California coronavirus updates: Japan reopens ports to international cruise ships

12:35 p.m.: Japan reopens ports to international cruise ships

Japan is lifting a more than 2½-year ban on international cruise ships that was imposed following the deadly outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that kickstarted the pandemic on a global stage.

According to the Associated Press, Japan’s Transport Ministry says cruise ship operators and port authorities’ associations have adopted anti-virus guidelines and that the countries are now ready to resume their international cruise operations while receiving foreign ships at its ports.

Japan has barred cruise ships since March 2020, after the outbreak on the Diamond Princess forced 3,711 passengers and crew to quarantine on board for two weeks, during which 13 people and more than 700 were infected.

Under the new guidelines, all crew members have received three coronavirus vaccine shots.

1:09 p.m.: COVID-19 restrictions in China may slow down iPhone production during holidays

Apple Inc. is warning costumers they’ll have to wait longer to get its latest iPhone models after COVID-19 restrictions were imposed on a contractor’s factory in central China.

According to the Associated Press, the company gave no details, but the factory operated by Foxconn in the central city of Zhengzhou is “operating at a significantly reduced capacity.”

Apple said it expects lower shipments of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models than previously anticipated. It said customers “will experience longer wait times.”

Foxconn Technology Group said earlier that it had imposed anti-virus measures on the factory in Zhengzhou following virus outbreaks. The company said it’ll revise down outlook for Q4 and that it’s working on resuming full capacity.

12:11 p.m.: Your holiday travels may be much more expensive than previous years

If you’re looking for airline tickets or a hotel room around the holidays, you’ll probably pay more than you did the last time you traveled over Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Part of the reason for price increases is that airlines are still operating fewer flights than in 2019 even though passenger numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels — and that’s squeezing the supply of seats.

Hotels are struggling with a labor shortage due to wages, leading them to charge patrons even more than expected.

Rates for car rentals are as off-the-charts as they were during much of 2021, although supplies could be tight in some cities.

According to the Associated Press, travel numbers have remained consistent, even though U.S. consumers are facing the highest inflation rates in 40 years and concern around a potential recession is growing.

Airlines haven’t always done a good job handling big crowds, even though they have been hiring workers to replace those that were fired, laid off, or quit after COVID-19 hit. The rates of canceled and delayed flights rose about pre-pandemic levels this summer, causing airlines to slow down plans to add more flights.

The number of travelers going through airport checkpoints has recovered to nearly 95% of 2019 traffic, according to the October Transportation Security Administration figures.

1:27 p.m.: BQ.1 and BQ1.1 COVID-19 subvariant cases have taken over omicron

Two new omicron subvariants have become dominant in the U.S., raising fears that they could fuel yet another surge of COVID-19 infections, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The subvariants — called BQ.1 and B.1.1 — appear to be among the most adept yet at evading immunity from vaccination and previous infection and have now overtaken the BA.5 omicron subvariant.

BQ.1 and BQ1.1 have been quickly gaining ground in the U.S. in recent weeks. On Friday, they officially overtook BA.5, accounting for an estimated 44% of new infections nationwide and nearly 60% in some parts of the country, such as New York and New Jersey, according to the CDC’s estimates.

BA.5 now accounts for an estimated 30% of all new infections nationwide.

2:45 p.m.: New study finds Paxlovid could lessen risk of long COVID

Paxlovid, a 5-day course of antiviral pills from Pfizer, was developed to reduce symptoms and hospitalization rates for COVID-19.

But a new study from the Veterans Health Administration suggests that taking the medication may lessen the risk of developing long COVID.

In the study, long COVID was defined as developing one or more symptoms — including heart issues, blood disorders, fatigue and trouble breathing — one to three months after testing positive. By these metrics, patients that took Paxlovid were 26% less likely to develop long COVID.

“Since the trigger of long COVID is acute infection with SARS-CoV-2, it makes intuitive sense that anything that lowers the severity of this infection would reduce the risk of long COVID, whether it’s Paxlovid or other antiviral treatments,” Dr. Paul Sax, an infectious disease physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, wrote in an email to NPR.

The study is a preprint, meaning it was shared publicly before being reviewed and vetted by outside researchers. But experts who were not involved in the study told NPR the findings make sense, given how Paxlovid works.

10:30 a.m.: Sacramento-area hospitals report uptick in RSV cases

The Sacramento region is seeing an increase in cases of respiratory viruses in children.

That’s according to county public health officials and leaders of local hospitals, who held a press conference Wednesday announcing plans to expand care capacity, including adding staff in response to the surge.

One main driver of hospitalizations is Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV. Dr. Dean Blumberg, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, said “virtually every child” under the age of three contracts the virus. 

However, he and other pediatricians at the event said COVID-mitigation efforts like masking and social distancing reduced infection rates in recent years, leading to increased susceptibility this year.

“At UC Davis, we didn’t see any hospital admissions for influenza in the 2020-2021 flu season, which is highly, highly unusual,” Blumberg said. “But that means that all those children; they missed out on getting RSV for the first time.”

Pediatricians agree that most children who get RSV will recover without experiencing complications, although some may get sick enough to need medical attention, as the virus can lead to bronchiolitis or pneumonia or exacerbate symptoms of asthma. 

Dr. Zoey Goore, a pediatric hospitalist at Kaiser Permanente and the assistant physician and chief for Kaiser’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said parents of young children can help with breathing difficulties by relieving congestion. 

Consensus among the pediatricians at the briefing was that the best protection against both RSV and the flu is for everyone in the family, older than six months, to get the flu vaccine. They also recommended proper hygiene and masking for families at higher risk.

12:10 p.m.: COVID-related deaths are down 90% since February, but equity gap remains stark

The World Health Organisation chief on Wednesday said a nearly 90% drop in recent COVID-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago provides “cause for optimism,” but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up.

According to the Associated Press, Director-General Tedros Adhnom Ghebreyesus said that last week just over 9,400 deaths linked to the coronavirus were reported to the WHO. In February of this year, he said, weekly deaths had topped 75,000 globally.

Ghebreyesus said testing and sequencing rates remain low globally, vaccination gaps between rich and emerging countries remain wide, and new variants continue to proliferate.

The U.N. health agency said the tally of newly registered COVID-19 cases worldwide came in at over 2.1 million for the week ending Sunday, down 15% from the previous week.

The number of weekly deaths fell 10% compared to a week earlier.

The highest number of newly reported cases over the week came in Japan, with more than 401,000, an increase of 42% from the previous week. That was followed by Korea, the United States, Germany and China, which counted more than 219,000 new cases over the week — a drop of 15% from the previous week.

Overall, the WHO…