Evidence is emerging that people can become infected a second time, a scenario that could be the death knell to any faint hopes of “herd immunity.” D. Clay Ackerly, a primary care physician practicing in Washington, DC., writes for vox.com about a 50-year-old patient who earlier this month tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, three months after a previous infection. His first infection prompted mild symptoms; the second “was marked by a high fever, shortness of breath and hypoxia, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital,” Ackerly said. He also cites other examples of second infections.
“Our national discourse retains an implicit hope that herd immunity is possible,” Ackerly writes. “This wishful thinking is harmful. It risks incentivizing bad behavior.”
The welcoming news comes after a harrowing four-month stretch in the nation’s most populated city. The peak in confirmed daily deaths was April 7, at 597, although another 216 people were likely to have died from the virus that day despite no positive laboratory tests. All told, New York City has reported 18,670 deaths from COVID-19 and 4,613 probable fatalities.
Oklahoma reports state’s first teen death, a 13-year-old at Fort Sill
The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported Oklahoma’s first COVID-19-related death in the 5-17 age category. The patient was identified as a 13-year-old who died at Comanche County Memorial Hospital on Friday night, reported local news station KSWO-TV. Oklahoma military base Fort Sill said the teen was a dependent of an active duty service member at the post, where family members are in isolation.
The state department reported 456 new coronavirus cases across the state Sunday, bringing the total cumulative number of the state’s positive cases to 20,235.
Mexico surpasses Italy in confirmed deaths; 4th highest total of any country
Mexican officials say the total number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths has passed 35,000, moving it past Italy with the fourth-most deaths of any country in the world. Only the United States, Brazil and Britain have recorded more deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the recent news “is positive, it is good” because only nine of the country’s 32 provinces had increases in cases of infection.
“The bottom line is that the pandemic is on the downside, that it is losing intensity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Italy, which was one of the first hot spots of the virus in Europe, has seen hospitals declare themselves coronavirus-free. The country’s deaths Saturday fell to seven and confirmed daily cases dropped to below 200, according to health officials.
French widow mourns ‘barbaric’ death of driver beaten over masks
Veronique Monguillot said she told the French interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, that she was “destroyed” by the fatal assault on her husband at a bus stop in Bayonne, southwest France. “We must bang a fist on the table, so this never happens again,” she said. “It’s barbaric, not normal. We must stop this massacre.”
Bus driver Philippe Monguillot was attacked July 5 after asking four passengers to wear face masks, which are required on French public transport. Monguillot was then verbally assaulted, pushed off the bus and violently beaten and kicked in the head. His death was announced July 10 after he had been hospitalized in critical condition. Four men have been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal assault.
Long lines for COVID-19 tests, stressed labs delay results as demand spikes
America’s testing system is once again strained and labs are struggling to keep pace as the coronavirus rages faster than ever in the South and West.
The number of daily tests reached an all-time high of more than 719,000 on July 3 and averaged nearly 640,000 each day this past week, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
Because of this increase, large and small labs running 24/7 can’t process samples quickly enough from millions of Americans tested every week.
Testing centers in Sunbelt cities such as Tallahassee, Florida and Phoenix routinely attract long lines and at times must turn away people. Other than hospital patients, whom labs are prioritizing, delays are widespread in the South and West at drive-thru and walk-up testing centers, urgent care, doctor’s offices and government-supported testing sites.
– Ken Alltucker
More on the coronavirus from USA TODAY
Where a face mask is required: Many governors are instituting or renewing orders requiring people to wear face coverings in public as cases continue to rise. Is your state on the list? See it here.
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Where are states on reopening? Some are taking preemptive measures to postpone further phases of their reopening, while others have rolled back their phases to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. See the list.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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