CDC Director doubles down on warning as Pa. loosens restrictions; Philly, Chesco transmission level lowered; issues with FEMA’s Philly vaccine site

Philly.com

Pennsylvania loosened COVID-19 restrictions on event crowds and eliminated out-of-state travel restrictions Monday. Philadelphia said it will match the new restrictions but did not specify when.Students at 53 Philadelphia schools will be permitted to return to the classroom for in-person learning next Monday. More school re-openings will be announced every week.FEMA plans to open a mass coronavirus vaccination clinic at the Pennsylvania Convention Center this week.Wondering where you can get a COVID-19 vaccine in the Philly area? Use our lookup tool.Coronavirus cases continue to decline in and around Philadelphia. Here are the latest charts and trends.FEMA site to open in Philly on Wednesday, but it’s having problems

// Timestamp 03/02/21 7:30am

The federal vaccination clinic at the Pennsylvania Convention Center is contending with a flood of illegitimate vaccination appointments even before its official opening on Wednesday.

A private online link solely for some essential workers who met eligibility requirements was spread to an untold number of other people who had no trouble using it to sign up for vaccination at the clinic, which is being run in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The city is reviewing the names of people with appointments against a list of workers legitimately eligible for vaccination who were e-mailed the registration link. Anyone who wasn’t a direct recipient of that link will have their appointment canceled.

The FEMA site at the Convention Center is the first federally operated mass clinic in the city. On Wednesday, vaccinations will be available by appointment made online or through calling 3-1-1 to people eligible for vaccination in the city’s 1A category, as well as residents 65 and up, who are in the 1B category.

The site expects to vaccinate 6,000 people a day, seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., over the next six weeks, a major boost in a city struggling to get vaccine administered. The clinic is intended to benefit people in communities with a high risk of exposure or infection; Philadelphia’s Black and brown residents have borne an outsized share of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

Philly’s first federal COVID-19 mass vaccination site already is having to fend off people who aren’t eligible— Jason Laughlin

Philadelphia and Chester County lowered to ‘moderate’ transmission

// Timestamp 03/02/21 7:15am

Thanks to declining case counts, Pennsylvania lowered Philadelphia and Chester County to the “moderate” level of community transmission after months in the “substantial” range. Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties all remain in the “substantial” level.

Only four counties currently have a “low” level of community transmission, according to the Department of Health: Cameron, Forest, Fulton, and Sullivan.

— Rob Tornoe and John Duchneskie

CDC Director doubles down on warning as Pa. loosens restrictions

// Timestamp 03/02/21 7:00am

As the decline in new COVID-19 cases appears to be leveling off, the White House is warning states not to loosen restrictions too quickly.

The U.S. is averaging a little over 67,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, a 2% increase compared to the previous week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House press briefing Monday. COVID-19 deaths, on average, have also risen by about 2% over the past week.

“With these new statistics, I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19,” Walensky said. “I understand the temptation to do this — 70,000 cases a day seems good compared to where we were just a few months ago — but we cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 daily deaths.”

Declines in Pennsylvania have also appear to have stalled, even as it will begin to allow larger crowds into stadiums and arenas. Over the past seven days, the commonwealth is averaging 2,650 cases a day, basically flat compared to this time last week. However, hospitalizations and COVID-19 deaths have continued to decline to their lowest levels since mid-November.

In a statement announcing the reduction of some restrictions, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office cited a decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and said 14% of Pennsylvania’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“We need to balance protecting public health with leading the state to a robust economic recovery,” Wolf said in a statement. “We are lifting mitigation efforts only when we believe it is safe to do so.”

New Pa. rules mean fans at sporting events and concerts while N.J. expands vaccines to teachers and essential workers — Rob Tornoe

Tracking vaccinations in Philly and across the region

// Timestamp 03/02/21 6:45am

— John Duchneskie

COVID-19 roundup: Republicans most hesitant to take vaccine as Trump reveals he received it in January

// Timestamp 03/02/21 6:30am

Axios: Former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump were both vaccinated at the White House in January, but kept the news quiet until this week. Vaccine hesitancy is higher among white Republicans than any other demographic group, and it hasn’t been improving as the vaccination effort continue, according to Civiqs polling.New York Times: High staff turnover at U.S. nursing homes was likely a factor in elderly COVID-19 death toll, according to a study published in Health Affairs, a health policy journal. Researchers said the high turnover rate likely made it harder for nursing homes to put in place strong infection controls during the pandemic, and led to rampant spread of the coronavirus.CNBC: Former FDA Director Scott Gottlieb sees promising signs that COVID-19 vaccines reduce virus transmission. Gottlieb pointed to two studies conducted in Israel that suggest the Pfizer vaccine cut down on virus transmission. Gottlieb also said Johnson & Johnson found in its trial a 74% reduction in participants developing asymptomatic infection.Washington Post: The global number of new coronavirus cases rose for the first time in nearly two months, the World Health Organization said Monday, blaming the surge in infections on circulating variants and premature efforts to lift public health restrictions.