[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) A review of the genetic information shared on GISAID by researchers in Cyprus, who claimed to have discovered a new COVID strain created by the antigenic shift between the Delta and Omicron variants, appears to be inaccurate.
Multiple virologists and scientists have reviewed the shared data and universally agree that the “variant” is not an antigenic shift, by a chimera likely caused by testing patients who were co-infected with Delta and Omicron. The story was broken by Bloomberg on Saturday and picked up by multiple news outlets including CNBC and Forbes.
Dr. Tom Peacock, a virologist with the Imperial College of London, explained in a Twitter thread that recombinations of tests samples are common and that this wasn’t caused by poor quality control in the lab or bad science.
If anyone wants to check our working out on this (and I encourage people to do so if you are able to!) heres the phylogenetic tree of the sequences not clustering at all: https://t.co/Dg3YDh5x6a
Dr Leontios Kostrikis, the head of the University of Cyprus’ biotechnology and molecular virology lab, announced to reporters on Saturday his findings and shared them in the GISAID database. By Sunday both Bloomberg, who broke the story, and Dr Kostrikis were on the defensive insisting this was an antigenic shift.
In an e-mail, Dr Kostrikis wrote to Bloomberg that his findings “indicate an evolutionary pressure to an ancestral strain to acquire these mutations and not a result of a single recombination event.”
A study published on Oct. 14 called Genome Recombination between Delta and Alpha Variants of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), explored recombination versus antigenic shift, and the need for due diligence before declaring a new variant has been identified. The study examined seven reports of the Alpha and Delta strain recombinations and found that when the lineages were traced, the combination of the two into a new and unique virus, antigenic shift, did not occur.
The study concluded, “we must intensively monitor and carefully inspect such marked genetic variations to ensure their proper characterization.”
The hype around “deltacron,” mirrors a similar scare around “flurona.” Headlines announced the findings of people co-infected with Influenza and COVID, which people misinterpreted as a new virus. Although Influenza and COVID are both viruses, the similarity ends there. Creating a new virus through an antigenic shift between the two would be like trying to breed a cougar with an elephant.
Doctors and immunologists have explained that co-infection between multiple variants is possible, as is co-infection with Influenza or RSV. It is also possible for a coinfected person to spawn a new COVID variant if they were coinfected with two different strains at the same time. It appears in Cyprus, this isn’t the case.
Dr. Todd Wolynn, CEO of Kids Plus Pediatrics in Pittsburgh and an expert on medical misinformation and disinformation, explained why the headlines move faster than the science. “Before social media there use to be a saying, if it bleeds, it leads,” he said.
“Now with social media, if it scares it’s shared.”
On Friday the New York Times reported there were more than 900,000 confirmed COVID cases reported in the United States, representing a single-day record that would not include weekend or holiday data. Despite continued reports of the Omicron variant being mild, the United States also reached an alarming milestone, setting a new hospitalization record – 138,051 with 17,000 new hospitalizations because or with COVID a day.
Officials believe new COVID cases will peak in King County during the next seven to ten days. The IHME forecasts new coronavirus cases will peak at 38,000 on Feb. 4 in Washington. On Saturday the Washington State Department of Health reported 10,000 residents have died of COVID since Feb. 29, 2020.
[SEATTLE] – (MTN) Federal officials charged Kalvinn Jay Garcia, 24, of Sedro-Woolley with arson for a fire he lit on February 24, 2020, in an alley behind the Seattle Police Department East Precinct building. Surveillance video from the East Precinct saw Garcia light the fire, and a dumpster exploding in flames. The fire climbed up the back wall of the alley and spread to Queer Bar, a gay bar and events venue that had 50 people inside at the time.
Seattle Police quickly apprehended Garcia as he tried to flee from the scene. He was originally charged in King County Superior Court and held at King County Jail. Due to Covid-19 protocols, he was released.
Despite the attempt to burn down the entire block that contains 100 apartments and the East Precinct, the right-wing “thin blue line” media has been silent about the arrest.
Just months after the arson as Seattle erupted into civil rights protests over the killing of George Floyd, Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins warned of the dire risk if a fire were set at the East Precinct.
Why would the right-wing media be so quiet about such a terrible attack on the Seattle Police just months before the formation of CHOP? If the reality of a fire in that area would be a disaster, why didn’t that disaster become a reality three months earlier? Is this just another case of weak King County prosecutors letting another anti-police Antifa terrorist loose on the streets? Will Garcia simply get a slap on the wrist for his actions like all the other leftist Communist-Marxist pseudo-leftist terrorists in Seattle?
If you’ve read this far you’ve been manipulated using the same misinformation techniques of the right-wing media. Every keystroke above is factual. Garcia had his first court appearance on November 12. Garcia lit a fire in the alley shared with the East Precinct. The Seattle Police caught the arson on their surveillance cameras and captured a fleeing Garcia. Chief Scoggins on June 7 did tell officials that fire in that block would be unstoppable. Not one word typed above is “false,” in a Rupert Murdoch sort of way.
Garcia’s target wasn’t the East Precinct, it was Queer Bar on the other side of the alley, which had 50 people inside and Garcia is also facing a hate crime enhancement for his actions. Garcia comes from a troubled family with convictions for heinous crimes across two states. However, the pedophilia connection card is only interesting when presented to QAnon followers.
Jason Rantz, Dori Monson, Dave Preston, Katie Daviscourt, Ari Hoffman, and Brandi Kruse would rather not talk about this incident. A hate crime against the gay community on Capitol Hill, a little more than three months before the Western Barricade and the Pink Umbrella Riot, in the same alley shared by the East Precinct, doesn’t exactly play to their base.
Rantz is part of the LBGTQIA community while Monson was suspended for anti-trans social media activity. Kruse has quit the “mainstream media” so she can continue to dog out Governor Jay Inslee for “politicizing the COVID epidemic.” Daviscourt’s view on traditional marriage is well documented and you’d think Ari Hoffman would defend his LGBTQIA and BIPOC boss at the Post Millenial, but calling out one of their own for a hate crime doesn’t play with the base.
Instead what we have is the glorious sound of silence. No questions on why Garcia was walking around a free man during this time? Local news coverage has been little more than regurgitating the Department of Justice press release. Not a whimper about a dangerous anti-police arsonist taken off the streets. That wasn’t his intended target, it just “could have been,” and now you’re just manipulating the story. See how it works? Not the right-wing media ever plays the “could have been” card in their narrative.
The reality is fear sells and fear gets eyeballs and clicks. If the news plays to the primal emotions of a fear narrative, that your very way of life is threatened by an invisible yet perceived threat, then you can control an audience.
What does any of this have to do with Garcia wanting to burn down the East Precinct Queer Bar?
An example of the fear narrative is playing out right now. Jason Rantz got himself on Tucker Carlson after a 13-year old called 911 due to his father having a medical emergency. The apartment’s address was wrongly flagged as being dangerous for Seattle Fire to enter, so they waited for the Seattle Police to arrive. SPD, always ready to let no crisis go unchecked, blames the vaccine mandate. The same mandate that had six officers go unvaccinated. Are we not going to mention the Seattle Police Department started hemorrhaging officers in 2019 under the careful guidance of union president Mike Solan?
Had the data on the address been correct there would have been no news story. Rantz’s own story indicates 911 dispatched an aid car and not a medic unit, setting up emergency services for failure the second the call went out. Not that 911 made an error on the call, or that the 13-year-old in an impossible situation told dispatch his father was conscious and responsive. In the end, Seattle Fire entered the apartment without SPD, which is more aid than Lorenzo Anderson got on June 19, 2020 in CHOP.
According to the story by Rantz on MyNorthwest, “One medic explained that “had it been addressed early, his chance of survival would have been 60%.”
No data has been released on the medical condition of the father due to HIPAA laws, however, if the father required CPR, the survival rate was nowhere near 60%. In an ideal hospital setting the survival rate is 32%, and outside of the hospital drops to 19%. Even when a patient reaches discharge post-CPR, many experience a lifetime of issues including cardiac damage and hypoxic injuries.
What about timely defibrillation? According to the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, the survival rate to discharge is 34%. The same report would put the man who died in “Group 3” in the study, right on the line of Group 2. The best survival outcomes are from zero to five minutes, which by the 911 records was an impossibility. While Rantz by proxy is trashing Seattle Fire and their response, the timeline data shows there wasn’t much of a chance of a better outcome.
If the man needed defibrillation, his survival odds were statistically unchanged than CPR – if that is what the medical emergency was.
However, none of these facts, which could be confirmed talking to experts in emergency medicine to get an unbiased view, doesn’t feed into the fear narrative of a city in crisis, a city that is run by anarchists and Marxists, and a city in flames. Rantz’s “prediction” on September 6 of 200 or more unvaccinated officers getting walking papers didn’t play out. Another key requirement of being in the right-wing media, never to admit you were wrong, shared bad information, or got played in your coverage. Just move the goalposts.
Is the violent crime plaguing Seattle a unique liberal socialist-communist-Marxist-Antifa-homeless-drug-using-welfare-state problem? Data out of red Oklahoma, and red Tusla County, and red Tulsa says no. Tulsa was where Donald Trump launched his 2020 campaign in earnest on June 20, 2020, and it ended up costing Herman Cain his life. G.T. Bynum, the mayor of Tulsa? A Republican who served on the city council and has been running the city since 2016. Tulsa is on pace to set an all-time homicide record in 2021, after almost breaking the record in 2020.
I’m sorry, does that not fit the narrative that there are other issues causing a national spike in crime that began when Donald Trump was President? We are sorry to report, trying to burn 50 members of the LGBTQIA community and their supporters alive while toasting the Seattle Police and 100 apartment dwellers is not in alignment with the fear narrative of the week.
The Seattle Fire Department got bad information from 911 in the first place, dispatch sent the wrong fire crew, and they came through the door within national average (slow side, but average) time is the fear story of the day. Would this be a bad time to bring up Warren vs. District of Columbia, Supreme Court of the United States, 1991?
Instead, we have Jason Rantz politicizing Covid-19 on the same day that Brandi Kruse criticizes the politicization of Covid-19, and somehow this is all Jay Inslee’s fault. Worst of all, they are using a 13-year-old child as a prop. Hey kid, dad might be alive if it wasn’t for the socialist-communist-Marxist-Antifa-homeless-drug-using-welfare-state run by Jenny Durkan, Jay Inslee, Barack Obama, and George Soros.
Remember, the BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and religious minorities in the United States are not victims – white people are, and the scary dangerous evil awful blood drinkers are coming. Let me manipulate you with this story.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the need to get booster shots and waning immunity in a discussion yesterday with Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-D) when he was asked if a sixth wave was coming to the United States.
The surge that tore through the Pacific Northwest is coming to an end from Barrow, Alaska to Brookings, Oregon, and out to Boise, Idaho, while new hotspots are emerging in northern states plateauing the national decline in new cases and hospitalizations. Seventy-nine million Americans age five and up remain unvaccinated and millions more need boosters or wrongly believe they have lifetime natural immunity.
A study published in JAMA found a correlation between sleep apnea and a higher risk of hospitalization and having severe Covid-19 symptoms. The study did not indicate if CPAP therapy decreased the risk.
Johns Hopkins University data shows that new case rates in the United States have plateaued at a high level for the last three weeks and continue to be driven by the unvaccinated.
In Washington state, new cases continue to decline with almost half the population living in counties on the other side of the fifth wave. Hospitalizations also declined and we have lifted the avoid all unnecessary travel advisory for the East Hospital Region.
The Washington State Office of Financial Management reported 94.7% of all state employees are in compliance with the October 18 vaccine mandate and another 2% are either completing their vaccinations, waiting for accommodation, in the process of retiring, or facing termination.
The Kent School District joined Seattle Public Schools and the Bellevue School District (BSD) and canceled all classes on Friday due to staffing issues. In better news BSD moved to status green, with only 9 active Covid-19 cases reported between staff and students.
Nationally, the Department of Homeland Security updated the National Threat Advisory through February 8, 2022. DHS reported that domestic violent extremists remain their primary concern, and the agency had prevented “several” attacks. The bulletin indicated that there were no specific threats.
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that consumers of Fox News were more likely to believe Covid-19 disinformation. In related news, doctors are seeing a growing connection between prior COVID infections and erectile dysfunction in young men around the world.
New cases continued to decline statewide. The end of farming season, colder weather, and helping drive new case rates down in several sparsely populated counties in Eastern Washington. There remains a significant difference between lower-vaccinated counties and counties where at least 70% of the total population is fully inoculated.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Total Population in Group
Average 14-Day New Case Rate
70.00% or above (3 counties)
2,343,250
184.7
60.00% to 69.99% (4 counties)
1,242,200
305.3
50.00% to 59.99% (16 counties)
3,454,700
321.8
40.00% to 49.99% (10 counties)
584,875
317.5
31.60% to 39.99% (6 counties)
151,850
290.8
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate for Total Population, Adjusted for Population by County
Through November 10, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 277.0 Covid-19 cases per 100K.
Skagit County remains above 600, with a new case rate of 620.2 per 100K residents.
Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Okanagan, Pend Orielle, and Spokane counties have new case rates between 400.0 and 599.9. Asotin County is just under 400.
Fourteen counties representing 3.13 million Washingtonians have a 7 day moving average case rate under 100. This includes some former hotspots such as Benton, Garfield, and Kittitas Counties.
The 7 day new case rate was mixed, slight down to unchanged except for ages 20 to 34, which saw a larger decline, and up significantly for ages 50 to 64. Hospitalizations were down significantly for adults and declined slightly for children and adolescents.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
125.8
0.8
Ages 12-19
127.2
1.2
Ages 20-34
127.8 (down)
2.2 (down)
Ages 35-49
130.2
5.5 (down)
Ages 50-64
130.3 (up)
9.8 (down)
Ages 65-79
70.6
14.8 (down)
Ages 80+
78.6
25.0 (down)
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
Over 57,000 of the 62,145 impacted employees have verified they are vaccinated. Another 1,945 workers requested and received accommodation based on medical or religious grounds. Combined, almost 95% of all employees have met the state requirement. The number of employees who were terminated or quit increased slightly to 1,857.
The state reported another 1,259 workers are pending a final outcome. Some are finishing their vaccination series while others are waiting for accommodation decisions. There are also employees who are still pending termination.
Several unions negotiated that if a state worker planned to retire by December 31, they would be exempt from the mandate – and some of those employees fall into this group. According to the OFM, only 121 state employees opted to retire so far because of the mandate.
4,973 employees requested a religious exemption. 1,518 have been approved and 745 requests were withdrawn, another 1,306 people requested medical exemptions with 427 approved and 333 withdrawn.
The mandate’s impact on services statewide has been minimal. The Washington State Department of Transportation has cautioned that snow removal could be reduced during the upcoming winter season and Washington State Ferries are still managing service reductions on some routes.
Seattle and Kent School Districts join Bellevue in canceling school on Friday
The district said, “fatigue that educators and students are experiencing, locally and nationwide, 11 weeks into the return to in-class learning” was driving the staffing issue.
Kent School District (KSD) also announced they were canceling school on Friday.
Due to staff and substitute shortages, on “Friday, November 12, 2021, our schools will be closed and the central office will be open,” was posted on the KSD website.
SPS did not provide a make-up date while KSD reported the make-up day would be on March 25. We reported yesterday Bellevue Public Schools had canceled class for Friday.
A quirk in the holiday calendar has Veteran’s Day falling on a Thursday. Government offices and services will be closed nationwide, along with banks and there won’t be mail delivery. Because of the federal holiday, many are opting to take Friday off and have a four-day weekend.
“We recognize the late notice creates challenging circumstances for many families. Our hope is that the four-day weekend allows for some level of physical, mental, and emotional rest and recharging.”
A recent survey reported that 40% of school districts nationwide reported a critical shortage of staff and schools closing or moving to remote learning for November 12 has been reported in states such as Colorado and Louisiana.
Travel Advisories
Today, we are downgrading the avoid unnecessary travel advisory for the East Hospital Region to avoid recreational travel. Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties join Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties in the avoid recreational travel advisory. Hospital resources remain limited. It is likely in the next seven days we will end the travel advisory to both regions.
We are maintaining our avoid all nonessential travel advisories for Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana. The Idaho Panhandle continues to experience an extreme number of Covid-19 hospitalizations. Hospital resources in all of these states are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We continue to maintain our travel advisory for Wyoming and recommend avoiding recreational travel at this time.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Dr. Fauci does not believe a sixth wave is inevitable, if people take action
Yesterday, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-D) spoke with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Facebook Live. During the 31 minute discussion, Eshoo asked Fauci if the United States would experience a “sixth wave” like Europe is having now.
Dr. Fauci did not see a sixth wave as inevitable but set the bar high to prevent it. He stated that 62 million Americans who are eligible for vaccination remain unvaccinated, and getting them vaccinated was a critical priority. He also addressed vaccine and natural immunity fading, and the need for people who are eligible to get booster shots as soon as possible.
If you are eligible for a Covid-19 booster shoot Malcontent News strongly encourages you to not delay getting your second or third dose. It is fast, free, and easy. There is growing evidence that the half-life of Covid-19 vaccines is six to ten months, and the half-life for so-called natural immunity is five to seven months.
King County, Washington is reporting over 89.2% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine has EUA approval for children 5 to 15 years old.
COVID vaccines and boosters are free for anyone 5 and older. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
Our belief that there was an issue with the East Hospital Region data was correct. The Washington Department of Health updated the information in today’s report that accurately reflects the situation. However, there appears to be a different error in the data that we suspect will be corrected on Friday or next week.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied, and 13.6% of patients have Covid-19. This is not a sudden jump from yesterday and reflects a full dataset being provided. Statewide, hospitals have the staff to support approximately 642 additional acute care patients.
ICUs are at 88.3% of capacity statewide, with 23.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 273 patients with 33.4% on ventilators. The state has the staff to support approximately 140 additional ICU patients.
On Tuesday, the 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients had climbed back up to 111. The Department of Health reported 737 Covid-19 patients statewide on November 8, with 91 requiring ventilators. We believe that data is missing from these numbers. It is highly unlikely more than 200 Covid-19 patients were released in the last 24 hours.
Based on what we believe is accurate data out of the East Hospital Region, we are ending our travel advisory.
Hospital status by region – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
– Alcott (19) – Bell (24) – Blackwell (5) – Carson Elementary (10) – Clara Barton (23) – Eastlake High (66) – Ella Baker (6) – Evergreen Middle School (1) – Finn Hill Middle School (5) – Frost (5) – Inglewood Middle School (13) – Juanita Elementary (1) – Juanita High (30) – Kamiakin Middle School (5) – Keller (6) – Kirk Elementary (20) – Lakeview Elementary (7) – Lake Washington High School (7) – McAuliffe (1) – Northstar Middle School (12) – Redmond High School (37) – Renaissance Middle School (1) – Rush Elementary (1) – Sandburg/Discovery (9) – Thoreau (5) – Timberline Middle School (14) – Twain Elementary (2)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (3) – Bothell High School (12) – Canyon Creek Elementary (13) – Canyon Park Middle School (1) – Crystal Springs Elementary (30) – Fernwood Elementary (5) – Frank Love Elementary (8) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (9) – Inglemoor High School (12**) – Kenmore Elementary (16) – Kenmore Middle School (11) – Kokanee Elementary (7) – Leota Middle School (2) – Maywood Hills Elementary (3) – Moorlands Elementary (1) – North Creek High School (7) – Northshore Middle School (34) – Ruby Bridges Elementary (13) – Shelton View Elementary (4) – Skyview Middle School (2) – Sunrise Elementary (5) – Timbercrest Middle School (3) – Wellington Elementary (5) – Westhill Elementary (2) – Woodin Elementary (1) – Woodinville High School (5) – Woodmoor Elementary (5)
None
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
Malcontent News redefined the school district statuses in early October. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We adopted moving any school with more than ten active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
A number (X) represents Covid-19 positive and quarantined students and faculty combined. A number with an asterisk (X*) represents Covid-19 positive students and faculty only. Bellevue School District does not report quarantine numbers by the facility. Finally a number with two asterisks (X**) indicates a school facility with five or more confirmed Covid-19 cases in the last 14 days between students and faculty.
The Bellevue School District moved to status green today, having eight confirmed cases in the last 14 days districtwide. The Northshore School District continues to improve with the number of confirmed cases declining at many schools.
We continued to encourage parents to request daily updates from the Lake Washington School District. We would also encourage parents to request the Bellevue School District include data on close contacts. These two changes would bring the three school districts we track into alignment.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
No update
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker reports 79,829 new cases and 1,662 deaths nationwide on Wednesday.
Department of Homeland Security remains concerned about domestic violence exteremists
The Secretary of Homeland Security has issued an updated National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin regarding the current heightened threat environment across the United States effective through February 8, 2022. The Homeland continues to face a diverse and challenging threat environment as it approaches several religious holidays and associated mass gatherings that in the past have served as potential targets for acts of violence. These threats include those posed by individuals and small groups engaged in violence, including domestic violent extremists (DVEs) and those inspired or motivated by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences.
Through the remainder of 2021 and into 2022, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists and anti-government/anti-authority violent extremists will continue to pose a threat to the United States. Pandemic-related stressors have contributed to increased societal strains and tensions, driving several plots by DVEs, and they may contribute to more violence this and next year. If a new Covid-19 variant emerges and new public health restrictions are imposed as a result, anti-government violent extremists could potentially use the new restrictions as a rationale to target government or public health officials or facilities.
Historically, DVEs and individuals inspired by foreign terrorist organizations have targeted crowded commercial facilities, houses of worship, and public gatherings, which have at times caused mass causalities. The continued reopening of commercial and government facilities and the potential for ongoing societal and economic disruptions due to the pandemic, as well as mass gatherings associated with several dates of religious significance over the next few months, could provide increased targets of opportunity for violence, though there are currently no credible or imminent threats tied to any dates or locations.
Fifth Wave in the United States starting to mirror the U.K. as new case numbers nationally plateau
After weeks of plunging U.S. Covid-19 cases, the decline in infections has stalled out according to a report in CNBC.
New infections have dropped to an average of more than 74,000 per day over the past week, a 57% fall from the delta wave’s peak level of 172,500 new cases per day on September 13.
While that surely is good news, the downward trajectory has leveled off in recent weeks, bouncing between 70,000 and 75,000 new cases a day for nearly three weeks, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“We came from a very high spot, so we had our spike a little bit earlier,” Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a professor in the departments of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, said of her state’s declining cases. She noted that the cooler fall and winter temperatures in the typically tropic climate make it easier for Floridians to spend time outside, where the virus does not spread as easily as it does indoors.
Malcontent News had predicted this seasonality impact. Cases are surging in areas where colder weather has moved people to indoor activities. In 2020 a similar pattern of severe cases in the south during the summer as residents moved to air-conditioned comfort shifting to the north as people moved indoors to keep warm.
Although some are calling the growing number of cases in cooler areas a “sixth wave,” states like Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado didn’t have the same spike that the Southeastern United States experienced.
Fox News viewers more likely to believe Covid disinformation
People who trust Fox News Channel and other media outlets that appeal to conservatives are more likely to believe falsehoods about COVID-19 and vaccines than those who primarily go elsewhere for news, a study has found.
“It may be because the people who are self-selecting these organizations believe (the misinformation) going in,” said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at Kaiser.
Doctors link being nervous in the service and a failure to stand at attention with prior Covid-19 infection
The number of men in their twenties and thirties seeking help for erectile dysfunction is skyrocketing, and doctors are linking it to the after-effects of being infected with COVID-19.
Doctors around the world are seeing more younger men, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, report they can no longer perform in the bedroom or even be stimulated after they’ve recovered from COVID-19.
“We started to see our first patients with this issue post-COVID as early as last winter,” Greg Girard, manager of the Tulsa Men’s Clinic, told FOX23. “We’ve easily seen recently a more than 35 percent increase in the number of patients coming to us for help.”
“These are men mostly in their mid to late twenties and early thirties. We usually don’t see men seeking help or care until their forties and fifties.”
Girard said it appears the virus lingers in and is damaging the tiny blood vessels in the penis, and even after someone has recovered, the damage remains.
“There is no way to tell the difference between erectile dysfunction caused by COVID and E.D. caused by other factors, but we have ways of scanning and seeing what’s actually going on,” he said.
Sleep apnea severity linked to Covid-19 outcomes
The risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is higher in people with obstructive sleep apnea and other breathing problems that cause oxygen levels to drop during sleep, researchers say. They tracked 5,402 adults with these problems and found that roughly a third of them eventually tested posted for the coronavirus. While the chance of being infected did not increase with the severity of their problems, people with higher scores on the “apnea-hypopnia index” – a measure of the severity of their sleep-related breathing problems – had higher odds of needing to be hospitalized or dying from COVID-19, Drs. Cinthya Pena Orbea and Reena Mehra of the Cleveland Clinic and colleagues reported on Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. It is not clear if treatments that improve sleep apnea, such as CPAP machines that push air into patients’ airways during sleep, would also reduce the risk of severe COVID-19, said Pene Orbea and Mehra.
While crisis standards of care are still officially enabled at approximately 20 of Alaska’s hospitals, hospital officials have said that declining COVID-positive patient counts meant that facilities have not had to act on those standards in the last few weeks.
Nearly 11,000 votes were cast in the Oct. 26 special election, with the Assembly unanimously certifying the results during its Tuesday meeting.
The official reason for the recall attempt stemmed from Zaletel’s attendance at a public meeting in which recall backers say attracted more people than was allowed under COVID-19 protocols at the time.
Colorado
Although the current surge in Colorado is part of the “fifth wave,” it could be an unnerving omen about what awaits other states in the coming months.
Gov. Jared Polis said Wednesday that the state will take new steps such as increasing the number of hospital beds and making indoor events safer as Colorado’s hospital bed capacity has hit an all-time low.
This update came at a meeting of the Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee (GEEERC), at which state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said that COVID-19 cases have increased rapidly over the past few days.
There are 759 hospital beds available in Colorado, and 1,426 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized.
Of those who are currently hospitalized, 79% of them are unvaccinated, she said, adding that unvaccinated patients are 8.9 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19.
The maximum number of COVID-19 patients that Colorado hospitals can accommodate is about 2,000, and current models show that the state will exceed that number by late next month.
“My world is still fully COVID,” said Combs. She has worked in ICUs for 18 years and has been a nurse for more than 20.
Combs says a great percentage of critical COVID patients now are not merely in disbelief, as she’s witnessed with cancer patients over the years, but disbelievers.
“It’s hard though when you know that you’re doing good for the patients, but they’re yelling at you,” she said. “They’re telling you it’s not real. They’re telling you that you’re a murderer.”
Some believe the hospital is making them sick.
“’I can’t breathe,’” she hears them say. “Exactly. That’s because you have COVID. ‘Well no I don’t have COVID, that’s not real.’ I’ve had these conversations with people.”
“We didn’t lose one, two, three — we lost nine,” the sheriff said, noting that the first death from the virus came in April 2020.
The South Florida SunSentinel reported that black and white photos of the victims were on stage at the church in Sunrise: Deputy Shannon Bennett, 39; Nikima Thompson, 41; Wiley Huff, 73; Lt. Aldemar Rengifo Jr., 54; Pamela Ford, 54; Stephen Adams, 42; Sgt. Shane Owens, 48; Edwin Sanchez, 61; and Tasha Blackwood, 54.
Covid-19 has been the largest killer of law enforcement in 2020 and 2021.
The baby died in October in the Southwest health district, which includes Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, and Washington counties. To protect the privacy of the family, additional information about the infant will not be released, according to IDHW.
“Our hearts go out to the family of this child,” said Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator for the Idaho Division of Public Health. “Infection with the virus can have devastating impacts on families, and this situation highlights the seriousness of COVID-19.”
While Idaho has made transferring COVID patients to other states a leading economic export, the state legislature is poised to vote on blocking vaccine mandates.
Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry President Alex LaBeau told lawmakers that such a law would put “tyrannical practices on the free market.”
The Legislature is scheduled to reconvene Monday, mainly to pass a law or laws to thwart President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates. But potential laws aimed at preventing Idaho employers from requiring employees to get the coronavirus vaccine is also likely to be introduced by far-right Republican lawmakers.
Most mainstream Republicans are wary of government getting between employers and employees, including Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke and Republican Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder. Both have said lawmakers will look at legislation that would allow the state to initiate legal action over federal vaccine mandates on private employers. The legislation would include $2 million for a potential legal battle.
About a dozen potential laws are expected to be brought forward next week. Those proposed laws are likely to include some from far-right lawmakers that would prevent Idaho employers from requiring employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s not clear how they will do in the House and Senate if brought forward.
“As we hear about possible legislation from self-proclaimed ‘champions of liberty and limited government’ in support of guaranteed salaries and stripping the rights of entrepreneurs, we couldn’t stand by quietly as this thinly cloaked socialism gets wrapped up in a facade of freedom,” LaBeau wrote.
Editor’s Note: Yes, you read that right, conservative business-owning Republicans are calling far-right Republicans “socialists.”
There are currently 525 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, up from 481 on Monday. Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 71.6% are unvaccinated and 85% of those listed in intensive care with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
The number of long-term care facilities reporting a virus outbreak increased from 28 to 29 since Monday.
Iowa is also seeing a late-stage “fifth wave” as the weather has turned cooler and people moved indoors.
Montana
Dr. Justin Buls, the Kalispell site director of the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, is also a school trustee on the West Valley School District in the Flathead, and that board last month voted to distance itself from the comments he posted to his Facebook account, which also included updating his profile picture to show a swastika made with syringe needles.
KPAX reported University of Montana spokesman Dave Kuntz said that while Bulls remains affiliated with the university’s physician training program, which includes supervising medical doctors in training, the institution is aware of the comments and the controversy.
“The UM Family Medicine program doesn’t endorse these personal views,” Kuntz said. “We don’t support hate-speech and anti-Semitism, and we expect that of our community members, especially those in critical teaching roles, and expect physicians to act in a way that meets those. Dr. Buls hasn’t lived up to them.”
Repeated messages to Buls by the Daily Montanan via his social media account and through a university spokesperson went unanswered.
However, archived posts from his Facebook account show that he was suspended at least twice from Facebook and independent fact-checkers also flagged several of his posts. In his comments, he also claims the COVID-19 virus was created in a lab and “released on purpose to kill millions of people,” a narrative that is popular in some social media circles but without a factual basis.
That player was still in the hospital Wednesday, though Zimmer said the player is “stable now.” Zimmer added the situation “was scary.”
The Vikings are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak. The team placed three players — center Garrett Bradbury, guard Dakota Dozier, and safety Harrison Smith — on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday. The team placed two additional players — linebacker Ryan Connelly and practice squad tackle Timon Parris — on that list Monday.
Kirk Cousins, the starting quarterback for the Vikings, is one of the league’s most outspoken critics of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In life, Dr. Christopher Foley was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. He cycled regularly, played handball, and had a passion for Irish music.
As a physician who trained in internal medicine at the University of Minnesota and became a natural medicine doctor, Foley’s “passion lay truly in taking care of other people,” said his son, Logan.
But through his Vadnais Heights-based practice, Foley also spread falsehoods about the COVID pandemic and vaccines. Foley died in October of complications from Covid-19. He was 71. At his funeral, Foley’s son Logan confirmed his father’s death from COVID and that he was unvaccinated.
Wisconsin
For a second day in a row, testing identified more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases in Wisconsin, as the state saw the highest one-day increase in its death toll in two weeks. At the same time, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which has dealt with a number of issues with vaccination reporting the past couple of weeks, revised the total number of doses back to Friday’s figure while it solves the latest problems.
The latest DHS report says there are 3,370 more confirmed cases in the past day. This caused the 7-day average to jump again, from 2,295 to 2,453 cases per day, the highest 7-day average in a month.
It comes as no surprise with the rising case numbers this past week that more counties saw their virus activity labels upgraded — or downgraded, depending on your perspective. The DHS says 8 counties have “critically high” virus activity, which is twice as many counties as the last two weeks; 62 counties have “very high” activity, down from 65 counties last week; 2 counties have “high” activity, down from 3 counties. No counties have “moderate” or “low” virus activity.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) Three weeks after the October 18 vaccine mandate deadline, new cases rates are plummeting statewide while the number of vaccinated residents increases. Additionally, hospitalizations have broken through a weeks-long plateau. It is safe to say that Washington is on the other side of the fifth wave.
The Department of Health reported that almost 80% of Washington residents 12 and older have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday. Remarkably, that’s only good enough to put the state in fourteenth place nationally.
There was a massive decline in the number of acute care patients in the East Hospital Region, and the state is reporting more than 1,000 acute care beds available for the first time since early August.
The Bellevue School District has announced that schools will be closed on Friday due to low staffing levels, pending inclement weather, and Covid-19 protocols.
Despite the good news locally and statewide, there are growing signs that health officials nationally are growing more concerned about a looming sixth wave. Pfizer has formally requested booster shot emergency use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine for anyone over 18 years old. In Colorado, state health officials have told all residents over 18 years old who are eligible for a booster to seek one. New Mexico health officials partially blamed waning vaccine protection for driving a growing surge in the state.
Emerald Robinson, the White House reporter for Newsmax has been suspended by the agency and permanently banned by Twitter for spreading Covid-19 disinformation. In contrast, Aaron Rodgers is being fined $14,650 by the NFL for attending a Halloween party.
Alaska officials believe the worst is over, however, 20 hospitals are still operating using crisis standards of care.
Howard Breidenbach of Myrtle Beach, Oregon was an anti-vaxxer and conspiracy theorist who spent 102 days at UW Medical Center in Seattle fighting for his life. He has long COVID and lost everything five years before retirement, and he is now begging others regardless of their politics to get vaccinated.
Finally, a Utah elementary school teacher has been suspended for teaching a lesson about Covid-19 disinformation, racism, and insurrection.
New case rates dropped statewide indicating that the weeks-long plateau and the step down from last week are broken. After 82 days it is becoming increasingly clear the Delta surge in Washington state is coming to an end.
There remains a significant difference between lower-vaccinated counties and counties where at least 70% of the total population is fully inoculated.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Total Population in Group
Average 14-Day New Case Rate
70.00% or above (3 counties)
2,343,250
188.2 (down)
60.00% to 69.99% (4 counties)
1,242,200
308.3 (down)
50.00% to 59.99% (16 counties)
3,454,700
327.6 (down)
40.00% to 49.99% (10 counties)
584,875
322.4 (down)
31.50% to 39.99% (6 counties)
151,850
300.3 (down)
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate for Total Population, Adjusted for Population by County
Through November 9, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 281.6 Covid-19 cases per 100K.
Skagit County remains above 600, with a new case rate of 627.8 per 100K residents.
Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Okanagan, Pend Orielle, and Spokane counties have new case rates between 400.0 and 599.9. Cowlitz, Mason, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties were just under 400.
Thirteen counties representing 3.1 million Washingtonians have a 7 day moving average case rate under 100.
The 7 day new case rate was down for all ages (just slightly for 80 and above) while hospitalizations were mostly unchanged.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
130.2 (down)
0.9
Ages 12-19
133.9 (down)
1.3
Ages 20-34
127.8 (down)
2.7
Ages 35-49
127.5 (down)
6.6
Ages 50-64
103.2 (down)
11.4
Ages 65-79
71.6 (down)
16.7
Ages 80+
76.1
28.6 (up)
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
Almost 80% of Washingtonians 12 and above have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine
The Washington State Department of Health reported 79.6% of Washingtonians 12 and older have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 73.5% of the state is fully vaccinated.
According to the Mayo Clinic and through November 7, Washington state ranks tenth in the United States for children ages 12 to 17 fully vaccinated, ninth for adults 18 to 64, and eight for seniors 65 and older.
When you consider at least a single dose, Washington drops to 14th place for children ages 12 to 17, 14th for adults 18 to 65, and in a 32-way first-place tie for seniors 65 and older.
The red-blue political divide is also strong in the data. Among children 12 to 17 and adults 18 to 64 the first red state is Utah in 19th place. For seniors over 65, 32 states have achieved >99% vaccinated.
New case rates in Washington started to plummet 16 days after the October 18 vaccine mandate deadline passed for state, educational, and healthcare workers.
Travel Advisories
With new cases starting to decline statewide, we continue to hope the East Hospital Region travel advisory can end in the next 2 to 9 days. For now, we’re maintaining our recreational travel advisory to the region, including Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. Acute care and ICU capacity remain limited.
Additionally, we are maintaining the travel advisory for the Northwest Hospital Region. The region includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties.
We are adding Colorado to our list of states to avoid all nonessential travel. Last Sunday, Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order implementing crisis standards of care. We continue to strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. Alaska and the Idaho Panhandle are experiencing an extreme number of Covid-19 hospitalizations. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We are downgrading our travel advisory for Wyoming and recommend avoiding recreational travel at this time. The situation has improved significantly in the last two weeks.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Pfizer formally requests Covid-19 boosters for adults approved
Pfizer and BioNTech announced they’re formally seeking emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine booster for all individuals over 17 years old.
The submission is based on the results of a Phase 3 trial involving more than 10,000 participants. The trial found boosters were safe and had an efficacy of 95% against symptomatic Covid-19 against the more transmissible Delta variant, which was the dominant strain during the study.
Get Your Booster
If you are eligible for a Covid-19 booster shoot Malcontent News strongly encourages you to not delay getting your second or third dose. It is fast, free, and easy. There is growing evidence that the half-life of Covid-19 vaccines is six to ten months, and the half-life for so-called natural immunity is 5 to 7 months.
If you’re supportive of vaccination, the biggest step you can take to help stop a sixth wave is get your booster shot.
King County, Washington is reporting over 89.2% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine has EUA approval for children 5 to 15 years old.
COVID vaccines and boosters are free for anyone 5 and older. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
We continue to believe there is a problem with the state hospitalization data and that information is missing from the East Hospital Region. A more than 30% decline in total acute care patients over a weekend or the addition of almost 350 staffed acute care beds seem unlikely.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 86% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied, and 13.3% of patients have Covid-19. Statewide, hospitals have the staff to support approximately 1,079 additional acute care patients.
ICUs are at 88.7% of capacity statewide, with 24.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 287 patients with 46.4% on ventilators. The state has the staff to support approximately 133 additional ICU patients.
On Tuesday, the 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients was 109. The Department of Health reported 950 Covid-19 patients statewide on November 8, with 133 requiring ventilators.
Hospital readiness in the East Region has improved dramatically. However, there is no information to indicate there was a surge in staffing or resources to add so many beds over the previous weekend. We have submitted a question to the Washington State Department of Health. If the data is accurate, the travel advisory for the East Region will be lifted immediately.
Hospital status by region – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
– Alcott (19) – Bell (24) – Blackwell (5) – Carson Elementary (10) – Clara Barton (23) – Eastlake High (66) – Ella Baker (6) – Evergreen Middle School (1) – Finn Hill Middle School (5) – Frost (5) – Inglewood Middle School (13) – Juanita Elementary (1) – Juanita High (30) – Kamiakin Middle School (5) – Keller (6) – Kirk Elementary (20) – Lakeview Elementary (7) – Lake Washington High School (7) – McAuliffe (1) – Northstar Middle School (12) – Redmond High School (37) – Renaissance Middle School (1) – Rush Elementary (1) – Sandburg/Discovery (9) – Thoreau (5) – Timberline Middle School (14) – Twain Elementary (2)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (4) – Bothell High School (11**) – Canyon Creek Elementary (5) – Canyon Park Middle School (1) – Crystal Springs Elementary (8) – Fernwood Elementary (5) – Frank Love Elementary (6) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (6) – Inglemoor High School (13**) – Kenmore Elementary (16) – Kenmore Middle School (12) – Kokanee Elementary (7) – Leota Middle School (2) – Maywood Hills Elementary (2) – Moorlands Elementary (1) – North Creek High School (7) – Northshore Middle School (57) – Ruby Bridges Elementary (14) – Shelton View Elementary (5) – Skyview Middle School (7**) – Sunrise Elementary (6) – Timbercrest Middle School (2) – Wellington Elementary (5) – Westhill Elementary (3) – Woodin Elementary (1) – Woodinville High School (4) – Woodmoor Elementary (6)
None
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than ten active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
There were no significant changes today.
We continued to encourage parents to request daily updates from the Lake Washington School District. We would also encourage parents to request the Bellevue School District include data on close contacts. These two changes would bring the three school districts we track into alignment.
Bellevue School District to close on Friday due to staffing shortages
The Bellevue School District (BSD) announced there would be no classes on Friday, November 12, due to staffing shortages, anticipated inclement weather, and Covid-19 restrictions. Athletics programming for Friday will run as currently scheduled while regularly scheduled afterschool activities are canceled.
Some of the creative solutions we have provided in the past with staff shortages, will not work with the Covid-19 restrictions,” the statement from the District said. “For example, combining classes is not an option at this time.”
Although poor weather is forecasted for Friday, there is nothing in the weather models to indicate a significant wind event or freezing precipitation.
The District also addressed the issue of childcare.
“We recognize that this notice may result in the need for childcare for families. Right at School, our partner in providing childcare is on hand to assist those who wish to get quick access to their services.
Friday, January 28, 2022 will be the makeup day.
Schools were struggling with low staffing levels before the pandemic and in Washington over 97% of school staff got vaccinated or had an exemption approved.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
No update
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker reports 125,350 new cases and 1,207 deaths nationwide on Tuesday.
Pfizer CEO says people who spread COVID misinformation are “criminals”
People who spread misinformation on Covid-19 vaccines are “criminals” and have cost “millions of lives,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday, in a report by CNBC.
Speaking with Washington D.C.-based think tank Atlantic Council, Bourla said there is a “very small” group of people that purposefully circulate misinformation on the shots, misleading those who are already hesitant about getting vaccinated.
“Those people are criminals,” he told Atlantic Council CEO, Frederick Kempe. “They’re not bad people. They’re criminals because they have literally cost millions of lives.”
Bourla’s comments come as millions of eligible adults in the U.S. have yet to get vaccinated even though the shots have been available to most Americans most of this year. Public health experts say misinformation is likely playing a large role.
Editor’s Note:We agree.
NFL opts for field goal for Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay Packers punishment
The NFL has concluded its review into the Green Bay Packers’ COVID-19 protocols implementation and fined the franchise $300,000 and quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard $14,650 each for violations of the league and NFL Players Association protocols, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday night.
Rodgers and Lazard’s fines are a result of attending a team-sanctioned Halloween party, Garafolo reported. As both are unvaccinated, they are prohibited from attending gatherings outside team facilities. Per the NFL/NFLPA protocol guidelines, gathering outside of the club facility in a group of more than three players is subject to a $14,650 fine.
The permanent suspension follows a temporary 7-day Twitter suspension Robinson received last week in the wake of false claims she made about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Last week, Robinson tweeted that the Covid-19 vaccines contained a bioluinescent marker called LUCIFERASE so you could be tracked, and claimed it was the mark of the Devil.
The tweet was deleted, and Newsmax suspended Robinson from her duties the same week. The Cheif Content Officer of the conservative news organization was forced to make a statement to minimize damage to the network.
Newsmax has been “a strong proponent that Covid 19 vaccines are overarchingly safe and effective,” said Elliot Jacobson, executive vice president and chief content officer for the network.
State Updates
Alaska
Hospital officials believe that the worst is over in Alaska while 20 hospitals continue to operate using crisis standards of care.
“It feels like we’re at a turning point,” said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, while speaking to the Anchorage Daily News.
“We’re feeling like the situation (in hospitals) is becoming manageable in a way that it hasn’t been in a long time,” he said.
There were 131 people hospitalized with COVID-19 by Tuesday, state dashboard data showed, with about 14.4% of the state’s hospitalized patients considered to have active cases. That’s a significant decrease from a high of more than 200 people hospitalized on average since September.
In Fairbanks, Memorial Hospital announced they were returning to contingency care.
Alaska’s new case rate, positivity, and ICU availability remain concerning, but the situation is clearly improving.
Colorado
If you’re 18 or older in Colorado, the state says you qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says it continues to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation: “You should get a booster dose if you are 18 to 64 years old and at high risk because of where you live or work.”
But CDPHE said that almost everyone 18 or older in the state is at risk in the workplace or where they live, as an estimated 1 in 48 Coloradans is infected with COVID-19. “Because disease spread is so significant across Colorado, all Coloradans (ages 18+) qualify for a booster,” CDPHE said.
The state has also issued a public health order preventing any vaccine provider from refusing a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot to anyone who says they meet the qualifications.
Minnesota
The latest data from the Minnesota Department of Health added 7,173 new cases to the state’s pandemic totals and continued a trend of rising daily cases over the past two weeks, according to a report by the Star Tribune.
Over the weekend, however, the high volume of new cases meant that staffing wasn’t sufficient to review all the data, the Health Department said. The tally reported Tuesday is about 2,500 cases shy of the true count for the 72-hour weekend reporting period.
“That’s pretty alarming that they couldn’t process all the incoming cases,” said Dr. David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota. “I’m becoming more concerned as our hospitalized cases are this high already preinfluenza and, as the weather turns colder, our cases may likely increase just like last year, further straining the limited number of hospital beds in Minnesota.”
More unvaccinated people need to get immunized, Boulware said, “as the majority of hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among the unvaccinated group.”
Across the Allina Health System on Tuesday, 222 out of 297 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated — about 75% of the total. Unvaccinated patients accounted for 56 of the 61 patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units, Allina reported, and 53 of the 58 patients on ventilators.
New Mexico
New Mexico ranks fifth in the country for new COVID-19 cases per capita, according to the CDC and a report by KOB News in Albequerque.
“Even if you’re vaccinated, if you are in a sea of people who are unvaccinated and have COVID, COVID is just two times more transmissible, or contagious, than the original COVID,” said Dr. Laura Parajon, the deputy secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health.
From February through November, more than 80% of COVID-19 cases in New Mexico are from unvaccinated people.
Oregon
An Oregon man is alive and back home after 102 days at UW Medical Center in Seattle due to Covid-19. Howard Breidenbach of Myrtle Creek in southern Oregon admits he did not take the virus seriously.
“This is a conspiracy, just a flu they’re overinflating,” he recalled of his feelings prior to getting sick.
“I thought I was dead,” Breidenbach said. “Couldn’t remember my birthday, couldn’t remember my name.”
“We were set to retire within five years,” he said. “I lost everything.”
During his Zoom interview with KGW Tuesday, Breidenbach was still connected to an oxygen tank and could not suppress his coughing. “The COVID cough never goes away,” he said.
He is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and urged people to separate pandemic issues from politics.
Utah
An elementary school teacher in the Alpine School District is under investigation for teaching students an anti-vaccine, pro-insurrection, and racist lesson about the United States.
“As in previous years, schools are holding special flag ceremonies and assemblies to honor parents and grandparents of students who are veterans and to offer thanks to those who continue protecting our freedoms. An isolated incident that occurred on Monday at an elementary school is unfortunate, concerning, and is being investigated by school and district administration. District policy prohibits political advocacy,” the statement reads.
A Dry Creek Elementary parent who asked not to be identified said Larry Law made several references to fighting bullies, including Covid-19 vaccine mandates, and showed images of dictators of predominantly Asian descent as an example of what a bully looks like. The parent called it a “pro-fighting platform.”
“It was just basically full of anti-Asian rhetoric talking about how people getting free handouts like food from the grocery store is anti-American and for lazy people,” the parent said.
The parent also claimed Law expressed his support for the January 6 Insurrection, and that the “government telling us we should get vaccinated is the government being a bully and we need to fight back against the bullies.”
Law helps run an alternative medicine blog called Angie’s Option Grass Roots Movement. The most recent post, dated Tuesday and penned by Law, rails against the FDA’s recent approval of the Covid-19 vaccine for children.
Editor’s Note: Normally, we would not quote the Deseret News. They are a publication known for sharing disinformation, but this story is important. The antivax and antigovernment movement are intertwined, and many vocal antivaccination advocates are embedded in MLM and the supplement trade.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) Three weeks after the vaccination mandate deadline passed for state, healthcare and education workers, the vaccination rate increased dramatically statewide and in King County. New cases continue to drift downward, with Eastern Washington showing the most improvement. Over 7 million Washingtonians now live in counties where at least 50% of all residents are fully vaccinated.
Within our coverage area, the northern half of Kirkland continues to have the third-lowest vaccination rate along the I-405 corridor.
Big Bird got “vaccinated” in front of the public for the second time since 1972, and it’s made some people very mad.
The land border between Canada and the United States reopened for the first time in 20 months. The happiest people in North America about the reopening live in Point Roberts who have ended more than 500 days of exile.
Vaccinations are available for children 5 to 11, and demand is far exceeding the supply. In Seattle, Seattle Public Schools have opened clinics at 54 locations.
Delta VUI-21 growth has slowed down in the U.K., but the variant under investigation continues to spread. Europe is now the epicenter for Covid-19 on the planet, with several Eastern European nations setting new records.
The Washington State Department of Health has updated the Covid-19 vaccination data, and there were significant increases statewide. Twenty-three of 39 counties have at least 50% of the total population vaccinated for COVID, representing 7.04 million people.
New case rates continue to drop in Eastern Washington three weeks after the vaccine mandate deadline for state employees, healthcare workers, and school employees.
Currently, the vaccination data does not include 5 to 11 years, which became vaccine eligible last week. We expect the reporting data to be updated in the coming weeks. There continues to be a significant drop in new case rates in counties where more than 70% of the eligible population are vaccinated.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Total Population in Group
Average 14-Day New Case Rate
70.00% or above (3 counties)
2,343,250
203.7
60.00% to 69.99% (4 counties)
1,242,200
323.1
50.00% to 59.99% (16 counties)
3,454,700
351.1
40.00% to 49.99% (10 counties)
584,875
346.4
31.50% to 39.99% (6 counties)
151,850
342.2
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate for Total Population, Adjusted for Population by County
Through November 8, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 301.9 Covid-19 cases per 100K. Health officials would prefer to see these numbers drop lower as we move closer to the holidays.
Only Skagit County has a case rate between 600.0 to 799.9. Over the weekend, the case rate increased to 657.0. Klickitat was just under 600.
Asotin, Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Okanagan, Pend Orielle, and Spokane counties have new case rates between 400.0 and 599.9. Cowlitz, Mason, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties were just under 400.
Eleven counties have a 7 day moving average case rate under 100, and San Juan and Wahikakum counties were under 25.
The 7 day new case rate was up among adolescents and young adults, ages 50 to 64, and people 80 and above. Hospitalization rates drifted downward except for geriatric patients over 79 years old.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
147.1
0.8
Ages 12-19
150.4 (up)
1.1
Ages 20-34
142.4 (up)
3.1
Ages 35-49
144.7
6.8
Ages 50-64
115.7 (up)
11.6
Ages 65-79
79.7
16.6
Ages 80+
81.2 (up)
26.5 (up)
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
10 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered across Washington
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is pleased to announce another significant milestone has been reached in the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. As of November 6, more than 10 million doses of vaccine have been given out across Washington since distribution began in mid-December 2020.
“Giving out 10 million doses of life-saving vaccine is something we should all be proud of here in Washington,” said Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health. “Knowing that younger kids can now be protected from the worst outcomes of this virus is an incredible relief, not just for parents and families, but for everyone. The more people vaccinated, the more community protection we have, and that’s good for us all.”
The achievement was reached thanks to the hard work of providers, local and private sector partners, DOH staff, community members, and countless others whose commitment to community health and safety has been vital to our state’s continued success.
Border between British Columbia and Washington reopens after 20 months
Cars lined up at the Peace Arch border crossing to enter Blaine, Washington, as the land border between Canada and the United States opened for the first time in 20 months. Traffic this evening was light after a flood of cars heading south entered Washington state.
No place on Earth was more relieved about the border reopening than the residents of Point Roberts.
Point Roberts is a small Washington town located on the tip of Canada’s Tsawwassen peninsula. It is surrounded by water on three sides and attached to land through Canada only.
When the U.S.-Canadian border closed in 2020, many Canadians were separated from loved ones, friends, and their homes in towns like Point Roberts. American residents were separated from the rest of the United States, having to endure financial and emotional hardship.
“We’re going to be thrilled to get our Canadians back because, like I said before, [they own] 75% of our properties and [contribute] 90% of our economy. We just hope that the Canadians will relax that unnecessary testing,” said Brian Calder, president of the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce told KING 5 News.
On Monday, some Canadian families returned to the Washington town to winterize their homes.
Seattle Public Schools starts vaccination clinics for children ages 5 to 11
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) started running vaccine clinics today that will offer first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to children 5 to 11 at 40 schools during the day and 14 regional clinics on the weekend and evenings through November 23. Second dose clinics will be offered from November 29 to December 14.
SPS vaccine clinics are organized to prioritize families who face more barriers to vaccination while regional clinics are open to all SPS students who are 5 years and older.
Students do not have to be enrolled in that specific school. SPS vaccine clinics are organized to prioritize families who face more barriers to vaccination. Please attend the clinic in the area that is convenient to where you live.
There may be scarcity in vaccine supply in the first few weeks after approval but should stabilize after a few weeks and eventually, everyone will be able to get vaccinated. If a clinic needs to be postponed due to vaccine supply, we will re-schedule the clinic as soon as possible.
At the regional clinics, students under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The Pfizer vaccination requires two shots. Students should plan to be available for both school clinic dates to receive both doses of the vaccine.
Travel Advisories
With new cases starting to decline statewide, we continue to hope the East Hospital Region travel advisory can end in the next 3 to 10 days. For now, we’re maintaining our recreational travel advisory to the region, including Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. Acute care and ICU capacity remain limited.
Additionally, we are maintaining the travel advisory for the Northwest Hospital Region. The region includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties.
We are adding Colorado to our list of states to avoid all nonessential travel. Last Sunday, Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order implementing crisis standards of care. We continue to strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. Alaska and the Idaho Panhandle are experiencing an extreme number of Covid-19 hospitalizations. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We are downgrading our travel advisory for Wyoming and recommend avoiding recreational travel at this time. The situation has improved significantly in the last two weeks.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Pfizer may seek clearance of Covid-19 booster for ages 18 and up
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech are expected to seek authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for people aged 18 and above as soon as this week, according to a report in the Washington Post.
There were multiple reports three weeks ago the FDA and CDC were having talks about lowering the age for booster shots to 40 years old for people who got the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Data out of the U.K. and Israel have indicated that boosters had a significant impact in reducing hospitalizations and deaths during their most recent surges.
King County, Washington is reporting over 89.2% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine has EUA approval for children 5 to 15 years old.
COVID vaccines and boosters are free for anyone 5 and older. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
A significant amount of data from the East Hospital Region was missing in the Monday report. We are not providing updated hospitalization data in today’s report.
On Sunday, the Washington State Department of Health reported 1,007 Covid-19 patients statewide with 159 on ventilators. Hospitalizations are drifting downward after increasing 7% from October 22 to October 29.
– Alcott (19) – Bell (24) – Blackwell (5) – Carson Elementary (10) – Clara Barton (23) – Eastlake High (66) – Ella Baker (6) – Evergreen Middle School (1) – Finn Hill Middle School (5) – Frost (5) – Inglewood Middle School (13) – Juanita Elementary (1) – Juanita High (30) – Kamiakin Middle School (5) – Keller (6) – Kirk Elementary (20) – Lakeview Elementary (7) – Lake Washington High School (7) – McAuliffe (1) – Northstar Middle School (12) – Redmond High School (37) – Renaissance Middle School (1) – Rush Elementary (1) – Sandburg/Discovery (9) – Thoreau (5) – Timberline Middle School (14) – Twain Elementary (2)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (7) – Bothell High School (10**) – Canyon Creek Elementary (5) – Canyon Park Middle School (1) – Crystal Springs Elementary (4) – East Ridge Elementary (1) – Fernwood Elementary (8) – Frank Love Elementary (9) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (6) – Inglemoor High School (16**) – Kenmore Elementary (20) – Kenmore Middle School (24) – Kokanee Elementary (5) – Leota Middle School (1) – Maywood Hills Elementary (3) – Moorlands Elementary (1) – North Creek High School (6) – Northshore Middle School (42) – Ruby Bridge Elementary (5) – Shelton View Elementary (3) – Skyview Middle School (12**) – Sunrise Elementary (1) – Timbercrest Middle School (3) – Wellington Elementary (6) – Westhill Elementary (14) – Woodin Elementary (1) – Woodinville High School (5) – Woodmoor Elementary (14)
None
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than ten active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
Highland Middle School in the Bellevue School District has five confirmed Covid-19 cases between faculty and students, which is the biggest change in the area schools.
The Northshore School District had a small surge of cases over the last two weeks that has run its course. The number of schools dealing with 5 or more cases dropped to three over the weekend.
We continued to encourage parents to request daily updates from the Lake Washington School District. We would also encourage parents to request the Bellevue School District include data on close contacts. These two changes would bring the three school districts we track into alignment.
Percentage of King County Residents 12 and older who have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, November 8, 2021
Vaccination rates for adolescents ages 12 and 19 in North King County continue to lag far behind the rest of the eastside.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
King County Public Health updated the vaccination rates by zip code, with the numbers improving throughout the region. The northern half of Kirkland continues to lag behind the rest of the eastside. Bothell and the Juanita-Finn Hill-Kingsgate regions of Kirkland remain below 90% vaccinated and below the King County average.
Percentage of King County Residents 12 and older who have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, November 8, 2021
Zip Code
Percent vaccinated, at least one dose, 12 and older
98155
>95.0%
98028
91.7%
98011
88.5%
98034
87.0%
98033
>95.0%
98072
>95.0%
98052
>95.0%
98004
>95.0%
98039
>95.0%
98005
>95.0%
98007
92.1%
Vaccination rates for those 12 and older by zip code – at least one dose
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker reports 21,968 new cases and 119 deaths nationwide on Monday. Most states discontinued reporting Covid-19 related data over the weekend. The Monday report is missing large amounts of data.
Sixth wave watch Delta VUI-21
There is mixed news out of the U.K. and Europe about Delta VUI-21, the AY.4.2 variant of Covid-19. After new cases increased 60% a week for four weeks in a row, growth slowed down. Delta VUI-21 makes up 12% of cases in the U.K. and has been detected in 42 countries.
The variant was first identified in July and is slightly more transmissible than the Delta and Delta Plus variants (Delta AY.4.2 is commonly misnamed Delta Plus). The variant does not appear to be more vaccine-resistant or make people sicker. It may carry a higher viral load when someone is contagious, which is problematic for the unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and immunocompromised.
The World Health Organization now says that Europe is the new global epicenter for Covid-19, and issued a warning to North American nations to not their guard down too soon. Russia is reporting almost 40,000 cases a day with a record number of deaths. Several oblasts have indicated they may impose even stricter restrictions, including shuttering businesses to try and slow the spread.
Greece, Croatia, Iceland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and Russia are at or have tied their peaks this week with Finland and Ukraine not far behind.
In contrast, Spain, which is 80% vaccinated, and Portugal, which is 88% vaccinated, have some of the lowest case rates on the planet.
The new surge in Europe is peaking in many countries during the same week airplanes full of international tourist travelers landed at U.S. airports for the first time in 18 months.
A Single dose of REGEN-COV monoclonal antibodies over 81% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections for up to 8 months
The monoclonal antibody treatment, called REGEN-COV, is currently available under an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 and are at risk of developing severe symptoms. It has also received FDA emergency approval as a post-exposure preventive treatment for some people at high risk for developing severe COVID-19, are not fully vaccinated or are immunocompromised, and have known exposure to the virus.
Four subcutaneous injections of the monoclonal antibody treatment protected uninfected people from contracting COVID-19 by 81.6% during the follow-up period of two to eight months, up from 81.4% after one month. Four injections of the treatment are considered one dose.
Big Bird getting vaccinated makes Senator big mad
Big Bird ruffled some conservatives’ feathers this weekend by announcing that he had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The beloved Muppet tweeted on Saturday (ha ha – tweeted) that he had gotten the shot, which is newly available for Americans between the ages of 5 and 11.
“My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy,” he wrote.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, decried Big Bird’s tweet as “government propaganda.”
Sesame Workshop, the production company behind the show which first aired in 1969 and helped launch the career of Jim Henson and beloved Muppets such as Kermit the Frog, moved from PBS to HBO in 2015. In 2020 the show moved again from HBO to the HBO Max streaming service.
It’s not the first time Big Bird was vaccinated as part of an educational campaign. In 1972, the fictional character was vaccinated for Measles on the show Sesame Street.
COVID misinformation is rampant in the United States
More than three-quarters (78%) of U.S. adults either believe or aren’t sure about at least one of eight false statements about the COVID-19 pandemic or COVID-19 vaccines, with unvaccinated adults and Republicans among those most likely to hold misconceptions, a new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report shows.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of unvaccinated adults believe or are unsure about at least half of the eight false statements – more than three times the share of vaccinated adults (19%). Nearly half (46%) of Republicans believe or are unsure about at least half the statements, three times the share of Democrats (14%).
The findings highlight a major challenge for efforts to accurately communicate the rapidly evolving science about the pandemic when false and ambiguous information can spread quickly, whether inadvertently or deliberately, through social media, polarized news sources, and other outlets.
State Updates
Alaska
Alaska on Monday reported 53 more COVID-19 deaths, most of which happened in September, as well as 1,387 new infections logged over the weekend and a continued drop in hospitalizations, according to a report by Anchorage Daily News.
The new COVID-19 cases reported over the weekend follow a trend of decreasing case counts that Alaska has seen recently after several weeks of plateauing daily COVID-19 numbers, a state health official said.
In an emailed statement Monday, Dr. Michael Savitt, chief medical officer at the Anchorage Health Department, wrote that the department is “cautiously optimistic,” about recent decreasing COVID-19 trends for the city, but that Anchorage continues to be in a “high-risk environment.”
“Hospitals remain at near capacity levels,” Savitt wrote. “We hope to see those numbers start to decrease soon as well.”
There were 128 people hospitalized with COVID-19 by Monday, state dashboard data showed, with about 13.6% of the state’s hospitalized patients considered to have active cases of the virus. That’s a decrease from recent weeks when often one in five patients had a case of the virus.
Florida
The first hospital in the state of Florida to treat a coronavirus patient is now celebrating another first: No COVID patients in its care since the pandemic began, Fox News reported.
“There’s been a lot of progress done in a very short period of time. So it’s a great thing for everybody,” chief nursing officer of Doctor’s Hospital in Sarasota, Todd Haner, said at a press conference on Friday. “I can tell you that the morale is much better.”
Doctor’s Hospital had the first COVID-19 patient in the state back in February 2020 and has been treating virus patients since. But last week, that all changed when the hospital reported not having a single COVID patient.
Idaho
Idaho’s seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases fell below 700 per day for the first time since August, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare data showed Monday. The decline comes a month after caseloads hit a peak across the state, though health officials still reported more than 1,100 new cases and 34 deaths since Friday, according to the Idaho Statesman.
The moving average, which indicates how many cases have been reported each day on average over the past week, was 689 on Monday, the lowest it’s been since Aug. 26. That metric is nearly half of the moving average of 1,365 set one month ago, during the height of Idaho’s most recent surge.
Though recent data shows caseloads trending downward in Idaho, the state still reported 1,192 new COVID-19 cases since Friday. About 29% of those cases — 351 — were reported in Ada County. But the state’s most populous county saw its seven-day moving average for new cases fall to 196 per day on Monday, the first time it has been less than 200 since mid-September.
To date, Idaho has reported 297,140 cases and 3,678 COVID-related deaths. More than 500 of those deaths, or about 15% of the state’s total, were reported in the past 30 days.
Montana
There were 908 new COVID-19 cases reported Monday, Nov. 8 in Montana, with 7,815 total active cases in the state, in a report by KTVQ.
The number of people actively hospitalized due to COVID is 351, an increase from the 343 hospitalizations reported on Friday. The cumulative number of hospitalizations in Montana due to the virus is 9,154, with the state reporting 31 new hospitalizations since their last report. To date, roughly 1 in 20 (5.05%) reported COVID-19 cases in the state have resulted in hospitalization.
New Hampshire
The number of active COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire is now at its highest level since January, before vaccines were widely available, according to WMUR.
According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, there are now 5,164 current COVID-19 cases, the highest total since January 29.
More than 26% of the newly announced cases are in children under the age of 18.
The state’s seven-day total test positivity rate has risen to 7.2%, which is the highest that rate has been since Jan. 7.
The number of current hospitalizations has moved up again and is at 212 as of Monday.
North Dakota
A North Dakota lawmaker and an organizer of a rally Monday to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates is infected with the coronavirus and won’t attend the event, KSTP Channel 5 reported.
Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson posted on Facebook Sunday that he was “quarantining and each day is getting better.” The Minot lawmaker said he is taking the deworming drug ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment and has not checked into a hospital.
“Covid is real and like a really bad flu,” Hoverson wrote.
Hoverson, a pastor, told The Associated Press that was diagnosed last week.
“I’m feeling rough,” he said Monday. “But this ivermectin is keeping me out of the hospital.”
Ivermectin is designed to fight parasitic infections but conservative commentators have promoted it as a treatment for COVID-19, despite a lack of conclusive evidence that it helps.
Texas
Unvaccinated Texans died from COVID-19 at 40 times the rate of vaccinated Texans and were 45 times more likely to test positive for the disease in 2021, according to a new study from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
DSHS reviewed vaccination, death, and tests records from Jan. 15 to Oct. 1 to come up with the figures, according to WFAA.
“We have millions and millions of records that we had to go through for this analysis,” said Dr. Jennifer Shuford, DSHS’s chief epidemiologist.
According to the review, 7.7% of deaths and 3% of positive cases in the January – October time frame were in fully-vaccinated Texans.
“We know that there’s all these bad outcomes for actually getting COVID-19, but the complications from the vaccine are very few and impact very few people,” Shuford said. “What we hope is that people across Texas will understand the threat of COVID-19.”
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) Hospitals in Eastern Washington are starting to feel the crush of transfer patients and Idahoans seeking medical treatment in Washington state. As new cases decline statewide, hospitalizations have plateaued, with Eastern Washington taking on the brunt of new cases.
More Seattle Police Officers provided proof of vaccination while city officials forged a plan for October 18. In contrast, over 93% of Washington State Patrol employees are vaccinated, including more than 90% of commissioned officers. A King County Sheriff Office Sergeant did a reply-all e-mail about the vaccine mandate that was full of conspiracy theories – it’s a sad story.
In Eastern Washington, 19 municipal and state employees filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the looming vaccine mandate.
There were new Covid-19 cases reported in all three school districts we track.
Nationally, a Maryland man killed his pharmacist brother and two other people due to his alleged belief in Covid-19 vaccine conspiracies.
Scientists learn the secrets of Covid Toe and how to treat it. In another study, researchers find increasing proof that Covid-19 can damage the pancreas, leading to a sudden onset of diabetes.
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming continue to have hospitals operating under crisis standards of care protocols. In Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai Health has been using those protocols for almost a month.
A 51-year-old man whose wife sued to treat him with ivermectin in an Ohio hospital died in late September.
A common objection to receiving the Covid-19 vaccine is the belief that the government assumes no liability. Is it true? We tackle that issue in misinformation.
New cases in Washington state continue to decline slowly. We’re adding some new metrics. A combination of increasing vaccination rates, mask wear, and the Delta variant running out of new hosts contributes to the slowdown.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Average 14-Day New Case Rate (unadjusted)
60.00% or above (4)
212.0 (down)
50.00% to 59.99% (13 counties)
515.1 (down)
40.00% to 49.99% (14 counties)
624.1 (down)
29.30% to 39.99% (8 counties)
713.3 (up)
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Not Adjusted for Population
Through October 5, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 403.8 Covid-19 cases per 100K.
Ferry County reported 1,011.4 new cases per 100K residents.
Counties in the 800.0 to 999.9 per 100K range include Grant, Klickitat, Lincoln Pend Oreille, and Stevens.
Counties in the 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K range include Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Cowlitz, Franklin, Garfield, Grays Harbor, Mason, Okanogan, and Walla Walla. Franklin County remained just under 800 while Adams, Douglas, Lewis, and Spokane counties were just under 600.0.
New cases were down from birth to 34 years old and statistically unchanged for 35 and above. Pediatric and adolescent hospitalizations were up, along with ages 50 to 64 and over 80.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
170.3 (down)
1.1 (up)
Ages 12-19
202.1 (down)
0.8 (up)
Ages 20-34
166.1 (down)
5.0
Ages 35-49
173.9
8.4
Ages 50-64
120.1
15.1 (up)
Ages 65-79
97.6
17.4
Ages 80+
109.8
35.2 (up)
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
The USA Today COVID Tracker reported 53 deaths yesterday. The state of Washington is not reporting the percentage of positive cases.
Idahoans seeking medical care pushing Eastern Washington hospitals to the brink
Dr. Dan Getz, the chief medical officer of Providence Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, said patients from Idaho are pushing Providence Medical toward capacity limits, leaving hospitals scrambling for options. KATC reported hospitals have had to pause some surgeries to create space.
“Idaho is currently in crisis standards of care where they basically said, ‘We can’t deliver normal care for people in our state,’ and they’re looking at rationalizing things,” Getz said. “We are not in that crisis in Washington state — however if we continue to see increasing cases and we are not able to care for our community, that’s always a potential.”
At Multicare Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, the staff says they are spread thin.
Luke Eckoff, a Covid-19 ICU nurse at Multicare Deaconess Hospital, said, “Flight teams are bringing patients from outlying hospitals — and that’s putting more strain on us. These rural hospitals don’t have the capacity we do to take care of these patients. What that’s doing is putting further pressure on our hospital and resources. It’s hard at the end of the day when you have to put that patient in the body bag. And that’s happening more and more.”
More SPD officers present proof of vaccination
The number of Seattle Police Department officers who haven’t confirmed being fully vaccinated dropped to 292 today. Brandi Kruse of KCPQ tweeted that an additional 101 SPD officers have requested vaccination exemptions.
“The problem is they’re using bully tactics to force their employees to get this, and that’s what’s led to this disconnect,” Solan said. “Right now, more than ever, our community’s begging for police officers to stop the rise in crime. And we need politicians who are willing to understand the public safety staffing crisis that they created. They’re in charge, they can change this.”
Over 93% of Washington State Patrol workers provided proof of vaccination
The Washington State Patrol reported Wednesday that more of its workers are providing proof they are vaccinated, according to a report by KXLY.
Only seven percent of its employees hadn’t been vaccinated or turned in proof they got the shot. That means 152 of its 2,184 employees could face getting fired if they do not meet the vaccine mandate deadline of October 18. Of those, only 91 are commissioned troopers.
King County Sheriff Deputy sends department-wide reply all e-mail against vaccine mandate
The original e-mail sent on Monday reminded KCSO employees they needed to submit their vaccination status so the department could make a staffing plan.
“Our planning process is hampered by lack of complete information because some have not yet provided evidence of vaccination,” the chiefs’ e-mail reads. “Again, we are hopeful that you have the required information but have not yet shared it with HR. One of our goals is to plan for possible separation in a way that is least likely to disrupt your city or precinct, and it is hard to do that without all the information.”
In his reply, Lefler indicated he had requested an exemption but had not gotten a response from King County, adding, “What [is[ King County is going to do about the thousands of us who have requested medical and/or religious exemptions.”
He then stated that being a sheriff deputy was equal to being under constant siege in war, called out King County Executive Dow Constantine, and called for the entire department to quit. Lefler then suggested that the vaccine mandate would lead to gun control and remove “CPO” (conceal carry permits).
“Anything goes once the precedent is set. I will fight for what is right, and you reading this know in your gut that I am right,” Lefler continues. “It’s not just about a jab in the arm. It’s about our very freedoms. This is about our right to self-determination and choice. God gave us these rights, but only if we are willing to fight for them.”
According to the website Together We Served, Lafer was in Marine Corps from 2001 to 2005 and served in Iraq. The unit he was with deployed to Fallujah and Ramadi during his tour at the height of the Iraqi insurrection. It is worth noting that Lefler would have been required to take the Emergency Use Authorized Anthrax vaccine as part of his military service and could have used Nerve Agent antidotes as part of his military tour.
All US service members are required to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by December.
Sgt. Tim Meyer e-mailed the South Seattle Emerald after the original story was published.
“KCSO appreciates Sgt. Lefler’s years of service and the difficult decision he is trying to make for himself and his family,” Meyer’s e-mail to the Emerald reads. “We do not have ‘thousands’ of deputies, rather we employ roughly 750. We hope we don’t lose any of them. As our members struggle with the decision to comply with the Executive’s mandate, we know some would like to believe that the Sheriff and her command staff have the power to get the mandate rescinded. That is not possible.”
Approximately 100 KCSO employees have applied for Covid-19 vaccine exemptions.
19 state and municipal workers file lawsuit over vaccine mandate
The suit lists as defendants Governor Inslee, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste, and other leaders of state agencies.
The suit claims “the plaintiffs are on the brink of having adverse employment action against them. It claims that in each case, “a form of disability or sincere religious belief requires them to decline vaccination.”
The group of workers comprises Washington State Patrol troopers, Spokane firefighters, and employees of other state agencies, including the Department of Social and Health Services.
Virtually none of the lawsuits filed at a federal level have been successful at blocking a vaccine mandate. The 1905 United States Supreme Court ruling of Jacobson versus Massachusetts cemented the rights of municipalities, counties, and states to mandate vaccines and other public health measures.
Federal medical team of 8 nurses and 10 certified nursing assistants deployed in Spokane
The team of eight nurses and 10 certified nursing assistants (CNA), and eight nurses will be deployed to the Avalon Care Center in North Spokane. The medical staff is from ACI Federal, according to the Washington Department of Health (DOH). According to the DOH, these are not federal resources but are available through a federal contract. Avalon Care Center will pay for the nurses.
Travel Advisories
Today, we are lifting our travel advisory to Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla Counties. We continue to recommend when visiting those counties, you use reasonable caution and don’t engage in dangerous activities.
We continue to recommend avoiding recreational travel to Spokane County. We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a medical emergency.
We continue to monitor the situation in the East Hospital Region and may expand our travel advisory beyond Spokane County.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Pfizer vaccine booster shots are now available
Booster shots for eligible individuals are now available statewide. Individuals who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine more than six months ago, are 65 or older, or are immunocompromised can receive their third dose immediately.
In the Kirland-Bellevue-Woodinville area, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Bartell’s, and QFC are offering booster shots. Additionally, the third dose is available at the CVS located within the Target store at 17,700 NE 76th Street in Redmond.
Most locations require an appointment, which can be scheduled online.
King County, Washington is reporting over 86.7% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied, and 17.4% of patients have Covid-19. Statewide, hospitals have the staff to support approximately 665 additional acute care patients. ICUs are at 88.1% of capacity statewide, with 30.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 353 patients with 57% on ventilators. The state has the staff to support approximately 142 additional ICU patients.
The 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients was 123. The Department of Health reported 1,199 Covid-19 patients statewide on October 5, with 200 on ventilators.
Hospital status by region – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
There was very little change in the status of Hospital Regions overnight, with the East and Northwest Hospital Regions below the threshold of issuing a travel advisory.
– Bell Elementary (1*) – Barton Elementary (1*) – Dickinson/Explorer Elementary (1*) – Ella Baker Elementary (1*) – Eastlake High (2*) – Finn Hill Middle School (3*) – Franklin Elementary (2*) – Frost Elementary (2*) – ICS (1*) – Inglewood Middle School (1*) – Juanita Elementary (1*) – Kamiakin Middle School (4*) – Keller Elementary (2*) – Kirkland Middle School (1* see notes) – Lakeview Elementary (4*) – McAuliffe Elementary (1*) – Muir Elementary (1*) – Northstar Middle (1*) – Redmond Elementary (2*) – Redmond Middle School (1*) – Redmond High School (2*) – Renaissance Middle School (1*) – Rosa Parks Elementary (1*) – Rush Elementary (1*)
see notes below
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (4) – Bothell High School (42**) – Canyon Creek Elementary (23) – Canyon Park Middle School (6) – Cottage Lake Elementary (3) – Crystal Springs Elementary (26) – East Ridge Elementary (12) – Fernwood Elementary (1) – Frank Love Elementary (17) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (27) – Inglemoor High School (1) – Innovation Lab High School (1) – Kenmore Elementary (3) – Kenmore Middle School (25) – Leota Middle School (4) – Lockwood Elementary (40**) – Maywood Hills Elementary (29) – Moorlands Elementary (1) – North Creek High School (5) – Northshore Family Partnership (30) – Northshore Middle School (2) – Secondary Academy for Success (5) – Shelton View Elementary (5) – Skyview Middle School (12) – Sunrise Elementary (9) – Timbercrest Middle School (5) – Wellington Elementary (26) – Westhill Elementary (50) – Woodin Elementary (16**) – Woodinville High School (11) – Woodmoor Elementary (12)
None
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than 10 active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
Bellevue School District added two more confirmed Covid-19 cases at Highland Middle School, for a total of eight. Additionally, a confirmed case was reported at Ardmore Elementary School.
The Northshore School District added multiple schools to their report. Lockwood Elementary reported three more confirmed cases this morning, bringing the count to nine. Bothell High School and Woodin Elementary each have six confirmed cases.
We have a parent confirmed report of a single Covid-19 case at Kirkland Middle School, with an additional 17 students quarantined.
We multiple parents e-mailed us about two confirmed Covid-19 cases at Juanita High School. However, because the district sent the e-mail on Monday, we cannot confirm if these are new or included in the last dashboard update.
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
The City of Kirkland has rolled out additional phases of its COVID-19 relief program to provide immediate financial assistance for small businesses, thanks to funding available through the American Rescue Plan Act. A limited number of $1,000 to $10,000 grants are now available for small Kirkland-based businesses behind on rent for the commercial properties they lease. To start the application process, businesses should go to www.kirklandwa.gov/business-help to complete and submit the intake form between October 5 – October 19, 2021. Program funds may only be used as a payment against a small business tenant’s past-due rent due to COVID-19 economic hardship experienced between March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. Note that the application process requires the cooperation of tenants and landlords, and payments will be made to the landlord.
“The pandemic has had a profound impact on many of our businesses, making it difficult for some to keep up with rent and stay in their current locations,” said Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold. “Our hope is that by passing federal relief funding directly to businesses and landlords that these businesses can get the foothold they need to thrive in our Kirkland community.”
For questions about the small business rent relief grant program, contact businesssupport@kirklandwa.gov (425) 587-3266 or the City’s Business Response Team at (206) 686-3424.
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker is reporting 95,756 new cases and 1,916 deaths nationwide on Wednesday. As of October 4, the CDC reported 65,162 hospitalized Covid-19 patients in the United States, down 13.6% from the week before. The number of Covid-19 related deaths decreased 3.3%, indicating that the Delta variant surge is ending.
Maryland man accused of killing 3 due to alleged belief of Covid-19 vaccine conspiracies
According to arrest documents, Burnham’s mother told investigators that he wanted to confront his brother – a pharmacist – because he purportedly helped administer vaccines.
Burnham had told their mother he believed the government was poisoning people with vaccines, and he “repeatedly stated, “Brian knows something!” – police say.
Investigators say a tipster alerted Maryland State Police that Burnham had arrived at his home in a red Corvette, and said that “his brother had been ‘killing people with the COVID shot.'”
Burnham has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder and the use of a handgun in the commission of a crime.
“Clearly there’s a link, there’s some sort of mechanism that makes the diseases fuel one another,” Francesco Rubino chair of metabolic surgery at King’s College London, told Insider. “The question is whether new-onset diabetes could be caused by this virus.”
One theory was that the body could be confusing pancreas cells for the coronavirus, and trying to destroy them. This would disrupt insulin supply and cause diabetes, the scientists thought.
Remember “Covid Toe?” Doctors may have figured out what causes it
A small study published in the British Journal of Dermatology reported that researchers had identified the cause of Covid Toe and how to treat it.
Based on blood and skin tests, these latest study findings suggest two parts of the immune system may be at play.
One is an antiviral protein called type 1 interferon, and the other is an antibody that mistakenly attacks the person’s own cells and tissues, not just the invading virus.
Cells lining small blood vessels supplying the affected areas are also involved, say the investigators from the University of Paris, France.
The researchers studied 50 people with suspected Covid toe in the spring of 2020 and 13 others with similar lesions not linked to Covid infections because they occurred long before the pandemic began.
Alaska
New cases in Alaska still lead the nation but have declined significantly from last week. The state is still operating under “crisis standards of care” with 184 Covid-19 patients statewide. Alaska has 126 staffed ICU beds statewide, with 28 available. There were 867 new cases reported today, about equal to Tuesday. Over 10% of Covid-19 tests are coming back positive, indicating under testing is accelerating.
Before the current surge hit Alaska, it had the third-lowest death per capita in the United States. Six weeks later, the state is ranked 25th. More than 25% of all Covid-19 deaths reported in Alaska happened after August 1, 2021, despite the widespread availability of vaccines.
Hospitals in Anchorage, Bethel, and Valdez continue to be the most impacted by the ongoing surge.
Officials are also concerned by a rising test positivity rate, which is just below 10%.
California
Los Angeles leaders on Wednesday approved one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates — a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering bars, restaurants, nail salons, gyms, or even a Lakers game.
According to a report by NBC News, the City Council voted 11-2 in favor of the ordinance that will require proof of full vaccination by Nov. 4.
The move came after the council postponed a vote last week to deal with concerns ranging from who could be fined for violations to whether employees could end up in fist-fights when they have to serve as vaccine door monitors.
Florida
According to The Palm Beach Post, six weeks after Tamara Drock was admitted to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, the 47-year-old Loxahatchee woman is in a medically induced coma and tethered to a ventilator.
It was an outcome that her husband, Ryan, tried to prevent.
“No ventilators,” he said of his orders to the hospital staff.
With his hope and his wife’s options running out, Drock on Friday filed suit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court to force the hospital to give his wife the drug that he believes helped him and others recover from the highly contagious respiratory disease.
“I think it’s worth a shot,” Drock said. “I don’t have anything to lose.”
The second-largest study to date for the effectiveness of ivermectin against COVID, which has received multiple peer reviews, indicated that ivermectin had no meaningful impact and for sicker patients created worse outcomes. The study done in Argentina was randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled – the gold standard. The report concluded the only statistical difference was subjects taking ivermectin who became moderately to severely ill required mechanical ventilation much sooner than the placebo group.
Only one court case in Ohio successfully forced a hospital to administer ivermectin, and two weeks later, the judge reversed his decision.
Idaho
Governor Brad Little reversed Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin’s executive orders banning vaccine passports or mandatory Covid-19 testing at K-12 schools and universities in Idaho, eight minutes after he landed in Boise.
McGeachin also tried to activate the National Guard to deploy Idaho troops, already assisting with the Covid-19 surge, to the Mexico border. According to The Independent, the commanding general of the Idaho National Guard told McGeachin she can’t activate troops to send to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Idaho has reported more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases per day for the last 27 days. The 7 day moving average has reached 1,320.6 cases per day and is likely higher due to a backlog of more than 8,200 tests.
Idaho now has 715 Covid-19 patients, down from a peak of almost 800 at the end of September. The state has 170 staffed ICU beds and reported 184 ICU patients. At St. Luke’s, the mortality rate for people in the ICU has reached 40%, and 98% of ICU patients are unvaccinated.
Almost a month after Kootenai Health declared it was moving to crisis standards of care, the number of Covid-19 patients they are treating has increased, according to a report by KTVB.
“150 COVID patients is about 75 percent of our normal pre-COVID bed capacity for med surge admissions,” said Jeremy Evans, Kootenai Health’s Chief Regional Operations Officer. “Today, we have got 44 critical care patients and 17 on ventilators. It continues to amaze me how our medical staff, our clinical staff, and our leaders, are able to accommodate this surge.”
Evans added that around 10 to 20 patients are admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 treatments each day.
“We have seen a lot of deaths, we are averaging about one a day in the COVID population, I spent the last week in the ICU and it’s a very hard place to work right now it’s just a constant struggle to take care of these patients on a daily basis,” said Robert Scoggins, the Medical Director of the ICU.
According to Boise Public Radio, unvaccinated Idahoans continue to be hospitalized at five and a half times the rate of vaccinated people, straining the hospital systems and overwhelming health care workers. Yet, misinformation and anger continue to spread throughout the state — with hateful acts targeted at the doctors and nurses working to treat those infected.
Boise Public Radio’s program Idaho Matters was joined by Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke’s Health System and a current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, and Dr. Frank Johnson, Chief Medical Officer for St. Luke’s Boise, Elmore and McCall.
While Alaska appears to have peaked and Idaho is on a plateau, Montana continues to deteriorate. According to KPAX, the state has 11,550 active cases and added 30 more hospitalized patients overnight, raising the number to 444 – a new record. Over 5% of Montanans who have tested positive for Covid-19 have ended up hospitalized.
National Guard troops have been deployed to Great Falls and Livingston to aid with expanding surge of cases.
Ohio
Jeffrey Smith, 51, who was at the center of a lawsuit forcing a Cinncinati hospital to treat him with ivermectin, died on September 25 of Covid-19, according to KXAN.
Jeffrey Smith’s wife, Julie Smith, claimed she offered to sign documents releasing all other parties, doctors, and the hospital from all liability related to the Ivermectin treatment and dosage. But the hospital declined. Smith said her husband, who was on a ventilator, had a very slim chance of survival, and she was willing to try anything to keep him alive.
Judge Gregory Howard ordered West Chester Hospital to give Smith 30 milligrams of ivermectin every day for three weeks, even though there is no supporting evidence that it treats Covid-19.
Another Butler County judge reversed Howard’s decision in September, saying ivermectin didn’t show “convincing evidence” in treating COVID-19. Butler County Judge Michael Oster said in his ruling, “judges are not doctors or nurses… public policy should not and does not support allowing a physician to try ‘any’ type of treatment on human beings.”
Like Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, hospitals are tipping over into “crisis standards of care.” Cody Regional Health and Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County reported they continue to move from “contingency care” to “crisis standards of care” as the situation changes.
Misinformation
A common reason for refusing to get vaccinated is the belief that the government is mandating vaccination but does not accept any liability for vaccine injuries. Is that true?
The short answer, no.
The Health Resources and Services Administration is a federal program that provides compensation to people who have suffered a serious vaccine injury or surviving family members. The program has existed for years and is known as the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).
Federal declarations issued by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services specify the countermeasures covered by the Program. Declarations have been issued for medical countermeasures against the following vaccinations.
COVID-19
Marburg
Ebola
Nerve Agents and Certain Insecticides (Organophophorus and/or Carbamate)
Claims filed under CICP for lost income are capped at $50,000 per year and won’t provide compensation for pain, suffering, emotional distress, or similar damages. According to the Washington Post, there have been 686 claims filed in CICP.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) Dr. Umair A. Shah, Washington State Secretary of Health, confirmed the death of a Seattle woman who suffered serious complications after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Jessica Berg-Wilson received the single-dose vaccination on August 26 and died of complications on September 7.
New COVID cases continue to decline statewide, while the gap between the least and most vaccinated counties is starting to narrow.
Seattle Police Officer Eric Whitehead, who refused to wear a mask at a Seattle hospital on January 15, was disciplined after the OPA determined he had acted unprofessionally. SPD also announced that more than 350 officers had not submitted proof of vaccination to city officials.
Less than 9% of Washingtonians say they will never get the Covid-19 vaccine, down by almost half from six weeks ago. According to the Washington Department of Health, over 70% of all Washingtonians over 11 years old are fully vaccinated.
The Lancet released a study on natural immunity to Covid-19 and how long it lasts. Researchers came up with a wide range, but the average is just 16 months.
Highland Middle School in the Bellevue School District and Lockwood Elementary in the Northshore School District reported six active Covid-19 cases in both facilities.
The City of Kirkland has funds available from the American Rescue Plan Act to aid small businesses behind on commercial property rent.
Nationally, the CDC pulled the holiday travel guidance they published on Friday, saying it was outdated information posted by mistake. The Department of Justice will start investigating the most egregious threats, and violent acts at school board meetings after multiple states pleaded for aid.
If you’ve got a home rapid Covid-19 test from the company Ellume, it might be under recall due to a high rate of false positives.
New York City Department of Education, Kaiser Permanente, and Northwell Health, representing more than 475,000 employees across the United States, reported vaccination rates from 95% to 99%. For the 8,000 New York DoE workers who so far are refusing to get vaccinated, some took to direct action in Union Square.
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming continue to demonstrate the impact of laisse faire public health strategies. Again, in Idaho, Janice McGeachin goes full awful, while Wyoming state senator Anthony Bouchard pushes Covid-19 misinformation and argues with a Tik Tok influencer on Twitter.
We lift our travel advisory to the South Central Hospital Region but continue to keep a close eye on the east.
New cases in Washington state continue to decline slowly. We’re adding some new metrics. A combination of increasing vaccination rates, mask wear, and the Delta variant running out of new hosts contributes to the slowdown.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Average 14-Day New Case Rate (unadjusted)
60.00% or above (4)
212.0 (down)
50.00% to 59.99% (13 counties)
533.1 (down)
40.00% to 49.99% (14 counties)
650.1 (down)
29.30% to 39.99% (8 counties)
679.0 (down)
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Not Adjusted for Population
Through October 4, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 417.1 Covid-19 cases per 100K, the lowest number since August 18.
For the second time in three days, no counties reported more than 1000 new cases per 100K residents.
Counties in the 800.0 to 999.9 per 100K range include Ferry, Grant, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Lincoln Pend Oreille, and Stevens.
Counties in the 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K range include Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Cowlitz, Franklin, Mason, Okanogan, and Walla Walla. Franklin County remained just under 800 while Spokane, Lewis, Douglas, Garfield, and Chelan counties were just under 600.0.
New cases were up for all people under 80 years old were down, and unchanged for those 80 and above. Hospitalizations were mixed. Down for children and adolescents, up for age 35 to 49, and down for ages 65 to 79.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
185.2 (down)
0.7 (down)
Ages 12-19
220.8 (down)
0.4 (down)
Ages 20-34
183.5 (down)
5.4
Ages 35-49
183.2 (down)
8.4 (up)
Ages 50-64
127.9 (down)
14.3
Ages 65-79
98.9 (down)
17.7 (down)
Ages 80+
111.2
33.3
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
The USA Today COVID Tracker reported 42 deaths yesterday. The state of Washington is not reporting the percentage of positive cases.
Washington Department of Health confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine related death
Washington Secretary of Health Dr. Umair A. Shah confirmed today that a Seattle resident became the fourth person to die in the United States from a vaccine-related injury. Jessica Berg Wilson, 37, received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on August 26. On September 7, she died after a Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT) formed.
During a five-week pause, researchers determined the incident rate was less than 3 per million people. In contrast, the risk for serious blood clots due to a Covid-19 infection is 207 per one million. Additionally, doctors determined that common emergency room strategies for treating blood clots, such as using the anti-clotting drug heparin, were contraindicated. The CDC created updated guidelines on identifying and properly treating VITT in patients and reauthorized the single-dose vaccine.
As of June 30, the CDC has confirmed 35 incidents of VITT and three fatalities after 12. 5 million doses were administered. Berg-Wlson is the fourth Covid-19 vaccine-related death in the United States, where 185 million people are fully vaccinated, and approximately 15.4 million have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Seattle Times reported 47 incidents of VITT through the end of September in a separate article.
Yesterday we reported that the VAERS database indicated a 30 to 39-year-old female from Washington state who received the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine had died. Twitter created a firestorm on Sunday night and Monday morning when the social media platform labeled her death as misinformation.
VITT has only been documented with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the United States. The condition is very rare, with similar odds to dying from snakebite in the United States. It is more prevalent among women from 30 to 50 years old. Hormone-based contraceptives can slightly increase risk, along with a personal or family history of blood clotting disorders. The condition will typically appear two to three weeks after inoculation but can occur as far as seven weeks out.
If you are still choosing to get vaccinated, talk to your healthcare professional about which vaccine is best for you. Additionally, if you have recently received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, learn the symptoms to watch for. Be sure that your medical provider is aware you were recently vaccinated if you got to an emergency room.
SPD Officer who refused to wear a mask at hospital emergency department suspended one day
A five-month investigation determined that Whitehead violated only one rule, Standards and Duties 5.001.10, to be professional. The investigation also recommended administrative changes in how SPD Human Resources documents medical waivers issued to officers and communicates acceptance of the request.
On January 15, Whitehead was called to an unnamed area hospital to assist with a disruptive suspect in the Emergency Department. Four other SPD officers were present, and all were wearing masks. Whitehead was given a mask by a nurse but refused to wear it. He told the nurse, “I hear that. I’m here doing a job. I’m talking to my squadmate about what we got going on. You want me to wear a mask or whatever. We can entertain that idea later on, okay. I just wanna do my job right now, just like you.”
The nurse contacted the charge nurse, who reported the issue to a nursing security supervisor. The supervisor again asked Whitehead to wear a mask, who responded with, “Is she all in a tizzy about it?”
Whitehead expressed concern that the surgical mask could be used as a weapon against him. Whitehead ultimately put on the mask when talking with the detainee, and after some other action, left the hospital.
The entire incident was filmed on security cameras and Whitehead’s body camera. The OPA found that Whitehead was not honest with investigators. He told the OPA he maintained social distance from other people and said the hospital staff he was medically exempt from wearing a mask. The videos and testimony from the hospital staff and other officers indicated he did neither.
When asked why he never told the hospital about his exemption and the discrepancy in his testimony, he changed his story, indicating the “interaction had become contentious.” Whitehead told investigators he had a medical exemption from SPD, allowing him not to wear a mask.
According to the OPA report, “A copy of a memorandum that Named Employee 1 submitted to the HR Lieutenant on June 28, 2020. In that memorandum, he stated that he had a medical condition that prevented him from wearing facemasks and asserted that he was entitled to not do so by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). He noted in the memorandum that wearing the facemask caused him mental and physical strain, as well as increased respiratory distress. He wrote that he tried using a variety of different facemasks but stopped doing so as they continued to cause him problems.“
Whitehead did receive an e-mail saying that state and city could grant an exemption, but it never stated he had been given one. Whitehead presented the OPA with letters from two doctors. One letter claims he has a dermatological condition that is exacerbated by mask wear.
Despite his claims that any mask caused “mental and physical” strain, Whitehead was on duty for multiple protests during the summer of 2020. During his service, he was exposed to pepper spray, OC, and blast balls, while wearing a full-face respirator, ballistic vest, and riot gear as part of his duties without issue.
OPA Director Andrew Myerberg has come under fire for failing to enforce existing SPD department rules and working too closely with SPOG in an Office of Inspector General complaint. Director Myerberg is currently interviewing for a different job in Arizona and planning to leave the OPA.
SPOG estimates as many as 200 SPD officers will voluntarily separate from the department after the October 18 vaccine mandate deadline. The Seattle Police Department reported tonight that 354 sworn officers had not submitted proof of vaccination. While vaccination rates for hospital staff, educators, and skilled workers such as pilots, bankers, flight attendants, and computer programmers, have ranged from 95% to 99.5%, law enforcement officers remain one of the lowest vaccinated groups.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has refused to indicate if she will fire the unvaccinated officers after October 18 or leave the issue for the next mayor.
Editor’s Note:Our Chief Content Officer is listed as a party in an ongoing OPA investigation into the conduct of SPOG President Mike Solan. One of our Senior Staff was listed as a part of a closed OPA investigation for the excessive use of force.
Less than 9% of Washingtonians say they will never get the Covid-19 vaccine
Today, we are lifting our travel advisory to Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla Counties. We continue to recommend when visiting those counties, you use reasonable caution and don’t engage in dangerous activities.
We continue to recommend avoiding recreational travel to Spokane County. We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a medical emergency.
We continue to monitor the situation in the East Hospital Region and may expand our travel advisory beyond Spokane County.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
The report found, “Reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 under endemic conditions would likely occur between 3 and 63 months after peak antibody response, with a median of 16 months. This protection is of less than half the duration revealed for the endemic coronaviruses circulating among humans.”
Three to 63 months is a very wide range, and a serology test that detects the presence of Covid-19 antibodies can’t determine how robust a response the body would make if reinfected. The researchers added, “Relying on herd immunity without widespread vaccination jeopardises millions of lives, entailing high rates of reinfection, morbidity, and death. In areas with low vaccination, our data-driven analysis reinforces the need for continued safety practices such as social distancing, proper indoor ventilation, and mask wearing to avoid reinfection as pandemic conditions continue.”
Other studies have indicated that the combination of vaccination and natural immunity creates a supercharged response to the Covid-19 virus.
Pfizer vaccine booster shots are now available
Booster shots for eligible individuals are now available statewide. Individuals who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine more than six months ago, are 65 or older, or are immunocompromised can receive their third dose immediately.
In the Kirland-Bellevue-Woodinville area, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Bartell’s, and QFC are offering booster shots. Additionally, the third dose is available at the CVS located within the Target store at 17,700 NE 76th Street in Redmond.
Most locations require an appointment, which can be scheduled online.
King County, Washington is reporting over 86.7% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 17.5% of all acute care patients hospitalized in Washington have Covid-19. Currently, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied statewide, with approximately 654 available. ICUs are at 88.4% of capacity statewide, with 30.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 352 patients with 55% on ventilators. The state has approximately 138 ICU beds available.
The 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients was 124. The Department of Health reported 1,192 Covid-19 patients statewide on October 4, with 192 on ventilators. The total number of patients for October 3 was adjusted downward slightly, to 1,197.
Hospital status by region – September 30, 2021 – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
There was very little change in the status of Hospital Regions over the weekend.
– Bell Elementary (1*) – Barton Elementary (1*) – Dickinson/Explorer Elementary (1*) – Ella Baker Elementary (1*) – Eastlake High (2*) – Finn Hill Middle School (3*) – Franklin Elementary (2*) – Frost Elementary (2*) – ICS (1*) – Inglewood Middle School (1*) – Juanita Elementary (1*) – Kamiakin Middle School (4*) – Keller Elementary (2*) – Lakeview Elementary (4*) – McAuliffe Elementary (1*) – Muir Elementary (1*) – Northstar Middle (1*) – Redmond Elementary (2*) – Redmond Middle School (1*) – Redmond High School (2*) – Renaissance Middle School (1*) – Rosa Parks Elementary (1*) – Rush Elementary (1*)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (3) – Bothell High School (31) – Canyon Creek Elementary (26) – Canyon Park Middle School (6) – Cottage Lake Elementary (3) – Crystal Springs Elementary (28) – East Ridge Elementary (14) – Fernwood Elementary (1) – Frank Love Elementary (9) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (27) – Inglemoor High School (1) – Innovation Lab High School (1) – Kenmore Elementary (3) – Kenmore Middle School (23) – Leota Middle School (4) – Lockwood Elementary (37**) – Maywood Hills Elementary (28) – North Creek High School (4) – Northshore Family Partnership (30) – Northshore Middle School (2) – Secondary Academy for Success (4) – Shelton View Elementary (5) – Skyview Middle School (12) – Sunrise Elementary (9) – Timbercrest Middle School (8) – Wellington Elementary (21) – Westhill Elementary (41) – Woodin Elementary (16**) – Woodinville High School (11) – Woodmoor Elementary (11)
None
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than 10 active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
Bellevue School District added a 7th confirmed Covid-19 case at Bellevue High School and reported six confirmed cases at Highland Middle School.
The Northshore School District added multiple schools to their report. Lockwood Elementary reported six confirmed cases overnight, putting another 31 students and faculty into quarantine.
The Lake Washington School District updates its Covid-19 dashboard once a week. We received multiple parents confirmed Covid-19 e-mails yesterday. However, Lake Washington updates its dashboards on Monday, and we can’t ensure if the parental reports add to the dashboard numbers or are included in the Monday report.
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
The City of Kirkland has rolled out additional phases of its COVID-19 relief program to provide immediate financial assistance for small businesses, thanks to funding available through the American Rescue Plan Act. A limited number of $1,000 to $10,000 grants are now available for small Kirkland-based businesses behind on rent for the commercial properties they lease. To start the application process, businesses should go to www.kirklandwa.gov/business-help to complete and submit the intake form between October 5 – October 19, 2021. Program funds may only be used as a payment against a small business tenant’s past-due rent due to COVID-19 economic hardship experienced between March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. Note that the application process requires the cooperation of tenants and landlords, and payments will be made to the landlord.
“The pandemic has had a profound impact on many of our businesses, making it difficult for some to keep up with rent and stay in their current locations,” said Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold. “Our hope is that by passing federal relief funding directly to businesses and landlords that these businesses can get the foothold they need to thrive in our Kirkland community.”
For questions about the small business rent relief grant program, contact businesssupport@kirklandwa.gov (425) 587-3266 or the City’s Business Response Team at (206) 686-3424.
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker is reporting 167,209 new cases and 2,106 deaths nationwide. Tuesday’s update will include numbers from over the weekend.
CDC pulls holiday travel guidance from website
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday took down a page with holiday COVID-19 guidance, saying it was old information posted in error and that updated guidance would be coming soon, according to a report in The Hill.
The page, updated on Friday, gave a range of guidance on holiday gatherings, including that opening windows for indoor gatherings would improve ventilation and noting that virtual or outdoor gatherings are the safest option.
An agency spokesperson said the page “doesn’t reflect the CDC’s guidance ahead of this upcoming holiday season” and added that the agency “will share additional guidance soon.”
At home Covid-19 rapid test recalled due to excessive false positives
The Australian company, Ellume, recalled over 400,000 rapid test kits sold in the United States for an unacceptable level of false positives. The test kits were shipped from April to August, and currently, 200,000 kits remain unused.
In a statement on Ellume’s website, the company wrote, “we noted an increased chance that Ellume COVID-19 Home Tests from specific lots may provide an incorrect positive result. Following a thorough investigation, we isolated the cause and confirmed that this incidence of false positives is limited to specific lots.”
“We worked with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to voluntarily remove affected Ellume tests from the market. Importantly, the reliability of negative results is unaffected by this issue and are not included within this recall.”
In parallel, the FDA released a “Safety Communication” outlining the recall. People who have used one of the Ellume tests and believe they had a false reading are asked to report the incident to MedWatch.
Almost 99% of all Kaiser Permanente employees get vaccinated
Kaiser Permanente has placed more than 2,200 of its employees nationwide, who have refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, on unpaid administrative leave.
The health care company announced its vaccine mandate on August 2, with a deadline of Sept. 30. It has more than 220,000 employees across the country, with suspensions impacting about 1% of its entire workforce.
Over 98% of Northwell Health employees get vaccinated
New York State’s largest private hospital system laid off 1,400 workers who wouldn’t get vaccinated against Covid-19, a spokesperson for the health care network confirmed Monday afternoon.
Hospital and nursing home workers were required to get at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by September 27th, under a state mandate first announced in mid-August. Last week, Northwell said it started warning employees and planned layoffs, starting with the highest-paid workers who refused the shots.
The hospital system employed over 76,000 workers, with 98.2% getting vaccinated.
8,000 New York City Department of Education employees on unpaid leave
Approximately 500 cafeteria workers have been put on unpaid leave. Employees on leave who get vaccinated after the deadline can return to work. Additionally, employees that volunteer to quit will be provided healthcare coverage by the city for a year.
Department of Justice addresses violent threats against school officials and teachers
“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” wrote Attorney General Garland. “Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.”
According to the Attorney General’s memorandum, the Justice Department will launch a series of additional efforts in the coming days designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel. Those efforts are expected to include the creation of a task force, consisting of representatives from the department’s Criminal Division, National Security Division, Civil Rights Division, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the FBI, the Community Relations Service, and the Office of Justice Programs, to determine how federal enforcement tools can be used to prosecute these crimes and ways to assist state, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement where threats of violence may not constitute federal crimes.
The Justice Department will also create specialized training and guidance for local school boards and school administrators. This training will help school board members and other potential victims understand the type of behavior that constitutes threats, how to report threatening conduct to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and how to capture and preserve evidence of threatening conduct to aid in the investigation and prosecution of these crimes.
As the anti-vaccination and medical freedom movement has gotten smaller, some elements within the movements have become increasingly radicalized. School board meetings have been disrupted nationwide, including the Lake Washington School District. In other communities, fights have broken out in meetings, board members have received death threats, stalked, doxxed, and had their homes vandalized.
Alaska
The mayor of Alaska’s largest city apologized Thursday for his comments supporting some residents’ use of Holocaust imagery to liken a proposed citywide mask mandate to the oppression of Jewish people in Nazi Germany, the Associated Press reported.
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson has said he staunchly opposes the proposal and initially defended the use of yellow Stars of David worn by other critics this week at heated public hearings. Such imagery has been used by opponents of mask and vaccine mandates across the U.S., drawing condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish organizations.
Hospitals in Anchorage, Bethel, and Valdez continue to be the most impacted by the ongoing surge.
Officials are also concerned by a rising test positivity rate, which is just below 10%.
Idaho
Editor’s Note: I must maintain objectivity. I must maintain objectivity. I must maintain objectivity. I must maintain objectivity.
While his state struggles to deliver medical services and deal with the mounting number of corpses, Idaho governor Brad Little departed the state to visit the U.S.-Mexico border. According to a report by KTVB, less than 24 hours after he left, Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin signed an executive order as acting governor banning vaccine passports or mandatory Covid-19 testing at K-12 schools and universities in Idaho.
In a tweet, McGeachin wrote that she “fixed” Little’s executive order on vaccine passports, which was initially issued in April, to include K-12 schools and universities.
Less than ten minutes after McGeachin announced her executive order, Little responded on Twitter, stating he did not authorize McGeachin to act on his behalf and “I will be rescinding and reversing any actions taken by the Lt. Governor when I return.”
McGeachin also tried to activate the National Guard to deploy Idaho troops, already assisting with the Covid-19 surge, to the Mexico border. According to The Independent, the commanding general of the Idaho National Guard told McGeachin she can’t activate troops to send to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Governor Little issues a terse statement late on Tuesday.
“Attempting to deploy our National Guard for political grandstanding is an affront to the Idaho constitution [sic] and insults the men and women who have dedicated their life to serving our state and the country.”
This isn’t the first time McGeachin has pulled this type of political stunt, as she postures herself as the candidate that Idaho deserves in the upcoming 2022 election.
Idaho added 1,835 new cases on Tuesday and reported 11 deaths. The number of hospital beds within the state has improved slightly, Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said on Tuesday. He added improving bed availability could be, in part, attributed to the high number of deaths recently.
In a briefing on Tuesday, Jeppesen reported 89.1% of all Covid-19 cases are among the unvaccinated, 90.3% of hospitalizations, and 88% of deaths. Officials said that despite the intervention of volunteers, the National Guard, federal resources, and FEMA strike teams, staffing levels remain at crisis standards of care levels.
“Due to COVID patient volume added to non-COVID urgent patient care, we have been forced to care for patients in repurposed clinical areas and a non-clinical space (a hospital gym),” Dr. Steven Nemerson of St. Luke’s Hospital told the Idaho Statesman in an e-mail. The system has been “using ratios of patients to health care team members exceeding contingency standards of care despite staffing resources received through the state of Idaho and FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency).”
May the odds ever be in your favor.
Montana
While Alaska appears to have peaked and Idaho is on a plateau, Montana continues to deteriorate. According to the Billings Gazette, the state has 11,498 active cases, with 419 people hospitalized.
Despite activating the National Guard, asking for FEMA strike teams, and the Veteran’s Administration opening up a hospital to civilians, eight out of 10 large hospitals in the state reported having limited bed availability or nearing capacity. Likewise, eight out of 10 large hospitals reported having limited intensive care unit availability or nearing ICU capacity.
New York
A video caught the men in Union Square flipping over a table next to a mobile coronavirus testing van, tearing down the tent erected next to it and tossing a chair, before police intervened to stop them permanently destroying any property, according to a report in The Independent.
Protesters at the rally shouted “boo” and “shame on you” at the staff member working at the Covid-19 testing site as they went past, followed by chants of “no vaccine mandate.”
Hundreds of Department of Education staffers were involved in the protest, following the coronavirus vaccine mandate that went into place on Monday.
Two of the marchers just flipped over a Covid-19 mobile testing site tent, knocking down a table and chairs set up in Union Square in New York #NYC#NewYorkpic.twitter.com/RkEKwSMzzi
On September 16, Republican lightning rod, state senator, Ivermectin enthusiast, and 2022 Congressional candidate Anthony Bouchard assembled a panel to discuss Covid-19 vaccine mandates at hospitals. The esteemed group of top experts included Ryne Paulson, D.D.S., Melissa Hieb D.O., Andrew McAfee M.D., and Dena L’Heureux M.D. All four spouted conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination rhetoric and claimed they would medicine if the state passed a vaccine mandate. All of this was political theater if any providers accept or work for an organization that receives federal dollars.
How well is that going?
The Wyoming Medical Center in Casper reported they admitted 17 Covid-19 patients – in 24 hours from Saturday to Sunday. Only one of the recently admitted patients is vaccinated. Wyoming added 627 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, in a state with 578,000 residents. If that pace holds, almost 1% of all Wyomingians will catch Covid-19 this week. Test positivity on Monday was over 18%, which is down from last week.
The state reported 45 new Covid-19 related deaths and breaching 1,000 total deaths since the pandemic started in 2020. Put another way, 1.7% of the entire population of Wyoming has died from Covid-19.
Like Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, hospitals are tipping over into “crisis standards of care.” Cody Regional Health and Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County reported they continue to move from “contingency care” to “crisis standards of care” as the situation changes.
Rural hospitals in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska are dependent on larger hospitals in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Utah to take more challenging patients. Oregon and Washington barely avoided moving to crisis standards of care last month, while Colorado and Utah are dealing with their surges. With interstate transfers gridlocked, states like Wyoming, which only has 37 hospitals, have been forced to make do with their resources.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) The big news of the day is there are only hours left for state employees to get their final dose of the Covid-19 vaccine or face termination. New cases rates were up slightly over the weekend, while vaccination rates increased significantly from last week.
The number of students with Covid-19 increased in the Bellevue and Lake Washington School Districts while declining in Northshore.
One of the largest creators of Covid-19 misinformation was from Leavenworth, Washington, and he was recently fired from the hospital he worked at. Up to 3,000 gathered in peaceful protest against vaccine mandates in Olympia over the weekend.
There is controversy over the obituary of Jessica Berg Wilson, 37, who died on September 7 allegedly from an extremely rare condition called VITT after receiving a COVID vaccination.
Johnson & Johnson is expected to submit paperwork with the FDA seeking permission to start a booster shot program.
In the misinformation section, we go over religious exemptions one more time including the religious claim the vaccination is the mark of the Beast.
New cases increased slightly statewide over the weekend. In the South Central Hospital Region, which includes Benton, Franklin, Klickitat, Walla Walla, and Yakima counties, the 14 day moving average for new cases dropped to 708.9 per 100K. The Puget Sound (Central) Hospital Region, which represents King County, increased to 265.0.
Many counties saw a significant jump in vaccination rates ranging from 1/2% to 1.5%. The number of counties in each bracket shuffled again. The number of new cases is significantly lower in counties where 60% or more of the population is fully vaccinated.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Average 14-Day New Case Rate (unadjusted)
60.00% or above (4)
223.8
50.00% to 59.99% (13 counties)
573.0
40.00% to 49.99% (14 counties)
684.5
29.30% to 39.99% (8 counties)
702.7
14-Day New COVID Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Not Adjusted for Population
Through October 3, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 436.2 COVID cases per 100K, a small increase over the weekend.
Lincoln County reported 1,040.7 new cases per 100K over the weekend, ending the statewide streak at just one day.
Counties in the 800.0 to 999.9 per 100K range include Ferry, Frankin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, and Stevens. Stevens County is just under 1,000 cases per 100K.
Counties in the 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K range include Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Skagit, Spokane, and Walla Walla. Adams County remained just under 800 while Garfield and Yakima County are just under 600.0.
New cases were up for all age groups except 50 to 79 years old. Hospitalizations, however, were mixed.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
210.7 (up)
1.0 (up)
Ages 12-19
246.0 (up)
0.8 (down)
Ages 20-34
203.2 (up)
5.4
Ages 35-49
201.4 (up)
7.8 (down)
Ages 50-64
141.4
14.1 (down)
Ages 65-79
108.6
20.3
Ages 80+
118.5 (up)
35.9 (up)
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
The USA Today COVID Tracker had not been updated when we went to press. The state of Washington is not reporting the percentage of positive cases.
One of the largest creators of COVID misinformation is from Leavenworth
Cascade Medical Center, a 25-bed acute care hospital nestled in a Bavarian-themed town in the Eastern Cascades, fired two employees earlier this month, according to the Director of Public Relations, Clint Strand. Matthew Wilson of Leavenworth, 33, and Alyssa “Lyssa” Riggs of Cashmere, 21, presented themselves as a doctor and nurse on social media, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Wilson was meticulous in hiding his identity, using the Pharoh’s face and only showing his hands, encased in blue medical gloves. He would use a whiteboard to share his content to bypass artificial intelligence moderation while filming himself in examination rooms and surgical suites. His videos frequently used medical equipment as props. As Wilson and Riggs spread their lies, residents of Chelan County were flooding the emergency department gasping for breath, infected with Covid-19.
After months of investigation, Tik Tok creators ThatDaneshGuy and Guilt, along with a team of researchers, tracked down Riggs. Once they discovered her identity, they learned Wilson was the man behind bloodytnvc5.
Up to 3,000 gather in Olympia to protest vaccine mandate
As many as 3,000 people gathered on the state Capitol Campus Sunday afternoon to voice opposition to Gov. Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate for state workers, The Olympian reported.
Inslee’s emergency order requires roughly 63,000 state workers to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or lose their jobs, The Seattle Times reports.
The gathering was officially called the “No, you move” Rally Against the Mandate. The event did not attract counterprotesters.
Thousands gathered in Olympia to push back against the COVID vaccine mandate against government workers plus school and healthcare staff. pic.twitter.com/dJmZd0uA9a
The FDA suspended the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 23 after several reports of blood clots and six possible deaths. During a five-week pause, researchers determined the incident rate was less than 3 per million people, and that common anti-clotting drugs like heparin were contraindicated. In contrast, the risk for serious blood clots due to a Covid-19 infection is 207 per one million.
Twitter has since removed the Covid-19 misinformation warning off the obituary but questions remain. VITT typically manifests itself 2 to 4 weeks after the Johnson & Johnson vaccination. There were very few doses of the J&J vaccination in August, with the U.S. government rationing distribution from June to September. It wouldn’t have been impossible for Berg-Wilson to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but it would be unusual.
The obituary, which politicizes her death, raises red flags for some people. VAERS does indicate the death of a 30 to 39-year-old female from Washington state who received the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The report did not share when the entry was made, the date of the incident, the location, or who the reporting party was. VAERS also needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt because it is a public, self-reporting tool.
Travel Advisories
We recommend avoiding recreational travel to Spokane, Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla counties. If the number of new cases in the South Central Hospital Region continues to decline, we will likely lift our advisory for this region in the next 7 days. We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a medical emergency.
We may implement a travel advisory for Northwest and East Washington Hospital Regions based upon renewed hospitalization data now available from the Department of Health.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Deadline for single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and second dose for Pfizer and Moderna vaccine is here
Today is the last day for thousands of state workers to receive their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As of September 20, over 68% of state workers reported they were fully vaccinated. Data from companies, schools, and other states such as Hawaii and New York, indicates final acceptance would likely exceed 95%.
Multiple unions have reached agreements at a municipal, county, or state level, to extend the deadline past October 18 for individuals who received at least their first dose. Additionally, workers with denied exemptions requests will be given extra time.
Johnson & Johnson will seek FDA approval for booster shot
While scientists are divided over the need for booster shots when so many people in the United States and other countries remain unvaccinated, the Biden administration announced the push for an extra dose in August as part of an effort to shore up protection against the highly transmissible Delta variant.
The Food and Drug Administration last week scheduled an October 15 meeting of its expert advisory committee to discuss whether to grant emergency use authorization for a booster shot of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.
Pfizer vaccine booster shots are now available
Booster shots for eligible individuals are now available statewide. Individuals who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine more than 6 months ago, are 65 or older, or are immunocompromised can receive their third dose immediately.
In the Kirland-Bellevue-Woodinville area, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Bartell’s, and QFC are offering booster shots. Additionally, the third dose is available at the CVS located within the Target store at 17,700 NE 76th Street in Redmond.
Most locations require an appointment, which can be scheduled online.
King County, Washington is reporting over 86.7% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 17.8% of all acute care patients hospitalized in Washington have COVID. Currently, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied statewide with approximately 646 available. ICUs are at 88.6% of capacity statewide, with 29.0% of ICU patients fighting COVID – an estimated 306 patients with 59% on ventilators. The state has approximately 136 ICU beds available.
The 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients was 127. The Department of Health reported 1,215 COVID patients statewide on October 3 with 182 on ventilators. Data over the weekend is typically incomplete, and we expect these numbers to be adjusted tomorrow.
Hospital Region
ICU Occupancy
ICU COVID Patients
Acute Care Occupancy
Acute Care COVID Patients
East
90.7%
45.9%
88.8%
26.0%
North
77.2%
32.3%
86.9%
12.9%
North Central
88.9%
52.4%
76.2%
23.7%
Northwest
92.5%
41.0%
96.3%
25.8%
Puget Sound
91.5%
24.0%
94.7%
14.1%
South Central
87.4%
34.4%
82.6%
23.0%
Southwest
72.2%
33.7%
87.6%
23.5%
West
87.2%
25.2%
86.4%
18.2%
Hospital status by region – September 30, 2021 – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
There was very little change in the status of Hospital Regions over the weekend.
– Bell Elementary (1*) – Barton Elementary (1*) – Dickinson/Explorer Elementary (1*) – Ella Baker Elementary (1*) – Eastlake High (2*) – Finn Hill Middle School (3*) – Franklin Elementary (2*) – Frost Elementary (2*) – ICS (1*) – Inglewood Middle School (1*) – Juanita Elementary (1*) – Kamiakin Middle School (4*) – Keller Elementary (2*) – Lakeview Elementary (4*) – McAuliffe Elementary (1*) – Muir Elementary (1*) – Northstar Middle (1*) – Redmond Elementary (2*) – Redmond Middle School (1*) – Redmond High School (2*) – Renaissance Middle School (1*) – Rosa Parks Elementary (1*) – Rush Elementary (1*)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (2) – Bothell High School (22) – Canyon Creek Elementary (10) – Canyon Park Middle School (4) – Crystal Springs Elementary (23) – Cottage Lake Elementary (4) – East Ridge Elementary (3) – Fernwood Elementary (2) – Frank Love Elementary (7) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (12) – Inglemoor High School (1) – Innovation Lab High School (1) – Kenmore Elementary (1) – Kenmore Middle School (14) – Maywood Hills Elementary (9) – North Creek High School (4) – Ruby Bridges Elementary (1) – Secondary Academy for Success (7) – Shelton View Elementary (4) – Skyview Middle School (17) – Sunrise Elementary (1) – Timbercrest Middle School (7) – Westhill Elementary (35) – Woodin Elementary (8) – Woodinville High School (13) – Woodmoor Elementary (11**)
None
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than 10 active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
The Northshore School District saw a large number of quarantines end over the weekend moving the district back to yellow. The Bellevue School District has two schools with more than 5 confirmed COVID cases.
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Percentage of King County Residents 12 and older who have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, October 4, 2021
Vaccination rates continued to climb for adolescents between age 12 and 19 in the northeastern parts of King County but still lag far behind the east-central region. In the northern half of Kirkland, the lower vaccination rate for teens is keeping the overall vaccination rate lower than the southern half of Kirkland.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
King County Public Health updated the vaccination rates by zip code, with the numbers improving throughout the region. The northern half of Kirkland, Bothell, and Kenmore, continue to lag behind the rest of the local area.
Percentage of King County Residents 12 and older who have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, October 4, 2021
Zip Code
Percent vaccinated, at least one dose, 12 and older
98155
92.5%
98028
90.0%
98011
86.4%
98034
85.0%
98033
92.8%
98072
90.9%
98052
>95.0%
98004
>95.0%
98039
93.7%
98005
>95.0%
98007
89.7%
Vaccination rates for those 12 and older by zip code – at least one dose
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker is reporting 25,215 new cases and 237 deaths nationwide. Because most states don’t report data over the weekend, the Monday update is incomplete.
Southwest Airlines is joining United, Alaska, JetBlue, and Hawaiian in mandating vaccines for their employees. its 56,000-person workforce must be vaccinated against Covid-19 by December 8 to continue working at the airline because of new federal rules, joining other carriers who made similar announcements last week.
No state round up – taking the day off
Misinformation
Today is the last day for many in Washington state to get the single dose Johnson & Johnson adenovirus-vector vaccine, or the second dose of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. With the number of people saying they’ll never get vaccinated down to 12% nationally and just over 8% in Washington, the anti-vaccination movement continues to shrink. Over 2,000 workers have applied for a religion-based vaccine exemption, and many have already been rejected.
Which religions hold the belief that followers should reject vaccinations?
The short answer is none of the major religions nor their branches have an anti-vaccination doctrine. The multifaith movement Faith 4 Vaccines provides additional clarity. Over 70 religions are part of the group, which supports ongoing vaccination efforts and equitable distribution.
Some religions have come forward with direct statements to the faithful that getting a vaccination for Covid-19 is accepted in God’s eyes.
Even among religions people commonly believe are against vaccinations, faith leaders have stated their support pubicly, in some cases decades ago. The Church of Christ, Scientist, which strongly encourages members to rely on faith and prayer for healing, does not have an official doctrine against Western medicine or vaccinations.
There are a few small sects, mostly aligned with Christianity, that have an established theological objection. That includes Dutch Reformed, Faith Tabernacle, Chuch of the First Born, Faith Assembly, and End Time Ministrie.
For the strictest adherents of Islam and Judaism, some shun vaccines and other Western medicine. Making a claim along these religious grounds while not having a demonstrated history of adhering to grooming, clothing, dietary, and work schedule requirements will likely be problematic during the evaluation process.
For those who follow a faith supportive of Covid-19 vaccination, there are two primary justifications for continuing to seek a religious exemption. The first is a firmly held belief against abortion.
We evaluated eight Covid-19 vaccines and found that five used cloned fetal cells in testing or development, and two used the cells in production. The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were tested on fetal stem cells, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine used the cells during production.
Many hierarchical religions explored the implications of HEK-293 years ago and decided that the material does not represent human life. Additionally, HEK-293 has been used in the development, testing, or production of many common medications.
This is a partial list of common drugs. Many other medications have used HEK-293 as part of their testing, development, or production.
At some point in their development, other common vaccinations, including Rubella, part of the MMR, Hepatitis B, Varicella (chickenpox), and Zoster (shingles), use HEK-293. For healthcare workers, the MMR, Hepatitis B, Varicella, and if over 50 years old, Zoster vaccines are required in Washington state. That includes EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, and police officers who hold an EMT certification as part of their job duties. If there is no historical objection to receiving these vaccines, reviewers will likely reject a religious exemption request.
The second objection among fundamentalist Christians is that receiving the vaccination is the Mark of the Beast.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
REVELATIONS 13:16-17 – KING JAMES BIBLE – PUBLIC DOMAIN
The University of Chicago has an analysis of Biblical scripture and what John the Elder likely meant when he wrote about “the Mark of the Beast.” Scholars largely believe that the Beast was Emperor Nero of Rome. A papyrus scroll from the late third or early fourth century provides support to this claim.
As emperor, Nero’s face would have been on Roman currency, and Roman citizens would not be able to run a business without a letter bearing his seal. The mark of the Beast is both on the head and in hand.
A counter-argument is John wrote Revelations in Greek for a Greek audience. Because John wasn’t within the Roman Empire and Nero was dead, he had nothing to fear and wouldn’t need to use coded language. However, Nero traveled to Greece in A.D. 66 and was a lover of Greek culture. The Greeks even delayed the Olympic Games by one year so that Nero could be a competitor – a high honor.
Seen through this lens, it becomes more apparent why John the Elder would warn the Greek people, who held Nero in esteem. Although Revelations is believed to have been written 20 to 30 years after Nero’s appearance in the Olympic games, there was a widely held belief that Nero would return and rule in madness again.
John the Elder would have good reason to fear retribution from the Greeks themselves and the potential spiritual return of Nero. Additionally, the religious argument of the Mark of the Beast has been used for decades for other modern constructs. Examples include social security numbers, bank account numbers, credit cards, and licenses.
Other governments and businesses have honored the requests from the faithful who have previously demonstrated deeply held beliefs that align with religions against vaccination. However, faking deeply held religious beliefs is easily identified when a person’s behavior before January 21, 2020, is considered.
[LEAVENWORTH, Wash.] – (MTN) He went by bloodytnvc5 on Tik Tok and was infamous for using a Pharoh’s face and headdress as his alter ego and for wearing blue medical gloves. A three-month investigation would reveal one of the most prominent creators of hate and Covid-19 misinformation on Tik Tok was a cook at Cascade Medical Center in Leavenworth, Washington.
Cascade Medical Center, a 25-bed acute care hospital nestled in a Bavarian-themed town in the Eastern Cascades, fired two employees earlier this month, according to the Director of Public Relations, Clint Strand. Matthew Wilson of Leavenworth, 33, and Alyssa “Lyssa” Riggs of Cashmere, 21, presented themselves as a doctor and nurse on social media, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Wilson was meticulous in hiding his identity, using the Pharoh’s face and only showing his hands, encased in blue medical gloves. He would use a whiteboard to share his content to bypass artificial intelligence moderation while filming himself in examination rooms and surgical suites. His videos frequently used medical equipment as props. As Wilson and Riggs spread their lies, residents of Chelan County were flooding the emergency department gasping for breath, infected with Covid-19.
After months of investigation, Tik Tok creators ThatDaneshGuy and Guilt, along with a team of researchers, tracked down Riggs. Once they discovered her identity, they learned Wilson was the man behind bloodytnvc5.
For months, Wilson, with help from Riggs, created thousands of videos seen by millions of people. Along with medical misinformation, Wilson spread hate and intolerance unchecked by Tik Tok and its moderation staff.
He claimed to have acquired a military “explosive device,” even showing the serial numbers as proof in one video. Investigators concluded the serial numbers were not related to any kind of explosives or component to a bomb but a commercially available gun rack. Despite the bold claims, Tik Tok allowed the video to be viewed and shared by hundreds of thousands.
Content included sharing Nazi images from World War II and tap dancing around the edges of content guidelines while attacking Jews. He created sexist content within the walls of Cascade Health while sharing images and boasting he allegedly owns illegal firearms. Incredibly, he offered to sell fake vaccination cards with impunity from Tik Tok management.
While wrapping himself in patriotism, white nationalism, and a love of the Second Amendment, he pushed medical misinformation. Covid-19 was a hoax, Covid-19 wasn’t that bad, the vaccine was gene therapy, and the government is out to control everyone. His smooth voice and presentation, the gloves, the medical gear, and what appeared to be an understanding of medical terminology made him credible to his audience. His core audience was already thoroughly indoctrinated in medical misinformation and hungry for content to fuel their confirmational bias.
Additionally, he brutally attacked Black people and Black culture. But Wilson had a secret behind his online persona, and a trail of tiny breadcrumbs led to his downfall.
Several small mistakes and the unique architecture of Leavenworth lead to a big reveal
Wilson and Riggs made one critical mistake, each in separate videos, despite efforts to hide their identities. Additionally, Wilson left a trail of smaller clues that led to his identification.
Riggs revealed herself in a single video dressed as a nurse wearing a surgical mask and glasses. A graduate of Cascade High School in 2018, Riggs was feted by former Leavenworth Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar in 2017 for being part of “Citizens of Washington in a Contemporary World.” According to LinkedIn and WenatcheeWorld, Riggs was on the dean’s list at Wenatchee Valley College, where she studied dental hygiene. The Washington State Department of Health Provider Credential Search portal indicated Riggs does not hold a license in any dental or nursing discipline.
Wilson went to great lengths to hide his identity, and attempts to find him by cross-referencing other social media channels were fruitless. He likely never considered the unique architecture of Leavenworth would provide the critical clue that would end his reign over social media.
Leavenworth, Washington, was founded as a logging town located on a railroad line. The town boomed through the late 1800s into the 1940s. Timber for construction, aircraft manufacturing during World War I, and a need for wood during World War II brought prosperity to the region. After the war, the railroad moved the line, bypassing Leavenworth and the town’s economy collapsed. By 1960, it appeared Leavenworth would disappear off the map.
City leaders came up with an idea to revitalize Leavenworth that forever changed the community. They adopted building codes to match Bavarian architecture and turned the town into a German-themed tourist destination. Almost overnight, Leavenworth became a picturesque mecca nationally known for Oktoberfest, Christmas lights, and the closest village to Stevens Pass and its ski area. Located just a couple of blocks off U.S. Route 2, Cascade Medical Center adopted the same Bavarian architecture when it was built. The unique construction requirements would be the undoing of Riggs and help identify Wilson.
In another video, Wilson revealed a distinctive area of Cascade Medical Center for a brief moment, showing the exposed beam German-inspired architecture. From that single view, investigators identified the facility.
Human resources at Cascade Medical Center was able to identify Riggs when researchers presented their findings, including the small video clip where she appeared just once. There is an old saying that there is no honor among thieves. When Riggs was confronted by Cascade Medical about her online activity and was accused of being the person behind bloodytnvc5, she gave up Wilson.
The hospital told the team of Danesh and Guilt, two employees were fired, and they waited for the story to break in the news. They believed they had revealed a doctor spreading medical misinformation, selling fake vaccination cards, and spreading racial hatred – but the news never came.
The final clues
Investigators went back through the cesspool of content they had gathered, looking for any additional clues for the true identity of bloodytnvc5. The deeper review discovered Wilson had made a critical error in a single video. Ironically, the historical roots of Washington state being part of the Oregon Territory when the Black Exclusion Act was passed in 1844 worked against him.
Almost 200 years later, Washington state is only 4% Black, while the United States is 13%. In a single video, Wilson forgot to put on his blue medical gloves revealing his race. Wilson is Black and lives in a community with 2,057 residents – slightly more than one percent are Black. Investigators believed they were looking for a Black doctor because Wilson presented himself as a medical expert with access to exam rooms, surgical suites, and medical equipment with apparent impunity.
Sprinkled among Wilson’s misinformation, weapons violations, selling fake vaccination cards, and racial hatred, there were morsels of content about food. The pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. Scanning through photos from Cascade Medical Center, investigators had an epiphany. Wilson was in plain sight the whole time, but he wasn’t a doctor or even medically trained – Wilson is a chef. In one photo provided in hospital marketing materials, Wilson’s name was clearly visible on his employee badge, wearing a chef’s uniform, smiling over a table laden with food.
Despite being Black himself, Wilson expressed racial hatred and mocked Black culture. Some of his tamer content can still be found on (parental advisory, not safe for work)the website iFunny, including an iteration of the Pharoh iconography he would use.
Epilogue
Wilson and Riggs were both terminated from Cascade Medical Center, but they have not faced additional consequences for their actions to date. Wilson boasted of having illegal weapons in his possession and provided pictures. However, his whole persona online appears to be a complete illusion.
Wilson allegedly has been reported to the FBI, ATF, and local animal control for the crimes he self-documented on social media. An inquiry is being made with the Washington Department of Health to determine if the state will investigate Wilson, Riggs, or both for impersonating a doctor and nurse, respectively. Because this story broke over the weekend, we plan to reach out to the Washington Department of Health on Monday.
Riggs doesn’t hold any medical license (to the best of our research abilities) in Washington state. In theory, if she has completed her education in dental hygiene, she could become a licensed medical professional in the future.
ByteDance has never responded to multiple inquiries we have made about other medical misinformation creators on Tik Tok that operate with apparent impunity on the platform. Wilson and Riggs will likely maintain a low profile, but plenty of other videos already exist spreading harmful content.
We would like to thank ThatDaneshGuy, the creator Guilt, and their researchers for sharing their content with Malcontent News.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) The big news today is about a little brown capsule called molnupiravir. The Phase 3 trial of the oral medication cut COVID hospitalizations and deaths by 50%, and Merck has applied for Emergency Use Authorization with the FDA. The impact of this new medication could go far beyond COVID with researchers at Emory University claiming it could be useful against other viral diseases.
New COVID cases and hospitalizations held steady statewide. A report in the Seattle Times indicated more than half of rural Washington transfer patients ended up in King County hospitals.
The Bellevue School District updated its COVID dashboard and revealed there are 37 confirmed COVID cases. In the Northshore School District, cases continued to grow at Bothell High School and Crystal Springs Elementary School reported 11 confirmed cases.
There are an estimated 604 adult acute care and 132 ICU beds available statewide, and approximately 56% of COVID patients in the ICU are on a ventilator.
The Nisqually Nation was forced to evacuate a COVID quarantine site in Roy, Washington after multiple threats were made. A post on Facebook falsely claimed it was a newly built government quarantine site for rounding up the unvaccinated.
Amazon continues to promote dangerous COVID treatments on its website.
Alaska Air Group announced they will require all employees to get vaccinated, but a hard deadline was not set.
Alaska, Idaho, and Montana continue to struggle with surging COVID cases.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied an emergency request by New York educators to block the state’s vaccine mandate. That’s a bigger deal than you think, and it wasn’t unexpected.
In the misinformation section, we tackle “it’s just the flu” very graphically.
New cases held steady statewide with no statistical difference from yesterday. In the South Central Hospital Region, which includes Benton, Franklin, Klickitat, Walla Walla, and Yakima counties, the 14 day moving average for new cases increased to 727.9 per 100K. The Puget Sound (Central) Hospital Region, which represents King County, was statistically unchanged at 244.5.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Average 14-Day New Case Rate (unadjusted)
60.00% or above (3)
171.9
50.00% to 59.99% (12 counties)
506.9
40.00% to 49.99% (15 counties)
653.9
28.40% to 39.99% (9 counties)
734.4
14-Day New COVID Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Not Adjusted for Population
Through September 30, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average is 426.6 COVID cases per 100K, statistically unchanged from yesterday.
For the first time in over a month, no counties reported a new case rate over 1,000 per 100K residents. Based on this change we are updating how we report county performance.
Counties in the 800.0 to 999.9 per 100K range include Ferry, Frankin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, and Stevens. Ferry County is a new hot spot, while cases in southeast Washington are on the decline. Stevens County is just under 1,000.
Counties in the 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K range include Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Klickitat, Cowlitz, Benton, Walla Walla, Garfield, Douglas, Lewis, Chelan, and Spokane. Adams County is just under 800 and Yakima County is just under 600.0.
We will keep descending these brackets until most counties fall below 450 per 100K residents. Currently, 28 counties still have widespread transmission of COVID.
New cases were up for 12 to 19-year-olds while hospitalizations were down for the same age group.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
195.0
0.6
Ages 12-19
220.6 (up)
1.3 (down)
Ages 20-34
191.7
5.2
Ages 35-49
189.8
8.8
Ages 50-64
137.6
15.2
Ages 65-79
104.3
20.0
Ages 80+
108.3
32.6
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
The USA Today COVID Tracker reported 72 deaths on Thursday. The state of Washington is not reporting the percentage of positive cases.
Nisqually Nation forced to evacuate COVID quarantine site after threats
Because three or four generations can be living under the same roof, a COVID-positive person can have a significant impact on the entire household. The Nisqually Nation started using a 26-acre property in Roy, Washington last year enabling tribal members to quarantine away from family members. The tribe was forced to evacuate the site after an online misinformation campaign labeled the location a concentration camp.
The Facebook group Americans Against 2nd Class Treatment posted on September 28, 2021, about the site, claiming it was a “new COVID quarantine site” and they were “just getting to work on it.” In reality, the site has existed for more than a decade, and the Nisqually Nation bought the 26-acre parcel in 2014. Earlier this month, they cleared some timber between the buildings and Highway 702, making the location more visible from the road.
Comments quickly developed with people calling it a “concentration camp” and a “gulag.” The group went on to post that the Nisqually Nation was forced to hire security and block the access road with boulders due to ongoing threats at the property.
“Who does that,” said Nisqually Tribal Councilmember Hanford McCloud, “It’s beyond ridiculous.”
McCloud said about 30 people have stayed on the property in the last 18 months, giving them a safe place to recover and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
A caretaker and his family, along with two COVID-19 patients, were placed in a hotel, said Tribal Health Officer Mary Szafranski.
Amazon continues to recommend dangerous COVID treatments on its website
A surge of social media videos in the last two weeks on YouTube and Tik Tok has advocated nebulizing hydrogen peroxide as a preventative and home treatment for COVID. Content creators have danced around guidance medical guidance to spread the misinformation.
For the third time in 60 days, Amazon is at the center of controversy with the AI designed to drive more sales, recommending medical saline and hydrogen peroxide with nebulizer purchases.
Amazon recommendation for hydrogen peroxide and medical saline when purchasing a nebulizer – October 1, 2021
In August the online behemoth was called out for promoting Ivermectin, and publishing reviews with veiled dosing instructions for humans. A couple of weeks later, Amazon was dinged again for recommending books that spread COVID misinformation.
Multiple medical groups have appealed for people not to drink or nebulize hydrogen peroxide. The human body does not have a finite capacity to process hydrogen peroxide and the solution hasn’t been recommended for wound care in years.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America wrote, “A concerning and dangerous trend is circulating on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. People are breathing in hydrogen peroxide through nebulizers to try to prevent or treat COVID-19.”
“DO NOT put hydrogen peroxide into your nebulizer and breathe it in. This is dangerous!”
Alaska Air Group mandates vaccination for all employees
Alaska Air Group joined Delta and Hawaiian Airlines, mandating all employees of Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and McGee get vaccinated against COVID. The airline stopped short of setting a hard deadline, but employees who prove they are fully vaccinated by December 1 will receive a $200 bonus. The mandate impacts certain vendors and contractors also.
“Since our company does significant work for the federal government, we have determined that Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, and McGee employees – all part of Alaska Air Group – do fall under this federal vaccine mandate, along with other major U.S.airlines,” Alaska Air Group said in a statement.
The airline reported on September 1, that 75% of its workforce was already fully vaccinated.
United Airlines reported yesterday that 320 of 67,000 employees decided to quit over the vaccine mandate they implemented earlier this year. Nationally compliance for vaccine mandates has ranged from 89% to virtually 100% across cities, counties, states, schools, hospitals, and private employers.
More than half of rural Washington COVID transfer patients ended up in King County
A Seattle Times analysis found that from July 1 to September 23, 229 of 414 COVID transfer patients in Washington state ended up in King County hospitals. The Seattle Times story is behind a paywall and The Slog written by The Stranger is more politically charged on this topic for our COVID coverage specifically. You can see this summary by the author Joseph O’Sullivan on Twitter.
NEW: Slammed by #covid19, rural WA hospitals have transferred hundreds of patients to metro areas since July 1.
We recommend avoiding recreational travel to Spokane, Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, and Walla Walla counties. If the number of new cases in the South Central Hospital Region continues to decline, we will likely lift our advisory for this region in the next 3 to 10 days. We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, and Montana. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care if you experience a medical emergency.
We may implement a travel advisory for Eastern Washington, based upon renewed hospitalization data now available from the Department of Health.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Deadline for single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and second dose for Pfizer and Moderna vaccine looms for state workers
Thousands of state workers have until Sunday to receive their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Over 68% of state workers reported last week they were fully vaccinated. Data from companies, schools, and other states such as Hawaii and New York, indicates final acceptance would likely exceed 95%.
Multiple unions have reached agreements at a municipal, county, or state level, to extend the deadline past October 18 for individuals who received at least their first dose. Additionally, workers with denied exemptions requests will be given extra time.
Pfizer vaccine booster shots are now available
Booster shots for eligible individuals are now available statewide. Individuals who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine more than 6 months ago, are 65 or older, or are immunocompromised can receive their third dose immediately.
In the Kirland-Bellevue-Woodinville area, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Bartell’s, and QFC are offering booster shots. Additionally, the third dose is available at the CVS located within the Target store at 17,700 NE 76th Street in Redmond.
Most locations require an appointment, which can be scheduled online.
King County, Washington is reporting over 86.2% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 18.7% of all acute care patients hospitalized in Washington have COVID. Currently, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied statewide with approximately 604 available. ICUs are at 89.0% of capacity statewide, with 30.0% of ICU patients fighting COVID – an estimated 354 patients with 56% on ventilators. The state has approximately 132 ICU beds available.
The 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients dropped to 105 – finally below the January 7, 2021 peak of 113. The Department of Health reported 1,274 COVID patients statewide on September 30 with 197 on ventilators. Hospitalizations dropped slightly while the number of patients on ventilators is unchanged.
Hospital Region
ICU Occupancy
ICU COVID Patients
Acute Care Occupancy
Acute Care COVID Patients
East
88.6%
44.6%
89.6%
26.7%
North
80.8%
28.5%
88.0%
13.1%
North Central
96.4%
58.9%
75.7%
26.3%
Northwest
92.3%
38.3%
95.4%
24.6%
Puget Sound
91.8%
23.4%
94.6%
14.4%
South Central
85.7%
34.9%
83.2%
25.4%
Southwest
74.3%
37.3%
88.3%
24.9%
West
89.1%
31.4%
87.6%
21.8%
Hospital status by region – September 30, 2021 – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
There was very little change in the status of Hospital Regions.
– Alcott Elementary (1*) – Barton Elementary (1*) – Dickinson/Explorer Elementary (2*) – Ella Baker Elementary (3*) – Eastlake High (1*) – Evergreen Middle School (1*) – Franklin Elementary (2*) – Finn Hill Middle School (1* – see below) – ICS (1*) – Inglewood Middle School (2*) – Juanita Elementary (1*) – Kamiakin Middle School (3* – see notes below) – Keller Elementary (2*) – Kirkland Middle School (1*) – Lake Washington High (1*) – Lakeview Elementary (3*) – Muir Elementary (1*) – Redmond Middle School (1*) – Redmond High School (1*) – Renaissance Middle School (1*) – Rush Elementary (2*)
See notes below
None
Northshore
RED
– Arrowhead Elementary (14) – Canyon Creek Elementary (31**) – Canyon Park Middle School (12**) – Cottage Lake Elementary (17) – East Ridge Elementary (16) – Fernwood Elementary (13**) – Frank Love Elementary (30) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (29) – Inglemoor High School (8) – Innovation Lab High School (11) – Kenmore Elementary (13) – Kenmore Middle School (49**) – Kokanee Elementary (60) – Leota Middle School (6) – Lockwood Elementary (32) – Maywood Hills Elementary (21**) – Moorlands Elementary (48) – North Creek High School (27) – Northshore Middle School (17**) – Ruby Bridges Elementary (9) – Secondary Academy for Success (16) – Shelton View Elementary (20**) – Skyview Middle School (63**) – Sunrise Elementary (23) – Timbercrest Middle School (44) – Wellington Elementary (74) – Westhill Elementary (38) – Woodin Elementary (17**) – Woodinville High School (23) – Woodmoor Elementary (23**)
– Bothell High School (14*/137) – Crystal Springs Elementary 11*/45)
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than 10 active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
in the Northshore School District, Bothell High School currently has 14 confirmed COVID cases between students and faculty and Crystal Springs Elementary has 11. The number of quarantined students at Bothell High school swelled to 137.
The Bellevue School District updated its COVID dashboard overnight. The district will be providing updated data daily, but no longer reports on the number of students and faculty quarantining.
We received a confirmed parent report on Wednesday of one new COVID case at Finn Hill Middle School with 52 students moved to quarantine.
We received a confirmed parent report on Thursday of two new COVID cases at Kamiakin Middle School with 27 additional close contacts.
We received a parent report on Thursday of one new COVID case at Old Redmond Schoolhouse (preschool) with an unknown number of close contacts.
Because Lake Washington doesn’t update its dashboard daily, we are adding these as footnotes. We have not added the Old Redmond Schoolhouse to the scorecard above because it is not officially listed on the Lake Washington School District dashboard.
Karen James, who taught 4th Grade at Barnes Elementary, died on Monday, September 27, according to the Kelso School District.
A district spokesperson said they could not comment on the cause of death, however, they later said, “Late yesterday [Thursday, Sept. 30] afternoon we learned of one additional positive COVID-19 case in Miss James’ classroom.”
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
No update
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker is reporting 110,010 new cases, 2,718 deaths nationwide, and 699,000 COVID-related deaths since February 29, 2020. Based on the Johns Hopkins University data, the United States will reach 700,000 confirmed COVID-related deaths tomorrow morning (other dashboards reported 700,000 deaths last night and earlier today).
Merck seeking FDA Emergency Use Authorization for pill that treats mild and moderate COVID
Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics have been studying an oral antiviral medicine called molnupiravir which, during Phase 3 testing, reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 50%. Phase 3 testing has been so successful Merck is submitting an application for Emergency Use Authorization in the United States and plans to submit marketing applications to other regulatory agencies worldwide.
The test program was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multi-site study done in 23 countries across 5 continents. There were 1,550 patients enrolled and to date, they have data from 775 people. Molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by almost 50% compared to the placebo group. Through Day 29, no deaths were reported in patients who received molnupiravir, as compared to 8 deaths in patients who received a placebo.
“More tools and treatments are urgently needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become a leading cause of death and continues to profoundly affect patients, families, and societies and strain health care systems all around the world. With these compelling results, we are optimistic that molnupiravir can become an important medicine as part of the global effort to fight the pandemic,” said Robert M. Davis, chief executive officer and president, Merck.
Unlike monoclonal antibodies which must be administered in a clinical setting by injection or IV, molnupiravir is a pill that can be prescribed by a doctor and taken at home.
“With the virus continuing to circulate widely, and because therapeutic options currently available are infused and/or require access to a healthcare facility, antiviral treatments that can be taken at home to keep people with COVID-19 out of the hospital are critically needed,” said Wendy Holman, chief executive officer of Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. “We are very encouraged by the results from the interim analysis and hope molnupiravir, if authorized for use, can make a profound impact in controlling the pandemic.”
An Axios report this evening states that in the fall of 2019, an Emory University professor presented the drug to the Trump Administration. The professor reported the school had developed a new powerful antiviral medication that could treat influenza, Ebola, and many other viruses. In February 2020, as COVID arrived in the United States, the professor came forward again, asking for funding for Phase 2 and Phase 3 testing to evaluate the effectiveness of the medication against COVID. The Trump administration declined to fund the research.
The drug could be a game-changer in the battle against COVID worldwide. Pills are easier to transport and store, don’t need preparation, and don’t need to be administered at a hospital or clinic. The medication is also being tested as an emergency preventative for individuals exposed to COVID but who have not tested COVID positive. The impact for the immunocompromised and elderly could be dramatic.
Approval by the FDA and ramping up distribution is likely months away. If molnupiravir can deliver these results globally, it has the potential to end the ongoing public health crisis. If Emory University has successfully created a broad-spectrum oral antiviral, this discovery has the potential to rival penicillin.
JetBlue requiring employees to get COVID vaccination
Kavanaugh, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive on Thursday night, the court said in a statement. The justice’s immediate family tested negative and he has no symptoms.
His positive diagnosis for coronavirus means he won’t be on the bench Monday, the start of the new term, and what would be the first in-person session with all nine justices.
Alaska
Alaska reported 1,044 new COVID cases today and a new case rate of 1,066 per 100,000 residents, indicating that the state may have hit a peak. The remote state continues to have the highest new case rate on the planet. Hospitals in Anchorage Bethel, and Valdez continue to operate under crisis standards of care protocols.
The 202 hospitalized COVID patients are essentially unchanged from yesterday. The number of available ICU beds jumped to 23 and the number of ICU patients dropped to 107. There are 83 ICU patients on ventilators, 35 with COVID.
Amanda Frey, a nurse at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, sat down after a long day at work recently and made a brief video describing what it’s like to die with COVID-19: gasping for breath, terrified and beyond comfort.
“COVID-19 patients that die transition from being OK to actively dying very suddenly, and often without warning. They start to experience a state of panic and air hunger that is very difficult to manage and causes severe anxiety,” Frey says. “The medications that we usually use for patients at the end of life don’t help as much with COVID-19 patients when they’re dying. So what we’re seeing are deaths that are not only isolated but they’re also very traumatic.”
Newsom’s latest order, the first of its kind nationwide, will roll out in two phases for students learning in person. The mandate will first take effect for students ages 12 and over after the FDA grants full approval to that entire age group.
California is the first in the nation with a statewide vaccination mandate for primary school students. Implementation depends upon fully FDA approval of at least one of the COVID vaccines for children 12 to 15. Although no date has been set, full approval is expected during the first half of 2022.
Earlier this week, we blasted Jordan Herget, the CEO of Portneuf Medical Center, for reporting that the hospital in Pocatello was operating normally and they didn’t expect to have to move to crisis standards of care. From ambulance bays to emergency departments, any medical professional can tell you the worst thing you can say aloud is, “gee, it sure is quiet tonight.”
“Our situation hasn’t improved. A week later we’re very much in an emergency just like we were a week ago and our staff are being pushed to our limits,” Hergett said.
“In our adult ICUs, our youngest patient today is 22 years old,” St. Luke’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jim Souza said. “About 70% of our patients are 55 years or younger in the intensive care unit. And in the intensive care unit, 25% are younger than 40. They’re sicker. They’re staying longer. The average length of stay in the ICU is up by two whole days, and their mortality rate is significantly higher than it was in the December surge.”
The VA Hospital in Boise requested a mobile morgue to support the hospital facility which is at capacity. Idaho has struggled with the influx of corpses in the last two weeks. Officials have been forced to stack bodies, store them in railroad cars, and store embalmed bodies in non-refrigerated areas.
Typically, ivermectin is rarely used on humans, Edge said, and he filled only three legitimate prescriptions for the drug in the past year. The most recent prescriptions he’s received came from out-of-state doctors, he said, “which is always a little bit of a red flag anyway.”
When he looked up one prescriber online, Edge found a list of doctors that people can call and, for a fee, get a consultation over the phone and then a prescription for ivermectin.
Asked later if she felt that speaking at an event where the tone seemed overwhelmingly against school boards that have voted to install mask mandates, Arntzen said, “I don’t believe this disrespects anyone in the educational community.”
“My role is here,” she continued. “My role is, number one, in the healing process in the discord we have between the school board room, where they might be in Montana, and to parents, whoever they might be, and putting the emphasis on children.”
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied the emergency request without comment. A federal appeals court earlier in the week permitted New York’s mandate.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1905 in Jacobson vs Massachusetts, that municipalities, counties, and states had the power to mandate vaccines as part of public health efforts. The decision has been litigated dozens of times over the last 116 years, as recently as August.
When an emergency filing is made with the court, the Justice that is assigned to that region can render a decision or request that the entire court to hear the case. In August, Associate Justice May Comey-Barrett ruled independently on a challenge filed by students at the University of Indiana. Justice Comey-Barrett also denied the appeal without comment.
In the landmark 1905 case, the Supreme Court ruled that the 10th Amendment gave states the power to make public health decisions.
It’s just a cold. It’s just the flu.Content warning, some viewers may find this disturbing.
Tik Tok user Mae Mae documented her hospital journey in August and September after she caught COVID. She was partially vaccinated when she became ill and ended up hospitalized. In her videos, her condition continued to deteriorate, and the cannula she is wearing indicates she was on high flow oxygen.
You read stories from respiratory therapists, nurses, and doctors of COVID patients who become exhausted as they struggle to breathe – but we don’t see it. Mae Mae went to the line of needing to go on a ventilator before she bounced back.
This is COVID – this is what it looks like. It is not a cold, it is not the flu. Mae Mae survived and is still dealing with lingering symptoms.
Submitting your e-mail address gives us permission to send you e-mails. We do not sell or distribute our e-mail lists or share them with third parties.
