Tag: covid-19

Florida hospital admits its COVID positivity rate is 10x lower than first reported

AFlorida hospital handling COVID-19 tests confirmed to media this week that its near-100% positivity rate was overstated by a factor of 10, raising already-heightened concerns that numerous labs are over reporting the number of confirmed infections.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management posts a daily coronavirus update on its website, which features a list of the positivity rates of every COVID testing facility in the state. Hundreds of labs and hospitals throughout Florida are regularly testing state residents for the coronavirus. 

In recent days, numerous facilities have begun reporting 100% positivity rates, figures significantly higher than the statewide average of around 15%. Many of those labs claim to have tested only one patient, though others with 100% rates report testing dozens and sometimes hundreds of patients. 

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Merck CEO Frazier says COVID-19 vaccine hype a ‘grave disservice’ to the public

Politicians, government officials and pharma executives alike have been predicting a COVID-19 vaccine debut by year’s end, but Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier doubts that’s possible—and Merck has enough vaccine experience to know the obstacles ahead.

Instead, those who are promising vaccines later this year could be hurting the overall fight against the pandemic, Frazier figures.

In an interview with Tsedal Neeley, the Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, Frazier said officials are doing a “grave disservice” to the public by talking up the potential for vaccines later this year. There are massive scientific and logistical obstacles to achieving such a feat, he said. 

“What worries me the most is that the public is so hungry, is so desperate to go back to normalcy, that they are pushing us to move things faster and faster,” Frazier said. “Ultimately, if you are going to use a vaccine in billions of people, you’d better know what that vaccine does.” 

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22 States Now on Tri-State Quarantine List as Cuomo Ups Ante With New NY Emergency Order

Four more states were added to the tri-state’s quarantine-restricted list Tuesday — New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio. Delaware came off, no longer meeting the criteria to be considered a viral hotspot under New York standards.

That brings the total number on the list to 22. In addition to the newcomers, the restricted states include: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Citing noncompliance with the existing quarantine advisory, Gov. Andrew Cuomo upped the ante with a new emergency health order in New York starting Tuesday. Travelers from those 22 hotspots landing at New York airports now must fill out a form that state officials will use to ensure they isolate for 14 days.

Failure to fill out the form, which asks for contact information, before leaving the airport could result in a $2,000 fine and mandatory quarantine. Airlines will provide the forms to passengers prior to or upon disembarking flights to New York. Enforcement teams will be stationed at airports statewide to meet arriving aircraft at gates and request proof of the form’s completion, Cuomo said.

Out-of-state travelers coming to New York by train, bus or car are required to fill the form out online, though it wasn’t immediately clear how compliance would be enforced.

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Taos County deputies set up DWI, COVID-19 checkpoints

For the second night in a row the Taos County Sheriff’s Office will set up DWI checkpoints that double as COVID-19 information spots. The checkpoints will be set up Friday night on Highway 522 and Highway 285. Deputies will pass out information on the state mandates and phone numbers for the CDC and the Department of Health. They’ll talk to people about symptoms and signs of the virus and where they can get tested.

“It’s been overwhelming support and gratitude, especially from the out of staters who are entering New Mexico – because they just don’t know… so they’re grateful that we’re handing out this information,” said Sheriff Jeffy Hogrefe. He says Thursday night deputies screened at least 500 cars at two checkpoints. Roughly half of the cars were from out of state. They did not make any DWI arrests.

Taos County deputies set up DWI, COVID-19 checkpoints