Month: June 2021

An empty Queen Victoria Market is seen on the first day of a seven-day lockdown as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, May 28, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders Australia's Victoria state on Monday reported its biggest rise in new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in nearly a week as authorities scramble to track the source of the highly infectious Delta variant found among infections. Authorities reported 11 new cases, up from just two a day earlier, but noted that all were linked to existing clusters, as residents of state capital Melbourne wait to hear if an extended snap lockdown will end as planned on Thursday night. "Nothing is on or off the table," Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told report...

Websites to confirm that vaccine records are in the state database for the lottery drawings show "no matches" for some. SEATTLE — Some vaccinated Washingtonians who are trying to confirm their COVID-19 vaccine information is in the state's system, are running into issues verifying that it's there ahead of the lottery drawings. Several people reported "no match" prompts on websites where they were told to check their records, leading some to worry if their information is available for the lottery drawing.  The first drawing for vaccinated Washingtonians is on June 8.  The Washington State lottery will use a random number generator system to conduct two drawings...

The coronavirus death toll in a California county has been cut by 25 percent — after officials found that some fatalities were not a “direct result” of the virus. Alameda County on Friday issued a corrected death toll that puts the total number of fatalities at 1,223, significantly down from its previous count of 1,634. “Alameda County previously included any person who died while infected with the virus in the total COVID-19 deaths for the County,” health officials said in a statement. “Aligning with the State’s definition will require Alameda County to report as COVID-19 deaths only those people who died as a direct result of COVID-19, with COVID-19 as a contributing cause of death, or in whom death caused by COVID-19 could not be ruled out.” Heal...

When was the last time you heard someone say, ‘good job, novel coronavirus. Well done!’ Well, that may not be exactly accurate, but a recent report from the medical community suggests that some strains of influenza typically found in the United States may be “extinct” at this point. With essentially no cases detected for more than a year, it’s possible that the Yamagata lineage influenza B virus and influenza A H3N2 strain may simply be gone. Before we begin popping the champagne corks, that doesn’t mean that the flu has been wiped out entirely. There are several other prevalent strains. But it might make the development and deployment of next season’s flu vaccines a bit more simple, which would be good news. But what’s the reason for the vanishing act? Doctors believe it could have happe...