Month: February 2021

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images New, highly transmissible Covid-19 variants "stand to reverse" the nation's control of the pandemic and could "undermine all of our efforts" against the disease if the virus is left to proliferate in different parts of the globe, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Top U.S. health officials have warned in recent weeks that the emergence of highly contagious variants, particularly the B.1.1.7 strain that emerged in the U.K., could reverse the current downward trajectory in infections in the U.S. and delay the nation's recovery from the pandemic. The problem isn't isolated to the United States. As the co...

Press release from the Humboldt County Joint Information Center: Fifteen new cases of COVID-19 were reported today, bringing to 3,151 the total number of Humboldt County residents who have tested positive for the virus.   The Humboldt County COVID-19 Data Dashboard has been updated to reflect the most current vaccination data as reported by the California Immunization Registry (CAIR). In addition to case and testing information, the “Cumulative Totals” section of the Dashboard now includes the total number of vaccine doses administered locally as well as the percentage of Humboldt County residents who have been partially and fully vaccinated. Vaccine information will be updated each Wednesday.  The “Vaccine Data” section of the Dashboard will additionally include the following...

FLORENCE — State officials have fined another Florence restaurant for several violations of guidelines meant to protect employees from COVID-19. Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Wednesday it had fined Firehouse Restaurant & Lounge over $18,000 for allowing indoor dining, failing to have an infection control plan and not conducting a risk assessment, The Register-Guard reported. Firehouse is the second Florence restaurant the state has fined this month for re-opening for indoor dining. Oregon OSHA said Tuesday it fined Little Brown Hen in Florence $17,800. The restaurant is closed Wednesdays and did not immediately respond to a request from the newspaper for comment. Several complaints sparked an inspection of the restaurant, and OSHA decided to condu...

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Even as California continues to see big declines in COVID-19 after the recent holiday surge, there is growing concern about another potential problem waiting around the corner. New research strongly suggests that the coronavirus strain now dominant in California not only spreads more readily than its predecessors, but also has the ability to evade antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection. It’s also associated with more severe illness and death. Those attributes have some scientists worried that the homegrown variant could reverse the state’s recent progress in reducing new infections — especially if it’s able to swap mutations with other threatening strains. Experts said it underscores the need to vaccinate people as quickly as possible and to continue wearing masks,...

WASHINGTON — In the best of times, working at the United States Embassy in Pristina, Kosovo, was always difficult: Pollution, poor electricity, unreliable internet service and a substandard health system there rendered it a hardship post for American diplomats. That was before the coronavirus pandemic. In a cautionary cable sent last week to State Department headquarters, the American ambassador in Pristina, Philip S. Kosnett, described increasingly dire conditions for his staff, including depression and burnout, after nearly a year of trying to balance the public-facing duties of diplomacy during the pandemic. He said many embassy employees felt unsafe going outside, shopping for groceries or getting medical checkups in a country that disdained face masks. Others reported to the office ...