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The post Youth fuel huge virus spike as El Paso sets all-time daily record with 441 new cases appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>EL PASO, Texas — Fueled by rapid spread of the coronavirus among those under 40, El Paso public health leaders reported a pandemic record 441 new cases on Sunday.
Following a week that saw 29 deaths, the start of the new week brought no additional fatalities. The death toll remained at 179.
With Sunday’s huge spike in new cases, the total number of infections to date in El Paso County climbed to 11,573. El Pasoans in their teens, 20’s and 30’s accounted for a whopping 61% of new cases over the past day, compared to only 14% for those in the high-risk age bracket of people over 60.
“Based on the data that we have seen so far we continue to see Covid-19 cases spike in our younger demographics,” said El Paso City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza, who added that community spread was the biggest factor.
El Paso’s top doctor said the area’s youth “need to understand the risks of not practicing the safety precautions,” and he urged those in their 20’s and 30’s to “limit interactions” in order to combat virus transmission.
“We must continue to stress to everyone, especially our younger family members, to not let our guard down,” Ocaranza said.
As the debate continues over whether to allow students to return to school classrooms following the issuance of new state educational guidelines in recent days, it was noteworthy that school-aged children – teens and younger – make up 15% of El Paso’s emerging cases, according to Sunday’s public health data.
Another disturbing trend emerging is the ongoing increase in the percentage of those testing positive.
The rolling 7-day average positivity rate on Sunday was 11.78%. The percentage of those testing positive has grown in recent days from 9.87% on Friday and 10.25% on Saturday. Thus far, officials said 128,206 tests have been given in El Paso.
Hospitalization numbers on Sunday did show a decline from Saturday. There are 274 Covid-19 patients currently in El Paso hospitals, with 104 listed in intensive care and 40 needing ventilators – which is up two from the prior day.
Health leaders noted that El Paso’s death rate from the virus is currently 1.5% and the recovery rate is 64%, although it’s important to understand that researchers indicate some recovered persons can still have long-term health issues stemming from contracting the virus.
Full health department virus data can be found by clicking here.
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]]>The post Youth Sports, Bad Hand Sanitizers and the 2020-21 School Year: Humboldt County’s Public Health Officer Again Takes the Media’s COVID Questions appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Dr. Teresa Frankovich, Humboldt County’s public health officer, took numerous questions from local reporters on various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic today — reopening, masking, bad kinds of hand sanitizers and more — and the county has released her answers to those questions in the video above.
Below: A rough summary of questions asked and answers given, with timestamps corresponding to the video.
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(0:00) Some say masks create complications for some people. Breathing issues and nosebleeds are among some of the issues that have been reported. [According to whoever asked this question. —Ed.] Are there any other risks [Ibid. —Ed.]?
There are no documented health risks of wearing masks, Dr. Frankovich says. There is no evidence that they induce low oxygen, as has been rumored online. But if you already have difficulties breathing — from asthma or COPD, for example — and your mask exacerbates them, then you don’t have to wear one, and that’s in the law. However, a very lightweight cloth mask is unlikely to cause such complications.
A reminder: My mask protects you, your mask protects me. The point is to decrease the number of virus-containing droplets going out into the air.
(2:50) How does the county’s mask order differ from the state’s?
The biggest difference is the age range, Dr. Frankovich says. Our order said that children between two and 12 were “encouraged” to mask up; the governor only says that children under two should not wear masks.
(3:40) Over the weekend, the Food and Drug Administration announced a list of nine hand sanitizers that could be toxic if used. How can we tell if certain sanitizers can be toxic if absorbed through the skin or ingested?
It’s always good to read the ingredients on the label, Dr. Frankovich says. Ethyl alcohol is the best all-around sanitizer, and it has to be at least 60 percent to be effective. Isopropyl alcohol is an alternative, but that shouldn’t be used by kids under nine unsupervised — it can be absorbed by the skin if overused, and it can be dangerous if that happens, or if it’s ingested.
Methanol, or methyl alcohol, is the type of alcohol referenced in this FDA warning. It’s highly toxic and should not be used in hand sanitizer.
(5:20) Humboldt County Schools are busily planning for what instruction will look like in the fall, with many advising parents that it will probably involve a hybrid model of in-person instruction and distance learning. What advice are you giving local school districts, and what do you think the most crucial factors will be in determining whether in-person instruction can be safe in K-12 schools this fall?
There have been a lot of conversations, Dr. Frankovich. We all agree that in-person instruction is best, but all schools are different in their population, and their layout, and how it’s structured. The county has been working with schools to determine what’s feasible in their settings.
It’s not going to be perfect. They’re trying to find creative solutions in the lower-grade classrooms, and ways that older children can distance throughout the day. “We can’t really let the whole idea of … perfection keep us from moving forward,” Frankovich says.
They know they’re going to have COVID in schools. They’re trying to find safety measures that will reduce transmission.
(7:30) What do you think about forming “pods,” or “bubbles,” with two or three families agreeing to socialize together while strictly following other shelter-in-place restrictions and working to limit COVID exposure? Are there guidelines regarding how this can be done safely? Do you view it as a viable way to limit risk while meeting some of the social, childcare and support needs local households face?
There is a lot of information out there how to construct such “bubbles,” Dr. Frankovich says, but personally she finds it complicated.
The emphasis from the state, is still that we are still trying to avoid households mixing in “substantial ways,” because that can be a big driver of spread. But the county is looking at this and other options.
(9:28) Can you provide the county with an update on what we know about the virus? How it spreads: Droplets in the air versus particles on surfaces? The age range of patients: Is it really only affecting older individuals, or a mix of ages? What are the most common symptoms that warrant testing?
We’re still learning a lot about transmission. Large droplets that are emitted when you’re talking, coughing or sneezing certainly play a role, and that some activities, like signing, project those droplets further.
“The million-dollar question,” says Frankovich, is whether small droplets that hang in the air for a long time can be an important vector.
As far as surfaces go: We can detect the virus on surfaces, but we still don’t know to what degree it is transmitted in this way.
The county is going to start presenting information about symptoms people are experiencing locally, Dr. Frankovich says.
(12:30) Any update about youth sports?
The county hasn’t gotten any update from the state, says Dr. Frankovich. “It should not be operating now, in spite of the fact that I recognize that, apparently, it is.”
There are no recommendations about how to run youth sports safely, Dr. Frankovich says. Without that guidance in place and some assurance that people are following guidelines on masking and distancing, “I have some concerns about its safety.”
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]]>The post Louisville Youth Question Mayor Over Response To Breonna Taylor’s Killing appeared first on Virus Reports.
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Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer speaks to a group gathered for a vigil in memory of Breonna Taylor on June 6.
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
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Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer speaks to a group gathered for a vigil in memory of Breonna Taylor on June 6.
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
Louisville youth confronted Mayor Greg Fischer on Sunday, pressing for answers about whether he values Black lives and why he waited so long to speak out on the police killing of Breonna Taylor.
A Facebook Live video posted by Lavel White, a filmmaker and city employee, captured about 20 young adults asking Fischer questions and demanding he answer.
Darryl Young, who works with youth through his job at the Muhammad Ali Center, served as an informal liaison to get the group together to meet with Rev. Jesse Jackson, who arrived in Louisville Saturday to join protests and speak against police violence. Young said the group included members of the city’s Youth Implementation Team and other young adults from Louisville.
The Youth Implementation Team is made up of 14- to 24-year-olds who advise the mayor for a year and “have an opportunity to learn to increase advocacy skills and be more civically engaged in their communities,” according to the city.
The video, which is no longer visible on Facebook, lasts about seven and a half minutes, though the meeting started about half an hour earlier, at 1 p.m. Young said Jackson came in first and addressed the group for about 10 minutes. Then he left, and Fischer entered. The video appears to capture the second half of his conversation with the group.
“Why were you silent for two months on Breonna Taylor’s murder?” one young woman asked the mayor.
Fischer paused for six seconds before responding.
“Louisville was amongst the first cities in the country to put out, 24 hours after every officer-involved shooting, everything that we know,” he said. “We did that on Breonna’s case as well.”
The young woman who asked immediately pushed back.
“No. Your ass was not on any media news station denouncing these racist police officers,” she said. “This continually keeps happening. Do you just think Black and brown people are disposable, especially Black people?”
She demanded he answer. He said, “Of course not.”
“Then why do you act like it? ‘Cause your actions speaks louder than words,” she said.
“Well, I’m sorry they do to you,” Fischer said. He started another sentence that was immediately drowned out by the group.
“If you want to take care of our community, then actually listen to them,” another youth said.
“Are you tired because you’ve been going through s*** for a couple days?” another youth asked. “We tired. We go through this s*** every day.”
They raised concerns about everything from the curfew implemented — then lifted — during protests last week, to the city’s response in 2018 to protests outside the Federal Building calling for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to be abolished.
Thousands have taken to Louisville streets to protest against police violence and demand justice for Taylor, who was killed by police during a middle-of-the-night raid that was focused on a different person who lived elsewhere.
The youth criticized Fischer for what they saw as surface-level conversations designed to make him look good in the media.
“You’ve been using us for photo ops for years,” one exclaimed.
Young, who is also running for the Metro Council, said that was the tone of the whole interaction. He said he agreed with the point about photo ops.
“I think that was a sentiment by a lot of people in the room,” Young said.
Fischer left the room after about 15 minutes. The youth spent the next 20 minutes working on a list of demands, and when Fischer returned, they read them to him and asked him to simply listen instead of responding, Young said.
He said they asked for the city to divest from police, and recruit more social workers to respond to domestic disputes and mental health crises, rather than having police do that. They also asked that he fire and charge the police officers who killed Taylor.
They also asked for another meeting before the end of the month. Young said he expects that to happen.
“People don’t want to just hear, well, this is the process or this is how things have to operate,” Young said. “I think people want answers now.”
In the video, some members of the group also asked whether police would still have a large portion of the city’s budget in the next budget.
Fischer said, yes, “they’ll still have a bulk of the money.” He started talking about more money going toward the Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods and the nonprofit Evolve502, then he was cut off.
“You had all this money but you didn’t have money to help the people most affected by coronavirus — Black people have been disproportionately affected,” one young woman said.
Louisville has projected a budget shortfall of $69 million for the fiscal year ending in July 2021, and officials say cuts may be necessary. Fischer proposed continuing this year’s budget while details about federal aid and the scope of the losses become clearer. The Metro Council is working on and will pass a budget by the end of the month.
On Sunday evening, Jean Porter, a spokesperson for the mayor, issued a statement on Fischer’s meeting with the group of youth, via email:
“The Mayor appreciated bringing several youth together with Reverend Jesse Jackson earlier today. They shared their anger and their pain, and the Mayor acknowledged the gulf between where we are and where we need to be. Young people are at the forefront of the protests, and the Mayor believes they must be at the forefront of the transformation necessary for our city, state and nation to move forward. He has pledged to work with them to make it happen.”
This story was originally published on WFPL.org.
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]]>The post MLB, NBA to return? Youth sports could be first appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>American sports leagues struggling with how to restart after the coronavirus crisis might find some pointers in the return to neighborhood parks and fields of youth soccer and Little League.
Medical and sports authorities say the kids’ leagues are likely to return before the pros because community-based sports are better suited to improvise, incorporate new rules and adjust to the necessary rules regarding social distancing.
“Youth sports are inherently more adaptable,” said Lauren Sauer, director of operations with the Johns Hopkins office of critical event preparedness and response.
She told participants in an online panel discussion of youth sports this week that neighborhood leagues have advantages the big leagues lack.
“They can have regionality to where they can be conducted and how they can quickly pause and restart activities,” she said.
It’s one reason the timetable for the return of youth sports is much shorter than for the NHL, the MLB or the NBA.
Maryland, Virginia and D.C. youth leagues remain sidelined, but West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday that the “low contact” sports of baseball, softball and soccer can resume June 8.
Last weekend, a baseball tournament in Cottleville, Missouri, drew about 50 teams of players ages 7 to 14. They included some from Illinois who traveled for hours to compete in violation of their state’s stay-at-home order.
The Missouri tournament generated sharp criticism for participants and its organizer, GameTime Tournaments, despite the introduction of special social distancing guidelines for players, coaches and spectators. Umpires had to call the games while standing at least 6 feet behind the catchers. Only three players at a time on each side could sit in the dugout. High-fives were banned, and no fist bumps were allowed.
Critics said those efforts weren’t enough to justify the risks. The St. Louis Dispatch reported that players and coaches occasionally broke the rules by huddling in dugouts or getting too close to the bases.
Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Atlanta’s Emory University, said in an interview with Time that the decision to go forward with the annual Missouri youth baseball tournament was “unconscionable.”
Lots of parents apparently agreed that it was too soon for players to get back on the field. Participation was off dramatically for an event that usually draws as many as 180 teams.
During an Aspen Institute online forum this week, Ms. Sauer said youth sports have to be reintroduced in phases. She said the process shouldn’t begin until states see downward trends in COVID-19 cases.
“We have to consider that context nationally but also regionally as we [look at] the number of cases before we think about reopening youth sports and other activities,” said Ms. Sauer, who has worked for more than 16 years in the field of outbreak response.
Jill Daugherty, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who is on the COVID-19 response task force, said at the forum Wednesday that youth sports will need to consider new safety protocols such as daily temperature checks for officials, coaches, staffs and players. She also recommended sanitizing equipment, educating staff and requiring face masks for coaches and spectators.
“The more people a child interacts with and the longer that interaction, the higher risk that COVID-19 spreads,” Ms. Daugherty said. “However, if a youth sports league and local jurisdiction determine they can safely return their children to sports, there are a number of actions they can take to lower the risk of COVID-19 exposure and spread during competition and practice.”
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