CORONAVIRUS

Lane County COVID-19 update, Sept. 26: 113 additional cases reported

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Lane County reported 113 confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19 Sunday, raising the countywide case count to 24,925. The death toll remained at 256 for a third day.

There were 773 people considered infectious, up 4% from Friday's 741.

There were 72 individuals from Lane County hospitalized. Of the 72, 21 were in intensive care and eight were on ventilators.

Of the 72 hospitalized Lane County COVID-19 patients, 79.2%, or 57 of the 72, are unvaccinated, Lane County Public Health reported.

As of Thursday, 247,461 people in Lane County, 64.89% of the total population, had received first or second doses with 464,279 first and second doses administered in Lane County, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Booster shots, doses for kids not expected to challenge supply

U.S. health authorities said they are confident there is enough vaccine available for older Americans seeking booster shots and young children for whom initial doses are expected to be approved soon.

A spike in demand is expected following last week’s federal recommendation on booster shots, but more than 40 million doses of coronavirus vaccines are now available, experts said.

More than 70 million Americans remain unvaccinated despite the enticement of lottery prizes, free food or gifts and pleas from exhausted health care workers as the national average number of deaths per day climbed to about 2,000 in recent weeks.

Federal and state health authorities said current supply and steady production of more doses can easily accommodate those seeking boosters or initial vaccination.

“I hope that we have the level of interest in the booster … that we need more vaccines,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said last week. “That’s simply not where we are today. We have plenty of vaccines.”

Also in the news:

►More than 400,000 Mississippians currently getting supplemental food benefits will be eligible for additional funds next month because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Mississippi Department of Human Services said.

► New York City schools have been temporarily blocked from enforcing a vaccine mandate for its teachers and other workers by a federal appeals judge just days before it was to take effect.

►New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday that she is prepared to call in medically trained National Guard members, retirees and workers outside New York to address potential staffing shortages caused by an approaching vaccine mandate for health care workers.

►Alabama is considering whether to use $400 million in pandemic relief funds to build new prisons, a proposal Gov. Kay Ivey and Republican legislative leaders said would save state taxpayers money, but that critics argue is not what the funds are supposed to be used for.

►The Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in rural Nevada is pleading with residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to take other precautions to help slow the spread of the coronavirus to “keep our health care system from being overrun."

📈Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 42.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 687,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 231.6 million cases and 4.7 million deaths. More than 183.3 million Americans – 55.2% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

5 dead, 74 infected after Washington nursing home outbreak

A nursing center is trying to battle a COVID-19 outbreak that started in August. The Pinewood Terrace Nursing Center in Colville, Washington, has seen 22 staff and 52 residents test positive for the coronavirus and five deaths. The first case was reported Aug. 25, according to the Northeast Tri-County Health District. Out of the 74 infected, 33 were fully vaccinated. Of the five residents who died, one was fully vaccinated. 

– Keira Wingate, USA TODAY

'I don't have COVID': Doctor says some patients deny virus from deathbeds

A Michigan doctor said some COVID-19 patients continue to deny their diagnosis or denounce vaccines from their deathbeds. 

Matthew Trunsky, a pulmonologist and director of the palliative care unit at a Beaumont Health hospital in southeastern Michigan, has gained national attention after recounting what some patents gravelly ill with coronavirus have told him.

"You’re wrong doctor. I don't have COVID" and "I'd rather die than take the vaccine" were among the eight examples he shared in a Facebook post earlier in September. 

– Gabriela Miranda, USA TODAY

— The Register-Guard, The Associated Press, USA TODAY Network

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