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Your Coronavirus Update – Today, March 9, 2021
Photo: Dr. Fauci – has given his personal model of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The model will be housed within the national medicine and science collections. Fauci has used the blue and pink spikey ball as an educational tool over the past 13 months to explain COVID-19 in briefings to members of Congress, journalists, and the public. The model was made with a 3D printer and shows the various components of the complete, infectious form of the virus including the spike protein–a key characteristic of the virus that allows it to penetrate host cells and cause infection.
RHODE ISLAND & VICINITY
This morning, Gov. McKee will announce a plan to vaccinate school teachers and personnel.
The AARP Rhode Island is concerned that the age-priority for vaccinations will be lost in the plan to now vaccinate school personnel and the changes are not being done properly.
The U.S. Small Business Administration in Providence announced has scheduled two webinars this week for small business owners who want to apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans. The agency said only a few weeks remain to apply, and because there are udates to the program, the webinars will help people increase their maximum loan amount. The webinars are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
Walgreens added then removed teachers from their RI list of categories – “We apologize for the confusion this caused our customers, and will continue to work hand in hand with the state of Rhode Island to vaccinate our most vulnerable patients as quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement. CVS locations are also providing vaccinations for teachers and school staff.
Pawtucket will begin to take over 50 registrations on their list for vaccine availability. The form will serve as a contact list for residents to submit their information and be contacted by the BEAT COVID-19 team when an upcoming clinic they are eligible for is announced by the RI Department of Health. Currently, there is no vaccine clinic information though the City anticipates that vaccines will be made available to the 50 and over population the week of March 15th. Residents are required to provide information including their name, date of birth, street address, telephone number, and email in order to be placed on the contact list. This form does not serve as preregistration for a clinic and residents are still required to consult the Pawtucket website or call the BEAT COVID-19 hotline to register for an individual clinic once they are notified that they qualify. Registration on the form does not guarantee the resident a spot in the next vaccination clinic and all clinics are still on a first-come-first-serve basis. Go to: www.PawtucketRI.com/Covid19 to put your name on the list.
The variant in RI is doubling every 10 days – this will give us a spike, but we can avoid it if we do a good job with vaccinations.
Mass. reports 343 new coronavirus cases among public school students, 133 among school staff members
Organizers of Bristol 4th of July Parade and Gaspee Days Parade are in full planning mode.
Massachusetts educators groups have booked 25K vaccination appointments at CVS.
Cranston Elementary and Middle School began in-person on Monday – option out still available
The Providence VA Healthcare System reports more than 28,000 remote appointments within the first 5 months of 2021
Mt. St. Charles Academy will begin in-person this week
No. Attleboro kindergarten – 4 days in class/1 at home
Massachusetts mass vaccination sites at Fenway, Gillette costing $1.1 million a week
RI Seniors in need of transportation or other accommodation for a vaccine go here: https://bit.ly/2MTCF5G
Rhode Island Department of Labor has received 899,505 unemployment insurance claims, and 382,683 of those turned out to be suspected or confirmed fraud, the agency said in releasing that fraud data for the first time – 43% of all claims.
Blackie’s Restaurant will reopen.
Standardized testing will be given to RI students this spring.
Members of the Union Fire District have been helping transport elderly patients to and from their vehicles at the clinic, which is located at the South Road Elementary School building in South Kingstown.
Wednesday marks one year of living under a state of emergency in Massachusetts.
CVS has added 14 new stores to their resource of vaccination sites.
Massachusetts education officials announced they plan to postpone this spring’s MCAS testing in an effort to ensure a smooth reopening of schools.
Visitation begins again at New Bedford nursing homes.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills said as of Friday, travelers from Massachusetts are allowed to visit without requiring testing or quarantine.
Nineteen Massachusetts communities are in the Red category this week, which indicates the highest level of COVID-19 spread. That’s down from 28 last week, but West Bridgewater remains the highest.
Pawtucket has added Simpsons Pharmacy as a vaccine site for people over age 65
Providence is vaccinating everyone over 65, those over age 50 in the following zip codes 02907, 02908 or 02909, and Clinica Esperanza will vaccinate residents 18 and older provided they also help register and bring an older adult aged 65 or older to be vaccinated. Both individuals must live in the 02907, 02908 or 02909 zip codes.
Data – March 5, 2021
Deaths: 2
Tests – 17,993 – Positives – 333 – Percent positive – 1.9%
Hospitalized – 141 – In ICU – 25 – Ventilated – 16
Deaths in hospital – 2 – New Admissions – 11 – New Discharges – 22
Data – March 8, 2021
Deaths: 2
Tests – 17,993 – Positives – 333 – Percent positive – 1.9%
Hospitalized – 141 – In ICU – 25 – Ventilated – 16
Deaths in hospital – 2 New Admissions – 11 New Discharges – 22
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
CDC Released its guidelines for post-vaccinated people: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html
The Iditarod, Alaska’s legendary long-distance sled dog race, began Sunday despite the threat of coronavirus. The route, usually almost 1,000 miles, has been modified to avoid most communities and will be roughly 100 miles shorter than usual.
The French government is discussing conditions that would allow bars and restaurants to reopen with representatives from the hospitality industry. Speaking at the weekly press conference on Covid-19 today, Prime Minister Jean Castex said “we might be able to loosen some restrictions” by mid-April, “that’s our clear objective.”
FDA issues an EUA for the Cue COVID-19 Test for Home and OTC Use, a molecular nucleic acid amplification test and the first molecular test authorized for OTC without a prescription.
Some people are reporting skin irritations after receiving the Moderna vaccination, but it goes away in a few days.
Republican lawmakers conducted their own hearing Friday on New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s management of the pandemic, questioning the handling of the coronavirus in nursing homes.
Concern growing over the Pope’s visit and huge masses he will hold in the Mideast – that the events may be super-spreaders
Baltimore strippers are back to work after the city lifted a pandemic-related shutdown of gentlemen’s clubs, in the wake of a lawsuit filed by the clubs.
Israel is reopening indoor dining to people over 16 who are fully vaccinated.
New Zealand buys enough Pfizer vaccine for entire population.
Vietnam begins COVID-19 vaccinations after successful virus containment
Symptoms of COVID-19 continue to grow longer, now COVID tongue among them – a fuzzy yellow-white coating on the tongue.
J&J COVID vaccine could be approved in France by end of this week
Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday appeared ahead of the NBA All-Star Game and appealed for Americans to take COVID-19 vaccines
Malaysia will buy additional doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total secured to 32 million, enough to cover half of its population
West Virginia has loosened pandemic restrictions at restaurants, bars and most businesses to allow full capacity at those establishments where social distancing is possible.
The state of Washington has reached its goal of vaccinating 45,000 people a day
Utah – statewide mask mandate will be lifted April 10
Michigan to begin vaccinating homeless people for COVID-19
In the US, most flu seasons, somewhere between 100 and 200 children die from flu; so far this season there has been one pediatric flu death.
Dr. Fauci told military families that service members who refuse to take the vaccine are “inadvertently being part of the problem” and urged them to trust the expert who cleared the vaccines and follow public health guidelines.
Abbott said it has received emergency use authorization from the FDA for a test that can detect and differentiate the coronavirus, influenza A, influenza B and respiratory syncytial virus.
Hong Kong’s city’s vaccine program will expand to include more priority groups including teachers and delivery workers, and cab drivers as fears grow over a series of adverse reactions following the vaccine rollout.
CLEAR, the digital identity used in airports, is joining forces with CommonPass, a health app that lets you securely access vaccination records and COVID test results, Axios’ Erica Pandey writes. The result is an app that’ll tell planes you’re cleared to fly, arenas you’re cleared to watch the ball game, and casinos you’re cleared to head to the slots.
“A 2.3% jump in overweight dogs in a year is significant. It’s among the biggest increases we’ve seen over the past decade,” a period of rising pet obesity, attributed to COVID-19 at-home time, Dr. McAllister says.
Chip Sander, hotel consultant predicts a year or a year and a half before hotels are once again profitable.
Switzerland announces plan to give every resident five free tests per month
So. Carolina releases mask mandates.
Great apes at San Diego Zoo become first non-humans to receive COVID-19 vaccine
Health Canada approves use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Canada
Amazon increasing sales of N95 masks, per request of the US government.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found people with a BMI above 30 had a113% higher risk for hospitalization, a 74% higher risk for ICU admission and a 48% higher risk of death.
Many small independent pharmacies in rural areas of America are waiting for their vaccine delivery to be able to vaccinate their communities.
Dallas Jewish Conservatives plan ‘mask-burning’ party to celebrate end of Texas mandate
California statisticians are now saying that most moves in 2020 were within the state, and not to Texas – with San Francisco seeing the most exodus.
Confrontations on Florida’s Disney property in recent weeks have occured as some guests have angrily refused to follow Disney’s pandemic safety rules. Some of the situations have led to arrests.
All Floridians 60 and up will be eligible for vaccines later in March, an expansion beyond the current restriction limiting the shots to people 65 and older.
New York: The city’s public high schools will reopen for in-person learning March 22.
Vaccinations and tests enable some families to gather for Passover Seders this year in Israel
California’s theme parks will be allowed to reopen April 1st.
Unemployment claims increased to 745,000 last week.
A new nasal spray vaccine is in initial discussion with Brazil experimenting with it.