The Hill: "At least 90,000 students have had to quarantine because of COVID-19 so far this school year"

"Just weeks into the new school year, at least 90,000 children in 19 states have had to or are currently quarantining or isolating after contracting COVID-19 or coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the disease.

The disruptions have caused uncertainty for parents, students and school districts that had hoped to resume in-person instruction after a year marked by lockdowns and virtual learning.

The staggering number of K-12 students under quarantine is largely driven by the highly infectious delta variant that has taken hold as the dominant strain in the U.S.

....

Bans on school mask mandates and the fact that no vaccines have been approved for children under 12 are helping to drive cases."

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/569565-at-least-90-thousand-students-have-had-to-quarantine-because-of-covid-19-so

FDA: "Recall of Certain Muffin Products Due to Possible Health Risk"

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Give & Go Prepared Foods Corp. on Monday announced a voluntary recall of 26 muffin and muffin-related products available nationwide over concerns of possible listeria contamination.

An environmental monitoring program alerted the company to the potential problem with the items, which are  sold in Walmart, 7-Eleven, Stop & Shop and other stores.

A list of all the recalled products, which include muffins packaged under labels such The Worthy Crumb and Uncle Wally's, can be found on the FDA's website. "

Continue reading the article online
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/564213-do-you-know-the-muffin-ban-recall-affects-26-products-nationwide?rl=1 

For the product listing provided by the FDA

https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/give-and-go-prepared-foods-usa-corp-conducts-voluntary-recall-certain-muffin-products-due-possible

FDA: "Recall of Certain Muffin Products Due to Possible Health Risk"

CDC Reports: masks and ventilation improved school COVID-19 case load; care in handling backyard poultry

 

"Schools in Georgia that required teachers and staff to wear masks and improved ventilation reported fewer COVID-19 cases, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study released on Friday.

The research, conducted by the CDC and the Georgia Department of Public Health, determined that COVID-19 incidence was 37 percent lower in schools that mandated masks for teachers and staff. Schools that implemented at least one ventilation strategy saw a 39 percent reduction in coronavirus cases among students and staff.

The ventilation improvements ranged from dilution methods, which refer to running fans and keeping doors and windows open, to filtration with or without purification. Schools that used dilution methods saw 35 percent less COVID-19 incidence, and others that used dilution and filtration methods together saw 48 percent fewer cases."

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/554732-cdc-study-schools-that-required-masks-improved-ventilation-reported-less

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory on Thursday warning people against getting too close to backyard poultry, citing concerns that the chickens may be spreading salmonella.

In an investigation notice, the CDC noted that backyard poultry owners should take precautionary measures when handling their animals after 163 confirmed cases of salmonella were reported in 43 states.

"Don’t kiss or snuggle backyard poultry, and don’t eat or drink around them," the CDC wrote. "This can spread Salmonella germs to your mouth and make you sick."

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/554669-cdc-urges-against-kissing-and-snuggling-poultry-in

 

"Mask Innovation Challenge: Building Tomorrow’s Mask"

 

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a competition to develop “the next generation of masks” with the winning submission receiving a $500,000 cash prize.

The competition — “Mask Innovation Challenge: Building Tomorrow’s Mask” — is a partnership between HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

In the announcement, HHS notes that many health authorities around the world are encouraging people to wear masks to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, but masks often present some challenges such as: “contact dermatitis with prolonged wear, physical discomfort, fogging of eyeglasses, and difficulty communicating.”

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/546411-hhs-launches-mask-design-improvement-contest

 

More info on the "Mask Innovation Challenge" can be found

https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/mask-innovation-challenge/

"Mask Innovation Challenge: Building Tomorrow’s Mask"

The Hill: "Enemy within: Experts warn US not learning from past pandemic mistakes"

 

"When it comes to combating COVID-19, experts and officials warn the U.S. is its own worst enemy as governors across the country lift restrictions and the public grows increasingly weary of pandemic life.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Monday that the U.S. is at “a fork in the road” on the pandemic, with the two extremes perhaps best illustrated by spring breakers partying in Florida over the weekend while about 1,000 people are dying of COVID-19 every day.

Despite an aggressive pace of vaccination, the number of new infections across the country is rising in states across the Northeast and Upper Midwest and has essentially plateaued nationally. "

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/544427-enemy-within-experts-warn-us-not-learning-from-past-pandemic-mistakes

 

 

The Hill: "CDC signs off on Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine"

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday formally accepted the recommendation from its advisory panel that Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine can be given to people ages 18 and older in the United States.

The announcement by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will allow vaccinations to begin as soon as the doses are received.

Walensky called the decision "another milestone toward an end to the pandemic."

"This vaccine is also another important tool in our toolbox to equitably vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible," Walensky said in a statement.

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/540918-cdc-accepts-panels-endorsement-of-johnson-johnson-coronavirus-vaccine

"Things are tenuous. Now is not the time to relax restrictions."

"Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sounded the alarm Friday over what she described as potentially stalling progress in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, noting that fast-spreading variants of the virus are becoming more prevalent in the United States.

Speaking at a White House briefing on Friday, Walensky said the stall threatens to erase progress the US has made in recent weeks in decreasing cases and hospitalizations, even as the rollout of lifesaving vaccines ramps up.

Walensky said the number of new cases has been increasing in the past three days, compared with the prior week. She also shared new estimates that suggest the more-transmissible U.K. coronavirus variant now makes up about 10 percent of US cases."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/26/nation/now-is-not-time-relax-restrictions-cdc-chief-walensky-sounds-alarm-stalling-progress-pandemic/

Coverage from The Hill = https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/540700-cdc-director-warns-decline-in-cases-may-be-stalling-in-concerning-shift

National News Highlights

• Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Bid to Conceal Taxes, Financial Records - The New York Times

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/us/politics/supreme-court-trump-taxes-financial-records.html

• Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era via  The Lancet 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32545-9/fulltext

• Fauci: US political divide over masks led to half a million COVID-19 deaths

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/539999-fauci-us-political-divide-over-masks-led-to-half-a

• Biden honors covid-19 victims amid staggering toll, signs of hope

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-covid-deaths/2021/02/22/911952b0-7527-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html  

President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff observe a moment of silence at the White House Monday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

The Hill: "Five things to know about new CDC coronavirus guidelines"

 

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put out a flurry of new guidance this week, with advice on topics such as mask wearing and quarantining after COVID-19 exposure.

The guidelines are in response to threats from new, more contagious virus strains, but they also indicate what life post-vaccine might look like in the U.S.

Here are five things to know about the agency's advice."

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/538705-five-things-to-know-about-new-cdc-coronavirus-guidelines

Direct link to the CDC COVID-19 page  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

The Hill: "Another day, another record: US sets new record for daily COVID deaths with over 4,300"

In Town Administrator Jamie Hellen's update to the Finance Committee on Wednesday, our numbers showed an increase of 100 new cases. The State DPH releases the weekly community numbers at 5:00 PM on Thursday. Meanwhile, from The Hill we find the US set a new record for COVID deaths:

"Another day, another record: US sets new record for daily COVID deaths with over 4,300

Coronavirus deaths climbed to another record high on Tuesday in the United States, with a stunning 4,327 people dying in a single day, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Deaths from COVID-19 are increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S. The seven-day average for daily deaths rose from about 2,600 per day to about 3,300 in the past week, a New York Times tracker shows."

Continue reading the article  https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/overnights/534150-overnight-health-care-us-sets-new-record-for-daily-covid-deaths

 

John Hopkins link: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map

NY Times link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

 

"asymptomatic and infectious before developing their symptoms"

Via The Hill comes a CDC study showing focus should include asymptomatic individuals as they contribute to more than 50% of the cases.

Question  
What proportion of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread is associated with transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from persons with no symptoms? 

Findings  
In this decision analytical model assessing multiple scenarios for the infectious period and the proportion of transmission from individuals who never have COVID-19 symptoms, transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated to account for more than half of all transmission. 

Meaning  
The findings of this study suggest that the identification and isolation of persons with symptomatic COVID-19 alone will not control the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Continue reading the article in The Hill

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/533421-more-than-half-of-coronavirus-cases-spread-by-people-without-symptoms-cdc

Go direct to JAMA for the CDC study details

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707

The Hill: "CDC issues new guidance about vaccinations for people with underlying health conditions"

From The Hill

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday issued a new guidance stating that people with underlying health conditions can receive a coronavirus vaccine.

The guidance explains that “adults of any age with certain underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19.”  

Thus, the CDC added that those vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration “may be administered to people with underlying medical conditions provided they have not had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in the vaccine.” 

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/531722-cdc-issues-new-guidance-about-vaccinations-for-people-with-underlying

Direct link to CDC guidance  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/underlying-conditions.html

 

 

Stimulus and government spending bill signed to avoid Federal government shutdown

Via The Hill

"President Trump on Sunday signed the government funding and coronavirus relief package, the White House said, averting a government shutdown and delivering economic aid as the pandemic worsens.

Trump signed off on the $2.3 trillion package from his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla., days after he expressed displeasure with the spending outlined in the omnibus and complained that the coronavirus relief measure should include direct payments of $2,000 per person, up from $600.

But the delay came after unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans on Saturday as the bill went unsigned. Trump has visited his golf club in Florida each day since arriving in the state on Wednesday and has made no public appearances. "

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/531632-trump-signs-relief-bill-despite-criticism

 

Related articles

• The Boston Globe  https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/27/nation/unemployment-benefits-expire-millions-trump-rages/
• The Washington Post  https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/12/27/trump-stimulus-shutdown-congress/

 

 

The Hill: "Federal agency says employers can require workers to get COVID-19 vaccine"

Via The Hill

"A key federal agency said this week that employers can legally require their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine and prevent them from entering their workplaces if they refuse.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in guidance issued Wednesday said that requiring a test would not violate the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The law bars employers from requiring medical exams such as blood tests that seek information on an employee’s physical or mental condition, but the EEOC said a COVID-19 vaccine does not fall under that category.

“If a vaccine is administered to an employee by an employer for protection against contracting COVID-19, the employer is not seeking information about an individual’s impairments or current health status and, therefore, it is not a medical examination,” the commission said."

Continue reading the article online

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/530963-federal-agency-says-employers-can-require-workers-to-get-covid-19-vaccine

The EEOC page with COVID-19 highlights in a Q&A format

https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws