Excess Deaths Twice as High for Dementia Patients During Pandemic COVID's indirect effects may have affected people with Alzheimer's and dementia more Judy George medpagetoday

Excess mortality was twice as high for older adults with dementia in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic than it was for those without dementia, an analysis of all Medicare enrollees showed.

From March through December 2020, adjusted mortality was 25.7% higher (95% CI 25.3-26.2) among older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias than it was during a similar period in 2019, reported Lauren Gilstrap, MD, MPH, of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and co-authors.

Nevada emphasizes therapeutics as new COVID-19 cases plummet RENO, Nev. (AP) — As Nevada's COVID-19 case rates plummet to their lowest levels since last summer, state health officials are turning more attention to therapeutic treatments for those who can't get vaccinated or are most at risk of severe illness or death. AP NEWS

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Biden Administration Announces Steps to Improve Nursing Home Care Measures include those aimed at increasing staffing and cutting down on unnecessary treatment Joyce Frieden medpagetoday

WASHINGTON -- Nursing home care in the U.S. needs improvement, and the Biden administration is taking steps to do just that, the White House announced Monday.

A slew of states, cities and schools are ditching mask mandates this week. But the fate of one big mandate is still up in air Even some of the most ardent supporters of Covid-19 precautions are ditching mask mandates as health officials release new guidelines and hospitalizations plummet. Holly Yan, CNN CNN

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Pandemic fears are fading along with omicron: AP-NORC poll Omicron is fading away, and so are Americans' worries about COVID-19. As coronavirus pandemic case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths continue to plummet, fewer people now than in January say they are concerned that they will be infected after the rise and fall of the wildly contagious virus variant, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research . AP NEWS

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California, Oregon, Washington to end school mask mandates SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Schoolchildren in California, Oregon and Washington will no longer be required to wear masks as part of new indoor mask policies the Democratic governors of all three states announced jointly on Monday. AP NEWS

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Pfizer Covid vaccine is less effective in kids 5 to 11, study finds New data suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine works substantially less well at preventing infection and hospitalizations in kids 5 to 11. Helen Branswell STAT

Newly emerging data suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine works substantially less well at preventing infection and hospitalizations in children aged 5 to 11 than it does in those aged 12 to 17 — a finding that is raising questions about whether the companies chose the wrong dose for the younger children.