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I expect Covid-19 hospitalizations to peak about a week or two after cases peek. It's a lagging indicator but we can use it to confirm a trend change. Nothing in the works right now to suggest that the recent wave has peaked yet.
Another big surge of COVID-19 patients at Sarasota Memorial Hospital over the weekend
The latest wave of COVID-19 infections is filling up hospital beds at a rapid clip, with Sarasota Memorial Hospital seeing another big surge of coronavirus patients over the weekend.
Sarasota Memorial had 54 COVID-19 patients on Friday. By Monday that number was up to 86, a 59% increase in just a few days and more than double the patient count from just a week ago, when 36 individuals were hospitalized with COVID-19.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients being treated in Sarasota Memorial's intensive care unit also is on the rise, jumping from seven on Friday to 11 on Monday.
Hospitals across Florida are experiencing a similar surge in COVID-19 patients, including at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota.
Federal regulators have requested that vaccine companies expand their trials to test coronavirus shots in several thousand school-aged children before seeking authorization — a move intended to assess whether a rare inflammation of the heart muscle that has been seen in young adults shortly after vaccination is more common in younger age groups.
The changes to ongoing trials run by Moderna and Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech could delay the availability of the vaccines to children between the ages of 5 and 11 beyond the hoped-for timeline of early fall, although it is unclear by how much. As the country faces a surge fueled largely by cases in unvaccinated people and the school year approaches, pediatricians and families have impatiently awaited shots of protection.
A federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity predicted that authorization of a coronavirus vaccine for children 5 through 11 might come by late October or early November. The government is not expecting it will be a big problem to enroll more children because so many parents are eager to get their children vaccinated, the official said.
Ray Jordan, a spokesman for Moderna, said that the company was “actively discussing a proposal” with federal regulators to expand its trial, but had not settled on final numbers for the expanded trial. He predicted that authorization could occur in “winter 2021/early 2022.”
ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida leaders are on high alert as more positive cases of COVID-19 are popping up across Central Florida.
Orange County leaders said recently that everyone should wear masks indoors now due to the recent spike in positive cases.
A recent report from the health department said that Orange County is in roughly the 14% range when it comes to the COVID-19 positivity rate.
"These numbers are extraordinary, we are seeing nearly 1000 new cases in Orange County daily. Those are the numbers we saw at the highest peak last year," Demings said.
In Seminole County, officials said the positivity rate went from 14% to 18%. They say that over the last two weeks, there has been a slight increase in people getting vaccinated there.
The health department said they haven't been this concerned in months.
"For just the last week alone, the total number of cases reported were 1,865. Far more than the cases for the entire month of June," Donna Walsh said.
During a news briefing on Monday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said one month ago, the COVID-19 positivity rate was at 4.28% in Orange County, and now, as of Saturday, it was at 13.96%.
According to health officials who spoke Monday, hospitalizations are up in Orange County and the age range of those who have died are between ages 27-85.
"It is hard to see and in some ways frustrating to see people dying in the hospital, from a disease that be prevented with a vaccine that we have," Dr. Victor Herrera with AdventHealth said.
AdventHealth says across its Central Florida healthcare system 862 people are admitted and being treated for COVID-19. Just under the 900 being treated back in January.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to recommend Tuesday that fully vaccinated people begin wearing masks indoors again in places with high Covid-19 transmission rates, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal health officials still believe fully vaccinated individuals represent a very small amount of transmission, according to the sources. Still, some vaccinated people could be carrying higher levels of the virus than previously understood and potentially transmit the virus to others, they said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to recommend everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask, regardless of their vaccination status, as it updates its masking guidelines on Tuesday, according to an administration health official.
The CDC is also urging vaccinated people in certain areas of the country to resume wearing masks because of Covid-19.
People in areas with high or substantial Covid-19 transmission should resume wearing masks, the CDC is expected to say, according to sources familiar with the announcement. Nearly two-thirds of US counties have high or substantial transmission of Covid-19, according to CDC data; 46% of counties have high transmission and 17% have substantial transmission. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is expected to announce the decision at a 3 p.m. ET briefing on Tuesday.
The Manatee County School District surveyed parents of elementary school students to see if they planned on sending their child to school wearing a mask, and if so, whether they would prefer a mask-only classroom.
The results are in, and just under half of the respondents said yes, their child would be wearing a mask in the fall.
According to district Spokesman Mike Barber, the district sent the survey out to roughly 18,000 families of children in elementary school. Of those, 4,303 responded.
The district focused on elementary school because there is no current COVID-19 vaccine approved for children under the age of 12.
District administrators are reviewing the data to determine where there is enough demand to provide all-masked classrooms. If certain grade levels at the same school have enough demand, the district is going to try to accommodate parents' wishes.
“They are looking at it school by school, determining where it is feasible,” Barber said. “If a school or particular grade only has five or six parents that requested the mask only class, we wouldn’t be able to provide a teacher for that.”
The survey was intended to give parents a choice so that if they wanted their child in a mask-only classroom, the district would try to make it happen.
The survey has no impact on the board's overall masking policy, which as of Tuesday afternoon continues to be that masks will be optional.
President Joe Biden will announce on Thursday a requirement that all federal employees and contractors be vaccinated against Covid-19, or be required to submit to regular testing and mitigation requirements, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The announcement will come in remarks where Biden is also expected to lay out a series of new steps, including incentives, in an attempt to spur new vaccinations as the Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout the country. It will also follow the decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs to require its frontline health care workers to be vaccinated over the course of the next two months.
Biden will not impose the requirement on the US military, despite his authority to do so, for the time being. He is, however, likely to outline how the Department of Defense may seek to approach the issue going forward, the source said.
Furthering the case for vaccine mandates, the administration is taking steps to spell out the legal grounds upon which American entities can require employees to get shots.
Justice Department lawyers have determined that federal law doesn't prohibit public agencies and private businesses from requiring Covid-19 vaccines, even if the vaccines have only been authorized for emergency use, according to an opinion posted online Monday.
The opinion from the department's Office of Legal Counsel -- dated July 6, but released publicly Monday -- paves the way for more federal agencies and businesses to require vaccinations following the Veterans Affairs announcement about front-line health workers.
In recent weeks, Justice Department officials have been weighing requests from private businesses and federal agencies seeking legal backing for policies aimed at encouraging vaccinations, according to people briefed on the matter.
A study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem published on Tuesday indicated that the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing serious illness has fallen to 80 percent.
The study, which has been presented to the government, also predicted that the tally of serious COVID-19 cases in Israel could reach as high as 400, from a current 145, in less than three weeks if no steps are taken to rein in infections.
More than 2,000 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, a high not seen since mid-March. The number of serious cases has more than doubled over the past week.
The Hebrew University study warned that numbers of serious cases and patients on ventilators have been rising at a similar rate to that observed in July 2020.
“The wave of infections last July was stopped thanks to restrictions imposed in the second half of July,” the researchers wrote. “No such steps were taken this year, therefore no similar stop is expected in the near future.”
The study suggested that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing serious illness has dropped to 80 percent (compared to over 90% before the appearance of the ultra-infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus).
It indicated the shots are 90% effective in preventing deaths.
“The vaccine’s effectiveness is significantly lower than the effectiveness observed in March,” the researchers wrote.
Recent data released by the Health Ministry shows that those who were first to receive their two doses of the Pfizer COVID vaccine are more likely now to be infected, as the vaccine appears to lose protection potency over time.
“We looked at tens of thousands of people tested in the month of June, alongside data on how long had passed since their second shot, and found that those vaccinated early were more likely to test positive,” Dr. Yotam Shenhar, who headed the research, told The Times of Israel last week.
Data released by the Health Ministry last week suggested that people vaccinated in January have just 16% protection against infection now, while in those vaccinated in April, the effectiveness was at 75%.
Doctors note that figures may not only reflect time that has passed since vaccination, but also a bias according to which those who vaccinated early were often people with health conditions and who are more prone to infection, such as the elderly.
Some analysts have warned that the figures on vaccine effectiveness are prone to major inaccuracies because of a range of factors, including questions over whether there is accurate data on infection levels among the non-vaccinated, which is vital for such stats. And British data indicates the Israeli studies may be overstating the case.
I expect Covid-19 hospitalizations to peak about a week or two after cases peek. It's a lagging indicator but we can use it to confirm a trend change. Nothing in the works right now to suggest that the recent wave has peaked yet.
Another big surge of COVID-19 patients at Sarasota Memorial Hospital over the weekend
The latest wave of COVID-19 infections is filling up hospital beds at a rapid clip, with Sarasota Memorial Hospital seeing another big surge of coronavirus patients over the weekend.
Sarasota Memorial had 54 COVID-19 patients on Friday. By Monday that number was up to 86, a 59% increase in just a few days and more than double the patient count from just a week ago, when 36 individuals were hospitalized with COVID-19.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients being treated in Sarasota Memorial's intensive care unit also is on the rise, jumping from seven on Friday to 11 on Monday.
Hospitals across Florida are experiencing a similar surge in COVID-19 patients, including at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota.
Had a discussion with two men on my NextDoor site re CoVid rise
Typical Trumpers
Don’t watch anything but OAN and read same type of sites
Say rate of deaths is not rising and thus cases not worth worrying about
I said takes time for peoples o,get sick enough to die so it is a trailing stat
And obviously not vaxed
Just wonder how some people who are defiant about not taking precautions avoid/escape infection?
We are both Pfizer vaxed and still mask going into stores
Re DoJ on vax requirements
It is not illegal for businesses or schools to mandate vaxs for employees or students
According to new headline
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