Positive COVID-19 case numbers in Geary County surged upward over this past weekend.&nbsp; There were 44 new positive cases and 21 recovered cases reported by&nbsp; the Health Department. Active cases in the county totaled 76.

Since the pandemic began there have been 556 confirmed positive cases and 475 total recovered cases.&nbsp;

One person&nbsp; from Geary County is hospitalized and five people have died.

Positive COVID-19 case numbers in Geary County surged upward over this past weekend.&nbsp; There were 44 new positive cases and 21 recovered cases reported by&nbsp; the Health Department. Active cases in the county totaled 76.Since the pandemic began there have been 556 confirmed positive cases and 475 total recovered cases.&nbsp;One person&nbsp; from Geary County is hospitalized and five people have died.

COVID-19 cases rise in Geary County

Work on a new elevator for the Geary County Detention Center is 90% complete. Keith Ascher, County Commissioner, noted that officials hope to have the project finished this week.

He said once that is complete work can begin on four negative pressure cells for the jail. "Those are specifically for COVID cases if they get them." Sheriff Dan Jackson made a report to the commission.&nbsp;

There will not be any out of town training for Sheriff's Department personnel this month, there were 291 incidents this past week, and 100 inmates were in the detention center.&nbsp;

The Sheriff's Department is saving several thousand dollars on the average extradition of a prisoner. The department is handling those extraditions.&nbsp;

Numerous employees from the department were quarantined during the past month due to close contact issues with COVID. One employee is currently in isolation, has COVID and is symptomatic.

Another inmate at the jail tested positive but due to strict COVID protocols in place and followed, the infection was contained to that inmate with no spread to staff or other inmates.

New Sheriff's school has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID. Officials expect it to be held sometime in the spring.

Work on a new elevator for the Geary County Detention Center is 90% complete. Keith Ascher, County Commissioner, noted that officials hope to have the project finished this week.He said once that is complete work can begin on four negative pressure cells for the jail. "Those are specifically for COVID cases if they get them." Sheriff Dan Jackson made a report to the commission.&nbsp;There will not be any out of town training for Sheriff's Department personnel this month, there were 291 incidents this past week, and 100 inmates were in the detention center.&nbsp;The Sheriff's Department is saving several thousand dollars on the average extradition of a prisoner. The department is handling those extraditions.&nbsp;Numerous employees from the department were quarantined during the past month due to close contact issues with COVID. One employee is currently in isolation, has COVID and is symptomatic.Another inmate at the jail tested positive but due to strict COVID protocols in place and followed, the infection was contained to that inmate with no spread to staff or other inmates.New Sheriff's school has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID. Officials expect it to be held sometime in the spring.

County Commissioners get an update on  the Sheriff's Department

LONDON (AP) — Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals.

The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine.

AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report late-stage results for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world anxiously waits for scientific breakthroughs that will bring an end to a pandemic that has wrought economic devastation and resulted in nearly 1.4 million confirmed deaths.

Pfizer and Moderna last week reported preliminary results from late-stage trials showing their vaccines were almost 95% effective. But, unlike its rivals, the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, making it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.

“I think these are really exciting results,” Dr. Andrew Pollard, chief investigator for the trial, said during a news conference. “Because the vaccine can be stored at fridge temperatures, it can be distributed around the world using the normal immunization distribution system. And so our goal … to make sure that we have a vaccine that was accessible everywhere, I think we’ve actually managed to do that.”

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also cheaper. AstraZeneca, which has pledged it won’t make a profit on the vaccine during the pandemic, has reached agreements with governments and international health organizations that put its cost at about $2.50 a dose. Pfizer’s vaccine costs about $20 a dose, while Moderna’s is $15 to $25, based on agreements the companies have struck to supply their vaccines to the U.S. government.

All three vaccines must be approved by regulators before they can be widely distributed.

Oxford researchers and AstraZeneca stressed that they aren’t competing with other projects, and that multiple vaccines will be needed to reach enough of the world’s population and end the pandemic.

“We’re not thinking about vaccinations working in terms of one person at a time. We have to think about vaccinating communities, populations, reducing transmission within those populations, so that we really get on top of this pandemic,″ said Sarah Gilbert, a leader of the Oxford research team. “And that’s what it now looks like we’re going to have the ability to contribute to in a really big way.″

The results come as a second wave of COVID-19 hits many countries, once again shutting businesses, restricting social interaction and pummeling the world economy.

AstraZeneca said it will immediately apply for early approval of the vaccine where possible, and it will seek an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization, so it can make the vaccine available in low-income countries.

The AstraZeneca trial looked at two different dosing regimens. A half-dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose at least one month later was 90% effective. Another approach, giving patients two full doses one month apart, was 62% effective. The combined results showed an average efficacy rate of 70%.

The vaccine uses a weakened version of a common cold virus that is combined with genetic material for the characteristic spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the spike protein primes the immune system to attack the virus if it later infects the body.

The vaccine can be transported under “normal refrigerated conditions” of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), AstraZeneca said. By comparison, Pfizer plans to distribute its vaccine using specially designed “thermal shippers” that use dry ice to maintain temperatures of minus-70 degrees Celsius (minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit).

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the finding that a smaller initial dose is more effective than a larger one is good news because it may reduce costs and mean more people can be vaccinated.

“The report that an initial half-dose is better than a full dose seems counterintuitive for those of us thinking of vaccines as normal drugs: With drugs, we expect that higher doses have bigger effects, and more side-effects,” he said. “But the immune system does not work like that.”

The results reported Monday come from trials in the U.K. and Brazil that involved 23,000 people. Late-stage trials are also underway in the U.S., Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America, with further trials planned for other European and Asian countries.

AstraZeneca has been ramping up manufacturing capacity, so it can supply hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine starting in January, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said earlier this month.

Soriot said Monday that the Oxford vaccine’s simpler supply chain and AstraZeneca’s commitment to provide it on a nonprofit basis during the pandemic mean it will be affordable and available to people around the world.

“This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” Soriot said.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he felt “a great sense of relief” at the news from AstraZeneca.

Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, and the government says several million doses can be produced before the end of the year if it is approved by regulators.

Just months ago, “the idea that by November we would have three vaccines, all of which have got high effectiveness … I would have given my eye teeth for,” Hancock said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602590971875.png" alt="Photo courtesy Johnson &amp; Johnson" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Johnson &amp; Johnson</figcaption>
 </figure>LONDON (AP) — Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals.The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine.AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report late-stage results for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world anxiously waits for scientific breakthroughs that will bring an end to a pandemic that has wrought economic devastation and resulted in nearly 1.4 million confirmed deaths.Pfizer and Moderna last week reported preliminary results from late-stage trials showing their vaccines were almost 95% effective. But, unlike its rivals, the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, making it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.“I think these are really exciting results,” Dr. Andrew Pollard, chief investigator for the trial, said during a news conference. “Because the vaccine can be stored at fridge temperatures, it can be distributed around the world using the normal immunization distribution system. And so our goal … to make sure that we have a vaccine that was accessible everywhere, I think we’ve actually managed to do that.”The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also cheaper. AstraZeneca, which has pledged it won’t make a profit on the vaccine during the pandemic, has reached agreements with governments and international health organizations that put its cost at about $2.50 a dose. Pfizer’s vaccine costs about $20 a dose, while Moderna’s is $15 to $25, based on agreements the companies have struck to supply their vaccines to the U.S. government.All three vaccines must be approved by regulators before they can be widely distributed.Oxford researchers and AstraZeneca stressed that they aren’t competing with other projects, and that multiple vaccines will be needed to reach enough of the world’s population and end the pandemic.“We’re not thinking about vaccinations working in terms of one person at a time. We have to think about vaccinating communities, populations, reducing transmission within those populations, so that we really get on top of this pandemic,″ said Sarah Gilbert, a leader of the Oxford research team. “And that’s what it now looks like we’re going to have the ability to contribute to in a really big way.″The results come as a second wave of COVID-19 hits many countries, once again shutting businesses, restricting social interaction and pummeling the world economy.AstraZeneca said it will immediately apply for early approval of the vaccine where possible, and it will seek an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization, so it can make the vaccine available in low-income countries.The AstraZeneca trial looked at two different dosing regimens. A half-dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose at least one month later was 90% effective. Another approach, giving patients two full doses one month apart, was 62% effective. The combined results showed an average efficacy rate of 70%.The vaccine uses a weakened version of a common cold virus that is combined with genetic material for the characteristic spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the spike protein primes the immune system to attack the virus if it later infects the body.The vaccine can be transported under “normal refrigerated conditions” of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), AstraZeneca said. By comparison, Pfizer plans to distribute its vaccine using specially designed “thermal shippers” that use dry ice to maintain temperatures of minus-70 degrees Celsius (minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit).Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the finding that a smaller initial dose is more effective than a larger one is good news because it may reduce costs and mean more people can be vaccinated.“The report that an initial half-dose is better than a full dose seems counterintuitive for those of us thinking of vaccines as normal drugs: With drugs, we expect that higher doses have bigger effects, and more side-effects,” he said. “But the immune system does not work like that.”The results reported Monday come from trials in the U.K. and Brazil that involved 23,000 people. Late-stage trials are also underway in the U.S., Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America, with further trials planned for other European and Asian countries.AstraZeneca has been ramping up manufacturing capacity, so it can supply hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine starting in January, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said earlier this month.Soriot said Monday that the Oxford vaccine’s simpler supply chain and AstraZeneca’s commitment to provide it on a nonprofit basis during the pandemic mean it will be affordable and available to people around the world.“This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” Soriot said.British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he felt “a great sense of relief” at the news from AstraZeneca.Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, and the government says several million doses can be produced before the end of the year if it is approved by regulators.Just months ago, “the idea that by November we would have three vaccines, all of which have got high effectiveness … I would have given my eye teeth for,” Hancock said.___

Cheaper COVID-19 vaccine headed for approval

U.S. health officials agreed to allow emergency use of a second antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental medicine that President Donald Trump was given when he was sickened last month.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the <a href="https://www.gilead.com/news-and-press/press-room/press-releases/2020/10/us-food-and-drug-administration-approves-gileads-antiviral-veklury-remdesivir-for-treatment-of-covid19">Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug to </a>try to prevent hospitalization and worsening disease from developing in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.

The drug is given as a one-time treatment through an IV. The FDA allowed its use in adults and children 12 and over who weigh at least 88 pounds and who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 because of age or certain other medical conditions.

Emergency authorization allows use of the drug to start while studies are continuing to establish safety and effectiveness. Early results suggest the drug may reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk for disease progression, the FDA said.

Regeneron said that initial doses will be made available to roughly 300,000 patients through a federal government allocation program. Those patients will not be charged for the drug but may have to pay part of the cost of giving the IV.

Initial supplies will likely be vastly outstripped by demand as the U.S. has surged past 12 million reported cases, with the country facing what health experts say will be a dark winter due to uncontrolled spread of the virus.

Antibodies are proteins the body makes to target and help eliminate viruses, but it can take weeks for the best ones to form after an infection occurs. The drugs are concentrated versions of ones that proved best able to do this in lab and animal tests, and in theory help the body start to fight the virus right away.

The Regeneron drug is a combo of two antibodies to enhance the chances it will prove effective. Earlier this month, the FDA gave emergency authorization to a single-antibody drug from Eli Lilly that also is still being studied.

There’s no way to know whether the Regeneron drug helped Trump recover; he received a host of treatments and most COVID-19 patients recover on their own.

FDA regulators authorized the Regeneron drug using their emergency powers to quickly speed the availability of experimental drugs and other medical products during public health crises.

In normal times the FDA requires “substantial evidence” to show that a drug is safe and effective, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies the agency can lower those standards and require only that an experimental treatment’s potential benefits outweigh its risks.

The emergency authorization functions like a temporary approval for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. To win full approval, Regeneron will have to submit additional research to fully define the drug’s safety and benefit for patients.

The White House cast the decision as a victory for Trump’s efforts “to deliver cutting-edge treatments with highly promising results to protect the health and safety of the most vulnerable Americans,” according to a statement from spokesman Michael Bars.

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated PressU.S. health officials agreed to allow emergency use of a second antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental medicine that President Donald Trump was given when he was sickened last month.The Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the <a href="https://www.gilead.com/news-and-press/press-room/press-releases/2020/10/us-food-and-drug-administration-approves-gileads-antiviral-veklury-remdesivir-for-treatment-of-covid19">Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug to </a>try to prevent hospitalization and worsening disease from developing in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.The drug is given as a one-time treatment through an IV. The FDA allowed its use in adults and children 12 and over who weigh at least 88 pounds and who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 because of age or certain other medical conditions.Emergency authorization allows use of the drug to start while studies are continuing to establish safety and effectiveness. Early results suggest the drug may reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk for disease progression, the FDA said.Regeneron said that initial doses will be made available to roughly 300,000 patients through a federal government allocation program. Those patients will not be charged for the drug but may have to pay part of the cost of giving the IV.Initial supplies will likely be vastly outstripped by demand as the U.S. has surged past 12 million reported cases, with the country facing what health experts say will be a dark winter due to uncontrolled spread of the virus.Antibodies are proteins the body makes to target and help eliminate viruses, but it can take weeks for the best ones to form after an infection occurs. The drugs are concentrated versions of ones that proved best able to do this in lab and animal tests, and in theory help the body start to fight the virus right away.The Regeneron drug is a combo of two antibodies to enhance the chances it will prove effective. Earlier this month, the FDA gave emergency authorization to a single-antibody drug from Eli Lilly that also is still being studied.There’s no way to know whether the Regeneron drug helped Trump recover; he received a host of treatments and most COVID-19 patients recover on their own.FDA regulators authorized the Regeneron drug using their emergency powers to quickly speed the availability of experimental drugs and other medical products during public health crises.In normal times the FDA requires “substantial evidence” to show that a drug is safe and effective, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies the agency can lower those standards and require only that an experimental treatment’s potential benefits outweigh its risks.The emergency authorization functions like a temporary approval for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. To win full approval, Regeneron will have to submit additional research to fully define the drug’s safety and benefit for patients.The White House cast the decision as a victory for Trump’s efforts “to deliver cutting-edge treatments with highly promising results to protect the health and safety of the most vulnerable Americans,” according to a statement from spokesman Michael Bars.___

2nd emergency use of a COVID-19 antibody drug approved

Even if all Kansans immediately mask
 up and avoid crowded places, it will likely take weeks to ease the 
burden on hospitals packed with COVID-19 patients.

By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-20/mask-rules-helped-kansas-counties-slow-the-march-of-coronavirus-new-cdc-report-suggests">Kansas News Service</a>

In Kansas counties that adopted mask rules last summer, the spread of COVID-19 slowed, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6947e2.htm?s_cid=mm6947e2_w" target="_blank">new research</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

The
 study by federal and state epidemiologists suggests that if more 
counties follow suit, it could help stem a disastrous groundswell that 
has hospitals in Kansas and across the Midwest reeling.

The 
release of the new CDC publication comes just two days after Kansas Gov.
 Laura Kelly made her second attempt to get Kansans across the state to <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-18/with-hospitals-reeling-kansas-gov-kelly-makes-second-push-to-tame-coronavirus-with-masks" target="_blank">mask up</a>. Most counties overrode her first statewide mask order, and they could do the same to this one.

Physicians
 at the University of Kansas Health System say taking masks and social 
distancing seriously saves lives and eases the rush on hospital beds.

Even if all Kansans followed their advice fastidiously and immediately, incubation periods mean the record surge across the state would likely intensify before it gets better.

“This (pandemic) is very quick to get worse,” anesthesiologist David Wild said, “and very slow to get better.”

“People
 are in the hospital for four, five, seven days, if they're not in the 
ICU,” he said. “If they’re in the ICU, it may be 15 or 20 or 30. And so 
it will take some time before we see the benefits of those behaviors 
changing.”

That means it would likely take three weeks or more of 
very conscientious efforts by Kansans before hospitals start to get some
 of the respite — and freed up beds — that they desperately need.

Doctors fear COVID-19’s record surge across the state could worsen over Thanksgiving and Christmas instead.

Already, hospital officials say they’re <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-16/kansas-hospitals-seek-help-from-nearby-states-but-the-whole-midwest-is-struggling-with-a-covid-surge" target="_blank">spending hours calling intensive care units</a>
 in other cities and neighboring states to see who can fit more people. 
They’re postponing kidney stone surgeries just to free up a few extra 
beds, or treating patients in hallways and waiting rooms.

This 
summer, the Republican-led Legislature passed a law that blocks Kelly 
from requiring masks. The most she can do is issue rules that county 
commissions can then reject.

She did so in July, but 80 of the 
state’s 105 counties blocked the effort. Some have since changed their 
tunes. Sixty-five still have no mask rules.

Kelly said Republican leaders and others have signaled to her that more county commissions are ready this time to come on board.

“We have reached a new stage in our fight with this virus,” she said, and mask-wearing would help “turn the tide.”

County
 commissions have until Wednesday to act before Kelly’s rules take 
effect. They can tweak her version as they see fit — or can again buck 
her effort entirely.

But the harsh new reality could force their 
hands. In rural parts of the state, critically ill patients can wait for
 hours for admission to intensive care units in cities hours away.

Editor's note: While Ellis County in northwest Kansas does not have a countywide mask mandate in place, the city of Hays does.

The
 CDC and Kansas researchers — which included state epidemiologist Farah 
Ahmed and former state epidemiologist Charles Hunt — compared the spread
 of the virus in counties with mask rules to those without them over 
nearly three months this summer.

The disease’s march — calculated 
as seven-day rolling averages of new cases — slowed in counties with mask 
orders. Face coverings appear to have helped, though the authors say 
extra local limits on public gatherings — things like caps on restaurant
 capacity — may have boosted the effect in some of those counties.

“COVID-19
 incidence rates reversed course,” the authors wrote, but not in the 
counties without mask rules. There, the pace of new cases kept climbing.

(Researchers
 at the Kansas Health Institute also contributed to the study. The 
institute receives funding from the Kansas Health Foundation, one of the
 Kansas News Service’s financial supporters.)

The CDC and the <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks" target="_blank">World Health Organization</a> both recommend wearing masks in public and around people you don’t live with.

The
 CDC recommends masks for children as young as two years old, though the
 WHO recommends against requiring it for those under age five because 
such young children may not wear it properly.

Kelly’s order asks 
Kansans over the age of five (except those with medical conditions that 
would make it difficult) to wear masks in public. That includes outdoor 
spaces where people can’t keep six feet away from each other.

Businesses must also instruct employees to wear masks, and require it of customers.

The
 epidemiological price of weddings, parties and packed bars and 
restaurants spiraled rapidly out of control across the Midwest once cold
 weather pushed socializing indoors.

In just two weeks, Kansas has confirmed 36,000 new cases of the coronavirus that has killed <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/" target="_blank">more than 250,000</a> people in the U.S.

Minnesota’s governor ordered <a href="https://www.startribune.com/walz-to-close-bars-restaurants-and-fitness-centers-for-4-weeks/573114521/" target="_blank">restaurants and bars</a> closed again this week, even as the state said the federal government would send it dozens of <a href="https://www.startribune.com/fema-ambulances-deployed-to-help-transfer-minn-patients/573127151/" target="_blank">staffed ambulances</a> to transport a flood of COVID patients to hospitals.

The governors of <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2020-11-17/iowa-governor-reverses-course-issues-mask-mandate-as-covid-19-cases-rise" target="_blank">Iowa</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bismarck-north-dakota-coronavirus-pandemic-45788d9dfaae23c1db8125088dfa242b" target="_blank">North Dakota</a>, previously opposed to face-covering orders, broke down over the past week and ordered people to mask up statewide.

Scientists
 say masks help by filtering some of the droplets that pass into the air
 from an infected person’s nose and mouth. The CDC summarized the 
research to date in a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html" target="_blank">recent online summary</a>.

More than 30 states now have rules requiring masks.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/Celia_LJ" target="_blank"> @celialj_LJ</a> or email her at celia@kcur.org.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605897184989.png" alt=" Stephan Bisaha / Kansas News Service " />
 <figcaption> Stephan Bisaha / Kansas News Service </figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Even if all Kansans immediately mask
 up and avoid crowded places, it will likely take weeks to ease the 
burden on hospitals packed with COVID-19 patients.</h2>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-20/mask-rules-helped-kansas-counties-slow-the-march-of-coronavirus-new-cdc-report-suggests">Kansas News Service</a>In Kansas counties that adopted mask rules last summer, the spread of COVID-19 slowed, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6947e2.htm?s_cid=mm6947e2_w" target="_blank">new research</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.The
 study by federal and state epidemiologists suggests that if more 
counties follow suit, it could help stem a disastrous groundswell that 
has hospitals in Kansas and across the Midwest reeling.The 
release of the new CDC publication comes just two days after Kansas Gov.
 Laura Kelly made her second attempt to get Kansans across the state to <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-18/with-hospitals-reeling-kansas-gov-kelly-makes-second-push-to-tame-coronavirus-with-masks" target="_blank">mask up</a>. Most counties overrode her first statewide mask order, and they could do the same to this one.Physicians
 at the University of Kansas Health System say taking masks and social 
distancing seriously saves lives and eases the rush on hospital beds.Even if all Kansans followed their advice fastidiously and immediately, incubation periods mean the record surge across the state would likely intensify before it gets better.“This (pandemic) is very quick to get worse,” anesthesiologist David Wild said, “and very slow to get better.”“People
 are in the hospital for four, five, seven days, if they're not in the 
ICU,” he said. “If they’re in the ICU, it may be 15 or 20 or 30. And so 
it will take some time before we see the benefits of those behaviors 
changing.”That means it would likely take three weeks or more of 
very conscientious efforts by Kansans before hospitals start to get some
 of the respite — and freed up beds — that they desperately need.Doctors fear COVID-19’s record surge across the state could worsen over Thanksgiving and Christmas instead.Already, hospital officials say they’re <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-11-16/kansas-hospitals-seek-help-from-nearby-states-but-the-whole-midwest-is-struggling-with-a-covid-surge" target="_blank">spending hours calling intensive care units</a>
 in other cities and neighboring states to see who can fit more people. 
They’re postponing kidney stone surgeries just to free up a few extra 
beds, or treating patients in hallways and waiting rooms.This 
summer, the Republican-led Legislature passed a law that blocks Kelly 
from requiring masks. The most she can do is issue rules that county 
commissions can then reject.She did so in July, but 80 of the 
state’s 105 counties blocked the effort. Some have since changed their 
tunes. Sixty-five still have no mask rules.Kelly said Republican leaders and others have signaled to her that more county commissions are ready this time to come on board.“We have reached a new stage in our fight with this virus,” she said, and mask-wearing would help “turn the tide.”County
 commissions have until Wednesday to act before Kelly’s rules take 
effect. They can tweak her version as they see fit — or can again buck 
her effort entirely.But the harsh new reality could force their 
hands. In rural parts of the state, critically ill patients can wait for
 hours for admission to intensive care units in cities hours away.<div><iframe title="Does your county require masks in public?" aria-label="Map" id="datawrapper-chart-wZcb4" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/wZcb4/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="447"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
</script></div>Editor's note: While Ellis County in northwest Kansas does not have a countywide mask mandate in place, the city of Hays does.<h2>Mask rules in Kansas</h2>The
 CDC and Kansas researchers — which included state epidemiologist Farah 
Ahmed and former state epidemiologist Charles Hunt — compared the spread
 of the virus in counties with mask rules to those without them over 
nearly three months this summer.The disease’s march — calculated 
as seven-day rolling averages of new cases — slowed in counties with mask 
orders. Face coverings appear to have helped, though the authors say 
extra local limits on public gatherings — things like caps on restaurant
 capacity — may have boosted the effect in some of those counties.“COVID-19
 incidence rates reversed course,” the authors wrote, but not in the 
counties without mask rules. There, the pace of new cases kept climbing.(Researchers
 at the Kansas Health Institute also contributed to the study. The 
institute receives funding from the Kansas Health Foundation, one of the
 Kansas News Service’s financial supporters.)The CDC and the <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks" target="_blank">World Health Organization</a> both recommend wearing masks in public and around people you don’t live with.The
 CDC recommends masks for children as young as two years old, though the
 WHO recommends against requiring it for those under age five because 
such young children may not wear it properly.Kelly’s order asks 
Kansans over the age of five (except those with medical conditions that 
would make it difficult) to wear masks in public. That includes outdoor 
spaces where people can’t keep six feet away from each other.Businesses must also instruct employees to wear masks, and require it of customers.<h2>The swift increase</h2>The
 epidemiological price of weddings, parties and packed bars and 
restaurants spiraled rapidly out of control across the Midwest once cold
 weather pushed socializing indoors.In just two weeks, Kansas has confirmed 36,000 new cases of the coronavirus that has killed <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/" target="_blank">more than 250,000</a> people in the U.S.Minnesota’s governor ordered <a href="https://www.startribune.com/walz-to-close-bars-restaurants-and-fitness-centers-for-4-weeks/573114521/" target="_blank">restaurants and bars</a> closed again this week, even as the state said the federal government would send it dozens of <a href="https://www.startribune.com/fema-ambulances-deployed-to-help-transfer-minn-patients/573127151/" target="_blank">staffed ambulances</a> to transport a flood of COVID patients to hospitals.The governors of <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2020-11-17/iowa-governor-reverses-course-issues-mask-mandate-as-covid-19-cases-rise" target="_blank">Iowa</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bismarck-north-dakota-coronavirus-pandemic-45788d9dfaae23c1db8125088dfa242b" target="_blank">North Dakota</a>, previously opposed to face-covering orders, broke down over the past week and ordered people to mask up statewide.Scientists
 say masks help by filtering some of the droplets that pass into the air
 from an infected person’s nose and mouth. The CDC summarized the 
research to date in a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html" target="_blank">recent online summary</a>.More than 30 states now have rules requiring masks.Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/Celia_LJ" target="_blank"> @celialj_LJ</a> or email her at celia@kcur.org.

CDC report: Mask rules helped Kan. counties slow march of virus

Concerns about COVID-19 have led to the cancellation of most of&nbsp; the Hometown Christmas celebration activities that were scheduled on Dec. 4th in downtown Junction City.

Phyllis Fitzgerald, who helps coordinate the annual event, said the planning committee made the decision Friday afternoon based on the rising number of COVID cases. "And our citizens are the most important to us so the Hometown Christmas, some of the events we're cancelling them. Fitzgerald cited for example, the food trucks, ice sculpting, and she noted that there would not be any Christmas caroling, story time at the library or an appearance by Santa Claus.

Fitzgerald did make it clear that a window decorating contest for the downtown businesses will continue. "So that will still happen and folk can go and see how the businesses have decorated."

Fitzgerald said by Monday all the lights will be up on 7th Street where the celebration was planned. "So people can still enjoy looking at it, but we're just not going to have all those things that we were going to be doing for the Hometown Christmas."

Fitzgerald said the cancellation decision was made for the safety of the community including the people who live here and those who travel through Junction City.

Concerns about COVID-19 have led to the cancellation of most of&nbsp; the Hometown Christmas celebration activities that were scheduled on Dec. 4th in downtown Junction City.Phyllis Fitzgerald, who helps coordinate the annual event, said the planning committee made the decision Friday afternoon based on the rising number of COVID cases. "And our citizens are the most important to us so the Hometown Christmas, some of the events we're cancelling them. Fitzgerald cited for example, the food trucks, ice sculpting, and she noted that there would not be any Christmas caroling, story time at the library or an appearance by Santa Claus.Fitzgerald did make it clear that a window decorating contest for the downtown businesses will continue. "So that will still happen and folk can go and see how the businesses have decorated."Fitzgerald said by Monday all the lights will be up on 7th Street where the celebration was planned. "So people can still enjoy looking at it, but we're just not going to have all those things that we were going to be doing for the Hometown Christmas."Fitzgerald said the cancellation decision was made for the safety of the community including the people who live here and those who travel through Junction City.

Majority of the Hometown Christmas activities are being cancelled

Geary County health officials reported two new positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 13 recovered cases. There are now 53 active cases in the county.&nbsp;

Geary County health officials reported two new positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 13 recovered cases. There are now 53 active cases in the county.&nbsp;One person is hospitalized at this time.

Health Department provides the COVID-19 update

Chapman USD 473 Superintendent of Schools Jerry Hodson has announced that middle and high school students will transition to remote learning on Monday, Nov. 30 and continue in that mode until Jan. 4. " We are already out of school all of next week for Thanksgiving break anyway so when the kids come back in K-5 they'll return on&nbsp; the 30th and everything will go just like normal for K-5, but 6-12 will be remote."

Hodson mentioned that the concern is the community spread of the coronavirus.

Hodson said the district spent a lot of time at the start of the year preparing for remote learning but also realize it's not the same as being in a classroom. He noted that the same content will go out in the remote learning as much as possible.

Chapman USD 473 Superintendent of Schools Jerry Hodson has announced that middle and high school students will transition to remote learning on Monday, Nov. 30 and continue in that mode until Jan. 4. " We are already out of school all of next week for Thanksgiving break anyway so when the kids come back in K-5 they'll return on&nbsp; the 30th and everything will go just like normal for K-5, but 6-12 will be remote."Hodson mentioned that the concern is the community spread of the coronavirus.Hodson said the district spent a lot of time at the start of the year preparing for remote learning but also realize it's not the same as being in a classroom. He noted that the same content will go out in the remote learning as much as possible.

Chapman middle and high school students will move to remote learning

Geary Community Hospital officials provided an update on Friday on the number of COVID-19 patients they have treated.

Since the pandemic began there have been 5,149 coronavirus tests conducted and 4,687 were negative. Sixteen tests were pending. There have been 416 positive tests and three people are hospitalized.

GCH serves residents of multiple counties.

Geary Community Hospital officials provided an update on Friday on the number of COVID-19 patients they have treated.Since the pandemic began there have been 5,149 coronavirus tests conducted and 4,687 were negative. Sixteen tests were pending. There have been 416 positive tests and three people are hospitalized.GCH serves residents of multiple counties.

Geary Community Hospital provides COVID-19 update

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 5,939 to a total of 134,533 the state health department reported Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.

TOPEKA— The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 5,939 to a total of 134,533 the state health department reported Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas">Click here&nbsp;</a>for additional numbers from the KDHE.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605895620548.png" alt="Friday November 20, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Friday November 20, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>

KDHE: Latest coronavirus numbers in Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Nearly two months after Gov. Laura Kelly announced that Kansas would develop a “unified” strategy to ramp up coronavirus testing, the program is enough of a work in progress that even some of the state’s contractors don’t yet have all the details.

A Republican legislative leader involved in testing discussions contends that the Democratic governor’s administration moved too slowly in rolling out the strategy and isn’t focused enough on making sure Kansas has a healthy workforce so that businesses can stay open. Kelly dismisses the criticism, and officials and contractors are confident that testing will be ramped up before the year ends.

Kansas is under immense pressure. The state health department reported more than 19,000 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases in the seven days ending Wednesday — the equivalent of one in every 150 Kansas residents testing positive. Hospitals are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-coronavirus-pandemic-e04e85728482b5e8bc60dfd54f7fded5">struggling to handle</a>&nbsp;the surge in COVID-19 patients.

“We need a bridge to get to the vaccine, and the bridge, in my mind, it’s testing,” said Robert Thompson, the CEO of Clinical Reference Laboratory, one of the state’s contractors. “If everybody knows their status, they will do what’s right in order to prevent infecting others.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kansas-topeka-11efe27daef82d812ff6344b6a5b3199">Kelly announced</a>&nbsp;plans for the new testing strategy in late September.&nbsp;<a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Governor-Slides.pdf" target="_blank">It calls for</a>&nbsp;doubling Kansas’ testing, catching outbreaks more quickly and regularly screening vulnerable populations, including nursing home residents and public school students. The state is poised to spend as much as $87.5 million in federal coronavirus relief funds on the effort by year’s end.

The state last week announced contracts with nine companies, the University of Kansas Health System and Wichita State University to help execute the new testing strategy.

Samuel Caughron, president and CEO of the MAWD Pathology Group, said this week that the company is waiting for a “definition” of its role as a contractor. Rachael Liesman, director of clinical microbiology for the University of Kansas Health System, described its contract as “pretty rapidly developing.”

Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican who has served on a governor’s pandemic-response task force, said Kansas should have launched its expanded testing strategy months ago. He’s also frustrated that Kelly recently blocked his effort to allocate $15 million toward testing for businesses.

He said Kansas has “incredible technology in our backyard,” noting that both Clinical Reference Laboratory and the MAWD Pathology Group are based in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa.

“If we would have started this 90 days ago, we wouldn’t be in this awful mess right now with virus everywhere,” Denning said. GOP legislators forced Kelly earlier this year to accept local officials’ control over pandemic restrictions, including mask mandates.

Marcia Nielsen, who’s leading the development of the new strategy, told Denning during a public Zoom call last week that 10% of the testing funds were set aside to help businesses. But she suggested that spending more would put businesses “ahead of people who are being hospitalized and dying in nursing homes.”

Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference Wednesday that the testing strategy is being driven by public health and testing experts.

“I wish we could have done it earlier,” Kelly said. “Six months ago, we didn’t have the resources.”

Kansas struggled to obtain supplies for weeks after the pandemic reached it in early March and initially urged testing only for people with COVID-19 symptoms, though health officials knew people could be infected but have no symptoms. Testing has increased to an average of more than 4,900 tests a day so far this month, putting Kansas is on track to test the equivalent of roughly 5% of its residents in November.

“The more the testing can be made available, the more we see what’s going on therefore can respond and manage to limit the spread and know where to focus our resources,” Caughron said.

As an example of the benefits of expanded testing, Liesman said aggressive screening could identify the first coronavirus case in a nursing home early, before an outbreak explodes.

“If you wait until your first symptomatic individual, you may have missed infections prior to that or you may have tested almost too late,” she said.

The expanded testing is likely to include not only nasal swabs, but saliva samples. Clinical Reference Laboratory won federal emergency-use authorization in July to sell a kit that allows someone to spit into a specially-prepared tube and return it to the lab, something it recently began selling online. The company has more than 700 employees and describes itself as one of the largest privately owned clinical testing labs in the U.S.

<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas/articles/2020-10-28/kansas-lab-built-covid-19-test-used-by-colleges-hollywood" target="_blank">Such saliva testing</a>&nbsp;allows people, groups or businesses to collect the samples themselves, without directly involving medical personnel in collecting samples — or potentially exposing them to COVID-19. CRL already has been handling testing for universities, governments and even professional football’s Kansas City Chiefs, for their stadium suite holders.

“You have to reach people at their home,” Thompson said. “You have to reach people at their place of employment.”

But Liesman said the University of Kansas Health System might need weeks to ramp up testing. She said it can buy new equipment but also must hire additional people. And, she said, it might face small construction projects at the KU Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. It converted a locker room into lab space earlier this year.

“I will say that I wish we had done this sooner,” Liesman said.

By JOHN HANNATOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Nearly two months after Gov. Laura Kelly announced that Kansas would develop a “unified” strategy to ramp up coronavirus testing, the program is enough of a work in progress that even some of the state’s contractors don’t yet have all the details.A Republican legislative leader involved in testing discussions contends that the Democratic governor’s administration moved too slowly in rolling out the strategy and isn’t focused enough on making sure Kansas has a healthy workforce so that businesses can stay open. Kelly dismisses the criticism, and officials and contractors are confident that testing will be ramped up before the year ends.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605895620548.png" alt="Friday Nov. 20, 2020, KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Friday Nov. 20, 2020, KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>Kansas is under immense pressure. The state health department reported more than 19,000 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases in the seven days ending Wednesday — the equivalent of one in every 150 Kansas residents testing positive. Hospitals are&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-coronavirus-pandemic-e04e85728482b5e8bc60dfd54f7fded5">struggling to handle</a>&nbsp;the surge in COVID-19 patients.“We need a bridge to get to the vaccine, and the bridge, in my mind, it’s testing,” said Robert Thompson, the CEO of Clinical Reference Laboratory, one of the state’s contractors. “If everybody knows their status, they will do what’s right in order to prevent infecting others.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-kansas-topeka-11efe27daef82d812ff6344b6a5b3199">Kelly announced</a>&nbsp;plans for the new testing strategy in late September.&nbsp;<a href="https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Governor-Slides.pdf" target="_blank">It calls for</a>&nbsp;doubling Kansas’ testing, catching outbreaks more quickly and regularly screening vulnerable populations, including nursing home residents and public school students. The state is poised to spend as much as $87.5 million in federal coronavirus relief funds on the effort by year’s end.The state last week announced contracts with nine companies, the University of Kansas Health System and Wichita State University to help execute the new testing strategy.Samuel Caughron, president and CEO of the MAWD Pathology Group, said this week that the company is waiting for a “definition” of its role as a contractor. Rachael Liesman, director of clinical microbiology for the University of Kansas Health System, described its contract as “pretty rapidly developing.”Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican who has served on a governor’s pandemic-response task force, said Kansas should have launched its expanded testing strategy months ago. He’s also frustrated that Kelly recently blocked his effort to allocate $15 million toward testing for businesses.He said Kansas has “incredible technology in our backyard,” noting that both Clinical Reference Laboratory and the MAWD Pathology Group are based in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa.“If we would have started this 90 days ago, we wouldn’t be in this awful mess right now with virus everywhere,” Denning said. GOP legislators forced Kelly earlier this year to accept local officials’ control over pandemic restrictions, including mask mandates.Marcia Nielsen, who’s leading the development of the new strategy, told Denning during a public Zoom call last week that 10% of the testing funds were set aside to help businesses. But she suggested that spending more would put businesses “ahead of people who are being hospitalized and dying in nursing homes.”Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference Wednesday that the testing strategy is being driven by public health and testing experts.“I wish we could have done it earlier,” Kelly said. “Six months ago, we didn’t have the resources.”Kansas struggled to obtain supplies for weeks after the pandemic reached it in early March and initially urged testing only for people with COVID-19 symptoms, though health officials knew people could be infected but have no symptoms. Testing has increased to an average of more than 4,900 tests a day so far this month, putting Kansas is on track to test the equivalent of roughly 5% of its residents in November.“The more the testing can be made available, the more we see what’s going on therefore can respond and manage to limit the spread and know where to focus our resources,” Caughron said.As an example of the benefits of expanded testing, Liesman said aggressive screening could identify the first coronavirus case in a nursing home early, before an outbreak explodes.“If you wait until your first symptomatic individual, you may have missed infections prior to that or you may have tested almost too late,” she said.The expanded testing is likely to include not only nasal swabs, but saliva samples. Clinical Reference Laboratory won federal emergency-use authorization in July to sell a kit that allows someone to spit into a specially-prepared tube and return it to the lab, something it recently began selling online. The company has more than 700 employees and describes itself as one of the largest privately owned clinical testing labs in the U.S.<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas/articles/2020-10-28/kansas-lab-built-covid-19-test-used-by-colleges-hollywood" target="_blank">Such saliva testing</a>&nbsp;allows people, groups or businesses to collect the samples themselves, without directly involving medical personnel in collecting samples — or potentially exposing them to COVID-19. CRL already has been handling testing for universities, governments and even professional football’s Kansas City Chiefs, for their stadium suite holders.“You have to reach people at their home,” Thompson said. “You have to reach people at their place of employment.”But Liesman said the University of Kansas Health System might need weeks to ramp up testing. She said it can buy new equipment but also must hire additional people. And, she said, it might face small construction projects at the KU Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. It converted a locker room into lab space earlier this year.“I will say that I wish we had done this sooner,” Liesman said.___

Kansas aims to boost virus testing, but strategy unfinished

Pfizer said Friday it is asking U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic -- but not until after a long, hard winter.

The action comes days after Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech announced that its vaccine appears 95% effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study.

The companies said that protection plus a good safety record means the vaccine should qualify for emergency use authorization, something the Food and Drug Administration can grant before the final testing is fully complete. In addition to Friday's FDA submission, they have already started “rolling” applications in Europe and the U.K. and intend to submit similar information soon.

With the coronavirus surging around the U.S. and the world, the pressure is on for regulators to make a speedy decision.

“Help is on the way,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert said on the eve of Pfizer's announcement, adding that it's too early to abandon masks and other protective measures. “We need to actually double down on the public health measures as we're waiting for that help to come.”

Friday’s filing sets off a chain of events as the FDA and its independent advisers debate if the shots are ready. If so, still another government group will have to decide how the initial limited supplies are rationed out to anxiously awaiting Americans.

How much vaccine is available and when is a moving target, but initial supplies will be scarce and rationed. About 25 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine may become available in December, 30 million in January and 35 million more in February and March, according to information presented to the National Academy of Medicine this week. Recipients will need two doses, three weeks apart.

Not far behind is competitor Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine. Its early data suggests the shots are as strong as Pfizer’s, and that company expects to also seek emergency authorization within weeks.

The public’s first chance to see how strong the evidence really is will come in early December at a public meeting of the FDA’s scientific advisers.

So far, what's known is based only on statements from Pfizer and BioNTech. Of 170 infections detected to date, only eight were among people who'd received the actual vaccine and the rest had gotten a dummy shot. On the safety side, the companies cites results from 38,000 study participants who've been tracked for two months after their second dose. That's a milestone FDA set because historically, vaccine side effects don't crop up later than that.

“We’ll drill down on these data,” said FDA adviser Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Think of it like science on trial. A few days before the meeting, the FDA will release its own internal analysis. That sets the stage for the advisers’ daylong debate about any signs of safety concerns and how the new vaccine technology works before rendering a verdict.

They’ll recommend not just whether FDA should allow broader use of the vaccine generally but if so, for whom. For example, is there enough proof the vaccine works as well for older, sicker adults as for younger, healthier people?

There’s still no guarantee. “We don’t know what that vote’s going to be,” said former FDA vaccine chief Norman Baylor.

EMERGENCY USE ISN’T THE SAME AS FULL APPROVAL

If there's an emergency green light, “that vaccine is still deemed investigational. It’s not approved yet,” Dr. Marion Gruber, chief of FDA’s vaccine office, told the National Academy of Medicine this week.

That means anyone offered an emergency vaccination must get a “fact sheet” describing potential benefits and risks before going through with the shot, she said.

There will be a lot of unknowns. For example, the 95% protection rate is based on people who developed symptoms and then were tested for the virus. Can the vaccinated get infected but have no symptoms, able to spread the virus? How long does protection last?

That’s why the 44,000-person study needs to keep running -- something difficult considering ethically, participants given dummy shots at some point must be offered real vaccine, complicating the search for answers.

And at least for now, pregnant women won't qualify because they weren't studied. Pfizer only recently began testing the vaccine in children as young as 12.

A decision on Pfizer's vaccine won't affect other COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the pipeline, which will be judged separately.

Brewing vaccine is more complex than typical drug manufacturing, yet the millionth dose to roll out of Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, Michigan, factory must be the same purity and potency as every dose before and after.

That means the FDA decision isn’t just based on study data, but on its determination that the vaccine is being made correctly.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine -- and Moderna's shots -- are made with brand-new technology. They don’t contain the actual coronavirus. Instead, they’re made with a piece of genetic code for the “spike” protein that studs the virus.

That messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to make some harmless spike protein, training immune cells to recognize it if the real virus eventually comes along.

Another government group -- advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- decides who is first in line for scarce doses. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he hopes that decision can be made at the same time as FDA’s.

The Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed has worked with states to line up how many doses they’d need to cover the populations offered vaccine first.

Pfizer will ship those supplies as ordered by the states -- only after FDA gives the OK.

Company projections of how much it will ship each month are just predictions, Baylor warned.

“It’s not like a pizza,” he said. Manufacturing is so complex that “you don’t necessarily end up with what you thought.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604926559777.png" alt="Photo courtesy Pfizer" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Pfizer</figcaption>
 </figure>BY LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical WriterPfizer said Friday it is asking U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic -- but not until after a long, hard winter.The action comes days after Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech announced that its vaccine appears 95% effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study.The companies said that protection plus a good safety record means the vaccine should qualify for emergency use authorization, something the Food and Drug Administration can grant before the final testing is fully complete. In addition to Friday's FDA submission, they have already started “rolling” applications in Europe and the U.K. and intend to submit similar information soon.With the coronavirus surging around the U.S. and the world, the pressure is on for regulators to make a speedy decision.“Help is on the way,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert said on the eve of Pfizer's announcement, adding that it's too early to abandon masks and other protective measures. “We need to actually double down on the public health measures as we're waiting for that help to come.”Friday’s filing sets off a chain of events as the FDA and its independent advisers debate if the shots are ready. If so, still another government group will have to decide how the initial limited supplies are rationed out to anxiously awaiting Americans.How much vaccine is available and when is a moving target, but initial supplies will be scarce and rationed. About 25 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine may become available in December, 30 million in January and 35 million more in February and March, according to information presented to the National Academy of Medicine this week. Recipients will need two doses, three weeks apart.Not far behind is competitor Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine. Its early data suggests the shots are as strong as Pfizer’s, and that company expects to also seek emergency authorization within weeks.Here’s what happens next:MAKING THE DATA PUBLICThe public’s first chance to see how strong the evidence really is will come in early December at a public meeting of the FDA’s scientific advisers.So far, what's known is based only on statements from Pfizer and BioNTech. Of 170 infections detected to date, only eight were among people who'd received the actual vaccine and the rest had gotten a dummy shot. On the safety side, the companies cites results from 38,000 study participants who've been tracked for two months after their second dose. That's a milestone FDA set because historically, vaccine side effects don't crop up later than that.“We’ll drill down on these data,” said FDA adviser Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.Think of it like science on trial. A few days before the meeting, the FDA will release its own internal analysis. That sets the stage for the advisers’ daylong debate about any signs of safety concerns and how the new vaccine technology works before rendering a verdict.They’ll recommend not just whether FDA should allow broader use of the vaccine generally but if so, for whom. For example, is there enough proof the vaccine works as well for older, sicker adults as for younger, healthier people?There’s still no guarantee. “We don’t know what that vote’s going to be,” said former FDA vaccine chief Norman Baylor.EMERGENCY USE ISN’T THE SAME AS FULL APPROVALIf there's an emergency green light, “that vaccine is still deemed investigational. It’s not approved yet,” Dr. Marion Gruber, chief of FDA’s vaccine office, told the National Academy of Medicine this week.That means anyone offered an emergency vaccination must get a “fact sheet” describing potential benefits and risks before going through with the shot, she said.There will be a lot of unknowns. For example, the 95% protection rate is based on people who developed symptoms and then were tested for the virus. Can the vaccinated get infected but have no symptoms, able to spread the virus? How long does protection last?That’s why the 44,000-person study needs to keep running -- something difficult considering ethically, participants given dummy shots at some point must be offered real vaccine, complicating the search for answers.And at least for now, pregnant women won't qualify because they weren't studied. Pfizer only recently began testing the vaccine in children as young as 12.A decision on Pfizer's vaccine won't affect other COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the pipeline, which will be judged separately.MANUFACTURINGBrewing vaccine is more complex than typical drug manufacturing, yet the millionth dose to roll out of Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, Michigan, factory must be the same purity and potency as every dose before and after.That means the FDA decision isn’t just based on study data, but on its determination that the vaccine is being made correctly.The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine -- and Moderna's shots -- are made with brand-new technology. They don’t contain the actual coronavirus. Instead, they’re made with a piece of genetic code for the “spike” protein that studs the virus.That messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to make some harmless spike protein, training immune cells to recognize it if the real virus eventually comes along.GETTING INTO PEOPLE’S ARMSAnother government group -- advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- decides who is first in line for scarce doses. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he hopes that decision can be made at the same time as FDA’s.The Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed has worked with states to line up how many doses they’d need to cover the populations offered vaccine first.Pfizer will ship those supplies as ordered by the states -- only after FDA gives the OK.Company projections of how much it will ship each month are just predictions, Baylor warned.“It’s not like a pizza,” he said. Manufacturing is so complex that “you don’t necessarily end up with what you thought.”___

Pfizer seeking emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine in US

Geary County health officials said on Thursday that the number positive COVID-19 case numbers had increased by 13 cases. There were seven recovered cases, leaving the number of total active cases at 64.

One Geary County resident is hospitalized due to the coronavirus.&nbsp;

Since the pandemic began there have been 510 confirmed positive cases and 441 recovered cases. There have been five deaths.

Geary County health officials said on Thursday that the number positive COVID-19 case numbers had increased by 13 cases. There were seven recovered cases, leaving the number of total active cases at 64.One Geary County resident is hospitalized due to the coronavirus.&nbsp;Since the pandemic began there have been 510 confirmed positive cases and 441 recovered cases. There have been five deaths.

Covid-19 case numbers show an increase in Geary County

KANSAS CITY (AP)—Overwhelmed hospitals are converting chapels, cafeterias, waiting rooms, hallways, even a parking garage into patient treatment areas. Staff members are desperately calling around to other medical centers in search of open beds. Fatigue and frustration are setting in among front-line workers.

Conditions inside the nation’s hospitals are deteriorating by the day as the coronavirus rages across the U.S. at an unrelenting pace and the confirmed death toll surpasses 250,000.

“We are depressed, disheartened and tired to the bone,” said Alison Johnson, director of critical care at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, adding that she drives to and from work some days in tears.

The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 in the U.S. has doubled in the past month and set new records every day this week. As of Tuesday, nearly 77,000 were hospitalized with the virus.

Newly confirmed infections per day in the U.S. have exploded more than 80% over the past two weeks to the highest levels on record, with the daily count running at close to 160,000 on average. Cases are on the rise in all 50 states. Deaths are averaging more than 1,155 per day, the highest in months.

The out-of-control surge is leading governors and mayors across the U.S. to grudgingly issue mask mandates, limit the size of private and public gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving, ban indoor restaurant dining, close gyms or restrict the hours and capacity of bars, stores and other businesses.

New York City’s school system — the nation’s largest, with more than 1 million students — suspended in-person classes Wednesday amid a mounting infection rate, a painful setback in a corner of the country that suffered mightily in the spring but had seemingly beaten back the virus months ago.

In Kansas, hospitals are converting spaces such as chapels and cafeterias for use by COVID-19 patients, said Cindy Samuelson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Hospital Association.

Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kansas, devoted an entire hospital floor to COVID-19 patients as their numbers swelled, hitting 90 on Wednesday. The hospital also converted two surgery waiting rooms for use by non-infected patients, spokesman Matt Lara said.

Kansas health chief Dr. Lee Norman said a system that he likened to air traffic control for coronavirus patients is being put in place so nurses from rural hospitals can make a single call to find a larger hospital that can take their sickest patients.

In some cases, nurses and doctors in Kansas have been spending up to eight hours looking for a large hospital with an opening in cities as far away as Denver, Omaha or Kansas City.

“The problem with this is, by the time you transfer these patients out they already are very ill at that point,” said Kansas nurse practitioner Perry Desbien.

At the same time, patience is wearing thin over the lack of mask wearing that is contributing to the problem in rural areas.

“It kind of feels like we’re just, you know, yelling into the abyss,” said Cheyanne Seematter, a registered nurse at Stormont Vail. “We keep telling everybody to stay home, wear a mask, that it is actually bad here.”

Texas is rushing thousands of additional medical staff to overworked hospitals as the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide accelerates toward 8,000 for the first time since a deadly summer outbreak.

In the worsening rural Panhandle, roughly half of the admitted patients in Lubbock’s two main hospitals had COVID-19, and a dozen people with the virus were waiting in the emergency room for beds to open up Tuesday night, said Dr. Ron Cook, the Lubbock County health authority.

In the Texas border city of El Paso, overwhelmed morgues have begun paying jail inmates $2 an hour to help transport the bodies of virus victims. The crush of patients is forcing the city to send its non-COVID-19 cases to hospitals elsewhere in the state.

More than 5,400 extra medical personnel have been deployed around Texas by the state alone, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. And that doesn’t include the help surging into Texas from the military and volunteer organizations.

“There are only so many medical personnel to go around,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, a former head of the Food and Drug Administration.

Ballad Health system, which is located in the Appalachian mountains and includes the Tennessee hospital where Alison Johnson works, has warned that it and its workers are stretched so thin that without a change in course, its hospitals might have to turn patients away. Ballad reported having just 16 available ICU beds Wednesday and about 250 team members in isolation or quarantine. It is trying to recruit hundreds more nurses.

In Idaho, doctors warned that hospitals have almost reached the point where they need to ration care, unable to treat everyone because there aren’t enough beds or staffers to go around.

“Never in my career did I think we would even contemplate the idea of rationing care in the United States of America,” said Dr. Jim Souza, chief medical officer for St. Luke’s Health System.

In Reno, Nevada, Renown Regional Medical Center began moving some coronavirus patients into its parking garage.

Video of the converted garage before it opened to patients showed rows and rows of beds separated by moveable white screens set up on one level of the stark, cavernous garage, each section designated by letters and each bed space marked by a number on the ground. The garage unit currently houses 27 patients but at peak capacity will have enough beds to accommodate more than 1,400, said Dr. Paul Sierzenski, Renown’s chief medical officer for acute care.

Maryland health officials also set up a centralized clearinghouse with information on available ICU beds so that hospitals need only make a single phone call. State authorities also issued an emergency order prohibiting most hospital visitors until further notice.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600290260780.png" alt="KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman" />
 <figcaption>KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL J. WEBER and SARAH RANKINKANSAS CITY (AP)—Overwhelmed hospitals are converting chapels, cafeterias, waiting rooms, hallways, even a parking garage into patient treatment areas. Staff members are desperately calling around to other medical centers in search of open beds. Fatigue and frustration are setting in among front-line workers.Conditions inside the nation’s hospitals are deteriorating by the day as the coronavirus rages across the U.S. at an unrelenting pace and the confirmed death toll surpasses 250,000.“We are depressed, disheartened and tired to the bone,” said Alison Johnson, director of critical care at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, adding that she drives to and from work some days in tears.The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 in the U.S. has doubled in the past month and set new records every day this week. As of Tuesday, nearly 77,000 were hospitalized with the virus.Newly confirmed infections per day in the U.S. have exploded more than 80% over the past two weeks to the highest levels on record, with the daily count running at close to 160,000 on average. Cases are on the rise in all 50 states. Deaths are averaging more than 1,155 per day, the highest in months.The out-of-control surge is leading governors and mayors across the U.S. to grudgingly issue mask mandates, limit the size of private and public gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving, ban indoor restaurant dining, close gyms or restrict the hours and capacity of bars, stores and other businesses.New York City’s school system — the nation’s largest, with more than 1 million students — suspended in-person classes Wednesday amid a mounting infection rate, a painful setback in a corner of the country that suffered mightily in the spring but had seemingly beaten back the virus months ago.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605725430339.png" alt="Wednesday Nov. 18, 2020 KDHE image" />
 <figcaption>Wednesday Nov. 18, 2020 KDHE image</figcaption>
 </figure>In Kansas, hospitals are converting spaces such as chapels and cafeterias for use by COVID-19 patients, said Cindy Samuelson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Hospital Association.Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kansas, devoted an entire hospital floor to COVID-19 patients as their numbers swelled, hitting 90 on Wednesday. The hospital also converted two surgery waiting rooms for use by non-infected patients, spokesman Matt Lara said.Kansas health chief Dr. Lee Norman said a system that he likened to air traffic control for coronavirus patients is being put in place so nurses from rural hospitals can make a single call to find a larger hospital that can take their sickest patients.In some cases, nurses and doctors in Kansas have been spending up to eight hours looking for a large hospital with an opening in cities as far away as Denver, Omaha or Kansas City.“The problem with this is, by the time you transfer these patients out they already are very ill at that point,” said Kansas nurse practitioner Perry Desbien.At the same time, patience is wearing thin over the lack of mask wearing that is contributing to the problem in rural areas.“It kind of feels like we’re just, you know, yelling into the abyss,” said Cheyanne Seematter, a registered nurse at Stormont Vail. “We keep telling everybody to stay home, wear a mask, that it is actually bad here.”Texas is rushing thousands of additional medical staff to overworked hospitals as the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients statewide accelerates toward 8,000 for the first time since a deadly summer outbreak.In the worsening rural Panhandle, roughly half of the admitted patients in Lubbock’s two main hospitals had COVID-19, and a dozen people with the virus were waiting in the emergency room for beds to open up Tuesday night, said Dr. Ron Cook, the Lubbock County health authority.“We’re in trouble,” Cook said.In the Texas border city of El Paso, overwhelmed morgues have begun paying jail inmates $2 an hour to help transport the bodies of virus victims. The crush of patients is forcing the city to send its non-COVID-19 cases to hospitals elsewhere in the state.More than 5,400 extra medical personnel have been deployed around Texas by the state alone, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. And that doesn’t include the help surging into Texas from the military and volunteer organizations.“There are only so many medical personnel to go around,” said Dr. Mark McClellan, a former head of the Food and Drug Administration.Ballad Health system, which is located in the Appalachian mountains and includes the Tennessee hospital where Alison Johnson works, has warned that it and its workers are stretched so thin that without a change in course, its hospitals might have to turn patients away. Ballad reported having just 16 available ICU beds Wednesday and about 250 team members in isolation or quarantine. It is trying to recruit hundreds more nurses.In Idaho, doctors warned that hospitals have almost reached the point where they need to ration care, unable to treat everyone because there aren’t enough beds or staffers to go around.“Never in my career did I think we would even contemplate the idea of rationing care in the United States of America,” said Dr. Jim Souza, chief medical officer for St. Luke’s Health System.In Reno, Nevada, Renown Regional Medical Center began moving some coronavirus patients into its parking garage.Video of the converted garage before it opened to patients showed rows and rows of beds separated by moveable white screens set up on one level of the stark, cavernous garage, each section designated by letters and each bed space marked by a number on the ground. The garage unit currently houses 27 patients but at peak capacity will have enough beds to accommodate more than 1,400, said Dr. Paul Sierzenski, Renown’s chief medical officer for acute care.Maryland health officials also set up a centralized clearinghouse with information on available ICU beds so that hospitals need only make a single phone call. State authorities also issued an emergency order prohibiting most hospital visitors until further notice.___

Coronavirus Update