US sends surge team to southwest Missouri after Delta variant fuels rise in cases and hospitalizations

[RV_]

The first new COVID hot spot surges involving the Delta variant are growing fast. This winter may be as bad or worse as 2020 because of the ready pool of the unvaccinated in these areas and the now known fact that the Delta variant is much more infectious and causes more severe illness/death statistically. We will see in the next six months.

Excerpts:

"The US government is deploying a Covid-19 surge team to provide public health support in southwest Missouri, where the spread of the virus is filling up hospital beds once again.

The surge of Covid-19 cases is so high in the city of Springfield, Missouri, that the CoxHealth hospital system began transferring patients infected with the virus to other facilities to provide better staffing. At Cox South, a Springfield hospital, 12 Covid-19 patients were transferred to other facilities in the region between Friday and Monday morning.

Over the past week, the Missouri Covid-19 caseload came in second highest in the country, with 15.5 new cases per 100,000 people daily, or 108 cases per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University data published Sunday. Arkansas claimed the highest rate at 15.7 new cases per 100,000 people each day, the data shows.

"We're already starting to see places with low vaccination rates starting to have relatively big spikes from the Delta variant," said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

"We've seen this in Arkansas, Missouri, Wyoming. ... Those are the places where we're going to see more hospitalizations and deaths as well, unfortunately. And any time you have large outbreaks, it does become a breeding ground for potentially more variants," he told CNN on Monday.

About 56% of adults in Missouri have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 39.4% of residents are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows. Arkansas had fully vaccinated 34.6% of its total population as of Tuesday, CDC data shows.

Overall, data shows that Covid-19 is expected to swell in less vaccinated communities, especially as the Delta variant continues to spread in those areas.

"If ever there was a reason to get vaccinated, this is it," Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.

Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, added that America has ample vaccine supply, but there is still a significant portion of people who don't want the shots.

"There are places in the world, where people would do anything to get vaccine, and yet we have a substantial proportion of people in very specific regions of the country who just do not want to get vaccinated," he added.

In response to the more contagious Delta variant, the Biden administration said it would deploy response teams comprising officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to areas with a high spread of the virus and low vaccination rates.

In Missouri, the surge team will include an epidemiologist, research assistants, a health communication specialist, contact tracers and others who will help with vaccination and outreach, according to the health department.

"More team members will be added, both remotely and in person, to assist with data and research, vaccine uptake strategies and outreach," said Lisa Cox, a communications director with the Missouri health department.

 

100% of Maryland deaths last month were unvaccinated people

In June, all Covid-19 deaths in Maryland occurred in unvaccinated people, according to a tweet Tuesday by Michael Ricci, communications director for Gov. Larry Hogan.

Additionally, Ricci tweeted, 95% of new Covid-19 cases in the state -- as well as 93% of new hospitalizations -- occurred in people who were unvaccinated.

"That will be a telltale sign for them to say 'Why am I on the fence any longer? This has now been fully approved by the FDA,' and even though it's got a great record already, that will I think be another stamp of approval," Slavitt said.

The FDA does not comment on pending approvals, but officials across the Biden administration have said they expect the agency to grant full approval.

Currently, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccines are administered under Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA.

A recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 31% of adults who have yet to get vaccinated would be more likely to get a shot that has been fully approved by the FDA. The report polled 1,888 US adults.

 

Study finds prolonged changes to resting heart rate and sleep

People infected with Covid-19 may experience changes to their resting heart rate that last for months, in addition to changes in sleep duration and step count, according to data published Wednesday.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, used wearables to track biometric data from 875 people -- 234 who tested positive for Covid-19 over the course of the study and 641 who tested negative.

Another study finds people more likely to have health complications if they had a severe case of Covid-19

Vaccines are not only effective in preventing severe illness from Covid-19, they also prevent its long-term health effects, according to experts.

People who were severely ill with Covid-19 are twice as likely to need to go back to the hospital for a Covid-19-related complication in the future compared to patients who had mild or moderate symptoms, according to a new study from the University of Florida.

The researchers examined patient records for nearly 11,000 people treated in their health system. Of those patients, 114 had severe Covid-19 and needed to be hospitalized. Another 211 had mild or moderate Covid-19.

The other patients were treated for unrelated health problems. Researchers tracked these patients for six months.

"Data are, unsurprisingly, showing that people who aren't vaccinated are more likely to get sick," study co-author Arch Mainous said in a news release Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, our data show that even if people are willing to take their chances with COVID-19 because they are not concerned about the disease, they are now more likely to have a complication like a heart attack or stroke because of this. Vaccination is critical."

This is only some of the article, which has videos, more written data and hot links to related topics.

The whole article is here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/us-sends-surge-team-to-southwest-missouri-after-delta-variant-fuels-rise-in-cases-and-hospitalizations/ar-AALRR3k?ocid=uxbndlbing

[2gypsies]

There was a very long post on 'Missouri' with posts as recent as today.  What happened to it?

[mptjelgin]

18 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

There was a very long post on 'Missouri' with posts as recent as today.  What happened to it?

It got pretty personal and nasty and I am assuming the entire thing was deleted by moderators. It happens now and then. 

[Kirk W]

27 minutes ago, mptjelgin said:

It got pretty personal and nasty and I am assuming the entire thing was deleted by moderators.

Not deleted, but hidden which amounts to the same for the viewers. 

[Barbaraok]

2 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

There was a very long post on 'Missouri' with posts as recent as today.  What happened to it?

I’m afraid people waved a red flag of ‘science is wrong’, etc. and I took the bait.  Sorry. 

[RV_]

 

Kirk,

Thanks glad the thread and my news post is still here.

I hope the admins are going to delete all the nasty stuff which I did not see, and leave my post.

Today's news shows a crazy rise in hospitalizations of the unvaccinated folks. I hope it isn't as bad as it might be. Wishing the best for all.

Edited July 19, 2021 by RV_

[RV_]

My thread here was posted ten days ago. Today's news is dire in Mississippi for full hospital beds, and other states, just ten days later are seeing sharp increases among the unvaccinated. I hope all here are fine through this next pandemic stage.

[Pete Kildow]

Memphis Tn is going to get hit hard again also.

[GlennWest]

I am in Tennessee working. Haven't heard a thing about this.

[2gypsies]

3 hours ago, GlennWest said:

I am in Tennessee working. Haven't heard a thing about this.

https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2021/07/14/tennessee-ranks-no-1-us-largest-increase-new-covid-19-cases/

[GlennWest]

Thanks.

[bigjim]

Just great news as the majority of my kids and grandkids  live in Shelby County. (Memphis) A fair number live in Tipton County.  I was hoping to  hold out and get a hip replacement there in the fall/winter. But there are plenty of other hotspots for known reasons.  But hey maybe I won't be able to cross the river if the bridge isn't repaired and the old bridge falls into the river due to over use.

[Kirk W]

And in Kentucky Gov. Beshear provides new masking recommendations

[Randyretired]

I find it interesting that some are suggesting vaccinated people wear masks to protect themselves.  However, they do not recommend what type of mask.  We were told to wear masks to protect others because many masks only provide marginal protection to the person wearing them.  It would seem the type of mask would be important.

[Barbaraok]

Randy,  remember we are talking about people who already are vaccinated, so  the masks are a secondary line of defense, the vaccination being that first line of defense.   The masks will grab 50% or more, depending upon type, of  viral particles being exhaled by the infected person,  so that if you walk through an area where they were, assuming you are still keeping distance from them, a lot of those exhaled particles are on the floor, you are blocking a large share of what remained in the air, and the smaller amount that might get through are handled by your immunization.    I went into Fred Meyers and Walgreens yesterday, in the Seattle area, and wore my mask.  And saw a LOT of white haired older individuals like myself, with their masks on.   And this area doesn't have a massive outbreak, but in a large box store with lots of people, I just feel more comfortable having a little bit more protection. 

[Kirk W]

The KN95 masks are the best and are now available from Amazon. 

[Chalkie]

27 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

The KN95 masks are the best and are now available from Amazon. 

Thanks for the link Kirk, but those are made in China, that is a non-starter for me when there are multiple listings on Amazon KN95 masks that are made in the USA.

[Barbaraok]

25 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

Thanks for the link Kirk, but those are made in China, that is a non-starter for me when there are multiple listings on Amazon KN95 masks that are made in the USA.

Then order those.  Kirk just provided the link, and once there SEVERAL different types were offered in addition to the one he linked to.  He was providing a service, not looking for masks meeting requirements he didn’t know were required when he posted.  Yes, it is a little thing, but better response would have been:  “Thanks Kirk, I was able to use that link to find US made masks in addition to the one you used as an example “. 

[Dutch_12078]

51 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

Thanks for the link Kirk, but those are made in China, that is a non-starter for me when there are multiple listings on Amazon KN95 masks that are made in the USA.

The interesting fact there, is that "KN95" is a Chinese standard, not a US standard...

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Dutch_12078 said:

The interesting fact there, is that "KN95" is a Chinese standard, not a US standard...

Actually, it was a slip up as I intended to say that the N95 masks are now available from Amazon. The N95 standard is from the US.

Quote

An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtration, meaning that it filters at least 95% of airborne particles.

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Kirk W

[Dutch_12078]

5 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

Actually, it was a slip up as I intended to say that the N95 masks are now available from Amazon. The N95 standard is from the US.

 

Excellent... And yes, non-valved N95's are what we have on hand here.

[Chalkie]

16 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Then order those.  Kirk just provided the link, and once there SEVERAL different types were offered in addition to the one he linked to.  He was providing a service, not looking for masks meeting requirements he didn’t know were required when he posted.  Yes, it is a little thing, but better response would have been:  “Thanks Kirk, I was able to use that link to find US made masks in addition to the one you used as an example “. 

Consider me duly spanked.

[Kirk W]

6 hours ago, Chalkie said:

Consider me duly spanked.

                                  😥     🤥

[Daveh]

If you are looking at KN95 or other variations note that some of those models were tested by the FDA and granted  Emergency Use Authorization. Those and the South Korean variants are known to be effective. The EUA was withdrawn earlier this month because N95's are more available. These are for medical use in high risk scenarios so even the listed KN95's are going to be much better than any cloth mask or regular medical mask available. The key is to look for blown polypropylene and a good fit. Even if you can get a N95 (ebay has them also) be sure to look at 3M's website ahead of time to get an idea of the fit. I use the 9210 white colored foldable mask while my wife uses a blue one that fits her face better. Retired nurse.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Daveh
Factual error. I am changing spun nylon to blown polypropylene.

[DanZemke]

I see nothing wrong with the KN-95 masks that Kirk linked to.  I'm suggesting an alternative KN-95 because I've had lots of satisfied experience with them.  

I sent packs of 10 to several folks last spring.  One, my ex-wife, who has a small head (not brain), said they didn't fit well.  She ended up having to buy "kid's" masks for an acceptable fit.  I also purchased a few 3M 1860 N-95 masks.  These are, or at least were, pretty much the de facto standard in US Hospitals.  They have two elastic straps that go on the upper and lower parts of the rear of your head.  And although the mask is also made of layers of blown polypropylene, it is much stiffer than the fold-flat versions, like the one I am suggesting.  The primary benefit of the 3M 1860's is that the stiffer mask and the two head straps seal much better than any mask I've seen with ear loops.  But I find them to be much less comfortable, and I'll confess, pretty dorky looking.  Mine remain in my closet and won't be used, unless I need to to do something like take a coast to coast flight.

I have no relationship with these folks, other than being a repeat customer. Here is the description of the masks from their website.  Personally, I prefer the black ones, especially for black-tie events 🙂

"We are the largest authorized Powecom's distributor in the United States and Canada for the Powecom KN95, which has been tested by the NPPTL and CDC repeatedly for its filtration efficiency of equal to or greater than 95%. Like the N95, the KN95 face mask is rated to provide 95% or greater filtration of particles larger than 0.3 µm (microns) in diameter such as bacteria, viruses, pollution particles, fine particles, smog, dust, pollen, etc. Made of multiple filtration layers of polypropylene and electrostatic cotton, they come in both ear loop and headband models. The 3D foldable design makes them comfortable and provides excellent ergonomic fitting and sealing."

https://bonafidemasks.com/face-masks/kn95-respirator-face-masks/