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2021-05-26
Covid: Russia starts vaccinating animals
Russia has started vaccinating animals against coronavirus, officials say. In March, Russia announced it had registered what it said was the world's first animal-specific jab. Several regions have now started vaccinations at veterinary clinics, Russia's veterinary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, told local media. Interest has been shown in the Carnivak-Cov vaccine by the EU, Argentina South Korea and Japan, the agency said. While scientists say there is currently no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the disease to humans, infections have been confirmed in various species worldwide. These include dogs, cats, apes and mink. -
2020-10-26
Ontario dog first in Canada to test positive for COVID-19, but researcher says there are likely more
An Ontario dog living with four human COVID-19 patients is the first dog in Canada to test positive for the virus. But researchers say the discovery doesn't mean pet owners need to worry. The animal is from the Niagara Region and lived in a home where four out of six people had the virus, according to Dr. Scott Weese, chief of infection control at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College. "At last check, both dogs were fine, everyone in household sounds like they're doing well," he said. Weese described COVID-19 as a "human virus." There is some risk of animal-to-human transmission when it comes to mink, and experiments have shown infected cats can pass the virus to other cats, but that has not been shown in dogs, he said. "If your dogs has COVID or is infected with this virus, it got it from you or someone else in the household." -
2021-07-01
Pets can catch Covid from owners, study suggests
Swabs were taken from 310 pets in 196 households where a human infection had been detected. Six cats and seven dogs returned a positive PCR result, while 54 animals tested positive for virus antibodies. "If you have Covid, you should avoid contact with your cat or dog, just as you would do with other people," Dr Els Broens, from Utrecht University, said. The researchers say the most likely route of virus transmission is from human to animal, rather than the other way round. "We can't say there is a 0% risk of owners catching Covid from their pets," Veterinary Microbiological Diagnostic Centre Dr Broens said. "At the moment, the pandemic is still being driven by human-to-human infections, so we just wouldn't detect it." -
2021-05-05
Pets Are Safe From Covid, But Are Zoo and Street Animals? Here's What Experts Have to Say
After eight Asiatic lions tested positive for coronavirus at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, making it the first case of animals contracting COVID-19 in India, questions have been raised again about the spread of the virus among animals. -
2020-04-07
Bronx Zoo Tiger Is Sick With the Coronavirus
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has been infected with the coronavirus, in what is believed to be a case of what one official called “human-to-cat transmission.” “There is no evidence that other animals in other areas of the zoo are showing symptoms,” the Agriculture Department said. A pet cat in Belgium recently tested positive for the coronavirus, but the American Veterinary Medical Association said that not enough was known to change the current view that neither cats nor dogs appear to be able to pass the virus to people. The World Organisation for Animal Health says that there is no evidence that cats or dogs spread the disease to humans, but that anyone who is sick should take precautions in contact with their animals as they would with people. -
2021-07-13
Indonesia’s Daily Cases Surpass India, Marking New Epicenter
Indonesia surpassed India’s daily Covid-19 case numbers, marking a new Asian virus epicenter as the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant drives up infections in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country has seen its daily case count cross 40,000 for three straight days -- including a record high of 54,517 on Wednesday -- up from less than 10,000 a month ago. Officials are concerned that the more transmissible new variant is now spreading outside of the country’s main island, Java, and could exhaust hospital workers and supplies of oxygen and medication. Indonesia’s current numbers are still far from India’s peak of 400,000 daily cases in May, and its total outbreak of 2.7 million is barely a tenth of the Asian giant’s 30.9 million. India, with a population roughly five times the size of Indonesia’s 270 million people, saw daily infections drop below 39,000 on Wednesday as its devastating outbreak wanes. The Southeast Asian country reported about 900 deaths daily on average in the past seven days -- compared to just 181 a month ago -- while India reported an average of 1,027 daily fatalities. -
2021-04-06
COVID-19 variants
This is an article about the variants of COVID-19 that are either present or emerging in the United States. It is meant to keep EMS providers informed with up-to-date information so that they can provide the best care to patients. Some of the variants are more dangerous/have more symptoms than others. It notes that there is 5 variants of concern, which have increased transmissibility and increased hospitalizations/deaths. While this is not great news, it is a good thing that there are currently no variants in the world that are considered variants of high consequence by the CDC, which essentially means that medicine does not have effective means of treating it. Hopefully this remains the case and we can start to see a drop off of the variants of concern soon. -
2021-04-04
News Article: How a local response to COVID-19 helped slow deaths on the White Mountain Apache nation
By Amanda Morris of the Arizona Republic: When someone on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation receives a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, health care workers from the Whiteriver Indian Hospital jump into action. They personally visit the individual's home to test other household members, perform health evaluations on everyone there and trace any other potential contacts at risk for COVID-19 exposure. Health care workers in the community say that could be one reason why, even though the rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases among White Mountain Apache tribal members is nearly triple the state's rate, the death rate is much lower and continues to fall. Over 90% of COVID-19 cases in the White Mountain community are investigated within 24 hours of testing, according to Ryan Close, the director of the Department of Preventative Medicine at the Whiteriver hospital, which is the only hospital on the 1.67 million-acre reservation. "I feel like what we did made a huge difference," Close said. "We evaluated and admitted people aggressively and early. The tribe deserves an incredible amount of credit for mobilizing staff ... to make this response possible, because at some point it would have been very difficult to maintain without their considerable help." The quick response may have also helped the tribe turn the tide against rapid community spread of the virus, which scientists say could have been fueled by a single variant found only in the White Mountain tribal communities. The variant carried a mutation in the spike protein, which scientist theorize could have made it spread more rapidly than other strains of the virus. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among White Mountain Apache tribal members accounts for 24% to 28% of their population, according to Close, but the cumulative death rate among known cases is only 1.2%. By comparison, the statewide rate of infection was 11.5% with a 2% death rate among known cases. And over the winter, Close said the rate for the tribe dropped even lower, to about 0.5%. In a community with a high number of individuals with underlying health conditions, the low death rate and work of the tribe has been "remarkable," said David Engelthaler, director of the Translational Genomics Research Institute's infectious disease division in Flagstaff. The death rate also stands out as unusually low when compared with death rates in other Indigenous communities. Indigenous populations have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic. CDC data shows that Indigenous people are 3.5 more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and almost twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. Close credits a proactive strategy to combat COVID-19 that involved rapid contact tracing, in-person health evaluations and frequent outreach to high-risk COVID-19-positive individuals as well as early treatment with monoclonal antibodies and other antiviral therapies. Volunteers and health workers from the White Mountain Apache community were on the Whiteriver hospital's contact tracing team and high-risk COVID-19 outreach team, which Close said helped the team connect better with the people and work faster. One essential part of the team are the tribe's community health representatives, or CHRs, who are members of the community that serve as a cultural bridge between patients and medical establishments. JT Nashio, director of the Community Health Representatives for the tribe, said the "visceral connection" that CHRs have to the community helps them bring cultural awareness to the way questions are asked for contact tracing, which makes the process more effective and allows officials to better distribute information. "On top of that, quite simply, they know how to get around. It’s a big reservation and not all homes are easy to find," Nashio said. "But when you’ve lived here your whole life, you know where to find people. That became invaluable during the tracing and testing push during case surges." Virus mutation may have made it more transmissible When COVID-19 hit the White Mountain Apache nation, it spread rapidly. The community's first documented case was on April 1, 2020, from someone who had likely recently visited the Phoenix area, unknowingly caught COVID-19 and returned, according to Engelthaler. Within the first few weeks, Close said the community experienced a handful of deaths. "We soon had incidence rates that were skyrocketing. Case counts were going up very, very quickly," Close said. It's unclear why the disease spread so rapidly in the community, but the initial strain of COVID-19 that hit the community carried a mutation that Engelthaler believes could have made it more transmissible. "They were seeing the virus just rip through and have an 80 to 90 to 100 percent attack rate," he said. TGen partnered with the tribe and the U.S. Indian Health Services early on to provide tests to diagnose a case of COVID-19 and provide genetic analysis of the virus from each case. It showed one strain of the virus circulating in the tribal community that wasn't present anywhere else in the state. "This virus moved much faster than anything else we were seeing in Arizona at the time," Engelthaler said. "So we actually believe that we had one of these variant strains in Arizona that was causing very large numbers of cases, but it was secluded and maintained really only in that tribal population." The mutation, called the H245Y mutation, occurred in the spike of the virus, which Englethaler said is a "very sensitive" part of the virus where mutations can have a significant impact. Because of the low death rate, Engelthaler said TGen researchers would like to investigate the mutated strain of coronavirus seen among tribal members to see if it is also associated with a lower fatality rate. He acknowledged that other strains of the virus have since entered the community and that the actions of health care workers in the community and at the Whiteriver hospital is also responsible for the lower death rates. 'The earlier you treat an illness, the better' Close's biggest concern was that an outbreak would cause a "tsunami" of sick COVID-19 patients that would run the risk of overwhelming the Whiteriver hospital, which does not have an intensive care unit. Any patients that require intensive care need to be transported to other hospitals in the state. "We're a small hospital, we cannot take a wave of all very acute patients because there aren't enough ventilators in the hospital," Close said. "There aren't enough helicopters in the state to transport people out from our facility to a higher level of care." Within the first few weeks, Close said the community experienced a handful of deaths, and patients who had the poorest outcomes were the ones who self-presented at the hospital — often meaning they waited until they felt sick enough to go to the hospital. "People don't always bring themselves in early enough," Close said. "The earlier you treat an illness, the better." In response to this phenomenon, the hospital started a high-risk outreach program the third week of April. Health care workers regularly visited the homes of anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 and was at high risk for a poor outcome. Close recalls multiple days when he evaluated patients and found their oxygen levels dangerously low, even though they felt fine. It's a condition associated with COVID-19 known as "silent hypoxia," or "happy hypoxia." "They had no sense that they were even ill. They went on to get pretty sick in the hospital, but they survived and you can't help but think to yourself, 'Yeah, that's a life saved,'" Close said. "That person, if they had stayed home another day or another two days would not have done as well. They would have ended up on a ventilator or something." The Arizona Republic previously reported that the effects of the high-risk outreach program and contact tracing led to a fatality rate among tribal members of 1.6% last June, which was less than the state's rate of 2.5% and country's at 2.7% at the time. But the effect of the outreach program became even more pronounced over the winter, as the tribe and health workers gained access to monoclonal antibody treatments, according to Close. He said the high-risk outreach team started referring patients for antibody treatment in December as part of their protocol after the therapy received emergency use approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Hospital staff at the Whiteriver hospital then administered the antibody treatment. "We give that to people who are asymptomatic or mildly ill to prevent hospitalization," Close said. "The evidence currently suggests that reduces the risk that they're going to get sicker and get hospitalized and reduces the risk that they're going to die." Though there's no data proving the antibody treatments made a difference, Close said that after health care workers started using them, the community's COVID-19 death rate fell to 0.5%. Hospital workers also gave antiviral therapies, such as remdesivir, to patients early and often. "We probably overtreated some people," he said. "But the good news is it definitely led to significant reductions in mortality." Lessons for the future Close believes the different programs were so successful because health care workers were often able to test, trace, diagnose and treat individuals all in the same day — a feat he said was only possible because of how closely integrated hospital workers and community health workers were. "There were no barriers in communication between the public health arm of our response and the clinical care arm of our response," Close said. "It's really a case for an integrated health care system." As the tribe emerges from the pandemic and tribal members get vaccinated against the virus, Close said the hospital may start exploring other health conditions where it can use the high-risk outreach team, which is already trained and experienced in clinical evaluations. "The goal is to take what we've learned from COVID and now apply it to things that are not COVID-related," Close said. Another valuable lesson Close hopes to carry forward is how much of a difference visiting residents in their homes can make and how important building trusting relationships with the community is. Nashio said going door to door to trace and monitor COVID-19 cases was a natural step for CHRs, who had already gone door to door in the past for other community health campaigns. "We know firsthand how difficult it can be to not only connect with patients over the phone but communicate effectively over the phone," Nashio said. "When the community sees their CHRs coming to their door, it helps decrease the stigma of the disease." In addition to performing checkup evaluations and providing information, Nashio said CHRs can also provide food, medical supplies, cleaning supplies or services like grocery shopping and running basic errands. Not every tribal member has reliable internet or phone service, nor access to transportation, so Close said going door to door can be a good way to reach, and help, everyone. "Meeting patients where they are is invaluable," Close said. Amanda Morris covers all things bioscience, which includes health care, technology, new research and the environment. Send her tips, story ideas, or dog memes at amorris@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @amandamomorris for the latest bioscience updates. Independent coverage of bioscience in Arizona is supported by a grant from the Flinn Foundation. -
2021-03-29
Senior Border Patrol officer says border migrant flow will only worsen
"Senior officer says border migrant flow will only worsen" By Lyda Longa, lyda.longa@myheraldreview.com, Mar 29, 2021 The situation with undocumented migrants flocking to the Southwest border of the United States from Mexico is only going to worsen, a senior Border Patrol agent warned Friday. The agent, who spoke to various media outlets during a conference call, said at least 380,000 undocumented people had been apprehended at the Southwest border in February and the numbers would be higher for March and beyond. The agent spoke on background with the agreement that media would not reveal his name. “I fully expect to see the numbers increase as we go into the summer months,” the senior agent said, concerning migrant crossings. In Cochise County that warning has begun to bear out near Douglas and in Willcox, where the already stretched-thin Border Patrol is arresting more single adults attempting to slip into the country or taking in and processing children who are flocking to the border unaccompanied. Douglas Mayor Donald Huish said Friday the latest information he received this week from Border Patrol agents at the station just outside Douglas is that they’re confronting and repatriating about 100 single adults daily who are trying to slip in illegally. “They are getting closer and closer to town,” Huish said. What concerns Huish even more is that Border Patrol agents from the Douglas station are being pulled out to help in busier areas such as Yuma and Tucson. “They’re siphoning them off to the western part of the state and leaving us with a skeleton crew,” Huish said. In Willcox, Mayor Mike Laws said he was told two weeks ago by the Border Patrol there were 54 unaccompanied children at the Border Patrol station. “That was two weeks go. Who knows now?” Laws said. “The station can only hold up to 81.” Laws said he was told by Border Patrol that a “third party” has been arriving at the facility and taking 10 to 20 children to Phoenix by via bus. The mayor said he does not know how often the transportation comes or who the third party is. “We have not seen anyone (undocumented migrants) running the streets so far,” Laws said. “All we have is the youths, but we don’t see them either.” Laws and Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller said citizens in their respective communities would gladly help the undocumented migrants but there aren’t enough resources available to do so. Laws, Mueller and other mayors in Cochise County signed a letter recently asking the federal government for help with the matter. Last week, the town of Gila Bend, which has a population of about 2,000, declared an emergency after Border Patrol agents dropped off a group of migrant families with children in a park. Gila Bend Mayor Chris Riggs told reporters he and his wife ended up using loaned vans to drive the families to the Phoenix Welcome Center so they would have a safe place to stay. Riggs said Border Patrol agents told him to expect more of the same. Mueller said there have been no such issues in Sierra Vista, but he is worried that the municipality, if hit with something similar to what happened in Gila Bend, would have no resources to offer. Last week Arizona senators Kyrsten Synema and Mark Kelly announced they’ve been pushing for more federal resources to help Arizona cities with a sudden influx of undocumented migrants. The senators helped secure at least $110 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as reimbursement to cities that assist migrants left within their jurisdictions. Also last week, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Florida Senator Rick Scott — who sits on the Homeland Security Committee — called on President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to visit the Southwest border. Ducey and Scott, accompanied by a handful of law enforcement and other elected officials, had toured a portion of the border near Douglas. At his first press conference on Thursday since taking office in January, Biden said he would come to the border soon, but thought a visit now would deflect attention from the issue at hand. The senior Border Patrol agent who spoke Friday, meanwhile, said 300 Border Patrol agents who work along the northern border of the U.S. have been “mandated” to the Southwest border to assist with the influx of migrants. He said about 2,000 family units out of the 6,000 who are trying to cross daily are being processed in Texas by the Border Patrol. The agent revealed that unaccompanied children are being kept in Border Patrol facilities longer than the 72 hours established by law because too many are showing up and agents are overwhelmed. “They’re keeping them a few days, sometimes up to a week,” the senior agent said. Once an unaccompanied child is encountered, Border Patrol contacts the Department of Health and Human Services. The latter makes arrangements for the migrant children to be taken by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The agent also mentioned an increase in the criminal element among undocumented migrants. “The threats we see are significant,” the senior agent said. “We have seen criminal (undocumented migrants).” Additionally, he said that COVID testing for migrants is only being done in facilities in Del Rio, Texas, and soon in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Other than that, testing is being undertaken by non-governmental agencies that are helping the migrants and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials. He said it was probable that some migrants with COVID-19 may have been released into communities. -
2021-03-09
Navajo Nation outpacing states in rate of vaccinations
By Rima Krisst | Mar 9, 2021 | CORONAVIRUS, News | WINDOW ROCK President Jonathan Nez proudly said last week that the Navajo Nation had exceeded its goal of administering 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots by end of February, crediting tireless health care workers who have been serving seven days a week to plan vaccinations and administer the vaccines. On Tuesday, the president’s office reported that 135,161 COVID-19 vaccine shots have gone into arms on the Navajo Nation, which represents 92% of the total 146,980 doses received and includes 48,800 persons who have had their second shots. This means that over 26% of the approximately 327,000 enrolled Navajos have gotten a shot through the Navajo Area Indian Health Service and tribal health care system, which is an amazing feat. By comparison, in New Mexico 22.4% of the population (738,705) has been given at least one shot. Arizona has administered at least one shot to 17.1% of the population (1,847,750), with Utah trailing behind at 12.2% receiving at least one shot (687,925), according to the CDC data vaccine tracker. And as of March 2, 15.3% of the U.S. population had received at least one shot, with 76.9 million shots administered, including 25.4 million receiving the second dose. Approximately 1.8 million vaccines per day are being administered daily in the U.S. So, percentage-wise, Navajo is outpacing both neighboring states and the general U.S. population. ‘Amazing partnership’ On a Feb. 25 IHS media call, IHS Chief Medical Officer Rear Adm. Michael Toedt reported that as of Feb. 18 the IHS had also achieved its goal of administering 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine “across IHS, tribal, and urban Indian Health programs,” representing 16% of the “target population,” with 6.3% receiving two doses. “This milestone was reached ahead of schedule despite severe weather, making travel to health facilities difficult across much of Indian Country and leading to shipping delays,” said Toedt. Toedt said most IHS facilities have now vaccinated the majority of their priority populations and are moving into Phase 2, which includes those who work in higher risk settings such as schools and prisons. “Very shortly we expect that everyone who needs a vaccine will be able to receive it,” he said. Toedt credited IHS and tribal health care employees across the country who are committed to ensuring the protection of tribal communities in 11 geographic areas covering 26 states and 349 health facilities, many in rural and remote locations. “We have had an amazing partnership with our tribes to use all available resources to help with delivery of vaccine,” said Toedt. This included distribution and redistribution of vaccines by ground and air transportation as needed. Toedt said the IHS has also conducted over 2 million COVID-19 tests at a higher per capita than most states and is reporting a seven-day average test positivity rate of 4.5%, below the 5.6% all-races rate in the U.S., despite the fact that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on American Indians/Alaska Natives. The Navajo Nation has conducted 245,085 COVID-19 tests resulting in 29,774 positive cases. ‘Developing trust’ Coordinated public relations campaigns in partnership with tribes have been key to the success of the vaccine rollout, said Toedt. Navajo Area IHS Chief Medical Officer Loretta Christensen agreed, saying public messaging has been critical. “This collaboration is one of the reasons we’ve been extremely successful,” said Christensen. “Honesty and transparency, developing that trust with the people you are serving is vital. We have spent a great deal of time on that relationship with our Navajo people to encourage them to be vaccinated.” She said the communication process has been very unified across Navajo and with the president’s office, using social media, radio, and a bilingual approach. “This is constant public education,” she said. “We encourage people in a very personal way that we would like them to be safe, keep their families, their communities safe. We feel very fortunate and grateful that our population has really stepped up.” Toedt acknowledged there has been some vaccine hesitancy relating to how quickly the vaccines were developed and whether or not they are completely safe, which has made some people distrustful. According to IHS Public Affairs Specialist Joshua Barnett, a recent IHS-funded survey by the Urban Indian Health Institute reported that 75% of Native Americans were willing to get a vaccine and 74% believe that doing so is their responsibility to help protect their community. “I’m confident that the process for vaccine development has the full integrity and completeness of time necessary to make sure these vaccines are safe, but it’s our job as healthcare providers to communicate that in a way that’s acceptable and trusted by our population,’ said Toedt. “We know our efforts are working and we’re seeing good delivery and acceptance of these vaccines in our communities.” Reaching the homebound Christensen said one of the strongest assets in the Navajo vaccination campaign has been the collaboration between public health nurses and community health representatives in reaching out to community members at the local level, including homebound elders and persons with disabilities. “These are the people out in the rural areas that know the families, that know the homes,” said Christensen. “We rely on them for that person-to-person contact out in the communities.” She said between 4,000 to 5,000 homebound individuals have actually been vaccinated at home or close to home. Moving forward with the goal of getting the Navajo population vaccinated and achieving “community immunity,” Navajo Area IHS wants to make sure that all 27,000 square miles of the Nation have been penetrated, said Christensen. “We want to be able to target any communities, populations or subgroups that have perhaps maybe not been able to get vaccinations,” she said. “So, our first step is to heat-map our whole area and then focus on those populations that are perhaps more rural or don’t have easy access to healthcare facilities.” “Our goal is to get every single person vaccinated and to keep our populations in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah safe,” she said. Christensen said her team will be working with chapters to identify anyone who might have been missed. They have also reached out to Navajos living off reservation and have established an online registry to help people find a place to get their vaccination. “We highly encourage them to come back if they need to and we will certainly take care of them and their families,” she said. Tracking variants In regard to surveillance for COVID-19 variants, Toedt said IHS does contribute its tests to state public health labs as well as different large lab corporations such as TriCore, LabCorp. and additional processes for genomic testing are in development. “The samples that are included through those mechanisms are sampled through the CDC’s processes to test for genomics,” said Toedt. Christensen said similarly the Navajo Area and the Health Command Center are working to establish more specific genomic surveillance within Navajo Nation. “In the meantime, we are participating in testing both in New Mexico and Arizona,” said Christensen. Christensen said the Navajo Epidemiology Center has also reached out to bordering states requesting any relevant information on variants be shared. “We all stand by ready to support this process and we are hopeful that we will have more specific information for Navajo Nation very soon,” she said. Christensen confirmed that she was not aware of any variants having been identified on the Navajo Nation from random sampling. “We have requested that information but we have not received it as of yet,” she said. Adverse events Any adverse events, or serious side effects, related to vaccinations within IHS are collected and reported to the same CDC system that collects the data nationally, said Toedt, but the data broken down by individual tribes is not publicly available. “We are part of that Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System through the CDC,” said Toedt. “All adverse drug reactions are investigated by the CDC to determine what category it goes in and how they analyze data.” Navajo Area is gathering information on any adverse events on the Navajo Nation, but there are patient privacy issues when it comes to sharing that publicly, said Christensen. “We do, as (health care) institutions across Navajo Nation, share basic data with each other when we’re doing best practices,” she said. Christensen would not answer whether or not there had been any adverse events on the Nation. “I will say we have done very well with these vaccines,” she said. “There are certainly side effects which have been well defined, but we’ve had minimal significant adverse events. I cannot quantify that for you, but we are tracking those events across Navajo Nation.” Preventing transmission As far as keeping everyone safe after being vaccinated, Toedt said it’s still important to continue to wash your hands, stay six feet apart and to wear a mask. This is because vaccinated persons can theoretically still contract COVID-19 and spread it after being vaccinated, although they may not have any symptoms due to protection from the vaccine. There are also still many unknowns related to COVID-19 variants and to what extent they may evade vaccine protection, be more transmissible, or cause more serious disease. “We have been trying to report on possible variants most recently, explaining that we don’t have all the information yet on what the long term effects of those variants are,” said Christensen. “So we highly suggest that you still watch your distance, wash your hands and wear your mask.” Christensen said public messaging encouraging everyone to abide by the public health protocols in place, regardless of vaccination status, will continue until there is community immunity. -
2021-03-29
In numbers: Tracking COVID-19 Across the Navajo Nation
In numbers: Tracking COVID-19 Across the Navajo Nation By Navajo Times | Mar 29, 2021 | CORONAVIRUS | On Sunday, Navajo Nation health officials reported 7 new COVID-19 cases. A total of 30,059 people have been sickened by the coronavirus. The rate of decrease in new cases is slowing. Nevertheless, the seven day average is 7 new cases per day, a decrease of 30 percent from the average two weeks earlier. On a per-capita basis, about 3 cases for every 100,000 people on the Navajo Nation are active. This means the Navajo Nation has the lowest per-capita cases anywhere in the 50 U.S. states. No new deaths were announced, leaving the total at 1,246 casualties of the virus. At least 16,342 people on the Navajo Nation have recovered. More than 8 of 10 people on the Navajo Nation have received at least one dose of the vaccine, or 86.3 percent of the population as of March 26, according to the Navajo Area Indian Health Service. A spokesperson for the Navajo Area IHS says 244,209 people get health care from it. Of those, 196,902 have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That number includes 88,891 people, or 36.4 percent, who are fully vaccinated, according to the spokesperson. Caution is still warranted: Highly contagious variants of the virus continue to spread. The more lethal U.K. variant is doubling every 10 days throughout the United States. It now represents more than half of new U.S. cases. Many jurisdictions near the Navajo Nation are relaxing COVID restrictions. Some health experts warn that easing up right now is too soon. It could lead to an increase in new cases. Health experts recommend continued vigilance in wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding socializing with people outside your immediate household, and hand-washing. Double-masking also is recommended. For those who are fully vaccinated, the CDC still recommends wearing a mask and hand-washing; although social restrictions are more relaxed. Follow this link for complete CDC guidance for those who are vaccinated: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html Although the Navajo Nation has relaxed some restrictions, a daily curfew remains in efffect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Businesses may remain open until 9 p.m. timeline Positive Test Rate The estimated percentage of people who tested positive was 1.2 percent on Sunday. The 7-day average positive test rate was estimated at 1.9 percent. The World Health Organization recommends a 7-day average positive test rate of less than 10 percent for two weeks in a row. Localities that have a test rate of 3 percent or less are most successful in containing COVID-19, according to the WHO. At Hopi, one new cases was reported overnight, bringing the total to 1,376. The Hopi radio station reported on its Facebook page that at least 120 people have died since the pandemic began last year, but the Hopi Tribe has not consistently reported fatalities from the virus. The following charts and maps show the extent and location of the coronavirus on and near the Navajo Nation. Hover over, tap or click the map markers and graph for expanded information. (Last updated March 29, 2021 at 10:44 a.m. MDT.) Growth of COVID-19 on Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation Cases April 2020 June 2020 August 2020 October 2020 December 2020 February 2021 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 Number Date Cases Mar 16, 2020 2 Mar 18, 2020 3 Mar 20, 2020 14 Mar 21, 2020 26 Mar 23, 2020 29 Mar 24, 2020 39 Mar 25, 2020 69 Mar 26, 2020 71 Mar 27, 2020 92 Mar 28, 2020 115 Mar 29, 2020 128 Apr 1, 2020 214 Apr 2, 2020 214 Apr 4, 2020 321 Apr 5, 2020 354 Apr 6, 2020 384 Apr 7, 2020 426 Apr 8, 2020 488 Apr 9, 2020 558 Apr 10, 2020 597 Apr 11, 2020 698 Apr 13, 2020 813 Apr 14, 2020 838 Apr 15, 2020 921 Apr 16, 2020 1,042 Apr 17, 2020 1,127 Apr 18, 2020 1,197 Apr 20, 2020 1,206 Apr 22, 2020 1,282 Apr 23, 2020 1,360 Apr 24, 2020 1,540 Apr 25, 2020 1,637 Apr 26, 2020 1,716 Apr 27, 2020 1,769 Apr 28, 2020 1,873 Apr 29, 2020 1,977 Apr 30, 2020 2,141 May 1, 2020 2,292 May 2, 2020 2,373 May 4, 2020 2,474 May 5, 2020 2,559 May 6, 2020 2,654 May 7, 2020 2,757 May 9, 2020 2,976 May 10, 2020 3,122 May 11, 2020 3,202 May 13, 2020 3,392 May 14, 2020 3,632 May 15, 2020 3,740 May 16, 2020 3,912 May 17, 2020 4,002 May 18, 2020 4,071 May 19, 2020 4,153 May 20, 2020 4,253 May 21, 2020 4,434 May 22, 2020 4,529 May 23, 2020 4,633 May 24, 2020 4,689 May 25, 2020 4,794 May 26, 2020 4,842 May 27, 2020 4,944 May 28, 2020 5,044 May 29, 2020 5,145 May 30, 2020 5,250 May 31, 2020 5,348 Jun 1, 2020 5,479 Jun 2, 2020 5,533 Jun 3, 2020 5,661 Jun 4, 2020 5,730 Jun 5, 2020 5,808 Jun 6, 2020 5,918 Jun 7, 2020 6,020 Jun 8, 2020 6,110 Jun 9, 2020 6,150 Jun 10, 2020 6,275 Jun 11, 2020 6,378 Jun 12, 2020 6,470 Jun 13, 2020 6,554 Jun 14, 2020 6,611 Jun 15, 2020 6,633 Jun 16, 2020 6,672 Jun 17, 2020 6,747 Jun 18, 2020 6,832 Jun 19, 2020 6,894 Jun 20, 2020 6,963 Jun 21, 2020 6,990 Jun 22, 2020 7,045 Jun 23, 2020 7,088 Jun 24, 2020 7,157 Jun 25, 2020 7,278 Jun 26, 2020 7,320 Jun 27, 2020 7,414 Jun 28, 2020 7,469 Jun 29, 2020 7,532 Jun 30, 2020 7,549 Jul 1, 2020 7,613 Jul 2, 2020 7,669 Jul 3, 2020 7,733 Jul 4, 2020 7,804 Jul 5, 2020 7,840 Jul 6, 2020 7,914 Jul 7, 2020 7,941 Jul 8, 2020 7,981 Jul 9, 2020 8,042 Jul 10, 2020 8,098 Jul 11, 2020 8,124 Jul 12, 2020 8,187 Jul 13, 2020 8,243 Jul 14, 2020 8,290 Jul 15, 2020 8,370 Jul 16, 2020 8,486 Jul 17, 2020 8,536 Jul 18, 2020 8,568 Jul 19, 2020 8,593 Jul 20, 2020 8,617 Jul 21, 2020 8,639 Jul 22, 2020 8,684 Jul 23, 2020 8,734 Jul 24, 2020 8,768 Jul 25, 2020 8,837 Jul 26, 2020 8,891 Jul 27, 2020 8,912 Jul 28, 2020 8,927 Jul 29, 2020 8,968 Jul 30, 2020 9,019 Jul 31, 2020 9,055 Aug 1, 2020 9,068 Aug 2, 2020 9,103 Aug 3, 2020 9,139 Aug 4, 2020 9,156 Aug 5, 2020 9,195 Aug 6, 2020 9,223 Aug 7, 2020 9,257 Aug 8, 2020 9,293 Aug 9, 2020 9,308 Aug 10, 2020 9,315 Aug 11, 2020 9,334 Aug 12, 2020 9,356 Aug 13, 2020 9,394 Aug 14, 2020 9,412 Aug 15, 2020 9,423 Aug 16, 2020 9,447 Aug 17, 2020 9,469 Aug 18, 2020 9,486 Aug 19, 2020 9,500 Aug 20, 2020 9,519 Aug 21, 2020 9,531 Aug 22, 2020 9,545 Aug 23, 2020 9,547 Aug 24, 2020 9,557 Aug 25, 2020 9,573 Aug 26, 2020 9,597 Aug 27, 2020 9,601 Aug 28, 2020 9,780 Aug 29, 2020 9,789 Aug 30, 2020 9,800 Aug 31, 2020 9,820 Sep 1, 2020 9,830 Sep 2, 2020 9,847 Sep 3, 2020 9,871 Sep 4, 2020 9,883 Sep 5, 2020 9,891 Sep 6, 2020 9,900 Sep 7, 2020 9,901 Sep 8, 2020 9,903 Sep 9, 2020 9,915 Sep 10, 2020 9,933 Sep 11, 2020 9,952 Sep 12, 2020 9,969 Sep 13, 2020 9,977 Sep 14, 2020 9,982 Sep 15, 2020 9,992 Sep 16, 2020 10,059 Sep 17, 2020 10,083 Sep 18, 2020 10,090 Sep 19, 2020 10,107 Sep 20, 2020 10,119 Sep 21, 2020 10,131 Sep 22, 2020 10,141 Sep 23, 2020 10,167 Sep 24, 2020 10,212 Sep 25, 2020 10,237 Sep 26, 2020 10,269 Sep 27, 2020 10,290 Sep 28, 2020 10,312 Sep 29, 2020 10,333 Sep 30, 2020 10,355 Oct 1, 2020 10,369 Oct 2, 2020 10,404 Oct 3, 2020 10,421 Oct 4, 2020 10,441 Oct 5, 2020 10,454 Oct 6, 2020 10,501 Oct 7, 2020 10,546 Oct 8, 2020 10,582 Oct 9, 2020 10,632 Oct 10, 2020 10,675 Oct 11, 2020 10,696 Oct 12, 2020 10,728 Oct 13, 2020 10,737 Oct 14, 2020 10,780 Oct 15, 2020 10,819 Oct 16, 2020 10,857 Oct 17, 2020 10,913 Oct 18, 2020 10,955 Oct 19, 2020 10,969 Oct 20, 2020 10,999 Oct 21, 2020 11,030 Oct 22, 2020 11,101 Oct 23, 2020 11,151 Oct 24, 2020 11,217 Oct 25, 2020 11,298 Oct 26, 2020 11,362 Oct 27, 2020 11,386 Oct 28, 2020 11,462 Oct 29, 2020 11,603 Oct 30, 2020 11,694 Oct 31, 2020 11,753 Nov 1, 2020 11,828 Nov 2, 2020 11,875 Nov 3, 2020 11,947 Nov 4, 2020 12,080 Nov 5, 2020 12,195 Nov 6, 2020 12,288 Nov 7, 2020 12,447 Nov 8, 2020 12,571 Nov 9, 2020 12,641 Nov 10, 2020 12,720 Nov 11, 2020 12,818 Nov 12, 2020 12,971 Nov 13, 2020 13,069 Nov 14, 2020 13,249 Nov 15, 2020 13,373 Nov 16, 2020 13,596 Nov 17, 2020 13,744 Nov 18, 2020 13,880 Nov 19, 2020 14,085 Nov 20, 2020 14,441 Nov 21, 2020 14,612 Nov 22, 2020 15,039 Nov 23, 2020 15,236 Nov 24, 2020 15,374 Nov 25, 2020 15,616 Nov 26, 2020 15,862 Nov 27, 2020 15,954 Nov 28, 2020 16,223 Nov 29, 2020 16,427 Nov 30, 2020 16,595 Dec 1, 2020 16,711 Dec 2, 2020 17,035 Dec 3, 2020 17,310 Dec 4, 2020 17,495 Dec 5, 2020 17,738 Dec 6, 2020 17,915 Dec 7, 2020 18,163 Dec 8, 2020 18,324 Dec 9, 2020 18,575 Dec 10, 2020 18,943 Dec 11, 2020 19,199 Dec 12, 2020 19,420 Dec 13, 2020 19,608 Dec 14, 2020 19,766 Dec 15, 2020 19,929 Dec 16, 2020 20,095 Dec 17, 2020 20,395 Dec 18, 2020 20,569 Dec 19, 2020 20,810 Dec 20, 2020 21,019 Dec 21, 2020 21,177 Dec 22, 2020 21,327 Dec 23, 2020 21,513 Dec 24, 2020 21,833 Dec 25, 2020 21,833 Dec 26, 2020 22,155 Dec 27, 2020 22,155 Dec 28, 2020 22,371 Dec 29, 2020 22,526 Dec 30, 2020 22,776 Dec 31, 2020 23,090 Jan 1, 2021 23,429 Jan 2, 2021 23,581 Jan 3, 2021 23,728 Jan 4, 2021 23,841 Jan 5, 2021 23,978 Jan 6, 2021 24,247 Jan 7, 2021 24,521 Jan 8, 2021 24,776 Jan 9, 2021 24,979 Jan 10, 2021 25,216 Jan 11, 2021 25,383 Jan 12, 2021 25,383 Jan 13, 2021 25,746 Jan 14, 2021 25,952 Jan 15, 2021 26,073 Jan 16, 2021 26,287 Jan 17, 2021 26,383 Jan 18, 2021 26,448 Jan 19, 2021 26,517 Jan 20, 2021 26,612 Jan 21, 2021 26,782 Jan 22, 2021 26,955 Jan 23, 2021 27,109 Jan 24, 2021 27,484 Jan 25, 2021 27,573 Jan 26, 2021 27,665 Jan 27, 2021 27,887 Jan 28, 2021 27,987 Jan 29, 2021 28,075 Jan 30, 2021 28,217 Jan 31, 2021 28,325 Feb 1, 2021 28,388 Feb 2, 2021 28,471 Feb 3, 2021 28,544 Feb 4, 2021 28,668 Feb 5, 2021 28,796 Feb 6, 2021 28,872 Feb 7, 2021 28,897 Feb 8, 2021 28,937 Feb 9, 2021 28,994 Feb 10, 2021 29,041 Feb 11, 2021 29,098 Feb 12, 2021 29,167 Feb 13, 2021 29,205 Feb 14, 2021 29,269 Feb 15, 2021 29,283 Feb 16, 2021 29,308 Feb 17, 2021 29,336 Feb 18, 2021 29,386 Feb 19, 2021 29,464 Feb 20, 2021 29,509 Feb 21, 2021 29,535 Feb 22, 2021 29,551 Feb 23, 2021 29,576 Feb 24, 2021 29,602 Feb 25, 2021 29,655 Feb 26, 2021 29,710 Feb 27, 2021 29,719 Feb 28, 2021 29,740 Mar 1, 2021 29,754 Mar 2, 2021 29,774 Mar 3, 2021 29,794 Mar 4, 2021 29,816 Mar 5, 2021 29,838 Mar 6, 2021 29,857 Mar 7, 2021 29,866 Mar 8, 2021 29,873 Mar 9, 2021 29,887 Mar 10, 2021 29,900 Mar 11, 2021 29,911 Mar 12, 2021 29,930 Mar 13, 2021 29,945 Mar 14, 2021 29,948 Mar 15, 2021 29,954 Mar 16, 2021 29,957 Mar 17, 2021 29,968 Mar 18, 2021 29,987 Mar 19, 2021 29,992 Mar 20, 2021 29,998 Mar 21, 2021 30,007 Mar 22, 2021 30,007 Mar 23, 2021 30,010 Print COVID-19 Cases on the Navajo Reservation Presumptive Positive Tested Positive Died Recovered 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 Navajo Nation Chinle AZ IHS Tuba City Regional Health Care Shiprock NM IHS Gallup NM IHS Fort Defiance NM IHS Crownpoint NM IHS Kayenta AZ IHS Winslow IHS Zuni reservation Hopi reservation Utah Navajo Health System Number of cases Community Presumptive Positive Tested Positive Died Recovered Navajo Nation 0 12483 1205 16,212 Chinle AZ IHS 5496 0 0 Tuba City Regional Health Care 6 5324 0 0 Shiprock NM IHS 0 5018 0 0 Gallup NM IHS 0 4729 0 0 Fort Defiance NM IHS 0 3562 0 0 Crownpoint NM IHS 0 2861 0 0 Kayenta AZ IHS 0 2642 0 0 Winslow IHS 0 1948 0 0 Zuni reservation 0 1454 0 0 Hopi reservation 0 1372 120 0 Utah Navajo Health System 0 1064 0 0 NOTE: Navajo Nation officials have been reconciling discrepancies for July and August data. At the end of August, in a press release, the president’s office added 165 cases that occurred between April 6 and Aug. 12. Then, on Sept. 8, they added 2 more cases for July. Health officials also added 16 more deaths to the overall tally at the beginning of September. According to a news release, the deaths occurred between May and August. Officials blamed several states for delayed results. On Sept. 16, officials added 49 previously unreported cases in New Mexico. -
2021-03-16
Graham County (AZ) to open up COVID-19 vaccine to all residents 18 years and older
Staff Reports SAFFORD – The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services has announced that starting Monday, March 22, any resident of Graham County who is 18 years old or older will be eligible to receive a vaccine for COVID-19. Those who would like a COVID-19 vaccination should contact their primary care physician or schedule an appointment with the health department by clicking here. Those who schedule appointments will currently be given the two-shot Moderna vaccine at the Graham County Health Department Vaccination Center at 627 W. Main Street in Downtown Safford. The health department will announce a clinic for the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine at a later date. While the Pfizer and Moderna two-shot vaccines utilize messenger RNA, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine works through a different mechanism and uses the more traditional DNA, which is introduced to the nucleus of cells with an adenovirus which is modified so it cannot replicate itself and cause disease. All three vaccines have been approved for use by the federal government and have safety records in good standing. All prompt the body to produce T-cells, which retain a memory of the protein and attack it. “We would like to thank everyone for their support as we have navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic this past year,” said Graham County Health Department Director Brian Douglas. Greenlee County Gila Health Resources in Greenlee County will hold a COVID-19 vaccine drive at the Morenci Club Hall at 314 Plaza Dr. in Morenci on Friday, March 19, from 1 – 8 p.m. At the vaccine drive, any adult resident of Greenlee County or those who work in Greenlee County can show up to receive a dose of the Moderna vaccine with no appointment or registration necessary. -
2021-03-25
Graham County (AZ) now with less than 150 active documented COVID-19 cases
By Jon Johnson jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com SAFFORD – Graham County has had very few new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past month, lowering its numbers to just 147 active cases as of Thursday. According to the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services, Graham County has had a total of 5,355 confirmed cases for the course of the pandemic, with 5,132 listed as being recovered, 147 active, and 76 deaths in more than a year. No new cases were recorded Thursday, and, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 school dashboard, Graham County had just a 1 percent positivity rate as of the week of March 14. That is good for a tie with Apache County for the second-lowest percent positivity rate out of Arizona’s 15 counties. Only Greenlee County, which registered a zero percent positivity rate from Feb. 27 – March 14, had lower. With the lower cases statewide and vaccine rollout, Governor Doug Ducey issued an Executive Order on Thursday, rolling back several COVID-19 mitigation measures involving businesses and gatherings. This comes as other states roll back their COVID-19 mitigation measures as well. The rollout of the various COVID-19 vaccines has picked up steam in the last month, with the state opening up the vaccine to anyone 16 years old or older for the Pfizer vaccine. Anyone 18 years old or older can be administered the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation is holding a free, drive-through vaccine clinic on Saturday, March 27 at the San Carlos High School. No appointment is necessary. The clinic will be administering both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Graham County and Greenlee County are also providing vaccination sites for those 18 and older, and provide the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Greenlee County According to the Greenlee County Health Department, the county currently has just nine active cases of COVID-19. For the course of the pandemic, Greenlee County has had 568 confirmed positive cases (by far the lowest out of any of Arizona’s 15 counties), with 549 recovered cases, nine active, and 10 deaths. -
03/14/2021
Michael Levesque Oral History, 2021/03/14
Michael Levesque was a paramedic working on an ambulance at the start of the pandemic. He had a pregnant wife at home and was in the process of switching his career into nursing. He recalls the memories of working on the ambulance and taking care of Covid patients, as well as how Covid impacted the EMS services overall. He also discusses how it felt to be starting his career as an Emergency Room nurse during a global pandemic. In both cases, his job put him directly on the front lines of medicine. He discusses the early problems of lack of knowledge and equipment to properly handle this pandemic. He also explains the mindset of an expecting father, working in a high risk environment, and then coming home to his pregnant wife. Michael’s unique life circumstances and career path gives his interview a perspective that few people experienced. -
2020-11-11
Just One Positive Wedding Guest
What started with one positive wedding guest, led to 50 infected guests, 10 infected households, and a deadly outbreak in a long-term care home which resulted in 81 cases. In total, this large outbreak triggered three hospitalizations and one COVID-19 death. -
2020-12-17
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among Marine Recruits during Quarantine
This is an academic article that discusses the transmission of Covid-19 among Marine recruits in quarantine. Due to the pandemic, recruits have been forced to quarantine before they were able to begin their basic training. Marines were sent to a college campus where they practiced social distancing for two weeks before going to training. This study shows the effectiveness of quarantining, social distancing, and mask-wearing -
2020
Know the Difference: Self-Monitoring, Self-isolation, and Isolation for COVID-19
Table created by the Public Health Agency of Canada, for determining the difference between self-monitoring, self-isolation, isolation -
2020-11-25
Unimpressive WinCo Precautions
While going grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, I was surprised to see this green bean display that people were going through with uncovered hands. Though most of the bulk goods at WinCo have been partitioned into pre-packaged bags, some of the produce is still open for people to touch. I know that COVID isn't highly transmissible via surface contact, but it was still off-putting to see people touching food that others would eat. I'll be washing my vegetables more thoroughly after seeing this!