Tag: identified

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Politics

Last lacking individual recognized, dying toll 98

Final missing person identified, death toll 98

People visit the memorial which contains pictures of some of the victims from the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South Condo building on July 15, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. 92 victims have been identified while the search and recovery work is nearing completion.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The last person missing in the collapse of a residential complex in Surfside, Florida has been recovered and identified, bringing the death toll to 98, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

The remains of Estelle Hedeya, 54, were finally identified by authorities, the victim’s younger brother told the Associated Press. A total of 242 people are now recorded, said Levine Cava.

“Although we have identified all of the missing reported victims, the Miami-Dade police are continuing their ongoing search and recovery efforts on the evidence pile to ensure that all identifiable human remains are recovered,” Levine Cava said during a press conference Monday.

Miami-Dade Police Department director Alfredo Ramirez found that human remains had been recovered from the “secondary site” of the collapse, where the remaining portion of the condo building stood before it was demolished three weeks ago.

“We are recovering human remains and will continue to process them […]”said Ramirez.” We are still working on the stacks of evidence and will continue until we think we have done all we can.

The fire department ended their search for bodies on Friday when the heap of debris was almost completely swept away from the collapse site. Miami-Dade Police Department officials were forced to stop efforts to recover the remains and personal effects.

“Nothing we can say or do will bring back those 98 angels who left grieving families, loved ones and loved ones in this community and around the world,” said Levine Cava. “But we did everything we could to bring the families out of school. I am particularly proud that, thanks to this tireless effort, we were finally able to close down all the people who reported missing relatives.”

The news comes more than a month after the sudden collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South. First responders pursued an emotional and tireless search that shifted from rescue to recovery after officials said the possibility of finding someone alive was “near zero”.

Search teams had spent weeks tackling the dangers of the rubble, including severe weather conditions that temporarily halted their work. Ultimately, they cleared more than 14,000 tons of concrete and rubble from the construction site.

As their search neared the end, authorities focused on helping victims and families affected by the collapse. This includes the provision of resources by a family counseling center, which offers psychological counseling as well as financial and housing assistance, among other things.

Last week, a judge ruled that victims and families affected by the collapse should initially receive at least $ 150 million in compensation.

The compensation includes insurance for the Champlain Towers South building and the expected proceeds from the sale of the land on which the condominium building once stood.

While the exact cause of the collapse is still unknown, a 2018 report shows the 40-year-old building suffered significant structural damage, with cracks in the underground parking garage and waterproofing problems under the pool.

Recent reports also show that the repeal of a law in Florida in 2010 that required condos to schedule repairs may also have contributed to the collapse.

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Health

UK instances of Covid variant recognized in India double in a single week

UK cases of Covid variant identified in India double in one week

Hounslow, London, which has become one of the U.K.’s biggest hotspots for the variant of coronavirus first identified in India, on Thursday 27th May 2021.

Tejas Sandhu | MI News | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Cases of the Covid-19 variant first identified in India have more than doubled in England within one week, the country’s health authority said.

The number of cases of the strain had reached 6,959 by Wednesday, an increase of 3,535 cases from the previous week.

The B.1.617.2 variant, a highly contagious triple-mutant strain of the coronavirus, is likely to be more transmissible than the variant first identified in England last fall, Public Health England said Thursday.

Bolton, Bedford and Blackburn were the most affected areas in England, according to PHE, although it said there were small numbers of cases of the variant in most parts of the country.

Hospitalizations were also rising in some areas, PHE added, noting that most hospital admissions were in unvaccinated people.

Research published by PHE last week showed that two doses of Covid vaccines gives people high levels of protection against the B.1.617.2 strain.

Jenny Harries, CEO of the U.K. Health Security Agency, said in PHE’s weekly update that the public should continue to act with caution as Britain eases lockdown restrictions.

“We now know that getting both vaccine doses gives a high degree of protection against this variant and we urge everyone to have the vaccine,” she said.

“Make sure that you remain careful, work from home if you can, meet people outside where possible and remember ‘hands, face, space, fresh air’ at all times.”

The U.K. has begun to tentatively lift lockdown restrictions in recent months, with the government hoping to remove all measures by June 21.

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the country “may need to wait” for a complete return to normality, although he told the BBC on Thursday there was nothing “currently in the data” to suggest the June unlocking would be derailed.

Johnson announced earlier this month that the U.K. would accelerate second vaccine doses for the over-50s and clinically vulnerable in an effort to combat the spread of the B.1.617.2 strain.

More than 62.6 million vaccines had been given in the U.K. by May 26, with 73% of the adult population having received their first dose. Almost half of British adults have been fully vaccinated with both doses.

On May 22, 883 people were in hospital with Covid-19 in the U.K. — a huge drop from January’s peak of 39,249.

Categories
Health

California has recognized first case of recent Covid pressure recognized in UK, Newsom says

California has identified first case of new Covid strain identified in UK, Newsom says

In this file photo dated June 30, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom removes his face mask before giving an update during a visit to Pittsburg, California.

Rich Pedroncelli | AP

California health officials have identified the state’s first case of a new and contagious strain of Covid-19 that was originally discovered in the UK.

The patient is a 30-year-old male from San Diego county who showed symptoms on Sunday, San Diego county officials confirmed on Wednesday.

“I don’t think Californians should feel like this is anything strange. This is expected,” said White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Wednesday during a live Q&A session with California Governor Gavin Newsom. Fauci said other states are likely to identify their own cases of the new strain soon.

Nathan Fletcher, a supervisor for San Diego County, said the patient was tested for Covid-19 Tuesday morning. Because he had not traveled, state officials believe there are other cases of the new strain in the county, Fletcher said at a press conference after Newsom announced the case.

Fletcher urged residents to follow public health instructions over the next few days to prevent further strain on the county’s hospitals, which are “under tremendous stress” from an onslaught of Covid-19 patients.

On Tuesday, Colorado health officials confirmed the first case of the B.1.1.7 variant of coronavirus. During a news conference Wednesday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said the state is investigating a possible second case of the new tribe.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier Wednesday that the new tribe could put pressure on the country’s hospitals, which are already overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.

Dr. Henry Walke, the agency’s Covid Incident Manager, said the new variant appears to be spreading “easier and faster than other strains”, but it doesn’t seem to make people sick or increase their risk of death.

A particularly worrying aspect of the Colorado case was that the patient had not traveled, “suggesting this variant was transmitted person-to-person in the United States,” Walke told reporters on a conference call.

Some good news: The new variant doesn’t appear to affect the vaccines’ effectiveness or make diagnosis difficult with existing tests, Fauci told Newsom. The UK has also found that people who were already infected with previous strains of Covid-19 do not appear to be re-infected with this new variant.

Researchers have yet to determine whether the new strain may be resistant to monoclonal antibody treatment, which has successfully helped some patients recover from the disease, Fauci said. Unlike vaccines, which trigger an immune response that attacks different parts of the virus, monoclonal antibodies target a very specific component, according to the country’s leading infectious disease expert.

Monoclonal antibodies have shown promising benefits if the virus is detected early enough. President Donald Trump attributed Regeneron’s treatment for feeling better “immediately” when he was infected and finally hospitalized with Covid-19 in early October.

“We know that about it now, but we’re following this extremely carefully,” said Fauci, adding that they are studying the exposure at the National Institute of Health and a number of laboratories across the country.

– CNBC’s Will Feuer and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.

Categories
Business

The U.Okay. has recognized a brand new Covid-19 pressure that spreads extra shortly. This is what they know

The U.K. has identified a new Covid-19 strain that spreads more quickly. Here's what they know

England’s top medical officer announced Saturday that the UK had identified a new variant of the coronavirus that “can spread faster” than previous strains of the virus, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose new restrictions on parts of the nation to control its spread.

“We learn from this over time, but we already know enough, more than enough, to be sure that we need to act now,” Johnson said during a press conference on Saturday setting new restrictions on London and other parts of England before the Christmas holidays.

“If the virus changes its method of attack, we’ll have to change our method of defense,” said Johnson.

The UK government announced the new strain of coronavirus on Monday after cases increased in the south and east of England. According to a statement from Public Health England, just over 1,100 Covid-19 cases had been identified with the new variant by Sunday.

Now it is believed the new strain could be up to 70% more communicable than the original strain of the disease, Johnson said on Saturday, adding that it appears to be fueling the rapid spread of infections. Johnson urged residents not to travel and “stay on-site” to keep the new strain from moving around the country and abroad.

The UK reports around 24,061 new Covid-19 cases daily based on a weekly average, an increase of more than 40% from the previous week, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“This is early data that needs to be verified, but it is the best we have right now and we need to respond to information as we have it because it is now spreading very quickly,” said Johnson.

Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said at the press conference that “viruses are constantly mutating”. Seasonal influenza mutates every year, and other new variants of the coronavirus have already been identified in countries like Spain, according to Public Health England.

What needs to be answered is whether the new strain will transmit more easily, make people sick, and whether it will change the way a person’s immune system responds to the virus if they are already infected or vaccinated, Whitty said.

So far, a body of evidence from genetic studies, frequency studies, and laboratory studies suggests that the new strain “has a significant, substantial increase in transmissibility,” Whitty said. So far, however, there is no evidence that the new strain causes a higher mortality rate.

Health officials believe the new variant first appeared in London or Kent in mid-September, and by mid-November it is believed to have caused about 28% of cases in London and other parts of south-east England, Whitty said.

Now those numbers are much higher, he said. In London last week, data suggests the new variant accounts for more than 60% of new cases, Whitty said.

“So that tells us that this new variant is not only moving fast, it also transmits better, it also becomes the dominant variant. It beats everyone else in terms of transmission,” he said.

However, there is “no evidence” that it causes more severe illness, more hospitalizations, or “more problems than the other virus,” Whitty said. While there are reasons to suspect the new variant might alter a person’s immune response to the disease, nothing suggests that it has so far, he said.

“We are currently assuming by all scientists that the vaccine response for this virus should be appropriate,” he said. “Obviously this has to be checked in the future, and we have to remain vigilant in this regard.”

The UK has alerted the World Health Organization and will continue to analyze data on the new strain.