The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant, reports CNN.
Soaring cases in New York
New York state reported its highest single-day Covid-19 case count on Friday with 21,027 positive cases, according to available state data.
Before this new record, the state had reported 19,942 positive Covid-19 cases on Jan. 14, according to the data.
However, Covid-19-related hospitalizations remain comparatively low.
On Friday, the state reported 3,839 Covid-19 related hospitalizations, as compared to 8,088 Covid-19 related hospitalizations reported on Jan. 14, according to Covid-19 hospitalization data. At its peak in mid-April 2020, New York’s hospitalization rate for Covid-19 nearly reached 19,000.
New York Covid-19 data also revealed that positive Covid-19 cases in the state jumped 154% in less than a week.
On Friday, the state reported 21,027 positive Covid-19 cases, one and a half times the number of positive Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday — which was 8,266 positive Covid-19 cases.
The data revelations come as New York City reported its positivity rate from PCR tests doubled over a four-day period. The NYC health commissioner sid cases have tripled in the past month.
The US can win the war against the coronavirus if people keep fighting and use the weapons at hand, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday.
Fauci likened the fight against Covid-19 to World War II, which raged for years.
2 more NHL teams shut down due to Covid-19
The Avalanche will have four games postponed during that time, while the Panthers will miss three games.
The NHL also extended the Calgary Flames’ shutdown through Dec. 26. The Flames will have missed six games since its shutdown began on Dec. 13. As of Wednesday, the Flames had 16 players in the NHL’s Covid-19 protocols.
Pfizer is including a third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine in trials of the vaccine in children under 16, the company announced Friday.
The company announced in an earnings call that it will be testing a three-microgram third dose in children younger than 5, and in a news release said it plans to test a 10-microgram third dose in children ages 5 to 11.
Pfizer will test third Covid-19 vaccine dose in children under 16
Pfizer said two doses of vaccine did not produce the hoped-for results in the children ages 2 to 5.
The vaccines protected the youngest group – infants and toddlers up to 2 years – at the same levels seen in teens and young adults, but the three-microgram dose did not produce the same immunity in the 2-to-5-year-olds, the company said in a news release.
“The decision to evaluate a third dose of 3 microgram for children 6 months to under 5 years of age reflects the companies’ commitment to carefully select the right dose to maximize the risk-benefit profile,” the company said.
An additional study, in adolescents 12 to 17 years old, will examine the use of a third dose of either 10 or 30 micrograms, the company said.
In the United States, a booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine is currently for fully vaccinated people age 16 and older.
“The effectiveness data for three doses of the vaccine in general for people 16 years and older and the early laboratory data we have seen with Delta and other variants of concern, including Omicron suggests that people vaccinated with three doses of our Covid vaccine may have a higher degree of protection,” Kathrin Jansen, head of research and development at Pfizer, said in the call.
“Therefore, we have decided to modify each of the pediatric studies to incorporate a third dose to the series and seek licensure for a three dose series rather than a two dose series as originally anticipated.”
Pfizer is currently studying its vaccine in children 6 months to 2 years old and 2 to less than 5 years old. Jansen said in an earlier phase of the trials for the primary series, a 3-microgram dose in the 2- to 5-year-old cohort showed comparable immune response to dosages given to older populations with fewer side effects than a 10-microgram dose.
Jansen said the change in the trials is not expected to impact the timeline to submit for emergency use authorization for the vaccine in younger populations, which is still targeted at mid-2022.
“If the three-dose study is successful, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to submit data to regulators to support an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for children 6 months to under 5 years of age in the first half of 2022.”
COVID cases hits record high in Italy
Italy recorded 28,632 new coronavirus cases on Friday, marking the highest number of daily cases since the beginning of the year, according to data from Italy’s health ministry.
“The number of daily Covid positive has steadily increased for the last eight weeks,” the Italian National Institute of Health said in its weekly report.
The Delta variant is still dominant in Italy, which has confirmed only 55 cases of Omicron variant, health institute President Silvio Brusaferro said in a video address on Friday.
A total of 5,336,795 people in Italy have been infected since the start of the pandemic.
Italy also reported 120 deaths related to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to at least 135,421 since the pandemic began.
Ohio governor orders National Guard into hospitals following staffing shortages
In the wake of Covid-19 upticks, the Ohio governor deployed more than 1,000 members of the state’s National Guard to hospitals to help assuage staffing issues plaguing Ohio hospitals, many of which have paused elective surgeries.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the National Guard should begin arriving in hospitals on Monday.
Of the 1,050 National Guard members, 150 are highly-trained medical personnel, nurses and EMTs, the governor said.
The medical personnel, the governor said, will be deployed strategically throughout the state — and, subsequently, will be placed within hospitals at administrators’ discretion.
The governor said the Cleveland, Canton, Akron and Wooster areas were the primary recipients of National Guard personnel given the high number of confirmed Covid-19 cases that these cities are currently seeing. DeWine added that he anticipates the 900 non-medical service members will “go anywhere in the state that they’re needed.”
The governor also emphasized that with 4,723 patients currently hospitalized because of Covid-19, the state is seeing the highest number of Covid-19-related hospitalizations since Dec. 22, 2020.
Given the stress placed on hospital staff, DeWine noted that “almost all hospitals in Zone 1 — the northern part, right across the northern part of the state of Ohio — have stopped elective surgeries.” He added that some hospitals in the state’s middle tier have already paused elective surgeries and that others in the area will be following suit in the near future. And, in the state’s southern tier, hospitals are currently making plans to halt elective surgeries as necessary, he said.
The governor did stress that 294,000 Ohioans got the first vaccine dose in November and another 101,000 in the first two weeks of December.
Meanwhile, 945,000 Ohioans received their booster shots in November and 514,000 in the first two weeks of December, bringing the total number of Ohioans boosted in the last six weeks or so to 1.5 million, he said.
Washington health officials update Covid-19 guidance after 200 cases linked to wrestling matches
The Washington State Department of Health issued new Covid-19 guidance for “high contact indoor sports,” following a series of wrestling matches that resulted in about 200 new positive Covid-19 cases, the department said in a news release Friday.
The new guidance requires all athletes, coaches, trainers and support staff to get tested at least three times a week regardless of vaccination status, the release said. At least one of those three tests must be completed “no sooner than the day before the competition,” the department added.
“Please get vaccinated, boosted, wear a well-fitting mask, and maintain your distance to help our kids stay healthy, stay in the game, and stay in school,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, deputy secretary for Covid-19 response.
On Wednesday, the department said dozens of recent Covid-19 outbreaks could be traced to high school wrestling matches. At least 13 counties sent wrestlers to four wrestling tournaments on Dec. 4, according to the department.
“We expect Omicron to become dominant variant in the coming weeks”, says CDC Director
While the Delta variant continues to circulate widely in the United States, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the Omicron coronavirus variant is “increasing rapidly” and expected “to become the dominant strain in the United States as it has in other countries in the coming weeks.”
“We’ve seen cases of Omicron among those who are both vaccinated and boosted, and we believe these cases are milder or asymptomatic because of vaccine protection. What we do know is we have the tools to protect ourselves against Covid-19. We have vaccines. We have boosters,” Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 response team meeting.
“And we know multilayer prevention strategies — masks in public indoor settings, practicing physical distancing, frequent hand washing, improving ventilation and testing to slow transmission — are vitally important, especially as we prepare for more Omicron and even if you are vaccinated and boosted,” she continued.
Walensky said the seven-day average of hospital admissions has increased about 4% over the prior week, while the seven-day average of daily deaths was up over 8% from the prior week.
Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said “this is not a moment to panic” and again urged people to get vaccinated.
“We know how to protect people, and we have the tools to do it. But we need the American people to do their part, to protect themselves, their children and their communities. The more people get vaccinated, the less severe this Omicron outbreak will be,” he said.
UK breaks Covid-19 daily case record for third day
The UK reported a record high of Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day on Friday, recording 93,045 infections — the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began.
That is up from 88,376 new cases on Thursday and 78,610 new cases on Wednesday.
The UK also recorded 3,201 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant on Friday, bringing the total confirmed Omicron cases to 14,909.
The country reported a further 111 coronavirus deaths on Friday.
France reports “very high” Covid-19 infection rate in children
French health authorities have reported a “very high” Covid-19 infection rate in children aged 6-10, they said in a weekly report on Friday.
Adherence to vaccination and social distancing guidelines is “more indispensable than ever” to slow infections, according to the country’s national health agency. Only the most vulnerable children aged 6-10 are currently eligible for vaccination, although the government has announced preparations to vaccinate this age group if scientific advisers recommend it.
The national weekly incidence rate rose 13% this week to 508 cases per 100,000 people, the highest it’s been since the first wave of Covid-19 — although the rate of increase is less than the week before, according to the report. On average, 48,700 new Covid-19 cases were diagnosed daily this week, according to Public Health France.
The agency also reported the number of Omicron cases in the country has risen to 301.
At the national level, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions saw double-digit percentage rises this week (12% and 15% respectively) but figures remain below those of the first three waves.
The health agency attributed to relatively low levels of Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths in this fifth wave to the efficacy of vaccines in avoiding severe forms of the illness and the circulation of Covid-19, primarily in the youngest of the population, who have less risk of hospitalization.
Germany expecting fifth Covid-19 wave to be “massive challenge,” health minister says
Germany’s new health minister Karl Lauterbach said he expects the fifth wave of the pandemic to be a “massive challenge” for the country.
South African president “making good progress” in recovery from Covid-19
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is “making good progress” as he continues treatment for Covid-19, the presidency said in a statement on Friday.
“The President is in good spirits and comfortable in his recovery,” the statement read. Ramaphosa tested positive for Covid-19 on December 12 and was exhibiting mild symptoms.
The South African presidency called on citizens to get vaccinated, wear masks, wash their hands frequently and adhere to social distancing rules.
“This will help save lives, reduce the need for hospital admissions, allow businesses to remain open and enable people to work and earn an income,” the presidency said.
It added: “Risky or careless behaviour will endanger the public health and economic activity, neither of which the country can afford during this important period for the retail and tourism sectors.”
Germany reports increase in Omicron variant
Germany reported an increase in the number of Omicron infections, according to a weekly report from the country’s national disease and control center, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Thursday.
A total of 325 suspected cases were reported to the RKI by Tuesday, including 112 confirmed Omicron cases and 213 suspected cases of the variant. In the previous week, Germany only had 28 confirmed cases of the variant.
In the last 24 hours, Germany reported 50,968 new infections and 437 deaths. The country’s seven-day incidence rate dropped but remains high at 332 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Germany has reported 107,639 deaths from Covid-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Hospitalization rates still ‘much lower’ in South Africa despite Omicron wave
Despite record-breaking confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa, hospital admissions rates continue to be much lower than previous waves, South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla said Friday.
“The weekly average hospital admissions are definitely much lower than during the third wave,” Phaala said, adding that there were signs that the peak in cases was passing in Gauteng Province, the first hit by the Omicron surge which started in November.
A lower proportion of admitted patients are on oxygen and ventilators and they are staying in hospital for less time on average, according to early research by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Researchers said that it is too early to definitively assess Omicron’s relative severity, adding that immunity from prior infection, as well as vaccination, could be playing a significant role.
Phaahla also said he was disappointed that vaccination rates had tailed off in the country as it heads into the holiday period. “Jab before you job,” he said, using a slang term for partying.
Australia’s New South Wales hits another daily Covid-19 record
Australia’s New South Wales has set another daily record of 2,313 Covid-19 cases as infections surge across the state. The state has broken its own record for news for the second day in a row, with infections jumping from Thursday’s total of 1,742.
NSW Health also reported one death while 215 people are in hospital, with 24 in Intensive Care Units (ICU).
Superspreading events at large venues — including a Taylor Swift listening party in Sydney last Friday — are driving up the numbers. The spread has been made worse by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned on Wednesday that numbers could reach 25,000 a day by January.
A raft of restrictions have been eased across the state this week: masks are now only required on public transport, at airports, planes and for unvaccinated indoor hospitality staff. QR codes are no longer needed in supermarkets, shopping centers and other businesses.
NSW State Premier Dominic Perrottet has said he does not want to go back to a lockdown or reintroduce restrictions.
Over 93% of people over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated in New South Wales.
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Source: CNN
