INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Sunday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.
Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 12 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Allen West, Texas GOP gubernatorial hopeful, has COVID-19
Allen West, a Republican running for governor of Texas, says he has received monoclonal antibody injections after being diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia. West announced on Twitter Saturday that he also expects to be hospitalized and that his wife has also received monoclonal antibodies.
According to his Twitter account, West did not get vaccinated against COVID-19.
West is a former Texas Republican Party chair and Florida congressman. He announced in July that he would challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbot, who is running for a third term and has been endorsed by Donald Trump.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 44.31 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 6 a.m. Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 712,970 deaths recorded in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 237.64 million confirmed coronavirus cases with nearly 4.85 million deaths. More than 6.44 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.
Nevada adds rapid COVID-19 testing
Nevada this week became one of the last states to include rapid antigen tests in its coronavirus tallies.
Health experts said the change could provide a fuller picture of the pandemic. Health officials say they weren’t added earlier because their limited resources, with staff had focused on vaccines and contact tracing confirmed cases.
Nevada and Maryland were the last two holdouts that didn’t publicly report antigen tests in defiance of federal guidance. Concerns about the supply of rapid tests and varied ways states report them reflects the absence of a national testing strategy.
Nevada’s hospitals have been pushed to near capacity during the pandemic, its unemployment broke national records, and 435,000 people have tested positive for the virus. Nevada health officials acknowledge omitting rapid tests from its tally limited the public’s understanding of the pandemic’s spread in the state.
The rapid antigen tests, which detect the presence of viral proteins rather than the coronavirus itself, return results in minutes. Traditional molecular tests sent to labs can take days to process but are shown to be more accurate.
The rapid tests turnaround times have led to their widespread use in prisons, schools and nursing homes.