COVID-19 Coverage is a daily report by Poynter on narrative concepts about the coronavirus and other hot topics for journalists, written by Senior Professor Al Tompkins. Check in here to have it delivered to your inbox every morning of the week.
To add to Ukraine’s problems, the COVID-19 infection rate is very high and there are new considerations this week that an influx of refugees into neighboring countries may bring the virus with them. Only a third of Ukrainians have won at least one vaccine. .
(John Hopkins)
The New York Times notes that other people crammed into shelters are vulnerable.
The outlook for the coronavirus for those fleeing fighting is bleak, according to Dr. Eric S. Toner, a senior scientist at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“They are vulnerable, and as other people regroup, whether sheltering or evacuating in crowded buses, trains and cars, perhaps in hotels and refugee camps, progress will be reversed,” he said in an interview Thursday. “They can’t keep their distance and they don’t have access to masks. “
Dr. Toner said he expects Ukraine’s neighbors to see an increase in their covid cases and increased strain on their health systems from refugees, but those conditions will be worse in Ukraine.
“They will take care of covid patients as well as victims of war,” he said. “They’re going to be understaffed because of the war, and that will hurt their chances of keeping patients isolated or having social distancing. It’s going to be a disaster.
There is a secondary fear that Russian invaders, who have an even larger outbreak of COVID-19 underway in their country, are spreading the virus even to Ukraine.
(John Hopkins)
During a war, knowledge gathering takes a step back, which can be deeply problematic for Ukraine in the coming weeks.
We are starting a new week of largely maskless paintings.
Knowledge has replaced; The interpretation of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been replaced, just in time for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union report tomorrow.
At one point, the CDC’s COVID-19 map of the country had a COVID-19 top point. Everyone from businesses to churches relied on this recommendation on whether to require a mask and more. Here is the map that justified the restrictions advised through the CDC:
(CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)
But so, the CDC replaced its risk map. Now, it looks like this, looking like most counties in the country have low or medium degrees of COVID-19:
(CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)
Here’s what the new colors mean:
(CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)
The new map relies less on new instances and more on other factors, adding hospitalizations and hospital capacity. According to this new view of the data, just over a quarter of the public is asked to continue wearing masks.
Throughout the pandemic, the CDC has struggled to summarize its recommendations for a country with a diverse population, adding that it seeks to articulate rules governing offices, factories, hospitals, businesses, nursing homes, churches, elementary schools and universities. Two years ago, when the pandemic began, the CDC said there was no need for masks. So there’s a matrix and now, even though part of a million new cases of COVID-19 is reported in the United States every week, and more than 12,000 others people are still dying each and every week from COVID-19. However, to be sure, the number has dropped dramatically since the worst levels of infection and death.
The CDC explains:
Counties with fewer than 200 new Covid-19 cases consisting of 100,000 citizens in the last week will have “low” Covid-19 network levels if they have fewer than 10 new Covid-19 hospital admissions consistent with 100,000 or less than 10% of hospital bed staff occupied by Covid-19 patients on average over the past week.
Grades are “medium” if counties have 10 to 20 new COVID-19 hospital admissions consisting of 100,000 or between 10% and 14. 9% of hospital beds served by COVID-19 patients on average over the past week. They are “average” if they have fewer than 10 new hospital admissions for covid-19 consisting of 100,000 or less than 10% of hospital beds served by COVID-19 patients on average in the week afterward.
Levels are “high” if counties have 20 or more new COVID-19 hospital admissions consistent with 100,000 or at least 15% of hospital beds served by COVID-19 patients on average during the week afterward. They are “high” if they have 10 or more new hospital admissions for Covid-19 consisting of 100,000 or at least 10% of hospital beds cared for by Covid-19 patients on average in the week after.
Epidemiologist Dr. Katelyn Jetelina said it would have been a mistake for the CDC to rely only on hospitalizations to determine whether a network was at the greatest threat because, she said, hospitalizations occur weeks after an outbreak has grown. He said the CDC has cleverly included other factors. She added:
The CDC counts “COVID” and “COVID-19” hospitalizations in its hospital settings. It is also, absolutely, the right choice. First, some jurisdictions simply don’t have the ability to differentiate between the two. But second, because Omicron has shown us that there is a third category that is not clearly differentiated: “COVID19 that exacerbates medical conditions. “
For example, if a child has diabetes, COVID-19 infection particularly complicates the illness and the child is hospitalized “with COVID” and not “for COVID-19. “But this is very different from a child with a damaged bone who tests positive. So, I’m glad the CDC counts everything because it all has an effect on the supply, staffing, and capacity of the hospital.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the day will most likely come when she’ll be told she’ll have to wear a mask. He said COVID-19 will be with us for a while and there will be more outbreaks. But, he said, “We need to give other people a break in things like wearing masks. “
Gerald Harmon, director of the American Medical Association, said the CDC’s new rules are that it will keep your mask on:
But even if some jurisdictions eliminate mask requirements, we want to address the fact that millions of people in the U. S. are still wearing masks. U. S. citizens are immunocompromised, more vulnerable to the severe consequences of COVID, or too young to be eligible for the vaccine. In fact, I will personally continue to wear a mask in maximum enclosed public places, and I urge all Americans to do the same, especially in places like pharmacies, supermarkets, public transportation, places where all of us, regardless of prestige or the threat of vaccination. factors, you will have to stop regularly. While masks are no longer mandatory indoors in many parts of the United States, we know that wearing a well-fitting mask is an effective way to protect ourselves and our communities, adding the vulnerable maximum, from COVID-19, especially indoors when physical distancing is not possible.
At the end of it all, the CDC says if you’re not sure if you’re wearing a mask, consult your doctor. Don’t forget that one in 4 Americans don’t have a primary care doctor to turn to for advice.
The CDC’s new mask rules also mean that 535 members of Congress may not have to wear a mask on prime-time television while President Biden delivers his State of the Union address. All attendees will be required to take a COVID-19 check before entering the House room before Biden’s speech.
The Office of the Treating Physician made the resolution right after the CDC issued the guidelines. The new CDC table lists Washington, D. C. , as “green” or low risk. The resolution reduces the chances of disrupting the discourse on mask requirements. Some Republicans face thousands of dollars in fines for refusing to wear masks on Capitol Hill. The House Ethics Committee lists all fines.
CDC rules do not replace the mandatory mask rule for airplanes and other public transportation. This order expires next month. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said that while it is not actively campaigning for an extension of the mask rule, it expects it will “absolutely be expected to be expanded. “
Let’s say right away that we still don’t know for sure if the virus that causes COVID-19 originated in a lab or street market in Wuhan, China, yet two new studies published this weekend point to live mammals sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. . end of 2019 as the source of the virus that spread to humans running and buying groceries in the market. These two large studies were not peer-reviewed.
An exhibition of Russian Stolichnaya vodka at a Total Wine and More in University Park, Florida, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Officials in Ohio, Utah and New Hampshire are calling on retail outlets to remove Russian-branded products from their shelves in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. . But while all of this may be symbolic, most vodka brands that have Russian roots are no longer made there. Some are even made in the United States.
Stoli vodka, for example, has a Russian name, is based in Luxembourg and is made in Latvia.
Smirnoff, who once back takes his call from Russia, is owned by the British liquor company Diageo and is made in Illinois.
One brand, Russian Standard, belongs to a Russian company, is produced in Russia and shipped to the United States.
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