Pediatric hospitals are filling with coronavirus patients as schools start opening amid the latest surge in infections, this one driven by the highly contagious delta variant.
Children’s hospitals in Tennessee will be full by the end of this week, the state health department projected. The 94 children admitted to Florida’s Wolfson Children’s Hospital in July was more than four times the number admitted in June.
Schools are allowing students, maskless or with masks, back into the classroom. And some schools are closing as soon they’re opening their doors. A district in Mississippi reported 114 COVID-19-positive students for the week of July 24-30 and 608 students under quarantine, pushing two high schools and a middle school to virtual learning until Aug. 16.
Children in one pre-K classroom in Georgia were sent home Thursday following possible contact with a person in school who had tested positive. Another school in Tennessee delayed the school year start date by one week because of a number of COVID-19 cases among staff.
The American Academy of Pediatrics sent a letter to acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock last week, urging the agency to continue working aggressively toward authorizing vaccines for children under 12.
“Simply stated, the delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country, as it has also done for unvaccinated adults,” the letter says.
Also in the news:
►Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, highlighted the dire COVID situation in her lightly vaccinated state with a tweet that said, “There were ZERO available ICU beds in Mississippi as of early this morning. None. That means hospitals across the state may not be able to provide the level of care needed to you or your loved one. Not just for COVID-19 but FOR ANY EMERGENCY CARE.”
►Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday directed state health officials to use staffing agencies to find additional medical staff from beyond the state’s borders to assist present staffing resources overwhelmed by the latest surge of COVID-19 cases. He also has sent a letter to the Texas Hospital Association to request that hospitals voluntarily postpone all elective medical procedures.
►The number of COVID-19 patients in Georgia hospitals rose to nearly 3,500, eight times the lowest level earlier this summer. Leaders of four hospitals on the state’s coast said Monday they’re rapidly running out of beds.
►France is now requiring people to show a QR code proving they have a coronavirus pass before they enter restaurants and cafes or travel across the country. The measure is part of a government plan to encourage vaccination.
►Most state workers in Washington, as well as private health care and long-term care employees, will be required to show proof of vaccination for the coronavirus by Oct. 18 or lose their jobs. Gov. Jay Inslee said testing instead of vaccination won’t be an option.
►Nigeria postponed the Tuesday rollout of its second batch of COVID-19 vaccine because of “unforeseen circumstances.” Less than 2% of the country’s 200 million citizens have been vaccinated.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has had more than 35.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 617,300 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 203.2 million cases and 4.3 million deaths. More than 166.6 million Americans – 50.2% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we’re reading: Public health experts told USA TODAY that shaming and blaming the unvaccinated could backfire – entrenching their decision rather than persuading them to get the shots. Read the full story.
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CDC advises against traveling to France, Israel
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday raised its travel advisory for France, Israel and Thailand to level four, which discourages visiting those countries because of large caseloads of COVID-19.
The advisory says that given the substantial amount of virus transmission, “even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”
Upon returning to the U.S. by air, vaccinated travelers would still have to submit a negative COVID-19 test result that’s no more than three days old, and it’s recommended they get tested 3-5 days after arriving.
Pentagon to mandate vaccination for service members
The Pentagon will require members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
“I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately” when a vaccine wins full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says in the memo to troops, warning them to prepare for the requirement. The FDA thus far has issued only emergency use authorization for the vaccines. The memo is expected to go out Monday.
The Navy said that more than 74% of all active duty and reserve sailors have been vaccinated with at least one shot. The Air Force said more than 65% of its active duty and 60% reserve forces are at least partially vaccinated. The number for the Army – by far the largest service – appears to be closer to 50%.
Had COVID? You should still get the vaccine
White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci warned last week that COVID-19 reinfections are occurring more frequently because of the delta variant, further weakening a common argument against vaccination.
Many people who have been infected with the coronavirus decline to get the vaccine, saying they have natural immunity. Experts say that only goes so far, and they would be much better off heeding the CDC’s advice to get vaccinated even after recovering from COVID.
The CDC on Friday published a study that found unvaccinated people who have had COVID-19 are more than twice as likely to be reinfected with the virus compared with people who were fully vaccinated after contracting the virus.
“Natural infection will cause your immune system to make many types of antibodies and immune response to all parts of the virus, but only a small fraction of that response is actually protective,” said Nicole Iovine, chief hospital epidemiologist at University of Florida Health in Gainesville. “When you get the vaccine, the entire response is targeted to the virus’s spike protein.”
– Adrianna Rodriguez
Hospitals filling up, ICU numbers more than triple in four weeks
Surging coronavirus cases are filling beds at U.S. hospitals, which again are experiencing a major surge in COVID patients each week, a USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows. Hospitals reported 66,390 likely COVID-19 patients in beds Saturday, up from 20,184 just four weeks earlier.
Far more people sickened by the coronavirus were in intensive care: About 15,900, up from about 4,900 four weeks earlier.
In Texas, the number of people hospitalized with lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases is increasing faster than at any other point since the pandemic began in early 2020, the Texas Press Association reported, citing state statistics.
– Mike Stucka
Judge blocks Florida law banning cruises from requiring proof of vaccine
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will be allowed to require passengers to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination when it boards cruises departing from Florida – at least for now. Late Sunday, the company, parent to Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises, was granted a preliminary injunction by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, temporarily blocking Florida’s law that bans cruise companies from asking for proof of a COVID-19 vaccine to board.
“This order will now allow the company to operate in the safest way possible with 100% vaccination of all guests and crew when sailing from Florida ports,” the cruise line said in a press release.
– Morgan Hines
Canada opens its border to vaccinated Americans
Canada threw open its border to vaccinated U.S. citizens Monday after more than a year of only allowing essential travel.
Detroit’s ports to Canada were not overwhelmed early Monday. Wait times for the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel hovered around 10 minutes. Americans must test negative for COVID-19 within three days to win passage across one of the world’s busiest land borders. Travelers also must fill out a detailed application on the “arriveCAN” app before crossing.
The U.S. has extended its closure to all Canadians making nonessential trips until at least Aug. 21. The same date applies to the Mexican border.
The moment couldn’t arrive any sooner for loved ones who’ve been apart the entire pandemic. Asawari Kaur of Indiana, along with her family, huddled together at Detroit’s duty-free shop minutes before midnight. Some of Kaur’s family hadn’t seen her brother, who got married in April, in almost two years.
“We were all so eagerly waiting for that day,” Kaur said.
– Eve Chen and Minnah Arshad
Mom urges students to wear masks after 5-year-old child contracts COVID
Heidi Kim, an Arizona mom of two, learned that within two weeks of sending her kids to school, her 5-year-old daughter tested positive for COVID-19. In the previous school year, the two were home-schooled to protect family members from contracting the virus. Kim and her husband were hesitant to send their children to in-person school, she told “Good Morning America.”
“I was really nervous about sending them back there, but I had hoped maybe in September they would be eligible for the vaccine,” Kim said. “I had hoped it would just be the month and a few extra weeks depending when it comes.”
On June 30, Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law that forbid mask mandates in Arizona schools, an action similar to other such prohibitions across seven other states. Kim said that even though masks were encouraged, only two other kindergartners wore them to school.
“It’s incredibly frustrating because I think schools should absolutely be open. I don’t think that people should have to put their life on hold for a year and a half,” Kim said. “When we look at what public health is telling us, you look at the American Academy of Pediatrics, or the CDC, they’re all saying schools should be open. But also people who aren’t vaccinated should wear a mask.”
– Steven Vargas
Contributing: The Associated Press
