April 12 coronavirus news

Racial and ethnic minority groups had higher rates of hospitalization for Covid-19 and sought emergency department care more when compared to White people, according to two new studies published Monday in the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

In every region, Hispanic patients represented the highest cumulative proportion of hospitalized patients with Covid-19.

Disparities in the proportion of hospitalized patients was largest early in the pandemic – from April to July – and became less pronounced as hospitalizations increased among White patients. Declining disparities are not necessarily reflective of reduced risk for minorities, but of increased risk for White patients, the authors said.

However, disparities remained at the end of the study period in all regions, particularly among Hispanics in the West. 

The researchers say that these disparities are driven by a higher risk factor for exposure to the coronavirus and a higher risk of severe disease.

The second study found that some racial and ethnic groups, including Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native and Black people, received emergency department care for Covid-19 at “disproportionately higher rates” compared to White patients. 

There were 282,220 Covid-19 emergency department visits from 13 states between October and December 2020 and racial/ethnic disparities were observed across age groups. 

Hispanic patients and American Indian or Alaska Native patients were more likely to seek emergency department care for Covid-19 than White people overall, as well as for each age group examined. Black people age 74 and older were more likely to seek emergency department care than White people, but no differences were observed for those under 75. 

The data used in the study came from 13 states, meaning that it may not be generalizable across the country. White people also represent a larger percentage of the population in the 13 states, compared with national population distribution. 

The authors say that it is important to prioritize prevention resources, management of underlying health conditions, safe school and work conditions, flexible leave policies and enhanced access to and acceptability of Covid-19 testing and vaccination to reach these disproportionately affected groups. 

As many as five million religious pilgrims are expected to flock to the Ganges river as coronavirus cases soar in India. 

The country reported at least 168,912 new cases Monday, its highest single-day figure for the sixth consecutive day, according to a CNN tally of figures from the Indian ministry of health. CNN's Vedika Sud reported on the latest from New Delhi and answered viewers' questions.

Watch:

New York City has administered five million vaccine doses, which the mayor said “keeps us well on target for our overall goal, five million fully vaccinated New Yorkers in June.” 

Mayor Bill de Blasio said over a half a million vaccinations were administered just last week, a record for the city, with a record breaking 104,000 administered on April 8 alone.

Approximately 5,106,027 doses have been administered since the beginning of the city’s effort, which is more than the entire population of the state of Alabama.

The city is kicking off a vaccination site in Times Square, the heart of Broadway, to assist the cultural community. De Blasio said the film and television community are “coming back strong,” adding, “We're going to welcome them to join the vaccination center in Times Square.” The city is working with the unions within the industry, he said.

Several more grassroots vaccination sites at senior centers, houses of worship, public housing and elsewhere come online this week in all five boroughs.

Facebook users will now receive notifications at the top of their news feeds advising them of their vaccine eligibility in states that have opened vaccination appointments to all adults, the company said in a blog post Monday. 

The move is modeled after Facebook's approach to voting information and is live now in states such as Alaska, Mississippi, Texas and Utah. 

Other state-specific notifications targeted to local users will begin rolling out as health officials expand eligibility to include the wider public, Facebook said. 

In a sign of Facebook's immense potential influence over consumer behavior, the platform said West Virginia's health department reported significant increases in vaccine registrations following Facebook's decision to run state-based notifications there. 

The company has been showing this type of in-feed vaccine notification to users 65 and older since February.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he will lift Covid-19 capacity restrictions when 2.5 million Kentuckians have been vaccinated. 

Speaking at a news conference Monday morning at the opening of the state’s largest vaccination site in Lexington, Beshear announced “when we have vaccinated 2.5 million Kentuckians, we will remove capacity restrictions for nearly all venues, events, and businesses that cater to 1,000 or fewer patrons.”

Beshear explained that this would remove the physical distance and curfew restrictions that are currently in place. Mask wearing will also remain in place.

Beshear said that 1.55 million residents in his state have already received their first shot, so the timing could be within the next month. 

“When will we hit this goal? It can be in as little as three and a half weeks. Realistically, it's probably going to be somewhere between four and six weeks,” he said. “But it is all up to us, every single individuals choices can get us closer to that normalcy we've been looking for.”

If Covid-19 vaccinations continue at the current pace, the United States will likely hit a milestone this week: vaccinating half of adults with at least one dose of vaccine.

Over the past week, more than 3.1 million doses of vaccine have been administered each day on average, according to data reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those doses could be first doses, second doses or single doses.

The latest data from the CDC shows that nearly 46% of adults in the US have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and about 28% are fully vaccinated. 

But an average of more than 1.8 million people have been added to the total number of people with at least one dose of vaccine each day.

That adds about 1% to the share of the US adult population with at least one shot each day, putting the US on track to reach 50% within days.

Also, about 1.6 million people have been added to the total number of people fully vaccinated each week. At that pace, more than 30% of adults in the US will be fully vaccinated by the end of this week.

Dr. Jerry Abraham is determined to ensure California's most vulnerable communities have access to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Abraham has spent the last several months calling state officials to demand vaccine doses for Black and brown people in hard hit South Los Angeles, developing vaccine sites that welcomed walk-in patients, hosting mass vaccination events featuring entertainers and deploying mobile vaccination fleets to neighborhoods where residents don't have transportation.

Abraham, director of vaccines at Kedren Community Health Center, said he is now vaccinating 5,000 people a day and filling a void in a community that might otherwise be neglected.

California remains one of the states with the worst disparities in vaccinating its Latino population despite efforts like Abraham's and a statewide mandate that allocates 40% of vaccine doses to underserved communities.

According to state data, 20% of vaccine doses have been administered to Latinos, who make up 39% of the population and 56% of cases.

And 3% of vaccines have been administered to Black people in California, who make up 6% of the population and 4% of the cases. White people, meanwhile, have received 29% of vaccines and make up 20% of cases and 37% of the population.

Health advocates say misinformation about the vaccine and lack of access have been key reasons for the racial inequities in California.

Now they are urging the state and its partners to boost vaccination efforts in communities of color to prevent the disparity from growing when all California adults become eligible for the shot on April 15. Some fear that residents with reliable internet, transportation and the ability to take off work will continue to outpace poor Black and Latino communities that have been among the hardest hit by Covid-19.

California officials were blasted earlier this year when when a vaccine program meant for seniors living in Black and Latino communities was misused by outsiders who obtained the special group codes needed to schedule appointments.

Gov. Gavin Newsom responded saying the group codes were being abused and that the program would switch to individual codes. About a week later, Newsom's administration announced it was setting aside 40% of vaccine doses for hard-hit communities.

Read the full story here.

Non-essential shops opened their doors in England Monday, as the government continued to ease the country out of lockdown.

England's gyms, zoos and hairdressers also reopened, while restaurants and pubs will welcome customers outdoors. 

Lengthy lines formed outside shops on London’s Oxford Street ahead of the reopening on Monday morning, which forms part of the second step of the UK's plan to exit lockdown by the summer.

But not everyone will be back to enjoy the easing. Some businesses are permanently shut and only 40% of venues have outdoor space.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the easing as “major step forward” for England’s “roadmap to freedom."

Across the continent in Germany, the situation is dramatically different.

Germany's ICUs are at near peak capacity, according to Christian Karagiannidis, the director of the German intensive care association.

Karagiannidis warned over the weekend that even with a hard lockdown, case numbers in the country will rise for the next 10-14 days, adding that healthcare workers are “breaking down.”

He called for immediate action to deal with the rise in infection.

Germany has recorded more than three million total cases of Covid-19 during the pandemic and 78,500 deaths.

Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier said that the newer UK variant is making it more difficult for the country to control the virus' spread.

Last week the country's health minister Jens Spahn said Germany plans to open talks with Russia about acquiring doses of its coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, if the shot is approved by EU regulators.

A Phase 3 trial of the diabetes drug Farxiga, also known as dapagliflozin, showed it did not help hospitalized Covid-19 patients, AstraZeneca said in a news release Monday.

The trial did not show statistical significance in preventing organ dysfunction and death in hospitalized coronavirus patients who had other risk factors for severe Covid-19.

These risk factors included hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and heart failure or chronic kidney disease.

The trial was the first to look at a sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitor, or SGLT2, in hospitalized Covid-19 patients who have risk factors for developing serious complications.

The US Food and Drink Administration (FDA) describes SGLT2 inhibitors as “a class of prescription medicines that are FDA-approved for use with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.”

The full DARE-19 trial results will be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in May, AstraZeneca said.