Summer gas tax increase?; U.S. birth rates on rise

Summer gas tax increase?; U.S. birth rates on rise

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11 Information Nowadays: Debate about summer time fuel tax enhance U.S. birth rates mounting slowly

Here’s what you need to know from 11 News to get a head get started on your day.Weather | Traffic | Nearby News | I-Staff | Nationwide/International News | COVID-19 | Sports activities| Look at Are living: You can observe 11 Information Right now reside from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., or when not dwell, watch the most up-to-date archived newscast: Tap here.See what you skipped right away, what is taking place currently and our hottest Maryland climate forecast.Present day MARYLAND Temperature FORECASTMeteorologist Ava Marie suggests it will be much cooler nowadays with scattered light-weight rain and temperatures in the small 60’s. It will be remaining cloudy the relaxation of the 7 days, but slowly but surely warming as temps return to the 70’s for Wednesday and Thursday.Anticipate showers and thunderstorms probable on Friday as effectively as a couple of showers and thunderstorms lingering through the weekend. The temps will be turning warmer by Memorial Working day as it will be in the 80’s.What’s Building Information IN MARYLANDGovernor, comptroller call on each individual other to lower effect of summer season fuel tax increase | As gas prices continue on to climb, Maryland’s governor and comptroller are recommending each individual other choose action to mitigate the influence of a scheduled summer months fuel tax improve. Browse additional right here.The Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4 despatched a letter Monday to County Govt Johnny Olszewski, calling on him to take out Main Melissa Hyatt from her posture | Go through far more below,Crabbing period kicked off in Maryland on April 1, but typically, watermen and females really don’t start truly catching crabs till the conclusion of May. Go through additional listed here.What is Generating HEADLINES ELSEWHEREEarly speculation that the COVID-19 pandemic may guide to a toddler increase has been turned on its head, with early information showing extra of a baby bust — and worsening fees of some adverse results | Study additional here.Main elections that will be held Tuesday in Alabama, Arkansas, Ga, Minnesota and Texas will give a glimpse of what the subsequent Congress could glimpse like | Read through additional below.WBAL-Television 11 Weather conditions RadarWBAL-Tv 11 Website traffic Map

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Today’s MARYLAND Climate FORECAST

Meteorologist Ava Marie suggests it will be a lot cooler nowadays with scattered light-weight rain and temperatures in the small 60’s. It will be remaining cloudy the rest of the week, but little by little warming as temps return to the 70’s for Wednesday and Thursday.

Count on showers and thunderstorms likely on Friday as effectively as a number of showers and thunderstorms lingering via the weekend. The temps will be turning hotter by Memorial Working day as it will be in the 80’s.

What is actually Earning Information IN MARYLAND

Governor, comptroller phone on every single other to reduce impression of summer time gasoline tax enhance | As gasoline selling prices proceed to climb, Maryland’s governor and comptroller are recommending every other consider motion to mitigate the impression of a scheduled summer gasoline tax improve. Read through more below.

The Baltimore County Fraternal Buy of Law enforcement Lodge No. 4 despatched a letter Monday to County Executive Johnny Olszewski, calling on him to take away Main Melissa Hyatt from her posture | Read through a lot more here,

Crabbing year kicked off in Maryland on April 1, but historically, watermen and ladies you should not start out actually catching crabs right until the conclusion of May. Go through much more listed here.

What is Creating HEADLINES Somewhere else

Early speculation that the COVID-19 pandemic may perhaps lead to a baby increase has been turned on its head, with early details showing far more of a infant bust — and worsening premiums of some adverse results | Go through much more listed here.

Primary elections that will be held Tuesday in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota and Texas will offer you a glimpse of what the upcoming Congress could search like | Read through a lot more below.

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How TikTok took over fashion trends and the rise of “TikTok couture”

Below is a record of style traits that, in accordance to TikTok, are predicted to develop into a point in 2022:

Balletcore, royalcore, regencycore, indie sleaze, 2014 comfortable grunge, twee, Russian bimbocore, “avant apocalypse” and its cousin dystopiacore, new House Age, circa-2006 Diesel, balaclavas, clowncore, hyper Gen Z, bellhopcore, skirts over trousers, Missoni-Pucci resurgence, mod revival, “joycraft,” opera gloves, and feathers (just, like, in general).

This is a large amount of trend for just a person calendar year. But I would argue that these are not all tendencies of their possess accord: They’re all just one trend, and that craze is TikTok couture.

What is TikTok couture? It is a (sort of rude) way to explain the coalescence of trends that materialize on TikTok, regardless of whether from young adults experimenting with outfits they’ve thrifted from their regional charity shop, from more mature folks revisiting the subcultural styles of their youth, or from qualified and beginner trend watchers combining aesthetic clues into a solitary theory of what’s coming upcoming. With each other, with the help of the supercharged TikTok algorithm that blasts viral material to thousands and thousands of consumers inside of hrs or times, these films condition what mainstream tradition considers classy, which thus can have an impact on what we decide on to use ourselves.

Look at TikTok couture the reasonable following section of how social media has usually affected clothing. All over the 2010s, Instagram became the de facto mode of sharing one’s own design and day-to-day outfits, so much so that the system alone affected buying trends, what makeup we wore, and what kinds of plastic surgical procedures procedures have been in vogue. While Tumblr and Pinterest were being equipment for curating inspiration to outline and take a look at one’s individual aesthetic, Instagram was intended for undertaking it.

TikTok, nonetheless, brings together both of those in a single app: The individualized For You website page is at the moment a gateway to discovering other people’s variations based mostly on what the algorithm thinks you may well like, and a way to remix those designs making use of equipment like the duet, stitch, or remark reply options to incorporate your possess just take. If TikTok has sensed you are at all intrigued in vogue, it turns into the internet’s most up-to-date supply of equally inspiration and investigation — far extra suitable than Pinterest, which tends to endure from repetitiveness and monotony, and Instagram, which is as well frequently decided by men and women you previously know.

“Any time adequate people on my TikTok feed are sporting a person factor I’m like, ‘Well, that is about to make a severe comeback,’” suggests Tessa, the 25-12 months-outdated, Hawaii-dependent creator driving one particular of YouTube’s ideal fashion criticism channels, ModernGurlz. She’s produced quite a few video clips examining TikTok manner, from the Y2K resurgence to a lot more micro trends like “Twilightcore” and the “coconut lady.” When we spoke in Oct, she’d been viewing tons of outfits reminiscent of the 2003 movie Thirteen, about two rebellious young people played by Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Wooden who wore low-rise flares, midriff-baring camis, and hoop earrings. “A large amount of individuals, particularly my age or more mature, freak out when they see these tendencies from middle university arrive back again, but this is the pure development. It’s how points perform,” she explains.

No age team has at any time experienced as a lot historical fashion knowledge and primary resources to attract from as youthful folks do today, with the entirety of the final twenty a long time documented on the web. Whilst the typical rule in trend is that traits and products begin to reappear after two decades, at this point youngsters — who were being too youthful to participate the to start with time all over and who are some of TikTok’s most ardent users — are previously remixing types that had been common just 5 or ten yrs ago, as is the scenario with the 2014 Tumblr aesthetic.

The means to search over and above one’s personal immediate environment for stylistic inspiration has, Tessa argues, built manner significantly additional available to teens. “If you like somebody’s model on TikTok, you can look up ‘grunge fairycore’ or no matter what on Pinterest and discover all the things you will need,” she suggests. “You can go into someone’s comment portion on TikTok and talk to them in which they acquired every little thing, and so TikTok aesthetics make their way to the general community for the reason that we have the skill to supply all these parts. Back in 2006, you wouldn’t have been able to go on Instagram and find each and every single product tagged in someone’s outfit — you’d have to appear by means of a magazine or go to Macy’s and try out your greatest.”

That accessibility has launched a fervent new viewers to manner and, specially, fashion criticism. Mandy Lee, just one of the most common craze forecasters on TikTok who goes by @oldloserinbrooklyn, told me in December that “In the previous few of months what I have recognized the most is that there is way, way, way, way, way extra fashion discourse developed. Now it is like, everyone’s a critic.” At this month’s Paris Trend 7 days, Vogue reporter Steff Yotka mentioned how even as attendance to demonstrates has seemed to lower, the crowds outdoors have accomplished the opposite. “As fashion’s impact grows, a new generation of enthusiasts is using manner-seeing into their own arms,” she writes. “Powered by flourishing vogue discourse on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, Millennial and Gen Z commentators are generating the avenue scene the tale.”

Young people today have, to some diploma, generally established the tone for what is viewed as awesome, at least in the last seventy or so yrs because “teenagers” grew to become an significant investing category for marketers. But the increase of TikTok couture is not as easy as expressing “young individuals are on TikTok, consequently TikTok decides what is in vogue.” There is a rationale, for instance, that TikTok has declared not just a handful of but twenty-a thing aesthetics to be the upcoming large issue in 2022: It’s for the reason that TikTok’s bread and butter is building microtrends that flare up speedy and die out speedier. Irrespective of whether or not they basically last (or exist in any meaningful way at all) is aside from the level as Kelsey Weekman notes in In the Know, “On TikTok, all it takes is a single or two viral posts flaunting a certain aesthetic for the fashion to come to be a ‘microtrend.’” When I wrote about these types of “garbage trends” in December, I was referring to specialized niche written content cycles like “Couch Guy” and the fleeting fascination with sea shanties, but the very same goes for vogue.

One of the to start with illustrations of how TikTok drove a quick-passing aesthetic trend was the coinage of the “VSCO girl” in 2019, which focused teen women who wore oversized T-shirts and carried all around Hydroflasks. What was not distinct at the time, nevertheless, ahead of the pandemic and in advance of TikTok had calcified into the cultural powerhouse it is now, was that the VSCO lady aesthetic, along with its counterpart, the e-woman, ended up only two branches of the very same tree. It is not automatically that TikTok “invented” them, per se — many models preferred on TikTok got their names from Tumblr — but the TikTok equipment packaged them into legible aesthetics, then elevated them to mainstream consciousness.

The pace of these microtrends now matches that of speedy vogue, or what’s now regarded as “ultra-speedy manner,” the place electronic searching platforms like Shein can style and produce new styles in a subject of days to replicate what is trending on the web. When a particular model or solution goes viral on TikTok, that product will usually be marketed out by the time the online video is found by the most quantity of persons, fueling in users a higher motivation to explore TikTok traits as early as probable in an hard work to get ahead of the cycle.

You can see how all of this might have some downsides for, you know, the overall economy-slash-natural environment-slash-standard tenor of the lifestyle. But though the speedy effect of the ephemerality of TikTok couture is the dizzying pace at which it moves on line discourse, its genuine-existence repercussions are, if something, type of quaint.

Last fall I visited a vast, 500-acre sculpture backyard garden in a tranquil section of upstate New York, which included several hours of going for walks by way of very hot, sunshine-drenched fields and damp filth forest paths. Most individuals there were sporting what might be thought of smart apparel for these an event, but three young adults at the park stood out. Just one wore a ruffled collared shirt topped with a lace-up corset, a pleated plaid skirt and chunky heels, a search that was dominating my For You website page at the time, a further experienced darkish hair framed by the bleached and pink-dyed tendrils stereotypical of e-girls. The 3rd layered his shirts in the specific similar way I’d noticed fledgling trend boys exam out on the web. Looking at TikTok couture in the flesh, significantly in a area in which it was minimum encouraged, I felt a heat affinity for the little ones, who were experimenting with kinds they’d without doubt seen many occasions on-line, figuring out what match with their very own personalities and what didn’t.

There is some thing type of lovely about everything becoming in fashion at at the time, of the delicate wrap skirts of balletcore juxtaposed with the deconstructed surrealism of “avant apocalypse,” and the notion that no issue what a particular person puts on their entire body, they are weaving on their own within just a tradition that extends much beyond the garments alone. TikTok couture dregs up the shocking and intriguing and often terrible heritage of vogue and all its advanced context and lays it out for us to revisit at will. The craze cycle has in no way been a lot quicker, but perhaps design and style is only starting to be much more acquainted.

This column was initially posted in The Products publication. Signal up listed here so you don’t miss the upcoming one particular, furthermore get publication exclusives.

As Covid deaths rise, many are still from delta, CDC says

Most described Covid-19 fatalities in the U.S. are nevertheless from the delta variant, not omicron, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.

Covid deaths, dependent on a 7-day going common, have achieved 1,600 for each working day in the U.S., a 40 per cent increase more than the earlier 7 days, according to CDC info.

Whole protection of the Covid-19 pandemic

Walensky, talking at a White Home Covid-19 Reaction Workforce briefing, stated she expects most of people fatalities are continue to lagging deaths from the delta variant wave.

The omicron variant only just lately became the dominant pressure in the U.S., surpassing delta all-around mid-December. The new strain now accounts for an estimated 98.3 p.c of all new circumstances, according to CDC knowledge.

Community health officials will keep track of “deaths over the future various months to see the effect of omicron on mortality,” Walenksy said throughout the briefing. “Provided the sheer amount of conditions, we may well see deaths from omicron, but I suspect the fatalities we are observing now are nevertheless from delta.”

Omicron causes considerably less significant condition

Walensky’s reviews came a working day immediately after researchers released a new research primarily based on info from Kaiser Permanente Southern California that identified the omicron variant appears to bring about considerably less significant condition than past strains and shorter healthcare facility stays.

The examine, which was posted online to a preprint server and hasn’t been peer-reviewed but, seemed at just about 70,000 Covid people in California, the greater part of whom experienced health issues caused by the omicron variant.

Walensky cited the examine at the Wednesday briefing, expressing it stays dependable with data from South Africa and the United Kingdom and gives some knowing of what the U.S. can hope in coming weeks.

“The danger of hospitalization remains low — specifically between persons who are up to date on their Covid vaccines,” Walensky said. “On the other hand, the staggering increase in instances, over 1 million new cases each individual working day, has led to a substantial range of total hospitalizations.”  

Masks supply distinct stages of defense

While omicron may well be fewer serious, “the unexpected and steep increase in situations because of to omicron is resulting in unparalleled day by day scenario counts, illness, absenteeism and strains on our overall health treatment method,” she said.

The CDC is encouraging all Americans to use well-equipped masks to shield on their own and others in opposition to the new pressure.

She stated the agency is getting ready an update to its site on masks, noting that various masks and give various stages of protection.

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Coronavirus US: Nearly a quarter of hospitals are reporting a critical staff shortage as Omicron drives a rise in Covid-19 cases

“Given how much infection there is, our hospitals really are at the brink right now,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, told CNN on Sunday.

Of the approximately 5,000 hospitals that reported this data to HHS on Saturday, nearly 1,200 — about 1 in 4 — said they are currently experiencing a critical staffing shortage, the largest share of the entire pandemic. More than 100 other hospitals said they anticipate a shortage within the next week.

The US health care system is Jha’s greatest concern, he said, noting the Omicron surge could hamper its capacity to care for patients suffering from conditions other than Covid-19.

“The health care system is not just designed to take care of people with Covid … it’s designed to take care of kids with appendicitis and people who have heart attacks and get into car accidents,” he said.

“And all of that is going to be much, much more difficult because we have a large proportion of the population that is not vaccinated, plenty of high risk people who are not boosted,” he said. “That combination sets up a large pool of people who as they get infected will end up really straining the resources we have in the hospitals today.”

These staff shortages are growing as frontline health care workers are either infected or forced to quarantine due to exposure to Covid-19 just as the demand for treatment skyrockets: More than 138,000 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals as of Saturday, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That’s not far from the all-time peak (about 142,200 in mid-January 2021) and an increase from around 45,000 in early November.
To safeguard hospital capacity, some facilities are forced to cut elective surgeries. In New York, for example, 40 hospitals — mainly in the Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes and central regions — have been told to stop nonessential elective operations for at least two weeks because of low patient bed capacity, the state health department said Saturday.
What to know if you caught Covid-19 over the holidays

The University of Kansas Health System is also close to implementing crisis standards of care, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven Stites said Saturday, telling CNN, “At some point … we’re too overwhelmed to do any of our normal daily work.”

“At that point we have to turn on a switch that says we got to triage the people we can help the most,” he said, “and that means we’ve have to let some people die who we might have been able to help but we weren’t sure about — they were too far gone or had too much of an injury, or maybe we can’t get to that trauma that just came in.”

Stites said two waves were hitting Kansas simultaneously — with Delta accelerating post-Thanksgiving, to be met by Omicron — describing it as “almost a double pandemic.” The vast majority of those being hospitalized are unvaccinated, Stites said.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN on Saturday the next several weeks will “look bad in many American cities.”

“Forty hospitals in New York just canceled elective procedures. The DC Hospital Association, where I work, has asked the DC government for permission for hospitals to enact crisis standards of care,” he said. “And that’s coming to every city in the United States.”

Los Angeles County sees record weekly case numbers

About 62.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the total US population — 208 million people — is fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 75.4 million people have received a booster dose, meaning 23{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the total US population is fully vaccinated and boosted.

But still about 21{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the eligible population, or 65.5 million people 5 and older, have not received a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the CDC data show.

Nationwide, 39 states are reporting a 50{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} or greater increase in cases during the past week compared to the previous week, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. As of Saturday, the seven-day average of new daily cases in the US was 701,199, per JHU data.

Two healthcare providers told CNN they’d been forced to prioritize Covid-19 testing for certain people due to a spike in demand.

What the US can expect next from the Covid surge

Last week, multiple UW Medicine locations in Washington started prioritizing testing solely for people “who have symptoms of respiratory illness or who have a known exposure to COVID-19,” spokesperson Susan Gregg told CNN. People without symptoms are not being tested, Gregg said, “due to the high volume of omicron cases that are being processed in our laboratory.”

The University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill is also restricting Covid-19 tests to those exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms, as well as university employees and those requiring a test prior to a surgery, according to UNC Health Director of News Alan M. Wolf.

Some localities are now seeing the most new cases they’ve seen the whole pandemic, including Los Angeles County.

On Saturday, the county reported more than 200,000 confirmed cases over the previous seven days — the highest number of cases in one week since the start of the pandemic, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Hospitalizations doubled over the week to 3,200 and there were 135 Covid-related deaths, the department said.

The rise in infections is also hitting Los Angeles’ children hard.

At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the positivity rate for children tested for Covid-19 has increased from 17.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in December to 45{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to date in January, according to CHLA Medical Director Dr. Michael Smit. 

CHLA currently has 41 patients in-house who have tested positive for Covid-19, and roughly one quarter of the children admitted to the facility with Covid-19 require admission to the pediatric ICU, with some requiring intubation, Smit told CNN on Saturday.

The rise in cases comes just as Los Angeles students are preparing to return to in-person classes Tuesday.

What to know if you caught Covid-19 over the holidays

Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the country, is requiring all students and employees to show a negative Covid-19 test result before returning to the classroom.

The baseline test requirement was implemented at the beginning of the school year in August, and the district announced a week ago both the baseline test, along with required weekly testing for employees and students would continue through January, given the current surge.

On Sunday, LAUSD Board of Education President Kelly Gonez said about 50,000 positive Covid-19 cases had been identified as a result of the required testing, stopping those students and employees from enter school buildings Tuesday.

Disputes over in-person learning

In response to rising pediatric infections, disputes over whether in-person learning is ideal during the Omicron surge and how students can safely attend school are playing out in various school districts this week.

For the week ending December 30, children accounted for 17.7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of new reported cases in the US, the American Academy of Pediatrics said, noting a record 325,00 new cases among children — a 64{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increase from the week prior.

Chicago Teachers Union offers a new proposal
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system has canceled classes since Wednesday due to a dispute between city officials and the teachers union over returning to the classroom. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted Tuesday to teach remotely due to the Covid-19 surge, but the school district canceled classes, saying schools were safe and it wanted in-person learning.

CTU have said conditions are unsafe, citing in part inadequate staffing and testing. They say they want more testing, along with additional mitigation protocols.

The CTU presented a new proposal to Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Saturday which included a resumption of virtual learning for CPS students beginning Wednesday and in-person instruction on January 18 unless health officials determine it’s not safe. City officials rejected the proposal — though it accepted some requests, like providing KN95 masks for all staff and students — saying it looked forward “to continued negotiations to reach an agreement.”

Dr. Julie Morita, the former Chicago health commissioner and executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said children and teachers can safely be in the classroom with certain measures, like requiring vaccinations and masks, ensuring good ventilation and testing capacity.

“When those systems are in place, children and teachers can be safely in the school environment,” she said, “but those systems have to be in place.”

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union and supporters stage a car caravan protest outside City Hall in the Loop, Wednesday evening, January 5, 2022.

Dr. Richina Bicette-McCain, medical director at the Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN schools could be safe but she believes they are currently “high-risk.”

“Not because of the nature of schools in and of themselves,” she said, “but because although we know what tools are available to us and we have the tools to mitigate those risks, they are not being employed adequately.”

“Students need proper access to testing, we need to give students and staff high quality masks,” she said. “Let’s employ HEPA filters in schools to increase ventilation and increase air circulation.

In Georgia, public school teachers who test positive for Covid-19 no longer have to isolate before returning to school if they are asymptomatic and wear a mask, and contact tracing in schools is no longer required, according to a letter to school leaders released Thursday from Gov. Brian Kemp and public health commissioner Kathleen Toomey.

But Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, believes the changes are the “absolute wrong thing to do at the absolute worst time.” Educators want to be in classrooms with their students, she said, “but that should be achieved by keeping people healthy.

“We know that there are increasing cases in our children, there’s increasing hospitalizations in our children,” she told CNN Saturday, “and this action shows a lack of regard for the health and safety of educators, students and our families.”

CNN’s Tina Burnside, Deidre McPhillips, Travis Caldwell, Keith Allen, Raja Razek, Natasha Chen and Anna-Maja Rappard contributed to this report.

Is the COVID-19 pandemic linked to a rise in blood pressure levels?

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New research examines trends in blood pressure during the pandemic. Aleks_G/Getty Images
  • Governments enacted emergency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • These measures significantly altered people’s behavior.
  • In a new study, researchers wanted to see if there was a link between these changes in behavior and effects on people’s blood pressure.
  • The researchers found blood pressure increased during the pandemic compared with previous, non-pandemic years.

In a new study, researchers have found that blood pressure increased in adults in the United States during the pandemic compared with previous, non-pandemic years.

The research, published in the journal Circulation, makes clear that the health effects of the pandemic include not just the COVID-19 disease but also other, indirect health issues.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), blood pressure describes the pressure blood exerts against a person’s arterial walls.

Doctors measure blood pressure at two points: when a person’s heart is pumping, known as systolic blood pressure, and when a person’s heart is resting between beats, known as diastolic blood pressure.

If a person has high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, they are at a greater risk of stroke or heart disease. Hypertension can also damage a person’s liver, eyes, and brain.

The CDC state that 47{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of U.S. adults have hypertension, and in 2019 hypertension was the primary or contributing cause of more than 500,000 deaths.

A person can help maintain healthy blood pressure levels by eating a diet low in salt and high in fruit and vegetables, exercising regularly, avoiding smoking, and limiting alcohol intake.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted people’s behavior and access to regular medical care.

Researchers are interested to see if this disruption had an effect on people’s blood pressure levels.

To look at blood pressure levels during the pandemic relative to previous years, a group of scientists studied data from an employee wellness program in the U.S covering 2018–2020.

This involved 464,585 participants, 53.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of whom were women, with an average age of 45.7 years in 2018. The paper offered no information regarding the racial or ethnic makeup of the participants.

The scientists compared blood pressure levels before the pandemic in 2018, 2019, and until March of 2020, when most U.S. states gave stay-at-home orders. They then compared these levels with those recorded from April–December 2020 during the pandemic.

The researchers found that before the pandemic, there was no significant change in blood pressure between years.

However, each month during the pandemic, blood pressure increased by an average of 1.1 to 2.5 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) for systolic blood pressure and 0.14 to 0.53 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure. This was the case for both women and men of different ages.

Women, on average, had greater increases for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Older participants had greater systolic blood pressure increases, whereas younger participants had greater diastolic blood pressure increases.

Speaking to Medical News Today, Dr. Luke Laffin, co-director of the Center for Blood Pressure Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and the study’s lead author, said that “[d]ietary indiscretion, lack of exercise, central obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, and not taking prescribed blood pressure medications can all drive high blood pressure.”

“Other research demonstrates that lifestyle habits like excessive alcohol intake worsened during the pandemic, so it is not surprising that a blood pressure elevation followed.”

“We also know that patients hesitated to see their doctor, particularly in the early part of the pandemic, and that may have contributed to increased blood pressures,” said Dr. Laffin.

Prof. Matthew Bailey, who leads hypertension and renal research at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was not involved in the study, told MNT that the findings were significant and had global implications.

“This paper has examined almost half a million people and clearly shows that the societal changes [and] restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic have increased blood pressure. The effect is particularly large in women, and there is also an unanticipated increase in young people.”

“A rise in blood pressure of this size increases the risk of debilitating heart attack or stroke. For individuals and their families, cardiovascular disease can be devastating. [F]or governments, these conditions are costly to treat and manage. Health budgets are already overstretched.”

“This study is based in the U.S. but is relevant globally. It provides an early warning signal that poor cardiovascular health might be a big problem a few years down the line,” said Prof. Bailey.

Dr. Tarek Antonios, a senior lecturer in physiological medicine at St George’s, University of London in the United Kingdom, and not involved in the study, told MNT the findings were not unexpected.

“I was not surprised when I saw this article. I am concerned about hypertension and the epidemic. If you put the two together — the COVID-19 epidemic and hypertension — there are certain different avenues [that connect] them.”

“The first one is the increased anxiety levels among the population. Lots of people lost their jobs, they became redundant, lost their businesses, and they lost income — all of this created a lot of stress and anxiety, and that can increase blood pressure. So this is one possible explanation.”

“The second is during the lockdown, there were no open gyms, no one was going out for running or sports, and many people — including some of my patients — put on a significant amount of weight. And once you put on weight, your blood pressure goes up as well.”

“The third point is that people are sitting at home most of the time, they order takeaways, and takeaways are full of salt, and therefore people have increased their salt intake. So there is a lot of stuff that may not be directly related to COVID-19, but [was] indirectly affected by this epidemic.”

“Some patients also found it very difficult to get in touch with their GPs and get a refill of their prescriptions. Some stopped taking their medications, and that also increased their blood pressure levels. [T]his is something we need to give information about to patients — that it is very important that they don’t stop the tablets.”

“Many of my patients have bought blood pressure machines so that they can monitor their own blood pressure and make sure that their blood pressure is well-controlled. This is my advice to most patients: get their own blood pressure machines and start measuring their blood pressure at home.”

Prof. Bailey said that he thought low-level stress and low quality sleep might be key factors in the increase in blood pressure.

“High blood pressure is caused by […] lifestyle [and] environmental factors that were difficult to avoid during pandemic restrictions. Many of us ate too much comfort food — high in salt, fat, and sugar — had limited capacity to exercise, and may have indulged in other […] habits such as drinking too much alcohol or smoking. Of these, the study was only able to discount weight gain itself.”

“I think a major factor is chronic low-level stress and poor sleep patterns. I think this will emerge as a big factor once more studies are done,” said Prof. Bailey.

Speaking to MNT, Dr. Helen Flaherty, head of health promotion and education at Heart Research UK and not involved in the study, also agreed that a range of factors may be at play when accounting for the increase in blood pressure.

“As a result of the pandemic, many people have seen a change to their usual lifestyle habits which, in many cases, can impact negatively on their blood pressure and cardiovascular health.”

“People working from home may be less physically active as they miss out on their usual walk to work or a trip to the gym. Physical activity may also be restricted where people are isolated at home due to the pandemic. In addition, changes to dietary habits, such as buying more takeaway foods, which may be higher in salt, can also contribute to raised blood pressure.”

“Many people have found the pandemic to be stressful and long-term stress is also associated with an increase in blood pressure, as well as behaviors that can increase blood pressure, such as smoking and alcohol consumption,” explained Dr. Flaherty.

As well as possible indirect factors that might account for the rise in blood pressure, Dr. Antonios highlighted that there could be more direct causes.

“The disease itself may cause high blood pressure because of the interaction with certain molecules like the angiotensin-converting enzyme receptors. Moreover, many of my patients called to tell me that once they got the vaccines — especially the first dose — their blood pressure went very high, and they ended up in A&E and casualty with systolic blood pressure exceeding 200 in some of them.”

“What is also interesting is that for many of [my patients], the blood pressure did not settle down and remained high — not as high as 200, but higher than it was before. I am doing some research now to look at the effects of vaccination on blood pressure. And I have at least nine patients who had the same reaction: [their] blood pressure went up, and they ended up in casualty at St George’s [hospital].”

“Since then, there have been two publications — one from Lausanne in Switzerland and the second from Italy — that describe exactly this. Especially with the BioNTech vaccine, the blood pressure goes very high. What we don’t know is why this happens and why it does not settle down,” said Dr. Antonios.

Dr. Antonios also said there could be a connection between long COVID and hypertension. However, this required more research.

“What we don’t know so far is if hypertension is part of the long COVID syndrome. Most papers and reviews have not included hypertension [as part of long COVID]. They have included, for example, chest problems, myocarditis, thromboembolic phenomena, or even diabetes, but hypertension is not yet part of this long COVID syndrome, which we don’t know much about.”

Dr. Laffin said researchers should continue monitoring blood pressure levels:

“It is going to be very important to identify if blood pressure elevations persisted throughout 2021, given that vaccination became more widespread and individuals started returning to see their medical provider. I think it is unlikely that we’ll see a decline to pre-pandemic levels until the current pandemic ends.”

Crucially, there are limitations to the generalizability of the study’s findings. In the U.S., Black adults consistently exhibit significantly higher rates of hypertension, for example, compared with their white counterparts. However, the present study did not characterize blood pressure based on race or ethnicity. This is an important point that researchers should further evaluate during the pandemic.

Fortunately, there are many things a person can do to try and maintain healthy blood pressure levels.

Prof. Bailey said: “I try to make sure I eat well and sleep well and have goals for regular exercise. Using mindfulness or breathing apps can be a really good way to unplug for a few minutes in the day. It’s a great idea to get your blood pressure measured — know your numbers — and to remember to keep taking the medicine if you have high blood pressure.”

“High blood pressure increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. However, many people are unaware that they have high blood pressure as there are usually no symptoms. It is important to have your blood pressure checked regularly. Ideal blood pressure is below 120/80 mmHg,” Dr. Flaherty told us.

“To maintain healthy blood pressure, it is important to maintain a healthy weight by eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of physical activity. Eating a diet that is not too high in salt also helps to avoid raised blood pressure. Keep an eye on food labels and avoid foods that have a high salt content, such as salted nuts and potato chips.”

“Limit your alcohol intake to no more than the recommended amounts — in the U.K. this is no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread out over 3 or more days.”

“Physical activity can help to reduce your blood pressure, and adults should aim to do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity — for example, brisk walking — or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity — for example, running — each week.”

Governor Hochul Announces Major Action to Address Winter Surge and Prevent Business Disruption as COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Rise Statewide

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced masks will be required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement. This a major action to address the winter surge comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise statewide to be in alignment with the CDC’s recommendations for communities with substantial and high transmission. The State Health Commissioner issued a determination solidifying the requirement.       

This determination is based on the State’s weekly seven-day case rate as well as increasing hospitalizations. The new business and venue requirements extend to both patrons and staff. This measure is effective Dec. 13, 2021 until Jan. 15, 2022, after which the State will re-evaluate based on current conditions. The new measure brings added layers of mitigation during the holidays when more time is spent indoors shopping, gathering, and visiting holiday-themed destinations.     

“As Governor, my two top priorities are to protect the health of New Yorkers and to protect the health of our economy. The temporary measures I am taking today will help accomplish this through the holiday season. We shouldn’t have reached the point where we are confronted with a winter surge, especially with the vaccine at our disposal, and I share many New Yorkers’ frustration that we are not past this pandemic yet,” Governor Hochul said. “I want to thank the more than 80 percent of adult New Yorkers who have done the right thing to get fully vaccinated. If others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary.”   

“I have warned for weeks that additional steps could be necessary, and now we are at that point based upon three metrics: Increasing cases, reduced hospital capacity, and insufficient vaccination rates in certain areas,” Governor Hochul added. 

Since Thanksgiving, the statewide seven-day average case rate has increased by 43{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} and hospitalizations have increased by 29{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}. While the percentage of New Yorkers fully vaccinated continues to increase—gaining 2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} from Thanksgiving weekend to now—the uptick is not fast enough to completely curb the spread of the virus, particularly among communities with low vaccination coverage. 

The State Department of Health has produced nation-leading studies, published in the CDC’s MMWR and the New England Journal of Medicine, which demonstrate the COVID-19 vaccines’ effectiveness – particularly in preventing severe disease. The Department continues to urge eligible New Yorkers of all ages to get fully vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible. 

Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said, “Community spread requires a community-minded solution, as the Omicron variant emerges and the overwhelmingly dominant Delta variant continues to circulate. We have the tools we need to protect against the virus – and now we must ensure we use them. There are tools each individual can use, and there are actions we can take as government. Getting vaccinated protects you, and wearing a mask is how we will better protect each other. Both vaccination and mask-wearing are needed to slow this COVID-19 winter surge.”    

A violation of any provision of this measure is subject to a maximum fine of $1,000 for each violation. Local health departments are being asked to enforce these requirements.    

Business/Venue Proof of Vaccination Requirement    

Businesses and venues that implement a proof of vaccination requirement must ensure that anyone 12 years of age or older is fully vaccinated before entering indoors. Businesses/venues can accept Excelsior PassExcelsior Pass Plus, SMART Health Cards issued outside of New York State, full-course vaccination through NYC COVID Safe app, a CDC Vaccination Card, or other official immunization record.

In accordance with CDC’s definition, fully vaccinated is defined as 14 days past an individual’s last vaccination dose in their initial vaccine series (14 days past the second shot of a two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine; 14 days past the one-shot Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine). The State also accepts WHO-approved vaccines for these purposes. Parents and guardians can retrieve and store an Excelsior Pass and/or Excelsior Pass Plus for children or minors under legal guardianship.    

Vaccines for children ages 5 – 11 have only been available since November 2021. Therefore, in order to enter a business or venue that implements a proof of vaccination requirement, children ages 5 – 11 only have to show proof of having had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. 

Vaccines have been available for 16–17-year-olds since April 2021 and for 12—15-year-olds since May 2021. At the time of the determination, 63{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the 12 – 17 age group has been fully vaccinated in New York State.

Business/Venue Mask-Wearing Requirement    

Businesses and venues that implement a mask requirement must ensure all patrons past their second birthday and medically able to tolerate a face covering wear a mask at all times while indoors outside of physical eating or drinking.  

Continued Masking Requirements    

Unvaccinated individuals continue to be responsible for wearing masks, in accordance with federal CDC guidance. Further, the State’s masking requirements continue to be in effect for pre-K to grade 12 schools, public transit, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and health care settings per CDC guidelines.    

New York State and the State’s Department of Health continue to strongly recommend mask-wearing in all public indoor settings as an added layer of protection, even when not required. Children 2 – 5 who remain ineligible for vaccination must wear a proper-fitting mask. 

COVID-19 vaccines and booster doses are free and widely available statewide. New Yorkers can visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations. To schedule an appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site, New Yorkers can visit the Am-I-Eligible site. New Yorkers can also contact their health care provider, county health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health centers, or pharmacies. 

New Yorkers can retrieve their Excelsior Pass or Excelsior Pass Plus here. Businesses and venues can download the Excelsior Pass Scanner app—free for any business nationwide and available in more than ten languages—here.