Month: August 2021

With the Delta variant infecting the city’s vaccinated and unvaccinated residents, Mayor Breed and Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax announced Friday that actions will be taken sometime next week to combat its spread — which could include an indoor mask mandate. Well, it was fun while it lasted. But with the bombshell findings released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) this week showing the Delta variant's communicability, as well as its capacity to cause more severe cases of COVID-19, masks are likely to again be a necessary part of our grocery shopping and restaurant outings. "We are close to a mandate of wearing masks, and I know people are tired of being told what to do but the fact is, this is where we are," said Breed during an outdoor event Friday. Her comments made yesterd...

A woman from Portland, Oregon has said 21 out of 29 people—13 of whom were vaccinated—who attended a family reunion have tested positive for COVID-19. Niki Marienburg told KGW-TV, a Portland-based television news station, that family members from across the country attended the reunion at Sunriver Resort, a luxury resort in Central Oregon, for 10 days in June. She said most of her family was vaccinated, and no one wore masks throughout the reunion. She told the station her family "had a great time" after not being able to see each other due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But two days after the reunion, one of Marienburg's cousin texted family members that she felt sick, before testing positive for COVID-19, KGW reported. "It sort of snowballed and we got text messages from other people in the ...

On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 11 new deaths from Covid-19, along with 3,318 new positive cases and 1,008 hospitalizations. Public Health said that hospitalizations are up 45% since last Saturday. 23% of those currently hospitalized are in the ICU. The number of deaths and confirmed cases reported today may reflect delays in weekend reporting. But today’s data brings the County to a total of 24,682 deaths and 1,300,313 positive cases. COVID-19 Daily Update:July 31, 2021New Cases: 3,318 (1,300,313 to date)New Deaths: 11 (24,682 to date)Current Hospitalizations: 1,008 pic.twitter.com/oSYHyh10Ey — LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) July 31, 2021 Covid test results have now been made available to more than 7,322,000 people, with 16...

Louisiana hospitals are running out of ICU beds as COVID-19 cases surge in the state. Our Lady of Lourdes and Oschner Lafayette General hospitals have run out of ICU beds. Our Lady of Lourdes has resorted to converting regular beds outside of the ICU to deal with the virus, KATC ABC 3 reported. "Part of that reason and why it's such a high percentage of our 70 patients is we're seeing enhanced severity of this illness in these individuals who, many of whom, are otherwise completely healthy," Dr. Henry Kaufman, interim chief medical officer at Our Lady of Lourdes, said at a press briefing. There are three beds open out of 156 in Region 4 of the state, with more than 1,000 people hospitalized across Louisiana due to the virus, according to the outlet. "About four weeks ago we h...