Category Archives: Covid-19

Even before the COVID-19 recession, distressed communities across the United States lacked sufficient jobs. The pandemics effects will further damage these local areas, while pushing even more places into economic distress. Without intervention, even a robust national recovery may leave many communities behind. Communities responses will be hindered by a lack of resources, and their residents will suffer from lower earnings and increased social problems.

As a solution, this paper proposes a new federal block grant to create or retain good jobs in distressed communities and help residents access these jobs. The block grant would provide long-term flexible assistance to increase local earnings and ensure those gains are broadly shared.

Distressed communitieswhich house almost one-sixth of the U.S. populationare those in which the employment rate of prime-age workers (ages 25 to 54) is significantly below the national average. Without policy intervention, distressed communities tend to stay distressed; a 10-year block grant to these communities will empower local leaders to address the lack of job opportunities that keeps these areas persistently distressed.

The block grant would help distressed communities by funding economic development and employment services, including business advice for smaller businesses, land development, infrastructure, job training, better information for residents on job opportunities, and support programs to improve job retention. Economic development services can increase job creation while employment services increase residents job access. Research has shown these services to be cost-effective. The block grant would run for 10 years at $12.8 billion annually, for a total of $128 billion in federal budget costs.

The program also has accountability requirements. For federal approval, local leaders would put together a 10-year plan that addresses the distressed areas labor market problems. To reduce policies that hurt distressed areas, grants would be conditioned on states capping costly business tax incentives in non-distressed areas. The block grant would focus job-creation efforts in distressed communities on infrastructure and public services to businesses, which are more cost-effective than incentives in creating jobs.

Distressed communities are diverse in racial and ethnic composition, and above the national average in their percentage of residents who are Black and Latino or Hispanic. Boosts in employment rates in these areas would particularly benefit lower-income groups, who are more likely to be out of work. This program would significantly improve job opportunities for residents of distressed areas and help the nations recovery become a tide that truly lifts all boats.

Read the full paper and its proposal for a new federal block grant to create or retain good jobs in distressed communities and help residents access these jobs.

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Helping Americas distressed communities recover from the COVID-19 recession and achieve long-term prosperity - Brookings Institution

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WAUKESHA - Against a backdrop of again-rising coronavirus cases statewide and locally, Waukesha County has stepped up certain public health initiatives, though no new enforcement measures are planned, following the county's trend sincethe pandemic's early days.

Mindful of the fact that COVID-19 cases were expected to climb in the fall, the county's public health department in particular has concentrated on the use of trained contact tracers to get a handle on where and how the virus is being transmitted.

Other efforts already in place since spring have also been heightened, including free testing sites as part of what Linda Wickstrom, public information officer for the Department of Health & Human Services& Emergency Operations Center, called a "four-pronged approach."

Waukesha County saw a single-day record-high 172 cases as recently as Sept. 17, with another 100 cases reported in the most recent data Sept. 21, according to the county's COVID-19 dashboard. That outpaced spikes in late July and in the first half of Augustand was more than triple the highest number, 52, through May.

It also mirrored state reports, which topped 2,500 twice on Sept. 18 and 19, according to Wisconsin data.

CORONAVIRUS IN WISCONSIN SCHOOLS: Search and track COVID-19 cases

Wickstrom said the county has not been caught off guard by the recent spikes. In fact, to a large extent, it was anticipated.

"For months, Waukesha County Public Health has been aware of and preparing for a potential increase in COVID-19 cases in the fall," she said. "It was anticipated in spring that an increase could occur later in the year due to a combination of factors including Labor Day activities, schools reopening, and individuals spending more time indoors as the weather cools down."

Given that reality, the health department beefed up its infrastructure "to historically unforeseen levels" by addressing four areas: contact tracing, COVID testing, data collection and educational partnerships.

Contract tracingrequires more staffing as cases increase, and the county has responded in kind, Wickstrom said, increasing the number of contact tracers from eight initially to a staff of more than 200 that also includes support staff and specialists.

"The new team consists of contact tracers, disease investigators and administrative staff that were hired, trained, and onboarded to track and stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the community," she said.

The number of contact tracers was aided by a partnership with Carroll University that created a structured training program. In all, 114 contact tracers were added to the county's staff through that program.

Carroll wasn't alone among educational institutions now playing a role in pandemic control efforts.

A line forms outside the Waukesha County Expo Center on July 22, before the opening of a free COVID-19 drive-thru testing site. By the end of September, there will have been eight community drive-thru test events at the expo center. The Wisconsin National Guard conducts the tests.(Photo: Scott Ash / Now News Group)

"Waukesha County is working in partnership with all public school districts and dozens of private schools in the county to engage staff in initial contact tracing efforts to ensure faster response to positive cases," Wickstrom said. "Schools have direct access to disease investigators for guidance regarding specific situations related to the virus."

She added that the county also worked with school boards and district administrators on safety protocols and other COVID-related plans for the new school year.

The county also partnered for more testing events, a rare occurrence during the onset of the pandemic because of the lack of access to testing kits. By the end of September, eight community drive-thru test events at the Waukesha County Expo Center will have taken place, Wickstrom said. Each event now offers 600 tests, 200 more than previous events at the center.

RELATED: COVID-19 testing site overwhelmed as Waukesha County deals with sharply rising coronavirus infections

That's on top of several other testing sites offered by the county by appointment.

Even the county's dashboard offering a daily snapshot of what's going on within the county in the pandemic battle has been revised. The website now reflectsactive child cases within school district boundaries, hospital capacity data andCOVID-19 trends over a 14-day period.

The extension of Gov. Tony Evers mask mandate on Tuesday, extending the requirement for indoor masks through Nov. 21, has again raised questions about how the county will enforce violations.

When it comes to enforcement, the county has continued along the same path it initiated in spring, relying on the public's reports to various officials and no data on when and where complaints have been focused.

"Waukesha County had processes in place prior to the pandemic that made it quick and uncomplicated for constituents to email or call their local elected officials and the Department of Health and Human Services," Wikstrom said. "During the pandemic, staff within Public Health and Environmental Health have been responding by email or phone conversation regarding residents concerns over and interpretation of State orders. The county appreciates how residents have reached out with the desire to help keep our community safe."

The county also continues to stress guidelines for safety protocols aimed at the general population, including six-foot social distancing, mask usage for closer contact, frequent hand cleaning and avoidance of other people, especially those who are already ill or infected.

Wickstrom said the county's response acknowledges its awareness of the rising coronavirus infectionnumbers as well as the tendency for people to become complacent, requiring health officials to again stress the need for caution.

"COVID-19 does not become less contagious because some people become tired of it," she said in a summary of measures the county hopes people will continue to abide by.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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How is Waukesha County dealing with the rising number of coronavirus cases? - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

New data analysis of the ongoing French Cohort of Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (FRENCHIE) registry reveals a decline in hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown.

Although the reasons for such findings can only be speculative, the investigators noted that this marked decrease should encourage public health officials to provide appropriate messages that especially target those that are wary of utilizing health services during the pandemic.

Jules Mesnier, MD, of the University of Paris, and colleagues used registry data to quantify changes in myocardial infarction-related hospital admissions following the lockdown in France. Their assessment also compared admission changes between patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).

The FRENCHIE registry, which includes 21 participating centers, captures within 48 hours of symptom onset patients who present with either STEMI or NSTEMI. Therefore, Mesnier and colleagues used this timeframe to define recent acute myocardial infraction.

The investigators collected data over an 8-week period, which covered 4 weeks preceding lockdown and 4 weeks following it.

Patients admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19 who had subsequently developed myocardial infarction were excluded in their analysis. On the contrary, patients admitted for myocardial infarction who were then diagnosed with COVID-19 were included.

The primary outcome sought by the investigators was change in number of hospital admissions for all types of myocardial infarction, NSTEMI, and STEMI between the weeks preceding and following lockdown.

Additional objectives included further subgroup analyses of admission change and overall change in mortality between both periods.

Thus, the team reported that between February 17 and April 12, 2020, a total of 1167 patients were consecutively admitted to the hospital for recent acute myocardial infarction. Of the total, 583 had STEMI and 584 had NSTEMI.

Overall admission decreased from 686 to 481 between the periods (-30% [incidence rate ratio, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.51-0.70]).

Furthermore, admissions for STEMI decreased from 331 to 252 (-24% [IRR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.62-0.85]), and admissions for NSTEMI decreased from 355 to 229 (-35% [IRR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.55-0.76)].

Patients who were 80 years (n = 208) had a more noticeable decline than those who were younger (IRR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.48-0.86).

They also noted that this decrease in admission had no association with regional COVID-19 prevalence or subgroup characteristics, such as gender, history of diabetes, history of hypertension, and smoking habits.

In-hospital mortality was numerically higher after the lockdown than before it25 (5%) of 481 patients vs 23 (3%) of 686, respectively. However, the team did not consider it statistically significant.

Such trends, therefore, may likely be attributed to patient fears of exposure to the virus in the hospital.

These concerns might have been amplified by the general message that people should stay at home., they wrote.

Another notable explanation may involve reduced exposure to air pollution, a known trigger of acute myocardial infarction. The investigators did not consider both explanations to be mutually exclusive.

Mesnier and team acknowledged a need to conduct the study with a longer survey period beyond the first month and after the end of lockdown.

Meanwhile, health authorities should be fully aware of the current situation in order to deliver appropriate public health messages, they concluded. This is crucial in countries still fighting COVID-19, but also in the case of a second wave in countries that are past the first wave of the pandemic, or in case another pandemic occurs in the future.

The study, Hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction before and after lockdown according to regional prevalence of COVID-19 and patient profile in France: a registry study, was published online in The Lancet Public Health.

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COVID-19 Lockdown Linked to Decline in Acute Myocardial Infarction Hospitalizations - MD Magazine

Nearly 1,200 students and 12 staff members at the University of Colorado Boulder have confirmed cases of COVID-19 in an outbreak that dwarfs any the state has seen so far.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported 1,198 students had confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, and 104 were considered probable cases as of Wednesday.

Boulder County health officials said one CU student was hospitalized with COVID-19, but has since been discharged.No deaths have been linked to the CU Boulder community outbreak.

On a campus with about 35,000 students, that means roughly one out of every 29 has tested positive. Previously, the state health department had reported smaller individual outbreaks tied to CU Boulder, most of them in fraternities or sororities.

The total far exceeded the previous largest outbreak in the state, at the Sterling Correctional Facility, where 622 people have been infected infected and three have died.

State officials have said infections among college-aged people are driving Colorados current uptick in coronavirus cases, though as of last week all age groups were seeing increased transmission. Younger people are at much less risk of complications from the virus, though, and hospitalizations have remained low and stable across the state.

On Monday, CU Boulder announced a transition to remote learning for at least two weeks in an effort to control the surging COVID-19 cases on campus. The move could become permanent if students continue spreading the virus via social gatherings, the universitys administration said.

Days earlier, university and local public health officials had questioned whether switching to remote learning was the answer, because they believed transmission of the highly contagious virus was happening at off-campus gatherings rather than in classrooms.

Our recent actions voluntary self-quarantine and a temporary shift to remote instruction are designed to contain this outbreak, Chancellor Phil DiStefano said in statement. Most of our students are working hard to comply with all of the health and safety guidelines we have set forth for the campus, and we know this will continue as will our collaboration with the county and the state in all of our efforts.

Before the change to remote learning, Boulder County public health officials recommended all students abide by a two-week self-quarantine that still allowed them to attend classes and go out for necessities, but asked them not to socialize in person.

CU officials said they were ramping up enforcement efforts, including increased police patrols in areas where parties were occurring. The university also forced nearly 200 students living in a Williams Village dorm to vacate their rooms with a couple days notice to make room for additional quarantine space on campus.

Chana Goussetis, spokeswoman for Boulder County Public Health, said its too early to tell if the strategies to curb transmission are working. Some people dont immediately test positive because they dont have high-enough concentrations of the virus in their noses, so the effects of an event where the virus spread might not show up until a week later.

We are hopeful, though, that increased enforcement, testing and education, along with the temporary move to remote learning, will help to reverse the trend in new cases, she said. Anecdotal observations by our staff has shown a reduction in the number of large gatherings among CU students, so this is a good sign.

The state health departments weekly data also showed new outbreaks at two sororities at Colorado State University and five Greek life organizations at the University of Denver:

Outbreaks at Regis University, Colorado College, CSUs Kappa Sigma fraternity, an unspecified Colorado University sports team and DUs Ritchie Center, Dimond Family residential village and gymnastics team remained stable, with no new cases reported in the last week.

An outbreak is considered over when four weeks have passed with no new cases linked to a specific location or event.

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More than 1,200 infected in CU Boulders COVID-19 outbreak now the largest in Colorado by far - The Denver Post

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News Notes: Texas reported single day record of active COVID-19 cases, other stories to know - KXAN.com

Michelle Vargas of Granite City, Illinois, has always vaccinated her 10-year-old daughter, Madison. They both typically get flu shots. But when a vaccine for the coronavirus eventually comes out, Vargas will not be giving it to her daughter even if Madison's school district requires it.

"There is no way in hell I would be playing politics with my daughter's health and safety," said Vargas, 36, an online fitness instructor. If the public school Madison attends and loves says the vaccine is mandatory, "we would find other options," she said.

As pharmaceutical companies race to manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine, many people are wary of a shot that is working its way through the approval process at record speed during a highly politicized pandemic. While some professions could require employees to get the vaccine, experts say schools almost certainly will require students to potentially setting the stage for a showdown between reluctant parents and education officials.

"We want to make sure kids return to in-person learning as quickly as possible, and we do see a vaccine playing a huge part in the process," said school law attorney Brian Schwartz, an adjunct professor of education law at the University of Illinois Springfield. "This is going to be a huge issue, and I don't think most people understand that yet."

It is an especially delicate time for parents to hesitate about vaccinating their children. Vaccines have long been a hot button issue, particularly as a small but vociferous group has spread false information, such as the debunked myth that the measles-mumps-rubella shot causes autism.

As with other vaccines, the decision whether to require one for Covid-19 in schools will be made at the state and school district levels. While all 50 states require student vaccinations, a patchwork of laws allows for parental objections: All states allow for exemptions for children with medical reasons, and 45 states plus Washington, D.C., grant exemptions on the basis of religious objections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. On top of that, 15 states allow for philosophical exemptions for people who object to immunizations on the basis of personal, moral or other grounds.

Opponents have already started sharing outlandish lies on social media about the Covid-19 vaccines in development, but this time, conspiracy theories have not been needed to sway some who otherwise dutifully immunize their children.

A Gallup poll released in August found that 1 out of 3 Americans would not get the Covid-19 vaccine if it were ready now, even if the vaccine were free. A month later, a smaller USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that two-thirds of U.S. voters do not want to get the coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available. Those polled said that they felt there will be insufficient data on the long-term effects of a rushed vaccine and that they are suspicious that pressure from President Donald Trump ahead of the election could compromise its safety standards.

Vargas, who has never before considered herself opposed to vaccinations, shares those worries.

"I understand that time is of the essence and a lot of people want to get on with their lives," she said. "But any time anything is rushed, integrity goes out the window."

There is no question that the hunt for a worthy coronavirus vaccine is happening on an accelerated timetable.

Vaccines typically take years, sometimes decades, to develop. Yet in April, through an initiative called Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration announced that it aimed to "deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021." It's a lofty promise that the government's top infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said he believes could be possible although he has added that he fears that the "Star Trek"-inspired moniker of the operation could fuel public distrust in it.

The Covid-19 vaccine will come as public health officials battle a growing number of anti-vaccine hot spots across the United States, which have contributed to outbreaks of diseases such as measles that were once eradicated in this country,

It also comes as several groups are uniting in their doubts about public health initiatives, said Dr. Howard Markel, a pediatrician who is director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan.

"You've got anti-vaxxers who are protesting along with libertarians and anti-government people and people who don't trust science or politicians. It's not a monolithic group," he said. "I don't know how it's going to roll out, but it's not going to be pretty."

Despite the unparalleled speed of the Covid-19 vaccine trials, experts said they have confidence that the protocols for safety and efficacy are being followed. An incident this month, when reported spinal cord damage in one participant briefly halted AstraZeneca's vaccine trials, proved that "the system worked," Markel said.

Dr. Yvonne "Bonnie" Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics, epidemiology and population health at the Stanford University School of Medicine, urged parents to ask trusted providers, such as their pediatricians, for as much information as possible about the vaccine whenever it comes out.

"I don't think we can make a decision one way or the other until these trials are finished and we have the data in front of us," she said. "But I think it's even more important to emphasize that we have a lot of confidence in the vaccine development structure in the U.S. and elsewhere, and you really see that the process seems to be working well so far."

"What we want to do is certainly maximize the number of children who receive the vaccine, which will, in turn, help build herd immunity for those kids who aren't vaccinated or can't be vaccinated."

Schwartz echoed the need for parents to be educated.

"Once we do have a safe and reliable vaccine, it's really incumbent on school districts and public health departments to provide information," he said. "What we want to do is certainly maximize the number of children who receive the vaccine, which will, in turn, help build herd immunity for those kids who aren't vaccinated or can't be vaccinated."

Officials have some time to convince hesitant parents.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has said a Covid-19 vaccine will likely not be widely available until summer or fall 2021. And if the vaccine does get approved in the coming months, children are so far down on the priority list for it that they would not be offered it right away: Health care workers, those with underlying conditions that put them at higher risk and older people are in line to get the first batch, while teachers are among those supposed to get the second.

But some educators, particularly those returning to in-person classes, may push for students to be moved higher up in the queue. While children generally do not get as severely ill from the coronavirus as adults do, research is mixed on whether kids, especially those under 10, can transmit it as easily as adults.

At the moment, no children are included in the vaccine trials, another source of concern among some parents. Regardless, the surgeon general has authorized pharmacists to administer the future vaccine to children ages 3 and older.

Katie Otteni, 24, of Hickory, North Carolina, has never vaccinated her 22-month-old son, Dallas, and she has used the religious exemption to skirt his day care center's vaccine requirement. She and other like-minded friends embark on postcard campaigns to educate others about what they say are the dangers of vaccines, and she has been encouraged to see parents who normally do not agree with her expressing reluctance about any coming Covid-19 vaccine.

"It's crazy, because this one vaccine they feel this way towards, but if they knew there was the same situation going on with the others, they would probably think differently," said Otteni, a waitress. "But it's a start."

Doctors and public health officials disagree. Vaccinations are considered one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, and by and large, they have repeatedly been proven to be safe.

With the pandemic, a vaccine may be our only way out, said Dr. Lauren Grossman, an assistant professor of emergency medicine and general internal medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

"In this particular case, I don't see how we have much of a choice, to be honest," she said. "Look at what we're going through now with schools reopening."

While various childhood immunizations are required to attend public schools, the annual flu shot is not mandated in most states although this year, some school districts have deemed it necessary to reduce the possibility of simultaneous flu and Covid-19 outbreaks.

The new requirement has been met with consternation in some places. In Massachusetts, hundreds of parents protested the flu shot rule in August, holding signs in front of the State House that read, "My child, my choice," The Republican newspaper of Springfield reported.

"It's a bigger lift for school districts to require flu shots than it is for vaccines," said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, an advocacy organization for the 14,000 superintendents in the U.S. "The other vaccines you don't have to get every year. Once you have it, you have it."

The response to flu shots could be a bellwether of what school districts will face if they require the coronavirus vaccine. Domenech said he expects lawsuits from parents who do not feel comfortable injecting their children with a new vaccine should schools eventually require it, especially because each person could need two doses to gain even some immunity an even bigger ask of parents.

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But Schwartz, the education law attorney, said such lawsuits would be unlikely to hold up in court as long as schools offer an alternative to in-person learning for students whose families refuse to vaccinate them.

"My take is that as long as the school system provided the child with a quality instructional program, whether it be in person or remote, that the parent is going to have an uphill battle in a lawsuit against the district," he said.

Vargas, the Illinois mother, sees a flu shot with an extensive safety record as very different from a brand new vaccine.

"This is not something you want. Period. And if we can prevent it, we need to do so."

"People want to get it out there and go on with their lives," she said. "But at what cost?"

Markel, the medical historian, sees a greater danger in not having a vaccine. His mother died of Covid-19, and he has patients who are enduring long-lasting neurological symptoms.

"Kids can get it," he said. "This is not something you want. Period. And if we can prevent it, we need to do so."

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

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Many parents are hesitant to give their kids a Covid-19 vaccine. What if schools require it? - NBC News

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reportsas of 10:00 a.m., September 19, 2020, there have been 509,154 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 13,874 total cases and 308 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a67-year old male from Cabell County, a 62-year old female from Raleigh County,a 79-year old female from Raleigh County, an 81-year old male from PutnamCounty, a 93-year old female from Putnam County, a 71-year old female fromKanawha County, a 78-year old male from Kanawha County, a 72-year old male fromKanawha County, a 66-year old male from Mercer County, a 79-year old male fromMercer County, and a 48-year old male from Hardy County. We are deeply saddened bythis news, a loss to both the family and our state, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHRCabinet Secretary. Our deepest condolences are extended at this time ofgrief.

CASESPER COUNTY: Barbour(44), Berkeley (938), Boone (192), Braxton (10), Brooke (106), Cabell (712),Calhoun (23), Clay (34), Doddridge (18), Fayette (534), Gilmer (21), Grant (150),Greenbrier (120), Hampshire (100), Hancock (141), Hardy (80), Harrison (336),Jackson (238), Jefferson (418), Kanawha (2,258), Lewis (38), Lincoln (152),Logan (565), Marion (253), Marshall (154), Mason (134), McDowell (80), Mercer(398), Mineral (163), Mingo (353), Monongalia (1,867), Monroe (146), Morgan(50), Nicholas (82), Ohio (349), Pendleton (52), Pleasants (16), Pocahontas(59), Preston (149), Putnam (484), Raleigh (471), Randolph (234), Ritchie (10),Roane (47), Summers (40), Taylor (117), Tucker (15), Tyler (15), Upshur (60),Wayne (339), Webster (7), Wetzel (49), Wirt (10), Wood (347), Wyoming (96).

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the localhealth department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain countymay not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual inquestion may have crossed the state border to be tested.Suchis the case of Jackson, Lincoln, and McDowell counties in this report.

Pleasevisit the dashboard located at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more information.

Free COVID-19 testing locations areavailable this weekend in Kanawha and Monroe counties:

Kanawha County, September19, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, West Virginia State University, 5000 Fairlawn Avenue,Institute, WV

Monroe County, September19, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Monroe County Health Department, 200 Health CenterDrive, Union, WV

Kanawha County, September20, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, 108 Lee Street,East, (Use Reynolds Street Entrance) Charleston, WV

Additional sites will be open next week inBoone, Cabell, Fayette, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Ohio, Marion, Mingo, andWayne counties. Testing is available to everyone, including asymptomaticindividuals. For testing locations, visit https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 9-19-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Governor Andrew M. Cuomotoday announced a new record-high number of test results 110,444 were reported to New York State yesterday. Yesterday, 0.89 of test results reported to New York State were positive. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available atforward.ny.gov.

"When we first started this journey a few months ago, we only had the capacity to do a few hundred tests per day - we have now reached a new record with over 110,000 tests reported to the State in one day,"Governor Cuomosaid."Despite testing more than most other states, our infection rate remains below one percent. But this pandemic is not over. We must protect our progress, and it's going to take all of us to keep up our hard work to do so. Everyone must continue to wash their hands, wear their masks, remain socially distant and above all, stay New York Tough."

Yesterday, the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force visited 1,434establishments in New York City and Long Island and observed 6establishments thatwere not in compliancewith state requirements. A county breakdown of yesterday's observed violations is below:

Today's dataissummarizedbrieflybelow:

Of the 110,444 testresults reported to New York State yesterday, 986, or 0.89 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive testresults reported over the last three days is as follows:

REGION

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Capital Region

1.0%

0.5%

0.8%

CentralNew York

1.2%

1.6%

0.5%

Finger Lakes

0.6%

0.4%

0.5%

Long Island

1.1%

0.9%

1.0%

Mid-Hudson

1.4%

1.4%

1.2%

Mohawk Valley

0.6%

0.4%

0.4%

New York City

1.0%

0.9%

1.1%

North Country

0.2%

0.4%

0.3%

Southern Tier

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

WesternNew York

1.5%

1.2%

0.9%

TheGovernor also confirmed 986 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to449,038 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 449,038 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

3,006

27

Allegany

96

1

Broome

1,459

9

Cattaraugus

253

4

Cayuga

196

1

Chautauqua

536

1

Chemung

322

17

Chenango

248

0

Clinton

154

0

Columbia

580

0

Cortland

155

5

Delaware

130

1

Dutchess

5,053

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Governor Cuomo Announces New Record-high Number of COVID-19 Tests Reported to New York State - ny.gov

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reportsas of 10:00 a.m., September 18, 2020, there have been 502,803 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 13,683 total cases and 297 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the deaths of an83-year old male from Mingo County, an 87-year old female from Mason County,and a 62-year old male from Logan County. As we extend our deepestsympathies to the loved ones, we also encourage all West Virginians torecognize the continued need to take every possible step to slow the spread ofthis disease, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.

CASESPER COUNTY: Barbour(42), Berkeley (929), Boone (191), Braxton (10), Brooke (106), Cabell (707),Calhoun (23), Clay (33), Doddridge (17), Fayette (524), Gilmer (20), Grant(150), Greenbrier (119), Hampshire (100), Hancock (140), Hardy (78), Harrison(332), Jackson (244), Jefferson (413), Kanawha (2,194), Lewis (38), Lincoln(153), Logan (559), Marion (252), Marshall (150), Mason (130), McDowell (86),Mercer (394), Mineral (161), Mingo (346), Monongalia (1,836), Monroe (146),Morgan (49), Nicholas (79), Ohio (349), Pendleton (51), Pleasants (16),Pocahontas (59), Preston (147), Putnam (471), Raleigh (470), Randolph (233),Ritchie (10), Roane (43), Summers (34), Taylor (117), Tucker (15), Tyler (15),Upshur (60), Wayne (336), Webster (7), Wetzel (49), Wirt (10), Wood (346),Wyoming (94).

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the localhealth department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain countymay not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual inquestion may have crossed the state border to be tested.

Pleasevisit the dashboard located at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more information.

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COVID-19 Daily Update 9-18-2020 - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

The C.D.C. reverses its guidance on testing for people who were exposed to the virus and arent showing symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reversed a recommendation that people who have had close contact with someone infected with the coronavirus did not need to get tested unless they had symptoms.

The change came after widespread criticism of the earlier guideline, as well as reporting from The New York Times that the recommendation had come from political appointees in the Trump administration and skipped the agencys usual, rigorous scientific review.

The Times reported Thursday that the guideline was posted on the C.D.C. website despite strenuous objections from the agencys scientists.

The previous phrasing, which said asymptomatic people who have had close contact with an infected individual do not necessarily need a test, now clearly instructs them: You need a test.

Public health experts welcomed the change as consistent with research showing that people without symptoms can spread the virus. Some research has suggested that they are actually most likely to transmit to others starting around a day before the onset of symptoms, when the viral load can be the highest.

Its good to see science and evidence taking a front seat for a change, said Scott Becker, chief executive of the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Emails by a former top Trump health official and his science adviser show efforts to silence the C.D.C.

Emails obtained by The Times illustrate how a top Trump health official and his science adviser tried to browbeat career officials at C.D.C. at the height of the pandemic, challenging the science behind their public statements and trying to silence agency staff members.

The Times reported last week on pressures on the C.D.C. to change its weekly disease reports exerted by Michael R. Caputo, a former Trump campaign official installed by the White House in April as the top spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department, and his science adviser, Dr. Paul Alexander, a part-time assistant professor of health research methods. Mr. Caputo went on medical leave this week.

The emails, obtained by Noah Weiland of The Times, conform with what current and former C.D.C. officials called a five-month campaign of bullying.

One of the emails was written after Dr. Anne Schuchat, a 32-year veteran of the C.D.C., appealed to Americans to wear masks and warned, We have way too much virus across the country.

She is duplicitous, Dr. Alexander wrote to Mr. Caputo. He asked Mr. Caputo to remind Dr. Schuchat that during the H1N1 swine flu outbreak in 2009, thousands of Americans had died under her work.

Of Dr. Schuchats assessment of Covid-19s dangers, Dr. Alexander fumed, wrongly, The risk of death in children 0-19 years of age is basically 0 (zero) PERIOD she has lied.

Mr. Caputo forwarded that assessment to Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the C.D.C. director. When a member of the health departments White House liaison office called the agency to ask questions about Dr. Schuchats biography, C.D.C. officials were left with the impression that some in Washington could have been searching for ways to fire her.

Far from hiding what they knew about the viruss danger, as Bob Woodwards new book contends President Trump was doing, the emails seem to indicate that aides in Washington were convinced of their own rosy prognostications, even as coronavirus cases were shooting skyward.

Trump acknowledged that distribution of an authorized vaccine for every American may not be until next year.

Mr. Trump sought on Friday to recalibrate his assurances on vaccine availability, acknowledging that authorized doses might not be widely available in the United States until next spring even if distribution starts earlier.

Speaking at the White House, Mr. Trump said that once a vaccine is authorized, distribution will begin within 24 hours after notice. He added: We will have manufactured at least 100 million vaccine doses before the end of the year. And likely much more than that. Hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April.

The president had said earlier that a vaccine would be available to the general public immediately once it is authorized, and although he held firm on that pledge, he acknowledged that it would take perhaps months from that point to distribute vaccines to hundreds of millions of Americans.

Because of fears that Mr. Trump would interfere in the process to improve his election chances and pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve a vaccine before it was proved safe, the chief executives of all the leading pharmaceutical companies signed a pledge two weeks ago saying they would not release any vaccines until they were sure they were safe.

Opinion polls have shown that many Americans are already hesitant about taking a vaccine that is seen to have been rushed to market by the federal government for political reasons.

Mr. Trumps estimates of how many vaccine doses would be available this year conflicted with projections by the chief science adviser for his administrations Operation Warp Speed effort, Moncef M. Slaoui, a former chairman of global vaccines for GlaxoSmithKline and a widely respected figure in the vaccine field. He and other leaders of Warp Speed were present at Fridays news conference but not asked to comment.

In interviews with CNN and National Public Radio, Dr. Slaoui has said he expected only enough vaccine to immunize 20 million to 25 million people by years end. Enough to vaccinate all Americans would be ready by about the middle of next year, he said.

Dr. Slaoui has publicly said he would resign if there was political interference in the process of delivering a safe, effective vaccine.

Iran is a virus red zone, a health minister says.

Iranian health officials warned for weeks that the country would see another wave of the virus if schools reopened and religious ceremonies proceeded. But the government ignored their advice, instead allowing crowds to gather for the Shiite ceremony of Ashura, universities to resume classes and a million students to sit for an indoor college entrance exam.

We consider the entire country in the state of alarm and a red zone, said Irans deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, in an interview on state television Friday. (Iran has defined a red zone as a place with an alarming increase in the number of deaths, new cases and hospitalizations.)

In February, during the earliest weeks of the pandemic, Iran emerged as a global hot spot, but the countrys health ministers initially denied the severity of the outbreak. Officials have repeatedly resisted the harsh shutdowns and quarantines enacted by other countries to curb the spread of the virus.

President Hassan Rouhani has said that Iranians must find a way to coexist with the virus and that shutting down businesses, schools and religious ceremonies was not feasible. And from the start, power struggles between the president and the military have hampered the countrys response.

On Friday, the health ministry said 144 people had died and 3,049 had tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours.

An infectious-disease doctor at the main coronavirus hospital in Tehran posted a video on Instagram saying his hospitals Covid-19 emergency triage team had seen over 200 patients a day in the past week, many of them students and teachers. He warned that at this pace, the country would soon face a crisis as hospital and medical staff members become overstretched and beds unavailable for new patients.

Global roundup

Roughly 10 million people in England face new virus restrictions amid a spike in new cases. The countrys once-vaunted testing system is on the verge of collapse. And Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain is contemplating closing restaurants and pubs to corral a second surge in Europes worst-affected country.

Mr. Johnson is also facing rising anger over his contradictory edicts. Over the summer, he offered people a government-subsidized discount at restaurants and pubs but spoke bluntly on Friday about the virus advancing across Britain.

Theres no question, as Ive said for several weeks now, that we could expect and we are now seeing a second wave coming in, Mr. Johnson said in a television interview. I dont think anybody wants to go into a second lockdown, but clearly when you look at what is happening, youve got to wonder whether we need to go further than the new law forbidding gatherings of more than six.

It does seem ironic, said Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, after encouraging mass attendance at pubs, cafes and restaurants, that restrictions on those activities were being considered.

The R number, a measure of how many people on average a single patient will infect, rose to between 1.1 and 1.4, the government said on Friday. Any number over 1 is a worrisome indication that the epidemic is growing.

In the week ending Sept. 10, there were roughly 6,000 new daily cases outside hospitals and nursing homes in England, the governments official statistics authority estimated, nearly a doubling from the week before.

In other news from around the world:

More than 30 million cases have been reported worldwide as of Friday morning, according to a New York Times database. India, in particular, has recently contributed significantly to the count, having added more than 93,000 new cases a day on average over the last week.

President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala said Friday that he had tested positive for the virus, becoming at least the fourth Latin American leader to be infected during the pandemic. In a video address, the president said he was in stable condition and continuing to work. More than 3,000 people have died from the virus in Guatemala. The countrys pandemic response has been hindered by widespread poverty, proximity to hard-hit Mexico and the Trump administrations decision to continue deporting Guatemalan migrants, despite the high positivity rates among the returnees.

Thousands of Hasidic pilgrims who set out to celebrate the Jewish New Year at the grave in Ukraine of a revered rabbi started heading home on Friday, after being prevented from entering from Belarus due to virus travel restrictions.

New Zealand recorded no new cases of the virus on Friday for the first time in more than a month, after an outbreak in Auckland in August threatened the progress against the virus. The country now has just 70 active cases. Of those, 37 are from community transmission and the rest are from overseas arrivals.

Sciences Po, one of Frances most prestigious universities, is closing its Paris campus for 14 days after a significant number of students tested positive for the virus. Classes will be held online. And Nice, the countrys fifth-largest city, banned social gatherings of more than 10 people in parks, gardens and beaches to try to slow the spread of the virus. Cases have surpassed 50 per 100,000 people in Nice, where a third of the residents are considered elderly. The sale and consumption of alcohol is also forbidden after 8 p.m. and bars will have to close at 12:30 a.m. Bordeaux and Marseille are facing similar rules.

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has extended a national state of emergency until September 2021. Last month, the Philippine Congress extended Mr. Dutertes emergency powers to address the pandemic, and it passed legislation allocating support for low-income households and people who lost their jobs because of the crisis.

A repeatedly extended ban on nonessential travel between the United States and Canada and the United States and Mexico that was set to expire Sept. 21 has been extended again, to Oct. 21, according to the Department of Homeland Security. However, Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters in Washington on Friday, said he was working to open the border with Canada pretty soon.

Chinas CanSino Biologics and a military-backed research institute are preparing to start clinical trials of a two-dose vaccine regimen after scientists raised concerns that their current one-dose treatment failed to produce a strong enough immune response. The vaccine was promoted by Chinese state media as a front-runner in the vaccine race but struggled to get Phase 3 trials started in Canada.

Early voting began in earnest Friday in four states: Virginia, South Dakota, Wyoming and Minnesota, a key Midwestern battleground that both candidates visited.

With the pandemic limiting indoor gatherings, elections administrators have urged voters to cast ballots either by mail or in person before Election Day. States have already seen record numbers of absentee ballot requests, and officials expect exceptional levels of voter participation before Nov. 3.

At a municipal voting center in northeast Minneapolis, voters waited 30 to 40 minutes in a line that snaked through an office park near Interstate 35W. The familiar I Voted stickers were replaced with a more precise I Voted Early model.

Darcy Berglund of Minneapolis said she had voted the first day that polls were open because she often travels back and forth to Iowa to care for her ailing mother.

If she really takes a turn Nov. 2, I wont be coming up here, said Ms. Berglund, 60. Even if I were in town, Im so worried about this election. I just wanted to make sure I got my vote in.

In most places in states that allow in-person early voting, it means going to a City Hall or a local board of elections, though some larger jurisdictions will arrange for regional early vote centers. The pandemic has brought even larger early-vote locations, with some major league sports franchises opening their vacant arenas and stadiums.

As millions of American students have returned to school across the country in recent weeks, cases have forced quarantines and shutdowns, and a few states, including Texas and Ohio, have rolled out online dashboards to track cases in schools.

Determining the impact of school openings on the broader trajectory of the pandemic has been difficult as reporting from states and districts has been spotty and inconsistent, with officials in some places refusing to reveal case numbers.

The number of cases reported by schools will almost certainly be an undercount, experts say, because children in particular are likely to be asymptomatic when carrying the virus, and are unlikely to be tested in the absence of symptoms.

In other education news:

A high school student in Attleboro, Mass., went to the first day of in-person classes on Monday despite testing positive days earlier. Roughly 30 people at Attleboro High School who came into contact with the student are now in quarantine. Attleboros mayor said that the students parents knew he had tested positive when they sent him to school.

Police in Mitchell, S.D., removed a man from a school board meeting for refusing to put on a mask in violation of district policy. Several speakers later criticized the mask mandate and asked why parents had not been surveyed about whether they supported it. A survey wouldnt change my mind, one member of the school board said.

Because of virus-related precautions, Baylor University has postponed its football season opener scheduled for Saturday against the University of Houston. The matchup was hastily arranged last week to fill a void after each teams original season-opening opponent had to cancel because of unmet standards for playing during the pandemic. More than a dozen football games at the elite F.B.S. level have been canceled or postponed in the first three weeks of the season.

Northeastern University in Boston has agreed to refund most of the fall semester tuition of 11 first-year students who were dismissed earlier this month for violating the schools virus rules by gathering in a room without masks or social distancing.

More than 1,000 students and employees at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., have been instructed to quarantine, according to the schools virus dashboard.

New York City will soon let restaurants add a temporary charge of up to 10 percent as help in the pandemic, (though not for takeout or delivery), as long as it is clearly noted on menus.

The charge, which comes before tax, will be allowed until 90 days after the date, yet to be determined, when indoor dining is fully restored. (Indoor dining resumes on Sept. 30 at only 25 percent capacity.)

But in interviews, many restaurant owners said they werent ready to add the new surcharge, especially at the full 10 percent.

A growing group of restaurateurs and activists urging the City Council to add some restrictions to the surcharge that will improve conditions for workers, such as limiting it to restaurants that pay their entire staff, including servers, at least the full city minimum wage or above, as he does.

A lockdown in Israel transforms celebrations for the Jewish high holidays.

As Israelis prepare to celebrate the holiest days on the Jewish calendar under a new lockdown, organizing prayer services is proving to be more of a mathematical brainteaser than a spiritual exercise.

Rabbis must arrange worshipers into clusters of 20 to 50, separated by dividers, determining the size of the groups based on complex calculations involving local infection rates, and how many entrances and square feet their synagogues have. Masks will be required, and many seats will have to remain empty.

With the virus rampaging again, Israel became one of the few places in the world to go into a second lockdown. The rules took effect on Friday, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

The government has issued a list of restrictions along with a plethora of exemptions that many criticize as a formula for confusion and noncompliance.

The atmosphere in the run-up to the holidays was more despairing than joyous.

These are not the holidays we were hoping for, said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the president of Ohr Torah Stone, an Israel-based Jewish education group with emissaries around the world. The fragility of life is upon us, but I see people rising to the occasion.

The three-week national lockdown was timed to coincide with the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur holy days and the festival of Sukkot, in the hope of causing less economic damage because business slows down in any case around the holidays. It was also aimed at preventing large family meals that could become petri dishes for the virus.

Israel successfully limited the spread of the virus in the spring, but the number of cases, when adjusted for population, has risen to among the highest in the world. The country has had more than 300 confirmed new cases per 100,000 people over the last week more than double the rate in Spain, the hardest-hit European country, and quadruple that of the United States.

Reporting was contributed by Livia Albeck-Ripka, Peter Baker, Alexander Burns, Sarah Cahalan, Julia Carmel, Shaila Dewan, Sydney Ember, Nicholas Fandos, Farnaz Fassihi, Antonella Francini, David Gelles, Denise Grady, Ruth Graham, Katie Glueck, Christina Goldbaum, Jason Gutierrez, Rebecca Halleck, Anatoly Kurmanaev, Mike Ives, Andrea Kannapell, Isabel Kershner, Apoorva Mandavilli, Donald G. McNeil Jr., Constant Mheut, Zachary Montague, Benjamin Mueller, Kevin Roose, Anna Schaverien, David Segal, Michael D. Shear, Mitch Smith, Megan Specia, Liam Stack, Matt Stevens, Katie Thomas, Glenn Thrush, Maria Varenikova, Amber Wang, Sui-Lee Wee, Noah Weiland and Rachel Wharton.

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After Criticism, C.D.C. Reverses Covid-19 Guidelines on Testing People Who Were Exposed - The New York Times