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Cognitive impairment -- described as brain fog -- can persist for months in Covid-19 patients, even for some who were not hospitalized, according to a new study. The research, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that nearly a quarter of Covid-19 patients in a Mount Sinai Health System registry experienced some issues with their memory -- and although hospitalized patients were more likely to have such brain fog after a coronavirus infection, some outpatients had cognitive impairment too. (Howard, 10/22)

Many people who have recovered from Covid-19 infection are still experiencing cognitive impairment more than seven months later, according to new research. The study, which describes the the kinds of cognitive problems experienced by patients who had been treated at the Mount Sinai system in New York, adds to the growing evidence that Covid "long haulers" can experience myriad ailments weeks and months after recovering from the initial illness. As many as 24 percent of people who have recovered from Covid-19 continue to experience some sort of cognitive difficulties, including problems with memory, multitasking, processing speed and focusing, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported Friday in JAMA Network Open. (Carroll, 10/23)

Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Sunday that she was "encouraged" by dropping COVID-19 cases across the country but warned "we can't be complacent." Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Walensky gave her assessment of the current state of the pandemic to host Chris Wallace, who noted that the U.S. is still seeing over 70,000 COVID-19 cases a day but that cases have seen a decrease compared to the prior month that saw a surge due to the delta variant. (Choi, 10/24)

In Alaska, at least one COVID-19 death — but usually two or more, and as many as 10 — was reported for each day in the month of September, state data shows. It was the deadliest month of the pandemic so far, with 138 people dead. September 2021 broke records on multiple other fronts, including the number of COVID-positive patients in Alaska’s hospitals and daily case counts. Elevated hospitalization and case numbers have carried on into October. Health experts say the darkest, grimmest weeks of the pandemic can teach us that without more vaccinations and prevention measures, the potential for a continued surge or a new one remains, and the pandemic’s deadly toll will likely continue until cases decrease. (Krakow, 10/24)

Isaiah Gonzalez grimaced as the nurse approached his hospital bed, his small hands bound with surgical tape to safeguard the tubes delivering a steady flow of antibodies to his bloodstream. He squeezed his pink-stained eyelids shut as the masked nurse put a thermometer in his armpit to check whether his skyhigh fever had fallen. He was thinking of monkeys. “I want to go to the zoo,” the 3-year-old said, reaching for his mother as his face twisted in distress. It has taken all Isaiah’s powers of imagination to escape the confines of his bed in the intensive care unit at Texas Children’s Hospital. He is battling multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a dangerous but poorly understood illness that arose with the coronavirus pandemic last year. Fevered and weak, the Baytown resident was hospitalized earlier this month as the inflammation attacked his heart, kidneys and blood vessels. (Mishanec, 10/22)

A conspiracy and religion-fueled political conference in downtown Salt Lake City drew about 1,000 attendees on Friday to the Salt Palace Convention Center. People there heard from some of the leading far-right political figures, including retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. The Western Conservative Action Network, or WeCANact event, was billed as a place to learn to fight “against the socialist, communist, and Marxist ideologies” in government, schools and the media. The event did focus on that promise, but also offered up a large helping of misinformation about COVID-19, vaccines and the 2020 election. And, to top off the fringe political buffet, there were lots of references to the QAnon conspiracy theory. (Schott, 10/23)

COVID-19 particles can be effectively filtered from the air to prevent transmission in the hospital using portable air filters and ultraviolet (UV) light sterilization technology, according to a recent study. Nature recently reported the study, which is currently not peer reviewed, to be the first to demonstrate how portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can reduce hospital transmission of detectable airborne COVID-19 virus in a real-world health care setting. The research is currently reported in the preprint server MedRxiv. (Sudhakar, 10/24)

Implementation of multiple strategies prevented almost zero transmission of COVID-19 among 7,173 campers and staff members who attended nine U.S. overnight camps this summer, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study. During this summer, nine affiliated camps worked with the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Camp Association as well as state and local departments to design protocols specific to their individual site. (Sudhakar, 10/24)

KHN: Fresh Faces, Fewer Tools: Meet The New Bosses Fighting Covid

Emilie Sayler’s roots run deep in southwestern Montana. She serves on a nearby town council and the board of the local Little League. She went to college in a neighboring county and regularly volunteers in the schools of her three kids. Just a few months into her new job as public health director for Madison County, she had hoped that those local connections might make a difference, that the fewer than 10,000 residents spread out across this agricultural region would see her familiar face and support her efforts to curtail the covid-19 pandemic raging here. (Ehli, 10/25)

Representative Glenn "GT" Thompson, who is vaccinated, has tested positive for COVID-19, his office confirmed Friday. The Pennsylvania Republican had voted on the House floor earlier Friday, according to House records. ... He was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center "out of an abundance of caution," his office said. "He is in good spirits and further updates will be made available in the coming days." (Reardon, 10/22)

The singer Ed Sheeran announced Sunday on social media that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and would be canceling public appearances and working at home, in quarantine. It wasn’t immediately clear what appearances would be canceled or rescheduled, or whether Mr. Sheeran was sick with symptoms of Covid-19. (Carl, 10/24)