The Latest: Navajo Nation reports 2 more COVID-19 deaths

One Missouri hospital official is telling anyone making disparaging remarks about the COVID-19 vaccine to “Shut up” as state officials ask for federal help dealing with a surge in cases that has some counties urging new precautions.

Deep vaccine resistance has allowed the delta variant, first identified India, to take hold in the state, straining hospitals, particularly in the Springfield area.

“If you are making wildly disparaging comments about the vaccine, and have no public health expertise, you may be responsible for someone’s death. Shut up,” tweeted Steve Edwards, who is the CEO of CoxHealth in Springfield.

CoxHealth and the city’s other hospital, Mercy Springfield, were treating 168 COVID-19 patients Friday, up from 31 on May 24, before the surge began, said Aaron Schekorra, a spokesman for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. He said that 36 of them were on ventilators.

Erik Frederick, the chief administrative officer of Mercy Springfield, also turned to Twitter in an effort to bolster vaccinations, noting that they prevent deaths.

“So if you’re vaccinated there is a light at the end of a tunnel,” he said. “If you’re unvaccinated that’s probably a train.”

State data shows that 44.6% of residents have received at least one shot, far short of the 54.7% rate nationally. And in more than 60 Missouri counties, less than 30% of the population had received their first shot, according to state data.

The situation has grown so dire that Missouri health officials announced Thursday that they were asking for federal help from newly formed surge response teams.

Meanwhile, St. Louis and St. Louis County health departments along with health officials in Jefferson County begged even immunized people to resume mask-wearing in public, citing the threat of the delta variant.

The Jefferson County Health Department’s advisory said children are being exposed to COVID-19 as they resume normal activities without protection. During the last two weeks, the number of new cases had increased 42%, with the highest number of cases among 10– to 19-year-olds.

“This is concerning,” the advisory said, “since most of that age group is eligible for the vaccine, but only 10.82% have completed the full series of vaccination.”

In the southeast part of the state, the Stoddard County Public Health Center this week asked residents to get vaccinated as officials grapple with climbing COVID-19 cases, including an outbreak at a nursing facility, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The center said Thursday it was monitoring 33 cases — “up from the 5-10 we’ve been experiencing over the last few months.” The health center said an outbreak at a nursing facility in Advance made up a “large portion” of cases, and that one resident who tested positive had died.

The Navajo Nation on Saturday reported five additional COVID-19 cases and two more deaths.

A statement released by tribal officials said the additional deaths increased the tribe’s pandemic death toll to 1,356.

The statement did not provide an updated count of total cases among residents of the sprawling reservation that includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Tribal officials did not immediately respond to a query but a statement released Friday by the tribe had said that the number of positive cases stood at 31,012.

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A San Francisco Bay Area zoo is inoculating its big cats, bears and ferrets against the coronavirus. The vaccinations are part of a national effort to protect animal species using an experimental vaccine developed and donated by a New Jersey company.

Alex Herman, vice president of veterinary services at the zoo, said none of the animals have gotten the virus, but they wanted to be proactive. Tigers, black and grizzly bears, mountain lions and ferrets were the first to receive the first of two doses. Next are primates and pigs.

The San Diego Zoo started inoculating primates with the Zoetis vaccine in January after a COVID-19 breakout among a troop of gorillas.

According to a press release, Zoetis is donating more than 11,000 doses for animals living in nearly 70 zoos, as well as more than a dozen conservatories, sanctuaries, academic institutions and government organizations located in 27 states.

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s administration floated the idea of a statewide COVID-19 vaccination incentive program and the possibility of a “substantial grand prize” during a meeting of health officials.

Consideration of incentives comes as the fast-spreading delta variant ravages rural Missouri. The state has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 transmission in the U.S.

The Kansas City Star reports that it obtained notes from a June 25 Zoom meeting of the Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence during which a senior state Department of Health and Senior Services official shared the potential incentives program.

The notes compiled by the center’s secretary said a potential program would likely start in July. A Parson spokesperson said Friday only that work is continuing on potential incentive options.

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MOSCOW — Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a record on Saturday for the fifth straight day, with the authorities reporting 697 fatalities as the country faces a rapid surge of infections. The previous record on Friday was 679.

Russia’s state coronavirus task force on Saturday reported 24,439 new coronavirus cases — the highest daily tally since January and 1,200 more than the day before. Moscow, its outlying region and St. Petersburg accounted for nearly half of Saturday’s new cases.

The Kremlin insisted on Friday that the authorities are not discussing another lockdown. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that the situation with the coronavirus remains “tense” in a number of regions, but said that “no one wants any lockdowns.”

Russia had only one nationwide lockdown last spring that lasted six weeks, and the government has since resisted shutting down businesses.

Russia’s coronavirus task force has reported nearly 5.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the pandemic and 137,262 deaths.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia will ease a coronavirus lockdown in five states next week in a bid to allow a quicker reopening of its economy.

The country has been under a national lockdown since June 1, the second in over a year that has severely bruised its economy.

The government initially said the lockdown will only be eased if daily infections fall below 4,000 and at least 10 percent of Malaysia’s population has been vaccinated. But Finance Minister Zafrul Aziz said Saturday states can now slowly reopen if they fulfil certain criteria.

He said states will be assessed based on the average number of infections per 100,000 people over seven days, as well as their intensive care capacity and vaccination rate.

Defense Minister Ismail Sabri said restrictions will be eased Monday in five states that have met the target, with more businesses such as barbers, computer outlets and bookshops allowed to reopen.

The decision to forgo a blanket ban and give states more flexibility comes as the lockdown was tightened Saturday for two weeks in the richest state of Selangor and some parts of Kuala Lumpur, where infections remain high. Malaysia recorded 6,658 new infections Saturday to bring its tally to 772,607 cases. A further 107 deaths were reported to raise the toll to 5,434.

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Authorities in Sri Lanka say state-run schools will reopen this month after being closed for nearly three months due to a surge of COVID-19.

As a first step, arrangements are being made to reopen schools which have fewer than 100 students, the education ministry said Saturday.

The ministry has identified nearly 3,000 such schools and they will reopen first, while other schools will follow in stages.

While the schools were closed, online classes were conducted, but criticism is rising over the lack of internet and computer facilities for some children who live in remote parts of the Indian Ocean island.

Sri Lanka came out of a monthlong lockdown a week ago. However, public gatherings are still banned and universities, libraries, places of worship, cinemas, pubs, bars, hotels and gyms remain closed.

Sri Lanka has seen a sharp increase in cases and deaths since April because of the celebrations and shopping during the traditional new year festival.

Since the start of the pandemic, Sri Lanka has recorded 260,972 confirmed cases, with 3,120 deaths.