New York state, hit laborious within the earliest wave of the coronavirus pandemic, has now tallied a file variety of COVID instances in a single day.
The state reported Friday that over 21,000 individuals examined constructive the day prior to this, the very best single-day complete since testing was widespread. Just below half of these had been in New York Metropolis. The whole tops the earlier file of slightly below 20,000 on Jan. 14, 2021.
A slew of performances from the Rockettes to Broadway reveals had been cancelled because of outbreaks amongst forged members, inflicting vacationers to cancel their plans to go to.
New York has seen a gradual enhance in new instances that started within the western a part of the state and has taken off in New York within the final week, thanks partially to the latest variant of concern, omicron. New York’s common each day case price is 13,257 for the week that ended Thursday, up 71% from two weeks in the past.
“That is altering so shortly. The numbers are going up exponentially by day,” Gov. Kathy Hochul stated Friday on CNN.
Additionally within the information:
►Washington, D.C., shattered a COVID-19 file that stood since January, reporting 2,517 instances within the week ending Friday, in response to USA TODAY evaluation of Johns Hopkins College information. Town is reporting instances at a price about 3.6 occasions larger than the extent the Facilities for Illness Management says represents excessive ranges of neighborhood transmission. The tempo of latest coronavirus instances is about 4 occasions larger than it was a month in the past.
►The omicron variant might unfold as much as 3 times quicker than the delta variant, according to new, not yet peer-reviewed analysis from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team.
►Practically 100 NFL gamers have examined constructive for COVID-19 since Monday, the league’s most significant outbreak since the pandemic started in spring 2020. A minimum of 39 NBA gamers had been within the league’s COVID-19 well being and security protocols by Thursday night, whereas the NHL shut down three groups by the vacation break to curb the unfold.
►The entire U.S. army providers have now begun disciplinary actions and discharges for troops who’ve refused to get the mandated coronavirus vaccine, officers stated, with as many as 20,000 unvaccinated forces vulnerable to being faraway from service.
►A Taylor Swift album get together in Sydney, Australia seems to be connected to 97 new COVID-19 cases, in response to the New South Wales Ministry of Well being.
►A CDC panel voted to suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines be most popular for adults over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of a small variety of uncommon however harmful blood clots.
►Allison Baver, a former Olympic speedskater, has been accused of creating false statements on mortgage software to illegally acquire tens of millions in COVID aid funds, according to a Thursday statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
📈At the moment’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded greater than 50.7 million confirmed COVID-19 instances and greater than 805,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. World totals: Greater than 273.6 million instances and 5.3 million deaths. Greater than 203.4 million Individuals — 65.2% of the inhabitants — are totally vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: Pressured hospitals, weary nurses brace for one more COVID winter surge. Here’s how hospitals are doing as cases rise again.
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‘Main mismatch’ in flu shot may imply dangerous flu season amid COVID surge
Present flu vaccines could also be a nasty match for the dominant pressure this flu season and, consequently, might not present as a lot prevention as hoped for, according to new research.
The examine, which has not but been peer-reviewed, suggests the U.S. is in for a nasty flu season, on high of what’s already changing into a devastating COVID surge.
Earlier than every flu season, scientists design a flu shot that matches what they count on to be the commonest strains. Whereas the vaccines defend in opposition to 4 flu strains, the examine solely covers H3N2, essentially the most extensively circulating pressure this season.
However researchers say the vaccines not match up with this pressure.
“From our lab-based research it appears to be like like a significant mismatch,” Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology on the College of Pennsylvania who led the examine, told CNN.
Nonetheless, he stated the vaccine nonetheless considerably reduces the danger of significant sickness from the flu.
TWINDEMIC:US enters flu season amid rising COVID-19 cases
Biden extends deadline for companies to adjust to vaccine-or-testing requirement
Employers can be given extra time to adjust to a federal requirement that employees get vaccinated for COVID-19 or be frequently examined, the U.S. Department of Labor announced after a federal appeals court docket allowed the rule to go ahead.
Employees who will not be totally vaccinated gained’t should be frequently examined till Feb. 9, greater than a month after the unique Jan. 4 deadline.
The division stated it’s exercising enforcement discretion to “account for any uncertainty” attributable to the authorized challenges that had blocked the rule.
The information comes after a federal appeals court docket on Friday reinstated a Biden administration rule requiring giant firms to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or implement testing, although the ruling is unlikely to be the ultimate phrase on the matter.
The Cincinnati-based U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the sixth Circuit lifted one other court docket’s order from November that blocked the mandate from taking impact. Companies with 100 or extra workers could be required beneath the rule to get up vaccine or common testing necessities by Jan. 4 or face penalties of almost $14,000 per violation.
A 2-1 majority of the court docket discovered that OSHA was possible inside its authorized authority to implement the “emergency non permanent customary” requiring vaccines or testing.
— Maureen Groppe and John Fritze, USA TODAY
CDC says Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are most popular over Johnson & Johnson
An advisory panel to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention expressed their choice for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over Johnson & Johnson’s jab.
Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices stated they had been persuaded by new information exhibiting that whereas blood clots linked to J&J’s vaccine stay very uncommon, they’re nonetheless occurring, and never simply in youthful ladies as initially thought.
The CDC shortly endorsed the panel’s advice Thursday and launched an announcement saying the up to date steering adopted comparable suggestions from different international locations, together with Canada and the U.Okay.
J&J stated in an announcement it is assured the advantages of its vaccine outweigh the dangers, and it stays an “essential selection” for Individuals who can’t or gained’t return for a number of vaccinations.
Read more about what the news means for you.
— Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY
Pfizer trials counsel 2 doses protected, however not efficient for teenagers beneath 5
Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine trial in kids ages 2-5 suggests the vaccine is protected however not efficient sufficient to stop an infection with COVID-19, and the businesses have determined so as to add a 3rd dose to their trial. The transfer will push off the ultimate outcomes nicely into subsequent yr.
Pfizer’s head of vaccine analysis and growth, Kathrin Jansen, stated that for kids beneath 5, the corporate had settled on a dose of three micrograms — down from 10 micrograms in older kids and 30 micrograms in adults. This dose was chosen, she stated, as a result of it decreased negative effects, significantly fever, in young children.
However interim leads to the analysis trial counsel two doses, given 21 days aside, don’t generate sufficient protecting antibodies believed obligatory to stop COVID-19 an infection. Younger kids may have three pictures at this dose to obtain full safety, she stated, with the third dose coming not less than two months after the second.
Pfizer and its companion BioNTech count on to file for emergency use of their vaccine in kids beneath 5 within the second quarter of 2022, Jansen stated. The businesses are additionally evaluating a 3rd vaccine dose in kids ages 5 by 15, who at the moment are approved to obtain solely two doses.
— Karen Weintraub
Contributing: The Related Press
