Tag: officials

UK officials to mull north England virus steps

LONDON — Health officials are scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss whether to add areas of northern England, including Manchester and Lancashire, to the highest-risk tier, meaning additional anti-coronavirus measures such as closing pubs could soon be imposed there. Only Liverpool was placed in the highest-risk category when the plan was unveiled Monday.

The discussions come as the regional government in Northern Ireland prepares to announce even tougher measures, including a two-week school closure. Northern Ireland has the highest infection rate among the U.K.’s four nations.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being criticized by all sides two days after announcing his three-tier approach to controlling the virus.


A report released Tuesday showed that the government’s science advisers have called for tougher measures, including a two- to three-week national lockdown. The opposition Labour Party has called for that advice to be followed, while members of Johnson’s Conservative Party say the measures

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Minnesota health officials connect COVID-19 cases to Trump, Biden campaign events

Minnesota health officials said Monday that they have connected more than two dozen coronavirus cases to Trump and Biden campaign events in the state.

Sixteen cases have been tied to a Bemidji outdoor airport rally the president hosted Sept. 18, according to state health officials. Of these, four were reported by protesters at the event, according to state infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann. Ehresmann added that not all of the cases were necessarily contracted at the event.

Officials said three more cases involved people who attended a Sept. 30 Duluth Trump rally, as well as another three tied to attendees of a Sept. 24 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport event where Vice President Pence appeared. At least one person attended both of those events, and cases tied to the Duluth event were part of the same household, according to Ehresmann.

The state also traced two cases to attendees of Biden campaign

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Quincy food store closed due to COVID-19 cases; health officials want to know if you were there between Oct. 2 and Oct. 11

A second employee at the Fruit Basket Marketplace in Quincy has tested positive for COVID-19 and the city continues to ask anyone who was in the store between Oct. 2 and Oct. 11 to contact them, especially if they are experiencing any symptoms.



a sign over a fire hydrant in front of a store: Fruit Basket Marketplace in Quincy.

© Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
Fruit Basket Marketplace in Quincy.

The city alerted the public Monday on its Facebook account that a single case of COVID had been detected at the Granite Street store. City Health Commissioner Ruth Jones said in a telephone interview Tuesday that a second of the store’s four employees has now tested positive. Both employees worked between Oct. 2 and Oct. 11.

Jones said customers who were in the store for brief periods — less than 15 minutes — are not likely to have health concerns related to exposure to the employees. (If they feel symptomatic they should be tested, she stressed.)

Of

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Nashville health officials are investigating a religious concert that took place without a permit and drew thousands without masks

Health officials in Nashville, Tennessee, are investigating an outdoor religious concert that they say took place downtown without a permit on Sunday and drew large crowds of people who weren’t wearing masks.



a group of people walking on a sidewalk in front of a crowd: Nashville health officials are looking into a religious concert held downtown on Sunday that drew large crowds of people who weren't wearing masks.

© Sean Feucht/Twitter
Nashville health officials are looking into a religious concert held downtown on Sunday that drew large crowds of people who weren’t wearing masks.

“We have worked very hard to slow the spread of COVID by taking a measured approach to protect the community,” according to a statement from the Metro Public Health Department in Nashville.

“The Health Department is very concerned by the actions that took place at the event and we are investigating and will pursue appropriate penalties against the organizer.”

Sean Feucht, a Christian worship musician in Northern California and creator of the faith-based political activist movement Hold The Line, led the event in front of the Nashville Metro Courthouse on Sunday.

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Quincy food store closed due to COVID-19 case; health officials want to know if you were there between Oct. 2 and Oct. 11

A Quincy store is closed and officials are now asking anyone who was in the Fruit Basket Marketplace to contact them so they can determine whether a single COVID-19 case has spread to others.

Anyone who was in the store on Granite Street between Oct. 2 and Oct. 11 are asked to contact the city’s Health Department, according to a posting on the city’s Facebook account.

“The Quincy Health Department is asking for the public’s assistance in contact tracing related to an identified COVID-19 case occurring at the Fruit Basket Marketplace on Granite Street over the last week,” the city said in the posting.

The city said the store is currently closed.

“Anyone who was in the store between October 2 and October 11 is asked to contact the health department at 617-376-1273,” the city said. “The store is working with the Health Department on the issue, and will remain

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Dept of Health officials dismissed criticism of Covid tracker app as ‘incorrect’

An academic research paper which was critical of the government’s Covid Tracker app was dismissed as “incorrect” and closer to “journalism” than research by the Department of Health.

The criticism was made regarding a paper compiled by Doug Leith and Stephen Farrell, academics within the school of computer science at Trinity College Dublin, which asserted, among other things, that the new app was sharing a great deal of personal information with Google.

In communication with Science Foundation Ireland, one of the app’s sponsors, a senior official in the Department of Health said “once again, Douglas Leith and Stephen Farrell have bounced a paper to… which contains a range of sweeping presumptions and assertions relating to the privacy of the app”.

“Although framed in the format of a scientific paper, it is journalistic in much of its narrative,” the official said. 

It is incorrect on certain key points and it is

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Rising Covid-19 cases and an uptick in hospitalizations may be the start of a predicted surge, officials warn

With 33 states reporting a rise in new Covid-19 cases and a nationwide uptick in hospitalizations, local officials worry this could be the beginning of the coming surge experts have warned about.



a person standing in a parking lot: A medic prepares to transfer a patient on a stretcher from an ambulance outside of Emergency at Coral Gables Hospital where Coronavirus patients are treated in Coral Gables near Miami, on July 30, 2020. - Florida has emerged as a major new epicenter of the US battle against the disease, with confirmed cases recently surpassing New York and now second only to California. The state toll has leapt over the past week and more than 6,500 people have died from the disease there, according to health officials. More than 460,000 people have been infected with the virus in Florida, which has a population of 21 million, and a quarter of the state's cases are in Miami. The US has tallied a total of 151,826 deaths from COVID-19, making it the hardest-hit country in the world. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

© CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP/Getty Images
A medic prepares to transfer a patient on a stretcher from an ambulance outside of Emergency at Coral Gables Hospital where Coronavirus patients are treated in Coral Gables near Miami, on July 30, 2020. – Florida has emerged as a major new epicenter of the US battle against the disease, with confirmed cases recently surpassing New York and now second only to California. The state toll has leapt over the past week and more than 6,500 people have died from the disease there, according to health officials. More than 460,000 people have been infected with the virus in Florida, which has a population of 21 million, and a quarter of the state’s cases are

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Washtenaw County schools, health officials advocate for COVID-19 safety in joint letter to community

WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – School administrators and individuals from the health department in Washtenaw County signed a joint letter to the community to follow COVID-19 protocol.

They hope to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and get things in classrooms back to normal.

READ: Tracking coronavirus cases, outbreaks in Michigan schools

“We really want to support the 50,000 students in Washtenaw County the 15,000 staff members, and making sure that we’re all safe and healthy,” said Washtenaw Intermediate School District Interim Superintendent, Naomi Norman.

Norman, along with other school administrators throughout the county signed the letter as a call for action in the community.

“We worked with our Washtenaw County Health Department and our local public private and charter schools to craft a communication to our community — to let them know how important it is to take care during COVID-19,” Norman said.

The letter also goes over the actions

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Health officials sound alarm over surge of new coronavirus cases

Last
Updated Oct 12, 2020 6:58 PM EDT

Chicago — Coronavirus cases are on the rise in 39 states and only three are seeing fewer cases. Average daily deaths are also rising in 10 states compared to two weeks ago. The Midwest has been especially hard-hit in recent weeks.

With the nation seeing nearly 50,000 new cases a day, public health officials have given an ominous warning.

“We are truly headed into the fall with it covered by a virus disaster on our hands,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

The country is seeing roughly twice as many new cases today as it did at the start of April.

“I hope these numbers jolt the American public into a realization it’s on a trajectory of getting worse and worse,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease

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New coronavirus cases, deaths released by SC health officials for Sept. 24

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced Thursday 664 new confirmed cases and 43 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 16 additional confirmed deaths and three new probable deaths.This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 139,021, probable cases to 3,686, confirmed deaths to 3,097, and 182 probable deaths.Confirmed and probable cases: please click here.Confirmed and probable deaths: please click here.Who Should Get Tested? If you are out and about in the community, around others, or not able to socially distance or wear a mask, we recommend that you get tested at least once a month. “Testing remains a critical component in the fight against COVID-19, and DHEC is asking South Carolinians to do your part to get tested,” Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC interim Public Health Director, said. “By getting tested, you are helping us stay vigilant and take the needed actions to stop … Read More