Three new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Sonoma County on Sunday, increasing the number of local cases to 58 as the virus continues to spread in the United States.
Thirteen residents are being treated at area hospitals and 13 have recovered from the virus, the county reported Sunday.
Demographic information about the patients, withheld by public health officials until Friday when the county recorded its 50th case, show a disease that does not discriminate based on age, gender or location.
Twenty-eight of those diagnosed with coronavirus are in the 18-49 age group, 20 are 50-64 and 10 are 65 or older. Cases have come from throughout the county, according to county data.
Sonoma County Public Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said the demographic data is about what she expected to see, with one possible exception: She is pleased to see so few cases among people 65 and older.
The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund has prepared a free online guide, available in both English and Spanish, for transgender and non-binary individuals attempting to navigate life during the coronavirus pandemic.
“A Know Your Rights Guide for Transgender People Navigating COVID-19,” which contains information that was accurate as of March 22, explores both trans-specific concerns and equity concerns that disproportionately impact trans and non-binary individuals, such as issues involving employment, housing and health care. It also features a national appendix of health and advocacy resources.
The guide stresses the existence of a pandemic does not void the fact that trans and non-binary individuals are entitled to receive care and access to services. As TLDEF interprets federal law within this guide, medical providers must address individuals by the names and pronouns that they use and provide individuals access to facilities consistent with their identities.
The guide encourages trans and non-binary individuals to self-advocate by knowing their rights and, if feeling ill, contacting a medical provider or a state health department hotline.
According to the guide, the “extraordinary public health crisis” may lead trans and non-binary individuals to experience delays in receiving transition-related services, including operations that hospitals have classified as “non-emergency surgeries” and business that courts and government agencies has deemed “non-essential,” which may or may not entail changing one’s legal name and gender marker.
If a trans or non-binary individual feels that they are being subject to discrimination; the guide advises that the individual report each incident to the appropriate staff, take notes, obtain names, save copies of any documents and file a complaint.
TLDEF describes itself on its website as “a nonprofit whose mission is to end discrimination and achieve equality for transgender people, particularly those in our most vulnerable communities.”
As of Saturday, there were more than 120,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., with more than 2,000 deaths. Globally, there were more than 650,000 confirmed cases and more than 30,000 deaths.
Organizers of the 2020 International AIDS Conference on Friday announced the event will be held virtually because of the coronavirus.
The conference was scheduled to take place in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., from July 6-10. International AIDS Society President Anton Pozniak and the conference’s two U.S. co-chairs, Cynthia Carey-Grant and Monica Gandhi, in a statement said the virtual conference “will enable delegates to access and engage with the latest HIV science, advocacy and knowledge traditionally presented at the conference.”
“It will be a compelling combination of virtual sessions and community networking, including exhibitions, workshops, the Global Village, satellites and pre-conferences that will reach audiences around the world,” reads the statement.
The statement notes people with HIV are likely at heightened risk for coronavirus. Organizers also said the decision to make the conference virtual “was informed by advice from the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, leading global and local health authorities, and people living with HIV around the globe.”
“We are acutely aware that there is not yet sufficient data on whether people living with HIV are more susceptible to COVID-19 or more likely to develop severe disease,” reads the statement. “Therefore, we have a special obligation to reduce any potential risk to the HIV community.”
“Furthermore, many of those who were planning to attend are now working on the front lines in the response to COVID-19 around the world,” it adds. “We have a responsibility to not put any of these individuals — or their home communities — at risk, nor redirect their efforts at a critical time in the response to the pandemic.”
The 20112 International AIDS Conference took place in D.C.
Statistics from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine indicate there are 94,238 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,438 deaths from the disease in the U.S.
George “Skip” Panse, a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus in South Florida, was busy greeting members with a smile and a big hug three weeks ago. Last Wednesday, he died of complications caused by coronavirus.
Panse has become a headline dreaded by all as the pandemic pelts the US. The nation has, within days, become a petri-dish of cases, hauling the highest amount of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world.
A church-goer known by loved ones for his sense of humour and passion for music, Panse’s death was confirmed Thursday by the executive director of the chorus on Facebook in a tearful post.
Loved ones mourn the loss of Gay Men’s Chorus singer George Panse who died from coronavirus.
“It is tough to know that Florida’s death toll from the Coronavirus has climbed to 23 and one of them is a dear man I knew and who was a member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida,” Mark Kent wrote.
“We lost Skip to the virus yesterday.
I am usually not public about personal pain, but I share this in the hope that it helps more people take this epidemic seriously. Please stay home and stay safe.
“My prayers for Skip’s loved ones.”
Tributes poured in for Panse, a regular attendee of the United Church of Christ Fort Lauderdale, as stunned church-goers, faith leaders and choir members regaled their favourite memories of him.
“As we all know, Skip had a great passion for music and he was fed spiritually by our music ministry,” senior pastor Patrick Rogers wrote on Facebook.
“And we will never forget Skip’s love for others and our community. Rest in Peace Brother, we know that you will always watch over us.
‘Every time you see a number, it’s someone’s mother.’
Rogers recalled with fondness the time Panse duetted with another choir member at a concert – “It was such a blessing to witness Skip share his gift with so many, I will never forget that presentation.”
Choir member Bill Spinosa said Panse’s passing should remind everyone to take the viral outbreak rampaging the world seriously, NBC South Floridareported.
Every time you see a number, it’s someone’s mother. It’s someone’s father. Somebody’s brother.
Spinosa said: It’s amazing and because people are dying alone in hospitals in the ICU, it’s even more devastating because there’s nobody there to hold their hand.”
“It just seems so surreal how I just saw him shy three weeks ago and he was just being the vibrant, high-spirited guy that he always was, every time I saw Skip he greeted me with a warm welcome and hug, we will definitely miss him,” Rodrick Minnis wrote.
“People this is so real, we really need to take care of ourselves in these difficult times, and social distancing is key.
An LGBT+ charity has said it has seen a huge increase in the number of calls to its helpline since the coronavirus pandemic started.
The UK-based LGBT Foundation said the number of calls received over the last week was more than double the number received in the same period last year.
Worryingly, the charity said countless LGBT+ people are seeking support as they are stuck self-isolating with abusive family and partners.
They also warned that self-isolation means many queer people have been forced back into the closet, while many more have faced severe financial issues due to the pandemic’s economic fallout.
Many LGBT+ people are trapped self-isolating with abusive families and partners during the coronavirus pandemic.
Over a five day period this week, the LGBT Foundation received its highest number of weekly calls to its helpline since the beginning of the year. The organisation said many queer people are experiencing “severe anxiety and concern” over the coronavirus pandemic.
Furthermore, the charity said they are anticipating call volumes to increase again after the UK went into full lockdown this week.
We’ve had people ringing up because they’re concerned about the effect COVID-19 would have on existing health issues.
The helpline, which is currently operating remotely, will soon see opening hours extended into evenings and weekends in order to offer the best care for LGBT+ people who are struggling.
Kayla Le Roux, a staff member on the LGBT Foundation’s helpline, said the huge number of people contacting them shows how difficult a time this is for queer people.
“We’ve had people ringing up because they’re concerned about the effect COVID-19 would have on existing health issues, people calling about being trapped with families or partners who are hostile to them, or just like everyone else scared about what the future holds,” Le Roux said.
“It’s great to be there for people providing that support and to be that lifeline for people, and I hope anyone out there who is feeling worried right now knows that the support is out there for them and we’re just a phone call away.”
The charity warned that some teenagers are stuck at home with abusive parents amid COVID-19 lockdown.
Chief executive of the LGBT Foundation Paul Martin said the spike in calls shows that many LGBT+ people need “reassurance and information in a time of uncertainty and confusion”.
“We are seeing some young LGBT teenagers trapped in their homes with abusive parents and not even school to provide respite, trans people no longer being able to live as the gender they identify due to family pressures and people in same-sex relationships isolated with their abusive partner,” Martin said.
“We’ve also been spending time thinking about the most at risk members of our communities – people over 70, those with underlying health conditions, and those living in domestic abuse situations,” he added.
Martin said he wants all LGBT+ people to know that they are “not alone” and urged queer people who are struggling at this time to contact their helpline.
The LGBT Foundation’s helpline can be contacted on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am-6pm Monday to Friday or by emailing [email protected].
More than 100 LGBTQ+ organizations have signed an open letter outlining the added risk the novel coronavirus poses on the LGBTQ+ community.
Read letter below:
As the spread of the novel coronavirus a.k.a. COVID-19 increases, many LGBTQ+ people are understandably concerned about how this virus may affect us and our communities. The undersigned want to remind all parties handling COVID-19 surveillance, response, treatment, and media coverage that LGBTQ+ communities are among those who are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of this virus.
Our increased vulnerability is a direct result of three factors:
The LGBTQ+ population uses tobacco at rates that are 50% higher than the general population. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that has proven particularly harmful to smokers.
The LGBTQ+ population has higher rates of HIV and cancer, which means a greater number of us may have compromised immune systems, leaving us more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections.
LGBTQ+ people continue to experience discrimination, unwelcoming attitudes, and lack of understanding from providers and staff in many health care settings, and as a result, many are reluctant to seek medical care except in situations that feel urgent – and perhaps not even then.
In addition, there are more than 3 million LGBTQ+ older people living in the United States. LGBTQ+ elders are already less likely than their heterosexual and cisgender peers to reach out to health and aging providers, like senior centers, meal programs, and other programs designed to ensure their health and wellness, because they fear discrimination and harassment. The devastating impact of COVID-19 on older people – the current mortality rate is at 15% for this population – makes this a huge issue for the LGBTQ+ communities as well.
LGBTQ+ communities are very familiar with the phenomena of stigma and epidemics. We want to urge people involved with the COVID-19 response to ensure that LGBTQ+ communities are adequately served during this outbreak. Depending on your role, appropriately serving our communities could involve any of the following actions:
Ensuring that media coverage notes the particular vulnerabilities of any person with pre-existing respiratory illnesses, compromised immune systems or who uses tobacco products. While populations – like LGBTQ+ communities – can be at increased risk, it is important to note the overall state of health that contributes to any person’s increased vulnerability to contracting COVID-19.
Ensuring health messaging includes information tailored to communities at increased risk for COVID-19, including LGBTQ+ populations. An example of such tailored messaging is including imagery of LGBTQ+ persons in any graphic ads.
Providing LGBTQ+ individuals resources to find welcoming providers, such as the ones provided here, if they are experiencing symptoms like a cough or fever and need to seek medical attention.
Ensuring funding to community health centers is distributed in a fashion that accounts for the additional burden anticipated by LGBTQ-identified health centers.
Whenever possible ensuring health agencies partner with community-based organizations to get messaging out through channels we trust.
Ensuring surveillance efforts capture sexual orientation and gender identity as part of routine demographics.
Ensuring health workers are directed to provide equal care to all regardless of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity/presentation, ability, age, national origin, immigration status, race, or ethnicity.
Ensuring that all COVID-19 responses take into account exceptionally vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ communities, including our elders, bi people, and black and brown trans and gender nonconforming/nonbinary people.
Since xenophobic responses are heavily impacting the Asian American communities, ensuring all communications and responses related to COVID-19 attempt to counter any such xenophobic responses, avoid racial profiling, and discourage the public from doing so as well.
Ensuring LGBTQ+ health leadership, along with all providers and health care centers, are provided with timely and accurate information to disseminate.
As LGBTQ+ community and health leadership, the undersigned organizations offer to stand shoulder to shoulder with the mainstream health leadership to make sure we learn from history and do not allow any population to be disproportionately impacted or further stigmatized by a virus.
Initial signers:
Advocates for Youth
Advocating Opportunity
Alder Health Services
Antioch University MFA Program
Athlete Ally
Atlanta Pride Committee
BiNet USA
Black Lives Matter Houston
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network
Without causing alarm, we’d like you to know about a sexually transmitted infection (STI) you probably haven’t heard about but that we’re seeing in people who visit our sexual health clinic Magnet at San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Although the infection Mycoplasma genitalium itself isn’t new, awareness about and testing for this infection is recently on our radar. Here’s what to know.
What is Mycoplasma Genitalium?
Mycoplasma genitalium (we’ll shorten it to MG) is a bacterial infection that can cause symptoms similar to chlamydia. You can get an MG infection in your urethra (penis), vagina and front hole, rectum (butt), and likely in your throat–although there is only testing available for urethral or vaginal infections.
What are symptoms of MG?
Many people don’t get symptoms from an MG infection. If you do have symptoms, they might include burning, stinging or pain when you pee or discharge from your penis. For people with a vagina or front hole, symptoms might include pain or bleeding during sex, pain in your pelvic area, bleeding between periods, and discharge from your vagina or front hole.
How is MG diagnosed?
We diagnose MG by talking to you about your symptoms and sexual history, doing a physical exam, and testing your urine or doing a vaginal swab.
Should you get tested for MG?
If you still have symptoms mentioned above after treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia, testing of MG may be appropriate. At this time, we are not recommending that people without symptoms get tested for MG. As always, we recommend regular testing for other STIs (gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis) even if you don’t have symptoms.
Health care providers might not consider or test for MG infection. So the important thing to know is that if you have symptoms of an STI in your penis, vagina, or front hole, get tested and treated. If you still have symptoms after treatment you might have MG.
If you think you have an MG infection, ask your provider if testing is available for MG, or make an appointment at Magnet if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About MG testing
Testing for MG is done through a urine sample or swab. Once a sample is taken, it is analyzed by a lab for the presence of MG bacteria using the same type of DNA tests that we use for gonorrhea and chlamydia. Usually, it takes 3-5 days for you to find out your result from an MG test.
What is the treatment for MG?
The antibiotic azithromycin can treat MG. About 50% of cases are resistant to azithromycin, which means that the medication won’t cure the infection and you would still have symptoms. In these cases, we use a second type of antibiotic (Moxifloxacin) which requires 7 – 10 days of medication.
Should my partner(s) get tested for MG?
If your partner(s) are experiencing any symptoms, it’s a good idea for them to get tested for STIs. At this time, we don’t recommend that people without symptoms get tested for MG.
Resources
SYMPTOMS OF AN STI?
If you have symptoms of a suspected STI, call our sexual health clinic in the Castro at 415-437-1600.
The UK’s national LGBT+ health adviser is urging people to stop hooking-up during the coronavirus lockdown – making clear that the only safe sex is with yourself or “someone within your household”.
Dr Michael Brady, medical director at Terrence Higgins Trust, warned that hook-up culture could lead to the spread of coronavirus – which is not sexually transmitted, but can easily spread through close bodily contact.
In a blog post, Dr Brady made clear that people should not be venturing outside for hook-ups during the lockdown.
People need to stop having casual sex immediately, says LGBT+ health expert.
He explained: “The country is now on lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus and that has to include not hooking-up for sex.
“I’ve never been an advocate of promoting abstinence, but this message is not about protecting your sexual health: it’s about protecting your general health and those around you from a virus that can be deadly.
“This is extraordinary and unprecedented advice for us to be giving out, but these are extraordinary and unprecedented times.”
He continued: “This advice means that, unless you have sex with someone within your household, it’s important to find sexual pleasure in other ways.
“Despite the situation with COVID-19, we need to remember that sex is an important part of life, but right now we have to find other ways to achieve sexual pleasure and satisfaction.
“It’s only natural that we look to sex for pleasure, to relieve stress and anxiety or simply to pass the time – whether that’s with a regular partner or using hook-up apps.”
He added: “The reality is that, for the time being, you are your safest sexual partner.”
Have sex with your housemates or shack up with your partner during coronavirus lockdown.
The reassertion that your only sexual relationships should be with your housemates comes after the government suggested shacking up with a romantic partner.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries said on Tuesday: “If you are two individuals, two halves of the couple, currently in separate households, ideally they should stay in those households.
“The alternative might be that for quite a significant period going forward they should just test the strength of their relationship and decide whether one wishes to be permanently resident in another household, in which case all of the decisions about [household units] would apply.”
Despite the calls to self-isolate, hook-up apps have seen plenty of users during the lockdown – with Grindr among those to add warnings urging people to keep their distance and avoid touching faces – with the latter instruction likely making hook-ups a bit more of a challenge.
A Grindr spokesperson told PinkNews:”The health and safety of our users is a top priority for Grindr. We are advising users to follow guidelines provided by the WHO, and have published these guidelines in the Grindr app to help users make the best informed decisions when interacting with others.”
Anyone who breaks coronavirus quarantine should be executed, says Chechnya leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.
The president of the Russian republic – who oversaw a brutal crackdown on LGBT+ people in Chechnya – made the claim on March 24 at a government meeting as the region confirmed its first three coronavirus cases.
“If you ask me, anyone who creates this problem for himself should be killed,” he said.
“Not only does he get sick, [but he also infects] his family, his sisters, brothers, neighbours,” the regional Caucasian Knot news agency quoted Kadyrov as saying.
Ramzan Kadyrov recommends Chechens drink water with lemon and honey to combat coronavirus.
Kadyrov added that people spreading fake information about the deadly but delicate virus should be punished with community service.
His comments came as the president ordered all restaurants, cafés and “crowded places” in the republic to shutter doors in an effort to curb the caseload steadily crawling upwards.
But such measures also eclipsed comments made by Kadyrov that the pandemic paralysing the world is not to be feared. Earlier this month, he simply advised citizens to drink water with lemon and honey to strengthen immune systems.
Alongside consuming garlic for “pure blood”, BBC Russia reported.
Chechnya, a mostly Muslim region in southern Russia that fought two wars for independence, is now under Moscow’s control.
Regional leader Kadyrov operates a vastly carte blanche rule in exchange for devotion to the Kremlin.
Being gay is taboo in Chechnya, which pushed the lives of many queer folk into private online chat rooms and darkened alleyways.
But one day, this all changed.
In 2017, images and anecdotes of queer men who suffered weeks of torture and brutal beatings in a targeted pogrom were exposed by local journalists, in a horrifying turn in the country’s long history of human rights abuses.
Local authorities denied the sweeps ever happened, but journalist Elena Milashina and human rights lawyer Marina Dubrovina hurled countless cases of kidnapped gay men into the public eye.
Witnesses have painted a brutal playbook of Chechen regional authorities bundling gay men into cars, thrown into basements of police stations or thrown into facilities where they were tormented and starved.
“I’m OK,” gay nurse Kious Kelly told his sister March 18, “don’t tell mum and dad. They’ll worry.”
These were his last words.
Kelly has become a headline dreaded by New Yorkers – front-line healthcare providers especially – the first state nurse to die of coronavirus.
The 48-year-old assistant nurse manager at Mount Sinai West tested positive for the novel virus and breathed with the help of a ventilator in the ICU. He died Tuesday, the New York Post reported.
Kious Kelly’s sister: ‘His death could have been prevented.’
Countless fellow staffers, friends, family and LGBT+ community leaders mourned his death online, with some setting up a GoFundMe page to support his loved ones. The page is threaded with reverent messages lauding his life.
His death, which his sister Marya raged “could have been prevented” on Facebook Wednesday, has become a horrifying glimpse into weeks to come for America’s overstrained health system.
“Please help get our healthcare workers the protection they need,” she wrote, adding that although her brother had asthma, he was otherwise healthy.
The US now has the highest coronavirus caseload in the world and missteps from the Trump administration, advocates warn, have threatened the lives of Americans.
Moreover, New York City has become a petri dish for the deadly but delicate virus, hoarding almost a quarter of the country’s COVID-191 cases.
Gay nurse dies of coronavirus, and outraged staffers say hospital’s lack of protection is to blame.
Dwimdling supplies in US hospitals did not exclude the one Kelly clocked-in day-to-day.
He had worked nonstop for weeks as fellow staffers wore gowns made of trash bags not enough to protect them from the wave of hacking, feverish patients pelting the hospital.
Kelly’s colleagues are frightened. Terrified that the scarcity of protective kits for staff – such as masks and gowns – contributed to Kelly’s death and they, too, might be next.
“Kious didn’t deserve this,” an anonymous nurse told the paper.
“The hospital should be held responsible. The hospital killed him.”
“I’m also very angry with the Mount Sinai Health System for not protecting him,”registered nurse Bevon Bloise posted to Facebook.
“We do not have enough PPE, we do not have the correct [personal protective equipment], and we do not have the appropriate staffing to handle this pandemic.
“And I do not appreciate representatives of this health system saying otherwise on the news.”
Mount Sinai West representatives denied the staff claims when approached for comment by the New York Times, saying: “While we do — and have had — enough protective equipment for our staff, we will all need more in the weeks ahead.”
Kious Kelly yearned to become a dancer, but found himself applying for nursing school.
“He used to carry around a thick notepad holder that hides a box full of chocolates and candies so he can have it handy to give out to miserable/grumbly nurses and doctors who are more likely than not ‘hangry,’” Joanne Loo, a fellow nurse at Mount Sinai West, wrote on Facebook.
“He spreads joy and love exactly like how the world needs it. He is a nurse hero to the patients and nurses who he crossed path with.
“His death hit home… and it hurts.”
His family is now trying to bring his body back to Michigan.
“We know we can’t have a service anytime soon, but we want him home,” Sherron said.