The Department of Health and Human Services extended the COVID-19 public health emergency designation in the U.S., which will take effect Friday.
The emergency designation has allowed millions of U.S. residents access to health services through Medicaid. It’s also allowed U.S. regulators to clear COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
Meanwhile, the European Union is urging member countries to give people between the ages of 60 and 79 and other vulnerable people a second COVID-19 booster shot.
The announcement comes as a new wave of infections is recorded across the European continent.
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see the rest of our coronavirus coverage and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington.
Navigating the pandemic
All U.S. adults may soon get access to second booster shot
Biden administration officials are developing a plan to allow all adults to receive a second coronavirus booster shot, pending federal agency sign-offs, as the White House and health experts seek to blunt a virus surge that has sent hospitalizations to their highest levels since March 3.
Virus levels have risen across the country, fueled by ever-more-contagious omicron subvariants such as BA. 5 that evade some immune protections and have increased the risk of reinfections. About 112,000 new cases have been reported per day, according to The Washington Post’s rolling seven-day average – with the true number many times higher, say experts, as most Americans test at home. Hospitalization and death levels are mounting.
Currently, a second booster shot is available only to those 50 and older, as well as to those 12 and older who are immunocompromised. But administration officials are concerned by data that suggests immunity wanes within several months of the first booster shot.
—Lena H. Sun, Laurie Mcginley and Dan Diamond, The Washington Post
Widely used hospital gowns show signs of exposing workers to infection
Disposable gowns designed to deflect the splatter of bodily fluids, used in thousands of U.S. hospitals, have underperformed in recent and ongoing laboratory tests and may fall short of safety standards, leaving health care workers with a greater risk of infection than advertised.
A peer-reviewed academic study, published to little notice amid the coronavirus pandemic, found that isolation gowns commonly worn in medical units or intensive care units ripped too easily and allowed about four to 14 times the expected amount of liquid to seep through when sprayed or splashed.
“I’m amazed that facilities are using them,” said study co-author Elizabeth Easter, a textile expert at the University of Kentucky, of the thinnest disposable gowns. “Because, technically, you can see through the fabric.”
Now a similar study is underway at ECRI, a nonprofit focused on health care safety, which began testing disposable isolation gowns after receiving anecdotal reports of “blood or other body fluids leaking through,” said ECRI Engineering Director Chris Lavanchy. He told KHN that preliminary test results raised concerns that disposable gowns may not meet safety standards.
New rapid COVID test identifies variants, researchers say
UT Southwestern researchers have created a rapid COVID-19 test that can identify different variants of the coronavirus in as little as four hours.
The researchers hope doctors can use their test, called CoVarScan, to tailor COVID-19 treatments to patients based on which variant the patients have. CoVarScan could also be used to track which variants are cropping up in different communities, and even identify new ones.
CoVarScan works by looking at just eight regions, or hot spots, of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence instead. Each variant looks a little bit different at these hot spots. SoRelle’s team can analyze each of the regions to identify a unique pattern of mutation that’s specific to each variant. They’ve also used CoVarScan to identify different subvariants of omicron.
