Fogbow

Today, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium announced that two female lions have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. A press release says the big cats likely contracted the virus after being exposed to an "asymptomatic zoo employee."

“The risk of infection between zoo animals and guests is very low, as we do not allow any of our visitors to come within close proximity to any of our cats," says Dr. Barbara Baker, president and CEO of Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.

The announcement serves as a stark reminder that the virus can, in fact, be passed from humans to animals. For example, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium points out that this isn't the first time zoo animals, especially those in the big cat family, have become sick. Sadly, in late January 2021, the virus claimed a 17-year-old tiger in a Swedish zoo, according to a release from ProMED. Other cases include tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo. As of yesterday, The Hill and others reported that two tigers at the Virginia Zoo tested positive for COVID-19.

(CNN)Covid-19 infections have been rising at an alarming rate for eight consecutive weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, as the virus sweeps unabated through hotspots in several corners of the globe.

More than 5.2 million new cases were recorded last week -- the most in a single week since the pandemic began -- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing in Geneva on Monday.

Deaths also increased for the fifth straight week, he said, with the pandemic now officially claiming more than 3 million lives.

And Tedros warned that the pace of the pandemic is accelerating, even as some countries tout their own improved vaccination programs.

"It took nine months to reach 1 million deaths, four months to reach 2 million and three months to reach 3 million deaths," said Tedros. "Big numbers can make us numb, but each one of these deaths is a tragedy for families, communities and nations."

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls man has undergone a double lung transplant after suffering complications from COVID-19.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported Friday that 42-year-old Nathan Foote suffered severe pneumonia after contracting the disease in October. He suffered severe scarring in his lungs. Doctors said he get a double transplant or die in hospice care.

He was placed on the transplant list in February at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was offered two potential matches but both fell through because of changes in the donors’ health.

He finally underwent the procedure April 10. The surgery lasted eight hours. A few days later he took his first breath on his own in six months.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it has extended through Sept. 13 its orders requiring people to wear masks in transportation settings, including at airports, on commercial aircraft, and on buses and trains.

TSA officials said the extension of the mask requirement is consistent with updated policies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The TSA requirement had been set to expire May 11.

“The federal mask requirement throughout the transportation system seeks to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on public transportation,” Darby LaJoye, a senior TSA official, said in a statement. “About half of all adults have at least one vaccination shot and masks remain an important tool in defeating this pandemic.”

The Covid pandemic was a preventable disaster that need not have cost millions of lives if the world had reacted more quickly, according to an independent high-level panel, which castigates global leaders and calls for major changes to bring it to an end and ensure it cannot happen again.

The report of the panel, chaired by the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former president of Liberia, found “weak links at every point in the chain”.

It said preparation was inconsistent and underfunded, the alert system too slow and too meek, while the World Health Organization was underpowered. It concluded the response had exacerbated inequalities. “Global political leadership was absent,” the report said.

Clark described February 2020 as “a month of lost opportunity to avert a pandemic, as so many countries chose to wait and see”.

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 12:02 pm https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ned-report

The Covid pandemic was a preventable disaster that need not have cost millions of lives if the world had reacted more quickly, according to an independent high-level panel, which castigates global leaders and calls for major changes to bring it to an end and ensure it cannot happen again.

The report of the panel, chaired by the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a former president of Liberia, found “weak links at every point in the chain”.

It said preparation was inconsistent and underfunded, the alert system too slow and too meek, while the World Health Organization was underpowered. It concluded the response had exacerbated inequalities. “Global political leadership was absent,” the report said.

Clark described February 2020 as “a month of lost opportunity to avert a pandemic, as so many countries chose to wait and see”.

With cases falling in Europe, Asia and North America, and flat in Africa, South America is the only region where new infections are rising rapidly on a per capita basis, according to Our World in Data. Although India is currently struggling through one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the pandemic.

On average in May, 31% of the COVID-19 deaths in the world have been in Latin America and the Caribbean - home to just 8.4% of the global population.

Doctors and epidemiologists say the coronavirus pandemic took unprepared governments by surprise last year and its impact has been worsened by leaders who downplayed its gravity and failed to secure timely vaccine supplies.

The top eight countries registering the most COVID-19 deaths per capita over the past week were all in Latin America.

With cases falling in Europe, Asia and North America, and flat in Africa, South America is the only region where new infections are rising rapidly on a per capita basis, according to Our World in Data. Although India is currently struggling through one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the pandemic.

On average in May, 31% of the COVID-19 deaths in the world have been in Latin America and the Caribbean - home to just 8.4% of the global population.

Doctors and epidemiologists say the coronavirus pandemic took unprepared governments by surprise last year and its impact has been worsened by leaders who downplayed its gravity and failed to secure timely vaccine supplies.

The top eight countries registering the most COVID-19 deaths per capita over the past week were all in Latin America.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro never wanted to buy Covid-19 vaccines and originally bet on herd immunity beating the coronavirus, the senator leading the upper house’s inquiry into the government’s handling of the crisis said.

In an interview, senator Renan Calheiros said on Friday it was too early to say if Bolsonaro had committed any criminal offense in his management of the public health crisis, and that more investigation was required.

“I think everything points in that direction,” Calheiros said, regarding Bolsonaro’s preference for herd immunity.

“The president first denied the disease, called it a flu, and then argued against social isolation and lockdown. Then he played down the use of masks and encouraged crowds to gather.

Coronavirus variants are to be named after letters of the Greek alphabet instead of their place of first discovery, the World Health Organization has announced, in a move to avoid stigma.

The WHO has named four variants of concern, known to the public as the UK/Kent (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1) and India (B.1.617.2) variants. They will now be given the letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta respectively, to reflect their order of detection, with any new variants following the pattern down the Greek alphabet.

The decision to go for this naming system came after months of deliberations with experts considering a range of other possibilities such as Greek Gods, according to bacteriologist Mark Pallen who was involved in the talks.

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 1:14 pm Today Hubs and I ventured into Walgreens (early) without masks. The sign on the door says not required if vaccinated, which we both are, weeks ago.

I had masks ready, but the store was sparsely populated and we avoided walking down any aisles that were occupied and moved well out of the way of anyone heading towards us, masked or not.

It was a little anxious but I think we did ok. I know they say there's very little chance of topical transmission but I still passed out the sanitary wipes back in the car.

Baby steps.

After 15 months of surges and shutdowns, vaccines have turned the tide of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Infection rates have plummeted. President Biden has declared that “the light at the end of the tunnel is actually growing brighter and brighter.” Restaurants and bars are reopening to full capacity, and flights are crammed with people excited to finally take postponed vacations or reunite with relatives.

But for millions, there will be no reunions and no return to a pre-pandemic life. Covid has killed nearly 600,000 in the United States and left an estimated 5.4 million grieving. For many of them, watching the country open up feels like the reopening of a wound.

“They are thankful the pandemic is coming to an end, they are thankful there is a vaccine, but . . . I think the quickness with which this happened, and the celebration with which this happened is a little discordant,” said Chris Kocher, founder and executive director of Covid Survivors for Change, a survivors and families advocacy group, adding that because of travel restrictions, some families are only now beginning to gather and mourn.

“The lack of validation is really hard for people — the idea that it’s behind us, the idea that we don’t need to take basic safety precautions,” he said. “We’ve experienced a collective national trauma — how can we celebrate the lives that have been lost?”

Vermont has become the first US state to reach its 80% Covid-19 vaccination goal and is now shedding all its statewide restrictions on dealing with the pandemic, including letting a state of emergency expire by Tuesday night.

State governor Phil Scott made the announcement Monday and said he would drop existing physical distancing, crowd size restrictions and masking requirements.

“There are no longer any state Covid-19 restrictions. None,” the Republican governor announced. But Scott said he would allow municipalities and businesses to continue practices if they choose to do so.

Emergency medical service providers will continue to wear masks for the foreseeable future, regardless of their vaccination status. Public transportation and long-term care facilities workers will also continue to practice safeguards since they fall under federal guidelines.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that two states have been added back to its emergency travel order.

Missouri and Arkansas are the only states where unvaccinated travelers returning to Chicago are advised to obtain a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 72 hours prior to arrival or quarantine for a 10-day period upon arrival.

According to a news release from the CDPH, recent increases pushed the two states back past the mark of 15 cases per day, per 100,000 residents.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and this only goes to show that the virus is still very much a threat and that we must all remain vigilant against it,” said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. “That means getting vaccinated and wearing a mask in public settings if you are not fully vaccinated.”

Concern about the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant is rising in Mississippi.

State health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said in a tweet Tuesday that 12 children are in the ICU and 10 are on life support because of a surge in delta variant cases.

Dobbs also said that "pretty much" all cases in Mississippi right now are the delta variant. He said the vast majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are of people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 219 new COVID-19 cases and 10 additional deaths on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 325,072 cases and 7,451 deaths since the pandemic began.

The Netherlands will reimpose work-from-home guidelines due to soaring COVID-19 infections, just weeks after lifting them, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told parliament on Wednesday.

Last Friday, the Netherlands reintroduced restrictions on bars, restaurants and nightclubs to stop a spate of infections among young adults, just two weeks after most lockdown measures were lifted as cases were falling.