Month: August 2021

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new travel guidance Monday, adding several countries to the "Do Not Travel" list. The advisories warn against travel by unvaccinated travelers unless their trips are necessary.  The government has maintained a strict observance of the pandemic situation across the globe, adding new nations to the list as their numbers climb in the face of the delta variant.  CLICK HERE TO FIND A COVID-19 VACCINE NEAR YOU Health officials added Israel, Thailand, French Polynesia and several other countries to its list of "Level 4: Very High" risk travel destinations. At the same time, the U.S. State Department issued a Level 4: "Do Not Travel" advisory for Iceland and France.  COVID-19 SYMPTOMS: WHAT...

Enlarge / Burkholderia pseudomallei grown on sheep blood agar for 24 hours. B. pseudomallei is a Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, and it's the causative agent of melioidosis. A fourth person in a fourth US state has mysteriously contracted a deadly South Asian bacterium without leaving the continental US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Two of the four cases have been fatal, including the latest one identified in Georgia late last month during a post-mortem exam. CDC investigators determined that all four cases are connected and they suspect a so-far-unknown imported product may be to blame. The CDC had previously released an advisory on June 30 about the three earlier cases. The first case was identified ...

Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported one new coronavirus-related death and 437 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, bringing the state’s totals since the start of the pandemic to 543 fatalities and 46,940 cases. The latest death occurred on Oahu. No further information was immediately available regarding the latest deaths. The state’s official coronavirus-related death toll includes 417 fatalities on Oahu, 62 on Maui, 59 on Hawaii island, two on Kauai and three Hawaii residents who died outside the state. The U.S. coronavirus-related death toll today is over 617,000 and the nationwide infection tally is more than 35.8 million. “We need to really lower our case counts now through Labor Day, otherwise there will be unnecessary and tragic loss of life,” Gr...

According to the latest data released by the CDC, less than 0.01 percent of vaccinated individuals have developed COVID breakthrough infections resulting in serious health complications or death. As of August 2, more than 164 million people have been fully inoculated against the disease, CDC numbers indicate. Less than 0.001 percent of this population have suffered severe or fatal cases of COVID when they contracted it post-vaccination. Since the vaccine’s distribution, the agency has received reports of 7,525 patients with COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections who were hospitalized or died. “Vaccine breakthrough cases are expected. COVID-19 vaccines are effective and are a critical tool to bring the pandemic under control. However, no vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness ...

New Jersey on Monday reported another 884 confirmed COVID-19 cases and three more confirmed deaths as the state’s seven-day average for newly confirmed positive tests dropped after more than a month of steady increases. Still, all 21 counties in New Jersey now have either “high” or “substantial” rates of COVID-19 transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under those risk levels means, the CDC is recommending people in all counties in the state wear masks indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status. New Jersey has not reinstalled an indoor statewide mask mandate, though health officials have strongly recommended people wear face coverings in settings considered “high risk.” Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday announced the state will require masks i...

St. Tammany leaders are holding a news conference Monday to address the sharp rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations across the parish. Parish President Mike Cooper will be joined by representatives from St. Tammany hospitals as well as the St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston to provide an update on the spread of the virus. The news conference begins at 2:30 p.m.St. Tammany Parish currently has a percent positivity rate of 17%.As of Friday, among the COVID-19 hospitalizations between Lakeview Regional Medical Center, North Oaks Health System, Slidell Memorial Hospital, Ochsner and the St. Tammany Health System, 280 patients are unvaccinated and 38 are vaccinated. ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — St. Tammany leaders are holding a news conference Monday to add...