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A dangerous coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly in Humboldt County, where younger people are getting sick with COVID-19 more often and more severely.
County health officer Dr. Ian Hoffman recently reported that a variant called B.1.1.7, known as the U.K. variant, is causing a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases that’s on par with winter surge levels.
The variant has been present in the state and the U.S. for months. But detections of it have been at low levels and until this month, there were none in Humboldt County.
But as restrictions were loosened in early April, B.1.1.7 was covertly spreading. And during a May 4 update to Humboldt’s Board of Supervisors, Hoffman said that “now the evidence is clear; B.1.1.7 was here and it has been here and now we are seeing the effects of a more contagious, more virulent form of the coronavirus.”
click to enlarge The Seascape Restaurant is scheduled to reopen tomorrow after closing down last month month due to a COVID-19 positive individual who was infected as part of an outbreak connected to a Eureka church being at the Trinidad eatery. All employees who had contact with the one positive case have been tested and received COVID negative results, a news release from the Trinidad Rancheria states. Seascape Restaurant has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected by an independent cleaning company following CDC guidelines. The outbreak traced back to the Eureka the Pentecostal Church congregation is driving a surge in local infections and hospitalizations, with health officials saying last week that offshoot cases were continuing to show up.
Posted By Kimberly Wear@kimberly wear on Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 5:32 PM New COVID-19 cases connected to an outbreak at a Eureka church earlier this month are continuing to show up and health officials are looking at the possibility that a more contagious variant may be playing a role. The outbreak traced back to the Eureka the Pentecostal Church congregation is driving a surge in local infections and hospitalizations at the same time other areas in the state are watching daily cases and test-positivity rates decline. The situation, county Health Office Ian Hoffman said during a Wednesday news conference, “really emphasizes we definitely are not out of the woods yet with COVID.”
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Montgomery: The Alabama Department of Public Health on Tuesday recommended resuming Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations following weekend guidance from federal authorities about an extremely rare side effect found in a handful of female recipients. The state halted J&J vaccinations earlier this month, after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a nationwide pause on the shots “out of an abundance of caution” pending further review of six known cases of blood clots. In a press release Tuesday, ADPH said the data show J&J’s “known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks.” The extremely rare side effect, called thromobosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, occurred in mostly adult women younger than 50. “Women younger than 50 years old should be aware of the rare but increased risk of this adverse event and that there are other COVID-19 vaccine