2020. South Korea on Friday announced it would raise restrictions in the capital region to the highest level as a fourth wave of infections is gaining speed. Jung Yeon-Je /AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A medical staffer wearing protective gear gestures after collecting a swab from a visitor to test for the coronavirus at a temporary testing station in Seoul in December 2020. South Korea on Friday announced it would raise restrictions in the capital region to the highest level as a fourth wave of infections is gaining speed.

SEOUL, South Korea Despite early successes last year in controlling the pandemic, South Korea on Friday announced it would raise restrictions in the capital region to the highest level as a fourth wave of infections is gaining speed.

The country recorded 1,316 cases Friday, breaking records for a second straight day. That's not high by international standards, but health authorities say the peak of this fourth wave of infections is likely yet to come, and barring effective countermeasures, could see case numbers nearly double.

Driving the surge are residents of the greater Seoul region, accounting for four-fifths of cases, and people in their 20s and 30s, who made up 43% of confirmed cases on Thursday. Many of them frequent the capital's eateries and night spots, and most are unvaccinated.

But to some extent, the young consumers were just taking their cues from the government's muddled messaging, authorities say.

The government was trying to "strike a balance between recovery of everyday life and prevention of outbreaks," Sohn Young-rae, a spokesperson for the health ministry, told reporters on Wednesday.

In a bid to give the impression of normalcy, authorities planned to relax restrictions this month and encourage people to get vaccinated by allowing inoculated citizens to go mask-free outdoors, even as case numbers remained steady or edged upward.

The government tried to remind citizens to remain vigilant toward the virus, "but faced with the current outbreak," Sohn conceded, "we do have some regrets that these messages should have been delivered more effectively."

The current restrictions send a sterner message.

For the next two weeks in the capital region, gatherings after 6 p.m. of more than two people are banned, as are protests and rallies. Bars and nightclubs are to close. Attendance at weddings and funerals is limited to family members. Even private gatherings are discouraged.

Following instructions from President Moon Jae-in, the government is adding more COVID-19 testing stations and mobilizing soldiers, police and civil servants to help out with contact tracing.

Vaccinations in South Korea still lag behind other developed economies with only about 11% of the population fully vaccinated.

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Officials Tighten Restrictions In Seoul Amid Another Wave Of COVID-19 Infections - NPR

People wearing protective masks shop in a Walmart store on May 18, 2021 in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

As the highly transmissible delta Covid variant continues to spread rapidly across the United States and elsewhere around the world, scientists and other health experts are warning that indoor mask mandates and other public health measures will likely make a return in the U.S. this fall.

The country, which just celebrated the Fourth of July with some of its first large gatherings in more than a year, is headed toward a "dangerous" fall season when delta is expected to cause another surge in new coronavirus cases, health experts say. Already the dominant variant in the U.S., delta will hit the states with the lowest vaccination rates the hardest unless those states and businesses reintroduce mask rules, capacity limits and other public health measures that they've largely rolled back in recent months, experts say.

With new mutations discovered every few weeks, many scientists now predict that Covid will continue circulating around the world for at least the next two to three years, requiring nations to reinstitute public health measures on an ad hoc basis for the foreseeable future. Authorities in Australia, South Africa and Asia have recently reintroduced curfews or other measures to curb rising delta outbreaks. Japan just declared a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and banned spectators at the Olympics. High vaccination rates in the U.S. and the warm summer months have bought the country some extra time, but outbreaks across the world are giving Americans a preview of what may come this fall.

Health workers chat near an ambulance at the parking lot of the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, amid a nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, in Pretoria, South Africa, January 11, 2021.

Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters

"I could foresee that in certain parts of the country, there could be a reintroduction of indoor mask mandates, distancing and occupancy limits" in the coming months, said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law.

He said he fears there will be "major outbreaks" in the U.S. this fall, especially in states with low vaccination rates.

"We are heading for a very dangerous fall, with large swaths of the country still unvaccinated, a surging delta variant and people taking off their masks," Gostin added.

The warning from scientists and other health experts comes as many businesses and offices across the U.S. have largely done away with their mask requirements, social distancing and other pandemic-related restrictions.

Almost immediately after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people didn't need to wear masks in most indoor settings in mid-May, WalmartandCostcofollowed suit, allowing fully vaccinated customers and employees to go maskless unless required by state or local laws. Likewise, Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers union late last month agreed to make face masks optional for employees who are fully vaccinated.

A General Motors assembly worker loads engine block castings on to the assembly line at the GM Romulus Powertrain plant in Romulus, Michigan, U.S. August 21, 2019.

Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Other businesses like Apple and Amazon are making a big push for most of their workers to return to the office in some capacity this fall as more Americans get vaccinated against the virus. Goldman Sachs workers returned to the office last month while Citigroup and JPMorgan expect their employees to come back on a rotating basis this month.

Confirmed Covid infections in the U.S. have dropped to their lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic, averaging about 15,000 new cases a day over the last seven days from a peak of around 251,000 average new cases per day in January, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations and fatalities have also fallen, with Covid deaths averaging about 225 a day down from a peak of more than 3,400 deaths a day on average in January.

If daily Covid cases should rise again in the fall, as health experts expect they will, some employers in states with low Covid vaccination rates may have to grapple with the difficult choice of reimplementing public health measures, such as wearing masks and social distancing, capacity limits, or sending office workers back home altogether.

There will be "two Americas," said Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine advocate who has served on advisory panels for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. "There is the vaccinated America and the unvaccinated America, and I think the unvaccinated America is about to pay a price for that."

There are about 1,000 counties in the U.S. that have Covid vaccination coverage of less than 30%, mostly located in the Southeast and Midwest, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky recently said. The agency is already seeing increasing rates of infection in those areas due to the further spread of the delta variant.

That's prompted some state and local health officials to reinstitute public health measures they had previously dropped.

In Mississippi, for example, where less than a third of the state's eligible population is fully vaccinated, officials last week recommended that all residents continue to wear masks indoors as delta becomes the dominant variant in the state. About 96% of new Covid cases in Mississippi are among unvaccinated people, state health officials said on a call with reporters.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said people may want to consider wearing masks in states like Mississippi where transmission is high and vaccinations are low, even if they are fully inoculated.

"Depending on your personal situation, you might," Fauci said in an interview scheduled to air Friday with SiriusXM's "Doctor Radio Reports" with Dr. Marc Siegel. "For example, someone who's an elderly person who may not actually have a full robust protection, even though the protection is very, very high, or someone with an underlying condition" may still want to wear a mask, he said.

Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing to examine an update from Federal officials on efforts to combat COVID-19 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 11, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Jim Lo Scalzo | Getty Images

Officials in Los Angeles County, California, also recommended last week that "everyone, regardless of vaccination status," wear masks indoors in public places as a precautionary measure.

Offit, who advises the FDA on Covid vaccines, said he expects several more states to reimplement indoor mask requirements this fall.

The United States is still "undervaccinated," and states with low vaccination rates are likely to get hit the worst, Offit said. Less than half of the U.S., about 158 million people, has been fully vaccinated, with more than a dozen states fully immunizing less than 40% of their populations, according to CDC data. In Texas, the second-most-populated state behind California, just 42% of its residents are fully inoculated, the data shows.

Even people who are fully protected have cause for concern when it comes to Covid variants, Offit said. While the vaccines protect well against severe disease and death, they may not protect as well against mild disease or spreading Covid to others, he said. No vaccine is 100% effective, he noted.

"It is not a bold prediction to believe that SARS-CoV-2 is going to be circulating two or three years from now. I mean there are 195 countries out there, most of which haven't been given a single dose of vaccine," Offit said. "Will it still be circulating in the United States? I think that would be very, very likely."

Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, agreed that more states will have to reimplement mask mandates this fall. More vulnerable Americans may even need to wear masks every year during peak Covid and flu transmission season: November to April, he said. However, he noted it may be difficult to get some Americans to use face coverings now that the pandemic has waned.

"Given pandemic fatigue, it is going to be harder to get most Americans to follow guidance on mask use and social distancing. When cases and hospitalizations begin to surge again, potentially not until the fall or winter, then it may be easier to persuade some to take measures to be careful," he said.

People crowd outdoor dining at a restaurant as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions are eased in Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S., April 4, 2021.

Emily Elconin | Reuters

Dr. Vin Gupta, a Harvard-trained lung specialist and NBC contributor, said mask requirements should be reimplemented this fall but enforced at the local level and dependent on what's happening in the surrounding community with Covid vaccination rates and transmission.

"There has to be some specificity there and several local jurisdictions have to make their own decision, especially as the seasons shift and get back into cold, dry air," he said.

In the meantime, the federal government's mask mandate on public transportation, including airplanes, commuter buses and rail systems, is scheduled to expire Sept. 13 unless the CDC extends it once again.

Whether the CDC does so is an open question, scientists said. Walensky and the White House have both indicated that there is no desire to reinstitute lockdowns and will leave much of the decisions on public health measures up to the states.

"A lot of this isn't science. It's political science," said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease professor at the University of Toronto. "If you have high rates of community transmission of Covid-19 and you have high rates of unvaccinated individuals, it makes sense to mask indoor from a scientific perspective. Whether or not that will be converted to policy is a different question."

Originally posted here:

Americans will need masks indoors as U.S. heads for 'dangerous fall' with surge in delta Covid cases - CNBC

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Alaska on Friday reported 135 new coronavirus infections identified over the last two days and two COVID-19-related deaths, one of which was recent, according to the state Department of Health and Social Services.

One of the deaths, involving an Anchorage woman in her 40s, occurred recently. The other involved a Metlakatla man who was in his 80s or older. His death was identified through a standard review of death certificates.

In total, 372 Alaskans and seven nonresidents with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic reached the state last spring. Alaskas death rate per capita remains among the lowest in the country, though the states size, health care system and other factors complicate national comparisons.

Case counts in Alaska have been rising over the past three weeks including the notable increase reported Friday after the state moved back up to the intermediate alert level on Wednesday. Health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to get vaccinated against the virus, noting that the vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing severe illness from the virus, including the more contagious variants.

The recent rise in cases can likely be attributed in part to the highly contagious delta variant first identified in India in December and in Alaska in May, health officials said. Alaskas state epidemiologist, Dr. Joe McLaughlin, said this week that he predicted the delta variant will soon become the dominant coronavirus strain in the state.

By Friday, roughly 56% of the states population age 12 and older had received at least their first dose of the vaccine while 51% of all residents 12 and older were considered fully vaccinated. Among all states, Alaska ranked No. 28 in the country for most vaccinated residents per capita.

There were 28 people with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 hospitalized around the state, including four who were on ventilators.

Of the 118 newly reported resident cases, there were 71 in Anchorage, 12 in Sitka, eight in Cordova, three in Fairbanks, two in Anchor Point, two in Ketchikan, two in Soldotna and one each in Bethel, Eagle River, Homer, Hooper Bay, Kodiak, Palmer, Petersburg, Tok, Unalaska and Wasilla.

Among smaller communities, there were four in the Bethel Census Area, two in the Kusilvak Census Area and one each in the northern Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Prince of Wales and Hyder Census Area.

There were also 17 new cases reported among nonresidents: six in Anchorage, three in Wasilla, two in Bethel and one each in Cordova, Petersburg, Sitka and Soldotna, along with two in unidentified regions of the state.

Of all the coronavirus tests completed in the state over the last week, 2.43% came back positive.

Note: The health department now updates its coronavirus dashboard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays excluding holidays.

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Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 135 cases and 2 deaths reported Thursday and Friday - Anchorage Daily News

The delta variant, first detected in India, is spreading across the globe. In parts of the U.S., the strain accounts for more than 80% of new infections, according to CDC estimates. Boris Roessler/DPA/Picture Alliance via Getty hide caption

The delta variant, first detected in India, is spreading across the globe. In parts of the U.S., the strain accounts for more than 80% of new infections, according to CDC estimates.

The highly contagious delta variant now accounts for more than 51% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to new estimates released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The variant, also known as B.1.617.2, was first detected in India and is spreading quickly across the globe.

And in parts of the U.S., the delta strain accounts for more than 80% of new infections, including some Midwestern states such as Missouri, Kansas and Iowa.

The delta variant is already causing 74.3% of infections in Western states, including Utah and Colorado, and 58.8% of infections in Southern states such as Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma, according to CDC estimates.

The good news is the vaccines being used in the U.S. all appear to be highly effective at protecting against serious disease, hospitalization and death. And public health officials are urging the roughly 140 million to 150 million people who remain unvaccinated to get vaccinated.

"Right now we have two Americas: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated America," says Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"We're feeling pretty good right now because it's the summer. But come winter, if we still have a significant percentage of the population that is unvaccinated, we're going to see this virus surge again," Offit says.

And it's crucial to increase vaccinations in other countries, says Saad Omer, a vaccine researcher at Yale. "The world has to get its act together," Omer says. "Otherwise yet another, potentially more dangerous variant could emerge."

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Delta Is Now The Dominant Coronavirus Variant In The U.S. - NPR

Inbound travelers will be required to isolate until they receive the results of the PCR test they underwent upon arrival and rapid corona tests also known as antigen tests will be performed at summer camps and programs for children and at the entrance of nursing homes, the coronavirus cabinet decided on Wednesday, announcing that the most important criteria to guide the governments action will be the number of serious patients, which has remained low throughout the current outbreak.

In a press conference later in day, Coronavirus Commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash also announced that the list of countries from which vaccinated and recovered individuals will be required to quarantine is going to be expanded to include not only nations under currently under travel ban that Israelis cannot visit unless they obtain a special governmental permission - but also countries under travel warning.

At the moment, the first includes Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa, the second Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Maldives, Namibia, Nepal, Paraguay, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay. The lists are updated every two weeks.

A cabinets spokesperson said that in order to increase the publics cooperation in observing quarantine regulations, the Health Ministry will start studying the question of whether the isolation period can be reduced. Ash said that they will consider all the data on the topic from Israel and from abroad and then they will see whether it is possible to recommend to shorten the period and of how many days.

Asked about whether vaccinated tourists will be allowed in starting from August 1 as planned, he said that the issue will be discussed in the coming days.

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The new measures approved by the cabinet are expected to come into effect in about a week, in order to give an appropriate window of time for the public to prepare, Ash said, adding that the rapid testing for children and visitors of nursing homes are expected to be funded by the state.

In light of the data we have, we are aiming for maximum protection for those who live in Israel and their health, along with a minimum of economic damage and disruption to daily life, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said while opening the meeting.

We will try as much as possible to be transparent, to explain to the public what we are doing and to give appropriate notice before steps are taken, he added.

The ministers did not approve any new drastic restriction, such as requiring parents of an infected child to quarantine even if they are vaccinated or demanding an additional test for all those entering Israel after four days.

Instead, the authorities will focus on continue to encourage people to get vaccinated and to be careful to wear masks indoors, as it is currently required, as well as to step up enforcement.

The cabinet reconvened on Wednesday after the meeting was adjourned without any decision on Tuesday night.

Some 521 new virus carriers were identified on Tuesday, with over 85,000 tests processed. Both numbers mark the highest since March.

Some 46 patients were in serious condition as of Wednesday afternoon, six more than on the previous days. At the lowest on June 20, the number stood at 21.

While the serious morbidity has registered a slight increase since the beginning of the current outbreak which has seen the number of active cases in the country surging from less than 200 to almost 3,300 - the increase has been very limited compared to what was happening in the past.

A likely explanation for this development is that more than 40% of current virus carriers are schoolchildren, and almost half are people who were fully vaccinated. Both groups are unlikely to develop serious symptoms.

About 40% of the patients in serious conditions were also fully vaccinated. Ash said that most of them belonged to groups considered at risk (over 60 or with pre-existing conditions).

Asked about the possibility of a new lockdown, the commissioner said that he very much hoped that Israel is not going to need it.

It depends on the number of patients in serious conditions, if we were in a situation where the health system is in danger and we want to stop the increase, Ash noted. We are talking about a situation where we have hundreds of serious patients hospitalized.

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Coronavirus: Inbound travelers to isolate until receiving test results - The Jerusalem Post

WELLINGTON, New Zealand New Zealand medical regulators have approved use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, after earlier in the year approving the Pfizer vaccine.

But New Zealands government intends to stick with its plan of primarily using the Pfizer vaccine to inoculate the population of 5 million.

The provisional approval for the J&J vaccine by regulator Medsafe applies to adults aged 18 and over and will need to be signed-off on by the Cabinet, which will likely happen next month.

New Zealand has an agreement to buy 2 million doses of the J&J vaccine. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says having a second vaccine will provide increased flexibility and it could be used in emergencies or in locations that are hard to reach.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

Tokyo Olympics approach, virus worries rise in Japan

Bangladesh hits record 11,525 daily virus cases

Israel to ship 700K Pfizer doses to South Korea in swap deal

Unending grief of COVID-19 deaths causing problems for some

Follow more of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

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SYDNEY A two-week-old pandemic lockdown in Australias biggest city is being extended for another week due to the vulnerability of a population largely unvaccinated against the coronavirus.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Wednesday that health experts recommended pushing the lockdown in Sydney on to midnight July 16.

The decision means most children in Sydney and some nearby communities will not return to school next week following their mid-year break.

Only 9% of Australian adults are fully vaccinated, heightening fears that the delta variant of the coronavirus could quickly spread beyond control.

There have been more than 300 coronavirus infections in Sydney linked to a limousine driver who tested positive June 16. He is thought to have been infected while transporting a U.S. flight crew from the airport.

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SEOUL, South Korea South Korea is reporting more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases, a level unseen since the worst of its outbreak in December as it slips into another virus surge with most of its people unvaccinated.

The 1,212 new cases reported Wednesday came close to South Koreas largest daily increase during the pandemic, on Christmas Day, when officials listed 1,240 new cases.

The government had planned to raise the cap on private social gatherings from four to six people and allow restaurants to extend indoor dining by two hours starting this month. But officials in Seoul and nearby areas have held off as infections rise.

Just 30% of South Koreas people have received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum says officials will consider tougher social distancing rules if transmissions continue to grow over the next two or three days.

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HARARE, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe has returned to strict lockdown measures to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 amid vaccine shortages.

Infections have dramatically increased in recent weeks despite a night curfew, reduced business hours, localized lockdowns in hotspot areas, and bans on inter-city travel.

The countrys information minister announced the virus has spread to rural areas which have sparse health facilities.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced after a Cabinet meeting that most people must stay at home, similar to restrictions on movement adopted in March last year when towns and cities became almost deserted.

People will now need letters from employers to justify why they must venture out of their neighborhood.

Zimbabwe is one of more than 14 African countries where the delta variant s quickly spreading. The delta variant was first identified in India.

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DENVER The Denver Zoo will begin vaccinating some of its animals for COVID-19 as early as next week.

Zoologists say they have been working with the veterinary vaccine company Zoetis to receive doses for the animals, and primates and carnivores will be first on the list.

KMGH-TV reports the veterinary vaccine is being developed separate from the ones for human use.

Transmission is rare between humans and other species, but there have been several documented cases of COVID-19 in large cats, monkeys and certain rodent populations.

Veterinary scientists dont think common house pets like cats or dogs are in significant danger of catching COVID-19.

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WASHINGTON President Joe Biden says the rise of a more transmissible COVID-19 variant in the U.S. should cause everybody to think twice.

Speaking Tuesday at the White House as he outlined his administrations summer plans to boost vaccinations, Biden said the delta variant first identified in India is now responsible for a majority of new virus cases in much of the country.

It seems to me it should cause everybody to think twice, and it should cause reconsideration especially among young people, he said, referencing the demographic least at risk of negative outcomes from the virus.

Biden says the surest way for Americans to protect themselves and their loved ones is to get vaccinated. He said the White House was working with state and local partners to support hyper-local vaccination drives in communities with low uptake.

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BUCHAREST, Romania Declining demand for coronavirus vaccinations in Romania has prompted authorities to close 117 vaccination centers and to reduce the schedule at 371 others, health officials said Tuesday.

In the previous week we re-evaluated the efficiency of fixed vaccination centers. About 80% of fixed vaccination centers vaccinate less than 25% of the vaccination capacity allocated to each stream, national vaccination committee chief Valeriu Gheorghita said at a press conference Tuesday.

The number of daily vaccinations in Romania has consistently dropped from a mid-May peak of around 120,000 a day to less than 20,000 a day over the last week. Just 24% of people in Romania a country of more than 19 million have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The number of daily coronavirus infections in recent weeks has dropped to record lows, but Gheorghita warned Tuesday of a possible resurgence due to the delta strain, which was first identified in India.

If a resurgence increased demand for vaccines, he said, the closed vaccine centers could quickly resume activities.

Authorities have reported more than a million infections since the pandemic began and 34,021 have died.

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NIXA, Mo. As the coronavirus surges in Missouri, a group opposed to masking and other public safety measures have gathered enough signatures to force a vote on whether to recall a mayor in a hard-hit region, even though the requirements have long since expired.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Nixa voters will have the option to recall Mayor Brian Steele at a special election set for Nov. 2.

Nixa, which has about 21,000 residents, is located about 10 miles (16.09 kilometers) south of Springfield, where hospitals are overflowing with COVID-19 patients.

Health officials are blaming low vaccination rates and the delta variant, first identified in India, for the surge. Just 44.8% of the states residents have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, compared to 54.9% nationally.

And the rate is even lower in southwest Missouri. Christian County, where Nixa is located, has a vaccine rate of 35.2%. Some nearby counties have rates in the teens.

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PHOENIX Arizonas confirmed pandemic death toll reached 18,000 on Tuesday with 21 more deaths. There were 900 confirmed coronavirus cases after the three-day July 4 holiday weekend.

As of Sunday, Arizona ranked 12th highest among U.S. states in total COVID-19 deaths since Jan. 21, 2020. Its sixth highest in the number of deaths per 100,000 population, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Monday, the state reported no additional deaths after only four on Sunday. The states seven-day rolling average of daily deaths registered at 9.4, down from 10.7 on June 20, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Arizonas confirmed pandemic case total reached 897,910 on Tuesday. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases increased in the past two weeks from 423 on June 20 to 492 on Sunday.

Nearly 50% of the population has had at least one dose of vaccine.

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MOSCOW Russian authorities allowed vaccinated Russians and those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months not to get tested for the virus upon arrival from abroad.

Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit another daily record on Tuesday, with authorities reporting 737 more deaths and 23,378 confirmed cases.

Those who are not vaccinated and havent had coronavirus recently will be required to take a test within three days of arrival and self-isolate until receiving the results. The amended regulations, announced Tuesday by the countrys public health agency Rospotrebnadzor, will take effect on Wednesday. The rules in place since May 1 mandated all Russians to take two coronavirus tests within five days of arrival.

The eased regulations come amid reports of state and private testing facilities being overwhelmed with the increased demand.

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DHAKA, Bangladesh Bangladesh has reported 11,525 positive cases, the highest in a day since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Another 163 people died in the last 24 hours, raising the total number to 15,392, according to the government. Bangladeshs cases of new infections increased last month when the delta variant first discovered in India hit the countrys border regions in the northern and southwestern Bangladesh.

Bangladesh shares a large border with India and health experts say the actual number of both infections and deaths is likely higher. The country is facing a crisis in vaccination after India stopped exports of AstraZeneca shots because of its own outbreak in April. Bangladesh has a deal to get 30 million doses from Indias Serum Institute.

Only 4 million Bangladeshis have been vaccinated in a country of 160 million people. Authorities are hoping to start a new mass vaccination campaign with Chinas Sinopharm and other vaccines.

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LONDON The British government is scrapping coronavirus rules for schools that have seen hundreds of thousands of pupils sent home to self-isolate.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson says starting July 19, schools will no longer group children in class or year-group bubbles, with all members of the group sent home if one person tests positive for the coronavirus.

With infections climbing in the U.K., the system has led to major disruption for schools and families. On July 1, 471,000 children in England were self-isolating because of potential contact with a virus case at school.

Williamson says in mid-August, close contacts of children who test positive will no longer have to self-isolate. He said the government plans to lift social distancing rules and other educational restrictions for the start of the new school year in September. However, some protective measures -- including enhanced hygiene and ventilation -- will remain in place.

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JAKARTA, Indonesia In Myanmar, the military has declared war on health care workers.

Medics were early and fierce opponents of the militarys takeover of the nations government in February. Security forces are arresting, attacking and killing medical workers and have dubbed them enemies of the state.

Medics have been driven underground amid a global coronavirus pandemic and the countrys already fragile health care system is crumbling. Myanmar is now one of the most dangerous places on earth for health care workers, with 240 attacks this year. Thats nearly half of the 508 globally tracked by the World Health Organization and by far the highest of any country.

The military has issued arrest warrants for 400 doctors and 180 nurses, with photos of their faces plastered over state media like Wanted posters. They are charged with supporting and taking part in the civil disobedience movement.

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BEIJING A Chinese city bordering Myanmar is stepping up efforts to fight a third coronavirus outbreak after several locally transmitted cases were reported this week.

Ruili, located in the southwestern province of Yunnan, has initiated mass testing and imposed a lockdown to prevent people from entering or leaving the city unless they can prove their travel is necessary, according to the local government.

More than 230,000 test samples have been collected since Monday, and the Jiegao border community was named a medium-risk area on Tuesday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The large number of exchanges along the border at Ruili and Myanmars difficulties in handling the pandemic have made it particularly difficult to control new transmissions. Strict anti-pandemic measures have largely prevented local cases in other parts of China over recent months, leaving the countrys death toll from the pandemic static at 4,636 among almost 92,000 reported cases, according to official statistics.

Original post:

The Latest: New Zealand gives tentative OK for 2nd vaccine - The Associated Press

Dont get too cocky, Colorado, but we have some eagerly awaited news for you: Parts of the state are slowly, but steadily, inching closer to herd immunity from coronavirus one way or another.

The latest from the coronavirus outbreak in Colorado:

>> FULL COVERAGE

More than 50% of the states total population has now been fully immunized against the virus, according to figures from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (The state was one of only 20 to reach President Joe Bidens goal of having 70% of its adult population receive at least one dose of vaccine by July 4.)

But, when you add in immunity that comes from having been infected by the virus, there are regions of the state where likely more than 60% of the population is currently immune, according to modeling estimates. Herd immunity the level at which enough people are immune that the virus is forced into decline has often been pegged at around 70% for coronavirus, though that number may be changing as more transmissible variants take over.

Where the most-immune regions are and how they achieved their immunity, though, says a lot about the state of the pandemic in Colorado right now. Heres what you need to know.

Theres more than one way to get to herd immunity. Both vaccination and infection get the job done though, of course, the latter route is rougher.

Every few weeks, the Colorado COVID-19 Modeling Group, which is made up of university researchers around the state, releases a region-by-region report on the state of the pandemic. Among the figures it produces is an estimate for coronavirus immunity, which takes into account the vaccination rate in the region and the estimated infection rate.

In its latest report, the modeling team estimated that two regions in Colorado have overall immunity percentages above 55%: The East Central region, which includes Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties; and the metro area, including Gilpin and Clear Creek counties.

Two more regions the Northeast region and the South Central region were above 50%. And, because the reports estimates only considered data through the middle of June, those numbers are all higher now likely above 60% in the most-immune places.

(The team produces estimates by region because it helps smooth over data blips from small population sizes in some counties and because the regions better encapsulate how people actually move around in the state the bubbles where people live and shop and mingle.)

Interestingly, the East Central and the metro area came about their immunity differently. The modeling teams report estimated that the metro area had one of the highest vaccination rates in the state around 55% of the population was fully vaccinated, as of late June. The East Central region, meanwhile, had the lowest vaccination rate only about 26% were fully vaccinated. Instead, the East Central regions estimated immunity comes largely through infection, according to the report.

This insight into the differences among highly immune regions of the state underlines a bigger issue: Vaccinations rates are extraordinarily uneven across Colorado.

As of Tuesday, CDPHE reported that more than 70% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus in six counties. Another 24 counties have at least 50% of their eligible population fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, fewer than 40% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated in 18 counties, including four counties where less than 30% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Where large pockets of unvaccinated people exist, the virus has the chance to thrive. That will lead to an increasing unevenness in how the pandemic is experienced across the state.

Were going to see a lot of patchiness in whos affected in where there are problems, said Dr. Jonathan Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health.

A good example of this right now is in Mesa County, where the vaccination rate is low. Coronavirus cases, driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus, have swamped local hospitals. Entering the Fourth of July weekend, 96% of the regions hospital beds were occupied. In the Denver metro area, where vaccination rates are higher, about 80% of hospital beds were occupied.

Samet said this shows how the coronavirus pandemic is no longer a single thing in Colorado. It will take different paths in different communities based on vaccination rates.

We really have a series of epidemics now, Samet said.

Despite these hot spots across the state, infections overall are in decline across the state.

Between 300 and 350 new cases are being reported per day, on average. Thats down from more than 1,500 cases per day in late April.

The decline in cases has leveled off, though. The total number of new cases per week has been increasing slightly for the past two weeks.

Around 280 people are currently hospitalized in Colorado with confirmed coronavirus infections down from nearly 700 in early May. But hospitalization numbers have also flattened out in recent weeks.

About four or five people with coronavirus are dying per day in Colorado.

Overall things are moving in the right direction, albeit slower than I think we all wish as a consequence of the Delta variant, Samet said.

He added: What you might say is we could have declined faster if we had not had this more transmissible strain.

This improvement shouldnt mask the fact that the coronavirus is more prevalent in Colorado now than it was last summer.

At this time last year, the state was seeing about 280 new coronavirus cases per day, and about 170 people were in the hospital with confirmed coronavirus infections.

Nationally, Colorado is ranked eighth among U.S. states for the highest new coronavirus case rates an improvement from May, when the state was ranked No. 1, but still nothing to celebrate.

This is partly due to the Delta variant, which has hit Colorado harder so far than it has hit most other states. The variant is estimated to account for 80% of all new coronavirus cases in the state, compared with about 20% of new cases nationally.

But Samet said the lower case rates at this time last year were also due to the prolonged statewide shutdown last spring. And, he said, people were likely more cautious last year, too.

People are behaving like its 2019 all over again, he said. Its not.

One advantage we have this year over last: Samet said it is unlikely we will see the same kind of post-Fourth of July case wave that we saw in 2020.

Why? Because last years wave the states second of what have now been four distinct waves of the virus was caused by people breaking their isolation and gathering around the July 4 holiday. But Samet noted that in 2021 weve been gathering with abandon for months now.

Bars and restaurants are operating at full indoor capacity. The Rockies can host full-capacity games. Mask orders have gone away. And cases continue to decline overall.

Were sustaining all of that, Samet said.

Just as Colorado starts creeping up toward herd immunity, though, the goal posts have moved.

Blame the Delta variant as well as the Alpha variant, which is also more transmissible than the original form of the coronavirus and accounts for an estimated 14% of new cases in the state. These more-transmissible forms mean that the herd immunity threshold has risen perhaps to around 80%, Samet said.

Thats because herd immunity comes from a relatively simple calculation, one where the only variable is how transmissible the virus is. The more transmissible the virus, the higher the percentage needed for herd immunity.

And, to Samet, the best way to continue boosting those immunity numbers in Colorado is through vaccination.

The more people who are vaccinated, he said, the better off we are as a society.

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When will Colorado reach coronavirus herd immunity? - The Colorado Sun