The Latest: Montana at new high for COVID hospitalizations

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HELENA, Montana — Montana has acceptable a caller precocious for the fig of radical hospitalized with COVID-19 — 510.

The fig reported Wednesday surpassed the erstwhile precocious of 506 hospitalizations recorded Nov. 20, 2020, earlier immoderate coronavirus vaccines were available.

Gov. Greg Gianforte issued a connection urging Montanans to get vaccinated, but added that “we volition not mandate them.”

Meanwhile, the schoolhouse territory successful Livingston, Montana, shifted its mediate and precocious schoolhouse classes to distant learning to dilatory the dispersed of the coronavirus among students. Officials said fewer students person utilized masks.

The schoolhouse committee voted Tuesday to person distant learning for its 740 mediate and precocious schoolhouse students until Oct. 25, due to the fact that determination are 17 coronavirus cases each astatine Park High School and Sleeping Giant Middle School.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— U.S. borderline residents rejoice successful lifting of question ban

— FDA grapples with timing of booster for J&J COVID-19 vaccine

— Russia, WHO disagree connected erstwhile support volition travel for Sputnik V

— Families of COVID-19 patients inquire hospitals to rethink visitant policies

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See each of AP’s pandemic sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

HONOLULU -- Organizers are readying for the Honolulu Marathon adjacent though it’s not wide authorities officials volition let it to beryllium held successful December.

Hawaii Public Radio reports marathon organizers are frustrated that Honolulu is easing pandemic-related restrictions connected ample events but neither Hawaii’s politician nor Honolulu’s politician person provided clarity astir whether the marathon tin hap with the thousands of participants it usually draws.

In 2019, determination were much than 33,000 runners successful the Honolulu Marathon, including much than 16,000 from Japan.

Other ample marathons successful Boston and Chicago were held recently.

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SAN DIEGO — Beleaguered concern owners and families separated by a nonessential question prohibition are celebrating aft the Biden medication says it volition reopen U.S. onshore borders adjacent month.

Travel crossed onshore borders from Canada and Mexico has been mostly restricted to workers whose jobs are deemed essential. New rules volition let afloat vaccinated overseas nationals to participate the U.S. careless of the crushed starting successful aboriginal November.

Unlike aerial travel, for which impervious of a antagonistic COVID-19 trial is required earlier boarding a formation to participate the U.S., nary investigating volition beryllium required to participate the U.S. by onshore oregon sea, provided the travelers conscionable the vaccination requirement.

The 19-month coronavirus restrictions had economic, societal and taste impact, preventing buying and cross-border household gatherings erstwhile relatives unrecorded connected antithetic sides of the border.

In Del Rio, Texas, Mexican visitors relationship for astir 65% of retail sales, said Blanca Larson, enforcement manager of the enclosure of commerce and visitors bureau successful the metropolis of 35,000 people. “Along the border, we’re similar much of 1 assemblage than 2 antithetic communities,” she said.

Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and imperishable residents person been allowed into Canada since August, provided they person waited astatine slightest 2 weeks since getting their 2nd vaccine dose and tin amusement impervious of a caller antagonistic COVID-19 test. Mexico has not enforced coronavirus introduction procedures for onshore travelers.

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PORTLAND, Maine — A national justice declined Wednesday to intervene to halt Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ request that wellness attraction workers beryllium vaccinated against COVID-19 by the extremity of the month.

U.S. District Court Judge Jon Levy says nary of the 9 plaintiffs met the ineligible threshold for an injunction to halt the request to beryllium afloat vaccinated by Oct. 29 oregon suffer their jobs.

Levy ruled the grounds indicates regular investigating unsocial is not capable to halt the dispersed of the delta variant.

“The velocity of the delta variant’s transmission outpaces test-result availability,” helium wrote. Daily testing, helium wrote, would necessitate usage of accelerated tests that are some little close and successful abbreviated supply.

The justice concluded the plaintiffs were incapable to amusement an injunction was successful the nationalist involvement oregon that they had a beardown likelihood of prevailing if the suit moves forward. The Liberty Counsel, which filed the suit successful August, vowed to appeal.

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BUCHAREST, Romania — Doctors successful Bucharest issued an unfastened missive titled “a outcry of despair” arsenic the country’s overwhelmed wellness attraction strategy copes with grounds cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The College of Physicians of Bucharest wrote a missive addressed to Romanians that says the aesculapian strategy has “reached the limit.”

On Wednesday, Romania confirmed 15,733 caller infections and 390 deaths, bringing the full fig of deaths to 40,461. Data from wellness authorities bespeak that much than 90% of coronavirus patients who died past week were unvaccinated.

Hungary has agreed to supply attraction to respective twelve COVID-19 patients from Romania successful the coming days to assistance easiness the load connected hospitals.

Dragos Zaharia, a superior attraction doc astatine Bucharest’s Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumology, thinks Romanian authorities should person enlisted a “famous personality” to pb the country’s vaccination campaign.

“Only anonymous guys are starring this fight,” Zaharia told The Associated Press. “It’s heartbreaking for america erstwhile we cognize that a batch of those who died could person lived, if they would person been vaccinated.”

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BOSTON — More than 800 radical who enactment for Boston person been suspended without wage for failing to comply with the city’s coronavirus vaccine mandate.

Acting Mayor Kim Janey announced successful August the city’s astir 18,000 employees would beryllium required to either amusement impervious of vaccination oregon taxable to regular testing.

Janey says the suspended employees who didn’t conscionable Tuesday’s archetypal deadline came from 5 “public facing” agencies, including the nationalist schools department, libraries, the halfway for younker and families, the disablement committee and the property commission. Workers who proceed to disregard the mandate look termination, she said. The schoolhouse section unsocial has astir 11,000 employees.

The metropolis is making plans to woody with imaginable staffing shortfalls, which truthful acold accounts for little than 1% of workers. Suspended employees tin instrumentality to enactment by providing impervious of a antagonistic test.

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GENEVA — The World Health Organization says the fig of planetary coronavirus cases fell successful the past week, continuing a downward inclination that began successful precocious August.

In its latest play appraisal of the pandemic published connected Wednesday, the U.N. wellness bureau says determination were astir 2.8 cardinal caller cases and 46,000 confirmed deaths successful the past week, a driblet of 7% and 10% respectively. Europe reported a 7% emergence successful cases, portion each different satellite regions reported a decrease.

WHO says Europe besides had the biggest emergence successful deaths successful the erstwhile week, with 11% much COVID-19 deaths. WHO says the highest numbers of caller cases successful Europe were reported successful Britain, Turkey and Russia.

The biggest drops successful cases came successful Africa and the Western Pacific, wherever lawsuit numbers fell by 32% and 27%, respectively. Deaths successful some regions fell by much than a third.

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WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is wrestling with however to determine connected booster doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

Other manufacturers privation to connection boosters six months aft superior vaccination. But J&J projected a scope of times, from 2 months to six months. In a reappraisal posted Wednesday, FDA scientists didn’t scope a steadfast conclusion, citing shortcomings with J&J’s data.

On Thursday and Friday, an FDA advisory sheet volition urge whether to backmost boosters of some the J&J and Moderna vaccines. An other dose of Pfizer’s vaccine already is disposable to definite Americans.

Pfizer and Moderna person provided the bulk of U.S. COVID-19 vaccines. More than 170 cardinal Americans person been afloat vaccinated with those two-dose shots portion little than 15 cardinal Americans got the J&J shot.

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MOSCOW — The caput of the Russian sovereign money bankrolling the changeable says Russia is acceptable to supply up to 300 cardinal doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative.

That’s contempt the deficiency of WHO support and Sputnik V vaccine accumulation issues that are drafting concerns worldwide. Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev and the World Health Organization had vastly antithetic takes Wednesday connected erstwhile the Russian vaccine would get WHO’s stamp of approval.

Sputnik V is already being utilized successful 70 countries astir the satellite contempt not yet authorized by the U.N. wellness agency. Some officials successful countries, particularly successful Latin America, person expressed concerns they aren’t getting the vaccine’s 2nd changeable successful clip to decently innoculate their people.

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MIAMI — Families of COVID-19 patients are asking hospitals to rethink visitant policies a twelvemonth and a fractional into the pandemic, which has killed 716,000 radical successful the U.S.

The relatives accidental they’re being denied the close to beryllium with loved ones astatine a important time. Doctors besides are progressively telling hospitals to unbend restrictions to let patients to spot their families.

Hospitals successful astatine slightest a half-dozen states person loosened restrictions governing visits to COVID patients. Others, however, are lasting firm, backed by studies and manufacture groups that bespeak specified policies person been important to keeping hospital-acquired infections low.

The University of Utah Health this twelvemonth announced its hospitals would let up to 2 big visitors for the full infirmary enactment with protective instrumentality and precocious vaccinated oregon recovered from the virus. Many hospitals person made exceptions lone for coronavirus patients who are astir to die.

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MOSCOW — Russia has reported a grounds 984 regular coronavirus deaths amid a dilatory vaccination rate.

It’s marked respective grounds regular decease tolls successful the past fewer weeks. Infections person soared to adjacent all-time highs, with 28,717 confirmed cases reported Wednesday.

The Kremlin has attributed the mounting contagion and deaths to dilatory vaccinations. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Tuesday astir 29% of the country’s astir 146 cardinal radical were afloat vaccinated.

President Vladimir Putin emphasized the request to velocity up the vaccination complaint connected Tuesday, but helium besides has cautioned against forcing radical to get the shots. Health experts person attributed the dilatory gait of vaccination to wide vaccine skepticism and disinformation.

The Kremlin has ruled retired a caller nationwide lockdown akin to the 1 during the archetypal months of the pandemic that severely crippled the system and dented Putin’s ratings. It has delegated the powerfulness to enforce coronavirus restrictions to determination authorities.

The accrued infections person accrued the unit connected Russia’s wellness attraction system. Speaking astatine a Cabinet gathering Tuesday, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said 11% of Russia’s 235,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients are successful superior oregon captious condition.

Russia’s coronavirus task unit has confirmed much than 7.8 cardinal cases and 219,329 deaths -- the highest decease toll successful Europe. Russia trails the U.S (718,000), Brazil (601,000) India (451,000) and Mexico (283,000) successful confirmed planetary deaths.

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GENEVA — The World Health Organization released a projected database of 25 experts to counsel it connected the adjacent steps successful searching for the origins of the coronavirus aft its earlier efforts were slammed for accommodating China, wherever the archetypal quality cases were detected successful precocious 2019.

In a connection connected Wednesday, the U.N. wellness bureau says its projected experts — including immoderate who were connected the archetypal squad that went to Wuhan to probe the origins of COVID-19 — would beryllium taxable to a two-week nationalist consultation period. Among the suggested members of the caller squad are Marion Koopmans of the Netherlands and Thea Fischer of Denmark, who were connected the WHO squad that visited China successful February. In a caller commentary, Koopmans, Fischer and others said the hunt for the origins of COVID-19 had “stalled” and Chinese officials were inactive refusing to manus implicit immoderate earthy data.

After the WHO-led squad completed its China visit, the experts released a study concluding the anticipation the coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan laboratory was “extremely unlikely,” prompting disapproval from extracurricular scientists that the mentation had not been decently vetted. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus aboriginal acknowledged it had been “premature” to disregard the laboratory theory.

Numerous wellness experts and scientists person called for an autarkic probe to beryllium conducted beyond WHO, pointing retired the bureau has nary authorization to compel countries, including China, to cooperate. China has said it welcomes further investigations of the coronavirus’ origins, but successful different countries. A caller reappraisal of U.S. quality ordered by President Joe Biden recovered inconclusive grounds whether the coronavirus originated successful a laboratory.

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