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Business

Pfizer, Moderna, J&J pledge 240 million total Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of March

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Pfizer and Moderna — the two companies with Covid-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States — have pledged to make a combined total of 220 million doses available for shipment by the end of March. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson, which could secure emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine from the US Food and Drug Administration later this week, has pledged to make 20 million doses available in the same time frame.

“If the emergency use authorization is received this week, we hope to contribute to ending this pandemic as soon as possible,” Dr. Richard Nettles, J&J’s vice president of medical affairs, told lawmakers.

Nettles said the company is prepared to immediately ship nearly 4 million doses upon authorization of the vaccine.

Executives from each of the vaccine makers, along with executives from AstraZeneca and Novavax, testified before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Tuesday.

A fourth Covid-19 vaccine could become available in the US in April, when AstraZeneca could secure FDA authorization of its vaccine. Dr. Ruud Dobber, the executive vice president and president of AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceuticals business unit, said the company will immediately release 30 million doses upon authorization of the vaccine and up to 50 million doses by the end of April.

Pfizer had expected to deliver 30 to 40 million doses to the US by the end of 2020 but only hit the 40 million mark last week. Moderna had been projected to deliver 20 million doses to the US by the end of 2020 but fell short by a week. When asked on Tuesday why they didn’t deliver on time, executives for the companies said access to raw materials and manufacturing a product that had never been made before both contributed to the problem.

“We did initially experience some problems with the initial ramp up of our vaccine,” John Young, Pfizer’s chief business officer, said. “We particularly saw some rate-limiting steps for the raw materials,” Young added.

“We ultimately had never–when we were trying to make those estimates — manufactured at this scale, and so we had a lot to learn along the way,” Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, said. “As we look back, could we have maybe started earlier in that process and lining up all of the critical raw materials sooner, would we have been able to get there a little bit faster instead of first week of January, last week of December? It’s possible. Certainly hindsight, and that is 20-20 for us.”

The five drug companies have contracts with the US government to eventually provide 1.1 billion doses of vaccine, enough to fully vaccinate nearly 600 million people — close to twice the US population. Officials from the companies assured lawmakers they are on track to meet those commitments.

All five said they didn’t foresee any shortage of raw materials that could get in the way.

“At this point, we think we have the supplies and consumables we need,” Hoge said.

Moderna is seeking approval from the FDA to increase the number of doses in each of its Covid-19 vaccine vials from 10 to up to 15. When questioned about what the impact on the increase would be, Hoge said it “would accelerate delivery substantially” and decrease the demand for some critical, high-demand raw materials .

“Obviously, any gains — for instance, filling more doses in a vial — we will take,” Hoge said. “We need to get more doses more quickly into peoples’ arms.”

Beyond production and distribution, the executives addressed questions about protection, as new coronavirus variants spread.

“Adding a new strain to our vaccine is something we have experience with and are capable of doing very quickly,” John Trizzino, Novavax’s chief business and commercial officer, said.

Pfizer is looking at at a potential third-dose booster shot.

“We believe that there’s some emerging evidence where having higher antibody titers may well be protective even against new variant strains,” Young said. “We’re also in discussions with the FDA to potentially developing an upgraded vaccine against a new variant of concern, should it arise.”

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Sports

A Breakdown of Minor League Baseball’s Total Realignment for 2021 – SportsLogos.Net News

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The world of Minor League Baseball was completely turned on its head last week when Major League Baseball announced a total restructering of the entire system.

What was previously fourteen leagues spread out over five levels is now eleven leagues over four levels, massive re-alignments were implemented to accomodate this and sadly dozens of teams were kicked out of affiliated professional baseball. The new system allows the Major League teams and their Minor League affiliates to be significantly closer to each other than before, in most instances, as well as an increase in salaries to Minor League ballplayers. Though, again, this at the cost of many teams.

“We are excited to unveil this new model, which not only provides a pipeline to the Majors, but continues the Minor Leagues’ tradition of entertaining millions of families in hundreds of communities”, said Major League Commissioner Rob Manfred in the official release. “In modernizing our Minor League system, we prioritized the qualities that make the Minor Leagues such an integral part of our game while strengthening how we develop professional athletes on and off the field.”

The four levels will be known as Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, and Low-A with the lower three of those levels split into three regional leagues, the Triple-A level remains at just two leagues. Several teams were either bumped up a level or dropped down and three previously independent-league clubs have been invited and are now affiliated with Major League clubs.

TRIPLE-A REALIGNMENT

We’ll start with Triple-A, which was previously split up into the International League and the Pacific Coast League. The official release did not indicate these names would be used going forward, instead listing them as (I’m told, “temporary placeholder names” of) Triple-A East, and Triple-A West.

Overall, Triple-A East is essentially the International League and Triple-A West is the old PCL but there has been some shifting around here. The Iowa Cubs, Memphis Redbirds, Nashville Sounds, and Omaha Storm Chasers have all been moved from the PCL to the “East”, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp got a nice promotion from the Double-A Southern League to the Triple-A East. There are also two former independent clubs here, the St. Paul Saints of the American Association joins Triple A East, and the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League now in Triple-A West.

Some teams no longer at the Triple-A level include the Fresno Grizzlies who are getting the boot all the way down to Low-A, the San Antonio Missions will be sent to Double-A, and the New Orleans Baby Cakes, who relocated to Wichita for the 2020 season that never happened, will now play in Double-A as the Wichita Wind Surge. One other Triple-A relocation for 2021 is the former Pawtucket Red Sox who will remain at the Triple-A level as the Worcester Red Sox.

DOUBLE-A REALIGNMENT

Relatively speaking, the Double-A level didn’t see as much movement as the other three. The Texas League, Eastern League, and Southern League all remained mostly in tact — though a couple of teams still did get the boot.

Starting with the Double-A Central, which is the old Texas League. No teams were eliminated but two were added from Triple-A, the San Antonio Missions and the Wichita Wind Surge (previously the New Orleans Baby Cakes) both join the league as former members of the Pacific Coast League.

In the Double-A Northeast one new team was added to what is essentially the old Eastern League. The Somerset Patriots, a former member of the Independent Atlantic League joins the fun while the Trenton Thunder is left out, they’ll be joining the new MLB Draft League.

Finally, the Double-A South, which is made up of Southern League teams, didn’t add any teams but did lose the Jackson Generals who are still unsure what they’ll be doing in 2021. The Mobile BayBears have relocated to Madison, Alabama and will remain in the league playing as the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

HIGH-A REALIGNMENT

The newly named “High-A” class, which was known previously as A+, has seen a lot of shifting around as they have crammed five leagues together into three.

High-A West is the Northwest League minus two teams, the Boise Hawks (Pioneer League) and the Salem-Kaiser Volcanoes (Maverickes League) are both joining independent leagues. High-A Central is the Midwest League with four teams removed — the Burlington Bees and Clinton Lumberkings are going to the Prospect League while the Kane County Cougars shift to the American Associaiton filling the void left by the St. Paul Saints. The Bowling Green Hot Rods get shifted over to High-A East.

Speaking of the High-A East, this is where things get really muddy as teams from four different leagues are all mashed together. Remember the New York-Penn League? Say goodbye to it, out of the fourteen teams that played in the NYPL in 2019, only three will continue on in affiliated baseball, those three are all here in the High-A East — the Aberdeen Ironbirds, Brooklyn Cyclones, and Hudson Valley Renegades. We’ll get into detail about who left the NYPL and where they went later in the post, but most of them were herded into the new MLB Draft League.

From the Carolina League we have the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Winston-Salem Dash. The South Atlantic League gives us the Asheville Tourists, Greensboro Grasshoppers, Greenville Drive, Hickory Crawdads, Rome Braves, and the renamed Lakewood Blueclaws who will now be the Jersey Shore Blueclaws.

LOW-A REALIGNMENT

Things calm down a bit in the Low-A level, in terms of realignment anyways… because two entire leagues were removed – the Pioneer League and the Appalachian League. Both leagues will carry on but will no longer be a part of the official Minor League Baseball system nor will they have any affiliation with Major League clubs.

In the Low-A West, we have the California League plus the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies and minus the Lancaster Jethawks who are still figuring out what they’ll do in 2021. The Low-A East is a mix of the Carolina League and South Atlantic League teams that didn’t get promoted to High-A, two teams got the boot from affiliated baseball — the Frederick Keys (MLB Draft League) and the Lexington Legends (TBD).

Finally, the Low-A Southeast is your Florida State League with two teams removed, the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Florida Fire Frogs. The Stone Crabs folded up shop entirely, the Fire Frogs are still looking for a place to play.

That leaves us with the teams who sadly didn’t make the cut, 42 teams who were affiliated with a Major League Baseball franchise in 2020 no longer be in 2021. That includes the entire Pioneer and Appalachian Leagues and most of the New York-Penn League.

The graphic above shows 32 of those teams (the ten teams of Appalachian League are not included in the graphic, every club is getting an entirely new name and identity as they had previously all used MLB names). Many of the clubs will be part of the new MLB Draft League, a Collegiate Summer League (CSL), a showcase league for the top prospects in MLB’s annual draft to take part in. Others found new homes in various independent leagues throughout the country, some still aren’t sure what they’ll be doing, and a few even called it quits and threw in the towel.

It’s a shame to see so many communities lose out on Minor League Baseball though I’m glad that many were able to find new leagues to partner up with to keep baseball alive in those small towns and cities.

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Health

NH reports 9 new COVID-19 deaths; total cases surpass 70,000

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NH reports 9 new COVID-19 deaths; total cases surpass 70,000

Nine more New Hampshire residents have died from COVID-19, health officials announced Friday, as the number of total cases in the state surpassed 70,000.Four of the deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. The statewide death toll is now 1,126.The deaths include one man from Cheshire County, two women from Coos County, two women and one man from Hillsborough County, two women from Rockingham County, and one man from Sullivan County. All of them were 60 or older. The state on Friday also announced 464 new COVID-19 cases. That includes positive test results from Wednesday and Thursday. The PCR test positivity rate Friday was 2.8%.The total number of cases is now 70,072. Of that figure, 65,730 people have recovered and 3,216 cases are listed as current. Two new hospitalizations were announced Friday, bringing the total to 1,071. There are 131 people currently in the hospital for COVID-19 as current hospitalizations fell for the eighth-straight day.

Nine more New Hampshire residents have died from COVID-19, health officials announced Friday, as the number of total cases in the state surpassed 70,000.

Four of the deaths are linked to long-term care facilities. The statewide death toll is now 1,126.

The deaths include one man from Cheshire County, two women from Coos County, two women and one man from Hillsborough County, two women from Rockingham County, and one man from Sullivan County. All of them were 60 or older.

The state on Friday also announced 464 new COVID-19 cases. That includes positive test results from Wednesday and Thursday. The PCR test positivity rate Friday was 2.8%.

The total number of cases is now 70,072. Of that figure, 65,730 people have recovered and 3,216 cases are listed as current.

Two new hospitalizations were announced Friday, bringing the total to 1,071. There are 131 people currently in the hospital for COVID-19 as current hospitalizations fell for the eighth-straight day.

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Health

Hawaii reports 108 new coronavirus infections, bringing the state’s total to 26,393

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Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 108 new coronavirus infections, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 26,393 cases.

State health officials reported no new coronavirus-related deaths today as the statewide death toll remains at 416.

The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 333 fatalities on Oahu, 53 on Hawaii island, 26 on Maui, one on Kauai, and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state.

The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll was more than 461,000 today.

Today’s new statewide infection cases reported by the Health Department include 86 on Oahu, 16 on Maui, one case each on the Big Island, Kauai and Lanai, and three residents diagnosed outside of Hawaii, officials said. As a result of updated information, one case from Oahu was removed from the counts.

The statistics released today reflect the new infection cases reported to the department on Thursday.

The total number of coronavirus cases by island since the start of the outbreak are 21,289 on Oahu, 2,188 in Hawaii County, 1,849 on Maui, 179 on Kauai, 109 on Lanai and 25 on Molokai. There are also 754 Hawaii residents diagnosed outside of the state.

Health officials also said today that of the state’s total infection count, 1,318 cases were considered to be active. Officials say they consider infections reported in the past 14 days to be a “proxy number for active cases.” The number of active cases in the state decreased by 24 today.

By island, Oahu has 964 active cases, Maui has 278, the Big Island has 71, Kauai has three, and Lanai has three, according to the state’s latest tally. Molokai has no active COVID cases.

Health officials counted 9,206 new COVID-19 test results in today’s tally, for a 1.17% statewide positivity rate. The state’s 7-day average positivity rate is 1.8%, according to the Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard.

Of all the confirmed Hawaii infection cases, 1,745 have required hospitalizations, with 13 new hospitalizations reported today by state health officials.

Four hospitalizations in the statewide count are Hawaii residents who were diagnosed and treated outside the state. Of the 1,741 hospitalizations within the state, 1,526 have been on Oahu, 104 on Maui, 98 on the Big Island, seven on Kauai, five on Lanai and one on Molokai.

According to the latest information from the department’s Hawaii COVID-19 Data dashboard, a total of 64 patients with the virus were in Hawaii hospitals as of Friday morning, with 17 in intensive care units and 13 on ventilators.

Health officials said that as of Jan. 31, 157,018 vaccines have been administered of the 227,600 received by the state. The administered vaccinations by county are Honolulu, 105,500; Maui, 14,391; Hawaii, 15,035 and Kauai, 11,755. The total also included several thousand administered under the federal pharmacy program. State officials release the verified updated vaccination numbers each Wednesday.

Oahu moved to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Honolulu’s four-tier economic recovery plan on Oct. 22. To gauge whether Honolulu will move to a different tier, the city takes a “weekly assessment” of two key COVID-19 numbers each Wednesday. To move to Tier 3 from Tier 2, the 7-day average of new cases must be below 50 on two consecutive Wednesdays. Also, the 7-day average positivity rate must be below 2.5% on those two Wednesdays.

Today’s seven-day average case count for Oahu is 61 and the seven-day average positivity rate is 2.4%, according to Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.

Blangiardi has said he hoped to stay in Tier 2, a four-tiered framework established by former Mayor Kirk Caldwell. Under Tier 3, social gatherings of up to 10 would be allowed, up from 5 under Tier 2, and retail businesses would be able to operate at full capacity, rather than 50% capacity under Tier 2.

This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.



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Health

More cases, fewer deaths, a lot more shots in the arm

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MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – The average number of new coronavirus cases in Wisconsin is at a 4-month low. Average daily deaths are at a 3-month low. And completed vaccinations reached a new day-to-day high.

Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) reported 1,177 new positive tests for the virus that causes COVID-19 and 14 more deaths.

This is the most new cases diagnosed in four days (which includes one day with fewer than 1,000 cases) but it’s below the 7-day average of 1,270 cases per day.

The number of deaths is also below the 7-day average of 23 per day, following the report of 40 people added to the death toll on Wednesday. The death rate remains at 1.09% of all known cases.

Deaths were reported in nine counties: Chippewa (3), Columbia (2), Kenosha (2), Marquette, Sauk, Waukesha (2), Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago.

New coronavirus cases were identified in 66 of the 72 counties. County case and death totals appear later in this article.

The positive tests were 20% (20.06%) of the 5,866 tests the state received. By our calculations, the 7-day average positivity rate is 23.14%. These are results for people being tested or testing positive for the first time. The DHS also tracks results for people we’ve been tested more than once. In this group, the DHS calculates the 7-day average for positivity nudged up a little to 5.2% on Tuesday. This calculation is a day behind because it’s based on preliminary numbers, including negative tests undergoing further review. Counting one test per person is considered a more reliable measure of the virus’s spread in the community and is how the CDC compiles its reports.

Wisconsin is two days away from marking one year from its first coronavirus case. To date, Wisconsin has had 545,437 positive cases and almost 6,000 (5,951) deaths.

VACCINATIONS

Wednesday’s update on COVID-19 vaccinations show almost 35,00 more “shots in the arm” (34,911) over Tuesday’s report, for a total 613,247 doses given so far. That’s out of the 684,300 doses allocated to the state which aren’t part of the Pharmacy Partnership Program.

The state now has 117,367 people who completed their two-shot vaccination regimen, which is 8,654 more than the previous report — a record day-to-day increase.

Action 2 News has put together a guide of vaccination clinics and health agencies distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to people age 65 and older. CLICK HERE for locations and phone numbers and websites to register.

The DHS reported Wednesday that almost 1 in 5 residents 65 or older have received at least one dose of COVID-19. That’s an increase of about 17,000 shots over Tuesday’s numbers.

Age group Received at least 1 dose % of that age group
16-17 597 0.4%
18-24 21,682 3.9%
25-34 56,383 7.6%
35-44 63,624 9.0%
45-54 61,004 7.5%
55-64 66,899 8.6%
65+ 216,045 24.4%

All of these vaccination numbers are preliminary as vaccinators’ reports come in, so they may include shots given over the last 1 to 3 days.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

Daily hospitalizations for COVID-19 fell back below 100, barely, with the state reporting 94 admissions in the past 24-hour period ending Wednesday. The rolling 7-day average is up very slightly from 82 to 83 patients per day. In the past year, 24,554 people have been hospitalized at some point for serious COVID-19 symptoms, which is 4.50% of all the known COVID-19 cases.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) said there were 637 COVID-19 patients hospitalized — the fewest since September 27 — with 173 in intensive care on Wednesday. The total number of patients continued a downward trend, 20 fewer than Tuesday, but intensive care numbers rose for a third day, by 15 patients. These figures take new admissions, discharges and deaths into account.

Fox Valley hospitals region were caring for 40 COVID-19 patients, including 6 in ICU. That’s 1 less patients than Tuesday; the number in ICU is the same as Monday and Tuesday.

Northeast region hospitals were treating 60 COVID-19 patients, including 18 in ICU. That’s 13 fewer patients overall but the same number in ICU as Tuesday.

HOSPITAL READINESS

In terms of hospital readiness, The WHA reported 264 ICU beds (18.0%) and 2,132 (19.1%) of all medical beds (ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative flow isolation) are open in the state’s 134 hospitals.

The Fox Valley’s 13 hospitals had only 5 open ICU beds (4.8%) among them. They had a total 99 unoccupied medical beds (11.6%) for the eight counties they serve.

The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals had 33 ICU beds (15.9%) and 206 of all medical beds (21.5%) open for patients in seven counties.

These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19. We use the terms “open” or “unoccupied” instead of “available” because whether a bed can be filled depends on hospitals having the staff for a patient in that bed, including doctors, nurses and food services.

There were no hospital overflow patients or patients receiving outpatient Bamlanivimab infusion therapy at the alternative care facility at State Fair Park on Wednesday.

SINCE FEBRUARY 5, 2020

The coronavirus was first diagnosed in Wisconsin in a patient in Madison one year ago this Friday. That patient was treated for symptoms and sent home to recover. Since then:

  • 3,062,883 people were tested for the coronavirus (52.6% of the state’s population)
  • 2,517,446 tested negative
  • 545,437 tested positive
  • 5,951 people died from COVID-19
  • 522,361 people (95.8%) recovered
  • 16,966 people (3.1%) still have active cases

WEDNESDAY’S COUNTY CASES AND DEATHS (Counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) *

Wisconsin

  • Adams – 1,515 cases (+4) (11 deaths)
  • Ashland – 1,149 cases (+1) (16 deaths)
  • Barron – 5,147 cases (+12) (71 deaths)
  • Bayfield – 1,042 cases (+4) (18 deaths)
  • Brown – 29,494 cases (+59) (197 deaths)
  • Buffalo – 1,283 cases (+8) (7 deaths)
  • Burnett – 1,113 cases (+3) (23 deaths)
  • Calumet – 5,282 cases (+18) (39 deaths)
  • Chippewa – 6,863 cases (+30) (83 deaths) (+3)
  • Clark – 3,106 cases (+1) (56 deaths)
  • Columbia – 4,856 cases (+5) (46 deaths) (+2)
  • Crawford – 1,641 cases (16 deaths)
  • Dane – 38,164 cases (+79) (251 deaths)
  • Dodge – 11,185 cases (+11) (147 deaths)
  • Door – 2,362 cases (+8) (18 deaths)
  • Douglas – 3,603 cases (+7) (18 deaths)
  • Dunn – 4,096 cases (+22) (26 deaths)
  • Eau Claire – 10,637 cases (+40) (98 deaths)
  • Florence – 427 cases (+1) (12 deaths)
  • Fond du Lac – 11,605 cases (+18) (84 deaths)
  • Forest – 913 cases (22 deaths) (cases revised -1 by state)
  • Grant – 4,525 cases (+6) (79 deaths)
  • Green – 2,774 cases (+30) (13 deaths)
  • Green Lake – 1,497 cases (+5) (17 deaths)
  • Iowa – 1,800 cases (9 deaths)
  • Iron – 476 cases (19 deaths)
  • Jackson – 2,552 cases (+2) (22 deaths)
  • Jefferson – 7,614 cases (+7) (71 deaths)
  • Juneau – 2,900 cases (+11) (17 deaths)
  • Kenosha – 14,334 cases (+26) (277 deaths) (+2)
  • Kewaunee – 2,364 cases (+6) (26 deaths)
  • La Crosse – 11,815 cases (+41) (74 deaths)
  • Lafayette – 1,382 cases (+5) (7 deaths)
  • Langlade – 1,899 cases (+7) (31 deaths)
  • Lincoln – 2,818 cases (+7) (55 deaths)
  • Manitowoc – 6,979 cases (+19) (60 deaths)
  • Marathon – 13,347 cases (+11) (169 deaths)
  • Marinette – 3,917 cases (+5) (61 deaths)
  • Marquette – 1,283 cases (+7) (22 deaths) (+1)
  • Menominee – 786 cases (11 deaths)
  • Milwaukee – 95,463 (+208) (1,151 deaths)
  • Monroe – 4,115 cases (+17) (30 deaths)
  • Oconto – 4,168 cases (+3) (47 deaths)
  • Oneida – 3,223 cases (+8) (57 deaths)
  • Outagamie – 18,507 cases (+28) (183 deaths)
  • Ozaukee – 7,389 cases (+30) (72 deaths)
  • Pepin – 782 cases (7 deaths)
  • Pierce – 3,349 cases (+11) (33 deaths)
  • Polk – 3,621 cases (+9) (42 deaths)
  • Portage – 6,213 cases (+19) (60 deaths)
  • Price – 1,114 cases (+9) (7 deaths)
  • Racine – 19,901 cases (+34) (300 deaths)
  • Richland – 1,234 cases (+2) (13 deaths)
  • Rock – 13,840 cases (+18) (145 deaths)
  • Rusk – 1,234 cases (+6) (15 deaths)
  • Sauk – 5,100 cases (+5) (37 deaths) (+1)
  • Sawyer – 1,425 cases (+5) (17 deaths)
  • Shawano – 4,513 cases (+3) (69 deaths)
  • Sheboygan – 12,491 cases (+17) (122 deaths)
  • St. Croix – 6,161 cases (+10) (41 deaths)
  • Taylor – 1,759 cases (+2) (20 deaths)
  • Trempealeau – 3,292 cases (+12) (36 deaths)
  • Vernon – 1,752 cases (+8) (34 deaths)
  • Vilas – 1,982 cases (+14) (32 deaths)
  • Walworth – 8,629 cases (+6) (119 deaths)
  • Washburn – 1,240 cases (+4) (18 deaths)
  • Washington – 13,350 cases (+33) (124 deaths)
  • Waukesha – 39,302 cases (+84) (450 deaths) (+2)
  • Waupaca – 4,636 cases (+4) (108 deaths) (+1)
  • Waushara – 2,051 cases (+5) (26 deaths) (+1)
  • Winnebago – 16,597 cases (+18) (170 deaths) (+1)
  • Wood – 6,459 cases (+20) (67 deaths)

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula **

  • Alger – 274 cases (+2) (1 death)
  • Baraga – 491 cases (+4) (31 deaths)
  • Chippewa – 704 cases (+3) (20 deaths)
  • Delta – 2,617 cases (+2) (63 deaths)
  • Dickinson – 2,100 cases (+2) (55 deaths)
  • Gogebic – 866 cases (+11) (18 deaths) (+1)
  • Houghton – 2,002 cases (+4) (32 deaths)
  • Iron – 856 cases (+2) (39 deaths)
  • Keweenaw – 105 cases (1 death)
  • Luce – 130 cases
  • Mackinac – 278 cases (3 deaths)
  • Marquette – 3,412 cases (+5) (53 deaths)
  • Menominee – 1,595 cases (+2) (33 deaths)
  • Ontonagon – 337 cases (+2) (17 deaths)
  • Schoolcraft – 228 cases (+1) (4 deaths)

* Cases and deaths are from the daily DHS COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county’s boundaries, including tribal, municipal and county health departments; county websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at various times, whereas the DHS freezes the numbers it receives by the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.

The DHS reports deaths attributed to COVID-19 or in which COVID-19 contributed to their death. Most of the people severely affected by the coronavirus have underlying illnesses or conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, which raises a person’s risk of dying from COVID-19. They would’ve lived longer if not for their infection. The state may revise case and death numbers after further review, such as the victim’s residence, duplicated records, or a correction in lab results. Details can be found on the DHS website and Frequently Asked Questions.

**The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.

COVID-19 Tracing App

Wisconsin’s COVID-19 tracing app, “Wisconsin Exposure Notification,” is available for iOS and Android smartphones. No download is required for iPhones. The Android app is available on Google Play. When two phones with the app (and presumably their owners) are close enough, for long enough, they’ll anonymously share a random string of numbers via Bluetooth. If someone tests positive for the coronavirus, they’ll receive a code to type into the app. If your phones “pinged” each other in the last 14 days, you’ll receive a push notification that you are at risk of exposure. The app doesn’t collect personal information or location information, so you won’t know from whom or where, but you will be told what day the exposure might have occurred so that you can quarantine for the appropriate amount of time.

Symptoms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:

  • Fever of 100.4 or higher
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Chills
  • Repeated shaking with chills
  • Muscle pain
  • Headache
  • Sore throat
  • New loss of taste or smell

Prevention

  • The coronavirus is a new, or “novel,” virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it.
  • Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk, according to the CDC. Precautions are also needed around people with developing or weakened immune systems.
  • To help prevent the spread of the virus:
  • Stay at least six feet away from other people
  • Avoid close contact with people who are or appear sick
  • Stay at home as much as possible
  • Cancel events and avoid groups, gatherings, play dates and nonessential appointments

Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.

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Technology

Total War: Warhammer 3 announced

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The hordes of Chaos will finally hit the battlefield this year with Total War: Warhammer 3, announced today by Creative Assembly and Sega. Along with the four main flavours of Chaos (Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch), the third game in the strategy series will add the polar bear-riding Kislev and China analogue Cathay. Here, come watch a Kislev ice witch give a daemon a kicking in the cinematic trailer.

World

One Case, Total Lockdown: Australia’s Lessons for a Pandemic World

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SYDNEY, Australia — One case. One young security guard at a quarantine hotel who tested positive for the coronavirus and experienced minor symptoms.

That was all it took for Perth, Australia’s fourth-largest city, to snap into a complete lockdown on Sunday. One case and now two million people are staying home for at least the next five days. One case and now the top state leader, Mark McGowan, who is facing an election next month, is calling on his constituents to sacrifice for each other and the nation.

“This is a very serious situation,” he said on Sunday as he reported the case, the first one the state of Western Australia had found outside quarantine in almost 10 months. “Each and every one of us has to do everything we personally can to stop the spread in the community.”

The speed and severity of the response may be unthinkable to people in the United States or Europe, where far larger outbreaks have often been met with half measures. But to Australians, it looked familiar.

The lockdown in Perth and the surrounding area followed similar efforts in Brisbane and Sydney, where a handful of infections led to steep ramp-ups in restrictions, a subdued virus and a rapid return to near normalcy. Ask Australians about the approach, and they might just shrug. Instead of loneliness and grief or outcries over impingements on their freedom, they’ve gotten used to a Covid routine of short-term pain for collective gain.

The contrast with the United States and Europe — sharp at the start of the pandemic — has become even more marked with time. Fewer Australians have died in total (909) than the average number of deaths every day now in Britain and the United States.

“We have a way to save lives, open up our economies and avoid all this fear and hassle,” said Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland who developed a multilayered, or “Swiss cheese,” model of pandemic defense that has been widely circulated. “Everyone can learn from us, but not all are willing to learn.”

Australia is just one of several success stories in the Asia-Pacific. The region’s middle powers, including New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, are essentially getting better at managing the virus while the great powers of the World War II era are getting worse.

The center of confidence, if not gravity, continues to shift east, especially as China roars back to life. With successful public health, some argue, comes not just wealth and more stable economies but also national pride and the practical expertise that mutating viruses demand.

“I’m not sure we’re being looked at with enough interest,” Dr. Mackay said.

Australia’s geographic isolation offers it one great advantage. Still, it has taken a number of decisive steps. Australia has strictly limited interstate travel while mandating hotel quarantine for international arrivals since last March. Britain and the United States are only now seeking to make quarantine mandatory for people coming from Covid hot spots.

Australia has also maintained a strong system of contact tracing, even as other countries have essentially given up. In the Perth case, contact tracers had already tested the man’s housemates (negative so far) by the time the lockdown was announced and placed them under 14-day quarantine at a state-run facility. The authorities also listed more than a dozen locations where the security guard might have touched or breathed on someone.

Australia’s fight against the coronavirus has not been flawless. The case in Perth illustrates a persistent soft spot — a number of outbreaks have been linked to hotel quarantine, including one in Melbourne late last year that led to a 111-day lockdown. The strict border rules have caused hardship for many people, including thousands of Australians stranded overseas.

But the evidence of the country’s success has been building for months, and it’s been shaped since December less by a complete absence of the virus than by a series of rapid responses that have quashed small outbreaks.

Before Christmas, it was Sydney’s northern beaches, which were locked down as a few, then a few dozen, cases emerged. Holiday plans were ruined, as anyone from greater Sydney was barred from traveling to other states. Testing surged. There were few complaints, and it worked: The city of five million has gone two weeks without a case of community transmission.

Brisbane followed suit in early January with a brief lockdown after a cleaner in its hotel quarantine system became infected with a highly contagious variant of the virus first identified in Britain. It was the mutation’s first known appearance in the community in Australia, and officials moved quickly. Annastacia Palaszczuk, the top official in Queensland, which includes Brisbane, announced the lockdown 16 hours after the positive test.

“Doing three days now could avoid doing 30 days in the future,” she said.

Brisbane is now back to Covid-normal, like all of Australia beyond Perth. Across the country, offices and restaurants are open, with rules mandating physical spacing. Masks are recommended but not required. And large gatherings are in the works: The Australian Open, after facing a series of challenges from infected arrivals, expects to seat 30,000 tennis fans a day when it begins on Feb. 8.

Dr. Mackay, who has worked closely with Australian government officials, called it “the hammer and the dance.”

“The lockdowns give everyone in contact tracing and public health a chance to catch their breath, to make sure they interview everyone, that no one forgets then remembers something — and that lets them really stop transmission,” he said.

Europe and the United States seem to prefer, in his words, “the half-baked lockdown.” He said that they put too much faith in the vaccines, failing to recognize that their impact on transmission would be glacial, not instant.

Much of Europe in particular points to fatigue, then failure. An analysis of 98 countries’ responses to the pandemic by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, found that many European nations topped the Covid performance rankings a few months ago. Britain, France and a few others are now closer to the bottom, along with the United States.

“They didn’t go far enough,” said Hervé Lemahieu, a Lowy research fellow originally from Belgium who led the study with Alyssa Leng. “When they did make gains, they relaxed too soon.”

As of Monday afternoon, no other infections had been found in Western Australia. Inside the shuttered area, residents quickly adapted. Masks purchased months ago were put to use. Workers in nursing homes called the families of every resident to go over protocols.

Allan Thompson, an investment banker in Perth, said he was one of many racing back to their houses on Sunday to do their part.

“You know that John Prine song — ‘It’s half an inch of water and you think you’re gonna drown,’” he said. “To paraphrase that, we’re only in a half inch of water, and we don’t think we’re going to drown. We think we’re going to get on top of this. We know that good comes from doing the right things for the right amount of time.”

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