A hospital bed at St. Francis Hospital in Port Washington
Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 1,058th day of the pandemic.
In news we cover today, a troubling study shows that people who have Long Covid are at a high risk for multiple health issues, California will end mask mandates in healthcare settings, and multiple states are cracking down on improperly licensed nurses.
LONG COVID
A new study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum shows that people who contract Long Covid are at a high risk for a range of adverse health outcomes that include a doubled risk of death. The study, “One-Year Adverse Outcomes Among US Adults With Post–COVID-19 Condition vs Those Without COVID-19 in a Large Commercial Insurance Database,” looked at 13 435 adults in the United States with post–Covid-19 condition, as Long Covid is also known, and 26 870 matched adults who never contracted Covid-19.
The Long Covid group experienced increased mortality, with 2.8% individuals with long Covid dying compared to 1.2% of those without Long Covid.
In addition, individuals with Long Covid were almost two times more likely to experience cardiovascular events including arrhythmias, stroke, heart failure, and coronary artery disease. The researchers also found that pulmonary conditions were also common. The risk of pulmonary embolism more than trebled while the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and moderate or severe asthma nearly doubled for those with Long Covid.
UNITED STATES
California will drop its pandemic mask and vaccination mandates for healthcare settings starting in April, according to updated guidance released Friday by the state’s health department.
OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS
Multiple states are cracking down on nurses with forged credentials including New York, Delaware, and Washington. Regulators in the Empire State recently told 903 nurses that they either needed to surrender their licenses or proffer proof of graduation from an accredited nursing school. Texas has filed administrative charges against 23 nurses on similar grounds, while Delaware and Washington have revoked dozens of nursing licenses for the same reason.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel last week gave the green light to two vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer for RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, for adults over 60.
Finally, at her 17th hearing, a tuberculosis patient in Pierce County, Washington, who has steadfastly refused treatment and who has been in engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with the city’s health department was ordered jailed where she could either then be tested or put into isolation.
The woman had thus far refused to isolate or to take the necessary medications, Nigel Turner, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department official responsible for communicable disease control said in February.
Once in custody, she will serve a sentence for a period “not to exceed forty-five days to undergo testing and treatment for active tuberculosis and to continue such treatment until medical tests conclusively establish that she no longer presents a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, whereupon respondent shall immediately be released from detention,” Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen wrote in his order.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Saturday, March 4.
As of Saturday morning, the world has recorded 680.6 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.2 million cases, and 6.8 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 653.4 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.2 million.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Saturday at press time is 20,369,261, a decrease of 52,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 20,328,624, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 40,637, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past three months.
The United States reported 69,509, new coronavirus infections on Saturday for the previous day, compared to62,111 on Friday, 89,261 on Thursday, 25,343 on Wednesday, and 17,547 on Tuesday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 7-day incidence rate is now 38,748. Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.
The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 33,998, a figure down 9% over the past 14 days, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources. The average daily death toll over the same period is 540, an increase of 41% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 26,411, a decrease of 9%. In addition, the number of patients in ICUs was 3,428, a decrease of 8% and the test positivity rate is now 8.9%, a figure that is down by 8% over the same period.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Saturday, recorded 105.4 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.15 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 44.7 million, and a reported death toll of 530,775.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 39.6 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.2 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 699,276, has recorded 37.1 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are Japan, with just under 33.3 million cases, South Korea, with just under 30.6 million cases, placing it in the number seven slot, and Italy, with 25.6 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with just under 24.4 million, and Russia, with 22.3 million.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of Thursday, 269.6 million people in the United States – or 81.2% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 69.3%, or 230.1 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 672.1 million. Breaking this down further, 92.1% of the population over the age of 18 – or 237.8 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 79% of the same group – or just under 204 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 19.6% of the same population, or 50.5 million people, has already received an updated or bivalent booster dose of vaccine, while 22.7 million people over the age of 65, or 41.4% of that population have also received the bivalent booster.
Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish the updated information on Thursdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Some 69.7% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Saturday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.32 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 795,527 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 27.9% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.
In addition, with the start of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines.
Paul Riegler contributed reporting to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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