The Herald's Weekly Virus Update

The Morrisons Cove Herald again is providing articles about the coronavirus. The information below is the latest that could be included in this week’s edition. This information is taken from the sources listed at the end of the article. Blair and Bedford counties will move to the Green Phase at 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 5.

AS OF 3 P.M. TUESDAY, JUNE 2

Blair County

• 51 cases confirmed, up from 48 cases confirmed, 1 death

Bedford County

• 40 cases confirmed, up from 37 cases, 2 deaths

Nearby counties

Cambria: 59 cases, up from 57 – 2 deaths

Somerset: 38 cases, up from 37 cases – 1 death

Huntingdon: 231 cases, up from 228 – 2 deaths

Fulton: 15 cases, no change – 1 death

Centre: 154 cases, up from 148 – 7 deaths

Pa. Statewide

• Total of 72,894 cases, up from 68,637 last Wednesday

• 5,667 deaths, up from 5,152 last Wednesday

• 399,361 Pa. patients who have tested negative to date, up from 339,835 last Wednesday

• Pa. county with most cases: Philadelphia, 18,703, up from 17,597 – 1,346 deaths, up from 1,232 deaths

Nearby states

New York: 373,040 cases, up from 363,836 – 28,780 deaths, up from 28,313

New Jersey: 161,545 cases, up from 155,764 – 11,770 deaths, up from 11,191

United States

• 1,815,000 cases, up from 1,672,000 – 104,566 deaths, up from 97,831

Worldwide

• 6,320,000 cases, up from 5,605,000 – 376,000 deaths, up from 349,000*

*Rounded

Latest developments

• President Trump leveled an extraordinary broadside at the Chinese government Friday and attacked the World Health Organization, saying the United States “will today be terminating our relationship” with the U.N. organization. During remarks delivered in the Rose Garden, Trump said WHO was effectively controlled by Beijing and accused it of misleading the world about the coronavirus at the urging of the Chinese government. The president said the organization’s more than $400 million annual contribution from the United States would be diverted to other health groups..

• Slowing rates of infection in some of the hardest-hit parts of the United States offered a glimmer of hope. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said New York City is on track to begin to reopen the week of June 8. The city is the only region in the state that remains under a complete stay-at-home-order. Other parts of the nation and the world, however, are bracing for the worst. Globally, the pandemic has shifted to Latin America and the Middle East, as the global death toll continues to rise.

• The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defended the agency’s failure to spot early coronavirus spread in the United States, saying that even if widespread diagnostic testing had been in place, it would have been like “looking for a needle in a haystack.”

• The Department of Veterans Affairs has drastically scaled back the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat veterans with covid-19 after a major study raised questions about its efficacy and linked it to serious side effects, including higher risks of death.

• Scientists raise questions about the data used in two prominent studies. For the second time in recent days, a group of scientists has questioned the data used in studies in a prominent medical journal. A group of scientists who raised questions last week about a study in The Lancet about the use of antimalarial drugs in coronavirus patients has now objected to another paper about blood pressure medicines in the New England Journal of Medicine, which was published by some of the same authors and relied on the same data registry.

• Major employers are left out of government pandemic relief, economists warn. As the United States begins what is expected to be a slow economic climb out of pandemic lockdowns, economists and researchers are questioning whether the government’s response to help companies will prove sufficient in the longer run. Highly indebted public companies that employ millions of people are largely excluded from direct relief options that Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury have designed to help companies make it through the pandemic downturn, an analysis from a group of Harvard University economists found.

What you can do

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

• Cover any coughs or sneezes with your elbow, not your hands.

• Clean surfaces frequently.

• Stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19, especially if you are unwell.

How It Spreads

Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.

Sources: Washington Post, New York Times, Pa. Department of Health