U.S. surgeon general tests positive for coronavirus

It’s one of the enduring mysteries of covid-19: Why didn’t the pandemic hit low-income African nations as hard as wealthy countries in North America and Europe?

There is no simple answer to that question. But this week, two new studies added to our understanding of it. One suggested that the number of covid-19 cases may be vastly undercounted across the continent; another found good evidence that the number of deaths in at least one country could be significantly undercounted.

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New research shows the extent to which consideration of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin became intertwined with partisanship.

“In late 2020, the number of new prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin was higher in counties with higher Republican vote share,” the study’s authors write, “whereas in early 2020, before revocation of the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization, prescribing volume for hydroxychloroquine was higher in counties with a lower Republican (ie, higher Democrat) vote share. These findings were absent before the COVID-19 pandemic and for 2 control drugs.”

The Biden administration will “surge” more than $250 million in coronavirus vaccine assistance to 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including several where the omicron variant was first identified, as it ramps up efforts to help vaccinate the world, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by global health officials.

The Global VAX initiative, which the administration outlined in December, represents the latest effort to carry out President Biden’s vows to help end the pandemic and restore U.S. health leadership. Those goals are driven by national security and humanitarian concerns, as officials worry that a new variant could emerge in a largely unvaccinated country and quickly circle the globe.

States in rapid succession have announced plans to drop indoor mask requirements as coronavirus infections drop, but one holdout remains: Hawaii.

Gov. David Ige (D) said Thursday that he is consulting with state health officials “to determine when the time is right for Hawaii to lift the indoor mask mandate,” according to KITV-4, an ABC affiliate.

Ige said Hawaii was second-lowest among U.S. states in coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic “in part because of the indoor mask requirement and other measures that have proven successful in protecting our community from this potentially deadly virus.”

Coronavirus vaccination rates among nursing home staff varied widely by state, from 70 percent to nearly 100 percent, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

Long-term care facilities have recorded nearly 1 in 4 of all covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Federal rules require health-care workers at providers participating in Medicaid or Medicare to be vaccinated.

The deadline to receive a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine was Jan. 27 in half of the states and the District of Columbia. About 89 percent of nursing home employees in those states had been fully vaccinated as of Jan. 30, KFF found.

NEW YORK — A Marine reservist already facing charges over alleged participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was arrested Thursday on charges he acquired coronavirus vaccination cards to be sold to unvaccinated customers including other service members, according to federal prosecutors.

Jia Liu, 26, was indicted on charges including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conspiracy to commit forgery over his alleged efforts with a medical clinic nurse who was also charged.

The masks are coming off Thursday at Disneyland and Disney World. The theme parks are the latest places to say the pandemic has reached a point at which indoor masking is no longer required for people who are vaccinated — another sign the nation’s health emergency isn’t what is was in 2020, 2021 or even January 2022.

Blue state governors are lifting mask mandates. So is Muriel E. Bowser (D), mayor of the nation’s capital. And everyone saw what happened Sunday at the Super Bowl in the crowded, sort-of-outdoors environs of SoFi Stadium: Even though the Los Angeles County health department had said masks were required, just about the only people with their faces covered were the ones wearing helmets.

The thought of spending 15 hours in a confined space with strangers during a pandemic does sound questionable. But if we’re vaccinated and boosted and not at risk for severe infection, should we be worried about taking long-haul flights? We’ve gotten several questions about this, so I took your concerns to doctors and epidemiologists.

Let’s start with the good news: For fully immunized travelers, experts feel confident in the efficacy of ventilation and air circulation systems on airplanes. With that technology, plus mask mandates, “I think the risk is really low,” says Mark Gendreau, an expert in aviation medicine and chief medical officer of BILH Beverly and Addison Gilbert hospitals.