�������ýҕ�l

New York state officials said they will allow COVID-19-related masking requirements for staff and visitors in hospitals and other health care facilities to lapse on Sunday. Acting Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said that while the pandemic is not over, “we are moving to a transition.” “As we do, and with safe and effective vaccines, treatments, and more, we are able to lift the state’s masking requirement in health care settings,” McDonald said in a statement. (2/10)

In updated variant projections today, the CDC said the more transmissible XBB.15 subvariant makes up an estimated 74.7% of cases, up from 66.4% last week. The only area where the subvariant isn't dominant is in the far northwestern region, which includes Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. (Schnirring, 2/10)

Recipients of the bivalent (two-strain) COVID-19 vaccine booster were 14 times less likely to die of Omicron BA.4/BA.5 infections than their unvaccinated peers and 5 times less likely to die than recipients of the monovalent (single-strain) booster, particularly among older people, finds a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Van Beusekom, 2/10)

For older Americans, the pandemic still poses significant dangers. About three-quarters of Covid deaths have occurred in people over 65, with the greatest losses concentrated among those over 75.In January, the number of Covid-related deaths fell after a holiday spike but nevertheless numbered about 2,100 among those ages 65 to 74, more than 3,500 among 75- to 84-year-olds and nearly 5,000 among those over 85. Those three groups accounted for about 90 percent of the nation’s Covid deaths last month. (Span, 2/11)

Cheryl Mills, a Colchester resident with a serious heart condition, had been in Hartford Hospital for five days when she died on the bathroom floor of her room in March 2020. For four days, the 63-year-old had been waiting for the result of a COVID test so she could be cleared to enter the hospital’s special cardiac treatment area. The negative test result came through at 7:40 p.m. on March 24. (Altimari and Carlesso, 2/12)

"There's no doubt in my mind that this has led to people not getting care, not getting timely care, or even being sent home or staying home to die from COVID-19," says Noha Aboelata, a family practice physician at the Roots Community Health Center. Aboelata is a co-author on one of several studies that have shown inaccuracies in the device have led to patients of color not getting timely care. (Oza, Kwong, Lu and Spitzer, 2/10)

The coronavirus outbreak’s sudden destruction of eating routines and treatment schedules and the way it amplified stress and isolation were especially devastating for people in recovery from an eating disorder or at risk of developing one. Inpatient stays for eating disorders rose nationwide during the pandemic, and emergency department visits for eating disorders doubled among teenage girls. (Roberts, 2/10)

Dr. Anthony Fauci was the face of the fight against Covid-19, an omnipresent figure featured on T-shirts, bobbleheads, and yard signs. He was lionized by his fans as a scientific hero and villainized by his opponents as a denier of their freedoms. But there are no tchotchkes with the likeness of the person who has replaced him at the helm of National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In fact, finding more than one photo of Dr. Hugh Auchincloss on the Internet is a challenge. (Puzzanghera, 2/11)

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during a National Football League game in January, dozens of Twitter trolls quickly blamed it on Covid-19 shots. “Snake-oil salesmen” seized on the event, said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf in an interview. The #diedsuddenly hashtag, which appeared in tweets about the incident, is often used to discredit vaccines by linking them to deaths and injuries without evidence. (Rutherford, 2/12)