Marjorie Bessel, MD and other metro Phoenix health leaders discuss how their health systems are handling the challenges of Arizona's record number of cases.

Marjorie Bessel, MD, chief medical officer of Banner Health, talks about the need for vaccination and social distancing as Arizona experiences slightly fewer COVID-19 cases.

Marjorie Bessel, MD, chief clinical officer of Banner Health, talks about how Banner is handling with the COVID-19 pandemic and that the health system has vaccinated more than 125,000 people

Hospital beds and medical supplies face enormous pressure with the ongoing pandemic. This article indicates that hospital staff were charging over $21,000 for an ICU hospital bed, a scheme that was broken up by the Peruvian police. If one hospital has been caught, how rampant could this practice be? Also, how can the average Peruvian afford such astronomical prices? The fees and the fact that people paid them show the disparity in healthcare access between Peruvians of means and those without.

Covid-19 cases are surging in nearly every state with the average of new cases at least 10% higher than a week ago -- and 38 states are seeing at least a 50% increase, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Many experts have attributed the rise to slowing vaccination rates with only 48.3% of the US population fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We're seeing this because the public misunderstood the CDC guidance for fully vaccinated people as 'We can now do whatever we want. Even if we are unvaccinated, we can now behave as if we are vaccinated,'" CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday. ⁠ (📸: Damian Dovarganes/AP)

A homeopathic doctor in California became the first person in the United States to face federal charges over fake COVID-19 immunizations and falsified coronavirus vaccine cards. Juli A. Mazi, 41, of Napa was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of false statements related to health care matters, the Department of Justice said in a press release. "This defendant allegedly defrauded and endangered the public by preying on fears and spreading misinformation about FDA-authorized vaccinations, while also peddling fake treatments that put people’s lives at risk. Even worse, the defendant allegedly created counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards and instructed her customers to falsely mark that they had received a vaccine, allowing them to circumvent efforts to contain the spread of the disease," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco.

The Los Angeles Times reports "L.A County health officials say the number of cases has increased twentyfold over the last month." Clear evidence that we are not out of the woods, COVID is still around and people are still dying. I wonder if anyone is still paying attention.

Afghanistan- not forgotten?

COVAX is one of the organizations helping get vaccines to Peruvians. This story focuses on older adults in Lima, Peru receiving their vaccines and the prospect of reunification with family. The video shows several people waiting or receiving their COVID-19 vaccine shot, and encouraging other people to get vaccinated as well. The location is a school called Libertor Jose de San Martin. In Peru over 2 million people have contracted COVID-19 and 200,000 people have died. The pandemic is still in many ways an epidemic in this region of the world, and until we can control the disease globally, there's no hope for a true "return to normal."

In Peru the pandemic is broiling, things are far from slowing down. Patients with COVID may go to the hospital only to find out that there are not enough ventilators or oxygen to go around. This story by the AP press describes a story of a COVID-related suicide. Although this topic is not widely covered in the U.S. media, it is a consistent storyline in Peru. [CN] I selected anonymous, but I didn't mean to, please curate as normal and add this to a curatorial note KKdP 07/19/2021

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

According to official reports, Peru has vaccinated at least 4 million people with 2 doses. In a country of 32 million people, the progress is slow, but moving forward. Peru is depending on several countries to supply its vaccines including China and the U.S.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

(PHOENIX) -- Hospitals in Arizona are seeing an intense wave of new coronavirus cases, doctors at the Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix told ABC News on Monday, and it is filling up their intensive care units and pushing their nurses to the brink.

An article describing Banner Health System's move towards virtual waiting rooms for doctors' visits.

Preparing for a surge; Banner warns that things could be worse than in the summer.

Our pets are a part of our family. So when their health is in jeopardy, it affects us all greatly. Early on in the pandemic, we had an emergency with our lovebird, Kermit. Our larger bird, an African Grey named Greycee, landed on top of Kermit's cage. Kermie proceeded to bite her toe through the cage bars, and Greycee bit back. Luckily we heard the scuffle and intervened immediately, but Greycee had created quite the puncture wound on Kermit's upper beak/nares. Normally these two are best buddies, so this was a suprising freak incident. I cleaned off Kermit's beak, but it looked bad and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Birds in respiratory distress can die rapidly. I rushed her to the emergency vet who told me that there was a 4 hour wait to be seen. I told them that Kermit wouldn't last 4 hours, so they agreed to see her immediately (for an additional fee of course) but I had to wait in the car. My already stressed and injured baby had to go into a strange place with strange people without her mom because of Covid. They stabalized her and sent her home for the night. I feared she wouldn't make it until the morning. Luckily, she pulled through the night. I called our vet immediately the next morning. It took several tries. Since you also had to wait in the car while there, and all conversations with the vet were over the phone, their phone lines were constantly busy. I finally got through, but they told me that despite the gravity of her condition there was no way they could get her in that day. Under normal circumstances they could, but with the new covid protocols every minute of every day was totally overbooked. I tried the emergency vet again and they had a 6 hour wait. You had to wait on site in your car too, which I couldn't do with my 4 year old daughter. Since Kermit is a bird, she cannot just go to any vet. There are only 2 avian vets in my area. I took a chance and called the other one and explained the situation. They were able to squeeze us in. Again I had to wait in the car and hand my baby off. She ended up staying the night. The blood from her wound had entered her lungs causing her breathing issues. She had recovered quite a bit by the next day, and the vet even allowed me in with social distancing and masks in order to show me how I needed to hand feed her for the next two weeks until her beak healed. At least because of the pandemic I was working from home at the time, so I could care for and monitor Kermit all day. Within a week she was back to her normal self. In the fall, our Dog Evie went to the vet because a suspicious lump had grown on her toe. Evie is absolutely terrified of the vet. She is also deaf and has limited vision, so it is harder to comfort her. She needs our touch and our smell for reassurance. Of course, jsut as with Kermit, we could not go in with her. The vet techs had to carry her in because she was shaking so badly in fear. She needed to be sedated to do the biopsy of the lump. The report came back positive for cancer. She had to go back in again to have the whole toe removed as the biopsy had not gotten it all. This time she had to stay nearly all day and be pumped with anxiety meds to keep her asleep until the procedure. It was thankfully successful, but she also needed a follow up visit, so more meds. The whole experience was traumatizing for both our animals and us. What's even worse is people were treated the same way.

This is a heartbreaking story from Australia about a man who flew around the world to try to get to his dying mother, only to have the Queensland government block his way. So many people across the globe had to die alone without their loved ones because of this pandemic. Hospitals and governments need to come up with a safe system to allow for visitation of dying relatives during pandemics because, sadly, this will likely happen again in the future.

This story from Good Morning America talks about how 12.6 million households got new pets during the pandemic. Now some of those pets are not used to being alone. An expert trainer, Eric Ita, gives tips for pups with separation anxiety and other advice for dog owners.

The article discusses the surge of pet adoptions from shelters during the pandemic.

Banner Health Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel told media Friday that intensive care units in Arizona were very busy.

Some doctors around the state are sounding the alarm on the number of available hospital beds - or lack thereof - as coronavirus cases surge.

My mom died of COVID-19 last July when her nursing home in Atlanta was overrun with the virus. Before that, she lived with me, my dog, and cat. The way she lived in the house made it truly a home for us. I am a workaholic, often using the house for a fast supper and some sleep before starting all over the next day, sprinting back to work. The poem is our way of telling her how much she is missed.

The pandemic was declared as I was en route to Ecuador. I was trapped in a strict lockdown isolated from any other travellers. My book describes my reactions and rescue. As a doctor I was not surprised that a pandemic was occurring as I knew that epidemiologists always say it is not an if but rather a when.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredome, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, people hoarding toilet paper, boredome, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.

México registra un exceso de mortalidad de 498 mil 164 personas fallecidas a lo largo de la pandemia de coronavirus. Del total, 71 por ciento, es decir, 353 mil 858 se asocian a la enfermedad de COVID-19 y el resto a otro tipo de causas. De acuerdo con el reporte “Exceso de mortalidad en México” de la Secretaría de Salud, señala que, entre diciembre de 2019 y la semana epidemiológica 22 (que va del 30 de mayo al 5 de junio de 2021), se esperaba un millón 70 mil 79 muertes por distintas causas, pero el registro es de un millón 568 mil 243, es decir, 46.6% más. Con respecto al género, el exceso de mortalidad se ha presentado principalmente en hombre con 319 mil 967 decesos, de los cuales 144 mil 703 tienen confirmación de muerte por SARS-CoV-2. Mexico has an excess mortality of 498,164 people killed during the coronavirus pandemic. Of the total, 71 percent, or 353,858 are associated with COVID-19 disease and the rest are associated with other causes. According to the report “Excessive mortality in Mexico” of the Ministry of Health, notes that between December 2019 and the 22nd epidemiological week (from May 30 to June 5, 2021), 70,079 deaths from different causes were expected. but the record is 568,243, that is, 46.6% more. With regard to gender, excess mortality has occurred mainly in men with 319,967 deaths, of which 144,703 have confirmed death by SARS-CoV-2.

Indonesia surpassed India’s daily Covid-19 case numbers, marking a new Asian virus epicenter as the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant drives up infections in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country has seen its daily case count cross 40,000 for three straight days -- including a record high of 54,517 on Wednesday -- up from less than 10,000 a month ago. Officials are concerned that the more transmissible new variant is now spreading outside of the country’s main island, Java, and could exhaust hospital workers and supplies of oxygen and medication. Indonesia’s current numbers are still far from India’s peak of 400,000 daily cases in May, and its total outbreak of 2.7 million is barely a tenth of the Asian giant’s 30.9 million. India, with a population roughly five times the size of Indonesia’s 270 million people, saw daily infections drop below 39,000 on Wednesday as its devastating outbreak wanes. The Southeast Asian country reported about 900 deaths daily on average in the past seven days -- compared to just 181 a month ago -- while India reported an average of 1,027 daily fatalities.

La tercera ola de contagios de covid-19 parece haber llegado a Coahuila, toda vez que de golpe los nuevos casos subieron en las últimas 24 horas de 20 a 108, según el reporte diario de la Secretaría de Salud estatal. En estos nuevos casos se incluyen 9 defunciones, ocurridas en 4 municipios del estado, que son liderados por Torreón en donde se registraron 5 de los decesos; en tanto que Saltillo reportó 2 y los municipios de Nava y Piedras Negras, uno en cada lugar; de ellos, sólo uno no estaba reportado como persona enferma. The third wave of covid-19 infections appears to have reached Coahuila, as new cases suddenly rose in the last 24 hours from 20 to 108, according to the daily report of the state health department. These new cases include 9 deaths, occurring in 4 municipalities of the state, that are led by Torreón where 5 of the deaths were recorded; while Saltillo reported 2 and the municipalities of Nava and Piedras Negras, one in each place; of them, only one was not reported as a sick person.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 1,103 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday. It’s the fifth consecutive day cases have been over 1,000. For perspective, one month ago, the 5-day average of cases was 201. Today the 5-day average is 1,095; this is an increase of more than 500% in just one month. That increase has come even as testing has dropped precipitously, which means the actual rise of infections is likely much greater as there are fewer chances to identify cases.

Mexico - La Secretaría de Salud de Morelos confirmó el primer caso de COVID-19 de la variante Delta, la cepa con mayor índice de transmisión y cuyo acelerado crecimiento amenaza, principalmente, a la población joven de 20 a 39 años que no ha sido totalmente inmunizada o se encuentra en proceso de ello. El paciente confirmado se trata de un masculino de 65 años de edad, quien actualmente recibe atención en una unidad del Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE) sin reportar complicaciones ni dificultades respiratorias. Mexico - The Ministry of Health in Morelos confirmed the first case of COVID-19 of the Delta variant, the strain with the highest transmission rate and whose rapid growth is mainly threatening to the young population aged 20 to 39 years who have not been fully immunized or are in the process of doing so. The confirmed patient is a 65-year-old male, who is currently receiving care at a unit of the State Workers' Social Security and Services Institute there have been no reports of respiratory complications.

Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday. That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase. "This is a staggering loss of human life," said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends. The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly "COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis," he added. Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said.

Police in Paris clashed with protesters railing against President Emmanuel Macron's plan to require a COVID-19 vaccine certificate or negative PCR test to gain entry to bars, restaurants and cinemas from next month. Macron this week announced sweeping measures to fight a rapid surge in new coronavirus infections, including the mandatory vaccination of health workers and new health pass rules for the wider public. In doing so, he went further than most other European nations have done as the highly contagious Delta variant fans a new wave of cases, and other governments are watching carefully to see how the French public responds.

ras nueve semanas consecutivas de descensos en el número de muertes globales por covid-19, del 5 al 11 de julio se registró un aumento del 3 % con respecto a la semana anterior, con más de 55.000 fallecimientos, según el informe epidemiológico semanal de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). After nine consecutive weeks of declines in the number of global deaths from COVID-19, there has been an increase of 3% from 5 to 11 July compared to the previous week, with more than 55,000 deaths. According to the World Health Organizations' (WHO) weekly epidemiological report.

"I am beyond honored and humbled to be here today to help spread the message about the importance of youth vaccination," Rodrigo said from the White House press briefing room podium. Youth vaccination rates continue to lag significantly behind the general American population. Rodrigo continued: "I'm in awe of the work President Biden and Dr. Fauci have done and was happy to help lend my support to this important initiative. It's important to have conversations with friends and family members encouraging all communities to get vaccinated, and actually get to a vaccination site, which you can do more easily than ever before, given how many sites we have and how easy it is to find them at vaccines.gov." The videos will be featured on the 18-year-old's social media channels as well as the White House's accounts. Rodrigo is the singer of hits "Drivers License," and "good 4 u," and has more than 28 million followers across her channels.

Olivia Rodrigo arrives at the White House to record videos promoting covid-19 vaccines. She'll meet with President Biden and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. This Facebook comment feed shows a mixed reaction to President Biden's latest effort to get young people vaccinated.

The COVID-19 curve in the U.S. is rising again after months of decline, with the number of new cases per day doubling over the past three weeks, driven by the fast-spreading delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings. Confirmed infections climbed to an average of about 23,600 a day on Monday, up from 11,300 on June 23, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And all but two states — Maine and South Dakota — reported that case numbers have gone up over the past two weeks.

As life goes back to normal (whatever that means) here in the United States I fear that we are all turning a blind eye to the truth, COVID is not gone. Hand sanitizing stations are no longer being refilled in most places and we can go grocery shopping without masks, restaurants are busy and people are getting back to work. This would all be good news if globally our numbers continued to decline. The truth is that growing variants, like the Delta variant, are causing numbers to rapidly rise. Here in the US we have become so comfortable with life back to "normal" that we have become complacent. We are not yet safe, people are still dying.

Most people think of essential workers as public servants, mainly hospital staff but this picture shows that there were some unexpected jobs that were at one point labeled essential. This photo got some unexpected comments on Instagram like this one - "In that dark time, you helped people stay positive thru a pandemic man! That was the most essential work then." And this other one "But ice cream was essential during the pandemic! It was basically my only reason to live for a lil while." A lot of people found this picture funny but surprisingly many were quick to point out that it was the simple things, like mascots and ice cream, that kept us all smiling.

MANILA, Philippines - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday threatened to imprison citizens who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine as the nation continues to be a hotspot for the novel coronavirus in Asia. The country has recorded more than 1.3 million COVID-19 cases and over 23,000 deaths.

These banners were made from submissions to the #SMhopes call on this site, and displayed around the City of Santa Monica in the Spring and Summer of 2021. Designed by Paula Goldman and supported by a grant from Art of Recovery, an initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs.