EnviroPolitics Blog

US averaging 45,000+ new positive virus tests a day, CDC says

By Christina Maxouris, CNN

The US is averaging more than 45,000 new Covid-19 positive tests each day — up 8% from the previous week and more than double what the country was seeing in June, as lockdown restrictions were easing.

It’s a case count experts warn is far too high ahead of what’s forecast to be a challenging — and deadly — winter season. The latest US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ensemble forecast says US Covid-19 deaths could reach 233,000 by the end of this month.

Backlash Grows in Orthodox Jewish Areas Over Virus Crackdown by Cuomo

And projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show more than 2,900 Americans could be dying daily by January.

Earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was “disturbed and concerned” by the country’s average case count.

“That’s no place to be when you’re trying to get your arms around an epidemic,” he said.

And as the weather gets colder, things will get tougher.

Gatherings will likely begin to move indoors, where the virus is more prone to spread. And as colleges battle outbreaks on campus, students soon returning to visit their families for the holidays could unknowingly bring the virus with them.

On top of that, it’ll be coupled with flu season to create what experts say could turn into a “twin-demic.” What could help, health officials have said, are flu shots and strong safety measures like masks and social distancing.

The high average case count comes alongside more worrying trends: only Alabama and Hawaii are reporting a decline of new cases over the past week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And nationwide, hospitalizations have begun to rise, with more than 34,000 hospitalized patients, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

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Experts want new health standard for likely carcinogen in NJ drinking water

Absent federal benchmark, advocates praise state for setting a limit

By Jon Hurdle, NJ Spotlight

Environmental activists welcomed a new recommendation by state scientists to regulate a toxic chemical, calling it the latest evidence of New Jersey’s efforts to curb contaminants in drinking water.

The Drinking Water Quality Institute, a panel of scientists and water company executives that advises the Department of Environmental Protection, has recommended one of the nation’s strictest standards for 1,4 dioxane, which is commonly used in solvents, paint strippers, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The chemical is unregulated by the federal government even though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls it a “likely” carcinogen.

The panel said DEP should set a Maximum Contaminant Limit (MCL) of 0.33 parts per billion (ppb) in drinking water as the upper limit for safe consumption by humans. The standard is based on the risk of one person in a million getting cancer if exposed to 0.35 parts per billion over a lifetime.

If confirmed, the proposed regulation would require water companies to keep their supplies below that level, if necessary installing technology that would control the chemical. DEP Commissioner Catherine McCabe asked the water quality panel in December 2018 to develop a recommendation for that maximum limit.

Limits on other chemicals

It was the latest action by the panel which in the last six years has recommended tough limits on three kinds of PFAS chemicals, which are also linked to cancer, as well as immune system disorders and other health conditions. All the earlier recommendations have been accepted by DEP and are now the basis of regulations that have established New Jersey as a national leader in protecting public health from the chemicals.

The latest proposal is a “really important recommendation,” said Tracy Carluccio of the environmental group Delaware Riverkeeper Network and a long-time campaigner for tighter regulation of chemicals in drinking water. She said the proposed limit is stricter than in most of the 13 states that already have a drinking water or groundwater health standard for the chemical.

But she urged the DEP to act quickly on the proposal to minimize the time that consumers are exposed to the chemical. Its recent regulation of PFAS chemicals has taken as much as three years to be finalized after the initial recommendation by water quality panel.

“We don’t want there to be a delay in the DEP rulemaking and the adoption of a MCL because we’ve got to get this very dangerous material out of people’s drinking water,” Carluccio said.

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Lehigh University extends closures, tells students to stay put after more COVID cases spike

By MICHELLE MERLIN, THE MORNING CALL

Lehigh University is advising on-campus students to stay where they are and avoid going into the community when possible after a spike in coronavirus cases.

There have been 147 COVID cases at Lehigh, according to the school’s COVID dashboard. The university last week announced 22 new cases on Oct. 1, prompting officials to shift classes for undergraduate students online. The university’s dashboard shows 82 cases since Monday, prompting additional recommendations.

“The sharp rise in positive undergraduate student cases, and the 3% positivity rate based on the results returned so far from the surveillance testing performed Tuesday, affirms the step of scaling back campus activity and also demonstrates the need for further action to reduce the spread of the virus among our on- and off-campus student population,” school officials said in a news release.

University officials are adding restrictions for students that will go into effect Friday and run through Oct. 23. They’re telling students who are living on campus to stay there, unless they’re going home, have an emergency or health-related circumstance. Students living off campus are only allowed to access the Health and Wellness Center on campus.

Lehigh University going remote for at least two weeks after increase in COVID-19 positive tests »

All students were advised to be careful when they’re out in the Bethlehem community and to wear masks.

Previous changes remain in effect through Oct. 23, including gathering limits of five people, the closure of libraries and the Taylor Gym, takeout dining, remote undergraduate classes, and the suspension of athletic team practices and training.

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Coronavirus cases in New Jersey top 1K for first time since May

Gov. Phil Murphy said he “will keep all options on the table” as far as future NJ reopenings are concerned.

More than 22 percent of the positives were registered in Ocean County. (Photo courtesy of Rich Hundley, The Trentonian)

By Russ Crespolini, Patch Staff

NEW JERSEY – Gov. Phil Murphy called the statistics “sobering” as New Jersey reported 1,301 new COVID-19 positive test results during the Thursday new briefing on the pandemic. The last time the numbers were so high was just after Memorial Day.

“The last time we were at that level of positivity was May 29,” Murphy said. “And it was 1,394.”

Murphy said that 22 percent were from Ocean County, and 10 percent were from Monmouth. While those two counties remain the “greatest focus”of the crisis, it is far from NJ’s only focus.

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Defense attorneys challenge virtual jury selection in New Jersey

Some jury trials have resumed in NJ, but picking jurors is done online for now

By Raven Santana, NJ Spotlight News

In-person jury trials have resumed in some New Jersey counties, but defense attorneys are fighting to suspend them again. The reason? Concerns that system’s way for picking a jury unfairly excludes minority and senior citizen jurors because the plan relies heavily on access to technology. It took six months to ramp up in-person criminal trials due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Will this dispute derail the proceedings entirely? Raven Santana reports in video above.

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If you think you have COVID-19, can you check yourself into a hospital like ex-NJ Governor Chris Christie says he did?

A reporter for nj.com interviews doctors who have answers to questions we all might have about the disease

Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, left, and Rudy Giuliani, center, an attorney for President Donald Trump, listen to President Donald Trump, left, during a news conference at the White House, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, in Washington. Trump and Christie have since tested positive for the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) APAP

By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

On Saturday, Gov. Chris Christie tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19, and on his doctor’s advice, had “checked” himself into Morristown Medical Center, a hospital close to his home in Mendham.

Christie, 58, who likely contracted the virus after days of mask-less, prolonged contact President Trump and his inner circle during the previous week, wrote that he had only “minor symptoms” and was “feeling good.”

But soon after he tweeted, people started asking questions on social media. When should people infected with the virus seek hospital care? Can anyone “check into” a hospital like he said he did?

A spokesman from Morristown Medical Center would not comment on the governor’s condition Tuesday. Christie’s twitter account has been quiet since Saturday night. Although he called Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran Monday morning, Christie declined to discuss his prognosis.

To answer these questions, NJ Advance Media spoke to Daniel W. Varga, chief physician executive for Hackensack Meridian Health, and Michael Cascarina, president-elect of the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians. Neither doctor is involved with the governor’s treatment.

Q: Can people “check themselves into a hospital?” Don’t they need permission from their doctor first?

A: No, people don’t check in to a hospital like a hotel. But doctors make “direct admissions” to the hospital all the time, Varga and Cascarina said. It not only spares the patient a wait in the emergency room, it expedites the care a doctor feels is necessary.

It’s likely “Gov. Christie’s physician just said, ‘I am going to call over and arrange an admission. Go and present yourself to the admitting area and I’ll get you in,’ ” Varga said.

Q: Why would someone be admitted to the hospital so soon after diagnosis?

A: The most serious symptom of COVID-19 is shortness of breath, both doctors agreed.

If the patient has other risk factors, the urgency of hospital care increases.

“Age is probably the biggest risk factor — people over 50 and especially over 65,” Cascarina said. People would be considered high risk if they had a history of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and a chronic lung disease, such as asthma, he said.

Christie checks at least three of those boxes — he is 58 years old and has long struggled with weight issues. The governor underwent lap band surgery in 2013. Christie was hospitalized in 2011 – less than two years into his first term as governor – at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville after suffering an asthma attack on a particularly humid day.

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