Texas Experiences Big Two-Week Decline In New Covid Case Numbers

CNN: This Was Texas' First Weekend Without Covid-19 Limits. Here's How It Went For Business Owners 
For about a year, Texas businesses have done whatever they could to stay afloat. As Covid-19 ravaged the state and the country, they pivoted to takeout service, operated their dining rooms at reduced capacities and required masks for their employees and their customers, all according to state rules. Last week they were finally given the chance to return to normal, after the governor issued an executive order lifting the state's mask mandate and allowing businesses to reopen at 100% capacity. But their approaches vary: While some have relaxed their rules a bit, others chose to continue requiring masks and restricted the occupancy of their dining rooms. (Andone, 3/15)

AP: Texas Health Department Reports Virus Increase Of 4,638
The number of newly confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in Texas rose by 4,638 on Saturday, down from a one-day increase of 6,078 reported Friday, according to the state health department. The department reported a total of more than 2.7 million total cases since the pandemic began and 45,474 deaths due to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, 156 more than Friday. (3/14)

AP: Average Number Of New COVID-19 Cases In Texas Decreasing
Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases of the coronavirus in Texas has decreased by 42.5%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott ended the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, including the state mask mandate. (3/14)

The Hill: Texas Restaurant Covered In Racist Graffiti After Owner Speaks Out Against Lifting Coronavirus Restrictions
A Texas ramen restaurant was covered in racist graffiti after its owner spoke out on CNN last week against Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) decision to lift coronavirus restrictions in the state. Mike Nguyen told ABC affiliate KSAT 12 that he found red graffiti Sunday on the windows of his San Antonio restaurant, called Noodle Tree. Photos of the vandalism show several phrases written on the windows, including “no mask,” “kung flu,” “commie,” “hope u die” and “ramen noodle flu.” (Coleman, 3/14)

In other updates on the spread of the coronavirus —

The Wall Street Journal: States Are Finding More Unreported Covid-19 Deaths 
While Covid-19 deaths head lower, raising hopes that the U.S. is turning a corner as vaccinations continue, states around the country are steadily finding previously unreported deaths that are causing data confusion. The issues largely involve systems that states are using to try to report Covid-19 data in near real time, and not deaths reported more slowly through death certificates. These front-line numbers are the ones that fuel state dashboards and data trackers, like the closely watched one created by Johns Hopkins University, which help policy makers and the public closely monitor pandemic trends. (Kamp, 3/14)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Cases Plateau As State Reaches Milestone Of 1 Million COVID-19 Vaccines Administered
The rate of daily COVID-19 cases has held steady recently, following an encouraging decline in recent weeks. Over the past seven days, Utah saw 3,529 new coronavirus cases. That’s down slightly compared to the week before, when the state health department reported 3,615 new cases. Over those two weeks, the daily average of new cases is 510.25. The state’s own tracking dashboard indicates that since March 8, Utah has seen cases level out after two months of decline. The last time the state reported a plateau in cases before this one was Jan. 10. (Vejar, 3/14)

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles County Coronavirus Figures Continue To Decline On Eve Of Reopening
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline in Los Angeles County as the hard-hit and heavily populated region prepared to reopen businesses — including indoor restaurants, gyms and movie theaters — for the first time in months. With the caveat that the figures may be artificially low due to lags in weekend reporting, county health officials on Sunday reported 644 new coronavirus cases. There were 28 deaths in the county, compared with 250 deaths a day during the winter peak in January. (Rector, 3/14)

Axios: Infectious Diseases Expert: COVID Variants Are A "Whole New Ballgame" 
The U.S. is playing a "whole new ballgame" in terms of controlling the coronavirus now that variants are spreading across the country, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CBS News on Friday. Osterholm said the U.S. could face another surge from the B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom and has since been detected throughout the U.S. Multiple studies have suggested that it likely spreads more easily than the original strain of the virus. (Knutson, 3/13)

ABC News: New York City Marks Anniversary Of 1st COVID-19 Death With Memorial Services 
On March 14, 2020, New York City recorded its first death from the coronavirus, and in one year, that toll skyrocketed to over 30,000 lives lost -- more than 10 times the number of people killed on Sept. 11, 2001. On Sunday, New Yorkers of all walks of life marked this grim anniversary with several events to honor and memorialize their fallen neighbors on some of the city's iconic locations. (Pereira, 3/14)

Also —

Genomeweb: FDA Warns Of Potential False Positive Results With Roche Cobas Rapid Coronavirus, Flu Test
The US Food and Drug Administration released a letter on Friday warning clinical laboratory and point-of-care staff, as well as healthcare providers, that false positive results for Roche's test for SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A/B may occur. The false positives for the Cobas SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Nucleic Acid Test, which is used on Roche's Cobas Liat system, could be related to two different issues raised by Roche, the FDA said. One is that the assay tubes might sporadically leak and cause an obstructed optical path in the Cobas Liat analyzer, resulting in abnormal PCR growth curves. This could cause invalid or incorrect positives, specifically for influenza B tests. FDA added that if a tube does leak, subsequent testing could have an increased likelihood of false positive results for Type B flu. (3/12)