Washington Post: Federal data cited by two long-term care associations this week show that the number of new cases in nursing homes bottomed out at 5,468 during the week of June 21 and has climbed steadily upward to 8,628 for the week of July 19, the last week available. That is a 58 percent increase that roughly parallels the rise in U.S. cases overall during that time.
Deaths in nursing homes from COVID-19 dropped sharply to 1,324 for the week of June 28 before leveling off over the next three weeks, according to the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, which represent long-term care facilities. But a rise in deaths usually lags several weeks behind an increase in cases, and officials are watching for signs of increased fatalities.
Much of the surge is blamed on younger adults who flocked to bars, restaurants, beaches and parties, where some picked up the infection. Many of them displayed no symptoms but were highly infectious to others — including the staff and visitors of nursing homes.
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New In an interview, Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has also been involved with White House’s “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine program, said it may take until well into 2021 for vaccines to reach much of the general public.
“I would hope that by the time we get well into the second half of 2021 that the companies will have delivered the hundreds of millions of doses they have promised,” said Fauci.
During a presentation on Friday, Aug. 7, to a panel of experts convened by the National Academy of Medicine, which is helping decide who will be first in line for a shot, Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui said significant production ramp-up should start in November. It will continue accelerating over the following months until it is producing a “very large number of doses” on a monthly basis in the second quarter of 2021, Slaoui said.
Moderna’s trial has signed up about 10% of the 30,000 people it aims to enroll, Fauci said Aug. 6. Trial participants need to get the shots, which are spaced apart, and then be monitored to find out if they get infected or have any side effects.
Distribution of the vaccine: “It may not be going through CVS,” Fauci told Bloomberg, referring to the drugstore chain CVS Health Corp. “The DOD together with the CDC is getting very involved in how you get the supply chain to the people. That has not yet been worked out.”
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, which have a competing vaccine, are also signing up patients. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said at a Washington Post event last week that the drugmaker expects rapid approval from the FDA, at least for emergency use, and will have enough of the shot to begin distribution this fall.
“The main goal right now is to make sure we have a vaccine,” Bourla said. “There are two enemies: the virus, and time.”
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According to Dr. Fauci Masks are effective against droplets and aerosol. With respect to School Re-opening Dr. Fauci says there is no conclusive evidence whether kids get infected and transmit COVID 19. We know kids do not get as sick as adults.
There is a study that started May 1st called the HERO Study, Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes (HERO) where they are studying children in 2000 families to study their rate of infection, rate of transmissibility to family members and adults and if the children get sick do they develop antibodies and what their response is.