Coronavirus Morning News Brief – Feb. 16: Long Covid Affects 50% of Adults Hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2, Texan ‘Plundered’ Millions in Relief Funds

A dose of the original Moderna vaccine

Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 1,042nd day of the pandemic.

In other news we cover today, Moderna said it will not charge consumers for its coronavirus vaccine, a Texas man was found to have “plundered” $15 million in pandemic relief funds, and a new study found that Long Covid impacts nearly 50% of adults treated at hospitals for SARS-CoV-2.

LONG COVID

A new study found that nearly 50% of adults treated at hospitals for SARS-CoV-2 experience problems including coughing, chest pain, and fatigue six months after their admission.  The National Institutes of Health-supported research was published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open and was led by Dr. Andrew J. Admon, a pulmonologist at LTC Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center.

UNITED STATES

A Texas man “plundered” over $15 million in coronavirus relief funds, according to New York State officials.  Amos Mundendi fraudulently applied for more than $30 million in pandemic relief funds, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. Mundendi was sentenced to 42 months in prison.  The Irving, Texas, resident must also make restitution of $9.5 million.  Four other people involved in the scheme are already serving prison terms.

Meanwhile, vaccine maker Moderna said Monday that it will keep its coronavirus vaccine on the market at no cost to consumers, even after the federal government stops paying for it.

“Everyone in the United States will have access to Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine regardless of their ability to pay,” the company said in a statement.

Non-vaccinated individuals are at a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, a new study reports.  Researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles found that contracting SARS-CoV-2 increases the risk of diabetes, but that up-front vaccination could curb the effects.

In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams, who last year told municipal office workers to return to their desks, said he would now consider permitting some workers to telecommute and is telling city agencies to “come up with creative ways of having flexibility.”

Finally, the Biden administration is considering a post-pandemic emergency backstop for the uninsured that would provide access to coronavirus vaccines, tests, and treatments at no charge into 2024.

GLOBAL

China’s aviation regulator said that January air passenger traffic rose 34.8% from the same period in 2022.  The increase followed the end of the country’s draconian “zero-Covid” restrictions late last year.

OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS

The World Health Organization convened an urgent meeting to evaluate vaccine candidates for the Marburg virus. There have been nine deaths and 16 suspected cases were reported amidst an outbreak in Equatorial Guinea.

TODAY’S STATISTICS

Now here are the daily statistics for Thursday, February 16.

As of Thursday morning, the world has recorded 678.2 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.2 million cases, and over 6.78 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 650.7 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.2 million.

The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls.

Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Thursday at press time is 20,662,834, an increase of 13,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 20,621,873, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 40,961, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past three months.

The United States reported 102,914 new coronavirus infections on Thursday for the previous day, compared to 27,454 on Wednesday, 24,468 on Tuesday, and 3,127 on Monday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 7-day incidence rate is now 34,725.  Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.

The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 37,840, a figure down 11% over the past 14 days, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources.  The average daily death toll over the same period is 427, a decrease of 6% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 28,840, a decrease of 9%. In addition, the number of patients in ICUs was 3,745, a decrease of 10% and the test positivity rate is now 10%, a figure that is up by 2% over the same period.

In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Thursday, recorded 104.9 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.14 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 44.7 million, and a reported death toll of 530,757.

The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States.  Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.

Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 39.6 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 37.9 million total cases.

Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 697,894, has recorded just under 37 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.

The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are Japan, with 33 million cases, South Korea, with 30.4 million cases, placing it in the number seven slot, and Italy, with 25.5 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.3 million, and Russia, with just over 22.1 million.

VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of the past Thursday, 269.2 million people in the United States – or 81.1% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 69.2%, or 229.8 million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 668.8 million. Breaking this down further, 92% of the population over the age of 18 – or 237.6 million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 78.9% of the same group – or 203.8 million people – is fully vaccinated.  In addition, 19.2% of the same population, or over 49.5 million people, has already received an updated or bivalent booster dose of vaccine.

Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish the updated information on Thursdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.

Some 69.5% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Thursday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information.  So far, 13.27 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 764,136 doses are now administered each day.

Meanwhile, only 26.9% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.

Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.

In addition, with the start of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines.

Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)