Month: August 2021

What to Know The delta variant now accounts for 97% of all NYC samples tested in the last four weeks, though for the second straight week, transmission rates appear to be easing, new health data released Friday shows All five counties of NYC are still considered high transmission rate areas by the CDC, but hospitalization rates are declining in all five boroughs and transmission rates are down in three of the five The picture nationally is grimmer: the U.S. reported more than 2,000 daily COVID deaths (2,152) on Thursday for the first time since early March, marking a five-month high, according to NBC News data The highly contagious delta variant continues to spread through New York City, now accounting for 97% of all positive samples tested -- but for the second stra...

The Houston Health Department (HHD) announced Thursday that a male between 10 and 19 died in late July at a hospital. The victim was not vaccinated, HHD said in a statement. "While he tested positive for COVID-19, it's currently unknown if he was infected with a variant of the virus," the statement said. HHD did not release any other information because of privacy laws. Six other pediatric Covid deaths have been reported in Houston, but those victims all had underlying conditions, HHD said. "This tragedy serves as a reminder that children, even without underlying health conditions, can get seriously ill and die from COVID-19," said Dr. David Persse, chief medical officer for the City of Houston in the statement. "Getting vaccinated is not only about protecting you, it's about protecting e...

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- A Florida woman, who battled and beat COVID-19 in the hospital for eight days, returned home to discover her husband had died in their home due to the virus. "It was just like walking into a horror scene. It's just been horrible," Winter Haven resident Lisa Steadman told WFTS, ABC Action News. The 58-year-old thought she was through the worst of it. She and her husband Ron both got diagnosed with COVID-19 in early August. "I was in the hospital for eight days. Every day I talked to him," she said. Ron never ended up in the hospital. Instead, he was home taking care of the dogs, while his wife was gone. MORE | What we know about the delta variant "Sunday, when I talked to him, he told me his phone was acting up, that it wouldn't hold a charge. I said 'okay,' well th...

The financial cost of remaining unvaccinated ⁠against COVID-19 is rising. Health insurance providers are now asking people who contract the disease to share the cost of treatment, which can get expensive if it requires a lengthy hospital stay. Early in the pandemic, most private insurers waived cost-sharing for patients under their plans or even covered the full cost of treatment. In November 2020, nearly 90% of insured individuals would have had their out-of-pocket costs — including copays, coinsurance or payments toward a deductible — waived if they had been hospitalized for COVID-19, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).   But with effective coronavirus vaccines widely available, most insurers are no longer waiving those costs, according to KFF. The cha...

A boy in Houston between the ages of 10 and 19 died from COVID-19 last month, marking the city’s first such death in a child with no underlying health conditions. The child, who was not identified by name, had not received a COVID-19 vaccine, although it was not clear whether he was of eligible age.  CLICK HERE TO FIND A COVID-19 VACCINE NEAR YOU Currently, COVID-19 vaccines are available to children as young as 12 through emergency use authorization.  His death marks the seventh pediatric COVID-19 fatality in Houston, although all previous cases involved underlying conditions. "On behalf of the City of Houston, I extend my condolences to the boy’s family during their time of grief," Mayor Sylvester Turner said, in a news release posted by the Houston health department. "The death of ...