(File Photo)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) PPG Paints Arena has joined the list of facilities recommending masks for everyone inside, along with Kennywood Park and Sandcastle who are asking park-goers and employees to wear masks when indoors.

PPG Paints Arena is following the CDC guidelines out of an abundance of caution, and recommending everyone mask up indoors since Allegheny County has a “substantial” level of COVID-19 spread.

Kennywood said via release that they are following CDC guidance, and asking for masks to be worn indoors because Allegheny County has reached the substantial level of COVID-19 transmission.

They follow along with Giant Eagle announcing Monday that they will require employees to wear a mask starting today, Wednesday and are asking customers to start wearing one on Friday, August 6, 2021.

CDC issues new eviction ban for most of US through Oct. 3
By JOSH BOAK, LISA MASCARO and JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new moratorium on evictions that would last until Oct. 3. The Biden administration is trying to quell intensifying criticism that it was allowing vulnerable renters to lose their homes during a pandemic. The new moratorium could help keep millions in their homes as the coronavirus’ delta variant has spread and states have been slow to release federal rental aid. It would temporarily halt evictions in counties with “substantial and high levels” of virus transmissions and would cover areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives.

(File Photo of Rochester Giant Eagle)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) Giant Eagle announced yesterday that they are strongly encouraging customers to wear masks in all Giant Eagle, Market District and GetGo facilities. which are now being required for employees, regardless of vaccination status.

In a news release, Giant Eagle the company stated they will be requiring all employees to wear masks starting tomorrow, August 4, 2021. Giant Eagle said that the COVID-19 delta variant “has created a renewed sense of urgency across our communities” and that it is taking extra steps to keep people safe.

Customers will not be required to wear masks in stores,but Giant Eagle did state in the release that:

“We are strongly requesting that our guests comply with the same mask requirement as our employees and starting Friday, August 6. We will have Team Members ready at each of our stores to provide a complimentary mask for any guest who does not have one when they visit with us. Additionally, our Giant Eagle curbside pickup and delivery service continues to be available for all guests who prefer the convenience of having one of our expertly trained Team Members shop for them.”

Giant Eagle also said in the release that they also exploring a potential vaccination requirement for all employees.

Pennsylvania to text people who missed second vaccine shot
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Department of Health will carry out a text messaging campaign to encourage roughly 254,000 people in the state to follow through and get the second shot of the two-shot COVID-19 vaccine that they never received. Officials said Thursday that the campaign will begin early next week as the resurgent coronavirus in the form of the highly contagious delta variant is skyrocketing cases in Pennsylvania. The state’s acting health secretary, Alison Beam, said the second dose will provide stronger protection against the delta variant. She said it’s not too late to get it, and it’s not necessary to start over with the first shot.

Keystone State News Connection

July 29, 2021

Emily Scott

HARRISBURG, Pa. — As housing advocates prepare for the end of the CDC’s eviction moratorium Saturday, a new report showed expanding access to legal representation for low-income tenants could help prevent many of them from losing their homes.

The report, commissioned by the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, found removing barriers would provide an additional 17,000 at-risk families with counsel in eviction proceedings.

Patrick Ciscero, executive director of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, said the program at full implementation would cost about $20 million a year, but there would be significant cost savings when housing stability is possible.

“Individuals who are entitled to access to other resources often have significantly improved access to those resources when they’re represented by counsel,” Ciscero contended. “Because counsel can help them navigate, for example, the emergency rental assistance program that is currently rolled out in Pennsylvania.”

The study also found if implemented, the program would decrease eviction filings by 5% each year.

Rhonda Mays, director of finance for the Fair Housing Council of the Capital Region, said the organization has received lots of requests recently for assistance paying back rent due to income loss because of the pandemic.

She argued with eviction cases looming, making sure tenants have a lawyer is crucial.

“Legal representation is a critical component,” Mays asserted. “Especially in the low- to moderate-income community that just doesn’t have access to be able to afford an attorney to begin with.”

Cicero added a second phase of the study will look at the direct economic benefits of universal access to eviction counsel in Pennsylvania.

Should vaccinated people mask up with COVID-19 cases rising?
By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer
Top health officials in the United States are recommending that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in places where the coronavirus is surging. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites new evidence that vaccinated people with breakthrough infections could carry enough virus in their noses and throats to infect others. COVID-19 vaccines greatly reduce the chance of severe illness and death and remain effective against variants, including the delta variant. But it’s still possible to get infected. Masking could prevent the spread of the virus to children too young for vaccination and people with weak immune systems.

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) A study conducted by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh found that vaccine hesitancy decreased among U.S. adults by one-third between January and May 2021. While tentative people are concerned about COVID-19 vaccine safety and potential side effects, those with stronger views tend to distrust the government.

The researchers published their results on medRxiv, a preprint website, and announced their results today, ahead of peer-reviewed publication.

The scientists, Robin Mejia, Ph.D., M.P.H., special faculty at the CMU Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and senior author on the paper, and Wendy C. King, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health and first author, reviewed the responses of approximately 1 million Americans per month to assess trends in vaccine acceptance. The researchers partnered with the Delphi Group at CMU, which runs an ongoing national COVID-19 survey in collaboration with the Facebook Data for Good group.

The survey asked people whether they would take a vaccine were it offered to them today. People who said “probably not” or “definitely not” were considered to be vaccine hesitant.

Wendy King, Ph.D.

Mejia and King analyzed the data by race, education, U.S. region and Trump support in the 2020 election to assess time trends and how each group’s outlooks changed regarding vaccination. The data from May provides the current relationship between a broad range of factors and vaccine acceptance.

The largest decrease in hesitancy between January and May by education group was in those with a high school education or less. Hesitancy held constant in the most educated group (those with a Ph.D.); by May Ph.D.’s were the most hesitant group. While vaccine hesitancy decreased across virtually all racial groups, Blacks and Pacific Islanders had the largest decreases, joining Hispanics and Asians at having lower vaccine hesitancy than whites in May.

Those from counties with higher Trump support in the 2020 presidential election showed higher hesitancy, and the difference in hesitancy between areas with high and low Trump support grew over the period studied. “This finding really highlights the politicization of public health recommendations,” said King.

“What’s concerning is there is a subset of the population that’s got strong levels of hesitancy, as in refusal to take the vaccine, not potential concern about it, and the size of that group isn’t changing,” said Mejia.

Among the most recalcitrant, commonly cited reasons included not trusting the vaccine and not trusting the government, while less hesitant groups were more inclined to explain they were waiting to see if the vaccine is safe. The researchers believe that different approaches are necessary to address these concerns.

“In all the other levels of vaccine intent we saw change over time. The lack of change in prevalence of the ‘definitely not’ group implies those with strong feelings about the vaccine are not likely to change easily,” said King. “Thinking about how to reach that group and having messaging and incentives that that group will respond to is important.”

A decrease in disparities by educational attainment and race was found. The researchers believe that targeted campaigns may have increased vaccine acceptance and access.

“There have been racial disparities in every aspect of the pandemic from how hard different communities have been hit by it to access to healthcare resources,” said Mejia. “There’s been concerns about access to vaccines in the rollout, and initially there was a wide disparity in acceptance of the vaccine, so to see over time that’s decreased was really encouraging.”

(click for high-res image)

Robin Mejia, Ph.D., M.P.H.

CREDIT: CMU

The study also highlights key differences in hesitancy by race and age subgroups. For example, in May, younger Black people are more hesitant than younger white people, while the reverse is true in older populations.  Generally, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was higher among the young (ages 18-24), non-Asian people and less educated (high school diploma or less) adults, and those with Ph.D.s, with a history of a positive COVID-19 test, not worried about serious illness from COVID-19 and living in regions with greater support for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

The researchers hope that their detailed analysis, which also includes a review of reasons for hesitancy by racial group, will help policymakers identify vaccine-resistant pockets to ensure the country reaches herd immunity.

“Understanding the trends over the last several months is really important for projecting what may happen in the next couple months,” said King.

Survey respondents reported average education levels higher than the general population, and participants had greater vaccine uptake compared to the general population. This limitation suggests the percentage of people who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine is likely higher.

“I remain concerned about reaching the most hesitant subgroup of Americans,” said Mejia. “The only way to end this pandemic for real is to get enough people vaccinated that we can reduce the speed of new variants spreading.”

Additional authors on this research are Max Rubinstein, M.P.P., and Alex Reinhart, Ph.D., both of CMU.

This research was supported by Facebook and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research grant.

AP-NORC poll: Most unvaccinated Americans don’t want shots
By TAMMY WEBBER and EMILY SWANSON Associated Press
A new poll shows that most Americans who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 say they are unlikely to get the shots. Most of them also doubt they would work against the aggressive delta variant despite evidence they do. Those findings underscore the challenges facing public health officials as soaring infections in some states again threaten to overwhelm hospitals. The poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 35% of adults who have not yet received a vaccine say they probably will not, and 45% say they definitely will not. Just 3% of unvaccinated Americans say they definitely will get the shots, though another 16% say they probably will.

By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Justice Department says it has decided not to open an investigation into whether Pennsylvania violated federal law by ordering nursing homes to accept residents who had been treated for COVID-19 in a hospital. Thursday’s letter comes 11 months after the agency told the governors of Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and New York that it wanted information to determine whether orders there may have resulted in the deaths of nursing home residents. Michigan received an identical letter Thursday. The orders by the four governors were criticized for potentially fueling the spread of the virus. In Pennsylvania, it is far from clear that the policy led to an outbreak or death.