Health & Fitness

Half a million people are dead as confirmed virus cases top 10 million. The global total of deaths from the coronavirus has passed 500,000, according to a New York Times database, while the number of confirmed cases surpassed 10 million. The grim markers were hit on Sunday as countries around the world struggled to keep new infections from reaching runaway levels while simultaneously trying to emerge from painful lockdowns. In April, roughly a month after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic, deaths topped 100,000. In early May, the figure climbed to 250,000. More than a quarter of all known deaths have been in the United States. The number of confirmed infections — which took about 40 days to double — may be substantially underestimated, public health officia...

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More than half of patients diagnosed with coronavirus exhibit general weakness and respiratory distress even several weeks after recovery, according to a new study by Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The study, which was conducted by the hospital’s pulmonary institute and based on preliminary data gathered from dozens of patients who suffered from COVID-19, found that over 50% of patients displayed symptoms of respiratory distress whether they had a mild, moderate or serious case of the disease. “Within the symptoms that we checked for, we revealed general weakness among the majority of patients alongside shortness of breath, sustained cough and other complex breathing and pulmonary issues,” said Prof. Gabriel Izbicki, director of the institute. “The majority of patie...

The hospitals typically operate with nearly full I.C.U.s, and had planned to increase the number of critically ill patients they could treat. But the next morning, the governor issued an executive order that again restricted elective surgeries in Harris County. The order, however, allows hospitals to continue performing surgeries and procedures that will not deplete their capacity to care for coronavirus patients; some hospital executives and doctors, including ones at Methodist, said they were able to continue providing those services, which they viewed as particularly needed after being halted during the initial shutdown. The Texas Medical Center hospitals are collectively treating about 1,500 coronavirus patients, according to figures released on Saturday. During the previous surge in ...

A spike in COVID-19 case numbers on Sunday are largely due to a cluster of 17 Honolulu cases all associated with attending a funeral, according to the State’s Covid-19 joint information center. The state said contact tracing also identified six cases in Leeward Oahu associated with known clusters, and all of the cases are in isolation. In addition to the 23 Oahu cases, the Department of Health reported two new Kauai cases associated with a known cluster reported last week, one case on Maui, and a case on Hawaii Island with travel to Georgia. State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park explained to KHON2 how the process works. “[Contact tracing] is absolutely critical because as soon as we know about any cases, whether it’s reported to us by a clinician or reported to u...

At least 15,000 more Americans have died in recent months from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia than otherwise would have, health officials believe, pointing to how the coronavirus pandemic has exacted a higher fatality toll than official numbers have shown. SUMMER MAY BE KEY TURNING POINT FOR VACCINE As Covid-19 devastated older Americans this spring, often by racing through nursing homes, the deadly outbreaks compounded the devastation of Alzheimer’s and other forms of degenerative brain disorders that are common among elderly residents in long-term care facilities. Roughly 100,000 people died from Alzheimer’s and dementia from February through May, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Although not all the extra deaths were directly caused by the coronavir...

Three Indian states are extending lockdown measures past June 30, the date that the country's final stage of nationwide lockdown is set to lift. The eastern states of West Bengal and Jharkhand have extended their lockdowns until July 31, while the northeastern state of Assam has imposed a total lockdown in its Kamrup metropolitan area until July 12.  In Jharkhand: The state's Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted on Friday that the "struggle is still going on." "Considering the seriousness of the situation, the state government has decided to extend the lockdown till 31 July. The relaxations in lockdown already issued will remain in place," Soren said. In Assam: The state announced a "total lockdown" in the Kamrup metropolitan area, meaning all activity will remain closed apart from essen...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia’s second most populous state said on Monday it is considering reimposing social distancing restrictions after the country reported its biggest one-day rise in new coronavirus infections in more than two months. Propelled by Victoria state reporting 75 cases, Australia recorded 85 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, its biggest daily outbreak since April 11. Australia has fared better than many countries in the coronavirus pandemic, with around 7,800 cases and 104 deaths, but the recent surge has stoked fears of a second wave after several weeks of fewer than 20 new cases a day. The resurgence in Australia comes as total infections hit 10 million cases worldwide and the global death toll from the virus tops half a million people. As new coronavi...

A California man says he and 27 members of his family tested positive for the coronavirus, including his dad, who succumbed to the illness just before Father’s Day. Richard Garay told Los Angeles-based TV-station KTLA that he was the first in his family to come down with COVID-19 symptoms last month. “It went from running nose to headache to full-blown fever,” Garay said. Soon after, his 60-year-old father Vidal Garay also caught the illness — and his condition quickly worsened. “It was painful to watch my dad’s health decline so drastically in front of me,” Garay told the outlet. His last words to his father were: “Dad, I don’t think I’m going to make it.” But while Garay eventually recovered, his dad didn’t, passing away on June 20, a day before Father’s Day. It’s ...

Hospital bed and intensive care unit capacity could soon become a concern in the Inland Empire, where coronavirus cases continue to rise in two Southern California counties with the second- and fifth-highest number of cases reported in the state. Across all hospitals in Riverside County, intensive care beds are 99% occupied as of Sunday, said spokeswoman Brooke Federico — a 19% increase over the past two weeks. There are just five empty ICU beds remaining in Riverside County.  Of the 380 ICU patients in Riverside County, 28% are confirmed COVID-19 patients. Overall, the county’s hospital beds are currently 63% occupied. This means hospitals have flexibility to convert some of those empty beds to ICU beds under their surge plans, which is what hospitals plan to do in the coming week, Fe...