Month: September 2021

Oregon health officials Thursday announced 1,836 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths. In a newly-released report, the state said that of the nearly 12,000 new cases in the week ending Sept. 18, nearly 2,800, or 23%, were among those who had been vaccinated against the disease. That’s the highest rate since the week ending July 24, though the percentage has always hovered around 20%. “As COVID-19 cases have increased across Oregon, vaccine breakthrough cases have also increased, but at a much lower rate than in the unvaccinated,” the state wrote. “Vaccination remains the most effective tool to reduce the spread of COVID-19.” Of 2.5 million fully vaccinated Oregonians, just under 22,900 have contracted COVID-19. “The number of vaccine breakthrough cases identified in Oregon remains ve...

During an interview with CBS’ “The Takeout” podcast recorded on Wednesday and released on Thursday, White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci defended the NIH funding research at the Wuhan Institute Virology and said that “the only regret is that what it has caused right now is such a degree of distraction” from combating the pandemic. Host Major Garrett asked, [relevant exchange begins around 7:35] “There were two grants from the National Institutes of Health into investigatory work in the field in the Wuhan Institute of Virology and another institution there. Have you run to ground what those did or didn’t do in terms of creating any atmosphere in which a leak could have occurred or might have occurred?” Fauci responded, “Well, the grants that [were] funded were to ...

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There are 12 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 3,661, the Oregon Health Authority reported Thursday. Oregon Health Authority reported 1,836 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 318,914. OHA releases new COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough report OHA’s most recent update on COVID-19 breakthrough cases, released Thursday, found that 76.8% of the 11,994 reported COVID-19 cases between Sept. 12 through Sept. 18 occurred in people who were unvaccinated. There were 2,778 breakthrough cases, accounting for 23.2% of all cases. The average age of the breakthrough cases during that period was 49. Eighty-four cases involved residents of car...

A new coronavirus strain is making headlines this week after being linked to an outbreak at a Kentucky nursing home, where the variant, known as R.1, infected both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The variant is still not widespread. Just over 2,000 R.1 cases have been detected across 47 states in the U.S. — including a few in California — since March 2020, representing less than 0.05% of cases nationwide. Its presence has tapered off since August of this year, data shows. But the variant — which was first detected in Japan — had not been found in Kentucky before the outbreak in March affecting 46 people according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Here’s what we know so far. Why is R.1 concerning? The R.1 variant...

Four Humboldt County residents have died from COVID-19, including a person in their 50s, two in their 60s and one over the age of 80. Department Operations Center staff share their sympathies with the family, friends and caregivers of those who have died. Four hospitalizations have also been reported, including three people in their 60s and one in their 70s. Forty new cases of COVID-19 have been reported, bringing to 8,329 the total number of residents who have tested positive for the virus. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster shot for people 65 and older and other vulnerable residents six months after completing their first two doses, but excluded those at risk because of their jobs. Additional reviews are ...

County COVID-19 metrics show positive trends, emphasize need to continue protective measures NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC – New Hanover County’s COVID-19 percent positivity rate and hospitalizations have decreased slightly over the past few weeks, showing early indicators that the severity of COVID-19 transmission in our community may be improving. The county’s current percent positivity rate is 9.5 percent, compared to 11.8 percent reported last week and 13.9 percent the week prior. This is still nearly double the county’s desired threshold of five percent positivity but is an improvement from the end of August when the county’s percent positivity rate rose to more than 14 percent. “We’re seeing a downward trend in some key COVID-19 metrics and that’s a sign that wearing face c...