Month: September 2020

A bottle of influenza virus vaccine is seen at the CVS pharmacy’s MinuteClinic on December 4, 2012 in Miami, Florida. Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images) Friends: The time has come. It’s the first day of fall, and you can partially fill the coronavirus-vaccine-shaped hole in your heart by getting a flu shot. I got my flu shot on Monday. My arm still kind of hurts, but that’s OK, because now I’m less likely to get and spread the extremely shitty illness that is the flu. Isn’t that amazing? A cheap and widely available shot that protects your body from being attacked by a virus? In a typical year, the seasonal flu sickens tens of millions of Americans, hospitalizes hundreds of thousands, and kills anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000. But 2020 is obviously no ordinary year, with the covid-19 p...

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced it is investigating several new outbreaks in York County.Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said there are 12 cases of the virus at Sanford High School. The high school has switched to remote learning due to the outbreak.It is the first outbreak involving a public school in Maine, Shah said.Shah said transmission of the virus is tentatively linked to gatherings outside of the school, including a pickup football game and a sunrise gathering of seniors earlier this month.Shah said the outbreak further shows that any gathering can lead to transmission of the virus.The Maine CDC said it is investigating another outbreak in Sanford at the Wolves Club, where five patrons and one staff member have tested positive for the virus.Sha...

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 117,910 as of Tuesday, including 6,680 deaths, state officials report. Tuesday’s update represents 504 new cases and 15 additional deaths, including three from a Vital Records review. On Monday, the state totals were 117,406 cases and 6,665 deaths. New COVID-19 cases and deaths remain flat in Michigan. Testing has remained steady, with an average of more than 30,000 per day, with the positive rate between 2.5 and 3.5 percent. The state reported its highest one-day testing total with more than 41,000 diagnostic tests on Aug. 21. Hospitalizations are stable and the number of patients in critical care is near its lowest point since tracking, dating back to April. Michigan has reported 90,216 recoveries. The...